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By Ezra Guess the LA Times didn’t find my op-ed convincing. They came out today in favor of Prop. 75, the “paycheck protection” initiative, arguing that the state’s public employee unions ought to be weakened and the proposition passed. They do this admitting that the law is poorly written (the “issue education” loophole) and its […]

By Pepper of the Daily Pepper It isn’t pretty. Neil Boortz, a conservative talk-show host, doesn’t get the kind of spotlight that Bill O’Reilly, Rush Limbaugh or Ann Coulter do. He doesn’t even rank up there with Michael Savage. About all he’s got going for him is a last name that translates rather well into […]

My friend Jesse at Pandagon is leaving blogland for the bluer, better-paying pastures of Ted Strickland’s campaign for governor. Longtime readers will know that Jesse and I shared online real estate for over a year, and it was, for me, a time of great growth as a writer, as a political thinker, and as a […]

By Neil the Ethical Werewolf Suppose you had the money and power to start three small liberal organizations — 527 groups, think tanks, PACs, ninja strike teams, or whatever. What would they be? Leave your answers in the comments if you like. Here are the answers that come to my mind: 1. A 527 group […]

Shakes here… In Ezra’s earlier post, Good Night, and Good Luck, he references: the idea of the news anchor as advocate, the concept that enormously trusted, unelected individuals could be beamed into millions of homes and use their status and reach to shape tomorrow’s stories, not just publicize yesterday’s tales. That was real bias. But […]

By Pepper of the Daily Pepper, who just saw this on CNN and is teed off enough to post again CNN just flashed up videos of a riot in Toledo, Ohio. Some citizens were understandably and justifiably agitated by a Neo-Nazi rally that was being staged in that city. So people freak out. A building […]

By Ezra I keep forgetting to mention this, but I’m really conflicted on the President’s Tax Advisory Commission’s recommendation to shut down the health insurance deduction: In the case of employer-paid health insurance, the main proposal the panel discussed would limit tax-free premium payments to the average cost of the premium the government pays for […]

By Pepper of the Daily Pepper Today’s vote on the Iraqi constitution happened with minimal violence. At least one critical day has passed without crowds of people dying. Even though the counting just started, we’re likely going to see waves of Purple Finger Photos as the administration trumpets the referendum’s success. But Just Another Bump […]

Daniel Gross on the hunt for the next Fed chairman: the biggest danger for Bush is not that the next Fed chairman will be lax when it comes to fighting inflation. It’s that he will use his Congressional testimony or his public speeches to speak honestly about the implications of the fiscal policy, to note […]

By Ezra Spent last night at the movies seeing Clooney’s Good Night, and Good Luck, his black and white hagiography of CBS’s Edmund Murrow. For those who don’t know the story, Murrow was a newsman who cut his teeth during World War II, becoming a famed correspondent and parlaying the notoriety into a television show. […]