Joe Scott 3: The Body Politic

Obama: Trumping Trump

28 April 2011 |permalink | email article

The President, in the view of many, waited a bit too long to silence to the specious rumor circulated by Donald Trump and the wing nuts that, in fact, he has a long form birth certificate proving that he… read full story

Olbermann is Back

27 April 2011 |permalink | email article

Current TV has announced the name and premiere date for former MSNBC host Keith Olbermann’s new program. To many viewers the name may seem familiar because it will be called “Countdown with Keith Olbermann” on the independently Emmy@ and… read full story

GOP 2012: Race Unfocused

26 April 2011 |permalink | email article

The field of potential Republican presidential candidates has undergone its first major shakeup. Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour, a fundraising dynamo, abruptly dropped out of the race. A major force in the party he apparently lacked the fire in the… read full story

Awaiting the interregnum

25 April 2011 |permalink | email article

Dodger World ponders who MLB Commissioner Bud Selig will appoint this week to run the team. We know it won’t be L.A. businessman Steve Soboroff who embattled Dodger owner Frank McCourt curiously appointed the club’s vice chairman just a… read full story

MLB: The Dodgers in Limbo

22 April 2011 |permalink | email article

One thing I admire about T.J. Simers, the tough guy Los Angeles Times columnist, is he’s fearless in calling them as he sees them. The MLB takeover of the Los Angeles Dodgers is a classic example:

Come on, it’s… read full story

Protecting the Middle Class

21 April 2011 |permalink | email article

The intensifying debate in Washington over long-range fiscal problems is explored in a new Washington Post/ABC News poll released Wednesday. It indicates that a majority of Americans reject entitlement cuts to deal with the issue. Independents side with Republicans… read full story

Selig Steps In, McCourt Out

20 April 2011 |permalink | email article

Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig’s decision that he would appoint someone to oversee all operations of the Los Angeles Dodgers because of “his deep concerns” about the state of the marquee franchise is hardly a surprise. In a statement Selig… read full story

Obama Poll Dip; GOP Race Unfocused

20 April 2011 |permalink | email article

If the President is in trouble with voters the Grand Old Party has a much worse potential problem. A new Washington Post/ABC News poll indicates the president’s approval rating is at a near low. Renewed concerns about the economy… read full story

Trump’s Politicial ‘Pit Bull’ Talks

19 April 2011 |permalink | email article

Michael Cohen, 44, is Donald Trump’s top political adviser with a reputation as a “Godfather”-like consigliere. In a stunning interview with ABC News Cohen was asked what the title means. “It means that if someone does something that Mr.… read full story

Remembering Geoff Miller

18 April 2011 |permalink | email article

Miller, 74, was co-founder and first editor of Los Angeles Magazine in late 1960. Along with publisher David Brown, a former ad executive, they had an idea for a publication that would celebrate their native city and highlight its… read full story

Ryan’s Flawed Blue Print

17 April 2011 |permalink | email article

The House Budget Committee chairman likes to boast ”this budget plan keeps America exceptional.” In fact, it is far from exceptional when one considers, for example, cutting federal spending on Medicaid, which provides healthcare for seniors, children and the… read full story

Can Any Republican Beat Obama?

15 April 2011 |permalink | email article

Donald Trump is becoming a problem for the Republican establishment. As Nate Silver’s FiveThirtyEight column in The New York Times points out Trump’s share of the Republican primary vote is rising in some polls but that he might never… read full story

The Budget Speech

14 April 2011 |permalink | email article

The most telling rebuttal in President Obama rousing speech about the GOP budget bill which the House passed today: “As Ronald Reagan’s own budget director said, there’s nothing ‘serious’ or “courageous’ about this plan.” The reference was to an… read full story

Romneycare

13 April 2011 |permalink | email article

Mitt Romney, the former Massachusetts governor, kicked off his presidential exploratory committee pitch this week with a video message that omitted one key issue: health care reform which could sink his chances for the GOP nomination.

Not lost among… read full story

Remembering Kam Kuwata

12 April 2011 |permalink | email article

He was a man for all seasons, a Democratic consultant who, as California Assembly Speaker John Perez recalled, often referred to himself as a hack but was anything but. He never insulted journalists’ with his spin.

Bill Carrick, a… read full story

Ayn Rand and Paul Ryan

11 April 2011 |permalink | email article

A movie version of “Atlas Shrugged,” the 1957 novel by Ayn Rand which has a passionate following among political conservatives and libertarians – notably GOP House budget chairman Paul Ryan – opens Friday in about 300 screens in 80… read full story

Can Trump Derail GOP Primaries?

10 April 2011 |permalink | email article

IN a major surprise Donald Trump is running close to Mitt Romney in a new NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll among Republicans for the 2012 nomination. At least for now the question is whether the real estate titan is… read full story

Trump, birther strategist

08 April 2011 |permalink | email article

Fox News has finally had enough of world ending Glenn Beck. So it seems appropriate that NBC monitor more closely Donald Trump and his Celebrity Apprentice show since “The Donald” is investing in conspiracy theories about President Obama’s birth… read full story

GOP budget: major tax cuts for the rich

07 April 2011 |permalink | email article

Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan takes no prisoners in terms of his 2012 budget proposal. His plan overturns the new health care law and proposes Draconian reforms to Medicare and Medicaid – a risky strategy which could seriously damage… read full story

Feinstein 2012; revulsion against Ryan

06 April 2011 |permalink | email article

THE Democratic senator, 77, who faces reelection in 2012, is far more popular than her colleague Barbara Boxer, a new Field Poll shows. But for the first time since her initial California election, fewer than half of California voters… read full story

Brown’s crucial dog and pony tour

04 April 2011 |permalink | email article

On Day 85 of the governor’s failed effort to secure a state budget deal, Brown responded with unusual calm not so evident in terms one and two. “I’m not giving up. I’ve been around a long time. I know… read full story

GOP copies Mellon economic doctrine

03 April 2011 |permalink | email article

“Liquidate labor, liquidate stocks, liquidate the farmers, liquidate real estate” is what Herbert Hoover supposedly was told by Treasury Secretary Andrew Mellon as the country plunged into depression.

As economist Paul Krugman notes in his New York Times… read full story

April Fools Day

01 April 2011 |permalink | email article

Politico gives astonishing credence to a new national poll showing that Mitt Romney and Mike Huckabee are running even in match ups against President Barack Obama, with Chris Christie not far behind.

The survey by New Jersey-based Farleigh… read full story