Warren Buffett, telling it like it is to Tom Brokaw: The taxation system has tilted towards the rich and away from the middle class in the last ten years. It's dramatic, and I don't think it's appreciated. And I think...
When I heard about the earthquake out in San Francisco this morning, the first thing I thought was "What role did Al Qaeda play in triggering the earthquake?" In their coverage of the SoCal wildfires, our good friends at Fox...
So, not only did we find out that the initial State Department report on the killing of 17 Iraqi civilians at the hands of Blackwater guards was drafted only on the words of the guards themselves, now we find out...
There's a lot in this Harold Ford interview that drives me insane, but I am going to focus on Ford's answer to the very first question and how it is an abject lesson in how NOT to respond to a...
Please excuse the mess as we move POLJUNK to a new server. You may notice some functionality not working and some formatting a bit askew as well. Fear not, we're not under attack. We're simply moving all Glorious Noise properties...
I don't know if he's playing to the file sharing community or if he just actually understands the importance of the issue—it's hard to believe any politician gets how crucial this is, but the Senator from Illinois is not just...
A bipartisan group, led by Representative Walter B. Jones (R-NC), has introduced an amendment to the 1973 War Powers Act that aims to reassert the Congress's role in declaring war. Jones on the bill and why it's needed: This bill...
As part of his supplemental war funding request - the one where he asks for another $46 billion for the occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan - Bush is demanding $1.4 billion for fighting the drug wars in Mexico and Central...
It's insane for any progressively-minded person to support Ron Paul's campaign since he hails from the libertarian wing of the GOP, but it's pretty clear why he's resonated with a growing segment of the politically aware on both sides of...
In July, I posted on a piece in the Christian Science Monitor that said about 90% of the guns used by Mexican drug cartels come from the U.S. A commenter questioned that number, and asked where it came from. Not...
In a New York Times piece on his new record, Chrome Dreams II, Neil introduces his plan to drive his custom hybrid car across the country: The car is a 1959 Lincoln Continental Mark IV, a 19-foot, two-ton behemoth. It...
On Thursday, Charlie Rangel (D-NY) introduced a bill that calls for the most significant overhaul to the tax system in decades. In general, the taxes paid by people making more than $200,000 would go up, and would go down or...
They'd rather see a carbon tax than a cap and trade system: Economists agree that the real cost of burning fossil fuels – damage to the environment and health, not to mention the cost of replacing them as they run...
From a hot off the press AP article: The government projects that at least 36 states will face water shortages within five years because of a combination of rising temperatures, drought, population growth, urban sprawl, waste and excess. "Is it...
No, I'm not talking about those lovable blonde brothers and their saccharine pop trio, Hanson. I'm talking about James Hansen, who runs the Goddard Institute for Space Studies, and is one of the foremost experts on global warming in the...
My hometown, Ann Arbor, MI, will be putting 15 electric-diesel hybrid buses on the road by the end of October, and plans to add another 5 by March 2008. The long term goal is to replace all 69 Ann Arbor...
From a Guardian piece, "Cannabis use down since legal change": Gordon Brown's plans to tighten the law on cannabis by increasing the penalties for possession suffered a fresh blow yesterday as the latest official figures showed the decision to downgrade...
On "Comment is free", the Guardian's new "group blog", Francis Fukuyama has posted A self-defeating hegemony, on the topic of anti-Americanism around the world. Fukuyama once was a beacon among neoconservatives, and urged both Clinton and Bush to invade Iraq...
You can add "conflicts over water" to the list of resource driven conflicts to expect in the future. And it won't be just country vs. country. At least here in the U.S., it will be state vs. state. According to...
OK, they didn't exactly admit they are douche bags. But they did change their story on editing the CDC testimony on global warming. First, they said they didn't do it. Now, they're saying they did do it, but only because...
This White House has no shame. I'm sure that's not news to any of our POLJUNK readers. Or pretty much any other American. But here's something else to add to your list of censorship of science by the Bush administration....
Remember way back in the early days of the Bush administration when we all got a check for $300? Man, that was awesome. I spent mine on credit card bills and a great night of cheap beer. But that was...
EFF: Tell Your Representative to Say No to Telecom Immunity This past Wednesday, the Administration's allies resorted to procedural gimmicks and fear-mongering to prevent the House from voting on the RESTORE Act, which would significantly repair much of the damage...
When I heard about the September Washington Post-ABC News poll that found only 1% of Americans see global warming as their number 1 issue for the 2008 elections, I was a bit depressed. I was reminded of it while reading...
Can't they take a debate break? Salon gives the blow by blow to tonight's Republican debate: 45 minutes. Romney rides the Hillary hatred. "She hasn't run a corner store. She hasn't run a state. She hasn't run a city. She...
James Hansen runs NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies. One of the key objectives of the institute is to research and attempt to predict global climate change. An authority on climate science, Hansen has become a prominent voice on the...
