The Commentariat -- July 11
President Obama's press conference today:
... AND Follow-up:
... Jonathan Cohn of The New Republic: "... what was new ... was [Obama's] direct criticism of Republicans on three separate grounds: rigidity (for refusing to compromise, when Democrats have made it clear they are prepared to do that), hypocrisy (for insisting that deficits are the major obstacle to economic growth and then balking now that an actual deal is under discussion), and lack of social conscience (for opposing higher taxes on the rich and seeking to reduce deficits almost entirely by cutting programs that benefit the poor and middle class)." Also, "The efforts to bring in major new revenue wouldn’t begin for a little while, until the economy is in better shape. This is a response to Republicans, like Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, who have been suggesting Obama and the Democrats want to raise taxes in the middle of a slump." ...
... Ezra Klein: "... though we continue to hear assurances that we’ll reach a compromise before August, it seems increasingly likely that we won’t, and it’ll be a market panic or a government shutdown that forces a deal.... It’s clear from Obama’s remarks as well as the negotiating positions of the two parties that the final deal is going to include a lot of very deep spending cuts but little-to-no taxes or stimulus." ...
I think the President's goal is exactly what he says it is: to do Big Things. I just don't think it matters much what the substance of those Big Things is. -- Digby
... Greg Sargent: "Far more than he has in the past, the President seems determined to make Republicans pay the maximum political price for their intransigence on taxes.... However, Obama also confirmed in his clearest terms yet that he is willing to give ground on Social Security and Medicare in a way that will certainly alienate many Democrats.... Finally, in a move that’s likely to annoy liberals, Obama explicitly endorsed the idea that the deficit issue is the primary obstacle to focusing on jobs." ...
... Steve Kornacki of Salon: "If [Obama] were to enjoy a brief polling bounce, it would vanish very quickly, because it isn't really the deficit that voters are worried about. It's the economy, and as long as it is stuck in neutral -- or reverse-- no amount of deficit reduction will meaningfully improve Obama's chances of winning reelection in 2012."
Paul Krugman writes a boffo column that is essentially a smackdown of the "self-satisfied pundit" David Brooks. "Our failure to create jobs is a choice, not a necessity — a choice rationalized by an ever-shifting set of excuses." CW: this is Krugman's most direct hit on Brooks. If you think I'm kidding, take a look at this Krugman post from earlier Sunday. ...
... AND Ross Douthat poses four premises that are mostly right, outlining some reasons for Republican intransigence. He just leaves out the real reasons. ...
... I've posted a Krugman-Douthat page on Off Times Square. Karen Garcia & I have added our comments. ...
... Jonathan Cohn of The New Republic: "Does anything matter to Republicans more than protecting tax cuts for the very wealthy? Developments of the last 18 hours suggest very strongly that the answer is no.... Boehner isn't really in charge of the House Republican caucus. The lunatics are. And it looks like they've won." ...
... Motoko Rich of the New York Times: "Close to $2 of every $10 that went into Americans’ wallets last year were payments like jobless benefits, food stamps, Social Security and disability, according to an analysis by Moody’s Analytics. In states hit hard by the downturn, like Arizona, Florida, Michigan and Ohio, residents derived even more of their income from the government. By the end of this year, however, many of those dollars are going to disappear, with the expiration of extended benefits intended to help people cope with the lingering effects of the recession.... Economists fear that the lost income will further crimp consumer spending and act as a drag on a recovery that is still quite fragile." CW: Mr. Obama, are you listening? ...
... "The Glum & the Restless." Jim Tankersley of the National Journal: "Two years after the Great Recession officially ended, job prospects for young Americans remain historically grim. More than 17 percent of 16-to-24-year-olds who are looking for work can’t find a job, a rate that is close to a 30-year high. The employment-to-population ratio for that demographic ... has plunged to 45 percent. That’s the lowest level since the Labor Department began tracking the data in 1948. This is a dangerous proposition, economically (for the United States as a whole) and politically (for the president)." CW: Mr. Obama are you listening now?
Dim Bulbs. Robert Semple of the New York Times: "The House is scheduled to vote this week on a daft and destructive measure that — in the name of individual freedom — would repeal national energy efficiency standards for light bulbs enacted by Congress in 2007. Though utterly without merit, the bill stands a fighting chance in a legislative body where ideology now routinely trumps common sense.... What appears to have escaped these freedom-fighters is that the 2007 law actually expanded consumer choice, which has largely been limited to a technology essentially unchanged since Thomas Edison."
David Carr of the New York Times: Rupert Murdoch's "News Corporation has historically used its four newspapers — it also owns The Sun, The Times of London, and The Sunday Times — to shape and quash public debate, routinely helping to elect prime ministers with timely endorsements while punishing enemies at every turn.... , chief executive of News International and previous editor of The News of the World, responded by saying that it was 'inconceivable' that she knew of the hacking. I’d suggest it was inconceivable she did not know." To wit: ...
... The Editor & the Ax Murderers. Jo Becker & Sarah Lyall of the Times report an instance in which Scotland Yard informed Brooks that one of the News of the World's senior editors had ordered illegal surveillance of a police detective as a favor to two men suspected of commiting an ax murder; the purpose of the surveillance was apparently to compromise the detective.
