*Releasing his long form birth certificate should do the trick. Right? Wrong, over half of Republicans, according to a poll by PPP, still believe President Obama was born on foreign soil.
*Corrections Department--it was not Steve Benen, it was Josh Marshall, who reported that Paul Ryan's budget without the Medicare reform would have no impact on the deficit, except increase it.
* Steve Benen of Washington Monthly has spent the last couple of days raising the issue of why is John Boehner being taken seriously on this debt ceiling issue. Boehner, who had sent signals just two weeks ago that the debt ceiling has to be raised, now is holding the government ransom for $2 trillion in program cuts. Today, he even went further saying that all tax increases are off the table and even though he had said he was interested in ending subsidies for oil companies, that too is now considered off the table. Congratulations to Washington Monthly for catching the eye of the Washington Post and some of its columnists, who are beginning to ask the right questions about Boehner's strange, deluded view of economics.
*Corrections Department Again--I have frequently posted blogs about how President Obama has created more jobs in his first two and a half years in office then George W. Bush did in his eight years. Actually, it's worst than that. President Obama's time in office has seen roughly 2 million jobs created in the private sector; the Bush years saw a net loss of jobs in the private sector. What I had not realized that all the jobs created by the Bush Administration were in the public sector, an area now losing jobs. Which brings me to the issues of taxes. John Boehner keeps saying that Wall Street is anxious about the uncertainty over taxes. That's why they don't create more jobs. But if that's true, why didn't they create any jobs during the Bush years, when they had tax benefits galore?
*Tip of the Hat to--Andrew Sullivan for valiantly following up on every insane claim how torture works. Andrew Sullivan and Scott Horton have been relentless on the torture issue since the days when it was revealed that the Bush Administration water-boarded,practiced sense and sleep deprivation on detainees. Today, Andrew Sullivan in "The Big Lie: Torture Got Bin Laden, Ctd"pointed out the real consequences of torture. First, he points out that Washington Post's torture enthusiast Marc Thiessen claimed that it was Al-Libbi who gave the CIA the tip that bin Laden used couriers. But Andrew notes that the CIA agent in charge, Jose Rodriquez claims that Al-Libbi said that bin Laden only used couriers every few months and so--the CIA concluded that bin Laden was no longer in charge of Al Qaeda. The consequence of the torture program was the "abandonment of the hunt for bin Laden" because they thought he was no longer so important. Only a few months later the ALEC office of the CIA that hunted bin Laden was closed down. Ouch!
*I'll throw in another fact that has emerged--al-Kuwaiti, the courier we tracked, was part of the 9-11 training group and none of those tortured ever revealed this. In fact, KSM, Mr. Cheney's best friend, said he was not even a member of Al Qaeda.
*The teabaggers held a press conference at the National Press Club to blast the RINOS--John Boehner and Paul Ryan--for caving into the Obama Administration and supporting big government. The group threatened to primary the two men. What drew the Washington punditry's attention was this press conference was supported by Michelle Bachmann. The teabaggers were in full Revolutionary War regalia and warned the nation about the threat of homosexuality.
*Republicans in South Carolina are saying that anyone competing for the presidential nomination will have to support the Ryan Budget and his ideas about Medicare and Medicaid reform. Sayonara, candidates.
*John Boehner in a fugue state said that he was now open to means-testing for Medicare. Stenty Hoyer, the Democratic leader, said he would have to know more about what this means before he will consider. Henry Waxman just said, "Forget about it." In this little snarl,John Boehner and Alan Simpson of the Catfood Commission have endorsed Paul Ryan's attack on AARP. Simpson said that the AARP was nothing m0re than 39 million people who want discount airfares.
*The Washington Post went after Kathleen Sebelius for exaggerating the effects on the Ryan Plan on senior citizens. She said that 45,000 would die per year. That's actually close to the number who die every year because they lack health insurance. So how far off can she be?
*Mitt Romney will make a speech in Michigan--home of Governor Rick Snyder--about his health reform plan. Apparently, he is not going to completely abandon his only policy achievement during the time he was governor of Massachusetts but will set out a plan to repeal the Affordable Care Act. It's going to be interesting to see how he plays this. What would be more interesting to see is his explanation of why he was against bailing out the auto industry. I'm sure the people of Michigan would be intrigued.
