The Commentariat -- July 30

I've posted an Open Thread for today's Off Times Square.

The President's weekly address:

     ... The transcript is here. ...

     ... Binyamin Appelbaum of the New York Times: "Mr. Obama ... laid the blame for the impasse squarely on House Republicans in his weekly address, which largely repeated his remarks on Friday as the stalemate gripped Washington."

... Republican senators say "compromise." This video was produced by Senate Democrats:

... "The Tea Fragger Party." Conservative Kathleen Parker of the Washington Post: "Fragging: 'To intentionally kill or wound (one’s superior officer, etc.), esp. with a hand grenade.' The behavior of certain Republicans who call themselves Tea Party conservatives makes them the most destructive posse of misguided 'patriots' we’ve seen in recent memory.... The Tea Party was a movement that changed the conversation in Washington, but it has steeped too long and has become toxic. It’s time to toss it out." ...

... Steve Benen: "... Boehner has spent at least two weeks tending to the self-esteem of right-wing lawmakers, telling them how great and important they are, and reinforcing their belief that they’ll never have to compromise with anyone on anything. And today, instead of slowly trying to acclimate his caucus to reality, Boehner will lead them into yet another chest-thumping tantrum. Boehner, at this point, seems principally concerned with his political survival, no matter the consequences for the rest of us." ...

... Ezra Klein: "Boehner has spent the past two days wasting his political capital assembling an irrelevant coalition of conservatives.... Boehner has not been governing. What should have happened Friday is obvious: Having failed to pass a conservative resolution to the debt crisis without Democratic votes, he should have begun cutting the deals and making the concessions necessary to gain Democratic votes." ...

... AND Klein reviews opinions on the Constitutional option. ...

... Jonathan Chait of The New Republic reviews how we got in this mess, & he seems to make Washington pundits the fall guys. Obama initially wanted a clean bill but the punditocracy talked him into linking the debt limit to deficit reduction: "... the deficit hawks who represent the center of Washington establishment thought badly underestimated the danger entailed by tying high stakes negotiations involving the Republican Party to a cataclysmic event. Happy visions of Bob Dole and Tip O'Neill danced in their heads, oblivious to the reality of what they were facing." CW: but hasn't Obama repeatedly asserted that he "never listens" to the bobbleheads? Well, at least Obama didn't listen to me; I've said all along he should insist on a clean bill.

... Tara Bernard of the New York Times: Whatever deficit deal emerges, the parties have all agreed Social Security is "on the table" (CW: make that the operating table, surrounded by doctors wielding dull scalpels), even though it has not contributed to to the deficit. CW: in fact, the Congress has routinely borrowed Social Security funds to reduce the deficits in annual budgets. That's why Social Security, though technically in the black, is actually out of money. It's got nothng but monthly receipts & a fistful of IOUs from Treasury.

Actually, No.John Judis of The New Republic: Barack Obama twists Abraham Lincoln's words & deeds 180 degrees to fit a narrative that grievously mischaracterizes the former President. See also Ta-Nahisi Coates column here, and John Farrish's comment (#3) here. I hope somebody buys Obama an accurate biography of Lincoln for his (Obama's) birthday, which is this coming week. ...

... Last December historian Eric Foner contrasted Obama's & Lincoln's reactions to their mid-term election "shellackings":

Charles Blow writes a very affecting column about his grandfather Fred Rhodes who was recommended for a Silver Star for bravery in action during World War II, but certainly because he was black, did not receive one.

Josh Gerstein of Politico: "A New York Times reporter need not testify in court about who gave him details on a top-secret CIA program targeting Iran, a federal judge has ruled. In May, federal prosecutors subpoenaed Times reporter James Risen to testify against former CIA officer Jeffrey Sterling, who's accused of revealing top-secret details about a CIA effort to undermine Iran's nuclear program. Prosecutors allege that Sterling was a source for Risen...."

