The rule of thumb is that undecideds break 2/3 for the challenger, and McConnell is about as incumbent as they get.
45-44 Mitch McConnell (R) over challenger Bruce Lunsford (D).
After what was done to Daschle, I really hope that they DSCC pulls out the stops on this one.
For those folks who think that treasuries art not safe enough.
Man, I love the Daily Show
It appears that Kathleen Parker is surprised to get hate mail when she writes an article suggesting that Palin should step down from the ticket.
After years of spewing hate towards Democrats, Women, and Minorities, Ms. Parker appears to have finally come to have a frank discussion with the children of her bile.
Just in case you are wondering, that is the world’s smallest violin, and it’s playing just for her.
In the “Heterosexually yours in a chaste and biblically appropriate kind of way,” that the Jesus’ General does. Or at least I love the distinguished gentleman from Massachusetts when he says stuff like this:
Frank: “We don’t believe they had the votes and I think they are covering up the embarrassment of not having the votes. But think about this: somebody hurt my feelings so I will punish the country. I mean that’s hardly plausible. And there were twelve Republicans who were ready to stand up for the economic interest of America but not if anybody insulted them. I’ll make an offer: Give me those twelve people’s names and I will go talk uncharacteristically nicely to them and tell them what wonderful people they are, and maybe they’ll now think about the country.”
There is some serious ownage going on here.
Well, it appears, that once again Rice is more concerned with being a close confidant to the president than doing her job, and as a result, conflicts between the negotiators and the John Bolton clones in the arms control wing of the State Department have sabotaged the agreement on North Korean nuclear weapons.
Under the proposal, heavily influenced by the State Department’s arms control experts, the U.S. requested “full access to all materials” at sites that might have had a nuclear purpose in the past. It sought “full access to any site, facility or location” deemed relevant to the nuclear program, including military facilities, according to the four-page document, a copy of which was obtained by The Washington Post. Investigators would be able to take photographs and make videos, remain on site as long as necessary, make repeated visits and collect and remove samples.
It’s essentially what they insisted on Iraq, only the Iraqis had already lost a war, and signed an agreement ceding much sovereignty in that area.
What’s more, we know who was pushing for a breakdown in the agreement:
“I am notifying Congress of my intent to rescind North Korea’s designation as a state sponsor of terror in 45 days,” Bush announced June 26. “The next 45 days will be an important period for North Korea to show its seriousness of its cooperation. We will work through the six-party talks to develop a comprehensive and rigorous verification protocol. And during this period, the United States will carefully observe North Korea’s actions — and act accordingly.”
But there was no written document linking North Korea’s performance on verification to its removal from the terror list, sources said. So when Bush let the 45 days pass without any action, North Korea denounced what it called “obviously a violation of the principle of ‘action for action’ essential for realizing denuclearization.”
The Bush administration does not want a deal. They see it as weakness, and besides, California and Hawaii, the likely targets of a missile attack, don’t vote Republican.
Looks like he’s decided that the terraine there is not friendly, which gives Michigan’s 17 EVs to Obama.
Cool.
Profanely, very, very profanely, nails it on the VP debate.
Very funny.
She is doing better than I expected, but then again, how could she do worse.
OTOH, she’s just ignoring the questions.
Biden is doing a good job of going after McCain.
…….
She keeps referring to herself to talking straight to the American people….Must have been something that polled well.
…….
The war:
Palin said the troops were down to pre-surge level …. Lie.
We just had her crack about “surrendering” in Iraq … Sounded fracking loopy.
Biden brings up McCain’s vote against MRAP armmored trucks, and the fact that McCain has been wrong everything.
……
Biden asked about Iran and Pakistan and nukes, and he brings up the fact that McCain keeps calling Iraq the central front on the war on terror.
Palin brings up Iran, DPRK, Cuba, and how they are really scary people.
She is awfully screechy.
Biden just pointed out that Achmedinajad doesn’t control the Iranian security apparatus, and has said that McCain doesn’t have a clue on this.
Biden’s talking point on foreign policy is “abject failure,” which is a good way to tie McCain to “Mr. 27%.”
Palin admits that there have been blunders…Will Biden ask her to name some.
……
Palin is pissed when Bide said that commanding General in Afghanistan said that a “surge” won’t work there.
……
Joe Biden talks about Genocide in Darfur, and Sarah Palin talks about how much she is a “Washington Outsider,” and a, “Straight Talker”.
