How Much Worse Things Would Be Without The Obama Stimulus

Dylan Matthews at the Washington Post shows how much worse the job picture would be had there not been a stimulus plan.

The blue line is the actual unemployment rate, the red is unemployment without the stimulus under the CBO’s lower estimate of the stimulus’ effectiveness, and the yellow is unemployment without the stimulus under the CBO’s higher estimate:

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An Agency Whose Slogan Was ‘Drill Baby Drill’

by Stuart Shapiro

It’s a long read, but the expose in yesterday’s Washington Post on the sad life of the Minerals Management Service (MMS) is well worth it.  Lots of choice quotes, but here is one of my favorites:

MMS has adopted at least 78 industry-generated standards as federal regulations, American Petroleum Institute records show.

MMS’s acquiescence stemmed from the unusual relationship it had cultivated with industry. Directed by law to “meet the nation’s energy needs,” the agency pursued that mission by declaring itself publicly and formally as industry’s partner.

An agency’s creation sets it on a path that usually …

Unholy Alliance: Radical Islam And The American Left

by Gabe Berman
Gabe is the author of Live Like a Fruit Fly

As Seen in the Bookstore…

According to this book, the political Left in this country are in bed with the terrorists and view America as the “Great Satan.”

I guess it’s possible. Who’s to know for sure? Maybe Barack Hussein Obama wasn’t born in the good ol’ USofA. Maybe he’s the Manchurian Candidate. Maybe Elvis is still alive and lives in an ashram in India. Maybe we faked the moon landing. Maybe monkeys will fly out of my…well, you get the point.

There is one thing I know …

New York Muslim Cabbie Attack Victim: “I Never Felt This Hopeless And Insecure Before”

Michael Enright is being charged with felony attempted murder as a hate crime in the case of the Muslim New York cab driver who was slashed by a boozed-up bigot.  Enright, who had just returned from filming Marines in Afghanistan, used a pocket knife on Ahmed Sharif, a 43-year-old father of four.

Enright slashed Sharif across the face, arm and hand after asking the Bangladesh-born cabbie if he was Muslim and then saying ‘As-salaam alaikum’ – which means ‘peace be unto you’ in Arabic, cops said.

The suspect also yelled, “Consider this a checkpoint” – an apparent reference to …

Vandalism At An Islamic Center In Madera, CA

Vandalism and signs at a Madera, California Islamic center are being investigated by the local sheriff.

A brick was thrown at the building Friday and three signs were found at Masjid Madera, 16634 Road 26, during two other incidences since Aug. 18, said Erica Stuart, Sheriff’s Department spokeswoman. Two of the signs were found on the center’s property Tuesday afternoon.

The signs read “No Temple for the God of terrorism at Ground Zero. ANB,” “Wake up America, the Enemy is here. ANB” and “American Nationalist Brotherhood.”…

A Few People Take Exception To My Views; Feel The Love

There was a bit of a dust-up on FOX News’s O’Reilly Factor when I guested with guest-host Laura Ingraham and we discussed the proposed New York City Islamic cultural center. Amazingly, some of the viewers didn’t take my side.

From: Tracy
Sent: Tuesday, August 24, 2010 8:25 PM
To: Alan
Subject: Misc

I know you must receive a ton of hate mail, and to be fair, you probably deserve it.  I’m far from a right-wing ideologue, but do you SERIOUSLY believe the garbage that comes out of your stupid liberal mouth?  Rhetorical, of course…because I have no doubt you believe …

Bush Campaign Manager, Former RNC Chair Ken Mehlman, Comes Out

Ken Mehlman, the former George W. Bush campaign manager and Chair of the Republican National Committee, has publicly announced he is gay.

Mehlman arrived at this conclusion about his identity fairly recently, he said in an interview. He agreed to answer a reporter’s questions, he said, because, now in private life, he wants to become an advocate for gay marriage and anticipated that questions would arise about his participation in a late-September fundraiser for the American Foundation for Equal Rights (AFER), the group that supported the legal challenge to California’s ballot initiative against gay marriage, Proposition 8.

“It’s taken …

On Wednesday’s Radio Show…

• Rob Reiner, director of the new movie Flipped, joins Alan to discuss his battle against California’s anti-gay Proposition 8.

• Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX) explains why he’s telling opponents of the mosque near Ground Zero to “stop your demagoguery.”

• Alan questions why Republicans like Sharron Angle equate political opponents with enemies of America.…

Sharron Angle: We Have Domestic Enemies In Congress

An interview has surfaced where Nevada’s Republican Senate candidate agrees with the host that there are domestic enemies in Congress. Angle spoke with conservative talk show host Bill Manders in 2009.

MANDERS: We have domestic enemies. We have home-born homegrown enemies in our system. And I for one think we have some of those enemies in the walls of the Senate and the Congress.

ANGLE: Yes. I think you’re right, Bill

As Greg Sargent notes:

Because the host is the one who made the incendiary claim, this exchange might not be newsworthy if it had occurred in a vacuum. …

The Most Bizarre Candidate Interview Ever

Chris Young is seeking to become the next mayor of Providence, RI. This interview didn’t help (via Political Wire).

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New York Cabbie Stabbed By Passenger Who Asks “Are You Muslim?”

New York 1 is reporting that a New York City cab driver is in the hospital after being stabbed by a passenger who allegedly asked him if he was a Muslim.

Investigators with the New York City Police Department say it all began Monday night when a 21-year-old man hailed a cab at 24th Street and Second Avenue in Manhattan.

Police say the passenger asked the driver, “Are you Muslim?” When the driver said yes the passenger pulled a knife and slashed him in the throat, arm and lip.

The 43-year-old driver was able to lock the passenger in the …