The Commentariat -- May 10, 2016
Afternoon Update:
Julie Davis & Jonathan Soble of the New York Times: " will become the first sitting American president to visit Hiroshima, Japan, the White House announced on Tuesday, making a fraught stop this month at the site where the United States dropped an atomic bomb at the end of ." -- CW
Jim Tankersley of the Washington Post: "In a new report out Tuesday..., [U.C.-Berkeley researchers] find that one-third of the families of 'frontline manufacturing production workers' are enrolled in a government safety-net program. The families' benefits cost state and local governments about $10 billion a year on average from 2009 to 2013, the analysis found. Those production workers, roughly 6 million, represent about half of all manufacturing workers.... The findings show ... that 'with manufacturing jobs, production jobs, that’s really no longer true. The new production jobs are less likely to be union and more likely to be low wages.'... Eight of the 10 states that top the list of percentage of production workers whose families draw assistance live in the South....” -- CW
Simon Romero of the New York Times: " In a stunning twist in the effort to impeach President Dilma Rousseff of , the new speaker of the lower house of Congress has changed his mind — less than 24 hours after announcing that he would try to annul his chamber’s decision to impeach her.... Waldir Maranhão ... said on Monday that he would to try to annul the April 17 impeachment vote against the president, citing concerns about procedural irregularities. But in a decision made around midnight here, and widely circulated in the early morning on Tuesday, Mr. Maranhão told Renan Calheiros, the head of the Senate, that he was revoking his earlier decision." -- CW
Simon Denyer & Thomas Gibbons-Neff of the Washington Post: "A U.S. warship sailed within 12 miles of one China’s largest artificial islands Tuesday, part of a continuing effort by the Pentagon to demonstrate that the United States remains undeterred by the rapid Chinese military buildup in the South China Sea. The presence of the USS William P. Lawrence, an Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer, prompted the Chinese military to scramble three fighter jets that monitored the destroyer, along with three Chinese ships, until the American vessel left the area." -- CW
*****
Presidential Race
Nebraska Republicans hold a presidential primary today. Democrats & Republicans hold primaries in West Virginia today.
Jonathan Chait of New York: "About a decade ago, it became clear to some of us that the Republican and Democratic parties were not at all alike. The two were different, not just in their beliefs but in their methods and political style...Trump’s capture of the Republican nomination is the most emphatic, but only the most recent, indication that the Republican Party’s internal culture is a total failure." --safari
Sahil Kapur of Bloomberg: "At a campaign stop Monday in Northern Virginia, Hillary Clinton reiterated her support for a government-run health plan in the insurance market, possibly by letting let Americans buy into Medicare, to stem the rise of health-care costs.... While Clinton long has supported including a public option in the insurance market, her campaign said she was floating the idea of letting Americans not yet of retirement age buy into the Medicare system as one way of accomplishing that. She's also open to creating a separate government-run option on the Obamacare exchanges." -- CW
Brian Beutler of the New Republic: Bernie Sanders has the capacity to turn the Democratic party back into a progressive outfit. CW: First move: he should demand the ouster of Debbie Wasserman Schultz, head of the DNC.
Julian Hattem of the Hill: "The State Department has lost all archived copies of the emails sent to and from the man believed to have set up and maintained Hillary Clinton’s private email server during the four years she served as secretary, it said on Monday. However, the department has recovered some of IT specialist Bryan Pagliano’s messages, according to spokeswoman Elizabeth Trudeau, in apparent contradiction of a Republican National Committee (RNC) court filing earlier in the day." ...
... CW: Here's something I don't get: I don't go out of my way to save my old e-mails (but if they're personal correspondence, I don't trash them), much less "archive" them, but if the FBI wanted to find out what I wrote to somebody in 2014 or even 2010, they could find the correspondence. Needless to say, there aren't any laws -- as there are for communications among federal employees -- requiring me to keep this stuff. So how come my non-archives are accessible & the State Department's are not?
