The Commentariat -- February 17, 2012

My column in today's New York Times eXaminer will not be a favorite with sports fans. But maybe you sports fans who don't care for David Brooks will enjoy it anyway. The NYTX front page is here. You can contribute here. ...

The NYT eXaminer represents an essential dimension of any hope for the renewal of democracy in this country. -- Richard Falk, UN Special Rapporteur

"Government Moochers Against Welfare." Paul Krugman: "... pundits who describe America as a fundamentally conservative country are wrong. Yes, voters sent some severe conservatives to Washington. But those voters would be both shocked and angry if such politicians actually imposed their small-government agenda." CW: Krugman highlights an issue contributor Trish Ramey reminded us of in the February 15 Commentariat -- that people who get Social Security & Medicare have no idea they are recipients of "government handouts." Democrats would get a lot more votes if they educated these yahoos.

Zachary Goldfarb of the Washington Post: "On Friday, President Obama is slated to tour a Boeing factory in Everett, Wash. ... and press his plan for building a stronger economy. Key elements include tax breaks to spur domestic manufacturing and a drive to increase exports — in part by helping foreign companies buy American products. But, experts say, Obama’s activist approach to the economy could put him in the position of picking winners and losers." Goldfarb cites as a prime example the U.S.'s making "cheap loans backed by American taxpayers" to Air India to purchase Boeing 777s. The planes allowed Air India to launch nonstop service between New York City & Mumbai, a move that forced out the only other nonstop carrier on the route: U.S.-owned Delta Airlines.

The only problem was that the competition on that route was Delta, which says it was forced to abandon the nonstop daily service it had pioneered two years earlier.

They're Still Doing It. And You're Still Paying for It. Bob Ivry, et al., of Bloomberg News: "Four years after rotten mortgages helped trigger a global financial crisis, Sherry Hunt said her Citigroup Inc. quality-control team was still finding flaws in new loans that included altered tax forms, straw buyers and borrowers who listed fictitious employers. Instead of reporting the defects to the Federal Housing Administration, the bank saddled the agency with losses by falsely declaring the loans fit for its federal insurance program, according to a complaint filed yesterday by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Manhattan. Citigroup agreed to pay $158.3 million to settle the claims, and admitted that it certified loans for FHA backing that didn’t qualify. Hunt, who filed a sealed lawsuit against ... Citigroup in August that the government joined, will collect $31 million of that sum -- before taxes and attorney’s fees -- as a whistle-blower...."

Quit Looking for the "Real Romney." Brendan Nyhan in the Columbia Journalism Review: "... the idea that reporters or commentators can discover a candidate’s 'true' self is deeply flawed. This approach falsely privileges hidden or private information as especially revealing of a person’s true nature or motivations. More fundamentally..., people do not have one true self but instead behave differently in different social contexts — a human tendency that is likely to be especially strong in any successful politician.... When a candidate acquires a reputation for inauthenticity, journalists often engage in a pathological search for further evidence of his of her phoniness." ...

... Paul Waldman of the American Prospect: "... what they often value more than anything else is not authenticity itself, but the most convincing portrayal of the authentic (see Bush, George W.). All this isn't to say Mitt isn't a phony. But we should be careful about what we take as proof that he is, and how much importance we place on that judgment."

Tim Geithner's silly little smirk.CW: I finally found something about Tim Geithner to like. Damien Paletta of the Wall Street Journal: "Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner seemed to enjoy the back-and-forth with Republicans more than he has in recent hearings.... 'You can smile and laugh about it all you want,' Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R., Utah) bristled at Mr. Geithner during a House Budget Committee hearing. Mr. Chaffetz then intoned he was getting sick of the Treasury secretary’s 'silly little smirk.' ... At one point, he suggested that Rep. Tim Huelskamp (R., Kan.) had an 'adolescent perspective' on how the economy worked."

Adam Serwer of Mother Jones: "While Republicans failed to overturn Obama's executive order banning torture, [the] arrest [of "underwear bomber" Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab] led to a bipartisan effort in Congress to force federal agents to ask permission from the military to investigate terrorism cases where the suspect is believed to be a member of Al Qaeda. While the administration managed to force changes to last year's National Defense Authorization Act that make its provisions 'mandating' the military detention of noncitizen terror suspects apprehended on US soil almost meaningless, there is now a presumption in the law that the military has a domestic role in counterterrorism."

Adele Stan of AlterNet: "In offering the bishops an 'accommodation' they refused to accept on a contraception provision of the new healthcare law, the Obama administration effectively exposed the powerlessness of the bishops when the rest of the church rose to accept the offer.... The bishops, who now stand marginalized in their own church, as major Catholic organizations, most of them led by clergy -- the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities, the Catholic Health Association (which represents Catholic hospitals), the Leadership Conference of Women Religious and the Sisters of Mercy -- signed onto the administration's plan over the bishops' objections."

