The Commentariat -- July 17, 2014
Internal links. defunct video removed.
NEW. White House: "President Obama spoke with Russian President Putin today about the situation in Ukraine and the additional sanctions on Russian individuals and entities that the United States announced on July 16." ...
... Peter Baker of the New York Times: "President Obama escalated sanctions against Russia on Wednesday by targeting a series of large banks and energy and defense firms in what officials described as the most punishing measures to date for Moscow's intervention in Ukraine." ...
... AP Update: "Vladimir Putin lamented the latest round of US sanctions against Russia on Thursday after Barack Obama increased economic pressure over the Ukraine crisis.... Russia's benchmark MICEX plummeted 2.6% at opening on Thursday while Russia's biggest oil company, Rosneft, was nearly 5% down."
NEW. Andy Borowitz: "Testing the political waters in Iowa today, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie said that if he is elected President, he would bring the flow of illegal immigrants over the U.S.-Mexico border to a virtual standstill. 'There are ways of keeping people from getting to where they want to go,' Christie said, claiming that he was the only Republican hopeful with the hands-on experience necessary to fix the border crisis." CW: Satire. Really, it's satire.
... Jonathan Weisman of the New York Times: "Representative Nancy Pelosi of California, the House Democratic leader, reversed course on Wednesday and said she would not back changes to a 2008 law that gave certain undocumented immigrant children broader legal rights to enter the United States.... The Democratic leadership's hard line raises the prospects of an impasse on Capitol Hill that leaves the Obama administration with no additional resources to deal with the border surge." ...
... All for Me & Nothing for You. Sen. Ted Cruz, whose father Rafael received political asylum in the U.S. after claiming he was beaten by Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista's soldiers (because Rafael had joined the Castro revolution), will come down hard on child refuges requesting asylum from violence in their home countries. Cruz's plan: any bill that does anything to help (or deport) these children must ensure that undocumented children who have lived in the U.S. most of their lives are deported. ...
... Greg Sargent: "... Ted Cruz is essentially calling on Republicans to formalize in their legislative response to the crisis what is already their actual position on immigration in general. And not only that, National Review reports that more and more conservatives are giving voice to the Cruz stance, arguing that Republicans must not offer any legislative response to the crisis because Obama's 'amnesty' for the DREAMers proves he cannot be trusted to work with them...." ...
... Steve Benen: "Cruz's 'top priority' is to identify ... young people, for whom the United States is the only country they've ever known, and kick them out of the country. Indeed, the Texas Republican is saying any solution to the humanitarian crisis involving the migrant children must undo the DACA policy.... If Democrats are really lucky, Cruz will rally the right to his cause." ...
... Alexia Campbell of the National Journal: "Something is changing in the most conservative corner of conservative South Carolina. Some tea-party Republicans and evangelical Christians are softening toward immigration." ...
... CW: This isn't entirely surprising. Evangelicals, after all, were among those lobbying for the 2008 sex-trafficking bill that is a prime cause of the current border crisis. It's a big mistake to assume that Southern evangelicals are racists. Many -- probably a majority -- are not. As Campbell reports, a 2014 Pew Research survey "shows that a surprising 66 percent of white evangelicals across the country favor some type of legal status for immigrants without papers."
AP: "Senate Republicans have blocked a bill aimed at restoring free contraception for women who get their health insurance from companies that object on religious grounds. The vote on Wednesday was 56-43 to move ahead on the measure, short of the 60 votes necessary to proceed." ...
... Jed Lewison of Daily Kos: "The one tiny piece of good news here is that it's clear Republicans are feeling the heat, because earlier this week they unveiled legislation purporting to protect women's access to birth control coverage. In reality, the legislation won't accomplish its stated purpose, because it does nothing to impact health insurance coverage requirements, but it's a sign that even Republicans understand that they are on the wrong side of the politics here." ...
... Joan McCarter of Daily Kos explains the GOP bill: "In response to the Senate Democrats' legislation to overturn the Supreme Court's Hobby Lobby decision..., Republicans are offering up their own bill. That does nothing.... We're very glad that Senate Republicans are so generous in allowing us to do what we like with our slut pill money." ...
