We are tremendously heartened by the choice of Alaska Governor Sarah Palin for Vice President, since she will lead the Republican Party's march to Socialism. Her state government ranks Number 1 in spending per capita. The State has taken into its hands a good bit of the means of production, owning $28 billion in assets, as well as $36 billion in a "Permanent Fund." They return this hoard to the People, in the form of annual checks. In 2007 it was $1,654 for every man, woman and child, of all races, colors, creeds, sexual orientations, disability, genders, and views on evolution. Free money! You don't have to work for it!! What could be better? And where does all this dough come from, you might ask? The answer is, the state government taxes the bejesus out of its oil production. Obama's pissant windfall profits tax is a pimple on the arse of the Alaskan proletarian's ability to milk the profits of his petroleum reserves. His birthright, or if you move there, his squatter's right.

I have seen the future and it works.

This is tedious, but somebody should drive a stake through the heart of this newspaper's coverage of economics, especially the Federal budget. We are provoked by Lori Montgomery's latest breathless hysteria about budget deficits, which leads to a headline attacking Obama. In fact, one of the candidate's limited number (ahem) of redeeming qualities has been a disinclination to give over to deficit delirium.

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It emerges that Paris Hilton can articulate an energy policy better than the presidential candidate of the Republican Party. My respect for her has grown in leaps and bounds, so to speak, and if she needs any more policy advice I'm totally available.

On the nuke front, somebody should ask that silly little man what he would do with nuclear waste. Nobody should be allowed to advocate more nuclear power without being obliged to disclose a plan for disposing of the inevitable waste products. Where are you going to put it, how are you going to get it there. How about Arizona? It's like proposing specific tax cuts along with non-specific spending cuts, all the while trumpeting your intention to balance the budget.

A little more arcane but in the same vein: would the tribune of free markets eliminate any subsidies for nukes, including Federal coverage of liability in the event of accidents? And how would our addle-pated conservative improve our swiss-cheese system of regulation, to guard against accidents? After all, a nuclear mishap is not quite like a toxic Jalapeno pepper.

Belated Postscript: Don't let any pseudo-economist tell you a windfall profits tax is nutty. It doesn't solve a world of problems, but there is nothing wrong with it either. See Mark Thoma, Robert Waldmann, and Andrew Leigh for details.

P.P.S. Since people are saying my portrait frightens the children, I have submitted one with a more noble aspect.

Kidding! We kid the Obama people! We kid because we love! Ha-ha. We wouldn't vote for Nader if he peed a Starbucks double shot espresso roast with syrup and ice. As for Gabby Hayes, don't even ask.

But we are concerned. You could call us the campaign concern troll. Maybe we should start our own Obama Facebook group. Some sh*t really needs to be trolled, so a trolling we will go. Merrily we troll along. The object of our disaffection tonight is one Anthony Lake, who tries to make clear that the Obama Administration will be ready to go to war with Iran, if need be. Those last three words can bring us to a world of hurt.

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When John McCain does public policy, it's not a pretty sight. Children run and hide under the bed. Women play "Gloomy Sunday" on the old Victrola. Strong men look down and spit on the ground. John is tackling the growing scarcity of fossil fuels and global warming that could exterminate the human race. What's the answer? A prize for a better car battery.

Prizes can be good, as a substitute for patents and copyrights. In return for a prize, a discovery could be put in the public domain for use by all, as that Dean Baker person has explained. Not quite that much thought has gone into the McCain idea, however.

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[Note: The following is a sign-on letter to ABC to which I was a signer. I am posting it in my slot at TPMCafe to help circulate it, not because I played a lead role in drafting it.]

We, the undersigned, deplore the conduct of ABC's George Stephanopoulos and Charles Gibson at the Democratic Presidential debate on April 16. The debate was a revolting descent into tabloid journalism and a gross disservice to Americans concerned about the great issues facing the nation and the world. This is not the first Democratic or Republican presidential debate to emphasize gotcha questions over real discussion. However, it is, so far, the worst.

For 53 minutes, we heard no question about public policy from either moderator. ABC seemed less interested in provoking serious discussion than in trying to generate cheap shot sound-bites for later rebroadcast. The questions asked by Mr. Stephanopoulos and Mr. Gibson were a disgrace, and the subsequent attempts to justify them by claiming that they reflect citizens' interest are an insult to the intelligence of those citizens and ABC's viewers. Many thousands of those viewers have already written to ABC to express their outrage.

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Now we have facts:

"More than 10 million viewers tuned into Wednesday's Democratic debate on ABC, making it the most-watched debate of the primary election season.

The debate, the first to air on a weeknight on a broadcast network, attracted an average of 10.7 million viewers between 8 and 10 p.m., according to Nielsen Media Research.

The debate topped the "reality" fare of "Deal or No Deal" on NBC and "Big Brother" on CBS during the 8 p.m. hour."

So from ABC's perspective, and certainly for George S and Charles G, the raucous, murderous, sharp-edged, animalistic idea-free style worked perfectly -- unless Nielsen also reported that many people turned off during the debate. I bet that didn't happen. Like the crowds of the ancient Coliseum, millions watched to see if vulpine George or ursine Charles would slash or bash to political death either of the two gladiators, or whether the two would otherwise finally conclude their andabatarian struggle, live, on the studio stage, with one fallen and the other triumphant.

So, blame the audience, ABC is concluding. They watched it, so they must have wanted it the way we gave it to them.

A curious noise emanates from the great Southwest (probably just the cat), the conservative blogosphere is quite sure it’s never heard of this Ted Haggard fellow, and THE BIG 3 is back to a round number! The Midterm Roundup has run out of ideas for the final sentence of its intro and there’s still 4 mornings left! Suggestions appreciated!

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A curious noise emanates from the great Southwest (probably just the cat), the conservative blogosphere is quite sure it’s never heard of this Ted Haggard fellow, and THE BIG 3 is back to a round number! The Midterm Roundup has run out of ideas for the final sentence of its intro and there’s still 4 mornings left! Suggestions appreciated!

Read more »