CW: I linked an item on this earlier in the week, but it bears repeating. Steve Benen: "... an unexpected religious coalition [is] trying to influence the outcome of the debt-ceiling fight on Capitol Hill. This coalition, made up of several different Christian denominations [is] looking out for those [poor people] likely to be hurt the most by the Republican crisis.... Congressional Republicans, who traditionally present themselves as allied with religious morality, continue to believe cutting public investments is paramount, whether Jesus would pursue a similar course or not."

News Ledes

New York Times: "The top two Republicans in Congress said Saturday that they had begun new talks with President Obama and their fellow Congressional leaders to try to find a way to end the debt limit fight that is threatening to throw the federal government into default in just a few days.... Senator Mitch McConnell [R-Ky.]... said during a news conference ... that he expected a deal soon." The Reid bill won't pass the Senate because 43 Republicans will vote against it, which means the vote on cloture will come up short. ...

     ... Update. The story has a new lede: "New budget talks between top Congressional Republicans and President Obama made progress late Saturday, suddenly stirring optimism that a last-minute deal could be reached to avert a potential federal default that threatened significant economic and political consequences." Majority Leader Reid delayed the vote on his compromise bill until 1:00 pm ET Sunday.

... At 6:05 pm ET, Harry Reid said McConnell's assertion that there would be "a deal soon" is not true; Reid said no progress has been made today. No link. ...

... At 3:12 pm ET, the House voted down the Reid bill. Big surprise. Majority Leader Eric Cantor is making a speech; says there are no planned votes tomorrow, but warns that could change. New York Times item here. ...

... The Hill: "Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) has revised his plan to raise the debt limit in a last-ditch bid to attract Republican support. The biggest change is that Reid would give the president almost unilateral power to raise the debt limit, borrowing an idea introduced by Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.)."

Washington Post on the upcoming Senate votes on a debt limit bill. Reuters on the same.

New York Times: "The leadership of the Libyan rebels acknowledged late Friday that a group of their own soldiers had killed their top military commander, contradicting statements made a day earlier as the rebels scrambled to avoid tribal revenge attacks that could divide their ranks. The death of the commander, Gen. Abdul Fattah Younes, has shaken both the rebel leaders trying to oust Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi and their Western supporters by revealing divisions and intrigue within the rebel forces. The shifting and elliptical accounts of General Younes’s death have raised new questions about the rebel leaders’ credibility."

New York Times: "Employees of The New York Post, Rupert Murdoch’s irreverent and hard-charging city tabloid, were told Friday to keep any documents that may pertain to the kind of illegal activity that has led to arrests and a widening investigation at the News Corporation’s British newspapers.... The directive was the clearest sign yet that the company’s lawyers believe the scope of two early-stage investigations in the United States ... could broaden."

The Commentariat -- July 29

I've posted an Open Thread for today on Off Times Square.

Paul Krugman reiterates in his column a point he made is a blogpost earlier this week -- that "News reports [specifically, about the debt crisis] portray the parties as equally intransigent; pundits fantasize about some kind of 'centrist' uprising, as if the problem was too much partisanship on both sides." It ain't.

Greg Sargent: "... the White House is circulating a new set of talking points to outside allies and surrogates, instructing them on a new way to make this case: If Boehner has his way, the debt ceiling debate will steal Christmas.... On MSNBC..., David Plouffe made a similar claim, pointing out that the Boehner plan would ensure that 'this whole debt ceiling spectacle' will be repeated again a few months from now over the holidays. The debt ceiling debate would ruin Christmas,' Plouffe said. He was apparently ad-libbing the line, but now it’s found its way into the White House’s official talking points." ...

... Grinch or Anti-Christ? Elizabeth Dias of Time: "On Wednesday, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops sent a letter to Speaker Boehner informing him of its opposition to his deficit reduction proposal and arguing that 'future budgets cannot rely on disproportionate cuts in essential services to poor persons.' [CW: Boehner is Roman Catholic.] On Thursday, religious organizations went from polite protest to full-scale mobilization.... And nearly a dozen religious leaders were arrested inside the Capitol on Thursday while praying and protesting a budget that would balance itself on the backs of the poor with cuts in crucial areas, like Medicaid and food stamps.... Prayer vigils, led by different religious leaders, continue outside the United Methodist Building on Capitol Hill." ...