Peter Nicholas of the Wall Street Journal: "President Barack Obama's re-election campaign has begun discussing whether to attack Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum and try to define him for a general-election audience, potentially breaking from its focus on Mitt Romney."

Right Wing World

New York Times Editors: Rick "Santorum’s solution for all of the country’s problems, from manufacturing to its moral climate, boils down to one very small idea: get government out of the way.... He says the nation’s civil laws must comport with God’s laws. But not the laws of all religions.... Unlike his main rivals for the nomination, Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich, Mr. Santorum has held these kinds of views for many years, and is a far more authentic representative of the Republican Party’s angry base. But he does not represent the American mainstream, or its tradition of confronting big problems with big ideas."

Rick Santorum's sugar daddy Foster Freiss on the efficacy of Bayer aspirin as a contraceptive device:

     ... Update. Liz Goodwin of Yahoo! News: "Rick Santorum's billionaire backer Foster Friess wrote on his blog Friday morning that he 'deeply' apologizes to anyone who thought he was telling women to use aspirin instead of birth control in a Thursday segment on MSNBC. Meanwhile, Santorum was on the defensive Friday, calling his supporter's joke 'stupid.'" ...

... Republican presidential candidates sure have nasty backers. Glenn Greenwald profiles billionaire Romney finance co-chair Frank VanderSloot, a Idaho businessman who got rich on an Amway-style pyramid operation whose "chronic bullying threats to bring patently frivolous lawsuits against his political critics — magazines, journalists, and bloggers — that makes him particularly pernicious."

Sarah Posner, in Religious Dispatches, on Darrell Issa's congressional hearing featuring old men opposed to contraception: "Issa's committee elevated certain religious groups — meaning those who oppose the requirement that insurance cover birth control — to a status above everyone else's religious beliefs, including people of different religions who praised the requirement." ...

... "Where are the women?":

The testimony Sandra Fluke would have given had committee chairman Darrell Issa allowed her to speak. Via Steve Benen:

"I'm Running for President, for Pete's Sake." Anne Barnard of the New York Times: "Mitt Romney’s presidential campaign distanced itself on Thursday from Representative Michael G. Grimm of Staten Island, a charismatic freshman Republican who has stumped for Mr. Romney but is now facing scrutiny over his business dealings and campaign fund-raising." See also yesterday's Right Wing World.

For your listening pleasure, the Ballad of Seamus:

... Katy Waldman in Slate: "According to a piece on Politicker yesterday, Romney’s sons told reporters in an off-record conversation that the dog ran away when the family got to Ontario."

CNN: "Mitt Romney and Ron Paul told the Georgia Republican Party, Ohio Republican Party and CNN Thursday that they will not participate in the March 1 Republican presidential primary debate." So CNN is cancelling the debate, which means there will be only one debate, on February 22, before Super Tuesday, March 6. ...

... Romney, Dumber than Dubya. Steve Kornacki of Salon: "By any reasonable standard, the federal government’s auto industry bailout has been a smashing success, but to admit this Romney would be admitting that he was wrong in a big way. And not just on any issue. After all, Romney grew up in Michigan as the son of the president of American Motors, and he presents himself to voters as a turnaround specialist whose unique insight into the world of business and industry will translate into a booming economy if he’s elected president. But now it looks like Barack Obama (and George W. Bush, for that matter) knew better than him."

... DNC to Romney: "Don't Bet Against America"; intimations of an Obama-Romney contest:

** AND Jonathan Chait of New York magazine out-Borotwitzes Andy Borowitz in this post titled "Romney Straining to Get to the Right of Genghis Kahn."

Um, maybe the reason Sen. Scott Brown (R-Mass.) is backing Roy Blunt's draconian bill which would allow any employer to deny insurance coverage of any type of medical care is that he has no idea what's in the bill. You can watch Brown screwing up here; I can't embed the video because it plays automatically. Steve Benen has more. ...

... AND, as Charles Pierce puts it, "The one nagging problem Brown always has had is that he's basically a state legislator who won a fluke of an election and is now fighting well above his weight class. He'd largely put that behind him. Not any more."

Local News

AP: A Republican supermajority has muscled two of the most restrictive anti-abortion bills in years through the Virginia House, including one that would all but outlaw the procedure in the state by declaring that the rights of persons apply from the moment sperm and egg unite. The bills passed over bitter yet futile objections from Democrats. And one GOP delegate caused the House to ripple when he said most abortions come as 'matters of lifestyle convenience.' The bills now go to the Senate." ...

