Attentive readers may have noticed that we took the site off-line on Thanksgiving Day and have not posted subsequently. Actually, the problem with our wireless Internet provider was resolved shortly after Thanksgiving, but a number of other problems have beset Party of 1.
Without going into details that would not be of interest to most readers, suffice it to say that, shortly after our launch on October 20, Party of 1 was beset by a maelstrom of unanticipated personal and financial issues. The good news is that, although briefly it appeared that the suspension of the website might have to be permanent, it now appears that we may be able to relaunch the site in a period of a few weeks or months. The situation has been changing rapidly, but it now appears that the relaunch may occur sometime in the spring of 2009.
Watch this space….
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The Christian Science Monitor reports on demographic trends that may end up flipping Texas from red to blue.
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Steven Pearlstein in the Washington Post: “Nixon’s Keynesian conversion, however, looks positively quaint compared with the fiscal and monetary stimulus that is about to be brought to bear on the U.S. and global economy. I doubt even Keynes himself could have imagined the scale and scope of what’s ahead…. The scale and scope of this intervention is breathtaking, is totally without precedent and certainly puts the lie to those who complain that there has been a lack of urgency in Washington in response to the crisis.”
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The Bush White House is attempting to rally its allies at the last minute to fight regulation of greenhouse-gas emissions, reports Juliet Eilperin in the Washington Post.
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Nicole Hemmer of the Miller Center at the University of Virginia writes in the Christian Science Monitor in opposition to the idea of reviving the Fairness Doctrine. “Do we really want government monitoring broadcasts, weighing their politics, and pushing program remedies? The doctrine died in the 1980s because it was seen as a muzzle on controversial broadcasting. It would do well to stay dead.”
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The Christian Science Monitor reports on the difficulties and fears faced by residents of Warren, Michigan. The paper spoke to a UAW local president who responded to public opinion surveys indicating that a majority of the public opposes bailing out GM.
“‘I hate that the public believes we don’t earn what we make,’ she says, adding that the fights the UAW has won have helped improve conditions for all workers. ‘This work is grueling on your body. I wish they could stand in our shoes just one day.’”
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Steven Mufson reports for the Washington Post on the difficulties faced by automobile manufacturers in making hybrid vehicles profitable. Much depends on what sort of regime is established regarding fuel prices. Will the Chevrolet Volt be a success? “What’s the Volt going to cost? I would be happy to answer that if you can tell me the price of oil in 2010,” says a GM executive.
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Financier George Soros has given an interview to Frankfurt’s Der Spiegel. Excerpts:
“I find the present situation dramatic and overwhelming. In my latest book ‘The New Paradigm for Financial Markets: The Credit Crisis of 2008′ I predicted the worst financial crisis since the 1930s. But to tell you the truth: I did not actually anticipate that it would get as bad as it did. It has gone beyond my wildest imagination.
“I think that the dark comes before dawn. The financial markets are under great pressure because of the lack of leadership during the transition period. In the next two months, the markets will experience maximum pressure. Then we will see some initiatives from the Obama administration. How long the crisis lasts will depend on the success of these measures.
“I am against market fundamentalism. I think this propaganda that government involvement is always bad has been very successful — but also very harmful to our society.
“The most rotten part of the financial system in the US consisted of the government sponsored entities, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. They really kicked off this crisis. The state should set the rules and enforce them — but not become involved as a market player.
“I always play by the rules. At the same time, I try to improve the rules. In so doing I often suggest changes from which I would not personally benefit. I have the common interest at heart, not my personal interest.
“The big events in which I participated would have occurred whether I took part in them or not. For example, whether I had been born or not, the British pound would have been forced out of the European Exchange Rate Mechanism in 1992….”
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The economic downturn is leaving many shopping malls with vacant spaces, according to the Los Angeles Times. A business professor at USC says: “The worst thing for a retail center is to have a lot of dark stores…. There is a domino effect.” Furthermore — “A bad situation threatens to get worse after the holidays,” reports the paper.
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The Christian Science Monitor editorial board finds that there are indeed some things to be thankful for, even at what it describes as “A Dickens of a Thanksgiving.”
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Virginia has had the reputation of being a hardline state on the immigration issue, but the Washington Post reports this may be changing. “Those on both sides of the issue say interest in immigration has waned because of the growing economic crisis, a clearer understanding of the state’s limitations on a largely federal issue and backlash at the voting booth…. More recently, immigration turned out to be a less popular election issue than some lawmakers had hoped. As a result, state officials appear to be shifting their focus from fighting illegal immigration to assimilating the ever-growing population of legal immigrants.”
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Politicians such as Jack Kemp and J. C. Watts have spoken for years of the need of the Republican Party to reach out to people of color, but I understand that “hard asses” within the party have insisted for the past few decades that since the GOP has had such a lock on the white vote, they do not need the votes of African-Americans or any other minority group.
Now that the party is going to a period of reassessment after the election, the Washington Post relates the story of a young man who attempted to start a College Republicans chapter at Grambling State University. “In 2003, he wrote an open letter to the party after it was disclosed that in 1999, a newsletter published by the then-vice chairman of the California Republican Party had carried an essay suggesting that the country would have been better off if the South had won the Civil War….”
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Settle down and take a deep breath, things are not as bad as 1929 — at least not according to Daniel Gross at online magazine Slate.
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Are Hispanics demanding open borders? Not according to Ruben Navarrette Jr.: “As for the thorny immigration issue, contrary to what many conservatives assume, it’s not that Hispanics want an open border. They don’t. Most Hispanics recognize that the United States has the responsibility to protect its sovereignty. They don’t like the idea of building more walls and fences, but most of them have no problem with adding more Border Patrol agents and giving them the best equipment to do their jobs. What Hispanics object to is the tone of the debate. They’ve had their fill of ugliness, racism, hypocrisy and falsehoods spread by opportunistic politicians offering nothing more than simplistic solutions and overheated rhetoric.”
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Mike Huckabee says the Republicans can’t afford to ignore “values voters.”
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Michael Lewis in Condé Nast Portfolio explains how the origins of today’s credit and finance crisis can be traced back to the 1980s.
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The Federalist Society expects its influence to wane during the Obama administration, reports Robert Barnes of the Washington Post.
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David Brooks of the New York Times was in a jovial mood yesterday at a panel discussion sponsored by the National Review Institute. “When I really love someone, I call them a fatal cancer on the Republican Party. And sitting to my left are five fatal cancers.”
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USA Today reports that Americans’ driving habits seem to have changed, in spite of lower gas prices in recent weeks.
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Progressive bloggers are upset with the President-elect because of his conciliatory stance toward Joe Lieberman, among other things.
An unidentified progressive blogger stated: “When it comes to the netroots, Barack Obama has the long arm-short arm syndrome. He has taken much from us in terms of support, voice, momentum, money, footwork and energy…. Obama has given little, if anything, in return to the netroots. Unless you count disdain and scorn….”
The report seems to be based upon a fairly extensive set of interviews with progressive bloggers, named and unnamed. But, since it comes from the Washington Times, many will take it with a grain of salt….
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