*Mitch Daniels said he would beat President Obama in 2012. He hasn't declared yet. But when he does, he'll have alot of explaining to do. For example, how did he spend the surplus left by President Clinton? Why did he oppose increased funding to fight terrorism shortly before 9/11? And what was the thinking behind his endorsement of the Bush tax cuts? That's just for openers.
*I may stay up all night because I am so excited that Newt and his French horn-playing bride Calista will be announcing their quest for the Presidency tomorrow. How can we wait? I wonder whether he'll actually say anything about what he will do. Have you noticed that none of the Republicans so far have issued a peep about their policies, except that they are for torture and against abortion. When do we hear some ideas?
*The Young Turk Cenk went where no man has gone--he made predictions about the Republican presidential race. All and all they were sensible. He said forget about everyone except for Mitt Romney and Mike Huckabee. He says they will end up like Obama versus Clinton all the way down to the wire. Romney will have the money while Huckabee will run as a populist. Romney will do well in the East and West, while Huckabee will do well in the South and the Midwest. Because the money people will back Romney,it's any one's guess. Cenk did say that Huckabee would be a threat to President Obama. Actually a thoughtful analysis.
*NPR had a roundtable the other night with Republican strategists. Vin Weber now supports Tim Pawlenty and says that Republican primary voters will still go for government experience and that Pawlenty will drive alot out of the field. Maybe anti-Charisma will work. Rick Galen is behind Newt and he says that Newt's three marriages will be raised but it will be overcome like Reagan overcame his divorce. A Romney strategist said his man will explain his healthcare plan, which will neutralize any criticism. The only interesting observation made was that the Republicans are viewing this election like they are Jimmy Carter versus Gerald Ford.
By this they mean that unemployment will be about the same level as it was during the Ford years, which allowed Carter to win. The subtext of this is that Americans feel now about government like they did in the years after Watergate and they took it out on Gerald Ford. This time they will take it out on Barack Obama.
The panelists said that the Republican party will remain strong on national security, but they will debate the size of our military budget. Galen thought that Leon Panetta because he is respected on the Hill will actually perform this function for President Obama. The implication is that the Republicans will have cover to cut the defense budget and not have to debate it in 2012.
What struck me is that the strategists simply do not recognize how crazy the GOP has become. For instance, they all agreed that the Christian Right voter, who will dominate Iowa, is more interested in the economy and jobs then social issues. They said that to win over independents the party's standard bearer would have to walk a fine line between the Christian Right and the economic message he or she would want to deliver. I sense absolutely nothing going on today to suggest that the GOP is doing anything but doubling down on Christian Right issues. One strategist mentioned how moderate women voted for Democrat Quinn in Illinois because they were too scared of the Republican on the abortion issue. Why does this man think things will change?
* The Wisconsin recalls are proceeding. So far 3 have been ratified.
*Anti-stimulus Governor John Kasich is touring Ohio now taking credit for all the wonderful things President Obama did for the state.
*Meanwhile, our President was in Texas outlining a comprehensive immigration policy, which has zero chance of getting through Congress although only a few years ago it would have widespread bipartisan support. He did note that he had built the fence--made famous by John McCain, stationed more agents at the border and provided aerial surveillance on the Mexican border. All these things had been requested by Republicans. He charged the GOP with moving the goalposts and now "they'll want moats with alligators." The Right only mentioned that the President flew back to Washington without stopping to console those dealing with the Missippi flooding.
* Nate Silver this morning wrote a bewildering statistical analysis of what Obama's slight bump in the polls may mean for 2012. He mentioned that close elections--which happen more often than we think--are often decided by 1% and that the change in pubic perception of President Obama as a decisive leader because of the Bin Laden operation might make that difference. Silver's previous column on how Derek Jeter stacks up may be the reason Jeter ended his slump. So let's hope Nate is back on track.
*Look for good news from Libya in the next few days. Until tomorrow's historic announcement by Newt and Calista.
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