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   Dan Savage, the brilliant and foul-mouthed sex columnist, has become one of the most important ethicists in America. Are we screwed?
 The federal government is supposed to issue new rules about debt levels for students in for-profit colleges. In the meantime, the states are working on their own regulations.
 Washingtons budget hawks want to decimate the federal workforce to shrink the deficit. It will have the opposite effect.
 There arent nearly enough counterterrorism experts to instruct all of Americas police. So we got these guys instead.
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August 19, 2010
ROMNEY TRIES AGAIN TO BE TAKEN SERIOUSLY.... Just yesterday, Chris Cillizza praised former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney (R) for his "unswerving" and "laser-like focus on financial matters as he prepares to challenge the incumbent in 2012." I don't think that's quite right. Just last month, Romney did his level best to pretend to understand foreign policy and counter-proliferation. The result was utterly humiliating. So, the former one-term governor is shifting his "laser-like focus" away from national security and back to the economy, writing an op-ed in the Boston Globe yesterday with the usual spiel -- blame Obama for the economic mess he inherited, "uncertainty" reigns, yada, yada, yada. Of course, this is Mitt Romney we're talking about -- a man who changes positions like most of us change socks -- so it's worth emphasizing that he approved of Obama's stimulus just last year, and predicted that the Recovery Act would "accelerate" economic growth. While yesterday's op-ed blasted cap-and-trade -- which still doesn't exist as an implemented policy -- Romney has endorsed cap-and-trade in the past. But let's put all that aside. Pointing to Romney flip-flops is like pointing to Sarah Palin's ignorance -- it's just a little too easy. The more important point is that Romney also sketched his vision for what he'd do differently than the status quo: tax cuts, trade deals, a new energy policy, balanced budget, entitlement reform, undercut unions. There were no real details -- it's just an op-ed -- but Romney seems to be pushing an agenda that's largely indistinguishable from Bush's vision from 10 years ago. It's also, as Ezra noted, an agenda that "seems certain to hugely increase uncertainty."
Maybe next month Romney will have a new op-ed on a new subject of interest. He's bound to get an issue right one of these days. —Steve Benen 10:45 AM Permalink | Trackbacks | Comments (12)
Comments
I agree that complaining about Romney changing positions is like complaining about the wetness of water-- it's just his way of doing politics. However, there is, in fact, a line between changing positions and having no position at all-- and it's worth noting that Romney has crossed it without any apparent regrets. Posted by: MattF on August 19, 2010 at 10:56 AM | PERMALINK"[Mitt Romney's] bound to get an issue right one of these days." You think, Steve? This is Mitt Romney, after all. Posted by: azportsider on August 19, 2010 at 11:05 AM | PERMALINKPalin/Romney 2012! There's a sure winner if I've ever seen it, especially considering that the GOP counts the votes. Or at least decides what votes count. -Z Posted by: Zorro on August 19, 2010 at 11:11 AM | PERMALINKHere's what seems glaringly clear to me, but I haven't heard it more: If these prescriptions were the keys to booming prosperity, why are we here now? After 8 years of doing exactly what Romney supports, without opposition (preceded by 20 years moving in that direction) where's all the unicorns & rainbows? Why isn't unemployment at 2 percent? Why isn't the Dow at 20,000? Why isn't my 401k making me a millionaire? Posted by: RusL on August 19, 2010 at 11:38 AM | PERMALINKMaybe next month Romney will have a new op-ed on a new subject of interest. He's bound to get an issue right one of these days. -- Steve Benen The op-ed on the subject of transportation of large-sized hunting dogs and family pets is in the works, I've been told. Posted by: exlibra on August 19, 2010 at 11:58 AM | PERMALINKRepublican lies, flip-flops, media reports how awesome and principled Republican is. Sun rises east, sets west. Rinse, repeat. Head explodes. Same Sh!t Different Day. Again. And again. Also. Posted by: terraformer on August 19, 2010 at 1:42 PM | PERMALINKI cannot stand Chris Cillizza, they are all republican water carriers at Politico. Posted by: js on August 19, 2010 at 1:45 PM | PERMALINKnomatter who you are new or old jeans,affliction jeans, Laguna Beach Jeans,ed hardy T-shirts,Coogi T- T-shirts,coach handbag,gucci handbag,prada handbag,chanel (II) In the past 6 years, we have sent great many products to the customers in lots of experience in dealing with online business oversea (III) Generally, Goods are delivered in fast and safety way Of course, shoes and with tags Posted by: toudefusheng on August 19, 2010 at 2:12 PM | PERMALINK“Just yesterday, Chris Cillizza praised former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney (R) for his ‘unswerving’ and ‘laser-like focus on financial matters as he prepares to challenge the incumbent in 2012’.” In regards to “financial matters”, let us not forget that Willard Romney was a corporate raider that cost a lot of workers their jobs. Posted by: Joe Friday on August 19, 2010 at 2:21 PM | PERMALINKYes, I've been hearing the "uncertainty" argument for months. My response is always "OK, then; the Bush tax cuts, which we have all known for 10 years would expire in 2011, will in fact expire in 2011. You can go look up exactly what the nex tax rates for the upper-income brackets will be. You have bene able to do that since mid-2001. There. That's the end of any uncertainty. "Oh, you don't approve of that? Well, then it's not the uncertainty you disapprove of; you're just looking for a fancy way of saying 'I don't want to pay my taxes.'" Posted by: Rick Massimo on August 19, 2010 at 3:55 PM | PERMALINKRomney is the Dan Quayle of the 21st century. Seriously. Same Ken doll looks, same deer-in-headlights facial expression. And that "bling bling," "Who Let the Dogs Out" performance to the black crowd on MLK Day 2008--oh, dear God! He ought to pick Carly Fiorina as his VP so they can run as a ticket of pointy-haired bosses: scumbag MBAs who downsized their workforces to game their own bonuses, and then left their hollowed-out companies to crash and burn after they cashed out. Posted by: Kevin Carson on August 19, 2010 at 5:58 PM | PERMALINKinput this URL: WE ACCEPT PYAPAL PAYMENT 
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