The Commentariat -- December 10
New York Times: "Former President Bill Clinton held a remarkable, spur-of-the-moment news conference at a White House podium on Friday to announce his backing for the tax compromise President Obama reached with Republicans this week. Mr. Clinton and Mr. Obama turned up in the White House briefing room after meeting privately together in the Oval Office. Mr. Obama introduced the 42nd president and then stood by as the one-time occupant of the White House offered his thoughts." ...
... New York Times: and everyone's a-Twitter about it.
I Love Bernie!
... USA Today story here. New York Times story here. ...
AND Al!
Your (& My) Economics Lesson for the Weekend -- an excerpt from Thom Hartmann's book Roll Back the Reagan Tax Cuts. Hartmann explains why tax cuts actually lower income for the middle class while tax increases for the rich raise middle class wages. CW: by Hartmann's reckoning, & history is on his side, nothing could be worse for the American economy than the Obama tax deal. Here's a sample:
Consider all the 'tax cuts' working people have gotten over the past 30 years, from Reagan, Clinton, and Bush Jr. In each case, within a year or two working people’s wages were the same or lower. On the other hand, when working-class people’s taxes went up, during the Truman, Eisenhower, Johnson, and Nixon administrations, their wages went up in the following years, too. ...
... Robert Reich: "On Monday, the same day the White House was finalizing its $900 billion tax deal with Republicans, the President gave an important address at a vocational technical school in North Carolina. It was his clearest statement yet about the challenges America faces in the global economy.... 'We can win the competition,' the President said, Monday.... But his deed that day, approving a tax deal that continues George W. Bush’s fiscal policies, makes that goal harder to achieve." ...
... Wall Street Journal: "The Obama-McConnell tax compromise will cost $858 billion over the next 10 years, according to estimates from the Congressional Budget Office. In other words, the Republican-backed tax plan will cost more than the stimulus bill, which priced out at $787 billion." ...
... Ezra Klein on "why liberals don't like the tax cut deal -- in graphs.... An individual billionaire is getting a far better deal than an individual unemployed American. And that's galling." Here's Klein new "snowman chart." The first column represents the original Obama plan:
Chart by Ezra Klein, Washington Post.
President Obama talks to Steve Inskeep of NPR about his tax deal:
... The full, unedited interview & transcript are here.
Paul Krugman expands on a theme he addressed on his blog yesterday: "... Mr. Obama is, as I said, paying for the release of some hostages — getting an extension of unemployment benefits and some more stimulus — by giving Republicans new hostages, which they may well use to make new, destructive demands a year from now." ...
... More from Krugman: Obama makes up his own nonfactual version of history to suit his narrative. ...
... Here are the facts on the original Social Security & Medicare laws from Paul Rosenberg of Open Left. Rosenberg writes, "Obama sounds just like Hannity or Beck! ... So how come Obama's knowledge of these two key welfare state programs is roughly the equivalent of a Fox News host? Beats me! We report. You decide."
Matea Gold in the Los Angeles Times: traditional Democratic donors, upset by Obama's tax-cut deal, are withholding contributions, and "the current backlash on the left may intensify the immediate challenge Democrats face in building a new campaign finance apparatus to challenge Republican-allied outside groups that flexed their muscles in this year's midterm election." ...
... Keith Olbermann gives an overview of the state & effects of Obama's tax deal & talks to Rep. Barney Frank about it:
... Olbermann & Howard Fineman discuss the House's reactions to President Obama's deal with Republicans. Congressmembers often invoked the F-word:
You might not think it was possible to portray President Obama's week in a light any more glowing than this one:
But leave it to Our Mister Brooks, who opines that Obama had "a very good week." ...
... Driftglass tears David Fucking Brooks into tiny little shards.
New York Times: "Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said on Friday that he was disappointed 'but not surprised' by the Senate vote late Thursday that dimmed chances for repeal this year of the 'don’t ask, don’t tell' law." He hopes the Lieberman-Collins bill, which addresses DADT independent of the military spending bill, will pass. "If that doesn’t happen, Mr. Gates repeated warnings that the Pentagon would face what he has described as judicial chaos." ...
... Politico: "Repeal proponents are now pinning their hopes on a free-standing bill to undo the ban on openly gay service members, anticipating that it can be quickly shuttled from the House to the Senate before Congress leaves town for the holidays." ...
... Washington Post Update: "Trying to revive one of the year's most tumultuous legislative endeavors, senators on Friday introduced a new bill -- with significant support -- that would end the 'don't ask, don't tell' ban on gays serving openly in the military. The measure introduced by Sens. Joseph I. Lieberman (I-Conn.) and Susan Collins (R-Maine) uses the same language authorizing an end to the ban that was included in an annual defense bill that failed a procedural vote on Thursday."
New York Times: "The Obama administration is retreating on long-delayed environmental regulations — new rules governing smog and toxic emissions from industrial boilers — as it adjusts to a changed political dynamic in Washington with a more muscular Republican opposition. The move to delay the rules, announced this week by the Environmental Protection Agency>, will leave in place policies set by President George W. Bush. President Obama ran for office promising tougher standards, and the new rules were set to take effect over the next several weeks." CW: it's almost impossible to be shocked anymore by the right-wing policies of this President, but this retreat when the enemy hasn't even assembled an army is still stunning.
Not Sure This Is Good News. Jackie Calmes of the New York Times: " is considering whether to push early next year for an overhaul of the income tax code to lower rates and raise revenues in what would be his first major effort to begin addressing the long-term growth of the national debt. While administration officials cautioned on Thursday that no decisions have been made and that any debate in Congress could take years, Mr. Obama has directed his economic team and analysts to review options for closing loopholes and simplifying income taxes for corporations and individuals, though the study of the corporate tax system is farther along, officials said.
Shailagh Murray of the Washington Post: Now that President Obama is getting on so well with Conressional Republicans, he has a new adversary: Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York "the newly appointed Senate Democratic 'message' guru, has emerged as the White House's chief antagonist over the tax cut deal Obama worked out with GOP leaders." ...
... Glenn Thrush of Politico on the Schumer-Obama differences.
AP: "The Federal Aviation Administration is missing key information on who owns one-third of the 357,000 private and commercial aircraft in the U.S. — a gap the agency fears could be exploited by terrorists and drug traffickers. The records are in such disarray that the FAA says it is worried that criminals could buy planes without the government's knowledge, or use the registration numbers of other aircraft to evade new computer systems designed to track suspicious flights. It has ordered all aircraft owners to re-register their planes in an effort to clean up its files."
This Should Go Well. Felicia Sonmez of the Washington Post: "Texas Republican Rep. Ron Paul is poised to chair the House Domestic Monetary Policy Subcommittee, putting the gavel of the panel overseeing the Federal Reserve into the hands of one of the central bank's most outspoken critics." ...
... Adam Sorensen of Time: Populist (especially conservative populist) backlash against the Fed is ascendant and Paul now has a platform from which to challenge Bernanke et al. on the transparency, autonomy and, yes, existence of the institution.
Share Article