The farm bill that's going to come out of the Senate Agriculture Committee is not going to be as progressive as Tom Harkin (D-IA), the committee chairman, had hoped it was going to be. He and Senator Charles Grassley -...
The editorial board at the New York Times has launched a blog called The Board. Which brings the total of NYT sponsored blogs to 856. Or something like that. The NYT editorial board is the best in the country. I'm...
Mitch McConnell (R-KY), the Republican Minority Leader in the Senate, has stepped in it this time. Remember the S-CHIP bill that passed the Senate and House with substantial majorities? The one that the monkey in the White House vetoed, even...
Way back when, I took some history classes at a community college in Michigan to shore up my general ed. credits. I had an instructor there named Mr. Schlosser who was so great that I took two more of his...
I don't know if Senator Larry Craig is gay or not. I know he's said he's not gay about 120 times since his arrest for soliciting sex in a men's bathroom in Minneapolis this summer. I also know this dude...
Tonight, PBS stations will be airing a new Frontline documentary called Cheney's Law. It's all about Cheney's efforts over the past 30 years to grant king like powers to the presidency - the kinds of powers that the founders were...
It's not often we have an occasion here to praise President Bush, but fair is fair and we should acknowledge when the President does make the right decision. This week, President Bush hosted the Dalai Lama in his personal residence...
It's showing up all over the place, so why not post the video clip were Rudy denies (sort of) being a Republican? In 1996, Rudy Giuliani was interviewed by Charlie Rose. In that interview, he tries to explain how he's...
From the WTF file, Dick Cheney's wife claims the VP and Barrack Obama are related. When MSNBC's Norah O'Donnell asked Cheney whether she thought America was ready for a woman president, she dropped this bomb: One of the things I...
12 former U.S. Army captains - all of whom did tours of duty in Iraq - argue in today's Washington Post that unless the country is willing to support a draft, it's time to get out of Iraq. Now: There...
When Gore was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize last week (along with the IPCC), I knew conservatives wouldn't be dancing in the street and sending fruit baskets to the Vice President. But I'll have to admit, I was a bit...
This past weekend, the New York Times ran an article entitled "Could Afghan Poppies Be Painkillers for the Poor?" Those crazy potheads... what will they think of next? An excerpt: [R]ather than trying to eradicate Afghanistan's poppies, why not instead...
In today's New York Times, Paul Krugman tackles why the right has gone batty over Gore's Nobel Peace prize: They hate that he keeps being right, despite their best efforts to smear him. Also, some good comments on why the...
Despite getting the cold shoulder from the national SEIU, John Edwards has picked up the endorsements from ten state chapters, which represent about half the total membership. The national leadership's decision not to endorse a candidate was seen as a...
I am betting the name Larry Craig elicits more boos and hisses among the GOP leadership these days than that of either Clinton. This dude is KILLING them and there's not a thing they can do about it. Of the...
According to a recent Associated Press article, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Defense Secretary Robert Gates were in Russia on Friday to discuss a missile defense system in eastern Europe. The Americans received a less-than-warm welcome since the...
The Anti-Defamation League came out with a statement on Friday, addressing Ann Coulter's assertion that she and other Christians "just want Jews to be perfected." From the statement: Coulter's remarks are outrageous, offensive and a throwback to the centuries-old teaching...
While the Republican candidates for president trip all over themselves trying to demonstrate who is more Reaganesque, I think it's worth noting one of the major legacies of the Reagan era: almost $9 trillion dollars in national debt. Before Mr....
The best thing to do with people like Ann Coulter is to ignore them and not give them any credibility by repeating the ignorant blather that they projectile vomit over the airwaves. But sometimes, these comments are just too rich...
As people have been speculating and expecting, Al Gore was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize today. He shares the award with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), a United Nations committee of over 2,000 scientists around the globe that...
TV Guide, of all places, has a brief interview with Chris Matthews, where he elaborates a bit more on his comments at last week's Hardball 10th anniversary party: TVGUIDE.COM: You caused a stir with some remarks you made at the...
If you have yet to be tazed by an officer of the law - or even a fellow citizen, in states that allow "regular" folks to own and use tasers - or haven't yet tazed a fellow American, don't worry....
Jimmy Carter was on The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer last night. He did not shirk his responsibility to condemn the use of torture by the Bush administration, nor was he afraid to call President Bush a liar: BLITZER: President...
Keith Olbermann continues to doggedly pursue the lawlessness of the Bush administration on his show. Countdown is generally a great show, and I hope i's nightly viewer ship will grow well past a million (currently an average of 750,000). Last...
Here's just another reason I hope Barack Obama is our next president: Joe Romm, one of the foremost thinkers on global warming, gives a big ol' thumbs up to Obama's energy and climate plan. Some of the things Romm highlights:...
Robert Reich, Secretary of Labor under Bill Clinton, agrees with us on the need to eliminate farm subsidies: I've got a way to reduce global poverty, decrease the number of workers crossing our borders illegally, save American taxpayers money, and...
