The Commentariat -- June 30

I've added an Open Thread for today's Off Times Square.

On the President's Press Conference

Now is the time to go ahead and make the tough choices. That’s why they’re called leaders…. They’re in one week, they’re out one week. And then they’re saying, ‘Obama has got to step in.’ You need to be here. I’ve been here. I’ve been doing Afghanistan and bin Laden and the Greek crisis. You stay here. Let’s get it done. And so, this thing, which is just not on the level, where we have meetings and discussions, and we’re working through process, and when they decide they’re not happy with the fact that at some point you’ve got to make a choice, they just all step back and say, ‘Well, you know, the president needs to get this done.’ They need to do their job.
-- Barack Obama

Bravo! This is the fight House Democrats have been making for the last six months under the Republican Majority as they move to end Medicare and continue tax breaks for Big Oil. -- House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi

This was Obama as he ought to be. -- Dana Milbank (good column by Milbank)

Ron Fournier of the National Journal: "In Obama's world, Democrats are for kids and Republicans are for corporate jets. That is a sharp distinction that could help put the GOP on defensive, but it may not be enough to persuade Republicans to change their posture on the debt-ceiling talks."

Greg Sargent: "President Obama ... mounted a surprisingly aggressive moral case for ending high end tax cuts, casting it as a test of our society’s priorities, and argued — crucially — that anyone who fails to support ending them is fundamentally unserious about the deficit."

Ezra Klein sees the President's sharp language today as evidence that negotiations with Republicans have failed.

Jed Lewison of Daily Kos: "If you don't ask the wealthy to pay their share, the money is going to come from children and the elderly. And that's not morally defensible."

E. J. Dionne: "... President Obama put a question to congressional Republicans that should be asked over and over and over until they blink: Are they really willing to risk the nation’s credit and economic turmoil in order to preserve tax breaks for corporate jets, outlandishly low tax rates for hedge fund managers and loopholes for the oil companies?

The Weather Service Matters. Stephen Stromberg of the Washington Post: "The biggest danger on debt is that our leaders don't do enough to balance America's books. The next biggest is that, whether guided by ideology, ignorance or desperation, our leaders decide to shortchange the cost-effective investments that will sustain my generation's standard of living, relegating us to crumbling infrastructure, poor education, pathetic government services — and, perhaps, sloppy weather reports."

CW: Andrew Sullivan could be right here: "By staying ever so slightly above on this issue, Obama is doing the right presidential thing -- while presiding over what may well be the most seismic period for gay equality in history." Still, I find it more than a little dismaying that gay Americans are denied many rights the rest of us enjoy, and I would like to see the POTUS speak out against such nonsensical discrimination.

Dear Jim, You are unbelivably ignorant, but I will try to set you straight for the umpteenth time. Love, Tim. Or words to that effect. The Wall Street Journal publishes an epistolary exchange on the debt limit between Sen. Jim DeMint (Radical Right-Wing Tea Party R-S.C.) and Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner (Just Plain R).

CW: Okay, now I get why Washington doesn't care about jobs. In a post about on-line headhunters TheLadders.com, Annie Lowrey of Slate cites a February 2010 Northwestern U. study that found

The recession hit all workers, but it did not hit them equally . According to the study, the unemployment rate topped 30 percent in the lowest income decile. For workers in the second-highest decile, those making about $100,000 a year, the unemployment rate was only 4 percent. And those in the highest-income bracket, making more than $138,700 a year, the jobless rate was just 3 percent. In short, unemployment was 10 times worse for those in the bottom rung of the income ladder than for those at the top of the ladder....

Steve Benen: "... as frustrated as Americans are, they’re not blaming Obama for the mess."

The New Harold Koh. Glenn Greenwald on how low a respected law school dean will go when corrupted by power. Oh, yeah: pay no attention to what Barack Obama says.

Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) speaks on the Senate floor on Monday:

     ... Full transcript of his remarks here. Thanks to Karen Garcia for posting this link on Sardonicky.

