Meanwhile, Back In Iowa...

Glenn links to a post telling us that at Intrade, Obama's re-election odss have dipped below 50%.

Meanwhie, back at the Iowa Electronic Market, we see that the generic Democrat (presumably Obama, or a candidate to be named later) is given a 49.6% chance of victory. Nice to see the markets in sync.

In related Congressional news, the odds of Republicans controlling both the House and Senate after the 2012 election is priced at 53.6%; the Dems are given a 15.5% chance of controlling both.  (To complete the grid, Rep House/Dem Senate is 15.1%; Dem House/Rep Senate is 12.7%; "Other" (a tie in the Senate?) is at 3.6%).

Comments

[matt]

test, test...

[narciso]

Btw, is anyone surprised that the parent that berated Perry in New Hampshire, was a Texas
Dept of Education employee, 'anyone, anyone, Bueller (h/t JWF)

[Clarice]

It's twoo as Lily Von Shtupp might say, he's cooked, but don't get cocky.

[Captain Hate]

"In fairness" sometimes Poppin' gets it right: http://hotair.com/archives/2011/08/21/kirsten-powers-maybe-ed-schultz-is-the-racist/

[Cecil Turner]

Here's a link to that JWF posting about the lady in NH using her son as a puppet. Worth reading (especially the faith-based approach to science displayed by the questioner--and Jon Huntsman--which apparently is beyond the self-awareness of the left).

[Texas Mom 2010]

I heard the term "racer" used for those who use race as a tool against others, ie if you don't like Obama it's because you are a racist. Just because one is true the second doesn't necessarily follow. Therefore calling someone a racist makes the person doing the name calling a "racer!"

[rse]

LUN is in honor of a discussion we have had here recently. Isn't it a misnomer to claim to be an anarchist and yet be for more government spending?

As our many DC Tea Party attendees showed, out of control govt spending leads to anarchy. Silly gooses who think if they say "Keynes", we will simply say "But of course".

[Carol Herman]

Same people also gamble on outcomes to horse races. I don't take this stuff seriously.

[Carol Herman]

Before the "tea party" label ... there was "born again Christians." The depths of which Jimmy Carter plumbed. As the Evangelicals threw in with the peanut farmer. And, Gerald Ford never got elected on his own.

Labels come and go.

Whatever happened to all those old "born again" stuff? The label died.

[Janet]

If the MFM is gonna put up Huntsman as their GOP nominee maybe we can get Zell Miller to run against Obama for the Dem. nomination. He could go on the news shows & point out how kooky the libs have become?

[Gmax]

I got news for the Iowa electronic market, if the election were today, the only question would be whether or not the Republicans get to 60 Senators...

[Jack is Back!]

OT: Over at Fred Pruitt's "Rantburg" the boys (and a girl or two) have Daffy and his two sons on a plane ride out of there. Where too is anyone's guess but probably Venezuela or Cuba eventually.

[Uncle BigBad]

Carol
The "born again" label, I think, refers mostly to Bush, who had a conversion experience while recovering from alcohol.

As far as I know, Perry has never had a conversion experience and, thus is not "born again."

Both Perry and Bush are Methodists, a denomination only slightly more religious than Unitarians.

[matt]

A sumnmary of the news on energy this week. What energy policy? LUN

[Elroy Jetson]

If that pipeline from Canada to Texas ever gets built, I will eat my shorts.
Too bad this country now has a "can't do" attitude.

[daddy]

If Rick Perry profited from Pornography, can PETA be far behind?

Perhaps Gene Wilder can be their spokesperson.

[Manuel Transmission]

My mom, who was a Methodist, said that the way to tell what Church you went to, was by you baptism. The Baptists did total immersion, the Catholics sprinkled Holy Water on you and the Methodists sent you out for dry-cleaning.

[rse]

MT-

My dad who grew up Baptist always said the Methodists stopped preaching precisely at noon. The Baptists did not recognize anyone was trying to get anywhere by a certain time.

My uncle was a Methodist minister and a theology prof and my dad had little use for an intellectual sermon.

