He Said If The Other Guy Would Run He wouldn't , Now He Won't

++Paul Ryan, he of "dynamic scoring" and Medicare vouchers, said that if Willard "Mitt" Romney ran again for President he wouldn't. Today Paul Ryan announced he wasn't running for President.

++Meanwhile Willard said he was certain to run and would run to the right of Jeb Bush on immigration and taxes.

++Rick Santorum decried Rand Paul and Ted Cruz' lack of experience and lampooned their thoughts of running for President. "They are bomb-throwers." And "Frothy Mix" doesn't know anything about that.

It really is Bergdahlzi

++Paul Ryan told Virginia Republicans that the House was going to "investigate" the swap for Bergdahl.

++The Senate Armed Services Committee is supposed to hold classified hearings on the subject on Tuesday.

++Whipping up Citizens United in New Hampshire, Rand Paul tweeted "Hey, Mr.President, trade five Democrats for Bergdahl." In his actual speech, he said, "Trade Hillary for Bergdahl."

++President Obama in his interview with Brian Williams on NBC news said he would do it again and will if another American soldier is held captive. He also said it was an unanimous decision by his principals and the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

++Hillary Clinton told an astonished Diane Sawyer that she agrees with President Obama decision because the first principle is to try and get everyone left home.

++If I were any Democrats on these committees, I would produce Rinse Penis" "Impeach Obama for not bringing Bergdahl home" placards to show how this was going to go anywhichway the Right decides.

++To capture the Right's patriotic spirit, a Davy Crockett imitator rallied the Texan Republicans to an armed insurrection against dictator Obama.

Set The Calendar Again For Another Game

++Watching the Senate slow crawl to a budget deal reminds me of waiting for paint to dry. A sprinkle of nominations continue to be approved. Yes,despite the alarmist news of yesterday, the budget deal made cloture at 67 to 33.

++Now the pundits are gaming the 2014 elections. You see with President Obama at 43% approval rating and the majority of Americans hating both parties,the Amazon Post again raises the possibility of a wave election for the Republicans.

++Paul Ryan is back as Washington's darling, the Jesus of the GOP. The applause is that he has his name on a real piece of legislation. Previously,he got rid of taxes on arrows for bows and arrows and got a post office named.

++Republicans have seen their generic poll gap to Democrats being reversed so their mantra for 2014 is not to do anything at all. They do not want to upset voters with another shutdown. Although they are threatening to hold the debt ceiling hostage. But no one knows when this will take place--somewhere from March to May.

++Scott Brown has moved to New Hampshire and is sounding out whether to run for Senate there, having grown up in southern New Hampshire.

++Like others in the GOP, Brown plans to run against Obamacare.

++Meanwhile Obamacare with its Medicaid expansion has topped the 3 million mark and is climbing. It will be interesting to see how running against it will fly next November.

++Since I bungled on the 2010 elections, I doubt whether I will make any predictions on the House this year. The prize is the Senate. This will be Karl Rove's third consecutive shot at taking over the Senate. If the Democrats can hold for 2014, then 2016 on will look good.

++The contests I am most interested in are the Governors' races--particularly Pennsylvania,Florida and Ohio. 

++We should note that the compromise budget is $200 billion less than the Obama budget and lacks unemployment benefits for over 1 million Americans. Somehow the Administration believes that the deal allows them to move ahead on their legislative agenda for the rest of President Obama's term.

++The news stories for the year will be about fake wars in both parties. 

++A Federal judge has ruled--sort of--that the NSA domestic spying is unconstitutional. He punted the issue upwards for an appeal by the government before recommending changes.

++The NSA last week suggested Snowden should get amnesty in return for telling them everything he stole.The Obama Administration said no to amnesty. Snowden has asked Brazil for asylum in return for helping them on NSA spying in Brazil.

++Immigration reform advocates still say they can get it passed by the end of next year.

Sunday Misc.

++The article of the Day is by Francis Schaeffer,"The Slow Motion Lynching of President Barack Obama" at www.patheos.com. Frank defends the President from his critics on both the Right and the Left.

++Pope Francis, Time Magazine's Person of the Year, says to his critics he isn't a Marxist but has known many fine Marxists as people.

++Nate Silver sort of agrees with Charlie Cook that the GOP stands a 50-50 chance of getting the Senate. He predicts the GOP will have 50-51 seats after the 2014 election. Harry Reid says this is hogwash. Silver says the cause is the retirement of three Democrats.

++Peter O'Toole is dead at 81.

++Madiba is buried in his hometown of Qunu.

++Paul Ryan says the GOP will be meeting during the Holidays to discuss what they will demand for raising the debt ceiling. But he admits that no one knows when that will be.

++The AP has a story that the "so-called" stand-down order in Benghazi was issued by the CIA station chief and fights broke out among CIA officers in Libya. But no one would say anything could have been done to save the Ambassador's life. 

++President Obama is withholding the release of the CIA report on the Bay of Pigs fiasco. He is also trying to prevent the Senate from releasing its 6,000 page report on the use of torture by the United States.

++Walter Jones,(R-N.C.) is asking for the release of the censored portion of the 9/11 Report concerning the Saudi government and diplomats' involvement in assisting the hijackers. The New York Post today printed a summary of the findings.

++The NSA is offering an amnesty if Snowden will tell him everything he stole.

