Steve Ersinghaus

Mary Glassman comes to some interesting conclusions:
Our town is not unique. Connecticut is more reliant on local property tax revenue to fund local education than any state in the nation. Our state contributes only 40 percent to our K-12 education, compared with other states such as Michigan, which contributes 78 percent. As a result, towns [...]

This is interesting. Via TPM.

Charles Krauthammer writes:
After all, if even Goldman Sachs was getting government protection, why not you? And offering the comfort and safety of government is the Democratic Party’s vocation. With a Republican White House having partially nationalized the banks and just about everything else, McCain’s final anti-Obama maneuver — Joe the Plumber spread-the-wealth charges of socialism [...]

Prior to the second debate between President-elect Barack Obama and John McCain, I sent a tweet to Obama saying “go get him. Don’t stand for cheap shots.”
Now, I’m ashamed of that message. Coolness, measuredness, and calm, intellectual determination was the better way. These past eight years have whittled at my [...]

Barack Obama is the 44th President, as spoken by the electorate, with both the popular and college vote. It has been a long eight years, and readers of this weblog should know that I’m thrilled but also ready to go to work. There is so much to do.
This is a climax to a [...]

That darned liberal media strikes again.

In a period of rest today, I took some time to read the Democratic and Republican Party platforms. Here’s a bit from the Democrats:
Open, Accountable, and Ethical Government
In Barack Obama’s Administration, we will open up the doors of democracy. We will use technology to make government more transparent, accountable, and inclusive. Rather than obstruct [...]

The famous tax bill.

Over the past seven years the “just print it” problem has persisted. The Leader says this or that and that makes the cut. For example, Allen and Martin at Politico write:
As part of a plan to reinvigorate his flagging campaign, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) is considering additional economic measures aimed directly at the [...]

Ilya Somin at The Volokh Conspiracy raises a perfectly legitimate point:
Nonetheless, I fear that the conjunction of an Obama victory, a strongly Democratic Congress, and a major economic crisis will produce a massive and difficult to reverse expansion of government
This is one of the great chopping points that divides sides on political theory and federalism. [...]

A clever post from Geoff Manaugh at Worldchanging:
In a related vein, it’s often said in the U.S. that certain politicians simply “don’t understand the West”: they’re so caught up in their big city, coastal ways that they just don’t get – they can’t even comprehend – how a rancher might react to something like increased [...]

I’m with Dave Winer on this one.

Interesting, but predictable results from an Economist poll of economists on the candidates. Here’s a bite:
A candidate’s economic expertise may matter rather less if he surrounds himself with clever advisers. Unfortunately for Mr McCain, 81% of all respondents reckon Mr Obama is more likely to do that; among unaffiliated respondents, 71% say so. That [...]

I ran home yesterday from a wonderful gallery talk to watch Speech Night with Governor Sarah Palin and Senator Joe Biden. I caught the first part on the radio and watched the remainder on TV, and my impressions are that this is all pretty sorry stuff.
But what do we deserve? Not much else. [...]

From Steven Thomma
A majority of Americans think the United States isn’t winning the war on terrorism, a perception that could undermine a key Republican strength just as John McCain and Barack Obama head into their first debate Friday night, a clash over foreign policy and national security. A new Ipsos/McClatchy online poll finds a solid [...]