... Here's how Mitch McConnell described the GOP's important contribution to women's equality:
We plan to introduce legislation this week that says no employer can block any employee from legal access to her FDA-approved contraceptives. There's no disagreement on that fundamental point.
... CW: It's a relief to know that some Republicans at the federal level do not want employers to actually be able to conduct bedchecks of their lady employees or rifle through the help's medicine chests. And you thought Republicans were corporate shills. I wonder if this far-reaching, ultra-liberal Senate bill would pass the House. ...
... CW Update: It turns out that the sponsors of the Republican Women's Freedom Act (or whatever it's called) are Sens. Kelly Ayotte (R-NH) & Deb Fischer (R-NE). On the assumption that Republicans have no empathy gene, it's fair to assume that Kelly & Deb there were worried their boss Mitch might stop by uninvited of an evening. So a wise move on their parts.
Bernie Becker of the Hill recounts testimony in the House Rules Committee hearing Wednesday on the proposed suit against President Obama. ...
... Dana Milbank mocks the whole hearing, which he called "amateur hour" -- except that it dragged on for hours.
Denise Grady of the New York Times: "Under sharp questioning from members of Congress on Wednesday, Dr. Thomas Frieden, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, admitted that recent laboratory accidents involving flu viruses and anthrax were not isolated mistakes, but rather part of a broader problem of unsafe practices at the agency." ...
... Brady Dennis & Lena Sun of the Washington Post: "Federal officials found more than just long-forgotten smallpox samples recently in a storage room on the National Institutes for Health campus in Bethesda, Md. The discovery included 12 boxes and 327 vials holding an array of pathogens, including the virus behind the tropical disease dengue and the bacteria that can cause spotted fever, according to the Food and Drug Administration, which oversees the lab in question."
Paul Waldman: According to a Washington Examiner report, potential Republican donors are refusing to pony up for fear they will be subject to IRS audits or "get Koched"; i.e., subjected to the Harry Reid treatment. Waldman is not feeling all that sorry for them. ...
... In case you forgot how horrible the IRS "scandal" is, Waldman neatly sums it up:
There's never been any credible allegation that anyone was audited because of their political beliefs. There's never been any allegation that the IRS 'targeted' donors to Republican super PACs. The worst thing that happened was that some Tea Party groups that had applied for 501(c)(4) status -- claiming, utterly falsely, that they were charitable, non-political organizations, I might add -- had to wait longer than they should have to get approval on their applications. (And, I have to repeat, when you're waiting for your approval, you're permitted under the law to act as though you've gotten your approval. You can raise and spend money, which they did.)
... CW: Assuming that potential donors really are afraid a contribution will lead to an audit -- & aren't just refusing to give bonuses to the slimeballs they figure they already bought & paid for -- then it looks like this is one place where Darrell Issa's fake scandal scheme is backfiring.
Justin Sink of the Hill: "The director of the White House's political office defied a subpoena from the House Oversight Committee on Wednesday, setting up a new high-profile fight between the White House and House Republicans. Oversight Committee Chairman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) said administration claims that White House political director David Simas was immune from testimony were 'absurd' and 'deeply disturbing.' ... Issa has not produced evidence of a specific instance of the White House violating the law and has pointed to abuses in the office that occurred under the Bush Administration to justify the subpoena." (Emphasis added.)
Paul Krugman's post "The Age of Infallability" is a brief life lesson that explains conservative "beliefs" but has a wider applicability.
Wherein Maureen Dowd Goes Berserk. Philip Rucker of the Washington Post: "When Hillary Rodham Clinton agreed to address the University at Buffalo, the largest campus of the State University of New York system, she negotiated a few requirements in addition to her pay of $275,000.... The University at Buffalo issued a statement Wednesday saying 'no state funding or student tuition revenue' was used to pay for Clinton's speech."
Congressional Races
The Washington Post predicts that Republicans will take the Senate 52-48 & retain control of the House. They provide maps of the predicted results. I like to think of these as Stupid Voter Maps.
Jonathan Chait explains why the business community isn't going to flip to the Democratic party just because the GOP-controlled House is blowing up all the things business wants.