++Danish and Norwegian ships are ready to transport 500tons of Syria's most dangerous chemicals as part of the agreement they dispose of their chemical weapons.

++American officials will be meeting with the Islamist part of the Syrian opposition after they overran the Free Syrian Army and chased General Idriss into exile.

++There are now 23 million Syrian refugees, who may become permanent exiles. Their humanitarian plight has become catastrophic with the winter weather.

++John McCain is in the Ukraine urging peace. He does say that more sanctions against Iran are inevitable. 

Advice to Democrats: Just run against Kooks

++I've had early morning e-mails from the fans of the Cooch, which trumpet the Quinnipiac poll which only shows the Macker 5 pts ahead of the Cooch. This supporter says that the Cooch always wins from behind in every race he has run. Blue Virginia this morning posts all the recent polls including the reliable Roanoke poll which shows the Macker up 7. Since the Cooch has been behind in every poll since July, it is beginning to look like McCain's bid to win Pennsylvania when he was losing every known poll there. Here, the fear is that the wingnuts will come out while Democrats stay home. 

++James Carville penned a memo in August saying that the GOP may lose its overwhelmingly advantage among seniors and that will influence 2014. Today, the Democracy Corps released its latest Battleground poll of 49 Republican Districts and 24 Democratic congressional seats. In the Republican districts, the senior vote is tied. In the Democratic districts ,Democrats lead by 14 in seniors overall and by 9 among white seniors. In a Women's Voices Women Vote poll, Republicans only lead by 6 among seniors, compared to 21% in 2010 and 12% in 2012. The reasons for the drop are the government shutdown, the support among seniors for what ACA has done for Medicare recipients, and support for infrastructure investment and education--things the GOP are against.

++Over on the conservative side, Arthur Brooks at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) called the social safety net, one of the greatest achievements of our society. He called on the GOP to "declare peace on the social safety net".  However, I believe that is a futile call with food stamps ending on November 1 and the Farm Bill still being stuck in the budget conference.

++Paul Ryan killed the "Grand Bargain" this morning when he said that Social Security and Medicare cuts should be on the table and he was dismissed. Instead, it looks like a mini-bargain may be arranged with none of those items on the table.

++Offhand, it looks strange that Bill de Blasio is sweeping the floor in New York City against former MTA chairman Lhota. But de Blasio only has to show his opponent is a Kook. You no longer have to run against a Republican because the name is meaningless. 

++In Ohio, where John Kasich decided to expand Medicaid coverage, lawn signs are appearing for the elections where Republicans now have to hide their party affiliation. It is a symptom of a larger disease.

Muhammed Ali versus George Foreman--Sam Wang vs. Nate Silver

++About the only good thing coming from the government shutdown is the reappearance of Sam Wang. Please read Sam Wang's follow-up posts at elections.princeton.edu. He has gone behind the numbers to project the 2014 House elections. He thinks it is 50-50 now whether the Democrats can take back the House. But his re-emergence provoked Nate Silver, who believes that this too will pass and not make the dent Wang thinks. Wang disagrees because the turn against Republicans is deeper and more systemic than the pseudo-scandals generated against President Obama. Great to read dueling wonks.

++Another good thing from the shutdown has been the pent-up writing we have been hit with. John Judis in the New Republic analyzes the Collapse of the Republican Party. Salon had a great piece on how the South dominates the GOP and its awful implications for the country. Andrew Sullivan at his The Dish analyzes the "nullification of the Obama Presidency" by the Teabaggers and reflects on the bizarre demonstration outside the White House with protestors waving Confederate flags. Charles Pierce at Esquire has been merciless on his analysis of the GOP's shutdown.

++Yes, Virginia,a default would be catastrophic. The financial leaders of the world meeting in Europe warned the United States that default would shake the world. Louie Gohmert says a default of the debt would be an "impeachable" offense. Of course, if President Obama invokes the 14th Amendment it would be seen as an impeachable offense. My suggestion is that the House GOP open the government and lift the debt ceiling and go right into impeachment because that it what the House GOP wanted all along after the election.

++Despite Mark Halperin on "Morning Joe" and Bob Corker and Senator Schumer saying we are close to an agreement on the debt ceiling, I doubt it. We are back to the point where the House GOP is in such chaos,I don't believe they can pass anything in time.

++Rand Paul doesn't think a debt default is a good idea and wants to raise the age of Social Security and cut Medicare as a condition. Paul Ryan wants to prohibit contraceptive coverage for health insurance as a condition of the debt ceiling raise. The House Caucus wanted budget cuts. 

++The Democrats are fighting back by refusing to accept a prolongation of the sequester,which Senator Collins proposed. The Beltway pundits believe this could be an example of Democratic overreach. Ezra Klein had written this past weekend that whatever happens a long term budget deal in the future is dead. Next year, the sequestration cuts begin to take big hunks out of the blotted defense budget. In another world, the Republicans should oppose this. But we are in Superman's Bizarro world.

++John McCain who is apoplectic now appeared on the Sunday Talk shows to urge Democrats to be gracious and give something so the GOP can step down. The conventional wisdom is that there has to be some face-saving gesture for John Boehner so that he keeps his job. "I got to get something out of this." 

++David Plouffe, the mastermind of Obama's 2008 victory, outs a default at 50-50. 