... Dahlia Lithwick of Slate: "This week, the Virginia state Legislature passed a bill that would require women to have an ultrasound before they may have an abortion. Because the great majority of abortions occur during the first 12 weeks, that means most women will be forced to have a transvaginal procedure, in which a probe is inserted into the vagina, and then moved around until an ultrasound image is produced. Since a proposed amendment to the bill — a provision that would have had the patient consent to this bodily intrusion or allowed the physician to opt not to do the vaginal ultrasound — failed on 64-34 vote, the law provides that women seeking an abortion in Virginia will be forcibly penetrated for no medical reason.... That would constitute rape under state law."

News Ledes

CNN: "The Supreme Court has blocked enforcement of a ruling by Montana's highest court that upholds the state's century-long restrictions on independent political spending by outside groups in election campaigns. An order was issued late Friday."

New York Times: prosecutors dropped charges against 14 defendants charged in the Brooklyn Bridge Occupy protest of October 1. "So far, 174 of the 686 cases in which charges were brought have resulted in dismissals."

TPM: "To illustrate his frustration at the GOP's pattern of obstructing President Obama's executive branch nominees, Majority Leader Harry Reid announced on the Senate floor Friday that he'll ask President Obama to provide all of the nearly 100 stalled bureaucrats-in-waiting with recess appointments."

TPM: "The Obama Justice Department has concluded that legislation banning same-sex couples from receiving military and veterans benefits violates the equal protection component of the Fifth Amendment and will no longer defend the statute in court, Attorney General Eric Holder wrote in a letter to Congressional leaders on Friday."

New York Times: "The Maryland House narrowly passed a law legalizing same-sex marriage on Friday, delivering a major victory to Gov. Martin O’Malley, a Democrat, who had proposed it. But its implementation remained uncertain as its opponents promised to take it to voters in November.... The measure still faces a vote in the Senate, where it is expected to pass...." CW: actually, no; they passed a bill.

New York Times: "Gov. Chris Christie vetoed a newly passed bill on Friday that would legalize same-sex marriage in New Jersey, setting a difficult path for advocates who vowed to fight 'with every last breath' to override him. The governor’s veto was conditional, asking the State Legislature to amend the bill, so that rather than legalizing same-sex marriages, it would establish an overseer to handle complaints that the state’s five-year-old civil union law did not provide gay and lesbian couples the same protections that marriage would. Mr. Christie also affirmed his call for the Legislature to put a referendum on same-sex marriage on the ballot in November."

Washington Post: "The FBI and the U.S. Capitol Police arrested a Moroccan man Friday in downtown Washington after a lengthy investigation into an alleged plot to carry out a suicide attack on the Capitol. Amine el-Khalifi, 29, was picked up while carrying an inoperable gun and a fake suicide vest provided to him by undercover FBI agents posing as al-Qaeda associates, U.S. officials said. They said he entered the United States when he was 16 and was living as an illegal immigrant in Arlington, Va., having reportedly overstayed his visitor’s visa for years."

New York Times: "The need for revenue to partly cover the extension of the payroll tax cut and long-term unemployment benefits has pushed Congress to embrace a generational shift in the country’s media landscape: the auction of public airwaves now used for television broadcasts to create more wireless Internet systems. If a compromise bill completed Thursday by Congress is approved as expected by this weekend, the result will eventually be faster connections for smartphones, iPads and other data-hungry mobile devices. Their explosive popularity has overwhelmed the ability, particularly in big cities, for systems to quickly download maps, video games and movies." ...

     ... Update: "With members of both parties expressing distaste at some of the particulars, Congress on Friday voted to extend payroll tax cuts and unemployment benefits and sent the legislation to President Obama, ending a contentious political and policy fight. The vote in the House was 293 to 132 with Democrats, who are in the minority, carrying the proposal over the top with the acquiescence of almost as many Republicans. The Senate followed within minutes and approved the measure on a vote of 60 to 36."

New York Times: "Anthony Shadid, a gifted foreign correspondent whose graceful dispatches for The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Boston Globe and The Associated Press covered nearly two decades of Middle East conflict and turmoil, died, apparently of an asthma attack, on Thursday while on a reporting assignment in Syria. Tyler Hicks, a Times photographer who was with Mr. Shadid, carried his body across the border to Turkey." The Times' obituary is here. Read this interview of Shadid by Adam Ross of Mother Jones, published just last month. Tributes from colleagues.

New York Times: "Next week, advisers to the Food and Drug Administration will recommend whether the agency should approve the first new prescription diet pill in 13 years. The F.D.A. rejected the drug under review, Qnexa, in 2010, amid safety concerns, and the drug’s manufacturer is now presenting additional data to argue its case. But thousands of people ... in central California, where Qnexa’s inventor ran a weight-loss clinic, and others across the country have not had to wait for the drug’s approval. Through a regulatory loophole of sorts, many obesity doctors prescribe two separate drugs that, when taken together, are essentially the same medicine."

