The Commentariat -- July 28, 2013
Scott Wilson of the Washington Post: "President Obama praised veterans of the Korean War at a ceremony Saturday marking the anniversary of the armistice, using their return to an apathetic America decades ago as a promise to better care for the generation returning from distant battlefields today":
Here is "a transcript of an interview with President Obama conducted by Jackie Calmes and Michael D. Shear of The New York Times. The interview was conducted at Knox College in Galesburg, Ill., on July 24, 2013." ...
... Stories from the interview:
"In a week when he tried to focus attention on the struggles of the middle class, President Obama said in an interview that he was worried that years of widening income inequality and the lingering effects of the financial crisis had frayed the country's social fabric and undermined Americans' belief in opportunity." ...
"President Obama said in an interview that he would evaluate construction of the Keystone XL pipeline on the basis of whether it would significantly contribute carbon to the atmosphere. But he mocked Republicans' arguments that the approval of the pipeline, which would carry oil from Canada to the Gulf Coast, would create many jobs in the United States." ...
"President Obama waved aside persistent Republican criticism of his signature health care law last week, saying in a New York Times interview that the overhaul would become vastly more popular once 'all the nightmare scenarios' from his adversaries proved wrong." ...
... Igor Volsky of Think Progress: "Health premiums in Marylands exchanges will be 'among the lowest of the 12 states that have available proposed or approved rates for comparison,' the state's exchange — Maryland Health Connection -- announced Friday. The news comes just as New York,Oregon, Montana, California, and Louisiana are also reporting lower than expected premiums." ...
... Of course, even when the news is good, Republicans will lie about it, fudging figures to make it appear insurance premiums will go up. Take Gov. Mike Pence of Indiana, ferinstance. CW: Also, it would help if the local papers, who according to Forbes' Rick Unger dutifully reported Pence's distorted figures, actually checked the facts instead of just typing up Mike Pence's press releases.
Nobody Loves Larry (Except Maybe Barry.) Steve Leisman of CNBC: "Wall Street overwhelmingly believes President Obama will and should pick Janet Yellen to be the next chairman of the Federal Reserve, according to a survey." Fifty percent of "the Wall Street pros" CNBC surveyed said Obama should choose Yellen; 2.5 percent said he should nominate Larry Summers. ...
... Amanda Marcotte in Slate: "... Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas President Richard Fisher complained on CNBC that picking Yellen would be 'driven by gender.' Oh, he admits she's qualified for the job, but hastened to add, 'There are other capable people.' Which seems to suggest that Obama should exhaust every male candidate before settling on a female one, a course of action that would not be 'driven by gender' because men don't have a gender." ...
... Digby: "President Obama has long been suspected of being wobbly on women's issues.His record is, at best, mixed.... He should be seeking every opportunity to appoint qualified women to powerful positions. And when they are more qualified by dint of superior temperaments, there's really no excuse for him not to."
We simply conclude that the law has long recognized the distinction between the owners of a corporation and the corporation itself. A holding to the contrary -- that a for-profit corporation can engage in religious exercise -- would eviscerate the fundamental principle that a corporation is a legally distinct entity from its owners. -- Judge Robert Cowen of the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals, explaining to Mitt Romney, et al., that corporations are not people, my friend ...
... Sam Baker of the Hill: "A federal appeals court said Friday that the owners of a private company could not challenge the contraception mandate in President Obama's healthcare law. The 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals said the owners of Conestoga, a cabinet-making company, could not challenge the mandate because of their personal religious beliefs." CW: This is good news, EXCEPT, "The decision conflicts with another federal appeals court's ruling, which increases the likelihood that the Supreme Court will eventually hear the issue." Via Steve Benen.
Your Sunday Sermon courtesy of Tailgunner Ted:
... The Moral of Today's Sunday Sermon, courtesy of CW: not all bigots are knuckle-dragging numbskulls. Ted is a damned good speaker, quite capable of rallying the knuckle-dragging numbskulls.
Local News
NEW. Bryce Covert of Think Progress: "On CNN's State of the Union show on Sunday, Treasury Secretary Jack Lew was firm in saying that there will be no federal bailout for the city of Detroit, which is going through the largest city bankruptcy in America's history." ...
... Susan Kelly of Reuters: "Michigan's Attorney General Bill Schuette, a Republican, said on Saturday he would defend retirees who risk losing public pensions because of Detroit's bankruptcy, putting him at odds with the city's emergency manager appointed by fellow Republican Governor Rick Snyder. Schuette, an elected official, said the Michigan state constitution is 'crystal clear' in stating that pension plans are a contractual obligation that may not be diminished or impaired.... The attorney general said he would file in federal bankruptcy court on Monday on behalf of the pensioners affected by the biggest municipal bankruptcy filing in U.S. history."
Michael Barbaro of the New York Times: "In a new sign of tumult within Anthony D. Weiner's embattled political operation, his campaign manager [Danny Kedem] has quit, leaving his already skeletal team without a day-to-day leader." ...
