The Commentariat -- July 16

President Obama's Weekly Address:

     ... AP story here. Transcript here.

I've posted an Open Thread on Off Times Square.

Charles Blow writes a really fine essay on "honest people who do honest work — crack-the-bones work; lift-it, chop-it, empty-it, glide-it-in-smooth work; feel-the-flames-up-close work; crawl-down-in-there work — things that no one wants to do but that someone must." While President Obama talks about "winning the future" with high-tech jobs, Blow points to a more realistic assessment:

As the Bureau of Labor Statistics points out, half of the top 30 occupations expected to see the largest job growth over [a ten-year] period, and seven of the top 10, are low-wage or very low-wage jobs. Only eight even require a degree. Most simply require on-the-job training. ...

... Jake Tapper does a pretty good job of summarizing both an important take-away from the President's presser & the ramifications of a default:

... Michael Cooper of the New York Times: "The rancorous debate in Washington over whether to raise the federal debt ceiling is alarming many of the nation’s governors from both parties, who fear that whatever the outcome, much-needed money will almost certainly be drained from their states."

... Karen Garcia parses President Obama's "Equal Opportunity Pain" and doesn't find it so equal. ...

... CW: Of the several weak arguments Obama made yesterday for deficit reduction, this was the weakest: if we "get our fiscal house in order," then we can start spending on programs to "win the future." Oh yeah, because Republicans will go along with that. As Joan Walsh of Salon points out, that's not the way it worked for President Clinton, even during an economic boom, which brought in enough new tax revenues to create a federal surplus. Walsh writes, "Instead, the conciliating Clinton met increasingly savage political opposition, while a prosperity-addled, value-free media at best enjoyed the spectacle, and at worst joined that opposition." I don't know if Obama's push to reduce the deficit is (a) a bluff, (b) a political ploy, (c) or evidence he's not all that smart. But it's one or more of those. ...

... Worse than Paul Ryan. Bold Progressives in DailyKos: "Today, for the first time, President Obama made clear that he's considering benefit cuts even for Americans who currently depend on Social Security and Medicare. This is something Paul Ryan didn't even embrace publicly." [emphasis added] ...

... Lisa Mascaro & Kathleen Hennessey of the Los Angeles Times: "Republican leaders in the House have begun to prepare their troops for politically painful votes to raise the nation's debt limit, offering warnings and concessions to move the hard-line majority toward a compromise that would avert a federal default.... At a closed-door meeting Friday morning, GOP leaders turned to their most trusted budget expert, Rep. Paul D. Ryan of Wisconsin, to explain to rank-and-file members what many others have come to understand: A fiscal meltdown could occur if Congress fails to raise the debt ceiling." ...

... CW: we've already established that Republicans don't care about deficits & are just using the Deficit Bogeyman to effect tax cuts -- mostly for the rich. But Jonathan Bernstein, in the Washington Post, brings up a point worth noting: most Democrats, including progressive Democrats, do care about reducing the federal deficit.

David Dayan of Firedoglake has some thoughts on the White House Friday night so-called "leak" that President Obama will not nominate Elizabeth Warren to head the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. (See today's Ledes.) The Bureau will transfer to the Federal Reserve July 21, where -- being headless -- it will not have authority over non-bank lending institutions. Very convenient.

James Pethokoukis of Reuters: "Last night in a new report, Democrat-friendly Goldman Sachs dropped an economic bomb on President Obama’s chances for reelection." Goldman Sachs' has cut its outlook for real GDP growth, says unemployment will remain high & doesn't rule out the economy's return to recession. CW: Millions of Americans didn't need a Goldman Sachs report to tell them the economy was in the tank. Yet Pethokoukis thinks the White House would have no idea of the economic outlook unless their friends at Goldman told them what it was. Trouble is, he might be right.

The High Cost of Honor. Whistleblower Thomas Drake, largely vindicated yesterday as a federal judge gave him a light sentence & criticized the government for its egregiously handling of his case, speaks to the press. New York Times story here. Baltimore Sun story here.

Right Wing World *

Oh, never let it be said that Fox "News" isn't covering the Rupert Murdoch empire scandal. Here are "Fox & Friends"' Steve Doocy and guest Robert Dilenschneider urging other media outlets to "move on" & cover "more important things." Alex Seitz-Wald of Think Progress: "... their defense of News Corp. really got embarrassing when Dilenschneider and Doocy engaged in some stunning subject/object slight of hand, comparing News Corp. to companies that have been hacked, while failing to note it was News Corp. that did the hacking in this case.":

James Oliphant of the Los Angeles Times: "Taking a page from President Obama’s political playbook, Michele Bachmann has formally left a church in Minnesota accused of holding anti-Catholic views.... Earlier this week, the Atlantic reported that that the synod’s website contains a statement that equates the pope with the antichrist."