Gonzo GOP

++I can't tell anymore the difference between the Republican congresscritter and Bryan Ferry of the Religious Right Talk Shows. I simply could not tell you why they shut the government down and why they believe there would not be an economic collapse if they breached the debt ceiling. Today, they were even more confusing. The House has offered sort of a clean debt ceiling bill, but would keep the government closed down while the Administration and the Democrats would talk--about what? Paul Ryan earlier in the day suggested a clean debt ceiling and the House immediately negotiate a budget with the Senate, who has been waiting since March. This seems fine ,except how does the government open. The Senate Republicans tonight are urging a one-year clean debt ceiling and a CR, which would eliminate the tax of medical devices and verify the income of Obamacare recipients. But it is unclear whether the House would pass that.

++Today, House Republicans said they were giving up on defunding Obamacare, while Heritage and the Club of Growth urged a clean debt ceiling but keeping the government closed so as to negotiate over Obamacare. Eric Erickson of Red State threatened the Republicans with the creation of a third party because they failed to defund Obamacare.

++It does look like the bankers, the Koch Brothers and the Chamber of Commerce did bring the hammer down on the GOP over the debt ceiling.During the day, you could feel the tension go out of the Capitol and Wall Street rocketed back up over 15,000.

++I have written about President Obama using the 14th Amendment to raise the debt ceiling but it suddenly dawned on me that Congress would be violating the 14th Amendment by breaching the debt ceiling. Does anything happen to them?

++I have a tendency to be obsessed until I can make sense out of something. The  polls--the latest from the Wall Street Journal--show the GOP at 24% approval, while President Obama's rising to high 40s and Rasmussen to 50%. The GOP is 7 points lower than their lowest point, which was the day they impeached President Clinton. What gives?

++Personally, I think the GOP was out to destroy President Obama's Presidency but got so tangled up in their story that they  showed their "Tell". Basically, the GOP was committed at the time of Obama's swearing in to not only obstruct the Presidency but to fundamentally re-orient our democracy. The imperial presidency, which they created and sought to make the unitary executive as envisioned by Dick Cheney, is of no more use to them.

++Why was there such a lack of response to President Obama's request for armed force in Syria among a party that thrilled at war? It was not because the anti-war factions in each party triumphed, while that was partly true. Instead, the GOP has become isolationists. Notice how they don't even comment on the destruction of the Syrian chemical weapons. They floated the idea that this was some sort of Potemkin Ruse but reality shows differently. So move on. What is their response to the cutting of aid to Egypt? John McCain is the only one who has commented but the GOP just doesn't give a damn.

++Why? After Reince Preibus issued his paper on the need for GOP outreach,the party has gone in reverse direction. Even during the shutdown, there was talk about attaching more anti-abortion language and anti-contraception language in the CR. Despite a rally of thousands for immigration reform,there is no response from the House. And the continual attacks on President Obama are not meant to win the hearts and minds of the African American community. The "Cooch" went out of his way to reinstate the anti-sodomy laws in Virgina to no avail. Chris Christie appealed the court's decision to allow same-sex marriage in New Jersey. If anything, the whole Out Reach issue has gone into reverse.

++Today, the press revealed that the House changed their own rules on September 30 that prohibited any law from reaching the floor unless it was approved by the Speaker. That's why we had the shutdown. Also, the House today suggested that a clean bill on the debt ceiling would prohibit the Fed from using the powers of exigency to loan the Treasury money. The Center for American Progress actually hailed this as giving some certainty to the actual time of the debt ceiling. But it would erode an executive privilege, which would save a financial meltdown. 

++The net effect is that the Republican establishment has collapsed and it sees itself only as a congressional party and ,I believe, abandoned any serious ambitions to seize the White House. So the idea is to strip this President, especially, but all other Democratic presidents of the overwhelming power of the presidency. Basically,the Tea Party and the Business Community would dictate to the President the direction of the country.

++Many have called this neo-confedaratism and it is. The Art Popes and the Koch Brothers will continue to buy up states like North Carolina and Wisconsin and set the agenda for those states. The House Republicans from gerrymandering and voter suppression will retain their majority and hope they can take back the Senate. But even in the Senate,Mitch McConnell has set the tone of their behavior forcing 60 votes until a bill can reach the floor. This in essence blocks all Democratic initiatives. 

++They got into any Presidential election too far behind on the electoral votes. Changing how these votes are counted has been tried but in its most flagrant manner been dismissed by the courts. Even with voter suppression, they know women will remain about 61% of the vote and African-Americans and Hispanics will continue to rise.But any real outreach would jeopardize their congressional lock.

++The bizarre spectacle we have seen in the last week has been a full-blown civil war among Republicans with the potential that the rest of us would pay considerable collateral damage. When the dust settles, do not expect any moderation from Republicans or that they will stop this nonsense until Barack Obama leaves office.

++Finally, I guess  you should expect it. The Right is now going after Janet Yallin. Their campaign is against her because she is soft on inflation--something that hasn't been around for the last 6 years. 

What I've learned in the Last Week

++Gun registries will be hacked by China and then given to Mexico, according to Wayne La Pierre.

++Paul Ryan has to close over 6.5 trillion in tax loopholes to balance his budget in ten years.

++John Boehner agrees with Paul Krugman that we don't have a debt problem for ten years.

++Pope Francis really was for Argentina in the Malvinas war with Britain.

