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SEPTEMBER 28,  2011

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 10:21 P.M. ET:

TERROR PLOT FOILED – A 26-year-old Massachusetts man has been arrested and charged with planning to attack the Capitol and the Pentagon with model planes loaded with explosives.  Rezwan Ferdaus is accused of plotting the attacks because he considered the United States to be an enemy of Allah.  He also allegedly supplied mobile phones to FBI agents he thought were recruiters for Al Qaeda.

IRAN IN LIBYA – London's Telegraph reports that Iran has stolen advanced weaponry from Libya during the chaos surrounding this year's Libyan revolt.  Included in the haul are dozens of sophisticated, shoulder-launched surface-to-air missiles.  Intelligence officials fear the missiles will be given to terrorist groups and used against civilian airliners.  Of particular concern is the belief that the weapons were stolen by Iran's Revolutionary Guards, who have the training to use these missiles or teach others to use them.

TEA IN WASHINGTON? – A new survey shows surprising support for the Tea Party in the Washington, D.C. area, home of big government.  The Tea Party has the support of one in five area residents and nearly half the Republicans.  Support is strongest in Virginia, where 23% of respondents said they support the Tea Party, compared with 19% in heavily Democratic Maryland and 10% in fanatically Democratic Washington, D.C.  The president may be shocked to learn he has Tea Party supporters living within blocks of him. 

PERRY PUNCHED – Rick Perry, who has stumbled in debates after briefly leading the Republican field, is being hit from all sides within his own party.  The most serious blow – Herman Cain, who is showing increasing strength in polls, said bluntly that he could not support Perry for president because of what Cain considers Perry's lax stand on border security.  Border security and immigration policy are emerging as serious problems for Perry, who takes moderate stands on both, in a party that is increasingly conservative.

September 28, 2011       Permalink

FOX POLL STUNNER – AT 9:05 P.M. ET:  According to the latest Fox News poll, just out, there is movement in the Republican race:

Three September debates have shaken-up the race for the Republican presidential nomination. Herman Cain has jumped into the top tier. Rick Perry’s stumbled. Mitt Romney's holding steady.

And Michele Bachmann is hitting bottom. That’s according to a Fox News poll released Wednesday.
The new poll found Cain’s support has nearly tripled among GOP primary voters to 17 percent.

That’s up from 6 percent before this month’s debates, and puts him in what is essentially a three-way tie with Perry and Romney.

Cain has benefited not only from his debate performances, but also significant media attention after winning the Florida Republican Party’s straw poll on Saturday.

Perry now garners 19 percent, a drop of 10 percentage points from a month ago. That puts Romney back in the top spot with the support of 23 percent. Last month Romney was at 22 percent.

Newt Gingrich recovered some ground and now stands at 11 percent. Ron Paul receives the backing of 6 percent now compared to 8 percent before the September debates.

Bachmann registers 3 percent support, down from 8 percent in late August and a high of 15 percent in July.

COMMENT:  Of course, Cain can be dismissed as the flavor of the week.  However, his rise is due to people actually getting to know him through the debates, where he's made a strong impression.  Perry's rise to the top, as soon as he announced, was due more to image.  But his image has suffered in the debates.

It's pretty clear that Bachmann is fading away, the victim of Perry's drawing her supporters and her own tendency to sound strident at times.

Perry's drop, if it is confirmed by other polls, is more than significant.  It could be next to fatal.  Dial the political 911. 

But, alas, this is one poll.  No need to write obits or crown winners just yet.  There are many more polls to come.

September 28, 2011      Permalink

THIS IS A HOOT – MUST READ – AT 9:58 A.M. ET:  I hate to see friends fight, don't you?  And so it's with a sense of heartbreak that I report a serious feud between two warm allies – Al Qaeda and the government of Iran.  You know, as Rodney King said, "Can't we all just get along?"  From the Jerusalem Post: 

Following repeated claims by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad that the 9/11 attacks were part of a United States government conspiracy, al-Qaida (or rather al-Qaida-affiliated propagandists) has sent the Iranian president a poorly-edited Jihadi equivalent of a cease and desist letter.

In the most recent edition of the al-Qaida affiliated English-language magazine, Inspire, dedicated to the tenth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, a prominent "opinion piece" derides Ahmadinejad for perpetuating conspiracy theories about the attacks.