Victoria McGrane of the Boston Globe: "'They’re looking at a Trump-Clinton election as probably not the best choice for anybody,' said former House majority leader Eric Cantor, a Republican who is now vice chairman at investment bank Moelis & Co. 'He’s a businessman ... [but] he’s been on so many sides of every issue that you never know.'... Cantor said he will back Trump, despite disagreeing with much of what the candidate says, but other industry officials predict Trump will have a hard time attracting support from the financial sector — and he even risks losing support to Hillary Clinton." --safari
Nick Gass of Politico: "Donald Trump is opening his general election campaign the same way he started his primary bid and continued for the majority of the past year: by putting his haters — especially in the media — on blast.... On Monday, everyone from fellow Republican politicians to conservative activists to once-friendly cable TV hosts felt his wrath." --safari
Maggie Haberman & Jennifer Steinhauer of the New York Times: "Facing a steep challenge as he prepares to meet with Republican leaders about uniting their splintering party, Donald J. Trump on Monday struck a more conciliatory tone about House Speaker Paul D. Ryan, disavowing an ally’s call for a primary challenge against Mr. Ryan. Mr. Ryan responded by saying he would step down from his position as chairman of the Republican National Convention in July if that is what the party’s presumptive nominee requests." -- CW
Kelly O'Donnell of NBC News "Donald Trump is looking beyond the convention, the fall campaign and election itself to begin to plan for a massive takeover affecting four million employees: the governing stage. In a new role, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie will serve as chairman to assemble a transition team of experts on domestic and foreign policy to begin the organizational architecture for a future Trump administration." CW: Um, apparently Christie really doesn't think "governor" is a full-time job.
Maggie Haberman, et al., of the New York Times: "... Mr. Trump has no fund-raising apparatus to resort to, no network of prolific bundlers to call upon, and little known experience with the type of marathon, one-on-one serial salesmanship and solicitousness that raising so much money is likely to require — even if individuals can contribute up to the current limit of $334,000 at a time to the party.... While Mr. Trump’s continued feud with the Republican establishment was likely to cheer his supporters, his intense need for money to run his general election campaign suggests the degree to which he will rely heavily on the party’s existing infrastructure." -- CW ...
... Making America Bankrupt Again -- Trump Picks a Campaign Finance Director. David Dayen in the New Republic: "... in selecting [Steven] Mnuchin, not only has Trump submitted to the realities of presidential campaign finance; he’s chosen one of the most notorious bankers in America to carry it out." -- CW ...
... Russ Choma of Mother Jones (May 5): "Donald Trump has slammed Washington insiders, lobbyists, and Wall Street as he has tapped populist anger to snag the Republican presidential nomination. Yet when it came time to pick the top money man for his campaign, he turned to a hedge-funder best known for running a bank that made billions off taxpayer bailouts and, by one account, cost the federal government $13 billion. On Thursday, Trump named Steven Mnuchin, a former Goldman Sachs partner and a hedge-fund boss from Los Angeles, as his national campaign finance chairman." -- CW
... CW: One of the best parts of being a Trump supporter is that you can back him for one thing -- his adorable racism -- and never have to face the realities (or indeed know anything about them) of what kind of scumbag he is. ...
... Why "Trump Can't Pivot." Jamelle Bouie: "The real test of Trump’s ability to shift to a general election is whether he can make his core principles palatable to a broad audience, or at least obscure them enough to escape scrutiny. And yes, Trump has core principles. If there’s one constant in Trump’s rhetoric, from his role in the 'birther' movement five years ago to his present campaign, it’s his nativism, his anti-Muslim attitudes, his assorted flavors of bigotry.... He boosts racists on social media, is friendly (or at least not-hostile) to real-life white supremacists, and has refused to disavow anti-Semitic attacks from his online supporters. Even now, after winning the GOP nomination, he indulges misogyny and misogynistic attacks." -- CW ..
... Amanda Marcotte in Salon: "There were various points during the Republican primary where [Trump] was clearly trying to make an effort to act more professional, and it inevitably turned sideways as his overwhelming desire, nay need, to push people’s buttons and express his deepest self (who is an asshole) came roaring out. This will continue to happen, I am sure of it. Doubly so because his opponent is a woman, and he won’t be able to resist the urge to try to put her in her place, which will invariably backfire.... His one tool for getting [media] coverage — being the worst — is what will bring him down." -- CW
I'm not a constitutional scholar, so I can't necessarily say, but are you eligible to run if you are a man-baby or a baby-man? I don't know. But he is a man-baby. He has the physical countenance of a man and a baby's temperament and hands. -- Jon Stewart, at a University of Chicago event ...
Begins about 2:45 min. in:
Jonathan Martin of the NYT: "Senator Ted Cruz’s supporters are mounting an effort to seize control of the Republican platform and the rules governing the party’s July convention, the first indication that Mr. Cruz will not simply hand his delegates over to Donald J. Trump...Mr. Cruz’s supporters and other conservative activists are also deeply concerned about Mr. Trump’s general election agenda, and want to ensure that he does not alter the party’s platform. " --safari
Calling all Clowns. William Petroski of The Des Moines Register: "Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad said Monday that U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst would be great choice for vice president as Donald Trump's running mate, and he hopes to personally tell the business magnate of his enthusiasm about having her serve on the Republican Party's national ticket." --safari ...
