Recession

The current thinking, at least for the last 47 years, is that if the country is going into a recession, the government can mitigate the effects of the recession by putting money into the hands of consumers, who, hopefully, will spend it almost immediately.

Pump money into the economy, either by outright cash to folks, creating public works projects or extending unemployment benefits. The quicker the folks that receive the money spend it, the quicker the recession will be over.

Paul Krugman has a unique take on the economic/financial conditions in the country here. I think this paragraph is particularly appropriate:

Meanwhile, Congress and the Bush administration have reached agreement on a much-hyped stimulus package. But the package, while probably better than nothing, is unlikely to make a noticeable dent in the problem — in part because the insistence of the administration and Senate Republicans on blocking precisely the measures, such as expanded unemployment insurance and food stamps, that are most likely to be effective.

. . . .
In particular, now would be a good time to think about the possibility of going beyond tax cuts and rebate checks, and stimulating the economy with some much-needed public investment — say, in repairing the country’s crumbling infrastructure.

Perhaps, a new Dem administration in January 2009, will embrace Mr. Krugman’s ideas as a way to revitalize the economy. On the other hand, I hope this recession will be over by then.

Change of Theme

It’s so easy to do in Word Press. And I could not resist those books. Gorgeous.

James Dobson Endorses Mike Huckabee

From the Associated Press:

James Dobson, one of the nation’s most prominent evangelical Christian leaders, backed Mike Huckabee‘s presidential bid Thursday night, giving the former Arkansas governor a long-sought endorsement as the Republican field narrowed to a two-man race.

In a statement first obtained by The Associated Press, Dobson reiterated his declaration on Super Tuesday that he could not in good conscience vote for John McCain, the front-runner, because of concerns over the Arizona senator’s conservative credentials.

Dobson said given the situation at that point, he was reluctant to choose between “two pro-family candidates whom I could support” — Huckabee and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney.

But Dobson wrote that Romney’s announcement Thursday that he was suspending his campaign “changed the political landscape.”

“The remaining candidate for whom I could vote is Governor Huckabee,” Dobson said. “His unwavering positions on the social issues, notably the institution of marriage, the importance of faith and the sanctity of human life, resonate deeply with me and with many others … Obviously, the governor faces an uphill struggle, given the delegates already committed to Senator McCain. Nevertheless, I believe he is our best remaining choice for president of the United States.”

McCain has won more than 707 nominating delegates, more than half the 1,191 needed to win the nomination. Huckabee has 195.

Dobson is a fool, on top of being a Christian fascist.

Pam thinks that Dobson may be sending a message to the guy who will be the Republican nominee: “Folks, this pretty much signals that Dobson wants Huck on the ticket. Will McCain kneel before Daddy D?”

Michael Stickings thinks the Dobson stamp of approval will help Huckabee, although not enough to get the nomination:

Huckabee will almost certainly get a boost from this, just as he’ll get a boost from Romney’s withdrawal. But it won’t matter. Huckabee may be a social conservative, but he isn’t what the anti-McCain purificationists of the conservative movement are looking for. While he could make some races more competitive, it’s doubtful he’ll stay in the race much longer.

Mukasey on Waterboarding: No, I Will NOT Uphold the Law

Thursday’s torture news:

Waterboarding is necessary though probably not legal, CIA Director Michael Hayden told Congress Thursday as Attorney General Michael Mukasey said he would not open a criminal investigation into the CIA’s use of the technique.

Strapping a person to a surface, covering their face with cloth and pouring water on their face to imitate the sensation of drowning could be used if “an unlawful combatant is possessing information that would help us prevent catastrophic loss of life of Americans or their allies,” said Hayden.

“In my own view, the view of my lawyers and the Department of Justice, it is not certain that that technique would be considered lawful under current statute,” he told the House Intelligence Committee after publicly disclosing that the CIA had used waterboarding on three of the enemy combatants.

Nevertheless, Attorney General Michael Mukasey told Congress, also today:

House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers asked Mukasey bluntly whether he was starting a criminal investigation since Hayden confirmed the use of waterboarding.

