Military Spending

I like this line about how the Afghan War would stop pretty quickly if you demanded that it be deficit-neutral over a 10-year timeframe. Can we get some Democratic Senator to come out and say this? I understand that military contractors are powerful in lots of people's states, but surely there's somebody out there who can say smart and provocative things about how we need to reduce military spending without bad consequences.

It's generally a bad thing when interest groups capture the political process and get lots of public funds for their thing by buying votes. But I don't think it gets any worse than the case of military spending, where the bad arguments used as justifications for the spending present foreign threats as more dangerous and conflict as more justified. If somebody makes a bad public policy argument for a bridge or a post office, the worst that happens is that we waste money on a useless bridge or a post office. The worst-case scenario with arguments for military spending is far worse than that. To justify buying unnecessary military hardware, you have to magnify the need to use it, and drive the nation towards war.

Friday Obama Caption Contest & Kitsch Cover

 

First Lady Michelle Obama hands out treats during a Halloween reception for military families and children of White House staff in the East Room of the White House, Oct. 31, 2009. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)



Today's kitsch cover is five Harmonix's employees singing Paramore's "That's What You Get". Barber shop style:




I have Kitsch covers lined up for the next two weeks, but, keep 'em coming.

American Chemistry Council: Chemical Manufacturers, Not Scientists

Nicholas Kristof's column mentions pro-Bisphenol A comments from the American Chemistry Council. The name made me a little curious, as my father (who has a Ph.D in chemistry) is a member of the American Chemical Society. We would occasionally have American Chemical Society junk, like magazines and such, lying around the house. The ACS is the chemists' trade association, and if they said that Bisphenol A was okay, I'd be inclined to trust them.

The American Chemistry Council, of course, is a totally different group, formerly called the Chemical Manufacturers' Association. According to Wikipedia, it's "in charge of improving the public image of the chemical industry." I guess they realized that their former name was worse for getting people to quiet down and enjoy their Bisphenol A.

Retroactive abortion riders

Um ...

How would that worklogistically? Would insurance companies track your visit history(assuming this doesn't violate HIPPA HIPAA) and send you mail when you go to an ob-gyn and turn out to be pregnant, offering you a low-priced abortion supplemental? Would they instruct ob-gyns to hand out information on supplementals to anyone who comes in for a pregnancy test? How long would the people who voted for Stupak allow this to happen? Thirty seconds?

Deep Thought

The attention paid to Sarah Palin pales in comparison to the Villagers' tremendous interest in John Edwards's post-2004 book tours.