Make no mistake, this isn’t about whether raising the minimum wage is good or bad for the economy. Throw that argument out the window. The Republicans have said, “It’s fine! We’ll raise the minimum wage. It’s not a problem.” What they’re haggling about is unless they get this tax break for the wealthiest 2% of the wealthy, they won’t help the poorest in need.

It’s that simple. It can’t be read any other way. Any attempt to explain it otherwise is false.

Yeah, yeah, I'm a bleeding heart liberal. Given what Hastert and co. are trying to pull with this one, the only people I can think of who would go for this is, well, no one. This is "steal from the moserately poor, to give to the poor, to tax it away from them to give to the rich," or something like that.

And the "but it hurts small business" argument got tossed right out the window. The estate tax doesn't affect them.

Robert J. Elisberg: Republicans in Congress Confirm Worst Fears About Them

$915 million on nearly 26,000 mobile homes and trailers to house hurricane victims and relief workers — none of which could be sent to disaster zones in Louisiana and Mississippi because of prohibitions on their use in flood plains.

Wow. Way to spend money there Chertoff! Schmuck.

Homeland contracts oversight deemed poor - Yahoo! News

A two-thirds majority vote is needed to convict on any charge; a three-quarters majority is needed to order a sentence of more than 10 years. All members present must vote to impose the death penalty, and it must be approved by the president. But those enemy combatants and "persons who have engaged in unlawful belligerence" can be detained until "the cessation of hostilities," notwithstanding any jail sentence they receive from the commissions.

Reread that last sentence. It means they can be locked up until hell freezes over because the "War on Terror" will never end.

On Prosecuting Detainees

What's the GOP strategy for getting Blackwell back into the running? Imply that Strickland is gay.

Yep, Ken Blackwell, the guy who so horribly screwed up voting in Ohio in 2004 is in trouble in Ohio, so the other guy must be gay. So what. The proper place for Blackwell is probably the Ohio prison system where he can find out the hard way what that menas (he was head of elections at the same time that he was head of the Republican drive in Ohio, but there's no conflict of interest there, he used the position to make sure Republicans got elected, see the RFK Jr piece from Rolling Stone for more on that).

The GOP's Sleaziest Attack Campaign

In a lengthy sworn statement, he said he had witnessed a deliberate plot by his fellow soldiers to kill the three handcuffed Iraqis and a cover-up in which one soldier cut another to bolster their story. The squad leader threatened to kill anyone who talked. Later, one guilt-stricken soldier complained of nightmares and “couldn’t stop talking” about what happened, Sergeant Lemus said.

This is called premeditated mass murder. Terror has won the "war on terror." Are there any more questions?

Sergeant Tells of Plot to Kill Iraqi Detainees - New York Times

Over breakfast at the Ritz-Carlton, Franklin told the two lobbyists about a draft of a top-secret National Security Presidential Directive that dealt with U.S. policy on Iran. Crafted by Michael Rubin, the desk officer for Iraq and Iran in Feith's office, the document called, in essence, for regime change in Iran.

Two and a half wars now, do I hear three? Read the rest of the article too. Rolling Stone may be a "rock" magazine, but they're actually paying attention while the rest of the media practices the teachings of the Colbert school of journalism.

Rolling Stone : Iran: The Next War

"Think of what you hate most about your job. Then think of doing what you hate most for five straight hours, every single day, sometimes twice a day, in 120-degree heat," he said. "Then ask how morale is."

That's a pretty amazing way to describe things. Ouch.

'Waiting to Get Blown Up'

Wage stagnation, long the bane of blue-collar workers, is now hitting people with bachelor's degrees for the first time in 30 years. Earnings for workers with four-year degrees fell 5.2% from 2000 to 2004 when adjusted for inflation, according to White House economists.

Yep! The economy is booming and we're all better off. Unless we aren't. And it turns out, we aren't.

That Raise Might Take 4 Years to Earn as Well - Los Angeles Times

Devall described her experience during an interview in her trailer, saying she wanted to get some help and to let others know what it’s like living there.

But during the interview, a security guard knocked on the trailer door and ordered the reporter and photographer to leave “immediately.”

“You are not allowed to be here,” the guard yelled. “Get out right now.”

As they left, the guard refused to let the reporter give Devall a business card so she could contact the newspaper later by phone.

“You will not give her a business card,” the guard said. “She’s not allowed to have that.”

WTF? I see things like this and don't wonder why people don't trust the government. Maybe they don't trust them because they're acting like prison guards?

2theadvocate.com | News | Hundreds of FEMA trailers stand empty

And an end-of-tour report by a colonel assigned to the Coalition Provisional Authority memorably summarized his office’s work as “pasting feathers together, hoping for a duck.”

Who says the military doesn't have a sense of humor? I may have to see if I can get my hands on a copy of this.

'Fiasco,' by Thomas E. Ricks - The New York Times - New York Times