++With the soltisce and father's day behind us,we await the decisions of the Supreme Court. As we get further toward the end of the session,we have close decisions.
++The country keeps mourning the deaths at Mother Emmanuel and reactions still get confusing. Republicans are now admitting it was a racist attack. Within 24 hours, Lindsey Graham went from the confederate flag as part of us heritage to an emblem of racism.
++The shooter's manifesto shows influence of the CCC website. The CCC has numerous Republican politicians as members. Now true Guardian and the New York Times discover that the CCC and its leader Mr. Holt donated to presidential candidates such as Rand Paul, Ted Cruz and Senator Rob Portman. You will remember that CCC participation led to the removal of Trent Lott from the Senate.
++I was treated yesterday to conservative e-mails saying that the NRA was created by religious Republicans to protect blacks in the South. What a great distance they have come.
++The CCC took down their website once it was learned that the shooter was inspired by them. However,they soon returned to defend the shooter's point of view.
++Charles Blow this morning reminds us that racism is like cockroaches after a nuclear explosion,they keep on living. Blow warns us that the shooter is a millennial and millennials are as susceptible to racism as the older generation.
++Timothy Egan says that the United States should apologize for slavery. Not that it would do anything but raise the issue to a greater awareness. He thinks there would be no better a spokesman than President Obama who has the skin but not the history in his life.
++Sheriff Arpaio sent his posse to protect black churches in Phoenix whether they wanted it or not.
++Nell Painter wrote an op-ed in the New York Times that said the real issue is that whites don't know who they are. She linked the shooter and the NAACP head who wants to pass as Black. She argues that blacks have a clear culture and a shared history but whites are a melange of ethnic groups who often were;t even considered white until close to the mid-mark of the last century.
++The shooter also turns out to be anti-semitic, something just being written about. For some reason, my rightwing e-mailers say that Jews and liberal Democrats resent the fact that the Southern Democrats were the racists. I tend to remember Jews being killed during the civil rights movement.
++President Obama looked defeated unlike after the bi-elections, a man deflated by the lack of action both here and around the country after the mass killings. His skin has grown ashen and his voice weary as he said someday soon this country will have to deal with gun violence.
++My right-wingers attacked him for a "politicized" speech that ignored other mass murder in modern Europe. They even argued that the Austria knife killings were compatible.
++A sensible blogger suggested that just put handguns and AR-15s on the National Gun Registry, which actually is a type of gun control that works. Some one commented that recent Supreme Court cases made that impractical.
++Pope Francis was on a roll this weekend. He basted the major powers for fostering war and not doing enough to prevent the Holocaust and the Armenian genocide. He was particularly rich in condemning arms manufacturers who prolong wars for profit.
++Mike Huckabee who not only defended the Confederate Flag and said he would stick the pole in someone where the sun don't shine. He also said that climate change is not a settled science, in a shot at the Pope's encyclical.
++The Bernie Surge continued with massive crowds in Denver. CNN says that he could win in Iowa or New Hampshire. A leftwing blogger posted photos of the crowds Ron Paul used to draw as a warning not to get one's hopes up.
++The Catholic Church sent out spokespeople to calm the right who are hysterical that Pope Francis buys into the "hoax" of climate change. You know no other country pretends to ignore the science of climate change, if anything it is too conservative. We are boiling up faster than they acknowledge.
++Wikileaks released thousands of Saudi diplomatic cables that showed the Kingdom bribed and bought their way in favor.
++The Iranian nuclear talks continued and it appears yes that the Iranian negotiators agree to allow inspections at military sites. The majlis however in Tehran voted against allowing such inspections. It seems we have a war of two different sets of tea baggers.
++Nancy Letourneau at Washington Monthly skewered Dana Millbank about why liberals are getting more numerous. Millbank argued that it was a reaction against the tea baggers. CNN argued that the Democrats have gone far left unlike the republicans going Right. Nancy says that the days the Democrats have to pretend to play by the GOP rules is over. The reason, the largest jobs creation in our history and the Affordable Care Act and gay marriage validate the Democratic values and liberal positions.
++Nancy also had pieces on racism in the South that were worth reading.
++Josh Marshall gave a shot at explaining Michael Oren's complaints about "Jewish" journalists. The former Israeli ambassador to the United States said that op-ed writers are predominantly Jewish but they are "too" critical of Israel. He noted his run-ins with Abe Rosenthal at the New York Times. Josh tries to fathom this strange position and finds out that Oren's account of the meeting is wrong.
++Desmond Tutu called on the United Church of Christ to divest from Israel because of its policies. The divestment campaign is gathering momentum and facing blowback from right-wing donors like Adelson.
Showing posts with label Lindsey Graham. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Lindsey Graham. Show all posts
Monday, June 22, 2015
Friday, May 8, 2015
Hold That Date--Lindsey Graham will declare on June 1
++We learn this from Steve Benen at Rachel Maddow Blog. The great Lindsey Graham will enter the race to ensure the neo-conservative message is heard. Remember John McCain said he would endorse I'm if he ran.
++Maybe that's why Jeb "slipped" to say that his primary adviser on the Middle East was his brother. What possibly could go wrong?
++Friday Talking Points gives this week's most outstanding Democrat to Hillary Clinton for her strong immigration stance, even stronger than President Obama. She threw the gauntlet down on the Republicans.
++One blogger in an attempt to get people real said there were a few things that were not going to happen for quite some time: cuts in defense spending,passage of any Constitutional Amendment reversing Citizens United, and diminishing of the income inequality in the country. Sadly, I agree.
++Ed Kilgore reminds us of the spotty records of polls recently--underestimating Likud's strength,portraying the UK election as close,and underplaying the GOP strength in the last election. He points to Nate "the Great" Silver's recent analysis that modern polling has gotten more difficult and people are becoming less available to pollsters.
++Frank Luntz writes an op-ed on this in the Imperial Post. His lesson is that "trust" was the most important factor in the UK election and that Hillary Clinton has to be careful because you can't look presidential testifying about # Benghazi!! Drudge Siren and her e-mails. The two subjects the GOP is going to rally around.
++Maybe that's why Jeb "slipped" to say that his primary adviser on the Middle East was his brother. What possibly could go wrong?
++Friday Talking Points gives this week's most outstanding Democrat to Hillary Clinton for her strong immigration stance, even stronger than President Obama. She threw the gauntlet down on the Republicans.
++One blogger in an attempt to get people real said there were a few things that were not going to happen for quite some time: cuts in defense spending,passage of any Constitutional Amendment reversing Citizens United, and diminishing of the income inequality in the country. Sadly, I agree.
++Ed Kilgore reminds us of the spotty records of polls recently--underestimating Likud's strength,portraying the UK election as close,and underplaying the GOP strength in the last election. He points to Nate "the Great" Silver's recent analysis that modern polling has gotten more difficult and people are becoming less available to pollsters.
++Frank Luntz writes an op-ed on this in the Imperial Post. His lesson is that "trust" was the most important factor in the UK election and that Hillary Clinton has to be careful because you can't look presidential testifying about # Benghazi!! Drudge Siren and her e-mails. The two subjects the GOP is going to rally around.
Tuesday, March 10, 2015
TraitorTots
++Bobby Jindal said this afternoon that he signed the letter to the Iranian leaders. Interesting. Is Tehran Tom Cotton going to circulate the letter to all aspiring GOP nominee?
++Hillary Clinton didn't take the bait at her UN press conference over the e-mails--which, in my opinion, was a nothingburger. She says the letter either was meant to help the Iranians or harm President Obama.
++Cenk Uygur of the Young Turks went "Unchained" for a segment blasting the GOP as pen pals for the Ayatollah. He said it was unprecedented that Congress would go to a leader of another country for advice and use that to criticize a sitting president. He said the letter was literally "burning up a peace treaty". He accused the Republicans of not loving this country but bathing in their hatred for President Obama.
++Sam Seder of the Majority report went after the Republicans as coming as close as you can get to violating the Logan Act. He lambasted Lindsey Graham, John McCain and Kelly Ayotte for signing this. He noted that much of foreign policy were executive agreements and that what the authors of the letter did was raise in question any agreements reached with the United States and any other country. He pointed out that the most restrictive economic sanctions against Iran could be lifted by the President himself. He pointed out that Iran would be put under a strict regime of inspection and that at the worse they would have one year to break out--that is ,possess enough uranium for One nuclear bomb.
++While Glenn Greenwald appears to back the letter,just saying that everyone should be allowed to disagree with President Obama,Intercept, the webpage he is editor of, noted that shortly after Tehran Tom released the letter he met in a private meeting with Defense Contractors.
++The Letter actually confuses those trying to restrain President Obama. What it basically says is do not make any agreement and keep on processing uranium. It is the same as Bibi's bizarre speech to the Iranian people about what a bad deal it is. So don't sign it because you'll be better off.
++Hillary Clinton didn't take the bait at her UN press conference over the e-mails--which, in my opinion, was a nothingburger. She says the letter either was meant to help the Iranians or harm President Obama.
++Cenk Uygur of the Young Turks went "Unchained" for a segment blasting the GOP as pen pals for the Ayatollah. He said it was unprecedented that Congress would go to a leader of another country for advice and use that to criticize a sitting president. He said the letter was literally "burning up a peace treaty". He accused the Republicans of not loving this country but bathing in their hatred for President Obama.
++Sam Seder of the Majority report went after the Republicans as coming as close as you can get to violating the Logan Act. He lambasted Lindsey Graham, John McCain and Kelly Ayotte for signing this. He noted that much of foreign policy were executive agreements and that what the authors of the letter did was raise in question any agreements reached with the United States and any other country. He pointed out that the most restrictive economic sanctions against Iran could be lifted by the President himself. He pointed out that Iran would be put under a strict regime of inspection and that at the worse they would have one year to break out--that is ,possess enough uranium for One nuclear bomb.
++While Glenn Greenwald appears to back the letter,just saying that everyone should be allowed to disagree with President Obama,Intercept, the webpage he is editor of, noted that shortly after Tehran Tom released the letter he met in a private meeting with Defense Contractors.
++The Letter actually confuses those trying to restrain President Obama. What it basically says is do not make any agreement and keep on processing uranium. It is the same as Bibi's bizarre speech to the Iranian people about what a bad deal it is. So don't sign it because you'll be better off.
Sunday, March 8, 2015
Drips and Drabs on Day of Technical Problems
++Lindsey Graham has never sent an e-mail.
++Mitch McConnell will try and find a way to raise the debt ceiling on time.
++Hillary's e-mails are already at the Benghazi committee.
++The Russians hate us worse than during the Cold War.
++Over 50,000 rallied against Bibi in Israel.
++The Saudis have become the greatest arms importers.
++Chris Christie looks like he's toast in the presidential race.
++The Pentagon is depressed about the war on terror.
++President Obama says he will walk away from a bad Iranian deal.
++Rudy showed up in Berlin to bash Obama again, calling his policy against Iran "reckless".
++Mitch McConnell will try and find a way to raise the debt ceiling on time.
++Hillary's e-mails are already at the Benghazi committee.
++The Russians hate us worse than during the Cold War.
++Over 50,000 rallied against Bibi in Israel.
++The Saudis have become the greatest arms importers.
++Chris Christie looks like he's toast in the presidential race.
++The Pentagon is depressed about the war on terror.
++President Obama says he will walk away from a bad Iranian deal.
++Rudy showed up in Berlin to bash Obama again, calling his policy against Iran "reckless".
