The Commentariat -- January 6, 2013

My column in today's New York Times eXaminer is on Ross Douthat's fantasy short-short story "Boehner, American Hero."

Felicia Sonmez of the Washington Post: "On Friday, a top Senate Republican, [John Cornyn {Texas}] signaled that members of his party should be prepared to play hardball and be willing to accept the kind of consequences in each previous fight they've threatened but managed to avoid. House Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) likewise insisted that Republicans hold the line, telling his members they must demand that every dollar they raise the debt limit be paired with commensurate spending cuts. But other Republicans counseled caution, warning that pressure from the business community and the public to raise the $16.4 trillion federal borrowing limit renders untenable any threats not to do so and will weaken the GOP's hand if their stance is perceived to be a bluff."

Steve Peoples of the AP: "The Republican Party seems as divided and angry as ever. Infighting has penetrated the highest levels of the House GOP leadership. Long-standing geographic tensions have increased, pitting endangered Northeastern Republicans against their colleagues from other parts of the country. Enraged tea party leaders are threatening to knock off dozens of Republicans who supported a measure that raised taxes on the nation's highest earners."

Reed Abelson of the New York Times: "Health insurance companies across the country are seeking and winning double-digit increases in premiums for some customers, even though one of the biggest objectives of the Obama administration's health care law was to stem the rapid rise in insurance costs for consumers. Particularly vulnerable to the high rates are small businesses and people who do not have employer-provided insurance and must buy it on their own.... Regulators are now required to review any request for a rate increase of 10 percent or more; the requests are posted on a federal Web site, healthcare.gov, along with regulators' evaluations."

Philip Rucker of the Washington Post: "The White House is weighing a far broader and more comprehensive approach to curbing the nation's gun violence than simply reinstating an expired ban on assault weapons and high-capacity ammunition, according to multiple people involved in the administration's discussions. A working group led by Vice President Biden is seriously considering measures backed by key law enforcement leaders that would require universal background checks for firearm buyers, track the movement and sale of weapons through a national database, strengthen mental health checks, and stiffen penalties for carrying guns near schools or giving them to minors...."

"More Guns = More Killing." Elisabeth Rosenthal of the New York Times: "I recently visited some Latin American countries that mesh with the N.R.A.'s vision of the promised land, where guards with guns grace every office lobby, storefront, A.T.M., restaurant and gas station. It has not made those countries safer or saner. Despite the ubiquitous presence of 'good guys' with guns, countries like Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Colombia and Venezuela have some of the highest homicide rates in the world." ...

... Slipping into a Banana Republic. Steve M. of No More Mr. Nice Blog: ... "is it really surprising that plutocracy advocates want to hollow out America's middle class and create a class structure more like those in Latin America (where U.S. corporations have traditionally found cheap, willing workers), while their pro-gun allies want us seeing one another as (literally) mortal enemies, while we lose focus on what the plutocrats are doing to us economically? Is it unreasonable to see these as two aspects of the Third World-ization of America?"

Maureen Dowd writes an appreciation of Joe Biden. This comes, not surprising, at the expense of President Obama, & appropriately at the expense of John Boehner. ...

... Here's Biden swearing in Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) -- and his son:

... AND here is Joe being Joe during the mock swearing-in photo-op:

Read this Daily Caller headline & you'll understand why the denizens of Right Wing World are confused about the debt ceiling & think President Obama is going to write himself a "blank check."

Glenn Greenwald in the Guardian: "... at the very least, [Chuck] Hagel's confirmation [as Secretary of Defense] will be a much-needed declaration that some mild dissent on foreign policy orthodoxies and Israel is permitted. It will shatter AIPAC's veto power and dilute the perception of the so-called "pro-Israel community's" unchallengeable power. It will ensure that there is at least some diversity of viewpoints when it comes to debating endless war, belligerence v. negotiations, and MidEast policy. It will highlight the typically-suppressed differences within the GOP and the country about America's war posture." ...

... Fighting for Figs. On January 4, Michael Moore wrote, "... back in 2007, Chuck Hagel went totally crazy and told the truth about our invasion of Iraq. Here's what he said: 'People say we're not fighting for oil. Of course we are. They talk about America's national interest. What the hell do you think they're talking about? We're not there for figs.'" ...