[Ranger]

Rumors are flying that Qaddafi is dead. So it looks like the "revolution" is over. Now they can get down to the serious civil war.

[Bear1909]

The DNC is going all out on presidential election voter fraud. They are going to pull off an unlikely win and make it seem like the victory was this dramatic against all odds mandate. Then we will eat big crap sandos one and all....the open Republican primaries will also put a putz like that former Ambassador moron on the ticket, McCain redux....no safeguards against the Demz picking our candidate.....then what? add in the former ACORN voter fraud and it is President Snow Job winning by 10 per cent. But if you want to read some really good stuff that shows how irrelevant American politics are under Soetoro and Soros to the deeper trends pushing the globe economically: The Next Boom by Jack Plunkett. Must read. Planning for the future based on President Snow Job's debt destruction of the US economy is not a smart play....we will survive the debt as it is now....a different government approach will be forced on DC once the interest hits a specific level and Americans wake up to that fact....Plunkett tells it very well. Worth the 30 bucks for the book on Amazon.

[daddy]

"Rumors are flying that Qaddafi is dead."

In the story I linked yesterday about the mass murdering Lockerbie Bomber celebrating his 2nd anniversary of being released back to Libya, a commenter who said she was the mother of one of the murdered, was hoping with the fall of Quadafi if Magrahi might then be turned over to the US for a stateside trial.

Stories like this make me a bit unhopeful.

[Ranger]

Hot Air is doing a pretty good job of staying on top of the events in Tripoli:

Breaking: The end of Qaddafi?

[Extraneus]

Two fans shot after NFL preseason game between 49ers and Raiders, another beaten unconscious

A preseason football game between the San Francisco 49ers and the Oakland Raiders turned bloody when two men were shot outside the stadium and a third man was beaten unconscious in the bathroom, police said.

In one of the shootings, a man wearing a shirt that said "F—the 49ers" was shot multiple times in the stomach by a gunman in Oakland Raiders gear shortly after the game, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.

[snip]

The violence comes as the city's sports community is still reeling from an incident in March when two thugs in Los Angeles Dodgers gear beat a San Francisco Giants fan into a coma after the teams' season opener at Dodgers stadium.

Bryan Stow, a Santa Cruz paramedic, suffered severe brain injuries and remains hospitalized after the near-fatal attack.

Interesting. I was invited to a SF Giants v. Oakland A's game during a business trip in 1995 or so. We were up in one of the luxury boxes, sipping fine vino and munching hors d' oeuvres, and watched from behind a plexiglass window as the fans in the regular seats beat the hell out of each other. Apparently things haven't changed for the better in that neck of the woods.

[Jack is Back!]

OT: It looks like CBS is going to repeat tonight after the golf and local news the 60 minutes interview with Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York curmudgeon Morley Sorley conducted back in May. Of course, in the JiB household this will be the first time in 30 years we have ever watched 60 minutes because Cardinal Dolan and Frederick became good buddies at the 10am Pentecost Sunday mass in St. Pat's when we were back in NYC in June. The good Cardinal, who is referred to as The American Pope? by CBS, came over to Frederick in his pew and rubbed his head, asked him "how'd I do? and thanks for coming" before he rubbed his head and blessed him. As Frederick said then, "I don't even know that guy" but if you watch tonight you will find him to be quick, witty, smart and a true man of God.

We be watching.

[Extraneus]

(Click image for full size.)

[macphisto]

when a Raiders fan shoots another Raiders fan, around here we call it "population control."

[Clarice]

Ramirez is a genius!

[Specter]

Ex...That would be really funny if it wasn't true...But not to worry...big announcement coming soon for rural workers and for those who work on bridges and roads....that'll thin the line out.

[Captain Hate]

when a Raiders fan shoots another Raiders fan, around here we call it "population control."

One less member of the Black Hole to get infuriated by Alice Davis's descent into senility.