... No Winners in the Republican Civil War. Dan Balz of the Washington Post: "The stunning events that played out Thursday night ... was both a failure of leadership and a failure by those who wouldn’t follow.... The damage to Boehner’s credibility as speaker and to the Republican Party more generally could well linger well beyond the outcome of this episode. Republicans have now steered themselves into a position that could make an ultimate resolution of the debt-ceiling standoff that much more difficult.... If there is to be a compromise — and the outlines of a plausible agreement were under active discussion on Capitol Hill before the House bill was pulled — it is likely to be one that badly splits the Republicans in the House." ...

Buckets of crazy. -- House GOP Aide, explaining why Speaker Boehner couldn't round up enough votes to pass a bill that won't pass the Senate anyway ...

... Jennifer Steinhauer & Robert Pear of the New York Times write a somewhat amusing account of the uncertainty in the House yesterday. At various points both Democrats & Republicans were sure their side had the votes on Boehner's deficit plan. ...

... Dana Milbank: "... the thwarting of the Boehner Plan ... displayed how ungovernable the House Republican majority is. With the nation just days from a default, the chamber is at the mercy of a handful of people who believe they are on a mission from God." ...

... Reader Doug R. found this commentary by Mark Price on the front page of Fox "News"'s Website. Price makes a strong case for raising the debt ceiling & blames "both parties." Strikingly, Price calls out Democrats for being willing to make cuts to Medicare & Social Security "that will surely hurt working and middle-income families the hardest" and Republicans for being unwilling to close corporate loopholes or raise taxes on the wealthy, "the one group to benefit handsomely from the last decade of economic growth." Doug says he hopes "millions of right wingers will read [Price's piece]. CW: me too. ...

... NEW. Jeffrey Rosen of The New Republic reviews the judicial philosophies of the Supremes & reasons that they would either refuse to hear a case against President Obama for invoking the Fourteenth Amendment, or -- if they agreed to hear it --  seven of the nine would decide in favor of Obama. ...

... Michael Tomasky, writing in the Daily Beast, makes a strong case for Obama's invoking the Fourteenth Amendment, and outlines the reasons Obama is reluctant to do so. Tomasky concludes that none of Obama's reasons justify his allowing Treasury to go into default. ...

... Mike Lillis of The Hill: "President Obama should invoke the 14th Amendment to hike the debt ceiling unilaterally as a last resort to prevent a government default, House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) said Thursday.... The remarks align Hoyer with a number of other House Democratic leaders...." CW: Hoyer is the second-ranking Democrat in the House. This is pretty remarkable. Top Congressional legislators are saying, "Go ahead, Mr. President; overrule us." ...

... Unions have made a big ad buy going after members of Congress who won't raise the debt ceiling. Here's the ad targeting Sen. Dean Heller of Nevada (the appointee who replaced John Ensign):

Chart of the Day. The next time some Republican talks about tax-and-spend Democrats, whip out this New York Times chart. The contrast between new costs incurred by the Bush Administration & new costs incurred & projected under the Obama Administration is stunning:

... NEW. Ezra Klein comments on the chart: "Obama’s major expenses were temporary — the stimulus is over now — while Bush’s were, effectively, recurring.... It’s clear now that [the Bush tax cuts] lowered [revenue] indefinitely, which means this chart is understating their true cost." ..

Klein in Bloomberg News: Democrats are going to lose the debt-ceiling battle. But, come the end of 2012 when the Bush tax cuts expire, they are in position to win new revenues.

Michael Grunwald of Time: "President Obama will announce a near-doubling of fuel efficiency standards for cars and light trucks, and the Big Three automakers — GM, Ford and Chrysler — will support it.... Obama was right to cut a deal with the Big Three, along with Honda and Hyundai, up front. Every U.S. President since Nixon has talked about ending our dependence on Middle East oil, but these standards represent the most significant effort to do something about it in a long time."