“No, I am not, for this reason: Whatever was done as part of a CIA program at the time that it was done was the subject of a Department of Justice opinion through the Office of Legal Counsel and was found to be permissible under the law as it existed then,” he said.

Mukasey said opening an investigation would send a message that Justice Department opinions are subject to change.

“Essentially it would tell people, ‘You rely on a Justice Department opinion as part of a program, then you will be subject to criminal investigations … if the tenure of the person who wrote the opinion changes or indeed the political winds change,'” he said. “And that’s not something that I think would be appropriate and it’s not something I will do.”

One of Mukasey’s mentors (and of his boss as well), Pol Pot, used waterboarding to torture prisoners during the Khmer Rouge regime. One of the Khmer Rouge’s surviving victims painted a picture of a prisoner being tortured with waterboarding.

Are they proud to be in that number?

We’re Looking Through You, Mitt

I left out of my Romney Roundup this great comment from Justin Gardner, about the Romney speech:

If Mitt keeps going, the terrorists could win…and he just can’t do that to this country. See you in 2012 Mitt. By the way, we’ll still be “at war” then too.

I love it. Ain’t it the truth.

Romney Roundup

Callimachus does an excellent point-by-point of Romney’s speech. I love this line: “Nothing makes me feel more like a liberal than listening to someone try to talk like a conservative built from a kit.”

Shaun Mullen is thinking along the same lines:

The former Massachusetts governor is the latest Republican wannabe to learn [the] hard way, as did Rudy Giuliani, that being a liberal or moderate in conservative drag not only is a bad fit but doesn’t fool anyone in the ideologically rare air of GOP politics.

Obviously, with Romney out, the road to the Republican nomination is paved with John McCain campaign posters. Jon Swift has some advice for conservatives who are looking for someone — anyone — to save them from McCain:

… If we are forced to make a choice between McCain and Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama, what should conservatives do? John McCain’s mother has said that conservatives should just hold their noses and vote for McCain and one company has introduced John McCain noseplugs to make it a little easier. Michelle Malkin is trying to rally her troops to vote for conservatives farther down the ballot in the hopes that someday one of these conservatives can be groomed to run for President, but many conservatives will probably be too deflated to summon the energy to get out of the house on election day.

Instead of voting to make things not quite as bad as they could be, however, a better strategy for conservatives would be to make things as bad as they possibly could be. One of the things we learned in Vietnam is that sometimes you have to destroy the village in order to save it. And the only way to save this country and the Republican Party at this point may be to destroy them. Though John McCain would destroy this country, he might not destroy it enough. So some patriotic conservatives have decided to become “suicide voters,” pulling the lever for Clinton or Obama instead of McCain. I think this is a good plan and, taking a page from Malkin, conservatives should also vote for the most liberal candidates they can find in every contest in November. Let’s hand over the entire government to the liberals and then see how the American people like it. …

Jon, I think that’s called a sucker bet.

Dave Schuler parses “suspending”:

Although both Mitt Romney and John Edwards have announced that they have “suspended” their campaigns, the statement means different things in the Republican and Democratic parties.

In the Republican Party when a candidate suspends his or her campaign, the state parties decide how to allocate the delegates that have been pledged to the candidate as a result of the primary or caucus process.

In the Democratic Party when a candidate suspends his or her campaign, the candidate remains a candidate and the delegates pledged to him or her through the primary or caucus process remain pledged to the candidate.

Mark Kleiman has changed his mind about Romney’s inconsistency:

I’ve been saying all along that Mitt Romney would be my preferred Republican candidate not only because he would be most likely to lose but also because (against admittedly weak competition) he’s the most fit of the Republican candidates to actually be President. He’s clearly smart and a quick study, he’s run a substantial-sized organization successfully, and — best of all, I thought — he doesn’t actually believe anything.

That was my inference from the fact that everything he says he believes now contradicts everything he said he believed while running for Governor of Massachusetts.

But Romney’s concession statement gives me pause. He’s no longer running for President, unless he imagines that he could come back in 2012. And yet lots of what he says is no less batsh*t crazy than his campaign so far[.] …

The Straight Talk Express derailed at CPAC.

More from Maha on why we can’t all just get along.