New York Times: "President Obamaraised a total of $29.1 million for his re-election campaign and for the Democratic National Committee in January, he told supporters over Twitter early Friday morning, with most contributions coming in checks of $250 or less." ...

ABC News: "Before a backdrop of the newest American-made Boeing passenger jets, President Obama Friday will announce a series of steps aimed at boosting U.S. manufacturers, while harnessing their momentum for political gain. Obama, on the final stop of his three-day swing through California and Washington, will tour a Boeing production facility and speak to a crowd of several hundred workers inside the final assembly building for the company's new 787 Dreamliner."

New York Times: "Germany’s beleaguered president, Christian Wulff, announced his resignation on Friday after prosecutors asked Parliament to strip him of his immunity from prosecution over accusations of improper ties to businessmen."

Los Angeles Times: "A confrontation between federal law enforcement agents erupted in gunfire Thursday evening in Long Beach, leaving one dead and another seriously injured.... The incident was sparked by an unspecified dispute between Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in the Glenn M. Anderson Federal Building near the city's oceanfront, according to law enforcement authorities."

New York Times: "... Rupert Murdoch ... is scheduled to visit the London headquarters of his British newspaper arm, News International, where reporters and editors are said to be in a state of civil war against Mr. Murdoch and his executives." The Guardian is liveblogging the meeting and reactions. ...

     ... AP Update: "News Corp. chief executive Rupert Murdoch on Friday told staff at his scandal-hit British tabloid The Sun that executives will continue to give police any evidence of wrongdoing and won't protect reporters found to have broken the law."

Flying High. CBS News/AP: "Two Air Force F-16 fighters intercepted a privately owned Cessna airplane that entered the same Los Angeles airspace as Marine One on Thursday as the helicopter was ferrying President Barack Obama. Police discovered about 40 pounds of marijuana inside the plane after it landed at Long Beach Airport, a law enforcement official said. The official was not authorized to comment publicly on the drug investigation and spoke under condition of anonymity. The Secret Service said the president was never in any danger."

The Commentariat -- February 16, 2012

My column in today's New York Times eXaminer is titled "Roma Locuta Est, Causa Finita Non Est" and discusses Gary Gutting's post in today's New York Times on "the nature and basis of religious authority." Despite the Latin title & Gutting's status as a philosophy professor, neither his post nor my column is heavy-lifting. Both put different perspectives on the contraceptive coverage issue. The NYTX front page is here. You can contribute to the NYTX here. Gutting's post, which is worth reading in full, is here. ...

... CW: I coulda told 'em this: Katie Thomas of the New York Times: "The Obama administration thought it had found a way to ease mounting objections to a requirement in the new health care act that all employers — including religiously affiliated hospitals and universities — offer coverage for birth control to women free of charge. It would make the insurers cover the costs, rather than the organizations themselves. But ... many religiously affiliated organizations choose to insure themselves rather than hire an outside company to assume the risk." Nationwide, 60 percent of workers with health insurance are covered by companies that self-insure; it's 82 percent for companies with more than 200 employees. (I didn't know the percentage was that high.) So it looks Obama solved about 20 percent of the problem, tops. ...

Where Are the Women?

... Susan Reimer of the Baltimore Sun: "In the extreme and ill-tempered debate over the availability of contraceptives for women, we have heard from the president, the bishops of the Roman Catholic Church, the Republican presidential candidates, members if Congress and various talking heads on TV. All of them, so far as I can tell, are men. Men discussing the reproductive rights of women.... Where are all the women in leadership in this country — from small-business owners to presidents of corporations to Cabinet officers? Why are they not stepping forward to say that because they could control their family size they were able to go to college, or law school, or campaign for office?" Reimer notes that HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius (who is a Roman Catholic) has only two children. "Didn't she have any testimony to offer about what control of her reproductive life might have meant to her?" Thanks to reader Doug C. for the link. ...

... ** Igor Volsky of Think Progress: "This morning, Democrats tore into House Oversight Committee Chairman Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) for preventing women from testifying before a hearing examining the Obama administration’s new regulation requiring employers and insurers to provide contraception coverage to their employees.... Ranking committee member Elijah Cummings (D-MD) ... demand[ed] that Issa consider the testimony of a female college student. But the California congressman ... denied the request. Reps. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) and Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) walked out of the hearing in protest of his decision, citing frustration over the fact that the first panel of witnesses consisted only of male religious leaders against the rule. Holmes Norton said she will not return, calling Issa’s chairmanship an 'autocratic regime.'” ...