The author, writing under the name Abu Suhail, accuses the Islamic Republic of harboring a festering jealousy over its own inability to damage the United States as al-Qaida did ten years ago.

"For them, al-Qaida was a competitor for the hearts and minds of the disenfranchised Muslims around the world," Abu Suhail continued condescendingly, "al-Qaida, an organization under fire, with no state, succeeded in what Iran couldn’t."

Therefore, the Iranians feel compelled to "to discredit 9/11, and what better way to do so? Conspiracy theories."

And...

Although it was not clear whether the piece was published in response to any particular statement by the Iranian president, Ahmadinejad last accused the United States of being behind or at least complicit in the 9/11 attacks while speaking at the UN General Assembly last week.

He also claimed to have been threatened by the United States for proposing an investigation into the "hidden elements involved in [the] September 11 incident." One such element, he said, was "the safe space provided for the invading aircraft to attack the twin World Trade towers."

COMMENT:  You know, it's just like Hollywood.  Greed.  Competition.  Grabbing credit.  Hey, I know these guys.  Any one of them could be William Morris agents.

I propose that they settle this dispute by setting up the Islamist Academy for Big-bang Arts and Sciences, and give a coveted award to the best terrorists each year.  You know, a little statue.  They could call it The Mullah – given for Best Terrorist, Best Terrorist in a Supporting Role, Best Terror Operation, Best Original Jihadist Script, Best Jihadist Script Stolen from Someone Else.   They could also give the Osama bin Laden lifetime achievement award, and the Barack Obama He Can't Be This Naive award.

They wouldn't have envelopes.  They'd just blow open a safe to get the names of the winners.

I'd watch that show, wouldn't you?  Just to see Joan Rivers review the suicide belts on the red carpet....

September 28, 2011       Permalink

TAKE THAT, EUROPE! – AT 9:17 A.M. ET:  There is whining, anger and emotional distress in Europe these days over some biting criticism directed across the pond by President Obama, who lectured Europe earlier this week on its debt crisis, charging that the Euros are moving much too slowly.

The Europeans, having loved Obama to death in the past, are shocked, shocked, that he would express any criticism.  Their agony is evident, and so is their bad taste in replying.  From Spiegel online:

US President Obama has given the Europeans a harsh lecture on the dangers of their ongoing debt crisis. Offended by the unsolicited advice, Europeans have suggested the US get its own house in order first. Obama's remarks were "arrogant" and "absurd," German commentators say on Wednesday.

Yeah, right.  Arrogance and absurdity are unknown in the German tradition.  Look, I'm no fan of Obama's, as all readers know, but I'm frankly glad he made his remarks.  Now maybe the spoiled, adolescent-level European elites know what it's like to be hectored, as President Bush was hectored repeatedly by the condescending snobs whom we've been defending for generations.

Europeans are well aware of the seriousness of their ongoing debt crisis. But they don't, it seems, like to receive lectures from other countries -- especially the United States, which is struggling to deal with its own mountain of debt.

On Tuesday, German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble curtly rejected recent American criticism of Europe's approach to solving its debt crisis. "I don't think Europe's problems are America's only problems," said Schäuble, who has become increasingly sharp-tongued as the euro crisis deepens. "It's always easier to give other people advice."

Yeah, it sure is, Herr Finance Minister.  So maybe Europeans in the future will be a little less critical of the United States.  You still depend on our success, big guy.

Schäuble was referring to strongly worded comments made by US President Barack Obama and US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner in recent days. At an event in California on Monday, Obama warned Europeans that their inaction was "scaring the world." The Europeans, he said, "have not fully healed from the crisis back in 2007 and never fully dealt with all the challenges that their banking system faced. It's now being compounded by what's happening in Greece." He continued: "They're going through a financial crisis that is scaring the world, and they're trying to take responsible actions, but those actions haven't been quite as quick as they need to be."

COMMENTS:  Are you as bored by the politics of Western Europe as I am?  This is the modern gang that can't shoot straight, that considers itself quite superior to we American peasants, and gets little right other than running some really neat museums and eateries.  Thousands of American men are buried in Europe because of European blunders.  I wish they'd remember that, if only occasionally.