The last time I saw a Redskins game in person (Gibbs v2.0 with Bizarre Arrington having perhaps his last good game) they were playing the 49ers, who were terrible. There were a couple 49er fans who, if I were to make a guess, were probably Congressional aides/interns/whatever. There was a young guy sitting beside me who would add a suffix to everything he said of "49ers Suck". At first he was irritating but as the alcohol flowed and we sang Hail to the Redskins *many* times (he knew all the words), he became more amusing. Finally around the end of the third quarter the bedraggled 49er fans left but, as they did so, the girl turned around and gave the guy next to me the finger and said "You all suck". I think her squeeze was afraid he'd get pounded but instead we all just burst out laughing and waved goodbye to her, which I think infuriated her more. Good times.

[Extraneus]

Anyone know what the unemployment rate is for union employees? (I won't say "workers".) I don't think I've ever seen that stat.

[Specter]

In CT it's 0%...well...for "public sector" union employees...The private sector guys n gals haven't fared as well...

[Ignatz]

--One less member of the Black Hole to get infuriated by Alice Davis's descent into senility.--

A true Raiders fan, which I took the cure for some time ago, would shoot Al Davis to put Raider Nation out of its misery and then turn the gun on himself.
Not sure Aeschylus or Sophocles could do justice to the tragedy of that once feared and entertaining juggernaut's descent into pitiful irrelevance and incompetence.

[Ben Franklin]

"Not sure Aeschylus or Sophocles could do justice to the tragedy of that once feared and entertaining juggernaut's descent into pitiful irrelevance and incompetence."

Your best 'graf' to date...............

[centralcal]

According to news reporters on Twitter, while Libya is in turmoil, Obama and Valerie J. are meeting hobnobbing with the Comcast (owner of MSNBC) on M.V. Yes, they have their priorities!

[centralcal]

sorry, sneeze attack while typing - Comcast CEO.

[Ralph L]

The Baptists did not recognize anyone was trying to get anywhere by a certain time
My uncle's frat house at Chapel Hill was right behind the Baptist Church. The brothers would go to their respective churches, come back, and see who could drink the most beer before the Baptists got out.

[rse]

daddy-

The company I was GC for had several centers in Williamsport, PA. It was their high school overseas trip on that flight. Many of their most talented students. Basically everyone in town knew someone if not all of those kids.

[matt]

ext;

no worries. They were practice rounds.

[narciso]

Gosh, Ben Stein, has 'jumped the Bueller' in defending Bernanke from Perry,

[narciso]

That's the way, I read this, correct me if I am wrong:

This economy is stuck in a cruelly slow recovery from a recession that started on Bush 43's watch. Mr. Obama, a likeable man, is trying to get the economy going again. Mr. Bernanke, who has made many mistakes at the Fed, is also trying desperate measures to get the economy moving again.

One of the measures the Fed is using is to increase the money supply or what Gov. Perry would call "printing money."

Typically this is a helpful move, although not lately. It's not a radical move. It's not anywhere near a

"treasonous" move.

It is not at all clear that in an economy as weak as ours that creating more money would cause inflation.

[Ben Franklin]

"It is not at all clear that in an economy as weak as ours that creating more money would cause inflation."

Well, then rise above the 'critique', stick your neck out, and postulate some fresh ideas...............

[Ben Franklin]

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/21/us/politics/21donate.html?_r=3&partner=rss&emc=rss

"Over three terms in office, Mr. Perry’s administration has doled out grants, tax breaks, contracts and appointments to hundreds of his most generous supporters and their businesses. And they have helped Mr. Perry raise more money than any politician in Texas history, donations that have periodically raised eyebrows but, thanks to loose campaign finance laws and a business-friendly political culture dominated in recent years by Republicans, have only fueled Mr. Perry’s ascent.

“Texas politics does have this amazing pay-to-play culture,” said Harold Cook, a Democratic political consultant.

Mark Miner, a spokesman for Mr. Perry, said there was no connection between Mr. McHale’s contributions and the grant to G-Con. He said that the purpose of the state money was to create jobs and that it was appropriate for Mr. Perry to appoint people who support his vision and policies to state oversight posts."