Monday, March 2, 2015
It's Dump on Obama Day
++I've listened to right-wing radio this morning and you would never know that Bibi speaking to a joint session of Congress was unusual, There was no mention that it is unprecedented in our history to invite a foreign leader to attack the policy initiative of a sitting president--and in the midst of negotiations.
++Lindsey Graham, speaking to AIPAC, told the crowd that he would cut off funding for the United Nations because it fomented anti-semiticism in the world and he would block the Iranian deal.
++Dick Cheney will be briefing the GOP Caucus on the House side about these important issues.
++Bibi got over 80 standing ovations at AIPAC and claimed that the relationship between Israel and the United States was stronger than at any time.
++AIPAC participants were told not to boo Samantha Powers, who appeared in a paper given out to the press during Bibi's flight as having made concessions to Iran. I would love to know how she could have anything to do with the Iranian nuclear talks.
++So the neo-cons are out in force today but they don't answer one of Israel's generals' complaint. Bibi could have played a subtle background role in shaping an Iranian deal but blew it. Now what is to be done.
++The Republican side really does support a war with Iran. It is incumbent on everyone for force them to flesh this out. There have been multiple studies showing that any bombing attack on the installations would have to be more intense and prolonged than anything we have yet seen in our Middle East ventures. Also,the conclusion of the studies show that Iran is likely to strike back both at Israel and the United States facilities within the region.
++Then what happens with the Iranian participation against ISIS. Do they immediately become hostile to the United States?
++For all the bluster of Bibi and the GOP neo-cons,massive questions need to be asked because their basic position is nihilism/
++For all of us who are on public record supporting a negotiated settlement of the Iranian nuclear program,we have to remain intellectually honest and not get carried away by the war fever.
++This is a situation where all intelligence agencies and Mossad agree that Iran does not have a nuclear device. It's like getting whipped up with disinformation about Weapons of Mass Destruction that just aren't there.
++Watch the IAEA and its reporting. I feel sorry for the guys because they can not confirm whether Iran worked on weapons systems before the negotiations began. You will recall the George W. Bush administration did everything to discredit the agency in its investigations into Iraq, which showed there was no longer a nuclear program since it had been dismantled after the Gulf War. This is just non-political reporting being done now but this time they will be used to justify some awful scheme.
++Ray Takyh today in the Washington Post wrote a surprising , for him, op-ed about the strategic genius of Ayatollah Khameni. His point was that yes the Ayatollah wants nuclear weapons but he will wait out the deal,reviving it in ten years when the ability of the West to respond will have waned. His op-ed is excellent. But I and people in the Obama Administration believe that he will be gone and that Iran will suffer a crisis of regime which will challenge the theocratic state.
++In fact both Bibi and Takyh worry about the agreement dwindling down after 10 to 15 years. The odds are I will be dead then and so will the Ayatollah. And Israel will not have any transparency about its nuclear program
++There is one school of thought that believes Iran possessing a nuclear weapon makes them invincible throughout the region. We've seen governments with Weapons of Mass Destruction haven't been invincible just very scary. This school of thought says that such an achievement will solidify Iran's control over Iran, Syria, Yemen and possibly Lebanon. The vaunted Shi'ite Crescent.
++This ignores that Iranians are Persians and must militarily attain hegemony over the Arab world. If we have learned anything in the last 12 years is that tribalism and ethnicity are controlling factors in conflict states, not just whether the population is Sunni or Shi'ite.
++I have heard the old cry of regime change again from conservative Republicans. But additional sanctions do not cause the unrest the conservatives want. You are more likely to experience popular unrest with a rising middle class. Sanctions never provoked an uprising against Saddam Hussein and in the case of South Africa it was the sports boycott that did the most damage.
++I believe that the nuclear talks do not have a positive or negative effect on human rights or the prospect of a democratization of Iran.
++Some wave of amnesia has swept over the GOP on this issue. The party is practically owned by the champions of Iran sanction busters like the Koch Brothers, who were exposed in Forbes a couple of years ago. The GOP presidential candidate in 2012 , Mitt Romney lost out as a candidate to be vice-president to John McCain because of his sanctions busting investments. Do you have to square this to be intellectually honest?
++There is one thing that an Iranian deal will do. It will stop the return of the neo-conservative project and force the United States to soberly look at its options in the region.
++ I expect Bibi to lie like hell tomorrow about the negotiations like he did about the Iraq War bringing an age of peace in the Middle East. If he believes the negotiations are an existential threat to Israel,he knows what to do. But as his military advisers suggest that would be insane.
++I expect this whole week to be filled with nonsense. I also expect that the "details of the plan you hear tomorrow" doesn't resemble in thought or deed the plan being negotiated.
++Lindsey Graham, speaking to AIPAC, told the crowd that he would cut off funding for the United Nations because it fomented anti-semiticism in the world and he would block the Iranian deal.
++Dick Cheney will be briefing the GOP Caucus on the House side about these important issues.
++Bibi got over 80 standing ovations at AIPAC and claimed that the relationship between Israel and the United States was stronger than at any time.
++AIPAC participants were told not to boo Samantha Powers, who appeared in a paper given out to the press during Bibi's flight as having made concessions to Iran. I would love to know how she could have anything to do with the Iranian nuclear talks.
++So the neo-cons are out in force today but they don't answer one of Israel's generals' complaint. Bibi could have played a subtle background role in shaping an Iranian deal but blew it. Now what is to be done.
++The Republican side really does support a war with Iran. It is incumbent on everyone for force them to flesh this out. There have been multiple studies showing that any bombing attack on the installations would have to be more intense and prolonged than anything we have yet seen in our Middle East ventures. Also,the conclusion of the studies show that Iran is likely to strike back both at Israel and the United States facilities within the region.
++Then what happens with the Iranian participation against ISIS. Do they immediately become hostile to the United States?
++For all the bluster of Bibi and the GOP neo-cons,massive questions need to be asked because their basic position is nihilism/
++For all of us who are on public record supporting a negotiated settlement of the Iranian nuclear program,we have to remain intellectually honest and not get carried away by the war fever.
++This is a situation where all intelligence agencies and Mossad agree that Iran does not have a nuclear device. It's like getting whipped up with disinformation about Weapons of Mass Destruction that just aren't there.
++Watch the IAEA and its reporting. I feel sorry for the guys because they can not confirm whether Iran worked on weapons systems before the negotiations began. You will recall the George W. Bush administration did everything to discredit the agency in its investigations into Iraq, which showed there was no longer a nuclear program since it had been dismantled after the Gulf War. This is just non-political reporting being done now but this time they will be used to justify some awful scheme.
++Ray Takyh today in the Washington Post wrote a surprising , for him, op-ed about the strategic genius of Ayatollah Khameni. His point was that yes the Ayatollah wants nuclear weapons but he will wait out the deal,reviving it in ten years when the ability of the West to respond will have waned. His op-ed is excellent. But I and people in the Obama Administration believe that he will be gone and that Iran will suffer a crisis of regime which will challenge the theocratic state.
++In fact both Bibi and Takyh worry about the agreement dwindling down after 10 to 15 years. The odds are I will be dead then and so will the Ayatollah. And Israel will not have any transparency about its nuclear program
++There is one school of thought that believes Iran possessing a nuclear weapon makes them invincible throughout the region. We've seen governments with Weapons of Mass Destruction haven't been invincible just very scary. This school of thought says that such an achievement will solidify Iran's control over Iran, Syria, Yemen and possibly Lebanon. The vaunted Shi'ite Crescent.
++This ignores that Iranians are Persians and must militarily attain hegemony over the Arab world. If we have learned anything in the last 12 years is that tribalism and ethnicity are controlling factors in conflict states, not just whether the population is Sunni or Shi'ite.
++I have heard the old cry of regime change again from conservative Republicans. But additional sanctions do not cause the unrest the conservatives want. You are more likely to experience popular unrest with a rising middle class. Sanctions never provoked an uprising against Saddam Hussein and in the case of South Africa it was the sports boycott that did the most damage.
++I believe that the nuclear talks do not have a positive or negative effect on human rights or the prospect of a democratization of Iran.
++Some wave of amnesia has swept over the GOP on this issue. The party is practically owned by the champions of Iran sanction busters like the Koch Brothers, who were exposed in Forbes a couple of years ago. The GOP presidential candidate in 2012 , Mitt Romney lost out as a candidate to be vice-president to John McCain because of his sanctions busting investments. Do you have to square this to be intellectually honest?
++There is one thing that an Iranian deal will do. It will stop the return of the neo-conservative project and force the United States to soberly look at its options in the region.
++ I expect Bibi to lie like hell tomorrow about the negotiations like he did about the Iraq War bringing an age of peace in the Middle East. If he believes the negotiations are an existential threat to Israel,he knows what to do. But as his military advisers suggest that would be insane.
++I expect this whole week to be filled with nonsense. I also expect that the "details of the plan you hear tomorrow" doesn't resemble in thought or deed the plan being negotiated.
Sunday, February 22, 2015
Oh myy, says George Takei
++Maureen Dowd did a more malign take of Jeb's advisory board reminding us who backed Ahmed Chalabi, torture, wiretaps,and the whole Iraq War in its glory. The point many people have made is that you can't expect anything different from Jeb than the rest of them. I just pointed out how old they were and that none of them have any experience in areas of the world other than the Middle East and maybe parts of Central Europe.
++John McCain is ashamed for our country, and ashamed of President Obama and himself. So ashamed. He was talking, of course, about the Ukraine and the fight against ISIS.
++Trans Canada has a perfect idea. Build the Keystone XL Pipeline in reverse, sending American oil to Canada for use there. The pipeline would travel north through the Dakotas.
++If you like Jeb, then you might like the jobs-creating record of the Bushes put together. Then compare them to Democrats.
++Ms. Lindsey Graham says that the Senate must pass the Homeland Security funding or else the GOP will be blamed. Are you sure about that? Especially if Al Shabab bombs the Mall of America.
++I received an e-mail from a conservative saying that the real victim of the Obama presidency are community-organizers. Remember when that was the rap against Obama. Now the author says that Obama was charismatic and that was a fatal flaw in his character. Oh myy.
++The Obama Administration now has established strict criteria for drilling for oil in the Arctic. Late but good news, nonetheless.
++Bobby "Vishnu" Jindal says that America has to become more educated. So what does he do--but cut Louisiana's education budget drastically.
++I am refraining from commenting further on the case before the Supreme Court against Obamacare. The plaintiffs have no standing. The legal case against them is so overwhelming. There is the Chevron precedent,the indemnity issue for insurance, the seems of amicus curiae briefs about why the intention of the law was for everyone to receive subsidies. Affadavits from authors of the state exchanges about their intentions. And on and on.
++The Court should never have received the case. But Linda Greenhouse, the court reporter for the New York Times alerted us all to the political nature of this case of the judges involved. The non-profit behind the case is a libertarian think tank funded by the Koch Brothers.
++I would say that all Americans should be urged to send all their medical bills to the Koch brothers. They have the wealth to pay for them all.
++So on the legal side,I believe this case is a loser. But I am skittish because I do not have any trust in the Supreme Court. Even the plaintiffs lawyers do not believe this is constitutional.
++John McCain is ashamed for our country, and ashamed of President Obama and himself. So ashamed. He was talking, of course, about the Ukraine and the fight against ISIS.
++Trans Canada has a perfect idea. Build the Keystone XL Pipeline in reverse, sending American oil to Canada for use there. The pipeline would travel north through the Dakotas.
++If you like Jeb, then you might like the jobs-creating record of the Bushes put together. Then compare them to Democrats.
