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[+] Open the Meta Bar Tag: politics. There are 7 posts tagged politics. Open the Meta Bar to choose a different tag.

Skinny Line

The whole piece is worth a read. Sadly, whenever something bad happens our human desire to fix the past (which is impossible) is to legislate the future: “there should be a law against [whatever]!” Ironically, in most cases, there already is, but some legislator wants to make a more specific one so that he can say that he’s “done something”. In the meantime, we’re losing all of our freedom and redefining normalcy. Sigh.

(via @dhh)

Happily, however, I have a solution to the problem, a way that normal human behaviour can be preserved. It’s simple. We must start to accept that 5% of the population at any given time is bonkers. There are no steps to be taken to stamp this out and no lessons to be learnt when a man with a beard boards a plane with an exploding dog.

Jeremy Clarkson, What a daft way to stop your spaniel eating the milkman

Skinny Line

Skinny Line

Took the words right out of my mouth (and made them more articulate). Don’t let talking points fool you. Very little is being done to help small business, specifically, and a lot of things (even aspects of the current healthcare reform proposals) will make it harder for small businesses to hire.

Like the administration before it, the current administration seems to have no concept of what it takes to start, run and grow a small business. None.

Here is a hint. If you want to see more jobs created by Small Businesses and entrepreneurs REDUCE the amount of paperwork required. Dramatically simplify the tax code. In other words, if you REDUCE THE OVERHEAD of small business, you effectively create capital for them through reduced costs. Not only do you improve their financial position, but you reduce that great big time suck known as dealing with your accountants and lawyers. The more time wasted with “professional services”, the less time spent doing your job. This seems to be a concept lost on government.

Mark Cuban, The Simplicity Test: A Simple Policy Guide for Job Growth

Skinny Line

Skinny Line

Excellent, excellent op-ed piece by Rich. It’s worth reading every word.

However, I disagree that this is something new. I wonder if deceit really defines this decade more-so than any other. I think our increased (and instantaneous) access to information makes it easier to spot hypocrisy and harder for the press (or any group) to be complicit in half-truths for very long. That’s probably a good thing.

(via @lefsetz)

We keep being fooled by leaders in all sectors of American life, over and over. A decade that began with the “reality” television craze exemplified by “American Idol” and “Survivor” — both blissfully devoid of any reality whatsoever — spiraled into a wholesale flight from truth.

Frank Rich, Tiger Woods, Person of the Year

Skinny Line

Skinny Line

She sounds impressed with herself.

When will the American people wake up and start expecting/demanding more out of their public officials. I didn’t post the whole quote here, you can read the rest over at Signal vs. Noise. This should be the norm, not the exception. Crazy.

In 13 days, we produced a hard-biting document that pushes hard for some real answers. We don’t have a phone, we don’t have a photocopier, we don’t have a coffee maker yet, but we have a very strong report. And there’s another report coming in 30 days and another one 30 days after that and another one 30 days after that. And I think that sets the stage.

Elizabeth Warren, Congressional oversight

Skinny Line

Skinny Line

Choose Well: Separation of Powers

Explaining things with a Sharpie


Watch this video Jason Polan created for the State Bar of Texas.

He does tons of videos like this. Such a fun way of grabbing attention and explaining how stuff works.

(via Signal vs. Noise)

Skinny Line

Digital Barack

This game has indeed changed.


“Any politician who fails to recognize that we are in a post-party era with a new political ecology in which connecting like minds and forming a movement is much easier will not be around for long …”

Regardless of what happens with the Obama administration, I’m excited to see how he uses his built-in base and how other politicians begin to try the same things. Obama may be a Democrat, but he essentially proved that it might now be possible for an independent to build a political movement that matters.

Skinny Line

This is silly. What about the auto industry is so special? If they’re too big to fail, then so is everything else.

I found this article viaDaring Fireball and Gruber’s quote is worth repeating. It sums up my own sentiments nicely:

“America seems to have an irrational soft spot for its auto industry. It’s a shame that these once-great companies have fallen so far, but the simple truth is that Ford and G.M. make ugly, inefficient cars that few people want to buy.”

The stockholders, creditors, and employees of G.M. do not deserve to be spared the pain of the recession. The rest of America will be taking pay cuts, losing jobs, giving discounts to customers, etc. What is special about G.M. that they should be able to live as though 2008 never happened?

Philip Greenspun, Let G.M. go bankrupt

Skinny Line

Skinny Line

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