Adam Serwer of American Prospect on the significance of the 6th Circuit's ruling for the Affordable Care Act. Although one of the three judges disagreed that the individual mandate was consititutional, they all agreed that the right's "activity/inactivity" distinction was ridiculous. Serwer also notes that this is the first case in which a Republican-appointed judge decided the individual mandate was constitutional. CW: It was also the first appelate-level decision on the ACA.

One of Ezra Klein's readers highlights a way anti-abortion Congressional jerks are likely to effect an increase health inequality, "possibly eradicating these diseases [detected in fetuses] among the affluent and concentrating them among the poorest of society." CW: the test that is the subject of this post has not been administered yet, but the writer's point is well-taken & should make you even sicker about being governed by stupid, sexist bigots.

"Memoirs of Torturers." David Swanson: President Obama's decision not to prosecute Americans involved in torture allowed for a boomlet of books by those advocating for & committing torture. Swanson reviews The Interrogator: an Education by former CIA agent Glenn Carle. "This is the story of how a none-too-bright, self-centered, insecure, careerist bureaucrat with weak principles, a fragile ego, a troubled marriage, and no interrogation experience, but the ability to actually speak Arabic, was chosen to lead the interrogating (or 'interviewing') of an innocent man the CIA boneheadedly believed to be a 'top al Qaeda terrorist' when they kidnapped him off a street and flew him to an undisclosed location outside any rule of law."

Right Wing World *

Sarah Bufkin for Think Progress: Rep. Michele Bachmann's husband Marcus Bachmann calls gays "barbarians" who "need to be educated" and "disciplined."

The People's Encyclopedia. Matthew Desmond of Addicting Info finds that Bachmann's supporters -- in a futile & hilarious effort to make one of her latest gaffes seem less loony (see yesterday's Commentariat) -- altered the Wikipedia entry for John Quincy Adams to designate him "a founding father." With screengrab of the altered page. CW: The Wiki page has since been corrected.

* Is downright disgusting.

News Ledes

Stephen Colbert's victory speech:

The FEC's decision on ColbertPAC:

Washington Post: "In a meeting devoid of anything beyond a gentle chuckle, the FEC decided that [Stephen] Colbert could go ahead with his plans to form a self-titled 'super PAC' that could raise and spend unlimited money on the 2012 elections. But the panel also concluded that the television host’s employer, Viacom Corp., would have to report any help it gives to Colbert for political activities outside the 'Colbert Report' show. The FEC’s 5-1 decision came as something of a relief to campaign-finance reformers, who feared the panel might go further by allowing Viacom — and thus any other media company — to spend unlimited resources in elections without having to disclose the spending." The Hill story here.

Washington Post: "A federal prosecutor has expanded his inquiry into harsh CIA interrogation practices during the Bush administration and is conducting a full criminal investigation into the deaths of two detainees, U.S. officials said Thursday. At the same time, Assistant U.S. Attorney John Durham has concluded that no charges will be filed in the interrogations of 99 other detainees who were in U.S. custody after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. said. At Holder’s request, Durham has been examining the actions of CIA interrogators and contractors at 'black site' prisons for nearly two years."

The Hill: "Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) announced Thursday morning that he will cancel the July 4 recess so that lawmakers can continue to focus on deficit-reduction negotiations. Reid will schedule a vote on Tuesday, July 5, forcing senators to cancel their plans and show up to the Senate floor. Reid said lawmakers will also work on legislation to create more jobs...."

     ... Washington Post: "President Obama surprised Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates on Thursday with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, paying tribute to his four decades of public service at a regal farewell ceremony outside the Pentagon. The honor came on Gates’s last day as defense secretary after four and a half years in the job. The citation for the medal — the highest civilian honor the commander in chief can bestow — said that Gates had 'selflessly dedicated his life to ensuring the security of the American people.'”

New York Times: "Hundreds of thousands of teachers and public-sector workers across Britain walked off their jobs on Thursday to protest the government’s proposed changes to their pension plans. Union officials warned that this could be the beginning of a wave of strikes this summer and fall over pensions and public-sector budget cuts."

