Joe Klein Wakes Up
[Guest post by DRJ]
Joe Klein is glad that Lindsey Graham scuttled cap-and-trade because passing another big piece of legislation would hurt the Democrats:
“Lindsey Graham effectively killed the Senate’s looming cap-and-trade package by yanking his support from the bill–and thereby did the Democrats a favor. I’m all in favor of combating global warming, although I think a straight-ahead carbon tax (refundable in the form of reduced payroll taxes) would do the job far more efficiently than cap-and-trade. But if I’m a Democratic strategist, I’m thinking Augustinian thoughts: Lord, make me energy independent, but not just yet.
Why? Because the public has had quite enough, thank you, of government activism this year…and, after Wall Street reform is passed, any further attempts to pass major legislation will add to legitimate conservative arguments that the federal government is attempting to do much to do any of it well.”
Klein is also a big fan of immigration reform … but not now, because it’s a “recipe for disaster.” (For Democrats, not immigrants.)
There may be an even bigger wake-up call in November.
— DRJ
I tried to comment here earlier, but it didn’t take. Maybe I’m in moderation.
But I did post a bad link, so, I’ll try again:
I’m sure Joe Klein was an A student:
http://weeklystandard.com/articles/plague-%E2%80%98a%E2%80%99-students
Ag80 (f67beb) — 4/25/2010 @ 7:44 pmIt wasn’t you, Ag80. The website is really acting up this evening.
DRJ (09fa6c) — 4/25/2010 @ 8:06 pmWho is Joe Klein and why do we care?
daleyrocks (1d0d98) — 4/25/2010 @ 8:10 pmWe care because Joe Klein writes in that magazine that a lot of people used to read and he wrote that book that nobody read that he wrote as “anonymous” to sell more copies that didn’t get sold.
But that doesn’t matter, because he really is smart and if we would just take his words to heart, everything would be better for all those people who don’t know who he is and never read the book he didn’t sell under a pseudonym.
There was also a movie, starring John Travolta, that nobody went to see.
So, he’s very important in the way that mold grows on your bathtub. It’s annoying, but you have to put up with it.
Ag80 (f67beb) — 4/25/2010 @ 8:25 pmAg80 – Thanks for putting me in some knowledge. He one of the educated class who knows better than me – got it.
daleyrocks (1d0d98) — 4/25/2010 @ 8:31 pmJoe Klein has that sneaky, Paul Krugman look about him.
PC14 (4a4ed3) — 4/25/2010 @ 8:56 pm“Let me be clear, dissent is not sedition, but questioning the administration’s legitimacy in a manner intended to undermine or overthrow it certainly is.”
That’s Joe Klein
Dana (1e5ad4) — 4/25/2010 @ 9:05 pmJoe Klein is a noted liar so it is a wonder how he still has any media credibility. Oh yeah, I forgot: he has the requisite trendy upper-middle-class leftism so no matter what he does or how he delivers it, nobody is going to call him out on it. He is completely worthless and clearly the dregs of modern media liberalism.
JVW (08e86a) — 4/25/2010 @ 9:23 pmAnd he thinks that the permanent bail-outs for Wall Street in the Financial Regulation monstrosity is going to make the voters have the warm-and-fuzzies for the Dems?
AD - RtR/OS! (fb87e7) — 4/25/2010 @ 10:00 pmWhy are all Left/Lib/Prog media types delusional?
And he thinks that the permanent bail-outs for Wall Street in the Financial Regulation monstrosity is going to make the voters have the warm-and-fuzzies for the Dems?
Don’t forget that bail-outs for Wall Street benefit investors like, well, Joe Klein, who must have a pretty sweet portfolio from the royalties of Primary Colors, both book and movie versions. For all their Woodstock-liberalism pretension, the Joe Kleins of the world are really about protecting their own nest eggs. They are happy to pay a couple of percentage points more in taxes rather than making the hard choices involved in personal charitable donations. It’s cool with them paying 30% capital gains tax, as long as their investments continue to grow at 8-10% per year instead of the weak 2% they have been experiencing recently. In return for solid market returns, the Joe Kleins of the world are happy to push for card-check, universal health care, and a nominal raise in the minimum wage. That’s only going to hurt the people who come along well after Joe Klein has banked his nest egg.
JVW (08e86a) — 4/25/2010 @ 11:50 pmNote that Klein isn’t opposed to WHAT they are trying to pass; he only objects to the “too much too soon” timetable.
Chill out, Obama dude! There will be plenty of time to pass — what? oh . . .
Maybe not.
Icy Texan (de6635) — 4/26/2010 @ 3:07 amIcy’s right. This is simply ‘we would rather have power’ thinking.
And it’s a concept that people who have survived many elections have learned. So it’s something Obama could have used before he took over the big job. It’s hard to see how this all works in the long term. I hope hope we decide to completely reevaluate our liabilities such as social security, but things aren’t nearly bad enough to motivate that.
Dustin (b54cdc) — 4/26/2010 @ 3:13 amI think your title is wrong. Klein is not waking up and seeing the mess this government is creating by taking on trillions more in debt. Klein simply wants to keep this type of government in control – and to do so, he feels, they must keep quiet for a few months in hopes of holding on to power.
Klein wants the nanny state; Klein needs the nanny state so he can continue to spew his vitriolic agenda.
Corwin (ea9428) — 4/26/2010 @ 5:37 amIf he is really motivated to do something about the imaginary problem called global warming, he can stop all the inhaling and exhaling that expels hot air into the atmosphere.
Largebill (1d1579) — 4/26/2010 @ 6:21 amLord, make me energy independent
Good Lord, the man is daft. He has drunk so much Kool-Aid that be believes that “Cap-and-Trade” has something to do with making America “energy independent”. What is so ironic is that it comes right after he shows he clearly doesn’t believe it can when he glibly asides .. “(refundable in the form of reduced payroll taxes)“
Neo (7830e6) — 4/26/2010 @ 6:38 amIndeed, it is comical Neo. Since cap and trade will have exactly the opposite effect, as well as pushing more business off-shore.
SPQR (26be8b) — 4/26/2010 @ 7:55 amCap & Destroy. Their ideas have precious little to do with actual trade.
JD (959071) — 4/26/2010 @ 8:18 am