September 28, 2011       Permalink

QUOTE OF THE DAY – AT 8:55 A.M. ET:  By the great Dorothy Rabinowitz of The Wall Street Journal, one of the best investigative reporters and analysts in the country, on the remarkable rise of Herman Cain in the GOP sweepstakes in the last week.  Cain, a successful African-American business executive, won the Florida straw poll over the weekend:

An early response to the Florida poll results came from a friend, historian Alan C. Kors, who observed in mock puzzlement: "So, the 'Tea Party racists' in a Republican straw poll chose the self-made black Herman Cain -- mathematician and successful businessman -- son of a cleaning woman and a janitor, as their choice of nominee for the presidency of the United States. Well! What a bigoted group, what a caste society!"

It's an observation whose point wouldn't be lost on Herman Cain.

COMMENT:  One of the key devices the Obamans will use in the upcoming election campaign will be to paint the opposition as sinister, racist, homophobic, bigoted – you know the whole list and can probably recite it by heart.  It is, of course, a lie, but that lie resonates in some communities and advances the careers of some real mediocrities. 

Cain seems to be gaining in the polls.  He may just be the flavor of the week.  On the other hand, his debate performances have improved, he's being noticed, and...you never know.  If not at the top of the ticket, he could be an attractive vice presidential candidate, a man from a challenging background who made it, based on his own abilities and hard work.  True, he never lived in Indonesia, hung out with radicals in Chicago, and doesn't have an exotic name like Barack.  But he'll do just fine.

September 28, 2011      Permalink

WAIT, WAIT, I HEARD IT MYSELF – AT 8:25 A.M. ET:  Something really weird is happening in American politics this morning.

I heard Chris Christie's speech at the Reagan Library last night live.  There was a Q&A afterward.  He was asked whether he would run for president.  He clearly referred the questioner to a Politico post that quoted all his past comments to the effect that he would not, and said, also clearly, that they told the story.

That story is that he's not going to run.

The commentators at Fox News all agreed that he'd said it, and there was no doubt.  But this morning The New York Times, the Washington Post, and the Hill are saying "not so fast."  They're claiming he left the door open.  But, hey, I heard it.  He left no door open.  From The Hill:

Following a week of ever-escalating speculation that upstaged those in the Republican presidential field, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) nimbly sidestepped directly answering whether he would run for president in 2012 – instead referring to prior statements where he has previously denied any intention to run.

“I’m not going to bore you with it now, those are the answers,” Christie said.

Now, I could be wrong.  Maybe I didn't learn the same English that the august reporters of The Hill, the Post and the Times did.  But when Christie says, "Those are the answers," I don't see an open door or an unlocked door.  Neither did the Fox commentators.

We'll see.  Maybe Christie will be visited by the ghost of election days past and suddenly announce that he's heard the call.  If he does, fine.  But I think the parsing of his remarks at the Reagan Library is a bit silly.

September 28, 2011     Permalink

SEPTEMBER 27,  2011

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE - AT 11:16 P.M. ET:

SAUDI DECADENCE – A few days after Saudi Arabia announced, with great fanfare, that women would get the right to vote, a Saudi court has sentenced a woman to 10 lashes for driving a car.  So, if you're female you'll be allowed to vote ...unless you show up at the polls driving a car.  What is remarkable is how little protest there is internationally regarding Saudi justice, and the kingdom's attitude toward women.  Of course, Saudi Arabia knows how to spread the oil money around, and money buys influence...and silence.

THE USUAL STATEMENT – Crown Publishers is saying it stands behind Joe McGinniss's smear job on Sarah Palin, a day after Palin threatened to sue the publisher.  This is the standard line publishers put out when a book is under attack.  The book is getting near-universal bad reviews.  It tells tawdry tales, but very little evidence is presented to back up the stories.  It is very hard for a public figure to successfully sue for libel, under the New York Times vs. Sullivan rule.  The public figure must prove that the offending statements are false, and were published with actual malice.  But if Sarah does sue, it could be a remarkably interesting trial.

ANDY GOING – Andy Rooney, at 92, is retiring from "Sixty Minutes" after 33 years with the show.  Rooney's end-of-the-show, gripe-filled commentaries on American life became a regular feature of "Sixty Minutes."  I never thought, frankly, they were all that great.  The great part is that CBS allowed Rooney to stay on until 92, a far cry from the obsolete "out at 65" standard that still applies in too many places.  Rooney's tenure is a sign of the future, as more and more Americans are working well past retirement age, some because they have to, others because they want to.  A more realistic, modern retirement age will become a major subject of discussion in the Social Security debates we're about to have.