** New York Times: "In a decision that could have far-reaching effects on immigration cases involving same-sex couples, federal officials have canceled the deportation of a Venezuelan man in New Jersey who is married to an American man, the couple’s lawyer said Wednesday. The announcement comes as immigration officials put into effect new, more flexible guidelines governing the deferral and cancellation of deportations, particularly for immigrants with no serious criminal records." CW: one reason to have a Democratic president.

Washington Post: "The Federal Election Commission ... finds itself the target of a very public joke by television comedian and provocateur Stephen Colbert, who is set to testify Thursday on his tongue-in-cheek bid to form an eponymous 'super PAC' for the 2012 election season."

Reuters: "The United States would immediately have its top-notch credit rating slashed to 'selective default' if it misses a debt payment on August 4, Standard & Poor's managing director John Chambers told Reuters. Chambers, who is also the chairman of S&P's sovereign ratings committee, said on Tuesday that U.S. Treasury bills maturing on August 4 would be rated 'D' if the government fails to honor them. Unaffected Treasuries would be downgraded as well, but not as sharply, he said."

Reuters: "President Barack Obama's plan for pulling U.S. troops from Afghanistan will intensify risks in the thick of next year's fighting season, but Obama was right to factor in waning support at home for the war, outgoing Defense Secretary Robert Gates told Reuters."

Reuters: "Greece's parliament is expected to pass a second austerity bill on Thursday to enable the country to avert bankruptcy by securing a 12 billion euro ($17 billion) loan tranche from the EU and IMF. After two days of violent protests just meters (yards) from where deputies passed initial austerity legislation on Wednesday, they began debating detailed measures to implement 28 billion euros in spending cuts, tax hikes and privatizations." ...

     ... New York Times Update: "Greek lawmakers on Thursday passed legislation allowing for the rapid implementation of new austerity measures, a day after voting to sharply reduce government spending and sell off an array of national assets, staving off default on the country’s debt and easing, for the moment, a crisis among countries that use the euro."

New York Times: "Afghan officials said on Thursday that they have arrested two former executives involved in the collapse of Kabul Bank. According to Rahmatullah Nazari, the deputy attorney general, authorities arrested Sherkhan Farnood, the former chairman of Kabul Bank, and Khalilulah Frozi, its former chief executive officer, on Wednesday in connection with what he said was hundreds of millions of dollars in fraudulent loans to bank officers and insiders."

The Commentariat -- June 29

Maureen Dowd interviews New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo. She covers a lot of ground: gay rights, women's right to choose and the death penalty, the Roman Catholic church, for starters. I've posted a Dowd comments page on Off Times Square, but you can write on any topic. Karen Garcia, Kate Madison & I have commented on Down's column.

Dana Milbank: "At the core of Obama’s stance [on same-sex marriage] is a logical inconsistency: He believes gay Americans should be fully equal under the law, but by opposing gay marriage he supports a system that denies same-sex couples some 1,300 federal rights and benefits that married couples receive. The civil unions Obama favors as an alternative have little meaning in federal law."

John Dean Knows How to Get Rid of Clarence Thomas: "As the associate deputy attorney general in President Richard M. Nixon’s Department of Justice, I was there when Assistant Attorney General William Rehnquist outlined how to remove a Supreme Court justice who had engaged in conduct not quite as troublesome as that of Thomas.... There is absolutely no question in my mind that Thomas lied his way onto the Supreme Court in 1991 when he denied Anita Hill’s charges that he had sexually harassed her and some of his other subordinates.... His behavior as a justice just keeps sinking lower and lower.... With the Rehnquist memo in hand, [Attorney General John] Mitchell arranged a secret meeting with then Chief Justice Earl Warren, and told Warren that if Fortas did not resign from the court the Justice Department was going to launch an investigation of Fortas’ dealing with a financier...." Mitchell also said he would go after Fortas' wife, a tax attorney. Fortas resigned. Dean ultimately says Thomas, who will fight tooth-&-nail to keep his seat, won't go. CW: But it's worth trying, IMHO. ...