I know 'loose money' is a good thing because it presupposes
Free Market ideology, and is a counter-weight to the fear of Soros and minions running wild to your disadvantage. But, do you see it as a 'zero sum game, or is it pernicious and destructive, to the detriment of all concerned?

[Ignatz]

--Gosh, Ben Stein, has 'jumped the Bueller' in defending Bernanke from Perry--

Ben's father was Herb Stein, one of the prime architects of Nixon's disastrous economic policies.
Ben has made a career out of defending the failed, statist, Keynesian policies of his father, who by all accounts was, like Ben, a decent and honorable man and, also like Ben, fundamentally wrong about most economics matters.

--It is not at all clear that in an economy as weak as ours that creating more money would cause inflation.--

It's already pretty clear if you buy frivolous luxuries like food and fuel, but I'll grant you that the absolute necessities we all have to own, like Ben does; a house in Malibu and one in Beverly Hills and one in Sandpoint Idaho and one in Palm Springs are not exactly making Ben a happy camper value-wise.

[Jack is Back!]

BF,

You don't need new ideas. The ideas of fiscal discipline (i.e. do not spend more than you take in) are as old as the bible. Do not over regulate, do not over tax, don not create an environment of super governance. Those are not new ideas but policies that created the great economic engine we all once enjoyed.

Why is it that we always have to re-invent the wheel of progress and economic liberty?

[sbw]

So, all you economist literate folks, if Bernanke printing money is a Good Thing in deflationary times, as Skeptical Optimist says ... form whom is it a Good Thing? It doesn't seem as if it would be a Good Thing for:
1) foreigners holding American debt
2) anyone burning foreign oil
3) anyone buying imported goods

Since that covers just about everyone, I repeat, for whom is it a Good Thing?

It would seem that if printing money is an attempt to up the velocity of money, wouldn't stopping government regulations be more successful?

[Ignatz]

--for whom is it a Good Thing--

Wall Street, which sees share prices rise, and, surprise, large banks who are given heaping sacks full of free money.
And guys like me who own commodities.

[Jane]

I'm watching the goings on in Libya. I'm tickled by the fact that our president is going to declare himself a foreign policy genius, for doing things a republican would be impeached for.

The problem is his base doesn't want him doing this stuff, and the rest of us give him absolutely no credit.

[Ignatz]

I see Norm 'Wild Man' Willie has passed away, who once recorded 17, yes 17!, sacks in one game, although at the time they weren't officially called sacks.
A feat akin to DiMaggio's streak IMO.

[(Another) Barbara]

After learning that Ben Stein donated the maximum allowable to Al Franken's senate campaign, I stopped trusting his judgment about anything.

[Ben Franklin]

"Why is it that we always have to re-invent the wheel of progress and economic liberty?"

It's called 'adaptation'. I think. Laws (written, legislated, adjudicated)
would not be necessary if everyone recognized that freedom must be accompanied by responsibility.

There will always be those who seek to short-cut the road to success through unethical behaviors. That includes the PeopleFest known as the Corporation. Regulation is nothing more than the response to the quest for illegitimate gains at the expense of those who lack the access or resources to compete fairly.(or they are
handicapped by a sense of conscience, which hobbles their enrichment through hard work and innovation)

[God the Father of All Life]

BF,

Do you think we are under regulated? And if such, where? Also, the inverse, where are we over regulated? Now back to my book and the LLWS. Japan is tough and really smart BBall players.

[Melinda Romanoff]

sbw-

The printing mitigates the wealth destruction of the housing market that is the real deflationary effect.

That's as simple as I can make it, as it is complicated.

[Ignatz]

--Regulation is nothing more than the response to the quest for illegitimate gains at the expense of those who lack the access or resources to compete fairly.--

Quite often regulation is precisely the opposite and is the method by which competing industries or competitors within an industry stifle their competition, especially large companies stifling smaller ones, and it is also an excellent method by which government exacts tribute and induces rent seeking from captive industries and of course it is primarily a way for bureaucracies, quite often utterly useless ones, to self perpetuate.