Right Wing World *
Alex Pareene of Salon: God told Michele Bachmann to be a tax-collecting attorney for the IRS, but His instructions may not help her political career -- CW: which, come to think of it, He also advised her to pursue. Does God had a devilish sense of humor? ...
... Bachmann, BTW, has taken a slight lead over the other candidates in a recent Iowa Republican poll.
A Bottle of Wine for Paul Ryan? $350. An Exposé by Susan Crabtree of TPM? Priceless. Crabtree identifies Paul Ryan's dinner companions (see the July 9 Commentariat). Ryan described them as "economists." Well, yeah. They do both hold Ph.D.s in economics, but one of Ryan's dinner partners was Cliff Asness, who runs the high-profile hedge fund AQR Capital, which received a $12.9 billion bailout ($10 billion of which it repaid in 2009). Asness, whom Jake Tapper of ABC News once described as having "a name and occupation right out of Dickens," is a virulent Obama basher. The other guy in the party is a University of Chicago business professor, & he even holds an endowed chair -- endowed by none other than his Ass-ness.
* Where the Ghost of Charles Dickens is writer-in-residence.
Local News
Jillian Rayfield of TPM: "S.C. Attorney General Alan Wilson (R) is reviewing the case of Lieutenant Gov. Ken Ard (R), following a settlement between Ard and the state's Ethics Commission over his illegal campaign expenditures on, among other things, a Playstation, women's clothing, and his wife's cell phone bill.... Last week, Ard settled his 107 ethics violations with the State Ethics Commission, agreeing to pay a $48,400 fine, cover the cost of the investigation, and reimburse his campaign for $12,121 in illegal expenditures. Among those expenditures, the South Carolina Free Times reported, was more than $3000 at Best Buy for a 'Playstation 3, a flat-screen TV, an iPod Touch 8G, and two 3G iPads.' Ard initially claimed the purchases were 'computer equip' for 'campaign and office-related purposes.' The Commission also found that Ard lied about some of the expenditures during its investigation."
News Ledes
New York Times: "In a big step to carry out the new health care law, the Obama administration unveiled standards on Monday for insurance marketplaces that will allow individuals, families and small businesses in every state to shop for insurance, compare prices and benefits and buy coverage."
New York Times: "Stocks on Wall Street took a tumble on Monday, following Asian and European markets lower, as concerns about zone debt crisis continued to overwhelm investors around the world.... After weeks of uncertainty related to bailouts for Greece, the Italian authorities moved to rein in short-selling on the Milan stock exchange as fears mounted that Italy could become the next victim of the sovereign debt crisis." ...
... AND a graph from Krugman on the Italian crisis.
President Obama will hold a news conference on the deficit negotiations at 11 am ET. Could be interesting. ...
... Washington Post post-presser Update: "President Obama, facing a bitter partisan stalemate over how to raise the federal borrowing limit, summoned congressional leaders to a new round of White House talks Monday and warned that he would not accept a temporary, stopgap measure." Video in left column. ...
... New York Times post-press conference report: "President Obama on Monday morning challenged Republicans to live up to their demands to cut the nation’s deficit and address its long-term debt by enacting spending cuts, revenue increases and changes to entitlement programs.... The president also called on Congressional Democrats to be open to a deal that would makes changes to entitlement programs like Social Security and Medicare...."
It's very hard, but it's doable.
-- Gen. David Petraeus, on Afghanistan's ability to govern & secure itself
New York Times: "Just days away from the end of his tour as the supreme military commander in , and the end of a 37-year military career, Gen. said he was leaving in the belief that his plan to turn around the war and hand over security to the Afghans could be achieved."
AP: "The U.S. will not 'walk away' from the challenge of Iran's stepped-up arming of Iraqi insurgents who are targeting and killing American troops, U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said Monday." New York Times story here.
New York Times: "Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg on Monday became the most senior official to publicly urge to drop a $12 billion bid by his embattled News Corporation for Britain’s most lucrative satellite broadcast company, British Sky Broadcasting, as the government sought advice on possible regulatory proceedings. The developments deepened the fallout from phone-hacking scandal which has been transformed from a long-simmering controversy into a full-blown crisis swirling around Mr. Murdoch’s British operation, News International, and its chief executive, Rebekah Brooks." Guardian story here. ...
... NEW. Worse & Worser. Guardian: "Journalists from across News International repeatedly targeted the former prime minister Gordon Brown, attempting to access his voicemail and obtaining information from his bank account and legal file as well as his family's medical records. There is also evidence that a private investigator used a serving police officer to trawl the police national computer for information about him.... Separately, Brown's tax paperwork was taken from his accountant's office apparently by hacking into the firm's computer. This was passed to another newspaper. Brown was targeted during a period of more than 10 years, both as chancellor of the exchequer and as prime minister. Some of the activity clearly was illegal...." ...
... NEW. Guardian: "Police have warned Buckingham Palace that they have found evidence that the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall may have had their voicemail hacked by the News of the World."
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