... Bill Kristol of the Weekly Standard responded with characteristic outrage. Let's let Moore explain in this open letter to Kristol: "Anyway, I see you're mad that back in 2007 former Sen. Chuck Hagel said that we were obviously 'fighting for oil' in Iraq. You explain this was 'vulgar and disgusting' and 'could be the straw that breaks the back of Hagel's chances' to be Obama's next Defense Secretary." So more goes on to highlight "four other prominent people [Friends of Bill's] who've said the same thing." Glenn Greenwald recommends you read the post. Read the whole post.

Art by Victor Juhasz for Rolling Stone.Matt Taibbi of Rolling Stone: the bank bailouts of 2008-2009, and subsequent humungous gifts of cash from us to them "built a banking system that discriminates against community banks, makes Too Big to Fail banks even Too Bigger to Failier, increases risk, discourages sound business lending and punishes savings by making it even easier and more profitable to chase high-yield investments than to compete for small depositors. The bailout has also made lying on behalf of our biggest and most corrupt banks the official policy of the United States government." Thanks to contributor cowichan for the link. ...

... Gretchen Morgenson of the New York Times: "A settlement [by federal agencies] reportedly in the works with big banks will soon end a review into foreclosure abuses, and it means more of the same: no accountability for financial institutions and little help for borrowers.... [The reported terms of the settlement reveal] it is another gift to the banks.... 'The O.C.C.-Fed review is just another flawed outreach program designed to fail,' said Ned Brown, a legislative strategist.... 'The servicers rolled the regulators.'"

Maggie Haberman of Politico: "President Barack Obama's 2008 campaign was fined $375,000 by the Federal Election Commission for campaign reporting violations -- one of the largest fees ever levied against a presidential campaign.... The fine -- laid out in detail in FEC documents that have yet to be made public -- arose from an audit of the campaign, which was published in April."

AP: "Speaking out for the first time since he resigned, retired Gen. Stanley McChrystal takes the blame for a Rolling Stone article, and the unflattering comments attributed to his staff about the Obama administration, that ended his Afghan command and army career." ...

... Michael Gordon of the New York Times reads McChrystal's new book. CW: Sounds like a payback book, if a somewhat muted one.

Scott Shane of the New York Times, John C. Kiriakou, a former CIA officer, will be the first CIA employee to go to prison for leaking to reporters. Kiriakous was a source for Shane.

In the wake of the Newtown massacre, Susan Jacoby, in a New York Times op-ed, takes a stab at explaining atheism & urges atheists to speak out more. CW: One notion that Jacoby sidles up to, but doesn't write, is something that has been really irritating me -- the way the gun lobby tacitly uses faith in an afterlife to make gun crimes more palatable -- by promoting the notion that gunshot victims suddenly become "angels in heaven." As long as there's a perceived upside to the sudden death of a healthy person, then our "freedoms" and "right" to tote around assault weapons don't come at too high a price.

Alex Dobuzinskis of Reuters: "A planned yearlong centennial celebration of Richard Nixon's birth is due to kick off on Sunday at his presidential library in Southern California, with military honors and the laying of a wreath by the eldest daughter of the late 37th U.S. president.... The Richard Nixon Foundation plans to observe his complicated legacy with various events throughout the year, starting with the event on Sunday at the official Nixon library run by the foundation and the National Archives in Yorba Linda, California -- his birthplace."

News Ledes

AP: "Syrian President Bashar Assad has outlined a new peace initiative that includes a national reconciliation conference and a new constitution. Assad, however, says the initiative can only take roots after regional and Western countries stop funding what he called militant extremists fighting to overthrow him. Assad spoke Sunday in a rare speech addressing the nation, his first since June." Al Jazeera story here.

Reuters: "Venezuelan lawmakers re-elected [Diosdado Cabello,] a staunch ally of Hugo Chavez, to head the National Assembly on Saturday, putting him in line to be caretaker president if the socialist leader does not recover from cancer surgery.

