Saturday, August 14, 2010
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
BSB Takes A Tumble
To all interested parties-
It seems as though BSB's trusty Drupal install has been hacked. Our hosting company shut us down until we upgrade, trouble is we're not sure how exactly to accomplish that upgrade. I'll post more details as they are available. David and I are about to throw in the towel on this for the evening.
It seems as though BSB's trusty Drupal install has been hacked. Our hosting company shut us down until we upgrade, trouble is we're not sure how exactly to accomplish that upgrade. I'll post more details as they are available. David and I are about to throw in the towel on this for the evening.
Sunday, January 17, 2010
Back To Hibernation
As you all know, I started this blog in August 2005, put into hibernation when I began blogging on the front page of BSB in early 2008, and then restarted it last year after my sudden departure from BSB in March 2009.
Now, with the 2010 election cycle in full swing, and the environment not as favorable for Democrats as the last two, I have begun making plans for my involvement in this crucial election cycle. As part of that planning exercise, I have had discussions with David of BSB about returning my writing to that blog for the 2010 election cycle. David and I have reached agreement on several areas and I am now returning my writing to BSB effective immediately.
Hence, Blue Ohio will fall back into hibernation for the time being. I will put up an RSS feed widget on this blog that will feed over my stories (and that of other front pagers) from BSB. However, I may still be utilizing my Twitter feed (twitter.com/blueohioblog) for political comments on other blogs as well as my own political-related tweets.
Now, with the 2010 election cycle in full swing, and the environment not as favorable for Democrats as the last two, I have begun making plans for my involvement in this crucial election cycle. As part of that planning exercise, I have had discussions with David of BSB about returning my writing to that blog for the 2010 election cycle. David and I have reached agreement on several areas and I am now returning my writing to BSB effective immediately.
Hence, Blue Ohio will fall back into hibernation for the time being. I will put up an RSS feed widget on this blog that will feed over my stories (and that of other front pagers) from BSB. However, I may still be utilizing my Twitter feed (twitter.com/blueohioblog) for political comments on other blogs as well as my own political-related tweets.
2010 is going to be a hell of a ride. Go Team Blue!
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Friday, November 06, 2009
A Funny Thing Happened
Tuesday Night, I participated in a live blog of the election results over at Buckeye State Blog and a funny thing happened.
I had fun!
In the midst of all the conversation, BSB's Modern Esquire inquired as to the status of my promised re-launch and re-design of this blog. He deserves an answer, as does everyone else who has asked me about it.
After using BSB's Drupal platform for over a year, it didn't take me long to become dissatisfied with the restrictions of Blogger. I began contemplating switching to WordPress, which would give me much greater control over the layout and design of the blog. However, switching to WordPress would involve finding a hosting provider, installing WordPress, exporting all of this blog's content into the new format, redirecting the domain name, etc. This is a fair amount of work and quite frankly I just haven't been motivated to do it, because with all the recriminations that have gone on this year I just lost the desire to blog for a good long time.
Now, however, I hope to get all this done before the end of the month.
I had fun!
In the midst of all the conversation, BSB's Modern Esquire inquired as to the status of my promised re-launch and re-design of this blog. He deserves an answer, as does everyone else who has asked me about it.
After using BSB's Drupal platform for over a year, it didn't take me long to become dissatisfied with the restrictions of Blogger. I began contemplating switching to WordPress, which would give me much greater control over the layout and design of the blog. However, switching to WordPress would involve finding a hosting provider, installing WordPress, exporting all of this blog's content into the new format, redirecting the domain name, etc. This is a fair amount of work and quite frankly I just haven't been motivated to do it, because with all the recriminations that have gone on this year I just lost the desire to blog for a good long time.
Now, however, I hope to get all this done before the end of the month.
Saturday, July 18, 2009
Watch for Early August Re-Launch
So I never really announced that I was taking a break from blogging, but with only 3 posts up since June 10th, it is abundantly obvious that I am.
As of now, I'm planning for an early August re-launch. Stay tuned.
Tuesday, July 07, 2009
Obama's Approval Tumbles, D's Still Lead Portman For Senate Race
Quinnipiac University's latest poll results on the state of the political landscape here in Ohio were released this morning, and it wasn't pretty for President Obama.
Given a 62-31 approval rating just two months ago, President Obama now gets a 49-44 approval rating. What's remarkable about this to me is that both the drop in approval and rise in disapproval are exactly 13%, meaning there is no net increase or decrease in the number of Ohioans feeling ambivalent about their new President, a President who has not yet spent 6 months in the White House. My feeling is that Ohioans frustrations with the slow progress on the economic recovery are coming out in these numbers.
On the 2010 Senate front, Quinnipiac finds both Fisher and Brunner slightly leading the likely GOP candidate former Rep. Rob Portman. Fisher has a slight 3 point lead on Brunner in the Democratic primary, within the polls margin of error.
Given a 62-31 approval rating just two months ago, President Obama now gets a 49-44 approval rating. What's remarkable about this to me is that both the drop in approval and rise in disapproval are exactly 13%, meaning there is no net increase or decrease in the number of Ohioans feeling ambivalent about their new President, a President who has not yet spent 6 months in the White House. My feeling is that Ohioans frustrations with the slow progress on the economic recovery are coming out in these numbers.
