Skip to Content

Peder DeFor

Mpls, MN
Commenter for
5 years 18 weeks

Recent Comments

Posted on 06/02/11 at 10:43 am in response to Wouldn't it be awful if the debt ceiling issue were partisanized

Lora, I don't find that explanation at all convincing. As Joseph Skar points out, the spending is all connected. And beside that, if failure to raise the debt limit *right now* will lead to catastrophe, then how does a quibble over the wording justify voting against it. The far simpler explanation is that Dems fear that raising the debt limit without fixing long term debt problems amounts to simply writing blank checks.

Posted on 06/01/11 at 01:48 pm in response to Wouldn't it be awful if the debt ceiling issue were partisanized

It sounds like this was one of the least partisan votes on the debt ceiling of recent vintage. 82 Dems in the house voted against it, including Minnesota's own Colin Peterson. I'm assuming that means he has concerns about the overall shape of the budget. If anyone has different info, please share.
And this was a clean vote, without any strings to blame. Can't help but wonder if Dems that aren't in very blue districts are getting some heat from their constituents.

Posted on 05/24/11 at 12:28 pm in response to The right's 'ruthless identity border patrol'

I RTWT and I kept waiting for the part where Waldman would explain how Joe Leiberman could go from VP candidate to being thrown out of his party in such a short time. I must have missed that paragraph somehow.
All parties have broad lines that can't be crossed with impunity. Can you imagine a Dem presidential candidate who scoffed at union ethics? Or suggested deporting illegal aliens? Or came out strongly against gay rights? Of course not! It would go against key beliefs of the...

Posted on 05/24/11 at 08:35 am in response to Wording matters on ballot questions like the marriage amendment

The tone of the campaign on this amendment will probably have a much bigger effect than the actual wording. If gay marriage supporters (and I count myself among them) try to shame opponents with accusations of 'hate' then they will simply harden some votes and push away voters that are on the fence. If instead they work to highlight the ordinary gay couples that would benefit from marriage, they'll be on safer ground. Minnesotans, by and large, are decent people who want to do the decent...

Posted on 05/20/11 at 07:11 am in response to Two short videos from the official Dems and some leftier non-Dems

I'm curious if any of the very vocal anti-war section of the left are putting together commercials protesting our actions in Libya. We're right up against the 60 day limit that the President has from the War Powers act and he hasn't gotten even a fig leaf of authorization from congress. This seems like something that would have very much interested various anti-war groups during the last administration.

Posted on 05/18/11 at 05:28 pm in response to Gingrich: Anyone who quotes me accurately is a liar

I'd say that his already shaky candidacy has now officially gone up in flames.

Posted on 05/17/11 at 07:38 am in response to Trump out

It's amazing how well the whole Trump bubble matched up with the timing of his TV show, isn't it?

Posted on 05/13/11 at 10:04 am in response to Gallup: Raising the debt ceiling would be hugely unpopular

We've been up against the debt ceiling many times without catastrophe. Way back in 1995 we were up against it for more than four months without any problems. We can finesse the issue for some time. It's obviously something that needs to be worked out eventually, but don't fall for the doomsday predictions out there. My guess creditors are far more worried about long term deficits than they are on the short term mechanics that get us there.
Just my $.02 but I'd guess that there will...

Posted on 05/09/11 at 04:32 pm in response to A strange GOP debate

Rob, I'm not an expert on this but I'll take a stab at it. The south is majority Republican (at least on a national level) so we'd expect most of the districts to go that way. In the same way, New England votes overwhelmingly for Dems. The south is a bit different in that it's more heavily gerrymandered. Some of that is malicious party driven stuff, but a fair amount of it has to do racial balancing done to create majority African American districts. The idea behind that is laudable on...

Posted on 05/07/11 at 02:17 pm in response to A strange GOP debate

Way back in November of 2010, the good people of South Carolina voted Nikki Haley for governor. She is non-white (Sikh) and (obviously) a woman. That didn't seem to bother all of the voters that so many of the leftist commenters here want to paint as racist.