... The Reid Report has links to stories about some of Clarence Thomas's ethics lapses. ...

... Dean says even if it passed, The Supremes would rule unconstitutional Chris Murphy's (D-Conn.) Supreme Court transparency bill. You can add your signature of support anyway at this Daily Kos page.

Marc Ambinder of the National Journal writes that President Obama is purposely stalling on debt ceiling talks to get a better deal. CW: I would call this a loony conspiracy theory, but Ambinder has good White House sources. And it would be nice if Obama was playing to get the best deal for the public.

"Thank you, Mr. Secretary." Jonathan Capehart of the Washington Post: Defense Secretary Robert Gates, who will retire Thursday, was instrumental in the repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell."

McKay Coppins & David Graham in the Daily Beast: "Jon Huntsman Sr. is one of the richest men in the world. He’s also been his son’s best ally."

Most judges will tell you that sentencing is the most difficult thing we do. -- Judge Denny Chin ...

... Benjamin Weiser of the New York Times: Federal District Judge Denny Chin explains how he decided to impose a 150-year sentence on Bernie Madoff.

Harold Meyerson of the Washington Post: "The stories of the Dodgers and the [Los Angeles] Times can be read as parables of a particularly vicious form of capitalism that America has come to know too well the past few decades: a new owner takes over a venerable firm and extracts what he can for himself, decimating the company and damaging the community in the process."

Prioities USA Action, a Democrat-backed unlimited secret donor organization like Karl Rove's Crossroads GPS, answers Crossroads' ads attacking President Obama on his handling of the economy:

Michael Scherer of Time: Democratic pollster & strategist Stanley Greenberg, who has a succession of big wins under his belt, has focus-group-tested President Obama's economic message. Greenberg says the public isn't buying the President's message that he saved the economy, so Obama should change his message to one that has some credibility. What a concept! Obama strategists like David Axelrod disagree.

Right Wing World *

I'm introducing myself now to the American people so that they can know that I have a strong academic scholarly background, more important I have a real life background. -- Prof. Michele Bachmann

Michele Bachmann, rated by PolitiFact as the most untruthful presidential candidate, sticks with her story that John Quincy Adams was a Founding Father. CW: FYI, Adams was 8 years old when the Declaration of Independence was signed, he was a young teen during the American Revolution & was living in Europe, where his father John was a diplomat. He was attending Harvard, not the Constitutional Convention, in 1787. Print story here.

... AND Michael Isikoff on Bachmann Hypocrisy Watch:

     ... Print story here. Isikoff mentions in the print story (but not in the O'Donnell interview) that the Bachmanns also have received $260,000 in federal farm subsidies.

David Seifman of the New York Post: Howard Koeppel, "the gay car dealer who opened his home to Rudy Giuliani in 2001 during his humiliating divorce battle, says the former mayor offered to preside at his wedding if same-sex marriage were ever legalized -- but is now ducking his calls to make good on the offer.... Mayors of New York City retain the right to conduct weddings even after leaving office."

* Where people don't make history; they make up history, even if they're, like, scholarly.

Local News

Rachel Weiner of the Washington Post: "Wisconsin Democrats got a bit of good luck ... that increased their chances of taking over the state Senate.... On Monday, Wisconsin’s Government Accountability Board voted unanimously to keep state Rep. John Nygren (R-Marinette) off the ballot in a recall election against state Sen. Dave Hansen (D-Green Bay), saying that the GOP lawmaker fell short of the 400 valid signatures required to qualify.... Now Hansen will face David VanderLeest, (R) a weaker opponent with a long court record. He’s been accused of domestic and child abuse by his ex-wife, and been taken to court for code violations in the buildings he owns." ...

... Meanwhile, in Paul Ryan's district, Sean Sullivan of the National Journal reports, "Highly touted 1st District Democratic recruit Rob Zerban said Tuesday that he will be posting 'a big number' when he reports his 2nd quarter fundraising figures to the Federal Election Commission."

