Why Aren't You a Democrat

Someone recently asked me "If you hate Republicans so much, (and I truly do despise them) how come you don't vote Democratic? That's how you really hurt them."

Well, that's true. If the point was to simply hurt the Republicans, the only other viable option is to vote for a Democrat. But I just can't. For reasons such as this detail about the current crisis on Wall Street:

A majority of House Democrats did back the bill, in spite of their doubts about plans which appear to be rescuing irresponsible banks, rather than the customers they are throwing out of their re-possessed homes.

Look, everybody knows that some sort of compromise will be made on this thing. But to give the FIRST FUCKING DRAFT a yes vote is totally irresponsible.

The American public is vociferously against this thing. Isn't it even "politically" smart to do a few rounds on this subject? Make it get re-written a few times? If it's such an "essential" piece of legislation, isn't that an opportunity to get something you want in return?

But to favor such a piece of shit legislation lacking in oversight and accountability, well it's simply gutless. And I cannot support a party that is both gutless and stupid.

So I vote Libertarian. And Libertarians are picking up steam. Mostly from Republicans who fuck up and attempt to grab power for themselves, resulting in big government douchebaggery and right-wing lunacy. But this isn't a shock from the GOP, their fuck-ups are extremely predictable. They alienate more normal people every time they expose one of their extreme nutjobs. I can't really put it better than ScurvyDog does:

I could almost overlook all that bad crap ya'll don't like to talk about publicly much (you know, the rampant racism, sucking the blood of the poor and middle class, and all the weird Old Testament close-mindedness about abortion and gay marriage) and call myself a Republican. Almost.

It probably won't happen in my lifetime, and I don't really care. But someday people are going to wake up and notice that there is a small government, liberty first, fiscally responsible, America loving party out there. And when it happens, those people are going to say "where have you been all this time?."

We're here. Look harder.

1000 words about Henry Paulson and Ben Bernake

Dear twitterer

I don't give a fuck what you're eating or what you're listening to.

That is all.

Economists surveyed on election

Survey of Economists Democratic Economists Favor Obama. Republican Economists Favor McCain. Independents Lean Toward Obama.


Dublin, CA (September 10, 2008) – A wealthy independent voter commissioned a survey of over 500 economists to find out which candidate for President of the United States would be best for the economy long term.

The voter said, “I found myself wishing someone would give voters useful and unbiased information about which candidate has the best plans for the economy. Then I realized that I am someone, which is both inconvenient and expensive.”

At considerable personal expense, Adams commissioned a survey of over 500 economists, drawn from a subset of the members of the American Economic Association, a non-political group, some of whose members had agreed in advance to be surveyed on economic questions. The results do not represent the AEA’s position. The survey was managed by The OSR Group, a respected national public opinion and marketing research company.

Nationally, most economists are male and registered as either Democrats or Independents. The survey sample reflects that imbalance.


48% Democrats

17% Republicans

27% Independents

3% Libertarian
5% Other or not registered

86% of the economists surveyed are male, and 65% work in the field of academia or education. The rest are spread across various industries or not working.

When asked which candidate for President would be best for the economy in the long run, not surprisingly, 88% of Democratic economists think Obama would be best, while 80% of Republican economists pick McCain. Independent economists, who in this sample are largely from the academic world, lean toward Obama by 46% compared to 39% for McCain. Overall, 59% of the economists say Obama would be best for the economy long term, with 31% picking McCain, and 8% saying there would be no difference.

The economists were asked to rank the most important economic issues and pick which candidate they thought would do the best job on those issues.
Rank Issues Obama McCain No Diff.

1 Education 59% 14% 27%


2 Health care 65% 20% 15%


3 International trade 26% 51% 23%


4 Energy 61% 22% 17%


5 Encouraging Technology/innovation 43% 23% 34%


6 Wars and homeland security 58% 30% 11%


7 Mortgage/housing crisis 41% 18% 41%


8 Social Security 40% 24% 35%


9 Environmental policy 72% 9% 19%


10 Reducing the deficit 37% 29% 33%


11 Immigration 33% 29% 38%


12 Increasing taxes on wealthy 79% 14% 7%


13 Reducing waste in government 16% 38% 46%


The economists in the survey favor Obama on 11 of the top 13 issues. But keep in mind that 48% are Democrats and only 17% are Republicans. Among Independents, things are less clear, with 54% thinking that in the long run there would either be no difference between the candidates or McCain would do better.

Voter puts the survey results in perspective: “If an economist uses a complicated model to predict just about anything, you can ignore it. By analogy, a doctor can’t tell you the exact date of your death in 50 years. But if a doctor tells you to eat less and exercise more, that’s good advice even if you later get hit by a bus. Along those same lines, economists can give useful general advice on the economy, even if you know there will be surprises. Still, be skeptical.”


Update: Some of you will wonder how reliable a bunch of academics are when it comes to answering real life questions about the economy. You might prefer to know what CEOs think. But remember that CEOs are paid to be advocates for their stockholders, not advocates for voters. Asking CEOs what should be done about the economy is like asking criminals for legal advice.

Stewie on MySpace

Stewie: So I'm shaving last night at this make-out party. I took a bunch of pictures. You can see'em on my MySpace page. Along with my favorite songs and movies and things that other people have created but that I use to express my individualism.

Girl sitting at table: I have a MySpace page too.

Stewie: Yeah, I have mine ironically.

Sweet!

Virginia was the last state in America to legalize personalized license plates, but at least they were only ten bucks, so lots of people got them, and some of them are very creative...