Ask Him No Questions -- Without Notifying His Office First. Paul Lewis of the Guardian chases after former Sen. Scott Brown (R-N.H.), who's now running for a Senate seat in New Hampshire to try to get a straight response to the Hobby Lobby decision. Police were called. ...
... MAG Update. Scott Does Talk to the Press. Jeff McMenemy of Seacoast Online: "Former U.S. Sen. Scott Brown blamed the Affordable Care Act for the U.S. Supreme Court's recent controversial Hobby Lobby decision.... 'Had we never had "Obamacare," we never would have had that decision because that was a mandate from "Obamacare" that got us into that position,' Brown said during an editorial board interview Wednesday with Seacoast Media Group." ...
... CW: Hope you catch the logic there. Brown is right. If ObamaCare had not guaranteed women equal access to healthcare, the Supreme Court could never have taken it away. By this logic, the Bill of Rights was a tremendous mistake, because the Supreme Court is always interpreting/limiting the rights it guarantees. Really, all laws that inure to the benefit of the citizenry are actually harmful because the courts can always limit or void those laws. The best laws, by this logic, are those that curb human rights or favor special interest groups. Because, hey, who knows, the Supreme Court could maybe void part or all of some of those "good" laws. Scott Brown for Senate! He's not just a pretty face; he's a philosopher.
Gubernatorial Race
Paul Waldman: "When he was elected governor, some Washington conservatives touted Sam Brownback as a future presidential contender. Once he implemented the conservative economic agenda and showed what a dynamic economy and pleasing government balance sheet it produced, he'd be able to take the message nationwide as a demonstration of the power of conservative ideas. Nobody's saying that anymore. Brownback is trailing his probable Democratic opponent. In a state as conservative as Kansas (where Mitt Romney beat Barack Obama by 22 points), you have to screw up pretty badly to be in that position." ...
... Charles Pierce on Brownback, Santorum & the Gipper. Thanks to MAG for the link. ...
... Here's the take of the Rude Pundit, upon whom the dainty Pierce relies for his post linked above: "Earlier this week, former Senator and losing GOP presidential candidate Rick Santorum was the main speaker at two reelection rallies for Kansas Governor Sam Brownback. Considering the various ways you can read their last names, it sounds as if everyone was coated with feces-laden effluvia by the end. Brownback is in a tight race with Democrat Paul Davis, who was just endorsed by over 100 current and former GOP officials." And, yes, the Rude Pundit is really rude.
Beyond the Beltway
Maura Dolan of the Los Angeles Times: "A federal judge in Orange County ruled Wednesday that California's death penalty violates the U.S. Constitution's ban on cruel and unusual punishment. U.S. District Judge Cormac J. Carney, ruled on a petition by death row inmate Ernest Dewayne Jones, who was sentenced to die nearly two decades ago. Carney said the state's death penalty has created long delays and uncertainty for inmates, most of whom will never be executed. He noted that more than 900 people have been sentenced to death in California since 1978 but only 13 have been executed."
News Ledes
New York Times: "Elaine Stritch, the brassy, tart-tongued Broadway actress and singer who became a living emblem of show business durability and perhaps the leading interpreter of Stephen Sondheim's wryly acrid musings on aging, died on Thursday at her home in Birmingham, Mich. She was 89."
New York Times: "Israel began a ground invasion into the Gaza Strip shortly after 10 Thursday night, saying it would target tunnels that infiltrate its territory, after cease-fire talks failed to de-escalate the air war that has raged for 10 days."
New York Times: "A Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 with 295 people aboard crashed in eastern Ukraine near the Russian border on Thursday, and Ukrainian officials said it may have been shot down, possibly by a Russian-made antiaircraft system."...
... New Lede: "Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 with 295 people aboard was shot down on Thursday by a surface-to-air missile, American officials said." ...
... The Guardian is liveblogging developments.
New York Times: "General Motors' top lawyer came under withering attack from lawmakers on Thursday at a Senate hearing investigating the automaker's failure to recall millions of defective small cars for more than a decade."
Washington Post: "Microsoft chief executive Satya Nadella announced Thursday that up to 18,000 of his employees will get pink slips in the next year, as part of a massive round of layoffs. The cuts are the largest in the company's history, and they will hit an estimated 15 percent of its workforce."