++Ms. Lindsey Graham says that the Senate must pass the Homeland Security funding or else the GOP will be blamed. Are you sure about that? Especially if Al Shabab bombs the Mall of America.
++I received an e-mail from a conservative saying that the real victim of the Obama presidency are community-organizers. Remember when that was the rap against Obama. Now the author says that Obama was charismatic and that was a fatal flaw in his character. Oh myy.
++The Obama Administration now has established strict criteria for drilling for oil in the Arctic. Late but good news, nonetheless.
++Bobby "Vishnu" Jindal says that America has to become more educated. So what does he do--but cut Louisiana's education budget drastically.
++I am refraining from commenting further on the case before the Supreme Court against Obamacare. The plaintiffs have no standing. The legal case against them is so overwhelming. There is the Chevron precedent,the indemnity issue for insurance, the seems of amicus curiae briefs about why the intention of the law was for everyone to receive subsidies. Affadavits from authors of the state exchanges about their intentions. And on and on.
++The Court should never have received the case. But Linda Greenhouse, the court reporter for the New York Times alerted us all to the political nature of this case of the judges involved. The non-profit behind the case is a libertarian think tank funded by the Koch Brothers.
++I would say that all Americans should be urged to send all their medical bills to the Koch brothers. They have the wealth to pay for them all.
++So on the legal side,I believe this case is a loser. But I am skittish because I do not have any trust in the Supreme Court. Even the plaintiffs lawyers do not believe this is constitutional.
Tuesday, February 10, 2015
President Obama Submits AUMF to Congress
++Rachel Maddow has been the only one arguing that the President needs to submit a bill to Congress asking permission for the current war against Congress.
++Now he has done it,the fur begins to fly. President Obama wants to rescind the authorization for the Iraq War and gives himself three years of legal powers to wage war against ISIS with very opaque language about the possible use of ground soldiers.
++Democrats sort of like the ambiguity, which allows them to assert themselves without being committed to another endless war. Republicans pretty much hate it. John McCain wonders why the President want to limit his own powers. John Cornyn however liked it because it showed that President Obama isn't acting unilaterally.
++Senator Graham doesn't think it goes far enough and doesn't provide for protecting the Syrian "moderates" from Bashir Assad's air force.
++The debate over the next few weeks will be about who it is we are fighting and who are our allies. It should get rocky.
++Now he has done it,the fur begins to fly. President Obama wants to rescind the authorization for the Iraq War and gives himself three years of legal powers to wage war against ISIS with very opaque language about the possible use of ground soldiers.
++Democrats sort of like the ambiguity, which allows them to assert themselves without being committed to another endless war. Republicans pretty much hate it. John McCain wonders why the President want to limit his own powers. John Cornyn however liked it because it showed that President Obama isn't acting unilaterally.
++Senator Graham doesn't think it goes far enough and doesn't provide for protecting the Syrian "moderates" from Bashir Assad's air force.
++The debate over the next few weeks will be about who it is we are fighting and who are our allies. It should get rocky.
Sunday, August 24, 2014
The Last Days of Domestic Policy
++Now that the country and the media is back on war-footing, we shouldn't expect much more on domestic policy initiatives.
++President Obama unveiled his alternative to the HobbyLobby decision that corporations who believe they are religions can oppose contraception. It seems to do the job.
++President Obama in his Friday address urged Congress to reauthorize the Export-Import Bank. Eliminating it has become another Hobby Horse for the Right. It's only been in existence since 1934.
++The Hill did a full page article that President Obama will continue his environmental regulations even though it may endanger Democrats in their mid-term elections.
++President Obama is ordering a review of the authorization of military equipment to local police forces.
++Chief Justice Roberts ordered a stay on same sex marriages in Virginia. Observers think the issue will make the SCOTUS docket in the fall.
++A federal judge declared Florida's ban on same sex marriage unconstitutional.
++Five children that were deported to Honduras were killed. Expect President Obama to issue executive orders on immigration.
++Harry Reid says South Dakota is lost to Democrats in the Senate races.
++Mitch McConnell has vowed to shut down government if elected majority leader and to force President Obama to accept GOP bills. Paul Ryan says that the House will pass a clean bill to raise the debt ceiling.
++Rick Perry was indicted and has taken this as a badge of honor. Scott Walker has been shown to have had the Club of Growth illegally coordinate the funding of his campaign and serve to launder a hefty contribution from a mining firm. Chris Christie's little scandal keeps percolating. It looks like to become the GOP presidential candidate you have to be indicted.
++Willard Romney says that President Obama is worse than he expected. Paul Ryan wants Romney to run again in 2016.
++Rand Paul attacked Hillary Clinton as being a warhawk, which she is.
++Jeff Greenfield writes in the Daily Beast that there is a tendency to have a political party gain a third term in the White House. He pointed out 1968 and 2000 had their own unique issues, which would have led to Democratic victories.
++Lindsey Graham says we must assume the worse when it comes to ISIS attacking the United States. Rick Perry claims jihadist cells are already penetrating the US from Mexico. The Heritage Foundation wants to raise money for militias to patrol the borders to guard against jihadists.
++In gratuitous good news, a Landmark poll has Michelle Nunn leading GOP candidate Perdue 47 to 40 and 3 percent for libertarian Amanda Swafford.
++President Obama unveiled his alternative to the HobbyLobby decision that corporations who believe they are religions can oppose contraception. It seems to do the job.
++President Obama in his Friday address urged Congress to reauthorize the Export-Import Bank. Eliminating it has become another Hobby Horse for the Right. It's only been in existence since 1934.
++The Hill did a full page article that President Obama will continue his environmental regulations even though it may endanger Democrats in their mid-term elections.
++President Obama is ordering a review of the authorization of military equipment to local police forces.
++Chief Justice Roberts ordered a stay on same sex marriages in Virginia. Observers think the issue will make the SCOTUS docket in the fall.
++A federal judge declared Florida's ban on same sex marriage unconstitutional.
++Five children that were deported to Honduras were killed. Expect President Obama to issue executive orders on immigration.
++Harry Reid says South Dakota is lost to Democrats in the Senate races.
++Mitch McConnell has vowed to shut down government if elected majority leader and to force President Obama to accept GOP bills. Paul Ryan says that the House will pass a clean bill to raise the debt ceiling.
++Rick Perry was indicted and has taken this as a badge of honor. Scott Walker has been shown to have had the Club of Growth illegally coordinate the funding of his campaign and serve to launder a hefty contribution from a mining firm. Chris Christie's little scandal keeps percolating. It looks like to become the GOP presidential candidate you have to be indicted.
++Willard Romney says that President Obama is worse than he expected. Paul Ryan wants Romney to run again in 2016.
++Rand Paul attacked Hillary Clinton as being a warhawk, which she is.
++Jeff Greenfield writes in the Daily Beast that there is a tendency to have a political party gain a third term in the White House. He pointed out 1968 and 2000 had their own unique issues, which would have led to Democratic victories.
++Lindsey Graham says we must assume the worse when it comes to ISIS attacking the United States. Rick Perry claims jihadist cells are already penetrating the US from Mexico. The Heritage Foundation wants to raise money for militias to patrol the borders to guard against jihadists.
++In gratuitous good news, a Landmark poll has Michelle Nunn leading GOP candidate Perdue 47 to 40 and 3 percent for libertarian Amanda Swafford.
Monday, June 16, 2014
It's déjà -vu all over again
++ A few weeks ago, I wrote how I enjoyed the Ukraine crisis because I saw commentators emerge whom I used to read during the Cold War, including the Trotskyists.
++Now with the disintegration of Iraq, it is horrifying to see all the enablers of the American invasion re-emerge on the corporate media without any recognition of their past statements or actions.
++The Morning Joe actually had on Paul Bremmer, the American pro-consul to Iraq, who unilaterally disbanded the Iraqi army, whom you see now charging to Baghdad these many years later. At least Mark Halperin raised the question about why should we listen to him. Bremmer said his earpiece fell out so as not to answer.
++Frederick Kagan, the man who created the idea of the surge, appears in the New York Daily News and suggests a whole range of military options but claims this doesn't mean "re-invading" Iraq.
++Face the Nation actually had Paul Wolfowitz on to say we should have stay on like we did in Japan. Now, this man underestimated the cost of Iraq by several trillion, not billion, dollars. Let alone the inconvenient fact that the Iraqis, the American people and the American military wanted us to leave.
++On the blame game, could we be clear--the Iraqi government changed some 200 items in the withdrawal agreement and George W. Bush had no choice but to agree and win a later date for withdrawal. Otherwise, we would have been forced to leave in 2008. Both the Bush and Obama administrations failed to get a Status of Force Agreement because Iraq would not agree to immunity from persecution. And who would disagree with that given Maliki's human rights record. There is an assumption going around that if the United States just huffed and puffed, we could have stayed--and like the advocates of the invasion ignore the cost and blood of staying and the fact that Iraqis were not welcoming us as liberators.
++EU member Straun Stevenson from Scotland wrote an op-ed piece that said that the current situation in Iraq is an Arab uprising against Maliki and his Shiite sectarianism.
++Wolfowitz,McCain and the Bush Administration always argued that sectarianism wasn't a problem in Iraq. The media has done a great job is showing all of McCain's countless Iraq positions.
++Lindsey Graham complains that President Obama is a stubborn man and should have stayed in Iraq. Then he spins around and says we should cooperate with the Iranians to go after ISIS, which I believe we will do.
++Unfortunately, we are back to the rhetorical frenzy before the Iraq war. Lindsey Graham warned about another 9-11. Hopefully, we have more competent people and have taken measures to prevent a recurrence.
++However, I am not so sure. Remember the NSA was created to prevent such an event and it failed. Where was the NSA in predicting the seizure of the Crimea by Putin and the long trail of military operations against the series of Iraqi cities. No where but they have your credit card information.
++I forget Feith appearing over the weekend. The first time in years anyone has heard from the former Deputy of Defense--Douglas Feith. Unbelievable.
++And I forget Pollack at Brookings, who wrote two books on invading Iraq. Naturally, it was going to be short, cheap with few casualties. Pollack now warns of sectarian strife and naturally the Obama Administration can stop it.
++Andrew Sullivan over the weekend wrote about the mind-bending options for President Obama ending up on all sides of the conflict. I think Sullivan maybe over-optimistic that Obama can escape the war machine. I think he will do something and probably aerial attacks because it is an issue of power projection and we have been conditioned to expect this.
++Tony Blair said that the US and UK are not to blame for this fiasco. He actually came out from under a rock and appeared several times in the media.
++The lesson of all this is Shit Floats and you will make good money in Washington, if you are egregiously wrong.
++Meanwhile John Kerry and the Iranian government said they will hold talks this week about cooperating in their efforts against ISIS. The Iranian government also suggested there was a good chance there may be a nuclear agreement by July 20.
++Now with the disintegration of Iraq, it is horrifying to see all the enablers of the American invasion re-emerge on the corporate media without any recognition of their past statements or actions.
++The Morning Joe actually had on Paul Bremmer, the American pro-consul to Iraq, who unilaterally disbanded the Iraqi army, whom you see now charging to Baghdad these many years later. At least Mark Halperin raised the question about why should we listen to him. Bremmer said his earpiece fell out so as not to answer.
++Frederick Kagan, the man who created the idea of the surge, appears in the New York Daily News and suggests a whole range of military options but claims this doesn't mean "re-invading" Iraq.