Reuters: "A U.S. drone strike killed at least 10 people suspected to be Taliban fighters in Pakistan's northern tribal areas on Sunday, intelligence sources said, days after another drone strike killed a top militant leader in the area." The Al Jazeera story reports that the drone strikes killed at least 16 suspected Taliban militants.

AP: "The [National Hockey League] and the players' association said they reached a tentative agreement early Sunday to end a nearly four-month-old lockout that threatened to wipe out the season. A marathon negotiating session that lasted more than 16 hours, stretching from Saturday afternoon until just before dawn Sunday, produced a 10-year deal that still must be ratified by the players."

Al Jazeera: "Gerard Depardieu, the French actor who says he is quitting his homeland to avoid higher taxes for the rich, has received a Russian passport and met with President Vladimir Putin, the Kremlin has said."

The Commentariat -- January 5, 2013

The President's Weekly Address:

     ... The transcript is here. ...

... One thing I will not compromise over is whether or not Congress should pay the tab for a bill they've already racked up. If Congress refuses to give the United States the ability to pay its bills on time, the consequences for the entire global economy could be catastrophic. The last time Congress threatened this course of action, our entire economy suffered for it. -- President Obama

Benjy Sarlin of TPM: "The White House and gun control supporters are gearing up for a whirlwind month, with plans to pass reform legislation before outrage over the Sandy Hook massacre has a chance to fade."

Annie Lowrey of the New York Times: "... the country's top earners now face a heavier tax burden than at any time since Jimmy Carter was president.... By some measures, the tax code might now be the most progressive in a generation, tax economists said, while noting that every American is paying a lower burden currently than they did then.... Over the last three decades the bulk of pretax income gains have gone to the wealthy -- and the higher up on the income scale, the bigger the gains.... [The fiscal] deal includes a host of tax increases on the rich. It raises the tax rate to 39.6 percent from 35 percent on income above $400,000 for individuals, and $450,000 for couples. The rate on dividends and capital gains for those same taxpayers was bumped up 5 percentage points, to 20 percent. Congress also reinstated limits on the amount households with more than $300,000 in income can deduct. On top of that, two new surcharges -- a 3.8 percent tax on investment income and a 0.9 percent tax on regular income -- hit those same wealthy households."

Robert Pear & Mary Pilon of the New York Times: "With the help of devoted Nascar fans in Congress and lobbyists in Washington, [auto race]track owners secured a one-year extension of an expiring tax break that allows them to write off investments in their property over 7 years, rather than the more typical 15 years." CW: because driving fast in circles is such a laudable athletic endeavor & cultural paradigm.

New York Times Editors: Raise the federal minimum wage.

Zachary Goldfarb of the Washington Post: "The White House is eyeing a return to elements of a 'grand bargain' it tried to reach late last year with House Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) as perhaps the best hope of defusing a fresh threat to the U.S. economy in just two months, according to people familiar with the discussions. As planning begins for the next phase of Washington's fiscal wars, attention is turning to a strategy for avoiding deep automatic cuts to domestic and defense spending and averting a government default -- which could all hit at the same moment." CW: I really could not stand to read the whole article.

Sahil Kapur of TPM: "Echoing President Obama's refusal to negotiate on the debt limit, Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) warned Republicans on Friday that Democrats have no intention of giving in to any of their demands in exchange for lifting the nation's borrowing limit to pay its bills." ...

... Andy Rosenthal of the New York Times: "Mr. Obama should remember that if he makes any offer linked to the debt ceiling, he will have lost the war. He will end up negotiating with himself again, as he did over the fiscal cliff, and the debt ceiling nonsense will become a permanent part of budget talks." Includes a terrific citation from the Wall Street Journal editorial page. That's right, the WSJ is not liking the GOP prank. ...

... Alec MacGillis of The New Republic: "It is striking to what degree the Washington establishment has come to normalize Republican hostage-taking of the debt limit, to see it as a predictable and almost natural element of the political landscape.... If this perception starts to percolate out more broadly, the White House is in far weaker position heading into the next round than it would like to believe." ...