++A majority of Americans now think the Iraq War wasn't a good idea. Paul Wolfowitz claims it was badly managed. David Frum regrets it but not the phrase "Axis of Evil", his lonely contribution to the debate.

++The RNC released a report that a majority of Americans find Republicans scary.

++At CPAC the diversity panel debated the merits of slavery.

++Because they need some outreach, Republicans will support immigration reform. Both the Senate and House committees have completed their work.

++President Obama is going to end global warming by executive order according to the National Review.

++The Obama Administration is trying to feed alternative energy futures in pension funds for the military.

++David Pflouffe says that Hilary Clinton is the strongest candidate on either side for 2016.

++Hillary Clinton came out today and endorsed same sex marriage.

++ Over two-thirds of Southern Baptists believe same sex marriage is inevitable. What's nice is that over 3/4rds of those responding did not believe they should face discrimination in either accommodations for the celebration or hotel rooms.

++Evangelist Rick Bell came out and endorsed same sex marriage.

++Pope Francis does not. But he did choose the name after St. Francis of Assisi not the founder of the Jesuits. Interestingly he said he thought of all the wars when he chose the name, not the issue of poverty. Economically Pope Francis seems to be a Peronista. His first public speech called on the Church to serve the poor.

++Hugo Chavez will not be embalmed because the Russian technicians say he would have to stay 6-8 months in Russia for preparations.

++Vice President Madura wants President Obama to stop plotting against his opponents. The previous day he said that Otto Reich was planning to kill his opponent. Previous to that he said President Obama gave Hugo Chavez cancer.

++Pope Francis' parents fled to Argentina to escape Mussolini, the hero of Father Koch, the man who founded the Koch fortune.

++Cliff Kincaid told the CPAC audience that the Vatican had been infiltrated by Marxists and President Obama and George Soros had been manipulating the Papal Conclave.

++Iran has launched their first home-grown Destroyer into the Caspian City, a stunt which will please Vladimir Putin.

++Bibi Netanyahu is on his best behavior for President Obama,stopping settlement construction on the West Bank.

++Annie Leibowitz did her magic on Michelle Obama for this week's Vogue magazine.

++John Boehner, the second highest Catholic in the U.S. government, turned down the White House offer to send him and Joe Biden to the Vatican to greet the new Pope.

++Rob Portman decided to endorse same-sex marriage after his son came out. He assured his audience that the Romney camp said that he had not been turned down for Vice President because his son was gay. Wanna Bet. His announcement brought condemnation from conservatives who said that family matters should never change one's principles like in the case of, say, Dick Cheney who actively campaigned for same sex marriage in Maryland.

++Willard Romney told CPAC not to be pessimistic because the best is yet to come or some such pablum.

++Bill Kristol attached Rand Paul's criticism of John McCain and Lindsey Graham as ignoring 50 years of GOP foreign policy. The problem with Kristol's Weekly Standard piece was that it equated war with foreign policy.

++The Guardian and BBC magazine printed LBJ's tapes about Richard Nixon sabotaging the Vietnam peace talks in 1968. The tape was the subject of the quest of the Plumbers who brought about Watergate. Nixon feared that it would get out that he committed treason and had the Plumbers go to the Brookings Institute. Robert Parry did a good piece on this for the Alternative News Consortium.

++Rand Paul continued his family's tradition of winning the CPAC Straw Poll,edging out Marco Rubio and Rick Santorum.Conservatives will have to square the younger libertarians with the Tea Baggers. Not pretty.

++The big brouhaha on the Drone attacks may have come too late. It looks like this year's drone attacks are far less than last year and that the Administration is now trying to create a legal regime for future Presidents.

++The Right is upset that President Obama's endless campaigning will make him look like a Washington insider. Okay. Isn't that better than a Kenyan Muslim Socialist?

++But never fear Dinesh DeSouza is coming back to your screens with a second film about how Obama is destroying America. This should be as good as his last.

++The Easter Egg Hunt will take place at the White House despite sequestration. It is funded privately. 

++George Will says that the issue of procreation is what will make the Supreme Court reject same sex marriage. Come again.

++Fans--like me--of Bayard Rustin are urged to sign onto the White House petition to award Bayard on his 101th birthday The Medal Of Freedom. DOJ had previously wanted to honor Bayard but after thousands and thousands of pages of wiretaps that seemed inappropriate unless accompanied by an apology.

++A young experimental percussionist who happens to have my last name surpassed his goal of raising funds for his debut album on kickstarter,com. Way to go! 

++Jack DeJohnette, Jazz great, played at the Kennedy Center as part of his 70th Birthday Tour. Great and I hope the young percussionist has as accomplished a career.

++According to John Thanis in his Vatican Diaries, Pope Benedict secretly drilled into St.Paul's tomb to see whether any body was there. It was. Now who it was is open to debate.

++There must be a congressional recess because I haven't heard any nonsense all day.

Oh Great, More Shining Objects

If you want to see Weiner's weiner,you can see the Breibart leaked penis shot at Gawker.com.

Howard Stern says he wants to have sex with Rachel Maddow.

Rachel Maddow thinks David Vitter, the Republican Senator from Lousiana should resign because he was a frequent customer of madams in D.C. and New Orleans. What Ms Maddow doesn't realize is that Vitter has the winning charm of wearing beautiful lingerie, according to the madam in New Orleans. This counters his habit of weaing diapers in D.C. And should give him a by.