... Maureen Dowd: Huma Abedin's friends "fear Huma learned the wrong lesson from Hillary, given that Bill was a roguish genius while Weiner's a creepy loser."
Isn't She Lovely. Laura Vozzella of the Washington Post: "Virginia first lady Maureen McDonnell bought nearly $9,800 in clothing with money from her husband’s political action committee and tapped into his campaign and inaugural funds to buy $7,600 in mostly unspecified items, according to records and a representative for the PAC. The spending is legal under Virginia's lax campaign finance laws, which prohibit the conversion of political funds for private use only when a PAC or campaign committee disbands -- not while it is operating. But the purchases are unusual in Virginia.... Investigators ... are looking into whether the former Washington Redskins cheerleader and mother of five received free cosmetic dental work from a Richmond-area dentist, jewelry from a state delegate and a $15,000 Bergdorf Goodman shopping spree from [businessman Jonnie] Williams."
Ian Lovett & Rob Davis of the New York Times: "Rather than mollifying his critics, [San Diego Mayor Bob Filner's] announcement on Friday that he would take two weeks away from City Hall to seek what he described as intensive behavior therapy has only further angered many residents, who complained that he was dragging the city through the mud in hopes of salvaging his own career." ...
... San Diego Union-Tribune Editors: "Filner has created a mountain of wreckage. There is a City Hall in chaos, not just because of the last two weeks of turmoil but also because of the last eight months of management by bullying, confrontation and perhaps even corruption. There is a city again stained with a national laughingstock image just as it was emerging from the dark days of 'Enron-by-the-Sea.' There are the numerous personal lives that have been torn apart, from his ex-fiancee to his accusers. There is a local Democratic Party leadership that was riding high with his victory last November but is now seen as hypocritical enablers of Filner's inappropriate behavior for supporting him even after being warned two years ago by one of their own that he had a history of verbally and physically harassing women."
Presidential Election 2008
Muffling Miss Sarah. Andrew Kaczynski of BuzzFeed: "Sarah Palin said Friday she was banned by the McCain campaign from talking about Bill Ayers and President Obama's controversial former pastor Jeremiah Wright during the 2008 presidential election. 'Though I was during the campaign running for V.P., I was banned from talking about Jeremiah Wright and Obama's friend Bill Ayers,' Palin said in a Fox News interview. '... Couldn't talk about Obama's lack of knowledge, and job inexperience, and the things that he said like America had 57 states, things like that.... I wasn't allowed to talk about things like that because those elitist, those who are the brainiacs in the GOP machine running John McCain's campaign at the time said that the media would eat us alive if we brought up these things.'"
News Lede
Washington Post: "The first substantive peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians in years will begin Monday evening in Washington, the Obama administration announced, after Israeli leaders agreed Sunday to release 104 Palestinian prisoners.... The release of Palestinian prisoners was one of the major roadblocks to the peace talks."
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Reader Comments (7)
Need something else to worry about? Try this: http://www.redorbit.com/news/science/1112906656/arctic-methane-release-could-rival-entire-global-economy-072513/
A good takedown of Friedman: http://blog.ourfuture.org/20130724/tom-friedman-a-new-ayn-rand-for-a-dark-digital-future
If you despise Friedman as much as I do, thi will warm your heart. How Tommy stays employed is beyond me. All this BS about inventing your job is just that: bullshit. Tommy found a better way to make money: marry it.
Four in 5 in the US face near-poverty: AP
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/survey-4-in-5-in-us-face-near-poverty-no-work.php
Re Korean War. My war. I don't think we were forgotten or under appreciated. I got a 4-year, totally free, college education and a guaranteed low-interest, zero-down home loan out of the deal. But the best thing we all got out of it, hands down, was "MASH".
@James,
I grew up in the late '60s and '70s. My exposure to Korea was indeed through MASH, made even more direct when I spent 10 years on Toledo.
I helped build and install a new pipe organ for a church in Incheon a couple of years ago, and the _overwhelming_ hospitality we received was a direct result of everything you and your fellow soldiers did. I was completely unprepared for the welcome we received. Part of that was for being a craftsman, but the vast majority was simply because I am from the US. Thank you!
@James: At least your war accomplished something South Korea is a mostly modern country, with a vibrant economy. You see South Korean products everywhere.. Kia and Hyundai cars, Samsung and Lucky Goldstar (LG) appliances. I was stationed in Korea in the early 80's. Even then, the South Koreans expressed gratitude for what you did.
An interesting article on the Second Amendment: http://www.salon.com/2013/07/28/the_spectacularly_unhelpful_second_amendment/
For the engineers in the readership I have this challenge: I show a reference to a picture of 75 pounds of marijuana. How do you package this so as to be transportable by one human regardless of his size.
http://www.newrepublic.com/article/114047/steve-king-proven-wrong-photo-75-pounds-marijuana#