While I generally dislike stupid humor, I admit that I had to laugh at JibJab's new 2008 election video. My favorite part, hands down, is Obama riding through the enchanted forest on a unicorn singing "the change we must change to the change we hold so dear. I really like change have I made myself clear?" I about lost it. Hahahaha.
And then he knocks over poor Hillary Clinton. Oh, satire.
Today is the long anticipated Pennsylvania primaries. As ours are closed, Republicans can only vote in Republican primaries and Democrats can only vote in Democrat primaries. That stinks. I am Hillary supporter. Yes, there I said it. I am a self-professed conservative-minded individual and I like a Clinton. Slug me if you will.
I'm routing for Hillary today and I hope she takes my home state.
“It’s not enough to say, ‘Yes we can,’ ” Mrs. Clinton said, seizing on the motto of her rival’s campaign. “We have to say how we can.”Thank you. Enough said.
I like the idea of a nonpartisan political fact-checker. Awhile ago I saw a news clip about fact-checking headquarters operated by specific political parties, and their claims can get messy pretty quickly. Something about the dirt these affiliated organizations dig up seems questionable to me. An independent watchdog appears to be more credible in these situations, one like FactCheck. They say:
We are a nonpartisan, nonprofit, "consumer advocate" for voters that aims to reduce the level of deception and confusion in U.S. politics. We monitor the factual accuracy of what is said by major U.S. political players in the form of TV ads, debates, speeches, interviews, and news releases. Our goal is to apply the best practices of both journalism and scholarship, and to increase public knowledge and understanding.
I am tempted to go on a digression about a certain presidential candidate that I dislike, but I will keep my mouth shut. You can read what you will at FactCheck about this one (and others) for yourself.
The Electoral Compass uses scientific methods to position YOU on the political graph and compare your stances with the candidates running for the 2008 presidential election. There is a wealth of information within these interactive results. You can see the breakdown of each candidate on each issue from gun control to immigration and where your position compares as well.
My results? Most Like Ron Paul. Least Like Barak Obama. Interesting. Interesting, to say the least.
Ever since Huckabee was on Jay Leno's first show back despite the writers strike and explained his "Fair Tax" plan to America I've written him off my list of plausible presidential candidates. That is a horrible idea and the NY Times agrees with me, as does every sound economist out there. Here's a link to Huckabee's explanation of it if you haven't been keeping up with the political scene. 
Some insist that no income tax sounds like heaven (and believe me I'm a conservative so I dislike burgeoning governments), but come on now. Who is going to suffer from this wacky idea to tax almost 30% on every purchase? Middle to lower America, that's right. Reverting back to a flat taxation system is preposterous. Let me reference Megan McArdle, Kriston Capps, and Matthew Yglesias as a few among the many economist bloggers who scoff at the fairness of the fair tax.
And on Clinton winning the New Hampshire primary for the democrats... I expected it anyway. I'm telling you, my prognostication is that she will win the next presidency. I've been calling this ever since about 2002.