And those are the high points of the week.

I'm curious to know whether any statements by Republicans vying in the Presidential primaries will be used against them in the general election. Maybe it's just the summer silly season but there have been some real corkers. Is the winning strategy of people like Romney and Huntsman just to be pummelled by the crazies so they look moderate and sane for the general election?

Romney was in Michigan for fund-raising. He was rightly attacked by local Republicans and former Democratic governor Jennifer Granholm for telling "Detroit To Drop Dead" in his statements against the bailout of the auto industry.

But he was also blasted for his statements saying that humans contributed to climate change. Rush Limbaugh said Romney's position on climate change means,"By,By Nomination."

Jon Huntsman has been blasted in video ads on RINOS for his role as a Western governor in forming an alliance with other governors, including The Arnold, to promote alternative energy sources to combat climate change. The religious Right is also attacking him on his support for civil unions for gay partners.

But we have some wingdings.

Herman Cain says he won't sign a bill over 3 pages long. That's great. What would that do to the defense appropriations bill. Cain wants loyalty tests for Muslims and will hire gays because they won't support Sharia Law. His solution to illegal immigration is to build the equvalent of the great Wall of China and have a moat filled with alligators on the border with Mexico. Cain also will join Joey Lieberman at Glenn Beck's "Restore Courage" rally in Jerusalem. Cain is also noted for not knowing what the right to return is but he did say,"You mess with Israel, you mess with America." He currently is tracking at about 10% in the polls.

Frothy Mix Santorum will outlaw gay marriage by insisting on a constitutional amendment outlawing same sex marriage. He also denounced the exceptions for a woman's health on abortion bills as ludicrous. And he denounced climate change as "junk science".

Rudy Guiliani, according to Bill Kristol, will throw his Yankee camp in the ring and run for the nomination. Rudy has been tough on Romney the last two weeks and has been in New Hampshire regularly.


South Carolina lawmakers are now making the pilgrimage to New Jersey to court Chris Chrissie for a run for the nomination. The Governor seems to making the appropriate moves. He's introduced anti-labor legislation so he can don the Scott Walker crown and he has succumbed to the Koch Brothers' pressure and moved away from the state's alternative energy program, which had been successful.

The Magical Mystery Tour is soon to begin. Six Republican contenders (?) will be travelling the country together on a bus. Included in this strange adventure will be Newt, Michelle Bachmann and Greg Johnson. I think Ringo Starr should join them. Unfortunately, the way things are going, Ringo would soon be the odds-on favorite for the nomination.

The Tea Party Patriots, claiming to represent 3,000 affiliated groups, is against the Tea Party Express' endorsement of Mitt Romney. The Patriots' co-founder Jenny Beth Martin said there is no grass-roots support for Mitt and that they do not believe they should automatically endorse the Republican nomination.

Newt's campaign has collapsed. Senior strategists and key aides--the high command--have quit en masse because the direction of the campaign wasn't compatible with Newt's vision.

Wisconsin is not only running fake Democrats against the Republicans in the recall elections, they are redistricting Paul Ryan's district so that it will be even redder because they worry he will be seriously challenged this year.

Polls show that Americans are split on raising the debt ceiling limit. The problem is that they do not know what it is and actually believe it is a license to increase deficit spending, which will happen anyway. Americans are also unaware of how much the Bush tax cuts contributed to the debt problem but are accurately aware of the cost of the wars and the Medicare Plan D. Talk Progress celebrated yesterday's 10th anniversary of the Bush tax cuts by listing all the programs that could have been funded if we still had the $2.5 trillion they cost the government.

By now, most Americans realize that Paul Ryan is not an economist and knows nothing about Medicare. But is there no political price one pays for flat out lying about the debt ceiling. Ryan really did say that defaulting on our debt would be a good thing. There is no known economist or economic policy type on the Right, Middle or Left who believes this in the least. Ryan's statements were not just bluster or gaming the negotiations with the President on cuts, they were flat out ignorance. The very scary news is that House Republicans really, really believe this nonsense. This goes beyond Thomas Frank's analysis of the Wrecking Crew. This is the Demolition Team.

Is the current Republican insanity just based on their animus against President Obama or are they simply doubling down on a failed ideology without regard to its consequences?

If you are Center-right in inclination, you have to be in a panic when you read Tim Pawlenty's economic program or Newt's more modest calls for the eradication of parts of the government. Pawlenty's program as I wrote yesterday will be Bush on steroids, plunging America to a point where it really could never recover. These are not debatable statements. This is reality-based conclusions. Pawlenty is more radical than Ryan--both plans plunging America into a century of enormous debt and destroying what fig leaves are left of our social welfare net.

If you hold these views, I think you owe an explanation to the public about what happens after you have dismantled local, state and federal government and public education, how does your plan actually create wealth and jobs? No one on any side believes that tax cuts have created any jobs and enhanced the economy of the country. So, besides despising this country, what possible benefits--and to whom--are these crazy programs?

Contrary to leftwing critics of these zany programs, I seriously believe none of these programs benefit the real, productive private sector. Companies do not want to locate in areas with poor educational systems and a deteriorating infrastructure. Nor do they want to recruit a labor force from a population scrambling around to pay their bills day after day. Even companies in the Third World require massive government breaks and tax holidays to accept this degree of risk in their investment. This includes the extraction industries as well. Then you throw on top of this the government's possible default on its debt, just because that is your ideology, then you have a recipe for real capital flight.

