Archive (2009)

Kwanzaa Break

I'm going to slip on my winter Crocs, bust out the kinara, and prepare for a joyous Kwanzaa. Because my Kwanzaa preparation ritual is extremely rigorous, don't expect any blogging until after I've fully celebrated the seven principles.

Of course, if something interesting happens, I'll be back to comment.

Massa Press Call

This morning's Massa press call started with a detailed explanation of why he still opposes the President's Afghanistan strategy:

Download mp3 (2MB)

Rick Miller asked Massa to respond to Tom Reed's accusation that he is "disarming the troops while in harm's way" by not voting for a supplemental. You might want to turn the volume down a bit when you listen to his answer:

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Finally, I asked Massa if he had any thoughts on paying for the war. His answer was inconclusive, as was Reed's earlier this morning, but I didn't bother to follow up further, having learned my lesson that politicians will always dance around the question of taxes:

Download mp3 (424KB)

Reed Press Call

This morning's press call by Tom Reed dealt with Afghanistan. Reed is pleased with the President's speech, with the exception of the timeline for withdrawal. Here's his opening statement, where he characterizes Massa's position as one of "surrender and retreat".

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Reed compared our mission in Afghanistan to World War II in response to some questions from Rick Miller of the Olean Times-Herald:

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I asked Reed a question about how he wants to pay for the wars. The answer is pretty drawn out and inconclusive:

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