... Dana Milbank writes a LOL column on Republican legislators (and one Democrat) who "marched before the cameras" to express their outrage at the contraception coverage ruling. Milbank is funny, by the MOCs are funnier. Oh, if you don't laugh, you'll cry. ...

... Erik Eckholm of the New York Times: both sides see the contraceptive coverage issue as a winning one. Oh, P.S. The bishops, besides running a media campaign, "are asking parish priests to raise the matter with congregations and to circulate petitions." CW: Never mind separation of church & state. If they go with this -- and the will -- the Church should lose its tax-exempt status.

Michael Lind of Salon argues that conservatives have lost the culture war. See if you agree with him. I mostly don't. Of course I suppose it's important to keep in mind that Congress itself is configured in such a way that low-population, conservative states are overrepresented.

Matt Miller in the Washington Post: time for Congress to impose the "Dimon Rule" -- for Jamie Dimon, JPMorgan Chase CEO, who favors a higher tax rate for the super-rich, like him.

Steve Benen: "The latest New York Times/CBS News poll included a straightforward question on this: 'Do you support or oppose a recent federal requirement that private health insurance plans cover the full cost of birth control for their female patients?'

Support: 66%       Oppose: 26%       Don't Know: 8%"

      ... Self-identified Roman Catholics agree with Obama's line, 67% to 25%, and even a majority of self-identified Republicans feel the same way. By the reasoning of many congressional Republicans, nearly two-thirds of the country likes contraception access so much, they're willing to endorse an outrageous assault on religious liberty."

Gretchen Morgenson of the New York Times: "An audit by San Francisco county officials of about 400 recent foreclosures there determined that almost all involved either legal violations or suspicious documentation, according to a report released Wednesday.... The detailed and comprehensive nature of the San Francisco findings suggest how pervasive foreclosure irregularities may be across the nation."

Justin Gillis & Leslie Kaufman of the New York Times: "Leaked documents suggest that an organization known for attacking climate science is planning a new push to undermine the teaching of global warming in public schools, the latest indication that climate change is becoming a part of the nation’s culture wars. The documents, from a nonprofit organization in Chicago called the Heartland Institute, outline plans to promote a curriculum that would cast doubt on the scientific finding that fossil fuel emissions endanger the long-term welfare of the planet." CW: Among the donors: Microsoft & Charles Koch. ...

... Brad Johnson of Think Progress elaborates on Microsoft's claim that it does not support Heartland's views on climate change, but donated software licenses, "just like [sic.] we do for thousands of other eligible non-profits every year."

No Surprise Here. Chris Cillizza of the Washington Post: "Joseph Kennedy III, a scion of the famous political family, announced Thursday that [he] will run for the Massachusetts House seat being vacated by Rep. Barney Frank (D).... The grandson of Robert F. Kennedy and son of former Rep. Joseph Kennedy II, the 31-year-old Kennedy was working as a prosecutor and before that as an assistant district attorney in Massachusetts." Here's Joe's announcement:

Right Wing World

** Juan Cole lists "the top ten Catholic teachings Santorum rejects while obsessing about birth control." Here's one: "The bishops want welfare for all needy families, saying 'We reiterate our call for a minimum national welfare benefit.... A decent society will not balance its budget on the backs of poor children.'” CW: Even for "blah" people, Rick. ...

... James Downie of the Washington Post: a national audience should hear Santorum & Gingrich explain their "cafeteria Catholicism." In the upcoming debates, questioners should ask them "whether they agree with [humanel] church doctrines, and if not, why not." Downie helpfully lists some papal decrees that Santorum & Gingrich ignore, like support for unions & universal health care & opposition to the death penalty.

Rachel Weiner of the Washington Post: "Mitt Romney and his allies at the super PAC Restore Our Future are spending $1,240,230 in Michigan this week, according to a Republican media buyer. [Rick Santorum] ... is spending $42,443 — not a typo — and none of his super PAC supporters have spent anything. That means there will be 29 times more Romney ads than Santorum ads on the air in the Wolverine state." ...

... BUT. Steve Kornacki of Salon argues that Romney's attacks on Santorum don't pack the punch his attacks on Gingrich did; after all, Gingrich is such a flawed candidate, some of the anti-Gingrich ads "wrote themselves." Includes sample ads. ...

... Massimo Calabresi of Time: "Mitt Romney’s making ... much of the dangers of government 'picking winners and losers' when they give subsidies to companies. But the private equity firm he founded and ran took full advantage of such government goodies." Calabresi lists a few deals Romney's Bain Capital put together that depended on government subsidies. ...

... Garrett Haake Of NBC News: "In back-to-back appearances before two separate audiences under the same roof here tonight, Mitt Romney made part of his Michigan strategy clear: Pick a fight with 'big labor' by labeling their support of President Barack Obama as 'crony capitalism.'" CW: this seems like a stupid move to me, since many union members vote Republican; however, it is at least consistent with the GOP policy of undermining unions whenever possible.