IRAN THREATENS – Iran is threatening to send its navy close to American shores because the U.S. Navy operates close to Iran.  This would represent a major escalation of tensions between the two countries, and would conjure up visions of another Cuban Missile Crisis.  When Iran gets the nuclear weapon, it could easily launch a missile with an atomic warhead from a ship near our shores.  We would be aware of that capability, and it would have to affect our strategic thinking.

September 27, 2011       Permalink

CHRISTIE NOT RUNNING – Chris Christie gave a superb speech at the Reagan Library tonight, but then disappointed the audience during the Q&A by making it clear he is not running for president.

Christie's speech, very Reaganesque, was well written and precise, and – unlike others in the Republican Party – demonsrated an understanding of the relationship between domestic and foreign policy.  As I heard it I became convinced that he was going to announce for president.  I've had doubts about Christie, but hearing him tonight persuaded me that, at minimum, he'd be the best speaker of all the candidates.

But, alas, in reply to the second question asked in the Q&A, Christie made it clear that he has no intention of running.   There was no wiggle room.  So that's that...unless someone wants to start a draft movement.

His speech, though, was the best I've heard from any American political leader in a long time.

September 27, 2011       Permalink

NEW YORK STATE POLL HIGHLIGHTS REPUBLICAN DILEMMA – AT 8:33 P.M. ET:  The new Siena Research Institute poll shows why Republicans can't depend on discontent with Obama to win next year's election:

In a new Siena Research Institute poll, 47 percent of registered voters in the state would re-elect Obama, and 47 percent would prefer to vote for 'someone else'. When that challenger is Rick Perry, however, the President leads 56-33 percent. When it's Mitt Romney, Obama leads 56-36 percent.

In a state where Democratic enrollment outnumbers Republican enrollment two-to-one, these results underscore that however unenthusiastic the Left is about President Obama, they still strongly favor him over the conservative alternative.

“The bad news for the President is that when voters judge him in the absence of Republican opposition, his numbers are weak,” Siena College pollster Steven Greenberg said. “The good news for the President is that when matched up against Republicans—those in Congress or potential presidential challengers—his numbers are strong.”

More voters support Obama's American Jobs Act than oppose it (33-19 percent), but a plurality of voters say they need more information before they can come to a decision. The rest of the President's policies are similarly popular among voters, although overwhelmingly more so with Democrats than with Republicans. Voters on both sides found common ground when asked whether Obama has tried to get both parties working together.

“Seventy-three percent of voters, including almost half of Republicans, say that Obama has tried to get both parties working together. And a majority of voters believe that he is strong enough to be President, has had many accomplishments, has the right policies for America, and he makes them proud to be an American,” Greenberg said.

COMMENT:  We are seeing this pattern across America.  People aren't very enthusiastic about Obama, but they're less enthusiastic about the Republican Party and its potential nominees.

We've said here for a long time that, without an exciting candidate, the Republicans will probably not win next year's election.  Survey after survey is now confirming that view.  I think the election would be far closer nationally than the New York numbers indicate – New York begins by being very blue – but even Mitt Romney, who was governor in nearby Massachusetts, only gets 36% of the vote in the New York poll.

Republicans have a history of working hard to lose elections, while celebrating their victory in advance of the loss.  I fear history might repeat itself.  You can't beat somebody with nobody.

September 27, 2011      Permalink

SNIPPET OF THE DAY – AT 10:38 A.M. ET:

From Fox:  SWEET SPRINGS, Mo. – A Missouri mom was facing felony charges Thursday after her kindergartner son brought a crack pipe and several baggies of methamphetamine to school for show-and-tell.  Michelle Marie Cheatum, 32, has been charged with two class C felonies -- possession of a controlled substance and endangering the welfare of a child, the Marshall Democrat-News reported. 

Show-and-tell has changed over the years.  When I was in school, kids would bring in slides of the Grand Canyon, or a sweater that mom had knitted.  Am I being culturally insensitive?  Should I go to special training?