The heat must be getting to me but it's alarming to see MSNBC say we have to treat the Michelle Bachmann candidacy seriously. What's serious about it? The candidate is not a serious person with serious views. Is the seriousness in it because she might win?

Let's look at today's litmus tests for the 2012 Republican nomination. You must be absolutely anti-abortion--and now we are inching toward anti-birth control. You must be anti-climate change--even if you don't propose to do anything about it. You must be anti-alternative energy sources and devoted only to fossil fuels. You must be anti-public education. You must be anti-immigrant. You must be anti-woman. You must be anti-minorities. You must be anti-union. You must be anti-Medicare. And, inching its way back, you might have to become anti-social security. You must be anti-evolution and pro-creationist. And you have to be absolutely against taxes.

With only 35% of Americans believing the country is heading in the right direction, Reuters has Obama at 50% approval rating and he leads all Republican rivals by double digits, even Romney by 13%. The leading Republicans are Palin at 22%, Romney at 20% and Ron Paul and Herman Cain are tied at 7%.

James Carville, who has never been a fan of President Obama, says that if the economy creates jobs on the average of the last three months, minus the disasterous number of last month, Obama wins. But Carville said something else, which didn't get much coverage. He believes there is rage building up n this country, which will lead to social unrest and upheaval. I think of the decades leading up to the election of FDR, where America is torn by violent labor strife and repression. It was 100 years ago but it feels similar to today.

The new Gallup poll reports that 45% of Americans now identify themselves as Democrats, while only 39% are Republicans. This is the largest gap since October 2009, when Democrats led Republicans by 7 percentage points. Does this reflect the cost of the GOP entertaining truly suicidal ideas? Or is this just temporary?

McColm and Trump Bow Out Of 2012 Race

"Even though I have given the matter much thought and reflection and I have been encouraged by countless people to contest the Republican primaries, I will not and can not run for President in 2012. I will , of course,continue to utter my opinions on the countless issues and challenges facing this great nation of ours. I will provide the voice for all those who do not have a forum.

From my frequent travels through the heartland and listening to my fellow citizens, I just know that if I were to run,I would not only win the primary but ultimately the general election.

I know so many of you have given me your support and I know I have let so many people down. I appreciate all your unsolicted advice. But,Cheer up. Get a Life.

As you all know paying Powerball is my passion and I am not ready to leave the private sector to become a slave to your whims and fantasies. I am a Free Man, not a Number. Always remember, the Future lies ahead."

Bruce McColm, chairman of the Papoose for Not Insane Campaign.

And so it goes. Just re-word the statement above and you have the Donald bowing out of the race. This leaves Sister Sarah and Mitch Daniels left to decide.

The Republican list of non-participants is now heftier than the candidates--Trump,Mike Huckabee, Haley Barbour,John Thune, Mike Pence, Bobby Jindal, Bob Corker,Jeb Bush and Chris Christie.

Now the Veeps are beginning to bow out. Nikki Haley of South Carolina today has bowed out of the Veepstakes after saying last week she was the "flavor of the day." She said that she was committed to serving out her term as Governor. I think she learned the lesson of Sister sarah quitting her post.

If you wonder why so many Republicans are avoiding the race, you might want to consult the Politico/George Washington University Battleground Poll today. Ok, 52% approve of President Obama's performance in office,while 72% approve of him personally. The latter is key to me. It's why Mike Huckabee said that the President and the First Lady are excellent role models for the country and why the family values crowd have real problems in their attack message against the First Family. 59% said they would either "definitely" vote for President Obama or consider voting for the President again. Only 38% said definitely not. 57% did say that President Obama's re-election will hinge on the state of the economy. In the poll, President Obama knocks out both Mitt Romney and Tim Pawlenty.

Nate "the Great" Silver does a tap dance on the Republican primary in Iowa now that Mike Huckabee has bowed out of the race. Read it at www.fivethirtyeight.com . It's too convoluted for this early stage in the race but Nate opines on how the Christian Right vote will break. He has a nice chart on the differences between the Iowa and New Hampshire voters.

Newt was for the individual mandate on health reform before he was against it. And the last I looked he did all this in one day. Paul Ryan is crying today saying that with allies like Newt, who needs the Left. Paul, it's not just the Left which opposes your budget--it's the entire country. Newt said it was radical social engineering that the country can not afford. Bill Bennett busted a gut when he heard his friend Newt said this. Bennett on his talk show replayed Newt's statement in April how the Ryan budget was "serious."

Fox News dissed Newt by playing his ad with Nancy Pelosi on climate change and the need for cap and trade. George Will even scoffed that Newt is a serious candidate. Democrat Cokie Roberts raised the interesting issue about the resentment of divorced Catholics, who know longer can participate in their church, at Newt--twice divorced being hailed as a Catholic.

The Daily Kos raised an interesting organizational issue for Newt. Gingrich brags about his friends on Facebook and Twitter, although these numbers are fairly low, but they raise the issue that he must shepard them into a viable, functioning organization. They contrasted the Obama machine that is being re-assembled in Chicago with top-of-the-line tech support and an army of volunteers and proclaimed "No contest."

