Homeowners Refinance in Droves: Historically Low Interest Rates Prompt Boom-Era Levels

April 23, 2009

With mortgage rates at historic lows, homeowners eager to lower their payments are rushing to refinance in numbers reminiscent of this decade’s real-estate boom.

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GOP Plots Revenge on Reconciliation Move: May Shut Down Senate, Block Sebelius Nomination

April 23, 2009

As Senate Democrats move closer to using reconciliation to pass health care reform this year, key GOP Senators are signaling plans to avenge the move by employing parliamentary tactics to trip up even the most noncontroversial of agenda items.

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Washington Post Hires Ezra Klein, Increases American Prospect Staff Representation to Three

April 23, 2009

The American Prospect’s Ezra Klein, one of the top bloggers on politics and policy, is heading to the Washington Post.

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The Crux of the Matter: Did Detainee Interrogations Stop Attacks?

April 23, 2009

WASHINGTON — Even the most exacting truth commission may have a hard time determining for certain whether brutal interrogations conducted by the Central Intelligence Agency helped keep the country safe.

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Obama to Convey to Credit Card Companies Message of INSTANT DISAPPROVAL

April 23, 2009

You may be bombarded with junk mail from credit card companies promising INSTANT APPROVAL! And LOW RATES! President Obama will convey a different message to credit card company CEOs today: instant disapproval, amidst high rates of public anger.

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General Motors Plans to Shut Down Most US Plants for Nine Weeks

April 23, 2009

GM announces they’re going to temporarily close most of their American plants because, well, people aren’t buying cars. Remember that scene in “It’s a Wonderful Life” where Potter warns the Bailey Building and Loan that “If you close your doors before 6:00 p.m., you will never reopen”? Well folks, we just got to that scene.

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What Went Wrong for Hedge Funds During the Crash of 2008

April 23, 2009

“Two things: what the markets did to them and what they did to themselves,” Martin Gross argues. “Many hedge funds that had relied on various degrees of leverage previously considered reasonably safe awoke to a flock of black swans, events so unusual that fund managers had barely considered them possible.” Will they survive? Absolutely.

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Public School Boards Provide Opportunities for Meddlesomeness and Fun For All

April 23, 2009

James Lileks learns from his daughter that the principal has been suspended, and eloquently reconstructs the unfortunate ‘why’: “the school board might well conclude: fine. Take your kids. We’ll keep your money. And when the test scores go down? Proof more money is needed. They can’t lose. They made the system, after all.”

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Mark Steyn Proudly Wishes You a Happy Earth Day

April 23, 2009

Two columns from Mark Steyn make one eloquent riff from the anti-environmentalist view: “Think globally, act locally, they say. But, in fact, environmentalists, like most cultists, are crippled by tunnel vision.” Steyn mocks the green movement on many counts, but his strongest hit marks the true ramifications of biofuels policy on the world’s poor.

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Recession Expected to Lead to More Abortions, Vasectomies, Fewer Children

April 23, 2009

In 2005, America’s abortion rate reached lowest level since the 1970s. But anecdotal evidence indicates the “recession may be a factor influencing more Americans to opt out of parenthood with abortions and vasectomies, although there is no data available yet to suggest a trend.” Get ready for a strong push toward taxpayer funded abortions, snippings.

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