St. Pete Times: Florida "Gov. Rick Scott acknowledged Tuesday what his staff had refused to disclose: He flew to Colorado over the weekend to attend a secretive policy retreat hosted by powerful conservative donors Charles and David Koch.... Also attending the retreat near Vail were Republican Govs. Rick Perry of Texas and Bob McDonnell of Virginia, and Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli." ...

... Adam Smith of the St. Pete Times: "Political robocalls are nothing new in the final weeks of a campaign season, but for the first time anyone can recall, [Florida Gov. Rick] Scott has the state GOP paying for regular recorded calls touting his day-to-day accomplishments. It's part of his continuing effort to bypass the traditional media and communicate directly with voters." ...

We are all used to getting robocalls during campaign season, but to continue to get them AFTER the election is unprecedented and extremely disturbing! … Funny how a guy that preaches limiting government intrusion in our private lives is DOING JUST THAT with this harassing robo-phone campaign. -- Republican Steve Allbitron of Palm Harbor

Margot Roosevelt of the Los Angeles Times: "An emotional battle over a traditional soup has split California's Chinese American community as environmental and animal welfare groups push the Legislature to ban the sale and possession of shark fins. The bill passed the Assembly last month, 65-8, but is running into trouble in the Senate."

News Ledes

President Obama on LGBT Pride Month:

     ... Here's the transcript.

President Obama spoke at an event observing LGBT Pride month this afternoon. New York Times: could be awkward! ...

     ... Update: "After months of saying his position on same-sex marriage is 'evolving,' President Obama on Wednesday traded that language for comments that stopped just short of endorsing the notion that gay people have the right to marry."

The President's Press Conference:

... President Obama held a press conference this morning. New York Times post-presser report: "President Obama said Wednesday that he believed Republicans would concede to tax increases as part of a deficit reduction package in time to avoid a default on the nation’s debt. 'Call me naive.... But my expectation is that leaders are going to lead.' Mr. Obama repeatedly mocked tax breaks that he said were for 'millionaires and billionaires, oil companies and corporate jet owners,' saying that voters would not look kindly on Republican lawmakers who defended them at the cost of cuts in popular programs like health care, education and food safety." ...

     ... The transcript of the President's remarks, including the Q&A, is here.

New York Times: "Less than a week after same-sex marriage was legalized in New York, the Rhode Island State Senate on Wednesday evening approved a bill allowing not marriage, but civil unions for gay couples, despite fierce opposition from gay rights advocates who called the legislation discriminatory. The bill, which already passed in the state’s House of Representatives and which the governor [Independent Lincoln Chafee] said he was likely to sign, grants gay and lesbian couples most of the rights and benefits that Rhode Island provides married couples."

WLS Chicago: now that the Blagojevich trial is over, the House Ethics Committee may begin its investigation into whether or not Rep. Jessie Jackson, Jr., offered to raise campaign funds for then-Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich in exchange for Blagojevich's appointing Jackson to fill Barack Obama's Senate seat.

Politico: "A current and a retired Supreme Court justice on Wednesday declined to criticize Justice Clarence Thomas for not recusing himself from cases critics say he has a personal interest in because of his wife’s employment. Justice Stephen Breyer and Sandra Day O’Connor, who stepped down in 2006, defended the high court’s deliberate vagueness regarding ethical matters when asked about spousal conflicts of interest by an audience member during a forum at the Aspen Ideas Festival in Colorado."

Politico: "The 6th Circuit Court of Appeals on Wednesday upheld the health reform law’s requirement that nearly all Americans buy insurance, the first appeals court to rule on the constitutionality of the law. The panel of three judges — two nominated by Republican presidents — upheld the mandate 2-1, with one GOP-nominated judge ruling in favor of the mandate and the other dissenting. The ruling marks the first time a Republican-nominated judge has ruled in favor of upholding the mandate."

New York Times: "France confirmed on Wednesday that it has provided weapons to the Libyan rebels, the first instance of a NATO country providing direct military aid to the forces seeking to oust Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi."