... Jamelle Bouie of the American Prospect: "Oddly, large swaths of the press is treating [the debt limit hostage-taking] as a routine negotiation, and not as an extraordinary and irresponsible threat to our national well-being.... There's something very wrong with Washington journalism when a threat to imperil the global economy is treated like a round of capture-the-flag." ...

... "At the Intersection of Recklessness & Stupidity." Steve Benen: Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) gets the Recklessness Award for an op-ed he wrote in the Houston Chronicle. Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) gets the Stupidity Prize. "As a policy matter, [his remarks are] just gibberish, and the fact that the Senate Minority Leader doesn't seem to know what the debt ceiling even is, after already having threatened default in 2011 and planning an identical scheme in 2013, raises serious questions about how policymakers can expect to resolve a problem they don't seem to understand at a basic level." For the umpteenth time, Benen explains the debt ceiling to dummies. Here's Cornyn's Chron op-ed. ...

... Ryan Grim of the Huffington Post: "Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) has privately told other Democrats, including President Obama, that if the administration used its constitutional and executive authority to continue paying its debts in the face of House Republican opposition, he would support the approach, according to a source familiar with Reid's message to the president."

... Henry Blodget of Business Insider: "... the 'trillion-dollar coin' is a ridiculous idea. But no more so than threatening to force default." ...

... David Atkins of Hullabaloo makes this analogy: "... the Republican position is to go on a massive spending spree, quit their jobs by decreasing revenue, and then threaten to throw the bills they racked up into fire unless their spouse stops feeding the kids." His whole post is good. He pretty much explains the debt limit the way I explained it to my husband! ...

... Dorothy Wickenden talks with John Cassidy & Ryan Lizza about the tax-and-spending deal:

Elections Matter. New York Times Editors: "A small but important provision of the military budget bill just signed by President Obama ends a longstanding act of discrimination against women who serve in America's military. Offered by Senator Jeanne Shaheen, a New Hampshire Democrat, the provision lifts a statutory ban on giving female service members insurance coverage for abortions in cases of rape and incest. Since 1988, military health plans have paid for abortions only when a pregnancy endangers a women's life."

Mark Landler of the New York Times: "Chuck Hagel appears to have weathered a concerted and vocal campaign to derail his chances for defense secretary, with President Obama likely to nominate him as early as next week, administration and Congressional officials said Friday." ...

... ** Jonathan Karl & Devin Dwyer of ABC News: "Meanwhile, the president is also eyeing a replacement for outgoing Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, the longest-serving member of Obama's first-term economic team and one-time lead negotiator for the administration in the 'fiscal cliff' talks. Current chief of staff Jack Lew is all but certain to get the nod for Treasury, according to people familiar with Obama's thinking." CW: if true, this is quite good news. Lew is a liberal, really smart & sneaked some good stuff past the Republicans in last years debt ceiling fiasco. Last year, the scuttlebutt was that Obama would name the horrible Erskine Bowles to head Treasury. Cross thy fingers.

Brady Dennis of the Washington Post: "The Obama administration moved ahead Friday with the first major overhaul of the nation's food-safety system in more than 70 years, proposing tough new standards for fruit and vegetable producers and food manufacturers. The long-awaited proposals by the Food and Drug Administration are part of a fundamental change aimed at preventing food-borne outbreaks -- caused by everything from leafy greens to canteloupes to peanut butter -- rather than simply reacting to them. Every year, contaminated foods sicken an estimated 48 million Americans and kill 3,000. The rules, which span 1,200 pages, are aimed at creating safer conditions from farm to fork."

** Elections Sorta Matter. Ian Millhiser of Think Progress: "every single state except Hawai’i has finalized its vote totals for the 2012 House elections, and Democrats currently lead Republicans by 1,362,351 votes in the overall popular vote total. Democratic House candidates earned 49.15 percent of the popular vote, while Republicans earned only 48.03 percent -- meaning that the American people preferred a unified Democratic Congress over the divided Congress it actually got by more than a full percentage point. Nevertheless, thanks largely to partisan gerrymandering, Republicans have a solid House majority in the incoming 113th Congress." Read the whole post. ...