CW: Rasmussen, which is not the most reliable pollster, nonetheless reports that "The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey of Likely Republican Primary Voters [emphasis added] finds Santorum with 39% support to ... [Romney]’s 27%. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich follows from a distance with 15% of the vote, and Texas Congressman Ron Paul runs last with 10%." ...

... Jed Lewison of Daily Kos: Mitt Romney can kiss his "electability" argument buh-bye. According to Tom Jensen of Public Policy Polling, "Mitt Romney's electability advantage in PPP polling has disappeared in the wake of Rick Santorum's surge. Before the surge, Romney consistently outperformed his leading Not Romney rival in a hypothetical contest against President Obama by 7 points in July, 6 points in August, 7 points in September, 6 points in October, 3 points in November and 7 points in December. But in PPP's first post-surge poll, it's Santorum who fares better against President Obama."

AP: "Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum released four years of federal income tax returns on Wednesday night, showing a sharp rise in his personal wealth spurred by his growing work as Washington-based corporate consultant and media commentator." ...

... Maggie Haberman of Politico: "The [returns] can be found here, here, here and here. The returns are the most in number that have been released by any of the major GOP contenders." (Link to Haberman's post here.)

Los Angeles Times Editorial Board: "... we still can't help but be awe-struck by the mess the House of Representatives is preparing to make of the federal transportation bill.... On Tuesday, the House Republican leadership unveiled its version of the five-year bill. It isn't just that this bill is so thoroughly partisan that it has no chance of being approved by the Democratic-controlled Senate; it's that it is less a serious policy document than a wish list for oil lobbyists.... If it weren't already abundantly clear that this bill is intended simply to pander to the GOP base during an election year, Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) seasoned the red meat by promising to attach a rider mandating approval of the controversial Keystone XL pipeline...."

Hypocrite of the Week: Rep. Michael Grimm (R-NY) who is celebrating an additional $3 million in annual funding he secured for the Richmond University Medical Center. The funding comes from the Affordable Care Act, a law Grimm vehemently opposes. Steve Benen writes, "Grimm is the same House member who rejected calls a year ago that he turn down government-funded health care, because of his ideological opposition to government-funded health care.... Two weeks later, he voted to take away health care coverage from millions of Americans. A year later, he celebrated hospital funding included in the law he's eager to kill." ...

... Oh, wait. It gets worse. Much worse. Read this report in today's New York Times which leads the reader to believe Grimm is a serial, small-time crook. Of course he's presumed innocent....

News Ledes

Wall Street Journal: Both Houses of the New Jersey state legislature have passed a bill allowing for same-sex marriage, but Gov. Chris Christie (R) says he will veto it. The bill passed the state Senate 24-15 & the Assembly 42-33. "An override vote ... would require 27 votes in the Senate and 54 votes in the Assembly."

Washington Post: "The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on Thursday sought to bring debt collectors and credit bureaus under its purview, marking the first time the often controversial industries would be subject to federal supervision.... It is the first attempt by the watchdog agency to define which businesses in the vast swath of nontraditional financial institutions will be subject to the same examination process as banks." CW: It isn't clear to me from the article whether or not the CFPB needs authorization from Congress and/or the administration to do this. CW: according to the New York Times story: "The proposal now enters a 60-day comment period. The bureau expects to finalize the rule by July, the two-year anniversary of the agency’s creation." So I guess the CFPB can do it.

AP: "The number of Americans seeking unemployment benefits fell to the lowest point in almost four years last week, the latest signal that the job market is steadily improving. The Labor Department says weekly applications for unemployment benefits dropped 13,000 to a seasonally adjusted 348,000. It was the fourth drop in five weeks and the fewest number of claims since March 2008." CW: Sorry, GOP!

New York Times: "Members of a House-Senate committee charged with writing a measure to extend a payroll tax reduction said Wednesday that their work was done, just shy of an hour before their deadline to get a bill ready for a Friday vote. After fighting until the very final hour over how to pay for parts of a $150 billion plan that would also extend unemployment benefits and prevent a pay cut for doctors who accept Medicare, leaders of both parties put together a bill that the majority of the committee could support." Washington Post story here.

AP: "General Motors earned its largest profit ever in 2011, two years after it nearly collapsed into financial ruin." CW: Sorry, Mitt!

New York Times: "President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan arrived in Pakistan on Thursday after saying he wanted to explore how Islamabad could help foster peace negotiations with his adversary, the Afghan Taliban. Mr. Karzai’s arrival came after he said Wednesday in an interview with The Wall Street Journal that his representatives had begun talks with the Taliban and the United States government, a potentially significant development suggesting that the Taliban were dropping longstanding objections to face-to-face discussions with his government."

