Farewell. The Flying Pig Has Left The Building.

Steve Hynd, August 16, 2012

After four years on the Typepad site, eight years total blogging, Newshoggers is closing it's doors today. We've been coasting the last year or so, with many of us moving on to bigger projects (Hey, Eric!) or simply running out of blogging enthusiasm, and it's time to give the old flying pig a rest.

We've done okay over those eight years, although never being quite PC enough to gain wider acceptance from the partisan "party right or wrong" crowds. We like to think we moved political conversations a little, on the ever-present wish to rush to war with Iran, on the need for a real Left that isn't licking corporatist Dem boots every cycle, on America's foreign misadventures in Afghanistan and Iraq. We like to think we made a small difference while writing under that flying pig banner. We did pretty good for a bunch with no ties to big-party apparatuses or think tanks.

Those eight years of blogging will still exist. Because we're ending this typepad account, we've been archiving the typepad blog here. And the original blogger archive is still here. There will still be new content from the old 'hoggers crew too. Ron writes for The Moderate Voice, I post at The Agonist and Eric Martin's lucid foreign policy thoughts can be read at Democracy Arsenal.

I'd like to thank all our regular commenters, readers and the other bloggers who regularly linked to our posts over the years to agree or disagree. You all made writing for 'hoggers an amazingly fun and stimulating experience.

Thank you very much.

Note: This is an archive copy of Newshoggers. Most of the pictures are gone but the words are all here. There may be some occasional new content, John may do some posts and Ron will cross post some of his contributions to The Moderate Voice so check back.


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Tuesday, July 12, 2011

McConnell gets out his box cutter

Commentary By Ron Beasley


As business leaders are demanding that congress raise the debt limit the Republican leadership is realizing that the same Tea Party movement that swept them to power has placed them in a box that they need to get out of.  Along comes Mitch McConnell with his box cutter.


McConnell fall-back plan leaves debt ceiling hikes to Obama



Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on Tuesday laid out a plan that puts the responsibility for increasing the debt limit squarely on President Obama.


McConnell has called for Congress to pass legislation authorizing Obama to make successive requests to increase the debt limit.


Under the legislation, Congress could only block those requests by passing resolutions of disapproval, which would have to be supported by two-thirds of both the Senate and House to overcome an expected presidential veto.



Of course he may have to use that same box cutter to defend himself from some in his own party.  I find it hard to believe that Republicans are still pushing for cuts in Medicare and opposing tax increases for the the top five percent of the population when every poll indicates they are on the wrong side. 


I have doubts that this could make it through the House but I'm sure Boehner is looking for enough sane Republicans to pass it with the help of the Democrats.



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