... Dana Milbank: "In theory, the Supreme Court could decide ... that this rigged system denies Americans fair and effective representation. But this won't happen anytime soon."

They're a bunch of jackasses. -- Former Senator Alphonse D'Amato (R-N.Y.) on the 67 Republicans who voted against even minimal aid to victims of Hurricane Sandy ...

... Kenneth Lovett, et al., of the New York Daily News: "The money will go strictly to the ailing federal flood insurance program to pay the legitimate claims of Sandy victims.... 'Every one of the 67 who voted no are nothing more than pawns of a philosophy that is not backed up by facts. The naysayers tried to punish people who dutifully paid their insurance premiums, [former Sen. Alphonse D'Amato] said, adding: 'This is not pork.' Even more galling, said D’Amato, many of these Republican refuseniks are from states that received billions of dollars in aid after Hurricane Katrina -- no questions asked." D'Amato, who lives on Long Island, says he & members of his family are still struggling in the aftermath of the storm. Thanks to Jeanne B. for the link. ...

... Hee-haw, Hee-haw. Erik Wasson of The Hill: "The conservative Club for Growth said Friday that it will punish House members who voted for a flood insurance measure aimed at helping pay for Hurricane Sandy's damage." ...

... Joe Conason of the National Memo highlights a few of the 67 jackasses who voted for help in their own home states but voted against aid to Sandy victims. Here's one name you might recognize: "Paul Ryan, the House Budget Committee chair from Wisconsin, who voted for the [auto] bailout and then, while running for vice president on the GOP ticket, pretended to have opposed it."

Jill Lawrence of the National Journal: Republicans don't seem to know what their party stands for these days. Luckily, David Brooks has a good idea! CW: as long as I can remember, the Republican party has -- in practice -- stood for the interests of the already-privileged. The culture war is a clever sideshow designed to appeal to the prejudices of the lumpenproletariat, but the GOP has always stood for Grand Old Patricians. It isn't so much about raw greed as it is about making sure the system continues to provide amply for them that has while keeping the rest of us in our place. The problem for the party now is that their clever sideshow worked too well, & some of the downstairs help climbed upstairs. The party of Edith Wharton novels (the Bushes) has been invaded by the descendants of John Steinbeck characters (Reagan, Santorum, Gingrich).

** Simon Romero of the New York Times: "José Mujica [is] the former guerrilla who is Uruguay's president. He lives in a run-down house on Montevideo's outskirts with no servants at all. His net worth upon taking office in 2010 amounted to about $1,800 -- the value of the 1987 Volkswagen Beetle parked in his garage. He never wears a tie and donates about 90 percent of his salary, largely to a program for expanding housing for the poor.... Quoting the Roman court-philosopher Seneca, Mr. Mujica said, 'It is not the man who has too little, but the man who craves more, who is poor.'"

Gail Collins publishes her New Year's pop quiz today. CW: I missed the one on Scott Brown, but guessed right on the pop culture questions & actually knew the answers to the rest of the political questions. If you want to get the Brown question right, read this first.

Inauguration

Nicole Guadiano of "Vice President Joe Biden will be sworn into office for a second term by Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor, the first Hispanic Supreme Court justice.... Sotomayor will administer the oath of office to Biden at a private ceremony on Sunday, Jan. 20, and at a public ceremony the following day on the west front of the U.S. Capitol."

News Ledes

Denver Post: "Four people were killed this morning including a gunman who held police at bay for several hours in an Aurora townhome. Aurora SWAT team members shot the gunman after he went to a second-floor window and fired a gun at police."

AP: "Northern Ireland police used water cannons to fend off brick-hurling protesters in Belfast on Saturday as violent demonstrations over flying the British flag stretched into a third straight day." Here's a report from the Belfast Telegraph.

New York Times: "A powerful earthquake struck the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Alaska around midnight Friday night, prompting tsunami warnings on the mainland and jolting some residents of Alaska. The warning was later canceled."

AP: "Just days before the second anniversary of a mass shooting that critically injured Gabrielle Giffords, the former congresswoman was in Newtown meeting privately with families of those killed during last month's massacre at an elementary school."