Reuters: "A federal judge is set to decide on Thursday if the Nigerian man who pleaded guilty to trying to blow up a U.S. airliner bound for Detroit in 2009 will spend the rest of his life in prison. A bomb hidden in the underwear of Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, now 25, caused a fire but failed to explode on a Delta Airlines flight carrying 289 people on December 25, 2009." ...

     ... Bloomberg News Update: "Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab was sentenced to life in prison for attempting to bomb a Northwest Airlines plane on Christmas Day 2009 with explosives hidden in his underwear. The Nigerian-born defendant pleaded guilty in October to eight felony counts, including attempted murder and attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction. U.S. District Judge Nancy Edmunds in Detroit today sentenced him to life in prison on five counts and 20 years on three counts."

New York Times: "The Japanese authorities arrested seven central figures in the huge accounting scandal at Olympus — including the camera maker’s former chairman and executive vice president — on Thursday as part of investigations into a decade-long cover-up that has prompted concern over what critics say is lax corporate governance at Japanese companies."

The Commentariat -- February 15, 2012

My column in today's New York Times eXaminer is on a New York Times post regarding President Obama's revision of the contraceptive mandate. The NYTX front page is here. You can contribute here. ...

... CW Update: I see Elizabeth Warren agrees with me. And she knows how to clobber Sen. Scott Brown with it. Which was the point of my column.

Suzy Khimm of the Washington Post on Obama's budget proposal: "Obama’s budget provides a plan under which sequestration — that is, the cuts triggered by the supercommittee’s failure to pass a $1.2 trillion deficit reduction plan — won’t actually happen. Obama’s budget would cut the deficit by nearly $2 trillion in 2021 through higher taxes, thus allowing the government to avoid the spending cuts by going well beyond the $1.2 trillion requirement."

Jim Rutenberg & Alison Kopicki of the New York Times: "President Obama’s political standing is rising along with voters’ optimism that the economy is getting better, according to the latest New York Times/CBS News poll, a shift that coincides with continued Republican disquiet over the field of candidates seeking to replace him." ...

... Nate Silver reassesses Obama's chances in a New York Times Magazine piece headlined "Why Obama Will Embrace the 99 Percent."

Laurie Goodstein of the New York Times: "The near-unified front led by the nation’s Roman Catholic bishops to oppose a mandate for employers to cover birth control has now crumbled amid the compromise plan that the Obama administration offered last week to accommodate religious institutions."

Peter Hart: contrary to the assertion of New York Times tech writer David Pogue, Apple products do not have to be made in Chinese sweatshops to be affordable. It might help Pogue, Hart writes, to read his own newspaper, which covered this very subject in an important expose' of Apple's Chinese ops.

David Kirkpatrick of the New York Times on Fayza Abul Naga, the Egyptian prosecutor who is investigating 16 American aid workers for organizing opposition to the Egyptian government. Abul Naga, a holdover from the Mubarak regime reportedly has even the ruling generals afraid to cross her. CW: we're missing a piece of the puzzle here.

Right Wing World

"Zombie Politics." John Sides of the Monkey Cage: tho Southern whites without college degrees have trended Republican over the past 50 years, "The white working class has not, as a whole, become more Republican."

Adam Serwer of Mother Jones: Republicans find another way to gut the Affordable Care Act. The act "requires all health care plans to offer certain services and benefits, including birth control. Last week, Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) offered a 'conscience amendment,' to the law, pitching it as a way to allay religious employers' qualms about providing birth control to their employees. But Blunt's proposal doesn't just apply to religious employers and birth control. Instead, it would allow any insurer or employer, religiously affiliated or otherwise, to opt out of providing any health care services required by federal law—everything from maternity care to screening for diabetes. Employers wouldn't have to cite religious reasons for their decision; they could just say the treatment goes against their moral convictions." Sen. Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has signed onto the bill; Senate Democrats intend to call Republicans' bluff & will schedule a vote.

Santorum Meets Occupy: 'I think it’s really important for you to understand what this radical element represents, because what they represent is true intolerance,' Santorum said, after two protesters were taken to the ground and placed in handcuffs by police. The protesters, Santorum suggested, 'instead of standing here unemployed, yelling at somebody' should instead 'go out and get a job.' -- Juana Summers, Politico ...

... Nothing says tolerance like calling people presently being handcuffed for yelling at you 'intolerant.' -- Charles Pierce, Esquire

... Seriously? Santorum? Steve Kornacki of Salon: "Rick Santorum has won four of the first nine Republican nominating contests, leads in three of the four most recent national polls, and has even pulled ahead of Mitt Romney in Michigan, Romney’s native state." But the conventional wisdom is that he doesn't have a shot at the nomination. Kornacki outlines four reasons why, but he concludes, "... there’s one key difference between Santorum and the others who’ve vied with Romney for the lead this year: He’s a genuinely competent candidate.... This is more than can be said for Gingrich, Rick Perry and Herman Cain."