AP: "Bank of America and its Countrywide unit will pay $8.5 billion to settle claims that the lenders sold poor-quality mortgage-backed securities that went sour when the housing market collapsed. The deal, announced Wednesday, comes after a group of 22 investors demanded that the Charlotte, N.C. bank repurchase $47 billion in mortgages that its Countrywide unit sold to them in the form of bonds." ...

     ... New York Times Update: "Bank of America announced plans on Wednesday to set aside $14 billion to pay investors who bought securities it assembled from mortgages that later soured, an agreement that the company expected would lead to a second-quarter loss of $8.6 billion to $9.1 billion."

Washington Post: "Leading congressional Democrats immediately recoiled Tuesday from a new proposal to cut $600 billion in Medicare spending over the next decade — in part by raising the eligibility age. Sens. Joseph I. Lieberman (I-Conn.) and Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) unveiled the proposal as part of a bipartisan effort." CW: bipartisan, my ass. Note these two jokers are ending their illustrious Senate careers in January 2013.

Los Angeles Times: "The Senate Foreign Relations Committee approved a resolution Tuesday authorizing U.S. involvement in the NATO-led mission in Libya, a small step forward in a stubborn legal stalemate between Congress and the White House over the war. If adopted by both chambers of Congress, the resolution would permit U.S. involvement for up to one year, but would restrict any expansion of the nation's role. Four Republican members of the committee joined the Democratic majority to pass the measure on a 14-5 vote."

Los Angeles Times: "The [California] Legislature passed an austerity budget Tuesday night that would cut from universities, courts and the poor, shutter 70 parks and threaten schools but would not — by officials' own admission — restore California's long-term financial health. The UC and Cal State systems would face about a 23% funding cut, among the steepest in the proposal. Cash grants for the needy would fall, a program to help thousands of teen mothers get an education would be suspended and hundreds of millions of dollars would be siphoned from mental health programs.... Gov. Jerry Brown vetoed the first one but is expected to sign the new package before a fresh budget year begins Friday."

New York Times: "Nine suicide bombers managed to elude several rings of security and reach one of the capital’s premier hotels, which was busy with guests, many of whom had come from the provinces to the city for a conference on the transition of security responsibility to Afghan control.... By Wednesday morning, the nearly six-hour attack at the hilltop Intercontinental Hotel had ended, leaving at least 21 people dead, including two police officers, nine Afghan civilians and one foreigner, a Spaniard, according to the Interior Ministry. At least five of the suicide bombers blew themselves up and three were shot dead from helicopter gunships by NATO troops."

AP: "Greek lawmakers began voting Wednesday on new austerity measures needed to secure crucial bailout funds as protesters opposed to the bill clashed with riot police outside Parliament." ...

     ... Washington Post Update: "The Greek parliament on Wednesday approved a controversial package of tax hikes and spending cuts, clearing the way for $17 billion in international emergency loans needed to stave off a possible default."

AP: "Thousands of British schools will close and travelers will face long lines at airport immigration this week when three quarters of a million workers go on strike — the first blast in what unions hope will be a summer of discontent against the cost-cutting government's austerity plans."

AP: "A federal judge on Tuesday scheduled an emergency hearing about whether prison authorities should stop forcing the Tucson shooting rampage suspect [Jared Loughner] to take anti-psychotic medication, as a new filing provided more details about his bizarre behavior behind bars."

The Commentariat -- June 28

I've posted an Open Thread on Off Times Square. Kate Madison, Karen Garcia & I have posted comments on David Brooks' column. Looks as if the moderators dumped both Madison's & my comments, so you'll have to read them here. Update: my comment came up on Page 3 at #56; no sign of Madison's comment.

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) is seeking co-signers for his letter to President Obama, the final paragraph of which I've reproduced here. Please consider signing. I've signed. Thanks to commenter Waltwis for the link. He's signed, too:

Please do not yield to outrageous Republican demands that would greatly increase suffering for the weakest and most vulnerable members of our society.  Now is the time to stand with the tens of millions of Americans who are struggling to survive economically, not with the millionaires and billionaires who have never had it so good.   