[Ben Franklin]

Good question, GtFoAL, but it would be better if you told me how Business is over-regulated in the present time. I need a baseline
for your inquiry.............

BTW; Which God? You know there are many different dieties. Distinguish yourself from the crowd.

[narciso]

Those Ben Stein remarks were 'very silly in deed,' I have expect Zombie Graham Chapman, to show up.

[sbw]

Thnx, Mel & Ignatz. I always learn from this blog.

[Ben Franklin]

"by which government exacts tribute and induces rent seeking from captive industries and of course it is primarily a way for bureaucracies, quite often utterly useless ones, to self perpetuate."

You mean like, the Utility Companies?

[Threadkiller]

OPS, Ben still can't answer a direct question.

Don't have to be sober to know that.

[Threadkiller]

Of course being sober would help write IOW and not let Droid autospell garbage.

[Ben Franklin]

Direct questions make me suspicious. Wonder why?

[Threadkiller]

Continuity of the Bens?

[Ben Franklin]

Yeah. One-liners, like that...............

[Ben Franklin]

Tell me about your personal Cosmology, TK.

Take your time..............................

[Threadkiller]

Risk it, Ben. Answer a question and see if I bite.

[Ben Franklin]

I asked my question first...........

[Threadkiller]

No, God the Father of All Life did.

[Ben Franklin]

And your interest in my answering HIS question, is...........?

[Cecil Turner]

First, let's look at what Perry actually said:

Printing more money to play politics at this particular time in American history, is almost treacherous, er, treasonous, in my opinion. [emphasis added]

If Stein, et al, want to claim this is outrageous speech, I think they need to accept Perry's premise. If their point is that Bernanke isn't playing politics, then the statement doesn't apply. If they admit the Fed's recent monetary policy is politically motivated, then I for one think we have a real problem. And Ben is completely out to lunch with this one:

It is not at all clear that in an economy as weak as ours that creating more money would cause inflation.

That's practically the definition of inflation (and it used to be the exact definition). If that isn't clear to Ben, it sure ought to be.

[Threadkiller]

Another question?

[Ignatz]

--You mean like, the Utility Companies?--

Well, yes among many others including and especially 'green' energy, which utilities just love as long as the taxpayer and rate payer is forced to pay for it.
Green energy and those who invest in it, including utilities, not only demand huge taxpayer subsidies be given to anything they label green, no matter how inefficient [economically destructive] or environmentally destructive, but also demand government place the most onerous regulations possible on their competitors in the conventional energy field.

[Ben Franklin]

No. Just the one.....with some addendums.

What is your personal Cosmology? Tell me if it includes a Duality, and if not, what is the source of evil in the World according to your
personal Beliefs. How does that encroach on daily life for you and yours, and how do you remain consistent in your economic philosophy?

[Ben Franklin]

Iggy;

You do know the Utilities are regulated for a very simple economic efficiency, right?

[Threadkiller]

You sure require a lot, just to answer a question on regulations.

[cathyf]

And guys like me who own commodities.

Iggy, I would argue that guys like you are less harmed by inflation, but not unharmed. If the economy were functioning better, your lumber would be worth more in real dollars, not just in nominal dollars.

[Ben Franklin]

Duality and Regulations are broad subjects. They require more than a frivolous gotcha session.

[cathyf]

Woohoo! Clarice got Instalaunched. With this great comment: "Obama an albatross? I thought he was a creepy robot."

[Threadkiller]

I'm sorry Ben. I did not know your 8:49 was serious. I would have thought you already had a baseline. Without one, how have you ever formed your own opinion?

[Ben Franklin]

"Without one, how have you ever formed your own opinion?"

So, you finally reveal your hypothesis: Go peddle your
distractions elsewhere. Or, you could create a baseline of
honesty in your inquiries, instead of digging a Lion pit to avoid any loss of limb during your 'hunt'.

[narciso]

Something of David Bowie's 'Thomas Newton' in
'The Man Who Fell to Earth' comes across.

