Monday
Feb062012
The Commentariat -- February 7, 2012
My column in today's New York Times eXaminer is an attempt to make sense of David Brooks' column today. The NYTX frontpage is here. You can contribute to NYTX here. ...
... Dean Baker: "Bill Keller does not understand free speech, copyright and the Constitution.... It is perverse response to the development of technology to grant the government ever greater powers of repression in order to ensure that an archaic social institution can still be used to generate profits for a small group of powerful corporations and individuals."
CW: This is to follow up on something Carlyle said in the Comments section a few days ago. He asserted, I would have guessed correctly, that before Roe v. Wade, the doctors of middle-class & wealthy women routinely performed abortions who requested them. (My recollection was that abortions were referred to as "D&C"s, -- dilation and curettage -- a "cover" for their true purpose. Quite a few of my mother's friends had D&Cs for "medical" reasons.) Now Andrew Rosenthal of the New York Times provides some figures to back up Carlyle's assertion:
If the right-wing manages to outlaw abortion, the abortion rate will not go down. It was about the same before the 1973 Roe v Wade decision, which recognized a woman’s right to privacy, as it was in 2008. (Approximations of illegal abortions in the 1960s range from 200,000 to 1.2 million a year, and the total population was under 200 million until the end of that decade. If the truth lies closer to the larger number, the rate was actually higher than post-Roe.) But abortions will become more dangerous. According to some estimates, fifty percent of the maternal deaths in the first half of the 20th century were due to illegal abortions. Was that a culture of life?
David Fallis, et al., of the Washington Post: "Thirty-three members of Congress have directed more than $300 million in earmarks and other spending provisions to dozens of public projects that are next to or within about two miles of the lawmakers’ own property, according to a Washington Post investigation.... Congress’s interpretation of what constitutes a conflict is narrowly construed: If lawmakers or their immediate families are not the sole beneficiaries, there is considered to be no conflict." The details of the Post investigation are here. There are related stories here.
A painless way to learn about the European fiscal crisis. Thanks to Dave S.:
Certain products are gone forever. Fancy derivatives are mostly gone. Prop trading is gone. There’s less leverage everywhere. Mortgages are back to old-fashioned conservative mortgages — which is a good thing. -- Jamie Dimon, CEO of JPMorgan Chase ...
... "The Masters of the Universe Are Masters No Longer." Gabriel Sherman of New York Magazine: Dodd-Frank's "major provisions — forcing banks to reduce leverage, imposing a ban on proprietary trading, making derivatives markets more transparent, and ending abusive debit-card practices — have taken a pickax to the Wall Street business model even though the act won’t be completely in effect till the Volcker Rule kicks in this July (other aspects of the bill took force in December; capital requirements and many other elements of the bill will be phased in gradually between now and 2016)."
Right Wing World
Know Your Dumb Congressmen. This Week's Winner: John Fleming of Louisiana's 4th District. Mackenzie Weinger of Politico: "In a Facebook status on Friday, Fleming alerted his followers to The Onion’s May 18, 2011 article, 'Planned Parenthood Opens $8 Billion Abortionplex' and wrote 'More on Planned Parenthood, abortion by the wholesale.' Fleming’s spokesman Doug Sachtleben confirmed to Politico the post has since been removed from the congressman’s Facebook page and said the office had no further comment."
I was, frankly, offended by it. I'm a huge fan of Clint Eastwood, I thought it was an extremely well-done ad, but it is a sign of what happens when you have Chicago-style politics, and the president of the United States and his political minions are, in essence, using our tax dollars to buy corporate advertising. -- Karl Rove ...
... Here's Rove whining on Fox "News":
... Charles Blow: "Rove didn’t mention that it was [George W.] Bush who first agreed to save Chrysler.... Chrysler nearly collapsed in late 2008 under private equity ownership. Bush agreed to a $4 billion bailout of the company." Chrysler got its first $4 billion in bailout cash while Bush was still in office. CW: Huh. Who'da thunk Dubya practiced "Chicago-style politics"? Gosh, not a Floridian such as I who watched the Bushes Jeb & George muscle the Florida vote-count shutdown. ...
... Somewhat weirdly, this major New York Times story, headlined "Republicans See Politics in Chrysler Super Bowl Ad," by Jeremy Peters & Jim Rutenberg (it's a two-pager online) does not mention that Dubya initiated the Chrysler bailout. ...
... Meanwhile, out in Las Vegas, the Detroit Free Press reports that "Former President George W. Bush, who extended bridge loans to the auto industry as one of his administration's last acts, told auto dealers Monday he would do it all again."
... Rachel Weiner of the Washington Post: "A Chrysler ad aired during the Super Bowl Sunday night has inspired ire among some Republicans and admiration among some Democrats — with both sides seeing a political message that boosts President Obama." (See the ad in yesterday's Commentariat.) CW: You made my day, Turdblossom. ...