WHO FIGHTS FOR US – AT 10:01 A.M. ET:   Reader Joseph J. Gallick refers us to a terrific story about the makeup of our armed forces.  The political left loves to portray the American military as made up of dregs who have to join because they have no other means of income.  Absolutely untrue.  The facts speak for themselves.  From The Wall Street Journal:

In 2008, using data provided by the Defense Department, the Heritage Foundation found that only 11% of enlisted military recruits in 2007 came from the poorest one-fifth, or quintile, of American neighborhoods (as of the 2000 Census), while 25% came from the wealthiest quintile. Heritage reported that "these trends are even more pronounced in the Army Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) program, in which 40% of enrollees come from the wealthiest neighborhoods, a number that has increased substantially over the past four years."

Indeed, the Heritage report showed that "low-income families are underrepresented in the military and high-income families are overrepresented. Individuals from the bottom household income quintile make up 20.0 percent of Americans who are age 18-24 years old but only 10.6 percent of the 2006 recruits and 10.7 percent of the 2007 recruits. Individuals in the top two quintiles make up 40.0 percent of the population, but 49.3 percent of the recruits in both years."

What about the charge that our Army is disproportionately black? This too is false, as is clear from data for fiscal 2010 available on the Army's website: Whereas blacks comprise 17% of Americans ages 18-39 with high school degrees, they represent only a slightly larger proportion of enlisted soldiers, at 21%.

Meanwhile, whites were significantly overrepresented among enlisted Army personnel in 2010. While 58% of Americans 18-39 years old are white, 64% of the Army's enlisted men and women are. Whites are underrepresented to a minor degree in only one category, in which blacks are overrepresented: Army officers. While 74% of 25-54 year-olds with bachelor's degrees are white, 72% of Army officers are white. While 8% of 25-54 year-olds with B.A.s are black, 13% of Army officers are.

COMMENT:  Not quite the image the mainstream media presents.  The same slurs were used in Vietnam as part of the campaign to discredit our effort there.  (The main part of the campaign, waged by Walter Cronkite and others, was that the war was unwinnable.) 

I hope this new information is widely publicized, especially by Fox News and other outlets with a respect for the military.  I don't think the mainstream outlets will show much interest.

September 27, 2011   Permalink     

PILLOW TALK? – AT 9:07 A.M. ET:  We have an odd arrangement in Washington wherein the secretary of state is married to a former president who dealt with many of the same issues his wife is handling today.  Thus, any comment on foreign policy by Bill Clinton, some surmise, must really be coming from his wife.

Eyebrows were therefore raised last week when Bill Clinton launched a very public and very venomous attack on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, essentially blaming him for the collapse of the peace process, very dubious proposition.   Clinton was sounding like Carter. 

Observers wondered whether this was actually coming from Hillary Clinton, who is serving a president who has been hostile to Netanyahu.  And, if Hillary wants a political future in a country that is decidedly pro-Israel, what would be the point of such an attack, launched through her husband?

Yesterday, Hillary's state department issued a statement distancing itself, and, by implication, the secretary, from Bill Clinton's remarks.  From the Jerusalem Post:

The US State Department under Hillary Clinton is not endorsing the sharp criticism of Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu voiced last week by her husband, former US president Bill Clinton.

“President Clinton is a private citizen, his comments reflect his private views,” a US embassy spokesperson said Monday.

Well, he isn't exactly a private citizen, but we'll let it pass.

The former president, who had a testy relationship with Netanyahu when he was president and Netanyahu was prime minister in the late 1990s, blamed Netanyahu for the impasse in the diplomatic process during a discussion last week with bloggers.

His comments came even as the Obama administration’s public tone toward Israel changed dramatically last week, with US President Barack Obama’s sympathetic and empathic address at the UN.

According to Josh Rogin’s blog on the Foreign Policy website last week, Clinton attributed the lack of a comprehensive peace agreement today to the Netanyahu administration’s refusal to accept the Camp David deal that he brokered in 2000, and the influx of Russian-speaking immigrants who he called “territorialists, the people who just showed up lately, and they’re not encumbered by the historical record.”

His comments about the Russian-speaking immigrants echoes similar comments he made last year that raised eyebrows in Jerusalem.

In America we would call that ethnic profiling.  One thing about Bill – he never hestitates to get down and dirty when it counts. 

