Twitter roundup

	Brendan Nyhan Oct 12, 2010 at 1:08pm From my Twitter feed (10/8-10/12)
	BrendanNyhan Oct 12, 2010 at 1:07pm ABC, FactCheck.org & AP all say Obama's allegs. about foreign $ are unsupported: http://j.mp/bu4z55 http://j.mp/a6lh09 http://j.mp/avkjsD
	Vote 2010: Is Foreign Money Behind U.S. Chamber of Commerce Ads? - ABC News The accusation by President Obama and other top Democrats that foreign money is bank rolling some pro-Republican political attack ads sounds both compelling and ominous. But an examination of th...
	Foreign Money? Really? | FactCheck.org Democrats, from President Barack Obama on down, are trying to turn an evidence-free allegation into a major campaign theme, claiming that foreign corporations are stealing our democracy with sec...
	The Associated Press: SPIN METER: Foreign money in politics? Not proven
	BrendanNyhan Oct 12, 2010 at 12:46pm Quote of the day - Chris Coons: O'Donnell's candidacy has allowed him to "accelerate awkward conversations” with his sons http://j.mp/9gTp6z
	The New York Times > Log In
	BrendanNyhan Oct 12, 2010 at 10:36am Pat Toomey - not a member of the reality-based community http://j.mp/aTqdBb
	Pat Toomey's Epistemic Closure | The New Republic The New Republic covers politics, culture, and the arts with a focus on the White House, foreign policy, Congress, Capitol Hill, the 2010 midterm elections, literature, and more.
	BrendanNyhan Oct 12, 2010 at 1:39am Unbelievable -- Gingrich says *Obama* has created fear and anxiety leading to Muslim/birther misperceptions http://j.mp/bshBKd
	Gingrich (!) blames Obama for people thinking he’s a foreign Muslim | Media Matters for America
	BrendanNyhan Oct 11, 2010 at 5:36pm Nyhan assignment desk: Find out which Dems throwing around claims about foreign $ denounced it as a scare tactic during Clinton admin.
	BrendanNyhan Oct 11, 2010 at 1:50pm New, in-depth interview with me about misperceptions on the Rationally Speaking podcast (@rspodcast): http://j.mp/9WZL0n
	Rationally Speaking | Official Podcast of New York City Skeptics - Current Episodes - RS19 - Brendan Nyhan on False Beliefs that Refuse to Die
	BrendanNyhan Oct 11, 2010 at 1:44pm As predicted (http://j.mp/aDcx4X), Halperin blames White House tactics/personalities for Obama's plight: http://j.mp/asW4v9
	Barack Obama: Prisoner of circumstance - Brendan Nyhan It's time to lay down a marker on punditry about the Obama White House. During the next eleven months, it will become increasingly obvious that Democrats face an unfavorable political environmen...
	Obama Is in the Jaws of Political Death: Can He Survive? - TIME Obama is being politically crushed: From above, by elite opinion about his competence. From below, by mass anger over unemployment. And it's too late for him to do anything about it until after ...
	BrendanNyhan Oct 11, 2010 at 2:13am Genius pop culture commentary from @AdamSerwer: http://j.mp/bYFNXu on Clone Wars & http://j.mp/9APuGq on criticism of Obama listening to rap
	Twitter Twitter is without a doubt the best way to share and discover what is happening right now.
	Adam Serwer Archive | The American Prospect
	BrendanNyhan Oct 10, 2010 at 2:03pm Friedman cut and pastes half of his column from a Ryan Lizza New Yorker article - pretty lazy even by columnist standards http://j.mp/adkdR8
	The New York Times > Log In
	BrendanNyhan Oct 9, 2010 at 7:09pm Breaking news from Hill "Twitter Room": "McCain puns on '3:10 to Yuma,'" "Clyburn surpasses 1,000 Twitter followers" http://j.mp/cOTpaA
	Twitter Room - The Hill's Twitter Room The Hill is a congressional newspaper that publishes daily when Congress is in session, with a special focus on business and lobbying, political campaigns and goings on on Capitol Hill.
	BrendanNyhan Oct 9, 2010 at 12:13am RT @kwcollins Why vote against (or for) political science? Analysis of roll call votes on Coburn amendment in new PS: http://bit.ly/a2DGHJ
	Cambridge Journals Online - Abstract Cambridge Journals Online (CJO) is the e-publishing service for over 230 journals published by Cambridge University Press and is entirely developed and hosted in-house. The platform's powerful c...
	BrendanNyhan Oct 8, 2010 at 6:29pm Freely available recent articles from the American Journal of Political Science on Congressional elections http://j.mp/a6jmKE
	American Journal of Political Science - Journal Information American Journal of Political Science: journal information, contents lists and abstracts on the Wiley-Blackwell website.

Comments

[MartyB]

Brendan - re: Gingrich comments.

Please read what Gingrish actually says, not what MediaMatters poster claims he says.

Gringrich doesn't actaully blame Obama for mis-perceptions. Instead he says if he were president he would be more cirmcumpect in his own thinking:

"If I were the president that would really concern me, not because of Fox News or talk radio or Rush Limbaugh, but what is there that he's doing that would let that many people be confused?"

"...I think the president has an obligation to slow down and say, if you're president of all the people, what is it the White House is doing that so frightens a third of the Republican Party that they don't even believe something as simple and as obvious as his self-professed religious belief."

Saying that any administration might contribute to mis-perceptions is not the same as saying "it’s Obama’s fault that Republicans believe false smears about the president." as the MMM puts it.

You shoud be just as skeptical of any MediaMatters report as you would be of a Fox News report.

[David in Cal]

I cannot understand why someone as bright and honest as Brendan quotes Chait with respect. E.g., note this sleazy wording

Then George W. Bush cut upper-bracket tax rates, and conservatives predicted that this would cause the economy to grow even faster. Instead, the economy experienced the first business cycle where income was lower at the peak of the business cycle than it had been at the peak of the previous business cycle.

In fact, Bush didn't just cut upper-bracket tax rates; he cut all tax rates. Those in the low brackets were helped the most. The NY Times never admitted that this was the case, But, a couple of days ago the Times reported that ending the Bush tax cuts would hurt the poor the most.

Also, conservatives predicted that the Bush tax cuts would end the recession. The recession did indeed end. We would all prefer Bush's relatively weak recovery to Obama's continuing economic misery.

Note Chait's mistake of claiming that real income dropped after the Bush tax cuts. In fact, real income grew dramatically a year or two after the Bush tax cuts became effective.

Chait is also wrong in implying that continuing the Bush tax cuts means a larger deficit. He ignores the possibility that there might be economic growth due to the tax cuts, there might be a greater economic slowdown if the Bush tax cuts are removed, and also that government spending might be cut.

[David in Cal]

Aside from the dishonesty of the Dems attack on the Chamber of Commerce, an anti-business attitude from the government hurts the economy. After all, it's business that provides the jobs and the wealth of the country. Taxes on business on its employees are what supports the government.

I'm influenced by just having been in Zimbabwe, where the unemployment rate is around 80%. That's not surprising, considering the nature of the government. Who would want to have a business there, when it might be taken by Mugabe or his cronies at any time.

Of course, Obama's White House isn't anything like Zimbabwe's unbridled corruption. Still, Obama's anti-business approach no doubt has the impact of discouraging businesses from forming or expanding in the US to some degree.