Exxon Mobil's profit margin was 10.85%.

Why do you keep talking about marginal profit? Margins only matter to investors. Let's talk real dollars, not marginal increases. Exxon posted the largest profit in 2007 - $40.61 billion. That was twice the size of number 2, GE.

Combine that with your 10.85% "profit margin" for a single quarter, and we're talking some real money!

Posted at June 11, 2008 12:31 AM in response to Time Mag Sniffs At Obama's Economic Plan

I agree - TPM monitors need to remove it, please.

Posted at June 1, 2008 1:53 PM in response to In Blow To Hillary, DNC Agrees To Seat Florida And Michigan Delegations At Half-Votes

What are the rules, anyway? Was there anything to Issa's objections? Or does the Waxman, as the Committee Chairman, have the authority to ask questions as he pleases?

Does anyone know where to find a copy of the rules governing the Oversight & Government Reform Committee?

Posted at May 21, 2008 3:09 PM in response to Boehner Demands Apology From Waxman for "Abusive Outburst"

Sometimes I wonder if "poverty" is not too strong a word to use in ginning up support in a political race. Not that poverty doesn't exist here, and not that tackling poverty shouldn't be a high priority for our public servants. It does, and it definitely should be. But political success for this relies on peoples' goodwill, and in hard times, magnanimity tends to run scarce.

No one likes to be at the bottom of the pecking order. That isn't trivial. It's a deep-seated psychological trait. We don't like to think of ourselves as the worst-off. We will always find someone who, for some reason, we can consider ourselves to be "above." And because we associate "poverty" with the people in at the very bottom, we don't tend to associate ourselves with poverty. Even if we're struggling. Rather, most Americans align with "middle class." Poverty is a "them" term - like ugly - it applies to them, not to us.

By association, helping those in poverty, means helping "them" not "us." But "we" need help. The "middle class" needs help. And the "middle class" going to vote for the guy who says, "we're going to help You!" As people face harder times, they are less likely to be willing to help others, and the "us" v. "them" dichotomy becomes stronger.

An interesting point is that in reality our middle class (blue-collar, hard-working, [white] Americans) is shrinking as poverty expands - a reality that people are loath to apply to themselves. So, while the number of people who are actually in poverty increases, the percentage of those in poverty who identify themselves as in poverty decreases, and percentage of those in poverty who identify as "middle class" goes up.

As Edwards, who I respect, continues to ask people to help those in poverty, which is respectable, he should remember that, politically speaking, the "middle class" is the group that needs the most help, because "middle class" is the biggest voting block.

Posted at May 16, 2008 8:26 PM in response to Edwards Secured Private Commitment From Obama That He'd Go On Poverty Tour As Nominee

Feindumb doesn't have a clue what is happening in the roots if the Democratic party because she is incapable of understanding how us plebeians live. The other day, out of curiosity, I walked by her gigungous mansion backed up against the Presidio in Pacific Heights, SF, and thought to myself, "Wow, is she out of touch!" Her mansion, set in SF's multi-millionaire neighborhood, is truly revealing as to the lifestyle she leads. It's also a little depressing.

Posted at May 8, 2008 6:36 PM in response to Dianne Feinstein: I'm Sticking By Hillary

Given the way Yoo parses, and he sure is skilled, I doubt this will be the blockbuster hearing we need. Does this mean, the DOJ gave him the go-ahead?

Posted at May 6, 2008 11:17 AM in response to Yoo, Feith, Ashcroft Agree to Testify

Once a president is out of office, can he still be brought up on charges for crap he did while in office? This seems like it should be an obvious Yes, but everything's up in the air with these guys. Also, to what extent can the next president constrain or limit Bush's expansion of powers?

Posted at May 1, 2008 10:44 AM in response to Today's Must Read

Agreed. BHO should be aiming past HRC at this point.

Posted at April 26, 2008 5:25 PM in response to Lincoln-Douglas Redux

Don't forget that US v. Alstoetter was held in a US Military Tribunal, and according to Scott Horton, the law is still good. The court ruled that lawyers can be held accountable for legitimizing illegal wartime actions.

Posted at April 12, 2008 7:17 PM in response to Berkeley Law Dean: Yoo Was Not The Decider