Asymptosis: Always Approaching

Tag: barack obama

  • Economist Readers: Obama Landslide

    Yeah, The Economist endorsed Obama. They're sane; what else could they do? But it's their readers' endorsement that really speaks volumes. It's true that people who read The Economist are a bunch of effete intellectual elitists. You think Sarah Palin has ever cracked its socialist covers? Not likely, toots. But still. They are probably the…

  • McCain’s Big Stick

    Sad. What a missed setup: Senator McCain, I’m glad you mentioned that line from Teddy Roosevelt. Because that’s exactly the point. The reason we can’t address the problems in Afghanistan, the reason we can’t act in desperate moral situations like Darfur and Congo, is because, quite simply: The big stick is in use. And because of all the big…

  • Gaming McCain’s Game

    Some people think the McCain bailout/debate maneuvering has positioned him to trap Obama: McCain's way out? – First Read – msnbc.com. So what if McCain shows up and tonight and says, ""I'm sorry I couldn't sign on to this Washington-Wall Street plan that I worried was putting an even bigger burden on taxpayers than this…

  • Polling the Pollster Pollers: Obama Still Strong

    Update: If you're looking for conservative polling, click here. I've been meaning to put together a post for a while now on the metanalysis sites: the top-feeders one level above pollster.com, realclearpolitics, electoral-vote and the like (who aggregate and average recent polls)–outfits that run statistical crunchers on the polls, and spit out what everyone wants…

  • Everything Sez: “Obama Landslide.” What Gives?

    Update: If you're looking for conservative polling, click here. We all know that national polls tell us nothing about what's gonna happen in November. (See, for instance, this very funny post.) But still. The national polls seem way out of synch with every other indicator. Obama and McCain have been nearly tied for months (with…

  • Even Fox Sez McCain’s Lying About Taxes

    Major Garrett: McCain’s TV commercials assailing Obama’s tax policy contain serious distortions, if not out-right lies. On Aug. 8, FactCheck.org, published this report on a spate of new McCain TV spots on Obama and taxes. Read it here: www.factcheck.org/elections-2008/more_tax_deceptions.html That report followed one in July that raised similar concerns about the truthfulness of the McCain…

  • Mankiw Endorses Obama, Slams Palin

    The former chair of Bush II's Council of Economic Advisors, in his manifesto, Smart Taxes: An Open Invitation to Join the Pigou Club (pdf): "It is not a stretch to believe that more thought about an issue leads to more reliable conclusions." Okay well, not explicitly. And in any case he does contradict this sentiment…

  • Obama and Small Business Cap Gains: Where’s the Beef?

    My friend Steve Broback asks a very good question: Obama says he will: …eliminate all capital gains taxes on small and start-up businesses to encourage innovation and job creation. This is all that’s mentioned about this elusive break in the “Barack Obama’s Plan For Small Business” PDF on his site. I don’t understand. Where and…

  • McCain: Rebel Without a Brand?

    My 17-year-old daughter just pointed out to me something that's completely obvious, but that I hadn't realized, and that I haven't seen discussed much, at least in these terms. Think about the words Hope. Change. Yes We Can. Who owns 'em? I mean owns them? When you think Obama, what words come to mind? When…

  • Great Minds Think Alike: Obama on “Conservatives”

    I say somewhat presumptuously, even audaciously. Andrew Sullivan points out: Obama in Time: I was always suspicious of dogma, and the excesses of the left and the right. One of my greatest criticisms of the Republican Party over the last 20 years is that it's not particularly conservative. I can read conservatives from an earlier…

  • Oh Crap I Can’t Resist: Obama’s VP Will Be…

    Clark. Because, the following seems very odd to me. According to Steve Clemons at The Washington Note, the Obama campaign is either ignoring Clark or actively putting him at arm's length–he's supposedly not even attending the convention. Odd because: Clark's clearly a Very Big Democratic Asset, and what Obama describes as one "inartful" comment doesn't…

  • Maybe Obama’s Not So Bad…

    My wonderful friend and former business partner Steve allows as how maybe Obama isn't going to drive our economy into extinction after all. His route to that revelation, via a Mankiw post, puts aside that sage's other comment in the post: [Obama quote:] Over the past decade, we've seen…hefty corporate profits, but a shrinking share…

  • Hillary: It’s Over. Obama: It’s McCain, Stupid. Ignore Hillary.

    I actually mean no disrespect to my preferred candidate, or to Hillary, neither of whom who is anything like stupid. Just misquoting Carville. 1. As Mark Schmitt points out,  there’s no way Hillary will get a lead in the popular vote. (Andrew Sullivan: “The logic behind this seems inescapable to me.”) 2. As I pointed…

  • WSJ: Obama, like Reagan, “changes the trajectory”

    Barack Obama caught all sorts of grief from small-minded lefties when he said that Reagan “changed the trajectory” of America, and that Clinton didn’t. That was actually a serious understatement. When Clinton announced in his 1994 State of the Union that "the era of big government is over" (and then repeated it later in the…