Are we to really believe Sarah Palin is going to run at this late date? Newsweek does a puff piece on secessionist Todd Palin saying he is game for another campaign. Sarah Palin is not registering much in recent polls suggesting that her novelty has worn off. My question has always been about Palin's discipline. Remember her Veep campaign lasted only two months. A presidential campaign would last 18 months and there is no evidence any of the machinery is in place.

The Love Revolution keeps rolling. Ron Paul had to one up his son who said that doctors were slaves if healthcare was a right. Paul said that both Social Security and Medicare were inconstitutional and tantamount to slavery. He's wrong on the constitutional part and God knows what he means by the slavery part. But he takes a lickin' and keeps on tickin'.

Now that Paul Ryan has ruined the lives of all GOP freshmen congresspeople, he's going to jump ship and run for Senate in Wisconsin. To give you some idea of the flack this will generate, Tommy Thompson, the former Republican governor and former cabinet member, is also thinking of contesting the race. Tommy knows what the people of Wisconsin are thinking about their congressman and also their Governor Scott Walker.

"Americans, You've Gotten Too Expensive", Your Corporate Overlords

That's the message Americans are hearing at the Republican townhall meetings and it's just beginning to dawn on a few people. The Koch Brothers must be howling in laughter about naming their creation after a gay sex practice and now seeing these people express astonishment that their teabagger congressmen have voted to dismantle Medicare and Medicaid.

Remember Jack Germond, the veteran political writer. He reappeared in the Daily Beast with an article titled "Is Paul Ryan delusional?" Germond recounts the diasterous days of Newt Gingrich when he thought he could pull off a revolution. What astonishes Germond is the sense that the House Republicans, controlling just one small square of our political system, actually believe no one will notice their destructive behavior and that Americans will simply accept Paul Ryan's fantasy world.

Well, apparently, even with new Koch funded ads praising freshmen Republicans for voting for Ryan's plan,those citizens coming out to the town hall meetings feel they got suckered. Ryan himself had to escape through the back with a police escort and make a getaway in a different car than his own because his constituents were furious with his ideas.

In New Hampshire, ethically challenged Frank Guinta who rode the teabagger faux outrage to victory confronted real outrage at his town hall meeting. A 73-year old asked him whether he was in his right mind when he voted for the Ryan Plan. Guinta, trying to do the new GOP shuffle about how it won't affect seniors, said that these changes would be phased in. Whereupon, one Joe Platte, an eight grader, piped up and asked,"I'm 14, what am I supposed to do?

In North Dakota, a freshman congressman tried to explain to his constituents that everyone over 55 will be covered and protected. He said that the GOP was reforming Medicare to save it. People weren't buying it. A younger constituent said that if the GOP plan was so terrific why doesn't it affect seniors now. This got great applause.

I am absolutely delighted to see that Americans are demanding answers to my question,
"Who is going to insure the elderly under this plan?" So far no Republican has been able to answer this question. But Col. West come up with a uniquely American solution,arrest the constituent asking the question. A liberal blogger happened to ask him this very question, was hauled off, taken to jail and maced.

Paul Krugman in his "Conscience of a Liberal" blog keeps coming back to the Ryan Budget like a mongoose to the cobra. Krugman notes that the question is not that the Ryan Plan reduces the deficit in the right way--on the backs of all Americans except the wealthy--but whether it reduces the deficit at all. Good point. It is simply an ideological exercise to prepare the American people for being absolutely and finally ripped off.

Glenn Kessler writing in today's Washington Post does a fact check on the GOP's talking point that Americans will now have the same health care as members of Congress. Actually, this would be true if the GOP would fund the health exchanges President Obama supports. But in the Ryan Plan, Kessler notes that the government subsidizes the congressional health plans and under the Ryan Plan the whole point was to jettison health costs from government expenses. Kessler, not the first to point this out,notes that the Ryan plan shifts trillions of expenses on the elderly who can least afford it.

In Michigan , "El Duce" Rick Snyder unveiled his educational program. Here he dramatically cuts educational spending in the state, thus weakening the state's educational districts to the point where he will be able to appoint his platoon of emergency managers. The idea is to make the educational system profitable--that is to sell it off like an asset. This remarkable plan has been the brainchild of the De Vos family of Amway fame and the Princes of Blackwater fame, two Christianist families. A similar plan has just been adopted in Florida where we will have a "voucher" educational system, which will defund public education, for one run by profit-making corporations and religious organizations.

Pennsylvania's new Governor Tom Corbett has gutted that state's excellent college system,which was seen by state residents as a magnificent resource. He has told colleges that if they have natural gas under their campuses that they should exploit it to make up for the differences.

Alan Simpson appearing on panels around the country has become quite cranky as people are demanding increased taxes on the wealthy. He rightfully points out that we can confiscate all the wealth of the top 1% and not eliminate our debt. True, but, Alan, we can at least try.

The one who is really enjoying the spectacle of these popular reactions to the Ryan Plan is leftwing radio broadcaster Mike Malloy. Mike, who can be very dyspeptic about the state of the nation, has been enjoying watching all the white-haired teabaggers finally waking up to the fact that ,while they were protesting the Kenyan Muslim President, their corporate handlers have made them commit economic suicide.

And that is what the teabagger phenomenon is --a Ghost Dance to national economic suicide.