CW: I'm linking to usually-liberal Gene Robinson's column not because I agree with it -- I don't -- but because it's a perfect example of Beltway pundits not knowing what they're talking about when it comes to economics, then buying into Republican talking points. He says -- get this! -- that because of the state of the economy, this would be a terrible time to remove tax breaks for the rich. Idiot! ...

... The fact is you can’t tax the very people that we expect to invest in the economy and create jobs. -- Speaker John Boehner ...

... Really? Take a look, Messrs. Robinson & Boehner, at this chart which Ezra Klein publishes in today's Washington Post:

... AND Annie Lowrey of Slate on tax cuts for the rich: "... those who say that every tax cut pays for itself are simply wrong." In fact, even in instances where tax cuts increased revenues coming from the rich, overall tax revenues decreased.

Legal scholar Rick Hasen, writing in The New Republic, sees some teensy slivers of a silver lining in the Supremes' 5-4 decision striking down part of Arizona's campaign finance law; to-wit: "the Roberts Court seems to have retreated from the suggestion that all campaign finance laws, aside from disclosure, are in constitutional trouble.... The Court confirmed that Citizens United did not overturn the law related to contribution limits.... Justice Kagan, who dissented in today’s Arizona case, has emerged as a forceful intellectual voice for the constitutionality of reasonable campaign finance regulation.... The Court did not level a death blow to public financing laws.... Lump sum payments should be okay."

Your Daddy Owns You. Dahlia Lithwick in Slate, on Justice Clarence Thomas's dissent in Freedom Club v. Arizona: "Thomas launches into what is surely one of the oddest, most discursive examinations of the Joys of Puritanical Parenting." CW: under Infotainment, I linked to a satirical article in which Thomas supposedly claims he's only 3/5ths of a Justice. But in real life, Thomas seems to long for ye good old days when children & wives were chattel. So, more or less the same thing, just different groups of enslaved people -- uh, groups which, conveniently enough, do not include him.

New York Times Editors: "It appears as though there are sufficient votes in the State Legislature to pass a marriage-equality bill in New Jersey — a positive change from last year when the freedom to marry was defeated in the Democratic-led State Senate. The obstacle is Gov. Chris Christie, a Republican."

Economist Adam Hersh in Think Progress: Republican governors & legislatures have been slashing state budgets, usually claiming the cuts with spur their states' economic growth. "But the data actually show the opposite of their claims to be true: steep spending cuts are hampering economic recovery in some states, while other states that resisted cuts or increased spending are now seeing declining unemployment rates, faster private-sector job creation, and stronger economic growth." Thanks to Bob M. fo the link. Here's a graph that makes Hersh's point:

Prof. Pam Luecke reviews Reckless Endangerment by Gretchen Morgenson & Joshua Rosner, about the genesis of the financial crisis. The authors finger James Johnson, Fannie Mae's CEO from 1991 to 1998, as the “anonymous architect of the public-private homeownership drive that almost destroyed the economy in 2008.” ...

... Neil Irwin of the Washington Post with five reasons the Swedish economy is "growing rapidly, creating jobs and gaining a competitive edge. The banks are lending, the housing market booming. The budget is balanced." CW: maybe the reason the Swedish government has made such good policy decisions is that women make up nearly half the parliament and hold half the ministerial positions.

Annie Lowrey in Slate: another cost of big cars & SUVs: they kill people.

Mayors Against Illegal Guns, NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg's group, has produced this effective ad. Via Ben Smith:

Right Wing World *

Gene Kessler of the Washington Post: Michele Bachmann exaggerates or just makes stuff up, even in her announcement she's running for president. ...

... AND PolitiFact looks into Bachmann's appearance on CBS News' "Face the Nation." They give her three "Barely Trues," a "False" and a "Pants-on-Fire." And they are being really generous. For instance, the PolitiFact people don't seem to understand the complete falsity of Bachmann's claim that the Affordable Care Act would kill 800,000 jobs. What the CBO actually said is that 800,000 people might quit working for health insurance if they could get it another way. But that doesn't eliminate the jobs themselves -- it just takes those workers out of the job market & thus makes the jobs available for unemployed workers. Major difference. Includes video. ...