USA Today: "A marijuana decriminalization law passed by the D.C. Council in the spring took effect Thursday at 12:01 a.m. after a Congressional review process passed. The new law, like others around the country, eases punishments for minor marijuana offenses."
Guardian: "At least three mortars were fired from Gaza into Israel on Thursday, less than three hours into a five-hour 'humanitarian pause' in the nine-day battle between Israel and Hamas. The suspension of hostilities, brokered by the UN and starting at 10am on Thursday, came after four Palestinian children died in an Israeli strike on a Gaza beach and follows an earlier Egyptian-brokered ceasefire that was observed only by Israel."
New York Times: "President Obama said on Wednesday that he believed the United States had 'a credible way forward' in its nuclear negotiations with Iran, and strongly suggested that after consultations with Congress, which has been threatening additional sanctions, he would seek an extension of the talks beyond Sunday's deadline."
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More Paul Waldman in Wednesday's WaPo...and Charlie Pierce also took aim at Sam Brownback
Charlie first, "...His nutball fiscal policies have pretty much bankrupted the place while Sam waits in vain for The Laffer Curve to bend in his direction." http://www.esquire.com/blogs/politics/The_Rockne_Parallels
and Waldman's: "Governor Sam Brownback is facing an organized revolt from centrist Republicans, over 100 of whom just endorsed the presumptive Democratic nominee for governor,"
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2014/07/16/gop-governor-implements-gop-economics-disaster-ensues/?hpid=z3
A relative who works in the field of airplane interior design commented recently on a reported plan by Airbus to squeeze a much greater number of seats into their cabins than is even the case currently (hard to believe as that is). Here is what she said:
" It is very interesting to watch the further polarization between seating strategies. The First/Business Class are getting more luxurious and more spaces with individual pods/cabins, while the "economy" is becoming more like "steerage" and cramming as many seats/bodies that can fit per regulations. The gap keeps widening. '
If that isn't a metaphor for the ever increasing economic chasm between classes in America I don't know what is. Well, maybe the "Mansions" section of the Friday WSJ. Recently they featured a piece on the resurgence of ballrooms in new houses. Haven't noticed any in my community!
This is one of the worst articles ever, if you can stomach it.
Forbes sinks to a lower than low with this disgraceful insult to Paul Krugman. http://www.forbes.com/sites/ralphbenko/2014/07/14/is-paul-krugman-leaving-princeton-in-quiet-disgrace/
On the other hand, it is so appalling stupidly, inanely comical. Ralph Benko must have attended the Sarah Palin School of Third-Rate Journalism??? Guaranteed you'll gag when you read, "...Steve Forbes, one of our thought leaders...." hahahahahahahaha!
@MAG: Ralph Benko is the "intellectual" version of Glenn Beck. He's a gold standard bug. Just the sort of "intellectual" you'd find at Forbes.
Krugman acknowledges Benko's thesis:
"Yep, scurrying away with my tail between my legs, I am, disgraced for policy views shared only by crazy people like the IMF’s chief economist....
"One thing I’ve noticed, though, is how many people on the right are drawn to power fantasies in which liberals aren’t just proved wrong and driven from office, but personally destroyed."
Marie
Re: Brownbackistan: Governor Jay Nixon of Missouri pointed to Kansas as a bad example:
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/05/02/1296338/-MO-Gov-Jay-Nixon-points-to-Kansas-Shuts-down-Legislative-Republicans
Things are going so well in Kansas, that Missouri Republicans want to emulate it. I thought Missouri was the Show Me State. Their powers of observation must be limited to mythology. As a sergeant of mine used to say: "No one is ever a complete loss; they can always serve as a bad example."
@Marie: I happened to watch the exchange between Rick Scott and the reporter asking him questions re: the police situation on the TVees last night. Since you are familiar with the governor of the state you called home for many a year ( and maybe still do) could you enlightened me on the man's marbles? I found him eerily disjointed––he has the appearance of a deranged individual and there is something really strange about his presentation. I recall using the word "fey" when describing him in the past, but watching him last night I found him almost comical in a sick kind of way. what's your take on the guy?