++Face the Nation actually had Paul Wolfowitz on to say we should have stay on like we did in Japan. Now, this man underestimated the cost of Iraq by several trillion, not billion, dollars. Let alone the inconvenient fact that the Iraqis, the American people and the American military wanted us to leave.
++On the blame game, could we be clear--the Iraqi government changed some 200 items in the withdrawal agreement and George W. Bush had no choice but to agree and win a later date for withdrawal. Otherwise, we would have been forced to leave in 2008. Both the Bush and Obama administrations failed to get a Status of Force Agreement because Iraq would not agree to immunity from persecution. And who would disagree with that given Maliki's human rights record. There is an assumption going around that if the United States just huffed and puffed, we could have stayed--and like the advocates of the invasion ignore the cost and blood of staying and the fact that Iraqis were not welcoming us as liberators.
++EU member Straun Stevenson from Scotland wrote an op-ed piece that said that the current situation in Iraq is an Arab uprising against Maliki and his Shiite sectarianism.
++Wolfowitz,McCain and the Bush Administration always argued that sectarianism wasn't a problem in Iraq. The media has done a great job is showing all of McCain's countless Iraq positions.
++Lindsey Graham complains that President Obama is a stubborn man and should have stayed in Iraq. Then he spins around and says we should cooperate with the Iranians to go after ISIS, which I believe we will do.
++Unfortunately, we are back to the rhetorical frenzy before the Iraq war. Lindsey Graham warned about another 9-11. Hopefully, we have more competent people and have taken measures to prevent a recurrence.
++However, I am not so sure. Remember the NSA was created to prevent such an event and it failed. Where was the NSA in predicting the seizure of the Crimea by Putin and the long trail of military operations against the series of Iraqi cities. No where but they have your credit card information.
++I forget Feith appearing over the weekend. The first time in years anyone has heard from the former Deputy of Defense--Douglas Feith. Unbelievable.
++And I forget Pollack at Brookings, who wrote two books on invading Iraq. Naturally, it was going to be short, cheap with few casualties. Pollack now warns of sectarian strife and naturally the Obama Administration can stop it.
++Andrew Sullivan over the weekend wrote about the mind-bending options for President Obama ending up on all sides of the conflict. I think Sullivan maybe over-optimistic that Obama can escape the war machine. I think he will do something and probably aerial attacks because it is an issue of power projection and we have been conditioned to expect this.
++Tony Blair said that the US and UK are not to blame for this fiasco. He actually came out from under a rock and appeared several times in the media.
++The lesson of all this is Shit Floats and you will make good money in Washington, if you are egregiously wrong.
++Meanwhile John Kerry and the Iranian government said they will hold talks this week about cooperating in their efforts against ISIS. The Iranian government also suggested there was a good chance there may be a nuclear agreement by July 20.
Friday, June 13, 2014
If It's Friday 13th, It's Obama's Fault--#Benghazi!
++John McCain started the morning off blasting President obama and calling for the removal of the entire National Security Council.
++Weirdly enough, Lindsey Graham who had actually sat through the entire classified briefing on Iraq wasn't so sure.
++President Obama said we would not be sending troops to Iraq. Although the idea is ludicrous when you consider we tore everything down or gave it to the Iraqis.
++Ayatollah Sistani through his spokesperson called on all Iraqis to take up arms. His concern is about the Shiite holy sites which he thinks are in danger.
++I received a long analysis from a Sunni sighting eyewitness accounts of how this is a genuine Sunni uprising against Baghdad and how once the army was expelled from different cities it was better.
++Iran sent in their Qods Brigade to fight ISIS. If President Obama comes to the aid of Baghdad, we will be allies with Iran. That actually happened shortly after 9-11.
++Andrew Sullivan at the Daily Dish has done an excellent job of parsing the strange possible alliances the United States might be making if President Obama actually got ensnared in the situation.
++Weirdly enough, Lindsey Graham who had actually sat through the entire classified briefing on Iraq wasn't so sure.
++President Obama said we would not be sending troops to Iraq. Although the idea is ludicrous when you consider we tore everything down or gave it to the Iraqis.
++Ayatollah Sistani through his spokesperson called on all Iraqis to take up arms. His concern is about the Shiite holy sites which he thinks are in danger.
++I received a long analysis from a Sunni sighting eyewitness accounts of how this is a genuine Sunni uprising against Baghdad and how once the army was expelled from different cities it was better.
++Iran sent in their Qods Brigade to fight ISIS. If President Obama comes to the aid of Baghdad, we will be allies with Iran. That actually happened shortly after 9-11.
++Andrew Sullivan at the Daily Dish has done an excellent job of parsing the strange possible alliances the United States might be making if President Obama actually got ensnared in the situation.
Wednesday, June 4, 2014
Chock Full of Nuts
++This afternoon's Impertial Post allowed the voices of wingnuttery sway. We have Allen West write that President Obama doesn't understand the meaning of his own signing statements since West is such a great constitutional lawyer. George Will weighed in on how the President has gone rogue. Judge Michael Mukasy defends the great fortress Gitmo and laments the grotesque display at the Rose Garden and how the leaders of a terrorist group have gone free. The Judge thinks that President Obama doesn't understand the significance of what he has done.
++Marco Rubio earlier in the day said that President Obama was acting as an Emperor.
++The bottom-line since 2008 has been to impeach President Obama and to make sure he can not carry out any of his policies. There is no doubt about this.
++What you see are people seeing their worldview and the instruments they created to box in the President crumble around them. In a way,the disturbing trend of Post op-eds for the past two months on foreign affairs indicates this--an entrenched interest of the national security state trying to save the war machine and hype military interventionism at a drop of the hat.
++There is no alternative vision. They just think that if Obama disappears a return to the old foreign policy will materialize. What worries them is that the structures they depended upon to implement policies abroad are disappearing and can't be replaced. The Times They are A-changin' and they don't know why.
++Josh Rogin has written how Hillary Clinton had disagreed with President Obama over this deal two years ago--which is a different deal than in 2014. This really goes to the media elites still not accepting the legitimacy of President Obama. Hillary Clinton's view is the Democratic Party view. It reminds me of Lady Rothschild's lunatic ravings against President Obama. Hillary Clinton did say she approve this deal and ,yes, then sidestepped it more recently.
++This is a bizarre episode in American history. This is the first time there is a major fight--to the point of calls for impeachment--over a return of a POW. Ed Kilgore at Washington Monthly tries to run down the thinking on this as expressed by Lindsey Graham. So the bottom line is that the GOP must fight to preserve the last remnant of the George W. Bush years, the prison at Guantanamo, even if it means impeaching a sitting President of the United States. What an idea! The GOP admits Iraq is gone and soon Afghanistan. Lindsey said that Obama is "losing the wars". So the whole apparatus they have constructed over more than a decade is crumbling so the President must go.
++This is the normal retributions we saw after the Vietnam War, when the United States withdrew and the North Vietnamese won. The Nixon-Ford White House tried to blame the Democrats. In fact, there are Nixon papers outlining this strategy. Then blame the Left. Then blame Hollywood culture. A lot of the memes from today come from that period in our history. But for the GOP today,they see President Obama has the existential threat to everything they hold dear on the economy and national security. Expect more of this.
++Meanwhile,the gay roadrunners keep moving along. The Supreme Court rejected NOM's petition to hear their objections to Oregon's decision to allow same sex marriage. I couldn't understand what standing NOM had in the case since the Oregon Attorney-General made it clear the state did not want defend their ban on same sex marriage.
++This afternoon Chester Nez,the last of the original Navaho "Code Talkers" died at the age of 93.
++So we finish today in Washington with the desire to impeach President Obama on the following grounds:
1. Like his predecessors he rescued the last POW in Afghanistan.
2. He didn't save the Ambassador and colleagues at Benghazi when they were attacked by someone the Bush Administration released from Gitmo.
3. He had a terrible healthcare. gov website.
4. He ended two wars.
5. He adopted the biggest restrictions on carbon emissions in American history.
6. He didn't know that the IRS was evaluating Dark Money 501-C-4s. He should have if he were like Nixon.
So ending two wars,rescuing a POW and providing health insurance to millions of Americans. Like Fox Shrink Ablow said today, President Obama doesn't want to be part of America.
Sometimes I think they should impeach President Obama because it would give themselves something to do. But I can't imagine this crew even conveying the necessary fake gravitas.
++Marco Rubio earlier in the day said that President Obama was acting as an Emperor.
++The bottom-line since 2008 has been to impeach President Obama and to make sure he can not carry out any of his policies. There is no doubt about this.
++What you see are people seeing their worldview and the instruments they created to box in the President crumble around them. In a way,the disturbing trend of Post op-eds for the past two months on foreign affairs indicates this--an entrenched interest of the national security state trying to save the war machine and hype military interventionism at a drop of the hat.
++There is no alternative vision. They just think that if Obama disappears a return to the old foreign policy will materialize. What worries them is that the structures they depended upon to implement policies abroad are disappearing and can't be replaced. The Times They are A-changin' and they don't know why.
++Josh Rogin has written how Hillary Clinton had disagreed with President Obama over this deal two years ago--which is a different deal than in 2014. This really goes to the media elites still not accepting the legitimacy of President Obama. Hillary Clinton's view is the Democratic Party view. It reminds me of Lady Rothschild's lunatic ravings against President Obama. Hillary Clinton did say she approve this deal and ,yes, then sidestepped it more recently.
++This is a bizarre episode in American history. This is the first time there is a major fight--to the point of calls for impeachment--over a return of a POW. Ed Kilgore at Washington Monthly tries to run down the thinking on this as expressed by Lindsey Graham. So the bottom line is that the GOP must fight to preserve the last remnant of the George W. Bush years, the prison at Guantanamo, even if it means impeaching a sitting President of the United States. What an idea! The GOP admits Iraq is gone and soon Afghanistan. Lindsey said that Obama is "losing the wars". So the whole apparatus they have constructed over more than a decade is crumbling so the President must go.
++This is the normal retributions we saw after the Vietnam War, when the United States withdrew and the North Vietnamese won. The Nixon-Ford White House tried to blame the Democrats. In fact, there are Nixon papers outlining this strategy. Then blame the Left. Then blame Hollywood culture. A lot of the memes from today come from that period in our history. But for the GOP today,they see President Obama has the existential threat to everything they hold dear on the economy and national security. Expect more of this.
++Meanwhile,the gay roadrunners keep moving along. The Supreme Court rejected NOM's petition to hear their objections to Oregon's decision to allow same sex marriage. I couldn't understand what standing NOM had in the case since the Oregon Attorney-General made it clear the state did not want defend their ban on same sex marriage.
++This afternoon Chester Nez,the last of the original Navaho "Code Talkers" died at the age of 93.
++So we finish today in Washington with the desire to impeach President Obama on the following grounds:
1. Like his predecessors he rescued the last POW in Afghanistan.
2. He didn't save the Ambassador and colleagues at Benghazi when they were attacked by someone the Bush Administration released from Gitmo.
3. He had a terrible healthcare. gov website.
4. He ended two wars.
5. He adopted the biggest restrictions on carbon emissions in American history.
6. He didn't know that the IRS was evaluating Dark Money 501-C-4s. He should have if he were like Nixon.
So ending two wars,rescuing a POW and providing health insurance to millions of Americans. Like Fox Shrink Ablow said today, President Obama doesn't want to be part of America.
Sometimes I think they should impeach President Obama because it would give themselves something to do. But I can't imagine this crew even conveying the necessary fake gravitas.