Maybe it’s me, but she is unbelievably lame.
……
Biden, “John McCain was in lockstep with Dick Cheney,” and Palin is saying that, Biden was a big supporter of McCain’s positions.
…..
When asked about what they would do if the unthinkable happened and they became president, Sarah Palin sounds a bit too gleeful about McCain dying.
Her smile is starting to grate.
…..
Is it just me. or is Palin realy angry? I just get the sense that she wants to shoot someone.
….
Nice question from Ifill about what exactly is the role of the Vice Presidency.
Palin goes back to talking points, Biden says that he would function as a fixer of things in the Congress, as that is his background.
….
Palin just dropped brought up her Downs Syndrome kid in the debate…Classy…Then Biden brings up his wife and daughter dying in a car accident…also classy.
Biden actually choked up when talking about wondering whether his sons would live or die following the car accident….Don’t know how that will pla.
….
How many times can this woman say “Maverick”???? Jeebus.
Biden appears to be sick of that word too, he’s going after her on that.
….
Closing statements:
Palin sounded a bit rote.
Biden a bit, but only a bit less so.
Analysis:
Palin did well, much better than was expected.
Biden did well too.
My gut, I really dislike Palin.
First the Institute for Supply Management’s manufacturing index just fell off a cliff, dropping to 43.5%, when the consensus was for 49.6%.
This is the lowest number since October, 2001, when manufacturers were freaking out over 911, and the biggest drop since 1984.
The fact that factory orders are down 4%, and that the
Baltic Dry Index Tanks, a survey of shipping costs are also in the tank, reinforce the idea that something is amiss, though I woul,d be remiss not to note that the Baltic Dry Index has a lot of noise in the data, and so is not particularly reliable.
Meanwhile, the marginally less noisy weekly jobless claims number have shown an increase too, up 1000, to 497K.
We also have evidence that the credit freeze up continues, with LIBOR spreads rising, and commercial paper basically going away.
In fact, the spread between two year debt swaps and treasuries hit a record, 167.25 basis points.
It doesn’t help that hedge funds are experiencing problems related to the Lehman collapse, with billions of dollars still tied up with mess, while facing a surge of withdrawals from their clients.
Furthermore, there are rumors of a major insurance company on the verge of collapse, and so borrowing costs for the major insurance companies have spiked.
Things aren’t looking great with college’s finances either, with Commonfund restricting withdrawals from its Intermediate Term Fund, which serves schools and other non-profits, because of liquidity concerns.
On the other side of the ocean, the ECB is openly talking about a rate cut, which has pushed the Euro below $1.40:€1.00.
This is all pushing commodities down in price, with Oil, Gold, and Corn falling on the expectation of a stronger dollar and a weaker global economy.
In banking and real estate, 30-year fixed-rate mortgage rates are up marginally, and Citi bought Wachovia for some magic beans (actually around $1/share), and the FDIC got preferred shares.
While not technically a bank failure, that is what it is in reality.
Saving 997 words:
74-25, with Kennedy not voting, for obvious reasons.
Rosh Hashanah, so I will be in Shul.
Back on Wednesday evening, so please, do nothing newsworthy until then.
Yea, like that’s going to happen after the bailout imploded….This may be the most eventful news days of the decade.
I normally don’t note stock market swings, but 778 points after House ‘Phants kill the Paulson bailout bill?
Surprisingly, the dollar is up and oil is down.
Money with half a brain should be fleeing in the other direction, but it appears that European banks are in real trouble too, because their governments are bailing a bunch of them out.
Not that US banks are doing much better, with Citi getting the bits of Wachovia for magic beans.
So not both the US Federal Reserve and various foreign central banks are shoveling money out the door.
Meanwhile, Iceland did what Paulson should have, when it nationalized the Glitnir bank, as has the UK, which has nationalized mortgage lender Bradford & Bingley.
These guys are comedians, but they do a better job of explaining this than journalists and economists.
My mom’s favorite actor, she could never say Long Hot Summer, with Paul Newman, without saying, “Yum!“
He is also at the center of my story about how someone can be too concerned about politics.
My Mom’s 1st Cousin, Joy, (does that make her my 2nd cousin, or my 1st cousin once removed?) was and is involved in the Washington DC scene, and at one large event, was asked to point out someone in the crowd.