... Oops! The NFL took the ad down. They've put it back up. Update: an NFL spokesman said the NFL never asked Google/YouTube to take the ad down, and asked them up put it back up. It's up:
... Guess what, Karl Rove. Clint Eastwood didn't just star in the Chrysler ad. He wrote it. This New York magazine post, in which Claude Brodesser-Akner reports on his interview of Eastwood's long-time agent/manager Leonard Hirshan, is pretty interesting. ...
I am certainly not politically affiliated with Mr. Obama. It was meant to be a message about just about job growth and the spirit of America. I think all politicians will agree with it. I thought the spirit was OK. I am not supporting any politician at this time.... If Obama or any other politician wants to run with the spirit of that ad, go for it. -- Clint Eastwood
... Digby. "There was a time when this message would be uncontroversial --- just straight up All American patriotic commercialism. Now the wingnuts say it's commie propaganda for the Kenyan usurper." ...
... Laura Clawson of Daily Kos: "... Rove is still twisting himself in knots to be sure he doesn't blame its content on Chrysler.... And Clint Eastwood? He's what passes for a Hollywood Republican, so he's blameless. Instead, Chrysler's advertising ... is somehow a result of the president's 'Chicago-style politics.' ... It's not clear whether Rove is implying that Obama saved Chrysler in 2009 in order to get a 2012 Super Bowl ad that some would interpret as positive about him, or that Obama actually called up Chrysler and demanded the ad, but whatever. We knew Republicans were rooting against the economy improving. But claiming that any implication that Obama's policies have improved the economy is all a nefarious political plot on his part takes the desperation a little far." ...
... David Firestone of the New York Times: "Detroit’s resurgence [is] what’s what’s really offensive to Mr. Rove and other Republicans.... These [successes] are inconvenient facts for both Mr. Rove and for Mitt Romney, who is on the record as opposing the automaker bailouts. The outcry being raised against the commercial is not really from people who are offended, but from those who are embarrassed."
Philip Rucker of the Washington Post: "Mitt Romney returned to the campaign trail [in Colorado] Monday and trained his focus on President Obama, but his top aides and key surrogates fought to beat back a possible surge by Rick Santorum on the eve of Republican presidential contests in a trio of states. Romney’s aides and a top surrogate, former Minnesota governor Tim Pawlenty, unloaded on Santorum over his support of taxpayer-funded earmarks during his years in Washington, calling him a 'champion of earmarks.' The Romney team lobbed similar broadsides against Newt Gingrich ahead of last month’s Florida primary, but have let up somewhat as the former House speaker’s campaign has struggled." ...
... Alex Altman of Time: "While polling in each state has been light, a series of Public Policy Polling surveys found Santorum with a slight edge over Romney in Minnesota, 29% to 27%, and in second place in Colorado, where he trails Romney, 40% to 26%. A week-old survey also placed him atop Missouri's bragging-rights derby." ...
... Romney Must Be a Tad Worried. Alexander Burns of Politico: "In a memo released to the press, Romney political director Rich Beeson makes the case that the path forward in the 2012 primaries points clearly toward a Romney victory, and preemptively spins tonight's Missouri-Minnesota-Colorado contests as a political sideshow.
Charles Pierce of Esquire has a lovely way of addressing the embattled enemy in President Obama's War on Religion (See Douthat, Ross; Gingrich, Newt; etc.): "... please stop going on my television set and telling me what 'the Catholic position' is on the fact that the president has told various Catholic institutions — and told them quite gently, too — that, yes, if they want all those nice juicy tax advantages, they must abide by the federal law and, in their capacities as employers, make contraceptives available to their employees under the new Affordable Care Act. There is no 'Catholic position' on this issue. There are the opinions of the clerical bureaucrats, accessories after the fact, and the members of the Clan of The Red Beanie, and then there is the opinion of the overwhelming majority of Catholic laypeople, who stopped listening to anything the Vatican said on the matter of birth control back in 1965."
AND Dave Weigel: "This can be filed under Things Everyone Knew Donald Trump Would Say.
Appearing on Fox News Monday, 'The Donald' said his endorsement helped Romney win by nearly 30 points.
'There was a lot riding on that particular race in Nevada and it was interesting, because the numbers were much, much greater than you thought,' Trump told Fox News. 'And a lot of people are giving me credit for that. And I will accept that credit.'
News Ledes
The New York Times is liveblogging the results of the three GOP presidential contests today, none of which will produce any delegates. Updated results are on the same page. ...
... At 9:45 pm ET, NBC News projected Rick Santorum as the winner of the nonbinding primary in Missouri. No link. ...
... At 10:20 pm ET, NBC News projected Santorum has won the Minnesota caucuses. No link.
... At 1:05 am ET Wednesday, NBC News declared Santorum the winner of the Colorado caucuses. No link.
Washington Post: "A top official of the Susan G. Komen for the Cure foundation who was involved in the controversy over the group’s funding of Planned Parenthood resigned Tuesday. Karen Handel, vice president for public policy, acknowledged that she had supported Komen’s decision to pull funding for Planned Parenthood in a resignation letter obtained by The Atlanta Journal Constitution." Here's the letter.
