take your interval

Tonight’s CNN/Politico debate was hard to watch. Both Ron Paul and Mike Huckabee have to be livid. I couldn’t believe it when the director actually framed Huckabee and Paul out of the debate for several minutes on end. Apparently, the only members of the debate were McCain, Romney, and a 747.

To top it all off, the post-debate commentators pretended the ‘highlight’ of the debate was McCain and Romney ‘going at it,’ failing to mention that every ‘crackling’ exchange was preceded by specific and directed questions aimed at generating that very result. The ‘highlight’ was clearly orchestrated by CNN and was produced at the expense of discussing legitimate issues, a fact which Ron Paul was willing to point out. He described the exchanges as time wasted on the ‘technicalities’ of a foreign policy position that McCain and Romney both supported when they could have been debating something meaningful, like, as Paul suggested, interventionist versus non-interventionist foreign policy.

I also liked when Congressman Paul, asked whether or not he was qualified to ‘run the economy,’ pointed out that it wasn’t the President’s job to manage the economy in a free society, but rather that the federal role was to allow the economy to thrive through tax cuts and deregulation. I bet McCain wishes he had thought of that one (or any of the other ‘conservative’ candidates for that matter). It would have saved the captain of the ‘Straight Talk Express’ a lot of name dropping, flashbacks, and evasive maneuvers.

I felt Huckabee came off pretty well, his analogy of state governor to President was clearly stated and most of his one-liners about the censorship of himself and Paul were geniunely funny. Romney seemed like the clear winner in the war of words between he and McCain and while their childish bickering should knock them both out of the running, it will probably have more bearing on the nomination than their actual foreign policy positions.
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Here’s some scary stuff going on in the world today:

Bush Order Expands Network Monitoring -Apparently, even the government the Bush administration has demanded we put our hope for survival in can’t be trusted.

Sen. Chris Dodd speaks out against further erosion of individual rights in the US -The Senate is voting today whether or not to limit filibuster on a FISA bill that would retroactively protect telecommunication company complicity in illegal spying by the current administration. You can watch your freedoms erode live here. Hooray.

Rumsfeld wants US Propaganda Agency – I wonder if Rumsfeld would consider this too hot, too cold, or just right?

You know as well as I do that the title had to be a pun. Just be thankful I avoided the other one.

More and more, history seems to be catching up to the present, as Oliver Stone’s next project, ‘Bush,’ may find itself in theaters before its subject is out of the White House (producer Moris Borman says the script was completed before the WGA strike). Known for his dramatic, if not completely accurate, biopics and as part of the great satan, Stone plans to use key events in the President’s life to reveal the path that brought him to the Office.

While Stone’s opinion of President George Bush has been less than positive in the past, the director plans to present the current President honestly and fairly, describing his filmmaking role to Variety as a ‘referee:’

“Here, I’m the referee, and I want a fair, true portrait of the man. How did Bush go from an alcoholic bum to the most powerful figure in the world? It’s like Frank Capra territory on one hand, but I’ll also cover the demons in his private life, his bouts with his dad and his conversion to Christianity, which explains a lot of where he is coming from. It includes his belief that God personally chose him to be president of the United States, and his coming into his own with the stunning, preemptive attack on Iraq. It will contain surprises for Bush supporters and his detractors.”

While I’m a fan of Stone’s, I’m not sure how ‘fair’ it is to push the film out before the November election. The last thing this country needs is for a candidate to gain or lose votes based on their opinion of ‘Bush.’ Their opinion of Bush, on the other hand…

Josh Brolin will play the President, following career-redefining performances in Ridley Scott’s ‘American Gangster’ and the Coen brothers’ ‘No Country for Old Men.’ While I was convinced that it was his performances in ‘Planet Terror’ and ‘Grindhouse’ that landed him the role, Stone claims it was the actor’s ‘old-time movie star swagger’ that got him in. Um…Brolin, not the President.

I’m looking forward to this film, as much for its content as its creator. Then again, I wasn’t disappointed by Alexander, so my opinion doesn’t count for much.

Soon after taking second place (or better) in the Louisiana caucus, Ron Paul revealed his ‘Comprehensive Economic Revitalization Plan.’

The plan has four main points:

1. Tax reform
2. Spending reform
3. Monetary policy reform
4. Regulatory reform

As always, his tax reform plan involves words like cut, eliminate, and repeal across the board.

Paul’s spending reforms focus on reducing spending and overseas military commitments. He also wants to freeze non-defense spending at current levels.

His monetary policy reform includes the televising of Federal Reserve board meetings, which I hope happens, whether Paul gets in or not. Paul also wants to return gold and silver to circulation with the dollar, which would theoretically limit the excessive troughs and crests we have in our current business cycle, giving America a more stable economy.

Paul’s regulatory reforms involve repealing the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, which he says has drawn businesses to the UK due to the high cost of compliance with the complicated law. Paul also states that the Act also has a disproportionately high cost for small businesses. He also wants to reduce federal regulations to reinvigorate local economies (and in turn, the national) by getting more money into local banks and financial institutions. This would strengthen small businesses and empower individuals by giving them access to more capital.

What I like about Paul’s plan is that, while it has short term benefits, it is focused on long-term reform. Romney’s ‘Economic Stimulus Plan’ puts a bandaid on the economy while ignoring the infection underneath. Romney would cut taxes for individuals and businesses, allow business to expense new equipment for two years, and ‘reform and expand‘ the Federal Housing Administration to allow for larger loans to homeowners.

“The Protect America Act expires in just 10 days, yet after nearly six months of delay, Congress has still not taken the necessary action to keep our Nation safe. The terrorist threat we face does not expire on February 1. For the sake of our national security, Congress must act now to send the President a bill that keeps a critical intelligence gap permanently closed and provides meaningful liability protection for companies that may have assisted in efforts to defend America following the 9/11 attacks.”

-White House Press Secretary Dana Perino, 1/22/08

Maybe I’m missing something, but shouldn’t the expiration of the ‘Protect America Act’ (can you imagine anyone voting against the act of ‘protecting America’?) just be set to the date when the terrorist threat goes away? If we don’t know when that will be, then why have an expiration date at all? Not to mention, how did we manage to survive the first 60 years of this specific form of ‘terrorism’ without the protections of these recent acts?

Wait, why would we even want the ‘Protect America Act’ to ever go away? I want to be protected all the time, and if that means bypassing outdated ideas like due process and the Constitution, so be it. Plus, terrorists can’t destroy America if we do it first. It’s a win-win for us.

Does anyone else remember (or in my case read about) a time when the Executive branch was expected to carry out the will of Congress?