She said, “See the tall handsome man with the striking blue eyes, she is standing to his left.”
The person then replied, “So, she’s standing next to Paul Newman?”
My mom teased Joy about that one.
First, it appears that Northrop-Grumman is entitled to an as yet undetermined cancellation fee, which is yet another reason to think that the entire tanker process is completely fracked.
But here is the kicker, Northrop Grumman’s bid was $2.9 billion cheaper:
John Young, the undersecretary for acquisition, technology and logistics, said in an interview at the Pentagon yesterday that under the tanker proposal from Northrop Grumman and its partner European Aeronautic Defence & Space, developing the first 68 aircraft would have cost $12.5 billion, compared with $15.4 billion under Boeing’s plan.
So, the tanker version of the A330 had longer range, greater fuel offload capability, the ability to tank and carry cargo, and it was $2.9 billion cheaper.
Let’s also note that it was already flying, as Australia’s A330 MRTT, as versus Boeing’s proposal, an as yet unconstructed model with, “767-200 airframe; over-wing exits from the -300; floors, doors and structurally enhanced wings from the -300F; a cockpit, and the tail section and flaps from the -400ER”.
Delightful.
At least when it involves a ship carrying $30 million worth of, “grenade launchers, piles of ammunition, even battle tanks.”
Looks like the Russians are pursuing the pirates too, in the spirit of international cooperation…or maybe just because it was their schwag that got taken.
But according to diplomats and the Russian Interfax news agency, the cargo was 33 T-72 refurbished tanks, “quite a significant amount of ammunition” and grenade launchers. The supplier was a state-owned Ukrainian company. Ukrainian and Kenyan officials emphasized that the arms deal was perfectly legal.
To be fair, three of the crewman were Russian, and I’m sure that the Russians were offended…After all, no one gets to steal and threaten the citizens and businesses of their former republics but them.
It appears that in some computer simulations of the JSF versus late model SU-35 fighters, the F-35 got clubbed like baby seals.
All in all, this is not particularly surprising. It’s a redux of the F-105 (Lead Sled) vs. the MiG-21 of the Vietnam era.
The MiG-35 has a better power to weight ratio, wing loading, and air to air weapons load out, the F-35 carruing only 2 AMRAAMs because the USAF doesn’t want a comparison with the F-22, a white elephant that they are still lobbying for.
Needless to say, the Airforce brass is thoroughly unamused by these reports, and they are mounting a PR counteroffensive, including claims that the simulation was an apples to oranges comparison, because the F-35 was carrying all of its weapons internally.
Dude, you carry the stuff on pylons, and you lose stealth. If you lose stealth, you will be clubbed like a baby seal, it’s the only advantage that the F-35 has.
My favorite bit of this counter-offensive is this patently absurd claim:
“Advanced stealth and sensor fusion allow the F-35 pilot to see, target and destroy the adversary and strategic targets in a very high surface-to-air threat scenario, and deal with air threats intent on denying access — all before the F-35 is ever detected — then return safely to do it again,” said Tom Burbage, a Lockheed Martin vice president.
Considering that he is presenting what is called a “flaming datum”, so named because a ship burning or sinking was how U-Boats, an early form of stealth vehicle, were determined to be in the area, and then suggesting that he can return to the area and make another attack, is absurd.
Something like 50% of all sub sinkings followed a flaming datum.
In any case, it appears that as part of planning for the dual role missile, A2A weapons carriage will be improved (paid subscription required):
The U.S. Air Force and Navy have begun talks to define the Joint Dual-Role Air Dominance Missile (JDRADM) intended to replace both air-to-air AIM-120 Amraam and anti-radar AGM-88 Harm beyond 2020 and allow the F-35 to defend itself against both opposing fighters and air defenses.
…
Separately, studies into “super-packing” the JSF’s bays to increase the number of weapons carried have come up with a way of loading six Amraam-sized missiles internally, according to the program office. This could be an option for later F-35 capability blocks.
So my guess is that the boyz in blue have seen the same simulations, and are looking to rectify the problem.
Considering the historical emnity between the two nations, I’m surprised that Turkey bought 80 80 Kornet E (NATO designation: AT-14) laser-guided anti-tank missile systems.
From all I’ve read though, it’s a good system, and being Russian, probably pretty cheap, but I’m still stunned at the Turks buying from the Russians.