Many Europeans choose Internet over TV

Hanging out for hours in front of the computer, rather than the TV? Sure. And when you add in Internet games, lots of kids are definitely in front of the computer more than the TV. Still, it's funny how times change. Man I loved the idiot box as a kid (and still do). Read More......

Ronald Reagan and Jimmy Carter saw UFOs too

Not so crazy after all, that Dennis Kucinich. Read More......

GOP solution to water crisis in Georgia? Pray up a storm

The Republicans have constantly told us that government is evil, government is unnecessary, government must be dismantled. And now we are suffering the consequences as we lose one American city after another. Read More......

Dick Armey says GOP should stay far away from Dobson

UPDATE: C&L; has some great video of Armey going after Dobson just last month. Very interesting pattern of abuse coming from Armey directed towards the religious right. I'd love to know what triggered all of this.

Armey was the GOP Majority Leader in the House. Dobson is probably the most powerful religious right leader in America. I suspect Armey's concern is that while the religious right controls a sizeable chunk of the GOP, they do not represent a sizeable chunk of America. And what's more, most Americans don't like them, and don't want to be forced to live like them. So while a GOP candidate can win a local or even a statewide race as a family values conservative, you're not going to win a national race by being the candidate of a somewhat despised minority of fringe extremists.

His advice to his fellow Republicans was to keep their distance from James Dobson, the influential head of the social conservative group Focus on the Family. "You could probably hurt yourself electorally by making Jim Dobson happy," Armey said.

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Questioner calls Hillary a "bitch," McCain says question is excellent

I'd rather be a bitch than crazy. Read More......

Reid threatens funds for Iraq war

I want to believe...

But I don't. Read More......

NY Times Editorial - What is the plan for the weak dollar?

Does a plan even exist?

The dollar’s value is connected to Americans’ standard of living. In the United States, the quality of one’s economic life is determined largely by purchasing power. A weaker dollar could cut into purchasing power by raising the cost of imports for which, increasingly, there are no domestic substitutes. The dollar’s decline is already contributing to higher oil prices. For a variety of reasons, higher oil prices also tend to translate into higher food prices. The cost of oil and food are not counted when measuring “core inflation.” But the more they cost, the less Americans can afford of everything else.

A weaker dollar could also pressure consumers by driving up interest rates. If broad dollar-driven inflation threatened to take hold, the Federal Reserve would surely raise interest rates. But even in the absence of that, the buildup of debt during the Bush years virtually condemns the nation to borrowing for many years to come. An ongoing need to borrow in the face of a weakening dollar would push up interest rates, because creditors demand a higher return to invest in a depreciating currency.

A sharp decline in the currency would mean a sharp decline in living standards. A slower decline in the dollar would mean a slower decline in standards. The first would be a calamity. But the second is also unacceptable.

True, a weaker dollar boosts American exports and attracts foreign shoppers, but you can’t build a strong American economy on a declining dollar.

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Bush vetoes $10bn increase in health/education budget, signs $40bn increase in Pentagon budget

Bush is vetoing bills that would add money to health and education, claiming America just can't afford to spend the money, but he has no problem signing bills that spend four times as much money on the Pentagon. Bush just asked for another $200 billion for his wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, but he can't/won't spend another $10 billion on health and education programs for Americans since, according to him, $10 billion spent on Americans is an obscenely high figure. I just refuse to believe that this kind of thing polls well for the Republicans at all. People are sick of this war, and for Bush to outright refuse to help Americans while shoveling the money to foreigners, I mean, wow.

From AP:

President Bush, escalating his budget battle with Congress, on Tuesday vetoed a spending measure for health and education programs prized by congressional Democrats.

He also signed a big increase in the Pentagon's non-war budget....

Since winning re-election, Bush has sought to cut the labor, health and education measure below the prior year level. But lawmakers have rejected the cuts. The budget that Bush presented in February sought almost $4 billion in cuts to this year's bill.

Democrats responded by adding $10 billion to Bush's request for the 2008 bill. Democrats say spending increases for domestic programs are small compared with Bush's pending war request totaling almost $200 billion.

The $471 billion defense budget gives the Pentagon a 9 percent, $40 billion budget increase....

