Politics and other nightmares

So far, for all the videos I have done, I've taken them to work on a portable hard drive and had them rendered into a format our server could handle. That adds a step or two and a lot of time to the process, and I've been meaning for some time to try the YouTube option, doing it all myself at home. What better opportunity to do that than the great YouTube/CNN Democratic presidential debate, in which old-fashioned politics meets new technology? Here is my take on the debate. I hope it adds much to your Campaign '08 experience and makes you a better-informed voter.

The Indianapolis Star lists "9 reasons taxes went through roof." It lists everything except the one thing I woud have put at the top of the list -- governments spent more, which required them to take more of our money. When some of us talk about the institutional (as opposed to deliberate) liberal bias of the press, this is the kind of theing we mean.

Look, I know branding works, but it's still cynical and manipulative. Instead of telling companies to just do what they do and do it well and for a justifiable price, they persuade them to sell the sizzle by coming up with an easily graspable and memorable slogan or image. Healthier potato chips! A brand-new car, twice as good as the old one! And now, the new and improved war in Iraq:

We have our attacks of Indy Envy here from time to time, but it's apparently at epidemic levels in northwestern Indiana:

Lake County residents have been hollering since reassessment and the switch to market value about soaring property taxes. That's especially true in North Lake County, where the enormous tax breaks given to heavy industry amplified the property tax problems.

Most economic reporting is so one-sided that it's actually shocking to see a newspaper story acknowledging that there are tradeoffs in government mandates:

A huge smile spread across Katrice Thurman's face as she described all she'd be able to afford once minimum wage in Indiana increased.

The natural inclination is to bash Clinton and Edwards for showing themselves to be elitists despite all their talk of inclusion, but they raise an interesting point:

Democrats John Edwards and Hillary Rodham Clinton consider themselves among the top presidential candidates.

They were caught by Fox News microphones discussing their desire to limit future joint appearances to exclude some lower rivals after a forum in Detroit Thursday.

Of all the arguments I've heard for leaving Iraq, this, from Rep. Mark Souder in a FWOb interview, has to be among the strangest:

A lot of political commentary is silly, but I think a new benchmark has been set:

The property tax mess affects everybody and has polticians of all persuasions scrambling for solutions. But Dan Carpenter, the Indianapolis Star's predictably liberal columnist, finds it a useful club with which to bash business, the governor and other evil Republicans and, especially, all those rich creeps who don't deserve their palatial homes anyway:

Let the mayor's race begin:

“I believe that the long-term solution lies not in further tinkering with property tax schemes, but with a fundamental move away from property taxes as the dominant source of revenue for local government,” Kelty said.

Issuing his first campaign promise, Kelty said his first annual budget would reflect zero growth in city spending.