Here's a pretty funny Santorum ad whacking Romney for his attack ads:

This week, President Obama will release a budget that won't take any meaningful steps toward solving our entitlement crisis. The president has failed to offer a single serious idea to save Social Security and is the only president in modern history to cut Medicare benefits for seniors. -- Mitt Romney Campaign

... Um, that reads, Obama failed to cut "entitlements" at the same time he cut them. Steve Benen: "Taken together..., Romney contradicted his own talking points, lied about the Affordable Care Act, and engaged in some remarkable hypocrisy, accusing Obama of doing what Romney himself intends to do. That's pretty impressive for one paragraph."

"Bailout Politics." Chris Bury of ABC News: "As Republicans Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich scramble to overtake native son Mitt Romney in the Michigan primary, scheduled for Feb. 24, the state's economy appears to be climbing out of a deep, dark hole." ...

... Michael Shear of the New York Times: Mitt Romney pens an op-ed in the Detroit News trying to explain why he was right all along about the auto bailout. CW: Though this is a straight news story, Shear sort of lets you know Romney's claims are one lie atop another. You can read his op-ed here. ...

... Todd Spangler of the Detroit Free Press: Three top Michigan Democrats -- former Gov. Jennifer Granholm, & Reps. Sander Levin & John Dingall challenged Romney's op-ed. “I’d say he stabbed us in the back in our darkest hour,” Granholm said. ...

... Rep. Gary Peters (D-Michigan) gives a point-by-point on why Romney was wrong then and he's wrong now. ...

... Jonathan Cohn of The New Republic cites several places Romney misstated the facts; then he takes on Romney for calling the deal with the UAW "crony capitalism." "Prioritizing workers over investors may seem strange to the co-founder of Bain Capital. That doesn’t mean it’s wrong." ...

... Travis Waldron of Think Progress has another good post here. Funny how Romney thinks it's great when Bain Capital gets a government bailout but not when the auto companies do.

Rachel Maddow reported last week that every GOP state presidential election/caucus has been flawed in one way or another. The Maine caucuses held Saturday, subsequent to Maddow's report, are no different. They're still counting & arguing. ...

... Eric Russell of the Bangor (Maine) Daily News: "Pressure is mounting on the Maine Republican Party to reconsider its weekend declaration that Mitt Romney won the state’s caucuses, at least until all votes have been counted. The Maine GOP announced Saturday that Romney narrowly edged Ron Paul, 39 percent to 36 percent, in a nonbinding presidential preference poll taken during the caucuses. The margin was fewer than 200 votes. A number of communities were not included in that poll because they had not held their caucuses by the deadline spelled out by the state party."

Igor Volsky of Think Progress: on contraception exemption, Sen. Scott Brown (R-Mass.) flip-flops on former State Rep. Scott Brown. He was against it before he was for it before he was against it before he was for it. Something like that.

News Ledes

President Obama was in Wisconsin to speak about insourcing jobs:

Yahoo! News: "While touring a factory owned by Master Lock on Wednesday, President Obama urged manufacturers to bring jobs back to the U.S. "Right now we have an excellent opportunity to bring manufacturing back -- but we have to seize it," Obama said. Obama praised Master Lock during his State of the Union Address for re-shoring about 100 jobs from China to its Milwaukee plant."

The Hill: "Lawmakers raced against the clock Wednesday to put the final touches on a payroll tax cut package before day’s end so the House could hold a Friday vote on the measure."

That Went Well. Washington Post: "Chinese officials denied a visa to a top State Department envoy and refused to meet with her to discuss issues of religious freedom days before this week’s high-profile visit to Washington by China’s vice president, according to rights advocates and others. Suzan Johnson Cook, the U.S. ambassador at large for international religious freedom, was scheduled to travel to China on Feb. 8, according to several rights advocates who were invited to brief her ahead of the visit."

New York Times: "Iran struck back against a European oil embargo by cutting supplies to six European countries Wednesday as state media in Tehran said that President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was being briefed “on new nuclear achievements” expected to be announced later in the day. The oil cutoff affects the Netherlands, Spain, Italy, France, Greece and Portugal."

AP: "Trapped inmates screamed from their cells as a fire swept through a Honduran prison, killing at least 300 inmates, authorities said Wednesday. Lucy Marder, chief of forensic medicine for the prosecutor's office, said early Wednesday some 356 people on the prison roster are unaccounted for among 852 prisoners."