Huge procurement costs are driving the Pentagon budget ever upward. Once war costs are added in, the total defense budget will be significantly higher than during the typical Cold War year, even after adjusting for inflation.

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Bhutto calls for Musharraf to step down. Ruh roh.

Bhutto is under house arrest -- again. She upped the ante against Musharraf today saying he needs to quit:

"It is time for him to go. He must quit as president," Bhutto, who has for months held power-sharing negotiations with Musharraf, told Reuters in a telephone interview.

Oh, and according to the Washington Post's front page, that whole thing about Musharraf needing emergency powers to crack down on Al Qaeda and the Taliban. That's not happening:

President Pervez Musharraf's army did not have any more control than it did when the military-led government imposed emergency rule nine days ago. In some areas, it had less.

Good to know George Bush and his crack foreign policy team are on top of this one. Read More......

Hillary isn't going to win the nomination

At least that's what Joe thinks. I'm not so sure, but then again, Joe is the election expert. I've made his analysis the subject of our second AMERICAblog podcast. You can listen to it here, and you can subscribe to our podcasts either via iTunes here, or via Feedburner here. Read More......

Dems. reveal "The Hidden Costs of the Iraq War" is $1.5 trillion

Yesterday, John posted a link to a Boston Globe study on what the known cost of the Iraq war -- $611 billion would buy.

Turns out that number is actually way below the true costs of the war. A study by Congressional Democrats factored in the indirect costs of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. Not that George Bush or the Republicans who've enabled his war care, but the true cost is $1.5 trillion:

The economic costs to the United States of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan so far total approximately $1.5 trillion, according to a new study by congressional Democrats that estimates the conflicts' "hidden costs"-- including higher oil prices, the expense of treating wounded veterans and interest payments on the money borrowed to pay for the wars.

That amount is nearly double the $804 billion the White House has spent or requested to wage these wars through 2008, according to the Democratic staff of Congress's Joint Economic Committee. Its report, titled "The Hidden Costs of the Iraq War," estimates that the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have thus far cost the average U.S. family of four more than $20,000.

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Tuesday Morning Open Thread

Good morning.

What's on your mind? Read More......

Erie, PA receives $100 million donation

What an amazing story. Anyone who has lived in the area or even just passed through knows what a hard hit region this is. Closed factories, few new jobs and shattered families make for a very hard environment. This anonymous gift will go a long way towards helping the community re-build.

Mike Batchelor invited the heads of 46 charities into his downtown office for one-on-one meetings to personally deliver the news. Nearby, on a small table, sat a box of tissues.

And then he proceeded: A donor had given a staggering $100 million to the Erie Community Foundation, and all of the charities would receive a share.

That was when the tears began to flow -- and the mystery began -- in this struggling old industrial city of 102,000 on Lake Erie, where the donor is known only as "Anonymous Friend."

Batchelor, president of the Erie Community Foundation, has been sworn to secrecy and will allow only that the donor worked with the organization for years to identify deserving recipients before the announcement over the summer.

Is the donor dead or alive? No comment, Batchelor says. What is the donor's connection to Erie? No comment.

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How many billion dollars must be lost?

It's almost amazing to think that Iraq is not the only multi-billion dollar sinkhole for the US. Economists are now predicting subprime losses to be in the vicinity of $100 billion and $400 billion. Just think of what that money could have been used for in a constructive way. The US economy is generally able to bounce back better than many in the world but as we push closer to a trillion dollars - yes, almost a trillion dollars - asking any economy to withstand such a barrage is asking too much.

We are witnessing the near total failure of GOP politics in action. Whether it's industry regulating itself, banks finding new bogus schemes for generating bogus hype, personal privacy, the environment cast aside in favor of short term business greed, or global intervention based on personal feuds and oil land grabs, it's collapsing before our eyes. This is what the GOP has wanted for decades. These are the policies that formed the cornerstone of their campaigns.

Let's take a close look at the end results and let the GOP explain themselves in 2008. The Democrats will be making an error in judgment if they fail to make these points clear to the American public. One by one, line 'em up and integrate them into the campaign. The GOP had total control over Washington and just look at where it got us. If the Democrats can't put the GOP on the run with this collection of policy failures, there is a serious problem. Read More......