I have no idea what prompted the State Department's public distancing of itself from Bill, who's made a number of irrational statements recently.  But Hillary's ambitions may well be involved, although I concede that this is speculation. 

September 27, 2011       Permalink

THE NEWSPAPER OF RECORD IS AT IT AGAIN – AT 8:46 A.M. ET:  Well, they used to call The New York Times the newspaper of record.  Their idea of "the record" today, though, may seem a bit odd to many of us who once labored there. 

I ask this question:  Why is it that whenever a Republican comes to the fore as a potential presidential candidate, The Times is always ready with a hit piece?  Rick Perry has been the subject of a number of weak pieces clearly designed to discredit him.  (The idea of another Texas governor as president brings intense chills and violent shaking to the editors of The Times, who regard Texas as a foreign country where cows drive cars.)  Now that Chris Christie is in the spotlight the once newspaper of record responds in its usual manner...a hit piece out this morning: 

They are rich. They are unattached. They are looking for a little excitement.

You immediately see where this is going.

Meet the Draft Christie committee, a small but influential group of Republican-leaning donors and activists, many based in New York, united by a shared desire to see Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey run for president.

There is Kenneth G. Langone, the billionaire Home Depot founder who is perhaps Mr. Christie’s most fervent booster; Paul E. Singer, the publicity-shy hedge fund magnate and Republican activist who is among the most-sought-after Republican donors in the country; and David H. Koch, the industrialist, Tea Party benefactor and, according to Forbes, the richest man in New York.

Charles R. Schwab, the personal investment guru, is also among those who have shown interest in seeing a Christie presidential bid, according to published reports and people familiar with the discussions, as is the financier Stanley F. Druckenmiller. So are the hedge fund managers David Tepper and Daniel S. Loeb, a onetime supporter of President Obama.

In recent months, Christie enthusiasts have lighted up the phone lines between Manhattan and Trenton trying to persuade the governor to enter the Republican field amid growing concern about the current contenders.

Several dozen potential Christie backers attended a meeting in July convened by Mr. Langone to introduce the governor to top-shelf Republican donors, many of them on the sidelines so far in the 2012 campaign. Others saw him in action in June, when Mr. Christie quietly flew to Colorado to speak at a private retreat hosted by Mr. Koch and his brother, Charles, another prominent Republican donor.

COMMENT:  Translated:  Christie is a creature of Wall Street and the moneyed interests.  He's not his own man.  Now, it's appropriate for a newspaper to look into the financial backing of any candidate, but the timing of this piece, and the lack of any real scrutiny of Obama during the 2008 campaign, demonstrate journalistic hypocrisy and opportunism. 

A full picture of Christie will reveal pluses and minuses.  I am not waiting for The Times to provide that portrait.

September 27, 2011      Permalink

CHRISTIE'S DAY – AT 8:26 A.M. ET:  Chris Christie makes his much-anticipated speech on leadership at the Reagan Library today.  We'll tell you what he says.  The speech, viewed as routine when it was announced originally, has now taken on a life of its own amid speculation that Christie may reverse himself and decide to join the presidential race.

As readers know, we have had our doubts about Christie, but we're certainly willing to listen.  This is an important speech.  At the same time, Christie being Christie, he's done something new that reflects the spunk and verve that he brings to his office, the kind of thing that has made him so popular with so many:

TRENTON, New Jersey (AP) — MTV’s reality show “Jersey Shore” won’t get a tax break from New Jersey because Gov. Chris Christie says the show hurts the state’s image.

Christie on Monday blocked a $420,000 film credit that was approved for the show last week by the state Economic Development Authority.

The money was supposed to cover production costs for the hit reality series’ inaugural 2009 season.

Christie suspended the film tax credit program in 2010 to close a budget deficit, but the 2009 season still qualified for the credit.

“I have no interest in policing the content of such projects,” Christie said in a statement. “However, as chief executive I am duty-bound to ensure that taxpayers are not footing a $420,000 bill for a project which does nothing more than perpetuate misconceptions about the State and its citizens.”

COMMENT:  Good for Chris.  I've been in the film business and have always been dubious about tax credits for the industry.  Hollywood accounting has too much flim-flam for me to believe that these credits are well used.  I suspect many tax "incentives" turn into BMWs in the garages of Hollywood executives. 

We await the governor, from the Reagan Library.

September 27, 2011     Permalink