All Aboard the Crazy Train
++Since we can't talk about the EPA's new rules,let's go straight to the controversy over the release of Sgt.Bergdahl.
++Michael Tomasky writes in the Daily Beast that his release is crack for the GOP.
++Even Wonkette gets in on the action. It seems that a former CIA agent Clare Lopez e-mailed former congressman tea bagger West to say that Bergdahl's father said a few lines from the Quran in Arabic at the White House and that act by itself makes the White House a mosque. Allen West wants to file articles of impeachment, even though he accused Obama of leaving Bergdahl behind.
++Paul Waldman laments the GOP's inability to argue their case and try and persuade anyone. Instead,they act like President Obama released Marvel Comics Heros capable for ending life as we know it.
++Jason Chaffetz, who had urged the Administration to obtain Bergdahl's release, says "We gave the Taliban their starting team back".
++John McCain ,who also was for the release of Bergdahl, said that Obama released "the toughest of the tough".
++Lindsey Graham said that Obama released "The Taliban Dream Team."
++Ollie North--yes, Ollie North--worries that Obama gave ransom and funds to a terrorist group.
++Earlier this morning,Republicans who had tweeted their congratulations on Bergdahl's release quickly deleted their messages.
++Talking Points Memo mentions that the last video prior to today's of the release of Bergdahl showed him in a very weakened condition and that this video convinced James Clapper to sign off on the prisoner exchange.
++Intelligence and Pentagon personnel who resisted the exchange were concerned about whether any of the networks the Taliban commanders ran still existed and whether Qatar would take adequate measures to ensure they didn't get back on the battlefield until we left.
++Others pointed out that they had not been charged with any attacks on the US military and had been away for almost 13 years.
++The New York Times this morning discounted the reports by the GOP-inspired military personnel that Bergdahl's flight had led to the deaths of Americans.
++It should be noted that the Taliban is not listed as a terrorist organization by the United States. Technically,those at GITMO were enemy combatants and would have to be released once the United States ceased military operations.
++Michael Tomasky writes in the Daily Beast that his release is crack for the GOP.
++Even Wonkette gets in on the action. It seems that a former CIA agent Clare Lopez e-mailed former congressman tea bagger West to say that Bergdahl's father said a few lines from the Quran in Arabic at the White House and that act by itself makes the White House a mosque. Allen West wants to file articles of impeachment, even though he accused Obama of leaving Bergdahl behind.
++Paul Waldman laments the GOP's inability to argue their case and try and persuade anyone. Instead,they act like President Obama released Marvel Comics Heros capable for ending life as we know it.
++Jason Chaffetz, who had urged the Administration to obtain Bergdahl's release, says "We gave the Taliban their starting team back".
++John McCain ,who also was for the release of Bergdahl, said that Obama released "the toughest of the tough".
++Lindsey Graham said that Obama released "The Taliban Dream Team."
++Ollie North--yes, Ollie North--worries that Obama gave ransom and funds to a terrorist group.
++Earlier this morning,Republicans who had tweeted their congratulations on Bergdahl's release quickly deleted their messages.
++Talking Points Memo mentions that the last video prior to today's of the release of Bergdahl showed him in a very weakened condition and that this video convinced James Clapper to sign off on the prisoner exchange.
++Intelligence and Pentagon personnel who resisted the exchange were concerned about whether any of the networks the Taliban commanders ran still existed and whether Qatar would take adequate measures to ensure they didn't get back on the battlefield until we left.
++Others pointed out that they had not been charged with any attacks on the US military and had been away for almost 13 years.
++The New York Times this morning discounted the reports by the GOP-inspired military personnel that Bergdahl's flight had led to the deaths of Americans.
++It should be noted that the Taliban is not listed as a terrorist organization by the United States. Technically,those at GITMO were enemy combatants and would have to be released once the United States ceased military operations.
Thursday, May 1, 2014
Obamacare Scores and Benghazi Diversions
++The great Brainwrap or Charlie Gaba predicted 8.4 as his final figure for the end of the initial enrollment period. Close and give him a cigar anyway. It was 8.3 million.
++HHS released its figures today just after the GOP released their report on Obamacare, where they claimed only 2/3rds had paid and that government figures were low.
++Health insurance companies warned the House panel that their own figures on payment were way behind. Of course, it's really 90-94%, a far cry from the House figures.
++The 18-24 years doubled in enrollments from 1.1-2.2 million in a month, making them 28% of the demographic.
++The 36 states with exchanges doubled from February to April --2.6 million to 5.4 million.
++In red states like Florida,Georgia,Arkansas and North Carolina,enrollments hit six figures and Democratic candidates are beginning to be aggressive in support of the ACA and medicaid expansion.
++Roughly, 19 million have benefited from the ACA, not including the rest of us with better benefits and a cap on spending.
++But the GOP digressed back to Benghazi and the debate on the new talking points memo unearthed by Judicial Watch. Dave Wiegel and others have analyzed this more closely than others and concluded that the big snafu was that it had not been released sooner to the Hill. Otherwise we are back into a fight over versions of talking points that generated from the C.I.A.
++Let us reason together. Ambassador Stevens twice refuses additional security,interrupts his vacation and flys to Bengazi, is supposed to receive MPADS from the local militia for transport to Turkey or Syria. He gets killed. The CIA head of the time was General Petraeus. The State Department spokeswomen at the time was Victoria Nuland,who was a former aide to Dick Cheney. The Republicans at the time thought this would be a September Surprise so Mitt Romney broke the campaign truce on 9-11 and attacked the President of the United States.
++Now protests surrounded the embassy in Cairo and Sa'na, Yemen at the same time based on outrage at the video made by a Coptic Christian based in L.A. Washington did not have the details on Benghazi yet but the helpful C.I.A. conflated the events together, which now is known to be wrong. So now the new document only adds that the White House NSC officer vetted the final talking points so as not to give the GOP room to criticize the President. Spin. Not unknown to a White House.
++But the real issue was a cover-up of a covert operation that tangentially led to the death of 4 Americans, who had been involved in it. It should be noted that in the days and weeks afterwards no evidence emerged that Al Qaeda committed this attack. That is the working assumption of the GOP investigations. So do we really want to know what Ambassador Stevens was up to?
++Lindsey Graham claims the new document is a smoking gun. Darryl Issa says this shows a criminal act--getting talking points wrong? Or not submitting this document?
++This all comes as the elite media is beginning the war drums again--for what I can't tell. Maureen Dowd in the New York Times,Richard Haas and Leon Weseltier have begun the chorus that Obama's foreign policy is leading the world to chaos and he must lead.
Now the theme is that President Obama is so weakened with so long to go in office. Andrew Sullivan has a take on this today showing how Americans have no stomach for greater intervention abroad and that Obama is trying a balancing act to accommodate the non-interventionist mood of the country and maintain America's global dominance.
++John McCain introduced the Russian Aggression Prevention Act today. The Congressional Republicans are demanding Ukraine be given arms.
++If you want an empire, you must pay for an empire. If you want another war, then you must pay for it.
++HHS released its figures today just after the GOP released their report on Obamacare, where they claimed only 2/3rds had paid and that government figures were low.
++Health insurance companies warned the House panel that their own figures on payment were way behind. Of course, it's really 90-94%, a far cry from the House figures.
++The 18-24 years doubled in enrollments from 1.1-2.2 million in a month, making them 28% of the demographic.
++The 36 states with exchanges doubled from February to April --2.6 million to 5.4 million.
++In red states like Florida,Georgia,Arkansas and North Carolina,enrollments hit six figures and Democratic candidates are beginning to be aggressive in support of the ACA and medicaid expansion.
++Roughly, 19 million have benefited from the ACA, not including the rest of us with better benefits and a cap on spending.
++But the GOP digressed back to Benghazi and the debate on the new talking points memo unearthed by Judicial Watch. Dave Wiegel and others have analyzed this more closely than others and concluded that the big snafu was that it had not been released sooner to the Hill. Otherwise we are back into a fight over versions of talking points that generated from the C.I.A.
++Let us reason together. Ambassador Stevens twice refuses additional security,interrupts his vacation and flys to Bengazi, is supposed to receive MPADS from the local militia for transport to Turkey or Syria. He gets killed. The CIA head of the time was General Petraeus. The State Department spokeswomen at the time was Victoria Nuland,who was a former aide to Dick Cheney. The Republicans at the time thought this would be a September Surprise so Mitt Romney broke the campaign truce on 9-11 and attacked the President of the United States.
++Now protests surrounded the embassy in Cairo and Sa'na, Yemen at the same time based on outrage at the video made by a Coptic Christian based in L.A. Washington did not have the details on Benghazi yet but the helpful C.I.A. conflated the events together, which now is known to be wrong. So now the new document only adds that the White House NSC officer vetted the final talking points so as not to give the GOP room to criticize the President. Spin. Not unknown to a White House.
++But the real issue was a cover-up of a covert operation that tangentially led to the death of 4 Americans, who had been involved in it. It should be noted that in the days and weeks afterwards no evidence emerged that Al Qaeda committed this attack. That is the working assumption of the GOP investigations. So do we really want to know what Ambassador Stevens was up to?
++Lindsey Graham claims the new document is a smoking gun. Darryl Issa says this shows a criminal act--getting talking points wrong? Or not submitting this document?
++This all comes as the elite media is beginning the war drums again--for what I can't tell. Maureen Dowd in the New York Times,Richard Haas and Leon Weseltier have begun the chorus that Obama's foreign policy is leading the world to chaos and he must lead.
Now the theme is that President Obama is so weakened with so long to go in office. Andrew Sullivan has a take on this today showing how Americans have no stomach for greater intervention abroad and that Obama is trying a balancing act to accommodate the non-interventionist mood of the country and maintain America's global dominance.
++John McCain introduced the Russian Aggression Prevention Act today. The Congressional Republicans are demanding Ukraine be given arms.
++If you want an empire, you must pay for an empire. If you want another war, then you must pay for it.
Monday, March 31, 2014
Brainwraps Final Projection for Midnight
++Brainwrap ala Charles Gaba has been working the media for the last few days and friends have filled in. The Nate Silver of Obamacare's final projection for midnight tonight is 6.9-7 million on the exchanges. In short, it would hit the original CBO estimate.
++Kathleen Sebelius, Secretary of HHS says that 83-90% of the enrollees have paid at least their first months insurance bill. This was to be the next great GOP talking point.
++ Sensing this isn't going their way, Fox and Friends kept challenging Lindsey Graham about where was the GOP alternative. Crickets.
++Kathleen Sebelius, Secretary of HHS says that 83-90% of the enrollees have paid at least their first months insurance bill. This was to be the next great GOP talking point.
++ Sensing this isn't going their way, Fox and Friends kept challenging Lindsey Graham about where was the GOP alternative. Crickets.
Saturday, November 6, 2010
One More Cup of Coffee Before I Go*
*Bob Dylan
One of my many election blunders was to suggest Bill White might win the election fro Governor of Texas. All Texans and Americans would have been better off. Now Rick Perry announced after winning an unprecedented third term that he might not complete his term. Immediately, he appeared on national television because he is going to run for President. He said George W was a great President because "he defended us against our freedom."
Following on the George W.'s ideas that the deficits have nothing with your own actions, Perry is facing a mammoth $25 billion budget deficit he failed to inform voters about during the campaign. So in the new Republican mantra, what does he want to do?