CW: I guess "dictator" is the new "Hitler." Debbie Wasserman Schultz used it to describe Tea Party Republicans (see yesterday's Commentariat), & now, tit-for-tat, Constitutional scholar Michele Bachmann is using it to describe a potential Fourteenth-Amendment move by President Obama:

Tim Egan writes than many on the right in Europe & the U.S. say the "manifesto" by Nowegian anti-Muslim terrorist & mass-murderer Anders Behring Breivik is "correct" or "good" or "great." He cites, among others, Pat Buchanan, an Italian member of the European Parliament & the denizens of GlennBeckistan. (Beck himself likened the young victims of Breivik to "Hitler youth.") CW: my comment on Egan's column is posted on Off Times Square. ...

Right Wing World *

... Amy Sullivan of Time has a good post on the right's tortured double-standard claim that Norwegian Christian terrorist Anders Behring Breivik "can't be a Christian" (oh, and neither can Barack Obama and Bill Clinton), but Islamic terrorists are definitely serious Muslims following their faith into terrorism territory. ...

... Allow Jon Stewart to elaborate:

... PLUS, in Right Wing World, liberals attack conservatives, but conservatives are always nice to liberals:

President Obama, quit lying. Have you no shame, sir? In three short years, you’ve bankrupted this country. -- Rep. Joe Walsh (R-Ill.), in an anti-Obama video ...

... Have you no decency? -- Joe Walsh, to his wife Laura's attorney, who asked that the Congressman's drivers license be suspended until he paid court-ordered child support ...

... Deadbeat Dad. Abdon Pallasch of the Chicago Sun-Times: "Freshman U.S. Rep. Joe Walsh, a tax-bashing Tea Party champion who sharply lectures President Barack Obama and other Democrats on fiscal responsibility, owes more than $100,000 in child support to his ex-wife and three children, according to documents his ex-wife filed in their divorce case in December." Thanks to reader Jeanne B. for the link. ...

... "Deadbeat Party." Gene Lyons in Salon: "How does 'deadbeat Republicans' sound? Because the simple fact is that the GOP under George W. Bush put two wars, a Medicare drug benefit, and tax cuts heavily slanted toward the rich on the national credit card. Now that the bill's due, they're planning to skip town and stick Democrats with the charges." Thanks to Jeanne B.

What's a Potential Presidential Candidate to Do? Carrie Dann of NBC News: Texas Gov. Rick Perry, a staunch states rights advocate, was "fine" with New York State's gay marriage law last week, saying the law was "their call," but he isn't anymore.

* Where Christians are always good people and the elites are deadbeats (CW: which I guess is okay if they're Christian deadbeats).

News Ledes

Politico: "House Republicans will bring up Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s debt limit package Saturday just to vote it down, an attempt to show that the legislation is dead in the lower chamber, according to GOP leadership sources." ...

     ... AND barely an hour later, the Senate blocked Boehner's bill. No link. ...

... New York Times: "House Republicans muscled through a revised debt limit plan without a single Democratic vote on Friday night and headed toward a confrontation with the Senate, where Democrats were anxiously awaiting the newly passed measure so they could reject it. President Obama has also threatened to veto it." Boehner added a requirement for a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution. ...

... Washington Post: "House Republican leaders moved Friday to bring their debt-limit bill to a vote after recrafting it to appease tea party-allied conservatives, but President Obama said the plan has 'no chance of becoming law' ...."

Politico: "Stepping up pressure on divided Republicans, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid announced Friday he’d take the lead and move his bill to raise the national debt limit as President Barack Obama called for a bipartisan deal to avert an economy-shaking default next week. Calling his plan 'the last train out of the station,' Reid said there are only hours to act before Tuesday’s Treasury deadline, so he plans to file a procedural motion Friday to move towards a final vote in the next few days." ...

... Politico: "House Republican leaders plan to tie a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution to their two-step debt-ceiling bill — a move that is turning momentum back toward Speaker John Boehner’s plan." CW: I guess it doesn't matter that the Senate won't pass such a bill & the President would veto it if they did. ...