The Commentariat -- January 4, 2013

Raymond Hernandez of the New York Times: "Under intense pressure from New York and New Jersey officials, the House on Friday adopted legislation that would provide $9.7 billion to cover insurance claims filed by individuals whose homes were damaged or destroyed by Hurricane Sandy. The measure is the first, and least controversial, portion of a much larger aid package sought by the affected states to help homeowners and local governments recover costs associated with the storm. The House has pledged to take up the balance of the aid package on Jan. 15."

Jonathan Martin of Politico has an interesting piece on how Republican leaders are planning to head off their crazy base at the pass. Of course that's not how Martin puts it, but that's the plan -- trying to give potential Tea Party candidates the bum's rush.

Alexander Bolton of The Hill: "Most of the new class of Senate Democratic freshmen say filibuster reform should require senators to actually hold the floor and debate if they want to block legislation."

Speaker Squeaker. Paul Kane of the Washington Post: "House Speaker John A. Boehner narrowly won reelection Thursday to a second term overseeing a chamber that has proved difficult for him to manage, surviving a rebellion from the most conservative wing of the Republican caucus."

Weaker Speaker. Greg Sargent: Boehner's close victory "all but ensures that the only way the House will be able to pass solutions to our remaining problems ... will be with large blocs of Democratic support. This, in turn, risks weakening Boehner further, and means governing compromises will be very hard won in the months ahead."

The Orange Man & the Turtle Plan Ahead. Steve Benen: "... according to public comments from McConnell and Boehner, Republicans seriously believe President Obama must accept $2.7 trillion in cuts -- without raising taxes at all -- within the next two months. And if not, there will be an enormous crisis. And what is it, exactly, that GOP leaders expect to cut by $2.7 trillion? Oddly enough, they haven't said...." ...

... Benen again, on the same topic: "President Obama may not want to negotiate over the debt ceiling, but as far as the GOP is concerned, the president doesn't have 'any choice.' ... One of the things I worry about at this stage is a false sense of routinization -- much of the political world has already started to look at debt-ceiling fights as routine, which is the exact opposite of reality. It's a manufactured crisis -- and a legitimate national scandal -- that was largely unthinkable before 2011, which the GOP hopes to normalize with the media's help."

Kevin Drum: "Spending isn't our big problem. The recession spike of 2008 aside, it's about the same as it was 30 years ago. But instead of paying for that spending, we've repeatedly cut taxes, which are now at their lowest level in half a century. Tax revenue will go up as the economy improves, but even five years from now it will still be lower than it was when Reagan took office.So what's our real problem? That's simple: America is getting older and healthcare costs are rising. That means we'll need to spend more money in the future on Social Security and Medicare. There's simply no way around that unless we're willing to immiserate our elderly...."

The Petulance Plan. Oddly enough, Jonathan Chait thinks Boehner's plan to never, ever negotiate with President Obama is batshit crazy.

Mention of batshit crazy is apt to bring to mind Michele Bachman. Adam Peck of Think Progress: "The 112th Congress gaveled to a close on Thursday afternoon without passing a relief package for victims of Hurricane Sandy or reauthorizing the Violence Against Women Act, but [at 12 noon Thursday] Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) ... introduced the very first piece of legislation to repeal the Affordable Care Act, which states are now busily implementing. House Republicans have unsuccessfully voted 33 times in the last two years to eliminate health care reform and wasted at least 88 hours and $50 million...." ...

... Speaking of La Bachmann, you might enjoy a gander at her Twitter feed. Apparently, the teeming masses are not all that impressed with her legislative chops. ...

... Nonetheless, it turns out that it is to LaKook of the North -- & a few others who switched their votes at the last minute from abstain to Boner -- that the Weeping Wallower owes his job.

Art by DonkeyHotay.What is a Speaker to do
When he barely survives a House coup
And can't take the trauma
Of seeing Obama? --
Drink up & cry boo-fuckin'-hoo.

Sorry, couldn't help myself. Thanks to Kate Madison for the punchline.