Appearing on CNN's Parker/Spitzer show, he suggested that states be allowed to opt-out of social security. Has anyone noticed during the last year how individual citizens have dropped off the Republican rader screen in favor of corporate entities such as companies, banks and states? Perry pointed out that three counties in Texas had opted out of social security for their public employees in 1981 and he said the program was successful. However, observers of that program say that the public employees over the years did poorly compared to what they would have done in social security.
Joe Miller, the thug candidate for Senate in Alaska, also proposed the same thing. He suggests that states takeover Social Security and Medicare. His plan once analyzed required draconian provisions, such as a mandate that everyone must retire in the same state that they worked and paid taxes. Also, younger workers would move to an opt-out state to avoid paying Social Security taxes and then promptly move to a state with Social Security benefits the moment they become eligible. Eventually the whole system would collapse.
Well, in Texas, Republican lawmakers are actually proposing to drop out of the federal Medicaid program so as to solve their budget shortfall. Helped by the D.C.-based Heritage Foundation, Texas would save some $60 billion from 2013 to 2019 by opting out of Medicare and the Children's Health Insurance Program, dropping all coverage for acute care. Currently, Texas has 3.6 million children , people with disabilities and impoverished Texans enrolled in Medicaid and CHIP.
In the type of new Republican thinking, State Senator Jane Nelson summarized it best saying that it was worth considering dropping out of Medicaid for fiscal reasons--as long as that didn't jeopardize the quality of care.
They could also save enormous amounts of money by eliminating public education and privatizing all highways (which is something Perry is doing).
And seniors voted for Republicans because Barack Obama cut $500 billion from the Medicare subsidies to the health insurance companies? Puh-Leese.
Stay tuned as more of this insanity gets transmitted through the Great Right-Wing Wurlizer.
Another great moment of the day was Eric Cantor wanted to separate aid to Israel from the overall foreign aid bill, signalling the Republicans want to decimate foreign aid. Now think about this--our foreign aid has increased as a substitute for our military expenditure in countries like Iraq and Afghanistan. The idea was that our aid would help stabilize these countries after we have left, thus ensuring that it wouldn't look like we just abandoned these people. This has escaped the new House majority. However, it was the Jewish groups that flipped out and objected, having been promised that American foreign aid in general would not be cut. The other point is that if you do separate aid for Israel--some day the vote will turn against you.
Up in Halifax, Nova Scotia--which had enjoyed my sane presence about one month ago--Senator Lindsey Graham fired up with Republican victories told the Canadian audience that Barack Obama must abandon his approach to Iran and be willing to go to war against Tehran, even though Americans don't want any more wars. Also, Lindsey called for a confrontation with China. Don't laugh. Mitt Romney before the Heritage Foundation last year said the same thing.
Senate Republicans led by Country Last McCain believe their increased strength will force President Obama from leaving Afghanistan this coming summer and will pressure him to attack Iran. The David Broder article suggesting that Iran would save Obama was not just the idle thoughts of a senile old man--apparently there are the idle thoughts of several senile old men.
I guess everyone missed being radicals when they were young so now in their later years they are going for broke.
One of my many election blunders was to suggest Bill White might win the election fro Governor of Texas. All Texans and Americans would have been better off. Now Rick Perry announced after winning an unprecedented third term that he might not complete his term. Immediately, he appeared on national television because he is going to run for President. He said George W was a great President because "he defended us against our freedom."
Following on the George W.'s ideas that the deficits have nothing with your own actions, Perry is facing a mammoth $25 billion budget deficit he failed to inform voters about during the campaign. So in the new Republican mantra, what does he want to do?
Appearing on CNN's Parker/Spitzer show, he suggested that states be allowed to opt-out of social security. Has anyone noticed during the last year how individual citizens have dropped off the Republican rader screen in favor of corporate entities such as companies, banks and states? Perry pointed out that three counties in Texas had opted out of social security for their public employees in 1981 and he said the program was successful. However, observers of that program say that the public employees over the years did poorly compared to what they would have done in social security.
Joe Miller, the thug candidate for Senate in Alaska, also proposed the same thing. He suggests that states takeover Social Security and Medicare. His plan once analyzed required draconian provisions, such as a mandate that everyone must retire in the same state that they worked and paid taxes. Also, younger workers would move to an opt-out state to avoid paying Social Security taxes and then promptly move to a state with Social Security benefits the moment they become eligible. Eventually the whole system would collapse.
Well, in Texas, Republican lawmakers are actually proposing to drop out of the federal Medicaid program so as to solve their budget shortfall. Helped by the D.C.-based Heritage Foundation, Texas would save some $60 billion from 2013 to 2019 by opting out of Medicare and the Children's Health Insurance Program, dropping all coverage for acute care. Currently, Texas has 3.6 million children , people with disabilities and impoverished Texans enrolled in Medicaid and CHIP.
In the type of new Republican thinking, State Senator Jane Nelson summarized it best saying that it was worth considering dropping out of Medicaid for fiscal reasons--as long as that didn't jeopardize the quality of care.
They could also save enormous amounts of money by eliminating public education and privatizing all highways (which is something Perry is doing).
And seniors voted for Republicans because Barack Obama cut $500 billion from the Medicare subsidies to the health insurance companies? Puh-Leese.
Stay tuned as more of this insanity gets transmitted through the Great Right-Wing Wurlizer.
Another great moment of the day was Eric Cantor wanted to separate aid to Israel from the overall foreign aid bill, signalling the Republicans want to decimate foreign aid. Now think about this--our foreign aid has increased as a substitute for our military expenditure in countries like Iraq and Afghanistan. The idea was that our aid would help stabilize these countries after we have left, thus ensuring that it wouldn't look like we just abandoned these people. This has escaped the new House majority. However, it was the Jewish groups that flipped out and objected, having been promised that American foreign aid in general would not be cut. The other point is that if you do separate aid for Israel--some day the vote will turn against you.
Up in Halifax, Nova Scotia--which had enjoyed my sane presence about one month ago--Senator Lindsey Graham fired up with Republican victories told the Canadian audience that Barack Obama must abandon his approach to Iran and be willing to go to war against Tehran, even though Americans don't want any more wars. Also, Lindsey called for a confrontation with China. Don't laugh. Mitt Romney before the Heritage Foundation last year said the same thing.
Senate Republicans led by Country Last McCain believe their increased strength will force President Obama from leaving Afghanistan this coming summer and will pressure him to attack Iran. The David Broder article suggesting that Iran would save Obama was not just the idle thoughts of a senile old man--apparently there are the idle thoughts of several senile old men.
I guess everyone missed being radicals when they were young so now in their later years they are going for broke.
Friday, September 24, 2010
I Am Outraged--Americans Prefer Sweden
Yesterday, Huffington Post published a report that showed Americans at every income level totally underestimate the distribution of wealth in this country. They thought the top 20% of the country controls 54% of our wealth. The real answer is 84%.
Now comes along a study by Dan Arliely of Duke University and Michael I. Norton of Harvard Business School, which surveyed a randomly selected 5,522 person sample that reflected the country's ideological, economic and gender demographics. The report was based on Jon Rawls' questions about what is just and covered perceptions of fair income distribution. People making over $100,000 and those making under $50,000 had similar responses. In fact, the responses showed that America has much more of an egalitarian ethos than our political system shows. The sample was presented with unlabeled pie charts showing various income distribution in three different countries, including our own. 92% of such a large sample answered they would rather live in a country where the top 20% only controlled 36% of the wealth. And naturally, that country happens to be Sweden, the great bugaboo for conservatives.
We might have gotten a hint of this when the Right started attacking Obama as a socialist. Polls during the first month or two of these accusations showed a sharp increase among the Millenials for socialism, reaching 35% at one point.
So from the sublime to the ridiculous. Paul Krugman in today's article examines the Republicans pledge to cut the national debt. He points out that the extension of the Bush tax cuts permanently would add $3.7 trillion to the deficit--about $700 billion more than the Obama administration's tax proposals. Then they had one specific cut--canceling the rest of the TARP program, which they claim incorrectly would save $16 billion. That's less than half of 1% of the tax cuts they have rewarded themselves. Then Krugman says that everything must be cut "except for common-sense exceptions for seniors, veterans and our troops". In short, Social Security, Medicare and the Defense Budget are off-limit.
He asks what's left? Here he relies on Howard Gleckman of the Tax Policy Center. Gleckman says that the only way to balance the budget by 2020, while simultaneously A.) making the Bush tax cuts permanent and (b.) protecting all the programs Republicans say they won't cut, is to completely abolish the rest of the federal government. "No more national parks, no more Small Business Administration loans, no more export subsidies, no more N.I.H. No more Medicaid (one-third of its budget pays for long-term care for our parents and others with disabilities). No more child health or child nutrition programs. No more highway construction. No more homeland security. O, and no more Congress." Krugman asks what happens when such a movement achieves the power it seeks? The answer, presumably, is that it turns to its real, not-so-secret agenda, which mainly involves privatizing and dismantling Medicare and Social Security.
Krugman doesn't think they will achieve their long-term agenda anytime soon. "So the clear and present danger isn't that the G.O.P. will be able to achieve its long-run goals. It is rather, that Republicans will gain just enough power to make the country ungovernable, unable to address its fiscal problems or anything lese in a serious way. As I said, banana republic, here we come."
Richard Haas has return from a trip to Europe and he reports that foreigners are appalled at the level of debate in this country and doubt whether to take America seriously ever again. This observation simply does not compute with conservatives I talk with. They simply can not conceive of a world where people no longer hang on our every word or are no longer dependent on us for their defense and well-being. We've lost a decade and whole regions have roared with development and been neglected by us and are thriving. The thrill of the United States overcoming its racism to elect its first black President has given way to laughing horror at our healthreform debate and real shock at our Wall Street reform debate.
Brits like John le Carre and Neil Kinnock sort of see us either coming out of a McCarthyite period as in the Bush-Cheney years or lapsing back into it. As Kinnock said, "The election of tea party folks would be a disaster for America and the rest of the world." Remember this all comes as Europeans are trying to re-examine and evaluate their role and complicity in the war against terror and in Britain their intimate involvment in the invasion of Iraq. We have not allowed ourselves the same process. In fact, Lindsey Graham actually spoke at AEI about introducing legislation to bring back "enhanced interrogation."
Now comes along a study by Dan Arliely of Duke University and Michael I. Norton of Harvard Business School, which surveyed a randomly selected 5,522 person sample that reflected the country's ideological, economic and gender demographics. The report was based on Jon Rawls' questions about what is just and covered perceptions of fair income distribution. People making over $100,000 and those making under $50,000 had similar responses. In fact, the responses showed that America has much more of an egalitarian ethos than our political system shows. The sample was presented with unlabeled pie charts showing various income distribution in three different countries, including our own. 92% of such a large sample answered they would rather live in a country where the top 20% only controlled 36% of the wealth. And naturally, that country happens to be Sweden, the great bugaboo for conservatives.
We might have gotten a hint of this when the Right started attacking Obama as a socialist. Polls during the first month or two of these accusations showed a sharp increase among the Millenials for socialism, reaching 35% at one point.
So from the sublime to the ridiculous. Paul Krugman in today's article examines the Republicans pledge to cut the national debt. He points out that the extension of the Bush tax cuts permanently would add $3.7 trillion to the deficit--about $700 billion more than the Obama administration's tax proposals. Then they had one specific cut--canceling the rest of the TARP program, which they claim incorrectly would save $16 billion. That's less than half of 1% of the tax cuts they have rewarded themselves. Then Krugman says that everything must be cut "except for common-sense exceptions for seniors, veterans and our troops". In short, Social Security, Medicare and the Defense Budget are off-limit.