... New York Times: "The reverberations of Washington’s impasse over a debt deal are already being felt in the short-term credit markets, a key artery of the economy that daily supplies trillions of dollars of credit. Over the last week, big banks and companies have withdrawn $37.5 billion from money market funds that invest in Treasury debt and other ultra-safe securities, the biggest weekly drop this year."

President Obama spoke about fuel efficiency standards this morning. Here's a Reuters story.

AP: Abdel-Fattah Younis, "the head of the Libyan rebel armed forces, was shot and killed Thursday just before arriving for questioning by rebel authorities, their political leader said in a carefully worded statement to reporters that gave few etails on who was behind the killing."

President Bush explains the "My Pet Goat" incident:

   ... Here's a related print story from Reuters.

The Commentariat -- July 28

The question for today's Off Times Square is "How's Obama Doing?"

The Washington Post has a handy chart that compares the Boehner & Reid deficit reduction/debt ceiling proposals.

** The Plot to Kill Social Security. Robert Scheer of TruthDig brings clarity to the debt ceiling crisis, & demonstrates how Republicans, Wall Street & the ratings agencies are conspiring to use "what should have been an uneventful moment" to cut social programs which are entirely unrelated to the debt and deficit. CW: this is really a good plot summary, with an emphasis on "plot."

** S&P Runs the Debt Limit Show. Bob Reich: Ratings agency "Standard & Poor’s has ... warned it might lower the nation’s credit rating even if Democrats and Republicans make a deal to raise the debt ceiling. Standard & Poor’s insists any deal must also contain a credible, bipartisan plan to reduce the nation’s long-term budget deficit by $4 trillion — something neither Harry Reid’s nor John Boehner’s plans do.... If Standard & Poor’s had been doing the job it was supposed to be doing between 2000 and 2008, the federal budget wouldn’t be in a crisis — and Standard & Poor’s wouldn’t be threatening the United States with a downgrade.... So why has Standard & Poor’s decided now’s the time to crack down on the federal budget — when it gave free passes to Wall Street’s risky securities and George W. Bush’s giant tax cuts for the wealthy, thereby contributing to the very crisis its now demanding be addressed? Could it have anything to do with the fact that the Street pays Standard & Poor’s bills?"

DNC Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz talks to Politico about Republicans' irresponsibility re: raising the debt limit (audio only):

... Sen. John McCain (R-Arizona) says conservative members of Congress are "deceiving the American" people with their "bizarro" assertion that the Senate can incorporate a balanced budget amendment in the deficit reduction bill. (McCain favors a BBA):

     ... Here's a print story by Shannon Travis of CNN.

... David Corn of Mother Jones: Speaker Boehner, other Republicans & Karl Rove's Crossroads/GPS (in an ad) perpetuate the "Obama wants a blank check" lie, and the media let them get away with it.

Ta-Nahisi Coates explains the Emancipation Proclamation to President Obama, who views it as a good example of practical compromise:

Rendering the hallowed Proclamation as a seminal act of hippy-punching is understandably attractive to the Very Serious People of Washington. But, in Mr. Obama’s case, it also evinces a narrow politicocentric view of democracy that holds that the first duty of a loyal opposition is to stay on message and fall in line.

NEW. Class Warfare, Billionaire Edition. Michael Winship of Salon: it is so wrong to pick on those nice gentlemen who brought us the financial crisis & got filthy rich bringing down the world economy, paid little for it & are back in the money again.

NEW. Karen Garcia must have a mole in Obama's Chicago campaign HQ (maybe it's frequent Obama shill NYT commenter Winning Progressive) because she sure is good a digging up first drafts of Obama campaign e-mails. This one from Jim Messina is a hoot.

NEW. Glenn Greenwald: "... every Terrorist plot is immediately exploited as a pretext for expanding America's Security State; the response to every plot: we need to sacrifice more liberties, increase secrecy, and further empower the government. The reaction to the heinous Oslo attack by Norway's political class has been exactly the opposite: a steadfast refusal to succumb to hysteria and a security-über-alles mentality." Read the whole post. ...

