The Commentariat -- April 21

Krugman writes that the Times' whole comments system has gone down. You can always post on the Off Times Square page. I'll ignore the off-topic rule today. You'll probably want to allude to or link the article you're commenting on. Update: in an e-mail exchange with Karen Garcia, who first alerted me to Krugman's post, I theorized that the Times problem might have to do with Amazon's hosting service going down (see today's Ledes). As Karen discovered, that was the case. From the Times: "The [Amazon] problem also affected some functions of the Web site of The New York Times, including readers’ ability to comment on articles and blog posts."

Digby, writing under her real name, Heather Parton, in The Hill, demonstrates that Congressional Republicans have already decided to raise the debt ceiling. "It’s clear everyone understands the debt limit will be raised. The crazy Republicans aren’t completely crazy (and according to The Washington Post, Wall Street is having a very special chat with those who are).... So the only real question is why the White House and the Democrats are pretending that they need to negotiate at all." CW: Democrats like to lie down and roll over, even though Republicans never stratch their bellies. ...

... So Naturally ... Jake Sherman & Jonathan Allen of Politico: "One day after being named to a presidential task force to negotiate deficit reduction, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor fired off a stark warning to Democrats that the GOP 'will not grant their request for a debt limit increase' without major spending cuts or budget process reforms."

Looking for Tax Revenues in All the Wrong Places. Harold Meyerson of the Washington Post makes the case for taxing investment income at a higher rate than ordinary income: "Only bankers and the depraved believe that income from other people’s labor rates a moral discount over income from one’s own labor. The case for taxing capital at a lower rate is economic: that low tax rates on investment spurs more investment, and more jobs, in the American economy. Plainly, that’s no longer the case. The dividends that go to shareholders in America’s major corporations increasingly derive from investments those corporations make overseas."

Ben Bernanke Steps Out. Jon Hilsenrath of the Wall Street Journal: "Next Wednesday, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke will do something no Fed chief has done before: Stand before a room full of journalists after officials conclude a policy meeting and answer questions about the central bank's decisions.... In stepping out now, the chairman has a chance to assert his voice over the Fed's cacophonous internal debates—before any of his colleagues can get to a microphone—and reassure the public that he'll keep inflation under control."

Jia Lynn Yang of the Washington Post: "Not since antitrust officials took on Microsoft in the 1990s has the [Department of Justice] taken on this much responsibility enforcing restrictions on some of America’s most dominant companies. Some experts worry that the agency, now reviewing the blockbuster deal between AT&T and T-Mobile, is trying to regulate complex businesses when it should instead be blocking controversial mergers in court."

Gail Collins writes one of her most affecting columns on the Texas fiscal crisis and how the state legislature plans to make it worse by cutting family planning funds. Post your own comment on the Off Times Square page. CW Note: my comment on Collins has the word "sex" in it, so it's been held back. You can read it on the Off Times Square page.

Nicholas Kristof defends his friend Greg Mortenson against charges of misuse of charitable contributions. Post your own comment on the Off Times Square page, which also contains background info on the Mortenson matter.

"Lessons from Bradley Manning's Transfer." Glenn Greenwald: the Bradley Manning detention" episode should be a potent antidote to defeatism, as it provides a template for how issues that would be otherwise ignored can be amplified by independent voices creatively using the democratizing and organizing power of the Internet, and meaningful activism achieved."

Dahlia Lithwick in Slate: "Opponents and supporters of abortion appear to have taken the position that Roe v. Wade is no longer the law of the land." Although state after state has introduced &/or passed legislation that violates Roe, pro-choice groups are afraid to bring cases through the courts, as they fear Justice Sam Alito will cast a deciding vote to overturn Roe. "The end result is that Roe remains on the books, while for all practical purposes women can't get an abortion in Ohio, North Dakota, or Florida. I suppose you can call it half a loaf, but then, having half a loaf only really works if you are sort of pregnant."

The Washington Post has a retrospective of the work of photographer Chris Hondros, who was killed in Libya Wednesday.

Dana Milbank. "Obama likes Facebook. Facebook likes Obama."

Right Wing World *

Magical Thinking. Andrew Leonard of Salon: Texas Gov. Rick Perry's official solution to the effects of climate change is to pray to God! "He's officially declaring the next three days as 'Days of Prayer for Rain in the State of Texas....' It's almost too classic -- let's ignore all the science that might help prepare us to confront the challenges of the future, and then, when disaster hits, we'll just do a rain dance! It's not like we're, uh, civilized or anything." But Leonard thinks God-fearing Texans should worry that "God is punishing them for their flagrant disregard of the human impact on his (or her) beauteous creation!"

Here's what happens when facts intrude into Right Wing World. Scott Keyes of Think Progress posts this video of Paul Ryan defending tax cuts for the wealthy at a community meeting in Milton, Wisconsin. A man who describes himself as "a lifelong conservative" complains about growing income disparity & says "we're wrong" not to let tax cuts for the wealth expire & not to raise the Social Security cap. The audience boos Ryan's response:

... Jonathan Chait of The New Republic demonstrates why Paul Ryan "and his defenders have to stop insisting that he doesn't propose tax cuts for the rich. He indisputably does so."

I Got Mine, but You Won't Get Yours. Kase Wickman of Raw Story: "Rep. Paul Ryan, the GOP's most outspoken advocate for cutting and privatizing Social Security, has already benefited from Social Security himself, in the form of survivor benefits he received after his father's untimely death."

CW: I've been avoiding Sarah Palin stories, including the latest brouhaha over the Birth of Trig "Hoax," but this article by Geoffrey Dunn in Business Insider is measured and sensible. Dunn ably backs up his contention that Palin's account(s) of Trig's birth are more troubling than the hoax theory. I don't have any idea who Trig's natural mother is, but there's very little reason to think she is Sarah Palin.

T. W. Farnam of the Washington Post: "Many of the Republican freshmen in the House won election vowing to shake up Washington, so it’s a little surprising that many of them seem to be playing an old Washington game: raising much of their campaign money from corporate political action committees. More than 50 members of the class of 87 GOP freshmen took in more than $50,000 from PACs during the first quarter of 2011, according to new campaign disclosure reports filed with the Federal Election Commission. Eighteen of the lawmakers took in more than $100,000." CW: "A little surprising?" Hardly. Consistency is the hobgoblin of Right Wing World.

During the 2008 presidential campaign, I published a photo of candidate Barack Obama's certificate of live birth from the State of Hawaii. It was/is WIDELY available online. "As recently as Tuesday night [Michelle Bachmann] called questions about President Obama's birthplace 'legitimate.'" So yesterday morning, George Stephanopoulos showed Bachmann a certified & sealed copy of that same document that the State of Hawaii has made available for at least two-and-a-half years. Watch her reaction:

     ... Okay, George, time to book the Donald. ...

... Steve Benen: "When 47% of Republicans, literally years after the birther garbage was debunked, believe the president was born in another country, it reinforces the notion that there's a deeply ugly strain of madness that runs through Republican politics."

"No Honor among Scoundrels." Jed Lewison of the Daily Kos: Andrew Breitbart complains that Glenn Beck "threw me under the bus" by publishing the unedited Shirley Sherrod tape (which completely exonerated Sherrod & proved Breitbart had edited the tape to falsely make her appear to be a racist) & calling for Breitbart to apologize.

* Where facts occasionaly intrude, with unpleasant results.