He asks what's left? Here he relies on Howard Gleckman of the Tax Policy Center. Gleckman says that the only way to balance the budget by 2020, while simultaneously A.) making the Bush tax cuts permanent and (b.) protecting all the programs Republicans say they won't cut, is to completely abolish the rest of the federal government. "No more national parks, no more Small Business Administration loans, no more export subsidies, no more N.I.H. No more Medicaid (one-third of its budget pays for long-term care for our parents and others with disabilities). No more child health or child nutrition programs. No more highway construction. No more homeland security. O, and no more Congress." Krugman asks what happens when such a movement achieves the power it seeks? The answer, presumably, is that it turns to its real, not-so-secret agenda, which mainly involves privatizing and dismantling Medicare and Social Security.
Krugman doesn't think they will achieve their long-term agenda anytime soon. "So the clear and present danger isn't that the G.O.P. will be able to achieve its long-run goals. It is rather, that Republicans will gain just enough power to make the country ungovernable, unable to address its fiscal problems or anything lese in a serious way. As I said, banana republic, here we come."
Richard Haas has return from a trip to Europe and he reports that foreigners are appalled at the level of debate in this country and doubt whether to take America seriously ever again. This observation simply does not compute with conservatives I talk with. They simply can not conceive of a world where people no longer hang on our every word or are no longer dependent on us for their defense and well-being. We've lost a decade and whole regions have roared with development and been neglected by us and are thriving. The thrill of the United States overcoming its racism to elect its first black President has given way to laughing horror at our healthreform debate and real shock at our Wall Street reform debate.
Brits like John le Carre and Neil Kinnock sort of see us either coming out of a McCarthyite period as in the Bush-Cheney years or lapsing back into it. As Kinnock said, "The election of tea party folks would be a disaster for America and the rest of the world." Remember this all comes as Europeans are trying to re-examine and evaluate their role and complicity in the war against terror and in Britain their intimate involvment in the invasion of Iraq. We have not allowed ourselves the same process. In fact, Lindsey Graham actually spoke at AEI about introducing legislation to bring back "enhanced interrogation."
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Rt 66 at The Last Manatee
I think I've finally figured out the politics of the new Right. Protect the unborn and worry about future generations' debt and not give a damn about living people. That's a winning formula.
On the debt, I've finally solved it. We fixed the social security problem with my rise the ceiling on the FICA tax. We solved the National Military/ Terrorist deficit by limiting national security costs to double that of the next largest country's expenditures. That saves us about $1 trillion a year. And the Medicare issue, which has bothered me, is now resolved. Think Howard Dean and the public option, which was not included in the healthcare bill. Progressives take note. Health costs rise for people 50 or over, with the largest expenditures of health costs at the end of life. By widening the risk pool, you lower the costs. So allow for all Americans to enroll in Medicare, which would bolster its revenues and lower long-term costs by spreading the risk to other demographic groups. Take our three proposals together, the national debt issue is solved.
Taxes. Republicans figured they would box Democrats in on the tax issue for the mid-terms as we saw yesterday, especially with the nonsense that tax cuts pay for themselves. The Democrats plan to make the Bush Middle Tax Cuts permanent this term with the exception of the brackets above $250,000. This puts Republicans in a monkey trap of their own doing. They are already moaning that it is the top brackets who stimulate the economy. Now Democrats have to point out that most small businesses don't make a profit of $200,000 a year and they should actually restore income-averaging, which got dropped years ago because of some special interest no one remembers. Add that and they have a winner.
Elizabeth Warren, American heroine. All the noise about Senate confirmation is nonsense. She doesn't have to be approved by the Senate so her "difficulties " are nonsense. Labor Unions and over 3 dozen members of the House have petitioned the White House to appoint her. The first leader of the new Consumer Agency will set the tone for its whole existence.
Bob Herbert had an interesting op-ed in the New York Times where he writes that Obama and the Democrats had an historic chance and blew it completely on generating jobs. Herbert claims that they should have focused on the issue of an economic recovery and the creation of jobs before anything, including healthcare reform. He suggested a large jobs program in clean energy. Interestingly, former Republican Governor of Pennsylvania Tom Ridge also had suggested at the time of the stimulus package a Manhattan-style project on energy to revitalize the economy. I share some of Herbert's thoughts but I still come back to the fact that President Obama came in office with only one major party operating in the country and the other using procedural tricks to stop and stall every new initiative. I also believed the stimulus was too small and that has turned out to be right but politically I can't see how it could have been different with the poison here in the Potomac.
My only comment on the faux scandal of the USDA employee is that her father had been lynched by the KKK, which might color her views on white folks, and still she saved the white couples farm, which shows she did rise above racism.
Sister Glenn Beck's sponsor Goldfine is now being investigated by the state of California and the U.S. Congress. Goldfine is peddled by conservative talk show hosts and makes its money by selling gold coins way above market prices.
A correction of a Huffington Post piece, Lindsey Graham's vote for Elena Kagan was necessary. The author said she had the Democrats' vote but didn't need Republicans. She needed at least one Republican to get her nomination to the floor. Never fear though, Frank Gaffney published a piece in the Washington Times saying once again that Elena Kagan supports Sharia Law. Why wouldn't conservatives support Sharia Law. If you hate women and want lower interest rates on credit cards, Sharia Law is the way to go.
The research wing ( you have to love it) of Focus on Your (Not My) Family produced a DVD urging Christians to vote or they will go to hell. What happens if you're sick?
Chet Traylor, a former State Supreme Court Judge" has entered the Republican primary race against Diaper Dave Vitter on the platform he is the "most moral candidate". The prostitute loving Louisiana Senator looks in trouble. But, wait, Judge Traylor has to explain his affairs with two married women. No wonder Charlie Cook downgraded the Republican chances in the race.
One surprise is Alex Sink, the Democrat, now leading for governor of Florida. I thought she was a particular weak candidate but the Republicans are self-destructing there. Charlie Crist has widened his lead recently over Marco Rubio. Florida voters are also calling for Crist to caucus with the democrats if he wins.
I happen to agree with progressive who thought the Democrats in West Virginia caved to the Republicans by allowing a sitting politicians to run for two seats at the same time. This would allow Shelly Capito, the Republican House member to run for Senate. She was the only viable candidate against Governor Manchin. This morning she announced she would not run for the seat, making it probable that the Democrats will not suffer another Scott Brown situation in Massachusetts.
Barbara Boxer, no hobo herself, is running ads against Carly Fiorina about Carly's two yachts. What's great was the response from Fiorina's spokeswoman, telling an economically depressed state that having two yachts was reasonable.
Part three of the Washington Post's investigative piece on Secret America appeared today. The whole series is a must read, detailing the Rube Goldberg machine of our intelligence community.
President Obama is signing the Wall Street Reform Bill into law today. Pundits claim that the series of great legislative accomplishments have not help President Obama and the Democrats. Well, they may have helped the country. Gallup, which is doing a boom business, has a new gimmick to pacify critics--they have shown quarterly reports of drops in Obama's approval rating to 47.5% for the last quarter. So this can be used to dominish a 49% average of the year.
On the debt, I've finally solved it. We fixed the social security problem with my rise the ceiling on the FICA tax. We solved the National Military/ Terrorist deficit by limiting national security costs to double that of the next largest country's expenditures. That saves us about $1 trillion a year. And the Medicare issue, which has bothered me, is now resolved. Think Howard Dean and the public option, which was not included in the healthcare bill. Progressives take note. Health costs rise for people 50 or over, with the largest expenditures of health costs at the end of life. By widening the risk pool, you lower the costs. So allow for all Americans to enroll in Medicare, which would bolster its revenues and lower long-term costs by spreading the risk to other demographic groups. Take our three proposals together, the national debt issue is solved.
Taxes. Republicans figured they would box Democrats in on the tax issue for the mid-terms as we saw yesterday, especially with the nonsense that tax cuts pay for themselves. The Democrats plan to make the Bush Middle Tax Cuts permanent this term with the exception of the brackets above $250,000. This puts Republicans in a monkey trap of their own doing. They are already moaning that it is the top brackets who stimulate the economy. Now Democrats have to point out that most small businesses don't make a profit of $200,000 a year and they should actually restore income-averaging, which got dropped years ago because of some special interest no one remembers. Add that and they have a winner.
Elizabeth Warren, American heroine. All the noise about Senate confirmation is nonsense. She doesn't have to be approved by the Senate so her "difficulties " are nonsense. Labor Unions and over 3 dozen members of the House have petitioned the White House to appoint her. The first leader of the new Consumer Agency will set the tone for its whole existence.
Bob Herbert had an interesting op-ed in the New York Times where he writes that Obama and the Democrats had an historic chance and blew it completely on generating jobs. Herbert claims that they should have focused on the issue of an economic recovery and the creation of jobs before anything, including healthcare reform. He suggested a large jobs program in clean energy. Interestingly, former Republican Governor of Pennsylvania Tom Ridge also had suggested at the time of the stimulus package a Manhattan-style project on energy to revitalize the economy. I share some of Herbert's thoughts but I still come back to the fact that President Obama came in office with only one major party operating in the country and the other using procedural tricks to stop and stall every new initiative. I also believed the stimulus was too small and that has turned out to be right but politically I can't see how it could have been different with the poison here in the Potomac.
My only comment on the faux scandal of the USDA employee is that her father had been lynched by the KKK, which might color her views on white folks, and still she saved the white couples farm, which shows she did rise above racism.
Sister Glenn Beck's sponsor Goldfine is now being investigated by the state of California and the U.S. Congress. Goldfine is peddled by conservative talk show hosts and makes its money by selling gold coins way above market prices.
A correction of a Huffington Post piece, Lindsey Graham's vote for Elena Kagan was necessary. The author said she had the Democrats' vote but didn't need Republicans. She needed at least one Republican to get her nomination to the floor. Never fear though, Frank Gaffney published a piece in the Washington Times saying once again that Elena Kagan supports Sharia Law. Why wouldn't conservatives support Sharia Law. If you hate women and want lower interest rates on credit cards, Sharia Law is the way to go.
The research wing ( you have to love it) of Focus on Your (Not My) Family produced a DVD urging Christians to vote or they will go to hell. What happens if you're sick?
Chet Traylor, a former State Supreme Court Judge" has entered the Republican primary race against Diaper Dave Vitter on the platform he is the "most moral candidate". The prostitute loving Louisiana Senator looks in trouble. But, wait, Judge Traylor has to explain his affairs with two married women. No wonder Charlie Cook downgraded the Republican chances in the race.
One surprise is Alex Sink, the Democrat, now leading for governor of Florida. I thought she was a particular weak candidate but the Republicans are self-destructing there. Charlie Crist has widened his lead recently over Marco Rubio. Florida voters are also calling for Crist to caucus with the democrats if he wins.
I happen to agree with progressive who thought the Democrats in West Virginia caved to the Republicans by allowing a sitting politicians to run for two seats at the same time. This would allow Shelly Capito, the Republican House member to run for Senate. She was the only viable candidate against Governor Manchin. This morning she announced she would not run for the seat, making it probable that the Democrats will not suffer another Scott Brown situation in Massachusetts.
Barbara Boxer, no hobo herself, is running ads against Carly Fiorina about Carly's two yachts. What's great was the response from Fiorina's spokeswoman, telling an economically depressed state that having two yachts was reasonable.
Part three of the Washington Post's investigative piece on Secret America appeared today. The whole series is a must read, detailing the Rube Goldberg machine of our intelligence community.
