David Addington

Addington Takes Top Post At Conservative Heritage Foundation

Brian Beutler | August 30, 2010, 12:00PM

David Addington, former chief of staff for Vice President Dick Cheney

Former Dick Cheney aide David Addington is headed to the conservative Heritage foundation. Addington will serve, according to the Daily Caller as vice president for domestic and economic policy studies -- but he's most famous for advocating vast Presidential powers. Under Cheney, he allegedly helped to shape an infamous Justice Department memo sanctioning torture in some cases, and was a key architect of the previous administration's warrantless surveillance program

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Bush Administration

Unless Obama Lets All The Bush Tax Cuts Expire, Deficits Are Here To Stay (CHARTS)

Brian Beutler | August 27, 2010, 3:43PM

President Barack Obama

What's at stake in the upcoming battle over the Bush tax cuts? The simple answer is about $700 billion over 10 years. That's a ton of money -- but nowhere near enough to right the country's fiscal course. To really get the budget back in order and the deficit under control, all of Bush's tax cuts would have to go.

They crow about deficits, but Republicans want to make the whole batch permanent, for a total cost of $3.8 trillion over 10 years. Democratic leaders on the Hill and in the White House, however, want to preserve most of the cuts, too, and just let the tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans expire. That would still increase deficits by about $3.1 trillion over 10 years -- not as fiscally responsible as they'd have you believe. Even if Democrats get their way, in other words, there will still be revenue shortfalls as far as the eyes can see.

Take a look at this comparison from CBO.

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John Negroponte

Negroponte: I Would Have Waited Longer Before Invading Iraq

Brian Beutler | August 26, 2010, 11:41AM

Former U.S. Director of National Intelligence John Negroponte

Former U.S. Ambassador to Iraq John Negroponte now says if he'd had his way, the invasion of Iraq wouldn't have proceeded quite like it did. In fact, he would have waited until weapons inspectors finished their job and the U.N. had passed a resolution backing the war before sending U.S. troops to Iraq.

In an interview with Mainichi Shimbun, one of the largest newspaper's in Japan, Negroponte took issue with part of the Bush administration's conduct.

According to a translator, Negroponte essentially acknowledged that the Bush administration "didn't give proper justification" for the war and "was too optimistic about what would happen after the fall of Saddam."

Reached by email, Negroponte took issue with Mainichi Shinbun's characterization, but effectively confirms much of it.

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