Walter Shapiro: "For all the unnecessary pyrotechnics, for all the missed opportunities over the past 18 months, rationality triumphed over ideological extremism in Washington this week. And if this precedent helps prevent America from defaulting on its debts when the government runs out of borrowing power in March, so much the better.... Mitch McConnell and John Boehner deserve muted, but sincere, applause for bringing the anti-tax Republicans back from the brink."

Ian Millhiser & Annie-Rose Strasser of Think Progress have a lovely retrospective on "Ten People We Are Grateful Are No Longer Members of Congress."

Ezra Klein bids "Good Riddance to the Rottenest Congress in History." He includes the metrics of their abysmal failures.

Paul Krugman: "... in a tactical sense the fiscal cliff ended in a modest victory for the White House. But that victory could all too easily turn into defeat in just a few weeks [if Obama doesn't hang tough on the debt limit]."

Ta Ta, Timmy. Hans Nichols of Bloomberg News: "Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner plans to leave the administration at the end of January, even if President Barack Obama and congressional Republicans haven't reached an agreement to raise the debt ceiling, according to two people familiar with the matter. After giving in to Obama's previous entreaties to stay as long as needed, Geithner has indicated to White House officials and Wall Street executives that he is unlikely to change his departure plans this time, increasing pressure on the president to name his successor at Treasury...." ...

... Rachelle Younglai of Reuters: "Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner's plans to leave near the end of January put the White House in a tricky spot...." ...

... Paul Krugman: "I hate to say this, but I find this reassuring. While I have no insider information here, I've had the sense that Geithner has consistently been a voice urging the president to cave in for fear of upsetting the markets, with no real concern for the dangers of giving in to blackmail."

Dana Milbank: Rep. Peter King (R-N.Y.) Thursday "morning pronounced himself placated with House Speaker John Boehner's offer to have the Hurricane Sandy relief bill passed in two pieces over the next two weeks. As for him [sic.] criticizing his fellow Republicans' 'indifference,' 'disregard' and 'cavalier attitude,' the lawmaker said, 'I stand by what I said at the time.' But he's revising and extending his remarks. 'John is really a voice of reason in our conference, despite some of the things I said yesterday,' King told [Matt] Lauer" of NBC News. ...

... CW: Yesterday I linked to a post by Alex Koppelman of the New Yorker on how our recidivist Congress won't do anything to give the nation a better future -- like prepare the East Coast to better withstand the growing incidence of hurricanes. Comes now Kevin Drum of Mother Jones with a long, fascinating piece on how children's exposure to even moderate levels of lead is a cause of violent criminal behavior later in life (I first heard about this only weeks ago, so it's still fresh info to me). But lead abatement is possible. Drum writes, "We can either attack crime at its root by getting rid of the remaining lead in our environment, or we can continue our current policy of waiting 20 years and then locking up all the lead-poisoned kids who have turned into criminals." You know, paint & gasoline no longer contain lead additives because previous Congresses said they couldn't. Now try to imagine this Congress taking Drum's advice. This is why it is so disheartening to have a Congress Full of Jerks.

Julia Preston of the New York Times: "Obama administration officials unveiled rules on Wednesday that will allow many American citizens -- perhaps hundreds of thousands -- to avoid long separations from immediate family members who are illegal immigrants as they apply to become legal residents." CW: revising Draconian rules like these is the kind of thing a Romney administration would never have done. Ever. People who think the parties are equally bad just don't know what they're talking about. ...

... David Nakamura & Tara Bahrampour of the Washington Post: "The Obama administration[s decision this week to ease visa requirements for hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants represents its latest move to reshape immigration through executive action, even as the White House gears up for an uncertain political fight over a far-more-sweeping legislative package in the months ahead."

They're very upset about this over in Right Wing World:

     ... Please, Wolf, you have no right to tell our Tea Party golden boy he can't have everything his way.

One-Man Senate. CW: I meant to run this yesterday & forgot. Harry Reid on New Year's Day:

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg discusses gun control on Jimmy Fallon's show:

American Injustice

** James Downie of the Washington Post: "The only reason for inaction [on the Violence Against Women Act] from [Eric] Cantor and others, frankly, is that many House Republicans simply do not truly care about women who are victims of domestic and sexual violence. Women, in turn, will rightly continue to shun the Republican Party."