This time, it's two Armenian Orthodox Christian women in a white Oldsmobile who didn't heed a "warning shot" from a security contractor. A Washington Post article quotes an Iraqi police officer: "A vehicle got close to them and they opened...
You may not know who Neal Katyal is, but any lawyer worth his or her salt should. A Yale Law graduate who once clerked for Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer, he is a professor at Georgetown Law, and last year...
This is cold. The Service Employees International Union, a fast growing service workers union that has long been lovey with Democratic Presidential candidate John Edwards, decided against endorsing anyone in the race to the White House—at least for now. Edwards...
Great commentary from Thomas Friedman this past Sunday on the White House response to a Democrat's suggestion that a tax be levied to pay for the Iraq War: Every so often a quote comes out of the Bush administration that...
If you follow politics at all, you probably know now that Senator Larry Craig (R-ID) has decided to serve out his term, despite his pledge that he would resign by the end of September. Republicans, of course, are apoplectic about...
Even Chris Matthews is fed up with the Bush administration. Last night, at a party celebrating 10 years of Hardball, Matthews had some not so nice things to say about the Bush administration. He even went so far as to...
I don't really watch SNL much anymore, but when I catch it, I like the stuff that Andy Samberg does. Last Saturday night, he did a short on the recent NYC visit by Iran's president. Sad to say, but it's...
It's been hinted at since the earliest days of the Giuliani campaign: Rudy can't carry social conservatives. The multiple-married, pro-gay, anti-gun ex-Mayor of New York City (NEW YORK CITY!?!?!) simply cannot galvanize the support of the oh-so-important religious right to...
We recently noted that Christopher Hitchens thinks Gore will win the Nobel next week. More folks (did I just say "folks"?) are thinking the same thing: "I think [Gore and Canadian Inuit activist Sheila Watt-Cloutier] are likely winners this year,"...
[Ed - I wrote this post yesterday, but due to some technical difficulties we had, was unable to post it. Here it is, better late than never...] Whenever you think the Bush administration can't stoop any lower, can't possibly demonstrate...
People have been predicting at least as far back as April that Senator Pete Domenici (R-NM) would retire in 2008. Word on the street now is that he is. He's supposed to announce officially tomorrow. You know what might be...
If you haven't heard by now, the Bush Administration has been outsourcing work that used to be performed by uniformed American military personnel to a private outfit called Blackwater. It is important to note that, as a private company, Blackwater's...
Gotta love this. A state legislator in Ohio is giving a lecture on how a bill becomes a law (hasn't anyone heard of School House Rock???) and up pops a nudie picture of some gal showing her tatas. Looks like...
Is Joseph Heller now conducting this war? Seriously, this shit is taking on some surreal dynamics. Today, the New York Daily News reports that the investigators "will be protected by bodyguards from the very same firm" that they are investigating....
Can I speculate for a minute here? I think you'll find this Daily Show clip a tad bit funny... or, your head might explode, raining down flecks of brain matter on your fellow cube mates. You decide:...
Rolling Stone may be all but irrelevant in the music world but it's political reporting is still pretty hot. In fact, I wish Wenner would just launch a new poltical imprint so I can get all the Taibbi, O'Rourke and...
As expected, President Bush has vetoed legislation that would expand healthcare funding and coverage for uninsured children in this country. Since Bush came to office, the number of uninsured Americans has increased from 40 million to 47 million. Now that's...
This summer has been filled with news about the subprime meltdown, the resulting market movements, and the inevitable recession that will result from the disintegration of the housing boom. We're seeing the country's housing stock drop in total value for...
Exposing fathead as the pussy he is, a wounded Iraq war veteran tells Rush Limbaugh, "until you have the guts to call me a phony solider to my face, stop telling lies about my service." The gall of these chickenhawks...
Last week I watched with bemusement as Hardball's Chris Matthews and his gang of political "Hardballers" practically came unglued at the prospect of Barack Obama attacking Hillary Clinton in the latest of what seems like a never-ending number of debates....
You wouldn't know it by some of the votes that have actually taken place in congress lately, but there are some very important issues facing this country that we'd like our elected representatives in congress to address. Among the many...
When Fred Thompson spent his summer tickling the asses of conservatives begging for a savior for the Republican presidential field, most politicos figured he'd come out of the gate with some impressive campaign dollars that would make up for the...
Well, it's official now: Barack Obama raised $20 million dollars in the third quarter. We're still waiting on numbers from the Clinton camp, but the word on the street is that her numbers will be comparable. Still, it seems like...
As I blogged here recently, I've been devouring Joe Romm's book Hell and High Water. If you'll recall, I listed what Romm considers the top things we can do to reduce global warming. First and foremost, he says the rest...
That's what Debra Cagan, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Coalition Affairs to Defense Secretary Robert Gates, had to say to a group of British Members of Parliament when they were visiting the Pentagon last month. Which is quite comforting. I'm glad...