Sometimes it's difficult to keep a straight face when writing a straight news report. Suzanne Goldenberg of the Guardian: "Republicans claimed to have struck a blow for freedom on Friday when the House of Representatives voted to strip all funding from government programmes promoting energy-saving lightbulbs.... Michele Bachmann dismissed the 2007 law as an assault on individual liberty and an affront to the memory of the lightbulb inventor, Thomas Edison.... The House also strongly rejected a proposal to ban a website designed to teach children about energy efficiency." The bill doesn't have a rat's chance of becoming law. Thanks to commenter Walt W. for the link.

You won`t see a default because we have plenty of revenue as a Federal government. The Federal government will not quit collecting taxes. They`re going to still be taking it from the American people, still have $200 billion a month in revenue that comes in and plenty of resources to cover Social Security. -- Rep. Tom Graves (R-Ga.), in a successful attempt to prove he is totally clueless. (See, Tom, that deficit you're all worked up about means the federal government has less income than it does outgo; and no, Social Security doesn't have "plenty of resources" -- it has a shortfall this year of about $45 billion. See also, Jake Tapper's ABC News report & the L.A. Times story above. Evidently Graves doesn't even listen to Saint Paul Ryan.) PBS "Nightly Business Report" video here (interview begins about 2:30 in); transcript here. Thanks to reader Russ C. for the link.

* Where the criminals are the victims, running for office sometimes means having to make a deal with the Antichrist, Thomas Edison generates electricity by spinning in his grave, and "deficit" = "plenty of resources." Quite a world.

Local News

America's Worst Governor. A reader sends me this great article by Lisa Rab of the Miami New Times who recounts Florida Gov. "Rick Scott's dirtiest deeds" in very readable fashion. It's an impressive list, to say the least. Matthew Hendley of the New Times adds a few other recent Scott misdemeanors. in an article about Scott's unsurprisingly dismal poll numbers.

News Ledes

NPR: "President Obama is meeting with the Dalai Lama — a fellow Nobel Peace Prize laureate — and China isn't happy."

The Hill: "A fall-back plan to avert a national default is under negotiation by Senate leaders [Harry Reid & Mitch McConnell] and is on track to be unveiled by Wednesday or Thursday of next week.... Senate leaders estimate they will have to have the contingency plan ready to go by Thursday to have enough time to get it passed through both chambers by Aug. 2 ... because of expected filibusters." New York Times story here.

Bloomberg: "President Barack Obama has chosen a candidate other than Elizabeth Warren as director of the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, according to a person briefed on the matter. The president’s choice is a person who already works at the consumer agency.... Obama may make the nomination as soon as next week...."

AP: "The military's 'don't ask, don't tell' policy is back in place for the time being, with one major caveat: the government is not allowed to investigate, penalize or discharge anyone who is openly gay. A San Francisco federal appeals court ordered the military to temporarily continue the controversial policy in an order late Friday, the court's response to a request from the Obama administration."

Reuters: "A U.S. appeals court on Friday upheld the use of full-body scanners to screen air travelers, but said the Transportation Security Administration should have sought public comment before deploying them. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled that the machines, known as Advanced Imaging Technology (AIT), were not an unconstitutional search and declined to halt their use despite TSA's failure to follow proper procedure."

CBS News: "Conservative Watchdog group Judicial Watch on Thursday released White House emails that show an Obama administration official calling Fox News anchor Bret Baier a 'lunatic' and promising to put 'some dead fish in the fox cubby.'"

Guardian: "Europe's new banking regulator [the European Banking Authority] warned that an escalation in the eurozone crisis could pose 'significant' challenges even as it announced only eight banks out of 90 had failed an annual check of their financial strength. A further 16 banks were also deemed to be in a potential danger zone.... However, the tests failed to consider what may happen to banks if a major European country – such as Greece – defaulted on its debt, promoting many analysts to argue the hurdles were set too low."

Guardian: "Scotland Yard's most senior officers tried to convince the Guardian during two private meetings [in 2009 & 2010] that its coverage of phone hacking was exaggerated and incorrect without revealing they had hired Neil Wallis, the former deputy editor of the News of the World, as an adviser.... Wallis, 60, who was deputy to Andy Coulson, the NoW editor at the time of the phone hacking, was arrested on Thursday as part of Operation Weeting. Coulson has also been arrested and bailed." ...

... NEW. New York Times: British PM David "Cameron’s aides released a diary of his meetings with executives and editors of News International... It showed that since taking office in May 2010, Mr. Cameron has met 26 times with Murdoch executives.... His meetings with the Murdoch officials exceeded all his encounters with other British media representatives put together." AP story here.