On the 2010 Senate front, Quinnipiac finds both Fisher and Brunner slightly leading the likely GOP candidate former Rep. Rob Portman. Fisher has a slight 3 point lead on Brunner in the Democratic primary, within the polls margin of error.
Monday, July 06, 2009
New Quinny Poll on 2010 U.S. Senate Race Tomorrow
Quinnipiac University will be out with a new poll tomorrow on Ohio's 2010 U.S. Senate race plus President Obama's approval rating in the Buckeye State. Stay tuned for details.
Sunday, June 21, 2009
Strickland In Trouble?: PPP Finds Him Up Only 2 Over Kasich
H/T Political Wire, a Public Policy Poll released today shows Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland leading former Rep. John Kasich by only 2 points, 44-42. Strickland's approval rating amongst self-described Democrats is down to 62%, while his disapproval amongst self-described GOPers is now 59%. See the full poll results here.
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Where Does the Deficit Come From? In Excellent Article, NYT Breaks It Down
In January 2001, as President Clinton was leaving office, the Congressional Budget Office projected that the U.S. Government would run an $800 Billion annual surplus in the years 2009-2012. Instead, the CBO now projects that the Government will run an annual deficit of $1.2 Trillion during that time frame. What accounts for this $2 Trillion dollar swing?
In an excellent article, the New York Times breaks it down. 37% of the swing, comes from the downturn in the economy itself. The current recession, plus the one earlier this decade, has reduced government tax revenue while simultaneously requiring more spending on safety net programs like unemployment.
33% of the swing, according to the NYT, can be pined on the policies of George W. Bush. Specifically, his massive tax cuts for the wealthy, creation of Medicare Part D, the wars in Iraq and Afganhistan, together with the interest payments needed on the debt he ran up with these policies during his term in office, account for 33% of swing.
President Obama's main contribution to the deficit is in his continuation of certain Bush policies: specifically, the war in Iraq and Afghanistan, not calling for the immediate repeal of the Bush tax cuts, etc. NYT figures the continuation of these Bush policies accounts for 20% of the swing.
In case you are bad at math, that means that now 90% of the swing from an $800 billion surplus to a $1.2 Trillion deficit has been accounted for, and President Obama's only contribution is to continue George W. Bush's policies. The stimulus bill, for the record, counts for a mere 7% of the swing, and President Obama's other policy proposals account for a mere 3%.
The article goes on to say that while President Obama has contributed little to this deficit, he does not yet have a credible plan for putting the budget back in balance. Then again, neither does the GOP. The article quotes the libertarian Cato Institute saying that the GOP is not credible when it comes to cutting spending.
Here's my deficit reduction plan: repeal all the Bush tax cuts. Go back to the Clinton tax plan that produced the only balanced budget since Eisenhower. Immediately end the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. By immediately, I mean freaking tomorrow.
Next, immediately end all agricultural subsidies, including ethanol subsidies. These guys were supposed to have been weaned off the public teat 15 years ago. Next, start looking at some of the wasteful spending in the Pentagon. Why does the Marine Corps require two recruit training depots when the much larger Army only has one? Require all federal agencies to pass an audit of their books.
I figure this will get us halfway there, and then, once the economy comes back, it should cover the rest.
In an excellent article, the New York Times breaks it down. 37% of the swing, comes from the downturn in the economy itself. The current recession, plus the one earlier this decade, has reduced government tax revenue while simultaneously requiring more spending on safety net programs like unemployment.
33% of the swing, according to the NYT, can be pined on the policies of George W. Bush. Specifically, his massive tax cuts for the wealthy, creation of Medicare Part D, the wars in Iraq and Afganhistan, together with the interest payments needed on the debt he ran up with these policies during his term in office, account for 33% of swing.
President Obama's main contribution to the deficit is in his continuation of certain Bush policies: specifically, the war in Iraq and Afghanistan, not calling for the immediate repeal of the Bush tax cuts, etc. NYT figures the continuation of these Bush policies accounts for 20% of the swing.
In case you are bad at math, that means that now 90% of the swing from an $800 billion surplus to a $1.2 Trillion deficit has been accounted for, and President Obama's only contribution is to continue George W. Bush's policies. The stimulus bill, for the record, counts for a mere 7% of the swing, and President Obama's other policy proposals account for a mere 3%.
The article goes on to say that while President Obama has contributed little to this deficit, he does not yet have a credible plan for putting the budget back in balance. Then again, neither does the GOP. The article quotes the libertarian Cato Institute saying that the GOP is not credible when it comes to cutting spending.
Here's my deficit reduction plan: repeal all the Bush tax cuts. Go back to the Clinton tax plan that produced the only balanced budget since Eisenhower. Immediately end the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. By immediately, I mean freaking tomorrow.
Next, immediately end all agricultural subsidies, including ethanol subsidies. These guys were supposed to have been weaned off the public teat 15 years ago. Next, start looking at some of the wasteful spending in the Pentagon. Why does the Marine Corps require two recruit training depots when the much larger Army only has one? Require all federal agencies to pass an audit of their books.
I figure this will get us halfway there, and then, once the economy comes back, it should cover the rest.
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