... ** PLUS, Best of All, There's This from Stephanie Condon of CBS News: "Speaking from her home town of Waterloo, Iowa on Monday, Bachmann told Fox News, 'John Wayne was from Waterloo, Iowa. That's the kind of spirit that I have, too.' As the Washington Times first noted, however, the actor John Wayne was born nearly 150 miles away in Winterset, Iowa. John Wayne Gacy, Jr. -- the serial killer -- was born in Waterloo. CW: yep, I would agree that Bachmann has that serial killer spirit. ...

... Ed Kilgore of The New Republic wonders if Bachmann, who had a low threshold to jump ("Are you a flake?"), can stand up to media scrutiny, particularly of her long-held, hard-right Christian fundamentalist views. Kilgore notes that Republican elites will not go after her religious views & Republican voters will not be reading Matt Taibbi. So who will question Bachmann?

* Where the truth is the enemy of the good.

Local News

Rick Scott. Even scarier than this unretouched photo of him.Don Van Natta & Gary Fineout of the New York Times: Florida Gov. Rick "Scott’s sinking popularity has Republican politicians and some strategists worried that his troubles could hamper their chances of tilting the state’s 29 electoral votes back into their column in 2012. President Obama won Florida by 2.8 percentage points in 2008."

Stephen Colbert -- and Rick Scott -- want you to help out Rick Scott (segment begins about 1:45 min. in):

     ... Unlike the canned letter Scott provides you to send to your local newspaper editor, Colbert's canned letter allows you to fill in some of your very own words.

News Ledes

President Obama in Iowa today, speaking on the critical role of manufacturing in the U.S. economy:

Politico: "The Obama administration will not move forward on a controversial proposal to have 'secret shoppers' pose as patients to investigate how difficult it is for Americans to obtain primary care."

New York Times: "The legal adviser to the State Department said Tuesday that the Obama administration might have been better served if its officials had consulted more closely with Congress on American involvement in Libya, but defended the administration’s position that it was not required to seek explicit Congressional authorization for the venture. Repeating the administration’s position that the United States role in Libya is “limited,” Harold H. Koh, the legal adviser, testifying under sometimes frosty questioning by members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said that it was the administration’s first belief that it was not required to seek Congressional approval for the mission there under the Vietnam-era War Powers Resolution...."

President Obama toured the Alcoa Davenport works in Moline, Illinois, Bettendorf, Iowa, after which he spoke on the critical role manufacturing plays in the American economy. Update: Related New York Times story here. See video above.

New York Times: "Christine Lagarde was named Tuesday as the new managing director of the International Monetary Fund, taking on one of the most powerful positions in global finance as a worsening debt crisis in Greece rattles financial markets worldwide."

ABC News: "Rep. Gabrielle Giffords made her first public appearance in front of a crowd since being shot in the head Jan. 8, rising from her wheelchair to hug and kiss her husband, former astronaut Mark Kelly, when he received the Spaceflight Medal."

Los Angeles Times: "A 50,000-acre wildfire raging through tinder-dry ponderosa forest sent up towering plumes of smoke, rained down ash and forced the mandatory evacuation Monday of Los Alamos, home to the nation's premier nuclear weapons research lab."

Washington Post: In a 5-4 ruling, "the Supreme Court on Monday struck down part of Arizona’s public campaign finance law, the latest in a series of its rulings holding that the right of political speech trumps government efforts to restrain the power of money in elections. The court rejected Arizona’s system of providing additional funding to publicly funded candidates when they face big-spending opponents or opposition groups." You can read Roberts' majority opinion & Kagan's dissent here (pdf).

AP: "Workers across Greece walked off the job Tuesday at the start of a 48-hour general strike as lawmakers debate a new round of austerity reforms, which must be passed if the country is to get crucial bailout funds."