... Linda Greenhouse on how the terrorist attack in Oklahoma City, combined with the ascendance of a conservative Congress, a shell-shocked president and a compliant Supreme Court, severely limited the Constitutional right of habeas corpus.

Chris Matthews talks to Reagan/Bush I economic advisor Bruce Bartlett about the sources of the deficit & other stuff related to the economy. Thanks to reader Bob M.:

What about Bears? Kirk Johnson of the New York Times: as climate change forces more and more bears into areas occupied by humans & as more & more people take advantage of recreational areas that are bear habitats, expect more bear-human encounters, not all of which will end happily. Public policy varies from incident to incident. CW: a bear visits my lake cottage regularly, and I don't like it at all.

News Ledes

Legal Times: In Washington, D.C., "U.S. District Judge Richard Leon issued a series of orders this morning denying motions to dismiss or relocate former U.S. Department of Agriculture official Shirley Sherrod's defamation lawsuit against conservative blogger Andrew Breitbart."

Politico: Democrats are proposing a compromise debt-ceiling bill in which "Congress could still get a second crack at voting on the debt limit within months. But rather than linking the vote to Congress approving the recommendations of a new 12-member committee — as it would be in Boehner’s bill — Democrats prefer McConnell’s proposal that allows President Barack Obama to lift the debt ceiling unless two-thirds of both chambers override his veto of a disapproval resolution, the officials said."

Guardian: "Sara Payne, whose eight-year-old daughter Sarah was abducted and murdered in July 2000, has been told by Scotland Yard that they have found evidence to suggest she was targeted by the News of the World's investigator Glenn Mulcaire, who specialised in hacking voicemail." Payne, whom News of the world editor Rebekah Brooks had befriended, previously had been told she was not a target, but new information disputes that. Brooks gave Payne a telephone.

New York Times: "Though [House Republicans] appeared to be just shy of enough votes to assure passage of the [Boehner] plan that would allow a debt limit increase in two stages, lawmakers and top aides expressed confidence they could win over enough members to prevent a humiliating defeat for the speaker and the party."

     ** ... Update: story has a new lede: "House Speaker John A. Boehner abruptly delayed an expected vote on Republican debt ceiling legislation late Thursday as it became clear the Republican leadership did not have the votes needed for passage."

New York Times: "Officials said Wednesday that the [Treasury] department would address [how it will pay bills] ... later this week unless it became clear that Congress would vote by Aug. 2 to let the government borrow more money.... The implication is that the government will need to pay bills in the order that they come due."

Time: House & Senate leaders are working behind the scenes to merge the Boehner debt/deficit bill with a proposed Senate bill. ...

... Washington Post: "House Assistant Democratic Leader James Clyburn (S.C.), Democratic Caucus Chairman John Larson (Conn.) and Caucus Vice-Chairman Xavier Becerra (Calif.) said after a closed-door caucus meeting Wednesday that they are calling on Obama both to veto a short-term deal and sign an executive order invoking the Constitution’s 14th Amendment to avert default on Aug. 2." ...

... Washington Post: Federal workers are both worried & angry about a possible government default, which could imperil their paychecks.

New York Times: "... Republicans in the House of Representatives are loading up an appropriations bill with 39 ways — and counting — to significantly curtail environmental regulation."

Washington Post: "The White House is waging an aggressive behind-the-scenes campaign to reassure core Democratic activists, following weeks of criticism from liberals who fear that President Obama has given too much ground in his debt-ceiling talks with Republicans."

New York Times: "A lawyer [Kenneth Thompson] for the hotel housekeeper [Nafissatou Diallo] who accused Dominique Strauss-Kahn of sexually assaulting her in May said Wednesday that taped conversations, two of them made a day after the encounter, prove that his client had no intention of exploiting the charges against Mr. Strauss-Kahn to make money.... After listening to the recording on Wednesday, Mr. Thompson told reporters at a news conference that Ms. Diallo’s statements had been mischaracterized."