This Week in the News
This week, (ok last week) Republican candidates for President gathered at a forum sponsored by the National Rifle Association. Each took a different root to pledging his support for gun owner rights. Fred Thompson opined on all the famous people with whom he had shot things, including Charlton Heston. Rudy Giulani tried to escape his image as an anti gun Mayor by talking up the importance of guns in anti terrorism efforts and then publicly taking a deliberately syrupy phone call from his wife . Mitt Romney did not appear, but we all know about his past shooting "small varmints." Asked about the success of the forum, the NRA's Wayne LaPierre stated, " We have one fake tough guy and two guys who either don't care about guns or don't much like them. One of those guys seems to like to dress up like a woman a lot and the other is a little blow dried. Overall, the testosterone index here was well below past GOP fields."
This week, the WSJ reports that Delphi corporation asked a Bankruptcy Court for permission to pay out some $37.6 million dollars in performance bonuses to its executives. Previously, Delphi had used its status as a bankrupt company to lower the wages and benefits of its hourly workforce and renegotiate its contract with the UAW. Asked if the company was not taking a contradictory position a Delphi spokesman said, " No not really. I mean, executives feeding at the trough is an American tradition. See, you have to understand that executive compensation is like a good dog. It stays with you in good times or bad. It loves you whether you are performing well or poorly. Its attachment is unconditional. We are talking Lassie here. How you gonna take Lassie away?"
This week, questions about the personal lives of the candidates from both major parties filled the news and blogsphere. Whether it is Rudi's fruity phone call with Judi, Hillary's complicated relationship with Bill, the Edwards' cancer, or Mitt Romneys' Eisenhower era wife, American voters are enchanted by the marital relations of their leaders. Ever curious (or just bored), TWN reached out to MaryAnn Paulsen of St. Cloud,MN to find out the scoop. According to MaryAnn, " I can amuse myself for hours thinking about whether Giuliani is a good father, whether Hillary should have left Bill, or whether John Edwards needs to give up his campaign to spend time with his wife. War and healthcare leave me flat, but I have surprisingly strong opinions on other people's personal lives. "
This week, the State of Michigan remains mired in a $1 billion budget deficit that threatens to shut down state government unless state Democrats and Republicans can agree on a new and balanced budget. At present, the state's governor and its Democratic House are proposing a mix of spending cuts and tax increases. The state's Republican Senate is insisting on $1 billion in cuts to education, healthcare, infrastructure and social services with no tax increases. Said Republican Senate Majority Leader Mike Bishop, "We stand by our supply side principles. Raising taxes will kill economic growth. In fact, the state needs a tax cut to spur investment. " Bishop then went on to display his collection of vintage Milton Friedmann buttons, Laffer Curve posters, and "Kemp in '92" T-shirts. "You know,"commented Bishop in a puzzled tone, "you really can't find this stuff anymore..."
This week, Sen Fred Thompson took to the road for a series of fundraisers and campaign appearances. Within the space of ten days, Thompson publicly admitted that he did not have an opinion about 1) what to do with Osama Bin Laden, 2) how to reform social security, 3) the merits or lack of merit to a national catastrophe insurance fund , 4) the Terri Schiavo case, 5) the Jena Six and 6) a recent court ruling that the Tennessee death penalty was unconstitutional.* Asked why the Senator did not even have the saavy of someone who reads the newspaper, a campaign aide disclosed that Thomposn spent much of the month at "Camp Ronnie" in California. There, Thompson practiced his sunny optimism, stern and resolute sense of right and wrong, and sundry fake cowboy skills all while studiously avoiding any analysis of the news. "We decided to keep it light." said the aide.
*Credit Tim Grieve for collecting these quotes.
Quote of the Week:
"We can win [the war] without much destruction. We're planning for a post-Saddam Iraq and believe there is a strong base to build a better future. Iraq has a good bureaucracy and relatively robust civil society." (President George W. Bush to Spain's Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar in February, 2003. During the same conversation, Bush threatened to withhold U.N Millenium aid funds to those countries opposing his invasion.)
This week, the WSJ reports that Delphi corporation asked a Bankruptcy Court for permission to pay out some $37.6 million dollars in performance bonuses to its executives. Previously, Delphi had used its status as a bankrupt company to lower the wages and benefits of its hourly workforce and renegotiate its contract with the UAW. Asked if the company was not taking a contradictory position a Delphi spokesman said, " No not really. I mean, executives feeding at the trough is an American tradition. See, you have to understand that executive compensation is like a good dog. It stays with you in good times or bad. It loves you whether you are performing well or poorly. Its attachment is unconditional. We are talking Lassie here. How you gonna take Lassie away?"
This week, questions about the personal lives of the candidates from both major parties filled the news and blogsphere. Whether it is Rudi's fruity phone call with Judi, Hillary's complicated relationship with Bill, the Edwards' cancer, or Mitt Romneys' Eisenhower era wife, American voters are enchanted by the marital relations of their leaders. Ever curious (or just bored), TWN reached out to MaryAnn Paulsen of St. Cloud,MN to find out the scoop. According to MaryAnn, " I can amuse myself for hours thinking about whether Giuliani is a good father, whether Hillary should have left Bill, or whether John Edwards needs to give up his campaign to spend time with his wife. War and healthcare leave me flat, but I have surprisingly strong opinions on other people's personal lives. "
This week, the State of Michigan remains mired in a $1 billion budget deficit that threatens to shut down state government unless state Democrats and Republicans can agree on a new and balanced budget. At present, the state's governor and its Democratic House are proposing a mix of spending cuts and tax increases. The state's Republican Senate is insisting on $1 billion in cuts to education, healthcare, infrastructure and social services with no tax increases. Said Republican Senate Majority Leader Mike Bishop, "We stand by our supply side principles. Raising taxes will kill economic growth. In fact, the state needs a tax cut to spur investment. " Bishop then went on to display his collection of vintage Milton Friedmann buttons, Laffer Curve posters, and "Kemp in '92" T-shirts. "You know,"commented Bishop in a puzzled tone, "you really can't find this stuff anymore..."
This week, Sen Fred Thompson took to the road for a series of fundraisers and campaign appearances. Within the space of ten days, Thompson publicly admitted that he did not have an opinion about 1) what to do with Osama Bin Laden, 2) how to reform social security, 3) the merits or lack of merit to a national catastrophe insurance fund , 4) the Terri Schiavo case, 5) the Jena Six and 6) a recent court ruling that the Tennessee death penalty was unconstitutional.* Asked why the Senator did not even have the saavy of someone who reads the newspaper, a campaign aide disclosed that Thomposn spent much of the month at "Camp Ronnie" in California. There, Thompson practiced his sunny optimism, stern and resolute sense of right and wrong, and sundry fake cowboy skills all while studiously avoiding any analysis of the news. "We decided to keep it light." said the aide.
*Credit Tim Grieve for collecting these quotes.
Quote of the Week:
"We can win [the war] without much destruction. We're planning for a post-Saddam Iraq and believe there is a strong base to build a better future. Iraq has a good bureaucracy and relatively robust civil society." (President George W. Bush to Spain's Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar in February, 2003. During the same conversation, Bush threatened to withhold U.N Millenium aid funds to those countries opposing his invasion.)
posted by Jack Reed at 2:44 PM
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