We are going to be shifting our focus back on over to CampusProgress.org, the online web magazine of Campus Progress. Make sure to check it out on a daily basis, as we’re going to have plenty of fresh content there, some of it penned by Pushback bloggers.

Some of our contributors blog on other sites as well. Below you’ll find their names, other blogs, and some parting words.

Thanks again.

Austin Thompson

Bradley Portnoy

Daniel Strauss
pensons.typepad.com/pensons

Diana Jou
“I loved sharing my favorite artists, designers and visual thinkers with the politico savvy crowd. Thanks for putting up with my obsessions with typology photography, print design, abandoned places, colorful spaces, and vintage finds. If you need more time fillers you can visit me here, here, and here.”

Dylan Matthews
http://minipundit.typepad.com/minipundit
“Thanks to everyone who’s read, commented on, or linked to Pushback over the past six months. I’ve learned a lot from you guys, not least about Austrian economics (keep it real, Waterman). Also, a hearty thanks to my editors, Jesse, Rob and Kay, and my co-bloggers, who’ve made Pushback a community rather than just a blog, and made me a better writer and thinker in the process.”

Emily Rutherford
worthlessdrivel.net
“I’ve been thinking all day about an appropriate blurb, but nothing is coming to mind. So pick a cliched phrase? Good night and good luck? So long and thanks for all the fish? Godspeed, gentlemen? I’m at a loss.”

Jamelle Bouie
usjamerica.wordpress.com

Jamie Henn

Jessica Hillyard

L. Russell Allen
lifetimewow.blogspot.com/
“It’s been a pleasure. Thank you for your comments and your patronage and I hope to see you all on the ‘Net in the near future. In the meantime, in the immortal words of the late Warren Zevon, ‘Enjoy every sandwich.’”

Lisha Arino

Loryn Wilson
elledub08.wordpress.com

Matt Zeitlin
whippersnapper.wordpress.com

Ned Resnikoff
resnikoff.wordpress.com

Nick Sifuentes

Paging through the archives of Pictures for Sad Children, the ultimate bleak, existentialist webcomic. Also, the creator’s other project, http://hourlycomic.com/. Sheer genius.
- Ned Resnikoff

I’ve been focused on my thesis, and one of the key elements in maintaining my productivity is David Bowie. For whatever reason, I’m at my most productive when I’m listening to glam-era Bowie, from The Man Who Sold the World to Aladdin Sane. In fact, I’m listening to “Life on Mars?” right now.
- Jamelle Bouie

This American Life. That’s right, I’ve officially become sucked in by the sappy stories and heartwarming tales. My recent favorite is the last story on the “Matchmakers” podcast, in which snobby mothers on the Upper East Side of Manhattan discover only ethnic dolls in an upscale department store.
- Kay Steiger

I just finished Jeffrey Eugenides’ Middlesex. While it’s not quite as life-changing as I was promised by its fans, it’s certainly given me loads to think about.
- Emily Rutherford

Wurstkuche, a gourmet German hot dog place in downtown Los Angeles. I had an apricot and ginger dog last week and today I got a mango and jalapenos hot dog. They also have sun-dried tomatoes with mozzarella sausage or, if you prefer exotic meats, they have a rattlesnake and rabbit sausage. The modern German decor and airy loft space is a huge plus.
- Diana Jou

TPM DC, Josh Micah Marshall’s new DC-centric arm of Talking Points Memo. It’s awesome of course, especially Elana Schor. Marshall has also hinted at more expansion plans. I’m pretty curious to know what he has in mind.
- Daniel Strauss

Dan Nexon’s grand strategy name generator. Reading it is like watching 50 Foreign Affairs articles collapsing in on themselves.
- Dylan Matthews

Dananananaykroyd. You’ll love their hyperkinetic “fight-pop” if you’re a fan of Fugazi, Cap’n Jazz, or early At The Drive-In. Definitely check out “Pink Sabbath.”

The video for Ladyhawke’s “Dusk Till Dawn.” I want those t-shirts, and to go to that party, even if it is full of monsters. - Bradley Portnoy

It’s amazing she managed not the wear the same outfit on each cover!

Jon Stewart hummed a similar tune on Wednesday night. (Caution. This is not one of Stewart’s better entries. All in all Wednesday was a weak episode. But I can’t fault Stewart; no one can be consistently funny almost every day of every week of every year. He is still my preferred source of TV news.)

But despite the scolding of all these liberal heavyweights, let’s not forget the context here. Our current crisis cannot be blamed entirely on The Masters of the Universe. It is their job to generate capital, and they did so blithely, with no regard for the ultimate human cost, and no eye for future consequences (which is the way capitalism tends to work).

They were able execute their duties in a particularly unstable way because sensible regulation had been stripped away from the old engines of finance (Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, I’m looking at you), while newer wealth generators, hedge funds for example, were left to their own devices. Both Democrats and Republicans were responsible (and come to think of it, maybe the Masters of the Universe were too, as they did have an awful lot of excess cash for lobbying, which led to a lot of excess influence in both parties). It is the whole edifice that is rotten and in need of reform, not just those in charge.