** Ethan Bronner of the New York Times: "... laws are needed to remove [DNA] databases from the exclusive grip of prosecutors and law enforcement to make them available to defense lawyers." CW: couldn't agree more. In a system where an accused is presumed innocent, why shouldn't a convicted criminal be given access to information that might re-establish his innocence? Again & again, prosecutors have proved to be little dictators who will do anything to save a conviction, even when there is significant exculpatory evidence. Let's put a tiny bit more justice in our so-called justice system.

Inauguration

Sheryl Gay Stolberg of the New York Times: "President Obama's inaugural planning committee will announce this morning that -- surprise! -- Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. will deliver the oath of office to Mr. Obama when he is sworn in for a second term later this month.... The president gets to pick who will swear him in, and Mr. Obama has selected the chief justice to deliver not one, but two, oaths to him: first in a small official ceremony at the White House at noon on Sunday, Jan. 20, the constitutionally mandated date and hour for the swearing-in, and again as part of the public inaugural festivities scheduled for Monday, Jan. 21." CW: let's see if Roberts can properly recite the oath this time.

Senate Race

Kevin Robillard of Politico: "Barney Frank, one day out of Congress, said on Friday that he has asked Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick to send him back as an interim senator when Sen. John Kerry becomes secretary of state.... Frank said he wouldn't run for Kerry's seat in a special election, which would most likely take place this summer. Other names mentioned as a possible caretaker for Kerry's seat include former Massachusetts Gov. Michael Dukakis and former Massachusetts Supreme Court Justice Margaret Marshall -- who crafted the historic ruling legalizing same-sex marriage in the Bay State."

Regrets Analysis. Howard Schneider of the Washington Post: "Consider it a mea culpa submerged in a deep pool of calculus and regression analysis: The International Monetary Fund’s top economist [Thursday] acknowledged that the fund blew its forecasts for Greece and other European economies because it did not fully understand how government austerity efforts would undermine economic growth." CW: when are people gonna figure out Krugman is (almost) always right?

News Ledes

Bloomberg News: "Employers added workers in December at about the same pace as the prior month, and the unemployment rate matched a four-year low, showing sustained gains in the U.S. labor market even as lawmakers were struggling to reach a budget deal."

New York Times: "The Securities and Exchange Commission has decided not to file insider trading charges against David L. Sokol, a onetime top lieutenant at Berkshire Hathaway, Mr. Sokol's lawyer said Thursday. Mr. Sokol came under scrutiny in 2011 after abruptly resigning as chairman of Berkshire's MidAmerican Energy Holdings, one of the many holdings of the investment conglomerate run by the billionaire Warren E. Buffett."

AP: "Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is being treated for 'respiratory deficiency' after complications from a severe lung infection, his government said, pointing to a deepening crisis for the ailing 58-year-old president. Chavez hasn't spoken publicly or been seen since his Dec. 11 operation in Cuba, and the latest report from his government Thursday night increased speculation that he is unlikely to be able to be sworn in for another term as scheduled in less than a week."

AP: "A 15-year-old Pakistani girl shot in the head by the Taliban for promoting girls' education has been released from a Birmingham, [England,] hospital to live with her family, doctors said Friday. Photographs released by the Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham showed Malala Yousufzai hugging nurses, waving and smiling shyly."

ABC News: "U.S. Sen. Michael Crapo is facing a hearing Friday in a Virginia court on a drunken driving charge. The Idaho Republican has said he doesn't plan to contest the allegations." CW: Crapo, a Mormon, has said he doesn't drink.

... Washington Post Update: "Sen. Michael Crapo (R-Idaho) pleaded guilty Friday to drunk driving following a December arrest in Alexandria, and issued a sweeping apology after a judge accepted his plea. Crapo, who appeared in Alexandria District Court, was sentenced to 180 days in jail, all of which was suspended. His license was suspended for a year, but he's eligible for a restricted license. Crapo must also pay a $250 fine and complete an alcohol program over the next year."