President Obama is signing the Wall Street Reform Bill into law today. Pundits claim that the series of great legislative accomplishments have not help President Obama and the Democrats. Well, they may have helped the country. Gallup, which is doing a boom business, has a new gimmick to pacify critics--they have shown quarterly reports of drops in Obama's approval rating to 47.5% for the last quarter. So this can be used to dominish a 49% average of the year.
Sunday, February 14, 2010
In Your Guts, You Know He's Nuts,and She is too
Emerging like a huge cartoon head from Monty Python, Dick Cheney returned to the video screen to lament the failure of the Obama Administration to waterboard the gonad bomber. Interviewed by my old executive assistant Jon Karl, Cheney again complained that Obama took away the tool of torture in fighting terrorism. But the Liberator of Buffalo did suppport the rescinding of Don't Ask, Don't Tell. Cheney blasted Joe Biden's statements this week on Larry King supporting Obama's policy in Iraq. CNN--which has gone mental these days--referred to Dick Cheney and Sarah Palin as the voices of the GOP on national security.
Thank heaven, Joe Biden showed up to point out that Cheney is trying to rewrite history. Joe pointed to the Obama Administration eliminating 12 out of 24 of the top Al Qaeda leaders and 100s more of their affiliates. Al Qaeda is now in disarray and running for cover, which inhibits their chance to wage sophisticated attacks. He also repeated the refrain that the gonad bomber was not treated any differently than the Shoe Bomber. Biden also got the dig in that so far over the 300 terrorists tried in criminal courts, none are free and all are in prison. But two out of the three tried by military commissions are free on the streets. He also blasted Cheney for being responsible for shredding the Constitution.
My point about trying terrorists in crimnal court is pretty simple. These are people bent on killing, they are not warriors; they are not combatants and to treat them any different is to afford them the status they don't deserve and that they crave.
The Washington Post printed an article today rehashing the criticism that Obama is killing more terrorists through drones, depriving our intelligence services of the chance to capture terrorists and interrogating them for more information. The sourcing of the material is indicative of the internal fight. Anonymous intelligence agents decry their lack of human materials to work on, while the military positively respond to the new policy and say the Commander-in-Chief often gives the go-ahead himself. They also cite the killing of the person responsible for the Kenyan embassy bombing in Somalia and how fast Obama responded in attacking Al Qaeda in Yemen.
So far we haven't heard from Cheney and his acolytes about the Obama Administration breaking up a large-scale plan to attack New York City on the anniversary of 9/11. That was done by the FBI and not the spooks. Nor have we heard about the killing of the mastermind of the bombing of the USS Cole. But conservatives did send e-mails out purporting to be from a window of a sailor slain in the incident claiming Obama was weak on terrorism. Nor have we heard from our vaunted media about how Al Qaeda Arabian Peninsula is the sole creation of Dick Cheney himself who personally released the men from Gitmo.
Ms. Lindsey Graham weighed in today calling for Jack Brennen's resignation as counter-terrorism czar. Brennen, who has served several Presidents, doesn't take prisoners as witnessed by his sharp response to the Republicans this past week.
Sarah Palin said on Fox News that Obama would try to win re-election by declaring war on Iran. Now today, she believes he should declare war on Iran. The Republican adoption of pre-emptive war, an unprecedented doctrine in American history, got us where we are today. Apparently, it doesn't matter that Obama has beefed up defense systems for the Gulf states, looked sideways at Israeli assassinations of Iranian agents and Hezbollah and Hamas leaders, and sent Hillary Clinton to the Gulf to prepare for the next stage of sanctions on Iran. Presumably, we should declare war--the Congress' role, not the President's--and wing it like in Iraq. I don't think we have the manpower or the $1 or 2 trillion to do the job. Or I don't think we can take the massive hit again on American prestige in the world.
But, never fear, operatives in the RNC are preparing for Ms. Sarah. Rumors have it that there is such bad blood after the last election that knives are being sharpened for 2011 to take Palin out. RNC operatives believe Palin was a massive mistake and that she is dangerous. When you hear negative news about her, it will be Republican leakers. We already know from the words of Steven Schmidt and others on the McCain campaign some of the politically juicy stuff but there is alot more to follow. Apparently, Sarah has an open marriage with her husband "The First Dude", who was revealed this week to be a major decider on policies in her State House. While the Obama campaign purposively avoided frontal attacks on Palin during the campaign, we should expect Republicans to be not so queasy. They claimed she had sex all along the campaign trail with leading Republicans. They also know that at least two affairs in Alaska led to her family businesses being closed--the laundromat and a snowmobile franchise. They also claim that her business woes far surpass Clinton's Whitewater 's problems. They also know that her son serving in Iraq was giving a choice of jail or enlistment by an Alaskan judge for his rampage vandalizing school busses. RNC people promise they will not let her get off the ground in 2011.
Thank heaven, Joe Biden showed up to point out that Cheney is trying to rewrite history. Joe pointed to the Obama Administration eliminating 12 out of 24 of the top Al Qaeda leaders and 100s more of their affiliates. Al Qaeda is now in disarray and running for cover, which inhibits their chance to wage sophisticated attacks. He also repeated the refrain that the gonad bomber was not treated any differently than the Shoe Bomber. Biden also got the dig in that so far over the 300 terrorists tried in criminal courts, none are free and all are in prison. But two out of the three tried by military commissions are free on the streets. He also blasted Cheney for being responsible for shredding the Constitution.
My point about trying terrorists in crimnal court is pretty simple. These are people bent on killing, they are not warriors; they are not combatants and to treat them any different is to afford them the status they don't deserve and that they crave.
The Washington Post printed an article today rehashing the criticism that Obama is killing more terrorists through drones, depriving our intelligence services of the chance to capture terrorists and interrogating them for more information. The sourcing of the material is indicative of the internal fight. Anonymous intelligence agents decry their lack of human materials to work on, while the military positively respond to the new policy and say the Commander-in-Chief often gives the go-ahead himself. They also cite the killing of the person responsible for the Kenyan embassy bombing in Somalia and how fast Obama responded in attacking Al Qaeda in Yemen.
So far we haven't heard from Cheney and his acolytes about the Obama Administration breaking up a large-scale plan to attack New York City on the anniversary of 9/11. That was done by the FBI and not the spooks. Nor have we heard about the killing of the mastermind of the bombing of the USS Cole. But conservatives did send e-mails out purporting to be from a window of a sailor slain in the incident claiming Obama was weak on terrorism. Nor have we heard from our vaunted media about how Al Qaeda Arabian Peninsula is the sole creation of Dick Cheney himself who personally released the men from Gitmo.
Ms. Lindsey Graham weighed in today calling for Jack Brennen's resignation as counter-terrorism czar. Brennen, who has served several Presidents, doesn't take prisoners as witnessed by his sharp response to the Republicans this past week.
Sarah Palin said on Fox News that Obama would try to win re-election by declaring war on Iran. Now today, she believes he should declare war on Iran. The Republican adoption of pre-emptive war, an unprecedented doctrine in American history, got us where we are today. Apparently, it doesn't matter that Obama has beefed up defense systems for the Gulf states, looked sideways at Israeli assassinations of Iranian agents and Hezbollah and Hamas leaders, and sent Hillary Clinton to the Gulf to prepare for the next stage of sanctions on Iran. Presumably, we should declare war--the Congress' role, not the President's--and wing it like in Iraq. I don't think we have the manpower or the $1 or 2 trillion to do the job. Or I don't think we can take the massive hit again on American prestige in the world.
But, never fear, operatives in the RNC are preparing for Ms. Sarah. Rumors have it that there is such bad blood after the last election that knives are being sharpened for 2011 to take Palin out. RNC operatives believe Palin was a massive mistake and that she is dangerous. When you hear negative news about her, it will be Republican leakers. We already know from the words of Steven Schmidt and others on the McCain campaign some of the politically juicy stuff but there is alot more to follow. Apparently, Sarah has an open marriage with her husband "The First Dude", who was revealed this week to be a major decider on policies in her State House. While the Obama campaign purposively avoided frontal attacks on Palin during the campaign, we should expect Republicans to be not so queasy. They claimed she had sex all along the campaign trail with leading Republicans. They also know that at least two affairs in Alaska led to her family businesses being closed--the laundromat and a snowmobile franchise. They also claim that her business woes far surpass Clinton's Whitewater 's problems. They also know that her son serving in Iraq was giving a choice of jail or enlistment by an Alaskan judge for his rampage vandalizing school busses. RNC people promise they will not let her get off the ground in 2011.
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
Cheney Death March Continues
Greta van Cistern looked absolutely destroyed when Dick Cheney told her there was absolutely no evidence that Iraq had anything to do with 9/11. He also reminded us there were no WMDs in Iraq but that was the fault of the intelligence comunity ( notice it's always "community" not the more menacing "services"). 9/11 itself was the result of failures by Richard Clarke and the same intelligence community because they didn't pound on his door enough. Well, the two memos that prove he was right all the time--well, they really talk about the success of the "interrogation program in general" like, I presume, the FBI agent who coaxed information out of an Al Qaeda operative by giving the diabetic man a sugar-free cookie. Apparently, the two memos are not the ode to torture Cheney had previously claimed. Now he says that invading Iraq has saved thousands of lives--torture is gone now from the lexicon and now the real life-saver is the Iraq War. So, is there anything else he would like to get off his chest? Today's papers report that Cheney was involved in the briefings on the Hill, where torture was ok'd.
Pat Buchanan is right,"White guys can't seem to catch a break." I believe it dates to the time the Lil' Rascals let Darla into their clubhouse. At least we had the Raccoons, while the "Honeymooners" was on television. Now it looks like seven men on the Supreme Court might be tied by the apron strings of two women. Lindsey Graham wants to know what Sotomayor thinks about "America". Where does he think she came from? Even the MSM refer to her parents migrated from Puerto Rico? If you move within the United States, does that make you an immigrant?
Mitt Romney has always been awkward. His speech on national security at the Heritage Foundation was an inopportune attack on President Obama as he departed the U.S. for his Middle Eastern tour. Mitt argues that Obama must spend more on defense--even though he's spending more than George W--because we face China, Russia and the jihadis as enemies. The bigger price tag is because China pays their army less and can make things cheaper than in the United States. Now that we spend more on defense than the entire earth combined, how much more? Are there any other enemies we can conjure so that as we re-militarize we can pay trillions in interest to the Chinese to foot the bill? To me the speech was a incoherent patchwork of the old, the used and the preposterous.
Pat Buchanan is right,"White guys can't seem to catch a break." I believe it dates to the time the Lil' Rascals let Darla into their clubhouse. At least we had the Raccoons, while the "Honeymooners" was on television. Now it looks like seven men on the Supreme Court might be tied by the apron strings of two women. Lindsey Graham wants to know what Sotomayor thinks about "America". Where does he think she came from? Even the MSM refer to her parents migrated from Puerto Rico? If you move within the United States, does that make you an immigrant?
Mitt Romney has always been awkward. His speech on national security at the Heritage Foundation was an inopportune attack on President Obama as he departed the U.S. for his Middle Eastern tour. Mitt argues that Obama must spend more on defense--even though he's spending more than George W--because we face China, Russia and the jihadis as enemies. The bigger price tag is because China pays their army less and can make things cheaper than in the United States. Now that we spend more on defense than the entire earth combined, how much more? Are there any other enemies we can conjure so that as we re-militarize we can pay trillions in interest to the Chinese to foot the bill? To me the speech was a incoherent patchwork of the old, the used and the preposterous.
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