WASHINGTON (CNN) — The only bright spot in the nation’s capital for Republicans these days seems to be a flame that burns 24 hours a day in the courtyard at the campaign headquarters for Republican senators.

The Eternal Flame of Freedom is near the National Republican Victory Monument, which commemorates the 1994 “Republican Revolution,” when the GOP wrested control of Congress out of Democratic hands.

Even in the cold, snowy days of January, the flame blazes as a beacon of hope for some and as a memory of the days-

Wait, WAIT. They’ve got an eternal flame commemorating what?

First Jerry Falwell gets an eternal flame and now this.

Designed by Michael Gericke, Don Bilodeau and Jed Skillins from Pentagram Designs.

Designed by Aaron Draplin from Draplin Design Co.

Designed by Armin Vit from UnderConsideration.

See more from The New York Times.

It turns out that David Berman, front man of the Silver Jews, is the son of the Richard Berman, one of the most effective lobbyists in Washington. Daddy Berman’s attack ads crusade against such despicable groups as Mothers Against Drunk Driving and the abused workers of Smithfield Foods. Other issues he has been on the wrong side of include: mad cow disease, child obesity, the tobacco industry, the minimum wage, and the mercury content of fish. Think Christopher Buckley’s Thank You For Smoking, except not nearly as funny. Apparently being the man’s son is “Worse than suicide, worse than crack addiction”:

“My father is a despicable man. My father is a sort of human molestor [sic]. An exploiter. A scoundrel. A world historical motherfucking son of a bitch. (sorry grandma)”

The elder Berman, dubbed Dr. Evil by his friends, has been tapped in the fight against the Employee Free Choice Act, which goes to show just how serious business interests are taking the bill.

Unfortunately, something seems to have happened to the website Bermanexposed.org, but you can read more here.

“If we want to stimulate the economy, we need a better-educated workforce…That’s the only way, long-term, we’re going to get out of this economic crisis,” he said. [...]

College affordability is critical, Duncan said. [...] “In our economy, never has it been more important to go to college,” Duncan said. “Well, college has never been more unaffordable. And so increasing access is hugely important. Long-term, if we want a better economy, we need more people going to college.”

Campus Progress and other groups have been urging strong measures in the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act to provide relief to struggling students, protect access to higher education during the economic crisis, mitigate the effects of state budget cuts, and stimulate the economy. Students are taking action online here.

Students across the country have also been working hard to minimize state budget cuts to education. University of California - Santa Barbara students, for example, held a rally on Wednesday to challenge the massive budget cuts facing California schools.

Most states have to choose between cutting spending, raising taxes, or both because of balanced budget laws. Unfortunately, these options only take more money out of the economy, and dig us deeper into a recessionary hole. From (a very helpful) Center for Budget and Policy Priorities update:

Expenditure cuts and tax increases are problematic policies during an economic downturn because they reduce overall demand and can make the downturn deeper.  When states cut spending, they lay off employees, cancel contracts with vendors, eliminate or lower payments to businesses and nonprofit organizations that provide direct services, and cut benefit payments to individuals.  In all of these circumstances, the companies and organizations that would have received government payments have less money to spend on salaries and supplies, and individuals who would have received salaries or benefits have less money for consumption.  This directly removes demand from the economy.  Tax increases also remove demand from the economy by reducing the amount of money people have to spend.

That makes the stimulus package–especially provisions that mitigate cuts to social services cut by state governments–even more important.

Unfortunately, the “liberal media” seem to be giving a lot more air time to conservatives opposing the stimulus than to progressives (strangely, Fox news does seem the most “fair and balanced” in this case).

(Sidenote: the question Sigelman used to collect the data was not asked between 1968 and 1976.) The findings are a little surprising to me.

For instance, I wouldn’t call Jimmy Carter a great president and it appears that was the instinct of the American people, but they would rather have had him than Ronald Reagan. According to Sigelman’s study, Carter’s election was when anti-candidate voting peaked. The majority of anti-opposition candidate voters would have rather had a mediocre president than a new one–I assume most of the against-voters were Democrats.

Another thing I find interesting is that the second highest year of anti-candidate voting was during Clinton’s 1996 presidential run. According to Sigelman the majority of against voters that backed Bob Dole did so because they didn’t like Clinton. I guess this isn’t that weird. There are always going to be opposition voters and the majority of people who liked Clinton voted for him rather than against Bob Dole. I’m pretty surprised by the 1996 results. Clinton was most successful in his first term so you’d expect people to be voting for him instead of against someone else.

As for the Bush elections, I, like many people I know, wasn’t crazy about John Kerry but would have much rather had him than Bush. No surprise about the 2004 results then.

And the last election isn’t surprising either. Many people clearly liked Obama rather than dislike McCain. One of the biggest failures of the McCain campaign was suggesting that the future could be worse if you voted for Obama, rather than better if you voted for McCain. That’s not terribly appealing, especially when you’ve got an optimistic candidate running against you. It’s pretty easy to see why anti-candidate voting was so low this past year; people believed Obama would be a good president rather than a better one than McCain or Bush.

See more here.