Shorters

kickin it old school in whitebreadia.

New PPP Poll Suggests Dems Should Pass Health Care?:

So what to make of the new PPP poll suggesting that Demcorats are marginally better off passing health care than not? I take it seriously. But not too seriously, for the following reasons:

Concern troll is concerned the Democratic Party might not choose the optimal electoral strategery for the mid-terms, which would be abandoning every element of the Party platform and calling for a new Cabinent level Department of Giving Rich People Free Cookies.

It's a national poll, but congressmen are running in local races.

Yah, they is. Smert.

Polls are an okay guide to public opinion about things (with the usual caveats about framing). They are not a good guide to what people will do.

Someone warn Nate Silver.

Another round of health care legislating might drive its popularity down even further in the polls. Which would make passing the legislation even more costly.

So you see, polls in suppport of health care reform... ummmm... bunnies!

Passing health care will refresh the public's memory of it. The longer ago an electoral initiative happened, the less salient it is. In an election year, even three months matter.

Why make people think your political party actually does stuff? Oh right, because everything Megan's party does fails miserably except in further enriching the already bloated.
In conclusion she warns that if we're pretending it's 1994 then Blue Dog Dems should.... stop doing what they're already doing to obstruct and water down the President's reform initiatives then restart it so she can notice.

Great Moments in Campaign History:

Why deal with the truth when media narratives ignoring what actually happened better serve your purposes? Also, maintaining zombie lies about John Kerry somehow matters to... umm, someone. Her commentariat uses it as a chance to complain about how unfair it is that Democrats participate in elections too.

Toyota's Weekus Horribilus:

I cannot get too interested in the conspiracy theorists asking whether the US government doesn't now, due to its ownership of GM, have a conflict of interest when it starts publicly raking Toyota over the coals.

However, I am going to lead off with mention of the quite incredibly stupid idea which I don't even bother to dismiss. Plus I'm going to mention the UAW, those fuckers who dare to seek pay for their members in compensation for performing work.

How Unions Work:

When I need to learn about Judaism I talk to Nazis, and when I need to learn about unions I read Megan McArdle. Hi, Godwin!
Now read this, because I had to;

But compare either system to what now exists in our nation's schools. Every single teacher can stay on for years unless they do something direly wrong. Every single teacher can get a useless education degree, which basically requires a pulse. They have a system that spreads benefits absolutely evenly among all their members.

Did you know an MA in Education comes with guaranteed tenure once anyone anywhere hires you? Also, degrees in Education are not valid, because Megan doesn't like them. She got an MBA and couldn't find a job, how fucking dare someone both retain their soul and find a good job before she could.

I think the "monopolies are good" post deserves individual treatment, so back later.