New York Times: "Two American brothers of a Mexican casino magnate who fled drug and fraud charges in the United States and has been seeking a pardon enabling him to return have emerged as major fund-raisers and donors for President Obama’s re-election campaign. The casino owner, Juan Jose Rojas Cardona ... jumped bail in Iowa in 1994 and disappeared, and has since been linked to violence and corruption in Mexico.... When The New York Times asked the Obama campaign early Monday about the Cardonas, officials said they were unaware of the brother in Mexico. Later in the day, the campaign said it was refunding the money raised by the family, which totaled more than $200,000."
New York Times: President Obama is signaling to wealthy Democratic donors that he wants them to start contributing to an outside group supporting his re-election, reversing a long-held position as he confronts a deep financial disadvantage on a vital front in the campaign."Washington Post story here.
Los Angeles Times: "A federal appeals court is expected to decide [today] whether California's ban on same-sex marriage violates the federal Constitution, a ruling that could reach the U.S. Supreme Court next year." San Francisco Chronicle story here. ...
L.A. Times Update: "A federal appeals court Tuesday struck down California's ban on same-sex marriage, clearing the way for the U.S. Supreme Court to rule on gay marriage as early as next year. The 2-1 decision by a panel of the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals found that Proposition 8, the 2008 ballot measure that limited marriage to one man and one woman, violated the U.S. Constitution. The architects of Prop. 8 have vowed to appeal. The ruling was narrow and likely to be limited to California." You can read the decision here. The New York Times story, which is more expansive, is here.
New York Times: "One of the largest companies that provided home services to lenders across the nation, DocX, has been indicted on forgery charges by a Missouri grand jury — one of the few criminal actions to follow reports of widespread improprieties against homeowners."
New York Times: "Thousands of Syrians lined the streets of Damascus, waving Russian flags to welcome top Russian officials arriving on Tuesday for talks with President Bashar al-Assad on Syria’s deepening, 11-month-old crisis.... Russia said it had sent its foreign minister, Sergey V. Lavrov, and Mikhail Fradkov, the head of Moscow’s foreign intelligence service, to Syria with a proposal that could end the crisis." Washington Post story here.
New York Times: "Greek workers walked off the job on Tuesday to protest a new barrage of austerity measures being demanded by the country’s foreign creditors in exchange for a second bailout of $170 billion without which Greece faces a potentially catastrophic default within weeks."
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Reader Comments (5)
On the subject of the "war on religion" and criticism of requiring religious-affiliated organizations to adhere to laws and regulations: if the government took any other stance (i.e., if your business links to a religion you are free to ignore regulations which do not mesh with that religion); and since in the U.S. the government cannot deny you the right to profess whatever religion you choose, to join or create; it follows that any commercial (for profit or not for profit) organization that wanted to avoid laws/regulations could create a religion negating those regulations, creating for itself a market advantage. So, if religions could create favorable terms in markets, and competitive advantages in their associated commercial undertakings, would we not see an increase in "service providing religions" that are really just in the religion business because it helps their business business?
The easiest test for canards like the "War on Religion" bullshit is to flip it around. Replace "Catholic Church" with "Islam" then declare that denying a fundamentalist mosque the right to tell everyone else how to live and to force anyone working on its premises, no matter what faith they might be (if any) to abide by their tenets would be tantamount to a War on Religion (actually Fox does this on a daily basis so this isn't really much of a thought experiment--except that Fox doesn't call this sort of thing a War on Religion. They call it doing things the American Way).
Guess how many shades of purple intellectual weenies like Douthat would turn if this were the case. If he were told that fundamentalist Islamic organizations could do as they please and ignore the law of the land because of their religious freedom?
These people never think anything through. It's shoot from the hip and "I must be right because the right is never wrong".
Morons, fools, and hypocrites.
All those that wish to not receive coverage for birth control are free to do so. The institutions, schools and hospitals, that are important to society must never the less provide for their employees who may or may not be Catholics.
The Catholic position may be maintained, it just may not be inflicted on employees. This is the principal of the protecting of employees from the whims of employers.
J. Stiglitz's comment on ECB is available at project syndicate and at economist view. Perhaps more pessimistic that Krugman with a telling last paragraph.
I watched a thought provoking guest on Bill Moyers and Company this past weekend. The interview was with Jonathan Haidt, a social psychologist who spoke about how liberals and conservatives see the world differently. It can be viewed on Bill Moyers website.
@Marie Burns
I was listening to NPR program about Komen foundation and the controvery surrounding it on Monday (with Tom Ashbrook). I had just recently read your column on Douthat on same subject. Suffice to say that I was frustrated that no one brought up some of the important points that you did i.e. why so many abortions are done at Planned Parenthood. Grrr! So, Marie, I WISH you could be on NPR!