... CW: Turns out John McCain likes Joni Ernst for veep, too. As we know, McCain is a very excellent veep-picker. As Charles Pierce notes, "Joni Ernst ... is Sarah Palin, if you substitute pig testicles for moose jerky." -- CW
Annals of "Journalism," Ctd. Virgil Texas in the Washington Post: Fictional pundit Carl "The Dig" Diggler predicted primary & caucus results with more accuracy than Nate Silver. You can keep up with the Dig here. -- CW
Other News & Views
Michael Hudson, et al., of the Washington Post: "A review of the law firm [Mossack Fonseca’s] internal files by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) and other media partners has identified offshore companies created by Mossack Fonseca that were tied to at least 36 Americans accused of fraud or other serious financial misconduct.... Some of the Americans have been convicted of fraud or other crimes.... Others have been sued in civil cases launched by securities regulators or private plaintiffs." -- CW ...
... Ana Swanson of the Washington Post: "The Washington Post is joining a group of global media organizations in publishing a searchable database of more than 300,000 opaque offshore entities." The dateabase is here. CW: If you've got nothing better to do for the next few years, search away.
CBS News: White House foreign policy advisor Ben "Rhodes is facing an onslaught of criticism for his comments in a New York Times Magazine article published Sunday. In the piece, Rhodes said he used advocacy groups to create an echo chamber of supporters. He dismissed Washington's foreign policy establishment. And he described reporters as uninformed about world affairs." CW: I have not followed this story, but this CBS report seems to be a pretty good summary. The original NYT Magazine story by David Samuels, which I haven't read, is here. And here's an exemplary critique, by Thomas Hicks of Foreign Policy, who labels Rhodes an "asshole" and "an overweening little schmuck." For starters.
Mark Berman, et al., of the Washington Post: "North Carolina and the Justice Department announced dueling lawsuits on Monday, a sharp escalation in a confrontation over the state’s so-called 'bathroom bill' that has become the epicenter of a larger fight over transgender rights." -- CW
Isaac Chotiner of Slate: "According to a new study from the Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding at Georgetown University, anti-Muslim hate crimes increased in 2015, coinciding with attacks in Paris and San Bernardino, California, and the rise of Donald Trump, the presumptive GOP nominee for president who has called for a ban on Muslims entering the United States...It was during December that the study saw a huge spike, recording 53 separate attacks on Muslims during this month, nearly one-third of the total in the entire year."--safari
Beyond the Beltway
Tresa Baldas of the Detroit Free Press: "The Flint water crisis has triggered yet another lawsuit, this one filed by the city's former administrator, who claims she was wrongfully fired for blowing the whistle on the mayor of Flint for allegedly trying to steer money from a charity for local families into a campaign fund." -- CW
Taking one for the team. Jonathan Shorman of The Topeka Capital-Journal: "The financial earthquake shaking Kansas can be felt throughout the country...Kansas is altering the course of other states, influencing tax policy in ways both big and small. Other states are seeking to avoid Kansas’ rolling fiscal crisis, even as they work toward tax cuts of their own." -- safari
Way Beyond
Jonathan Watts of the Guardian: "Brazil’s political tumult has deteriorated into a full-blown constitutional crisis after a little-known and newly appointed lower house speaker proclaimed the annulment of last month’s impeachment vote against president Dilma Rousseff. The surprise move – which was immediately challenged by senior figures in the senate – provides a new twist in the country’s ongoing political drama that would stretch the credibility of a House of Cards plot." --safari
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Reader Comments (6)
Bernie's health care plan short of 17, 000,000,000––so says article:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2016/05/09/the-17-trillion-problem-with-bernie-sanderss-health-care-plan-2/?postshare=381462817020245&tid=ss_mail
From the beginning about one in three Republican primary voters have agreed with Trump, have found in him the charisma Max Weber famously defined as:
"a certain quality of an individual personality by virtue of which he is set apart from ordinary men and treated as endowed with supernatural, superhuman, or at least exceptional powers or qualities. These are such as are not accessible to the ordinary person, but are regarded as divine in origin or as exemplary, and on the basis of them the individual concerned is treated as a leader."
The fact that many of these lovers of this charismatic charlatan watched him being brass and bold on "The Apprentice" for years and now believe there is nothing this man cannot solve or direct or even, yes, destroy. It's what they have been waiting for.
I hope many of you get a chance to read the WashPo article, by Max Ehrenfreund, which PD Pepe linked above. As usual, Ehrenfreund writes a pretty "fair & balanced" report.
"In the short term, at least, almost every household would be better off, as Sanders's proposals for health care, secondary education and more would save ordinary Americans money and provide other valuable benefits. The typical middle-class household, for example, would receive benefits worth $13,000 a year, almost all of it for health care, while paying just $4,500 more in taxes.... The benefits would exceed the increased taxes for all but the richest 1 in 20 families.... Over time, though, the government would have to borrow money to fund the programs...."