[Ben Franklin]

Libyan Rebels Take Tripoli
August 21, 2011 9:09PM

Libyan rebels entered central Tripoli Sunday in a final move to end Moammar Gadhafi's four-decade rule. The militants took over the symbolic Green Square, renaming it "Martyr's Square" for those who have given their lives, and took control of key roads and airports. Sky News showed boisterous crowds cheering in the streets and many waving the red, black, and green flag of the anti-regime forces, while shouting "Allahu Akbar!" (God is greatest). People also burned posters of Gadhafi and the green flag of the regime they have nearly overturned. A thousand and three hundred people died today in the battle for the capital, according to Libyan government spokesperson Mussa Ibrahim, who insists the regime is still strong..

[Ben Franklin]

Your one-liners seem to take a while to compose. Don't have an
aneurysm.

[Ben Franklin]

I guess it's fair to withdraw my question about your cosmology.

One unserious inquiry is as expendable as another.

[Captain Hate]

A true Raiders fan, which I took the cure for some time ago, would shoot Al Davis to put Raider Nation out of its misery and then turn the gun on himself.

As somebody who really admired the way the Silver and Black was willing to exchange cheap shots with the denizens of the Steel City (that idiot Chuck Noll had a lot of gall to refer to the Raiders as having a "criminal element" while playing Ernie Holmes who was picked up around Youngstown firing a high powered rifle at Ohio state police helicopters) it pains me the way that Alice has made people forget what an outstanding foil he was to gasbag four-flushers like Modell. I'm thinking the first clear sign he was losing it was the dustup he got into with Marcus Allen, a classy guy for all I could tell and somebody who broke my Redskins heart by that run in the SuperBowl where he reversed his way out of containment. Alice might be the only person who can make Lane Kiffin an object of sympathy, at least outside the state of Tennessee.

[Janet]

Here are some photos of Sir Golfsalot.

This photo is weird (at the link but not sure when it was taken) -

[Janet]

Someone call Ann!!! The FLOTUS has been spotted!

[Rick Ballard]

cathyf,

The robot column by Charles Blow is a riot and the comment section is even funnier. I guess the sight of fast fading rainbows and the scent of unicorn farts just wasn't enough to keep even the dumbest prog in thrall. I wonder what Mr. Blow's reaction would be if someone whispered in his ear "He really is doing his very best and trying just as hard as he can - but you know, he just isn't very bright nor is he very truthful."

I doubt that his reaction would be positive because I believe that Mr. Blow is just as stuck on stupid as Paul Krugman.

[Caro]

Re FLOTUS, I think I see tan lines.

[Rick Ballard]

Caro,

You may be right - I was pondering when she ran out of drapes and started stealing table clothes from cafes and didn't go any farther.

[Porchlight]

Wow, they sure look like a happy couple. Doesn't he know to smile when he walks out a door? Or at least not look miserable.

[Porchlight]

Recent reporting is reminding me of this:

[Dave (in MA)]

"Obama an albatross?"

What flavor is it?

(Narciso will get it.)

[Charlie (Colorado)]

As far as I know, Perry has never had a conversion experience and, thus is not "born again."

Do you even know any Baptists?

Go have a look at John 3:3.

[Charlie (Colorado)]

My uncle's frat house at Chapel Hill was right behind the Baptist Church. The brothers would go to their respective churches, come back, and see who could drink the most beer before the Baptists got out.

Pikers. The Duke frats waited until the baptists left, then competed to see who could drink the most beer before they came back.

Sunday evening youth service didn't count.

[Stephanie]

Baptists have nothing to do with the 'born again' fundamentalists that are so savaged in politics. I was brought up in the baptist faith and other than baptisms that took place a few times a year, the general gist that I took from the religion was a certain strictness about stupid things (dancing).

Baptism was sometimes referred to as being born again into Christ, but that was because, even though one was born and grew up in the faith, until you made the choice to be baptized at 12 or so years of age, you were in the faith but not of the faith and in that sense were 'born again' when you decided to formalize your relationship with God and the church.