If you wonder why European workers are less adverse to "socialism" and to international trade deals than are Americans, Bernie -- however short his tax plan may fall -- has the answer: when European workers -- who already make more than Americans -- are put out of work by shifts in global work centers or other factors, social policies largely make up for individual workers' loss of income. They can still get health care, still send their kids to college, still put food on the table, still have a roof over their heads.
Do I think Bernie's plan would be instantly popular? Nope. It would be less popular than ObamaCare. Taxes would shock people -- especially people like me, who get no direct benefit from his proposals (I already have national health coverage; my kids & I have been to college, etc.)
For many, the health care they received under a national program would be less "free": that is, they couldn't go in & get an extra X-Ray or some other health service the national system deemed "unnecessary." And, yeah, a few people inevitably would die because that "unnecessary" service would have turned up some path to saving their lives. Instead of the mostly fake scare stories that Republicans dreamed up about ObamaCare, there would be real consequences (not necessarily death!) for a lot of Americans. And you can bet the rollout of any national healthcare system would be even worse than the healthcare.gov fiasco. Bureaucracy is what it is.
This country has always needed a European-style social safety net. We've gotten some of it -- like Medicare -- piecemeal. But we also need one that is economically feasible. Bernie's plan as it is, despite his campaigns claims about cost savings, is not sustainable. But it certainly could be made sustainable, at least in theory.
Marie
Marie,
In the midst of seeming chaos, I see two main threads, one of which your comment above on PD's post reflects.
Again, we're talking about distribution. Will those who have keep it all and even add to their pile, letting the vast majority to fight over the scraps, or will we move towards equity? Clearly, the way we have been going is not sustainable. Even with the ACA, medical and education (which has no ACA equivalent) costs are squeezing the middle class out of existence while at the same time creating an expanding and permanent underclass. With most of the money on one side, with a complicit Supreme Court, local and federal tax regimens that exacerbate the problem and international corporate governance that has brought us trade deals that put even more pressure on working people, if we go on the way we have, the future is grim.
But maybe there's some hope on the economic front. There's Bernie, and it seems generally more recognition that there's something badly awry with the course we're on.
On the subject of trade deals, Stan Sorscher posted this the other day. Though he's not at the top of my to-be-trusted list, it seems even Larry Summers has seen the light. For someone so willing to tell us how smart he is, took him a long time...
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/stan-sorscher/sentiment-on-trade-policy_b_9853564.html
Will be interesting to see how Trump negotiates these same economic distribution issues with the Ryan wing of the Repugs. Obviously, every time Trump sounds the economic populist horn, it's not beautiful music to Rightist Ryan's ears. Right now, if I thought Trump meant anything he says, I'd say the twain would never meet. I suspect, they will meet though. They have to. If the Repugs want him elected (Bernie, the socialist no! HRC, never!), they have no choice. But I suspect that meeting will be sub rosa and we will never know what promises the Trumpster has made until he is (I must force myself to type this) in office.
The other thread is, of course, racism, impure and not so simple. Here I don't see as many positive signs. Free education and free medical care for "those" people who want to take my job (that they're too lazy to work a meme forgotten for the moment) and in Maine, anyway impregnate my daughters, and I'm supposed to pay for it?
Not bloody likely.
Two threads, as I said, but it's still hard for me to predict which will be the stronger and which pattern they will weave in the fall.
The lack of comments here today perhaps indicates many are just spent! We go round and round on all these issues and it exhausts us. A few days ago I looked out at our land and gardens and was once again amazed that the grass is this perfect green, the trees are all in bloom, the bushes are flourishing, the flowers are beautiful, the vegetables are sprouting and I think––this is the REAL resurrection––and we need to take comfort and solace in this miracle. At the same time the wild fires in Canada make us tremble, the Middle East chaos make us sick at heart, the problems here drive us crazy and yet–– we need to treasure these moments of clarity, hold on to some of the things that make sense in our lives. I'm thinking out loud here, but I think we all feel this and have to remind ourselves of its saving graces.
But I can't resist posting this from The Wall Street Journal, no less: Desperate times means swallowing some conservative fervor and opting for the most practical and sane road for Republican's saving face ( a whole lot different from that saving grace aforementioned). Bret Stephens writes a plea for Republicans to turn their backs on Trump who will be a disaster to their party (and I assume or hope he means our country) and vote for Hillary, the default conservative hope. This is quite an interesting read,
http://www.wsj.com/article_email/hillary-the-conservative-hope-1462833870-lMyQjAxMTI2NjE0MDYxNzA5Wj