The baptists consider baptism a choice whereas some other faiths, methodists and catholics, do a ritual baptism at an age that the choice is not yours but your parents.

Anyways, the baptists are not nearly as weird as the snake handlers or the United Church of Christ. UCC don't have music for their sing alongs (you should hear tone deaf accapella sometimes - yikes!). And the snake handlers.... they are just strange.

I ended up a Methodist and was baptized in that faith in my 30s. The methodists and I parted ways when they started their current infatuation with the New Agers. Now I am a 'believer' without a home so to speak.

[Stephanie]

I should clarify, I dont think the baptists are the genesis of the born again movement. Many who are 'born again' are baptists, but I have met methodists, UCCers and even presbyterians! who consider themselves born again. I always took this to mean a recommitment to their faith and a certain tendency to want to proselytize to any and all comers. The root faith was less relevant to many "BAers" than their new 'commitment' to the 'Good News' and a tendency to want to witness to any and all comers and commit to serious study of the bible like through the Disciple series of studies.

[Charlie (Colorado)]

Well, then rise above the 'critique', stick your neck out, and postulate some fresh ideas...............

No, Narciso has it pretty much right. Milton Friedman's and Anna Schwartz's work on the quantity theory of money pretty much settled that model. Think of "the economy" as a balloon. Two things determine the size of the balloon: the amount of air inside and the temperature. If air escapes, or if the balloon is cooled, it gets smaller, and vice versa.

In the QToM, "money supply" is the air, and "money velocity" -- how fast money is changing hands -- is the temperature. We had both a banking crisis, which cooled the "balloon" and a real estate collapse, which removed money from the economy. This would normally cause the balloon to shrink: "deflation". Pouring in new money is obviously "inflationary" since it wants to make the balloon grow, but in the conditions we had it simply counterbalanced deflation.

The trick will be when the economy warms up some. Luckily, with the current administration, this isn't an immediate problem.

[Charlie (Colorado)]

Stephanie, as I say, go look up John 3:3 and read up on the Anabaptists. The use of "born again" the way we currently do comes from the 60's and is common to a lot of Evangelicals. The theological movement dates back to the 16th century, and as I pointed out it comes directly from Scripture.

[Porchlight]

The use of "born again" the way we currently do comes from the 60's and is common to a lot of Evangelicals.

Isn't that what Stephanie was saying? The discussion is about whether or not Rick Perry considers himself born again in the modern use of the term.

I am not sure what point you're trying to make about scriptural roots since we are talking about modern usage.

[Stephanie]

I was referring to the bastardization of the term to smear 'Christers' with a broad brush by many as a device to marginalize anyone who expresses faith. You aren't or can't be a true scientifically minded person with any reasonable points to some if you have faith. It does not compute for them and is used to smear any arguments for or against ID or Stem Cell research or abortion or many other topics. Once you have been identified as a 'Christer' any attempt at debate on any of these topics (plus others)is deemed as colored by the fact that you have expressed faith - whether or not you are discussing, for example, abortion solely on the merits of 'if we say life support can be terminated due to the lack of brain activity in the elderly or brain injured why not use this to determine when abortion should be outlawed on front end of life.' The fact that you have any religiousity automatically disqualifies even that point for a counter to abortion up until the 40th week. It is no different than the tactic used to shut down anti Obama commentary by labeling someone as 'racist.' Once they can find a hook to shut down your commentary, they will - whether it be racist or religious kook or whatever hook that can be deployed to discount your point.

Apologies for any semantic or rambling nature to my comments tonight. I am sitting in a hotel in Charleston on my iphone. The daughter has officially been handed over to the University. Yea!?! Gulp.

[Stephanie]

ISTM that born again is simply an attempt to redefine that term spinning it to establish the most derogatory inference to anyone of faith.

Similar to the bastardization of prejudice v racist v stereotype.

Deploy the most 'sinister' terminology in current usage and shut your opponent down... see Alinsky and see Goldstein's arguments for why words matter and why the hijacking of language is so dangerous.