Mike Malloy raised a question that should be asked of Mike Huckabee when he declares for the presidency. Malloy pointed out correctly that the religious Right or American evangelicals almost all vote for Republicans, who favor the rich and act against the poor. Now this is against the teachings of the Messiah of these people. So does that mean that everytime the religious Right votes Republican, they are voting themselves into Hell. A theologically good point. This should be asked of former Baptist preacher Mike Huckabee.

What the outrage over the Ryan Plan shows is that some Americans are beginning to under the Republican Party and their corporate overlords believe they are just too expensive. They don't really bother to blame the blacks and the "welfare queens" anymore or the poor or undocumented workers as the cause of our economic woes. It's the American Middle Class. Now get used to it.

Make sure you get your "vouchers" at the door. Think they'll give you one for a time-share?

Is Chris Hedges' Right? The Battle is Over and We lost

Author of "Empire of Illusion" and former Harvard Divinity Student, Chris Hedges just published a piece on truthout saying that the fatal shift in wealth in the United States is a fait accompli and that this was not some conspiracy but was done transparently as lobbyists since Jimmy Carter's time wrote our laws. He writes that the elites will not take care of Americans. We are doomed to become an immensely large underclass. He also says that the elites will not step in when it all unravels.

Pointedly, he concludes the elites don't have a vision. I agree. They just want more. Hedges urges us to create monastic-style communities where we can keep the vision of democracy and a just society alive. It would be nice to treat Hedges' essay as another Cassandra-like note in an age of high anxiety. But there is too much truth in what he says to dismiss him out of hand.

If Viktor Fankl is right that humans are compelled to create meaning, one can't help pondering what Hedges has to say. Hedges has been out front for years on the issue how our media simply creates spectacles and our "news" is driven simply by accenting personalities, while people pick our collective pockets. Since Hedges is my age, it may be the natural aging process and increased cynicism that comes with age. But I don't think so.


How does one explain the extolling of ignorance in our society? Take the right-wing's obsession of birtherism. This weekend I read an amazing piece by an AP reporter, who decided to go to the Hawaii Hall of Records and look up Barack Obama's birth certificate for himself. Right there in front of him was the yellowing record of President Obama's live birth. The amazing part of the article was that only one other person had ever examined it before the AP journalist. This is three years into the manufactured controversy. Yet birtherism is now a requirement for all Republican candidates for office. Apparently fact-based reality has no place in the marketplace of ideas.

How bad has it become? If you are a fiscal conservative, then you have to support the People's Budget of the Progressive Caucus. Unlike President Obama's budget and the Ryan plan , it actually eliminates the deficit and balances the budget and actually produces a surplus. Of course, it also raises taxes, cuts defense spending and gets us out of Afghanistan. But when was the last time,the only conservative option was the progressive one? To me that's scary.

This weekend I was in Barnes & Noble, seeing what the new releases are. One title caught my eye--Why CEOs need a philosophy? It was how the philosophy of Atlas Shrugged applies to business. Does anyone remember a short-time ago the brief spurt of interest in corporate resonsibility? Or that after the meltdown of 2008 Business Schools decided to introduce ethics into their curriculum? Now we get "Going Gault". Even Michael Gerson, the former speechwriter for George W. Bush,has written an op-ed in the Washington Post lambasting Ayan Rand's philosophy as adolescent and warning all who go there to watch out.

The target of Gerson's attack was the Republicans who have embraced the eradication of America's social welfare net. A curious thing has happened to the House Republicans who voted with minor exceptions to get rid of Medicare and Medicaid. They are being pummelled at their townhall meetings by constituents opposing these measures. One townhall meeting I watched a woman raised what is an on-going theme for elected Republicans--whether in Congress or in state houses--"You didn't campaign on this. You didn't say you were going to do this. That's not fair." In townhall meetings around the country, I was proud of my fellow baby-boomers who were "reassured" by the Republican congressperson their retirement was safe but constantly asked their representative about their children and grandchildren. In townhall meeting after townhall meeting, average people suggested that taxes should be raised on the wealthy and corporporations.

If you were born after 1957, you can forget about it. I find it ironic that the generational wars were ignited by a non-Baby Boomer to take all entitlements away from his own generation. Paul Ryan could never have gone to college unless he and his brothers and sisters hadn't received Social Security when his father dropped dead at the age of 55. Yet someone who concretely benefited from entitlements now that he doesn't need them anymore can take them away from everyone else.

Within a day after the House passed the Ryan budget, there were at least five articles commenting on the unlikelihood that the health insurance industry would insure seniors. They don't like Medicare Advantage. But so far, we have yet to hear a peep from the health insurance industry about whether they would indeed insure the elderly under the Ryan proposal. It's just crickets. You would think Ryan, who is funded by the industry to a large extent, would have persuaded one of his patrons to speak up and say it was a great idea. None have and no one in the MSM has asked industry spokespeople about the deal.

Jim Hightower also weighed in on current developments by writing about the plutocracy in the Midwest states. Populist Hightower points out that the Midwest governors are not conservatives they are just serving the plutocrats. You don't have to look anyway else but Michigan where the basic elements of democratic government are being stripped away under the Emergency Financial Laws. In Minnesota, a GOP state senator tried to push the idea that voting was a privilege, not a right. Soon we will have to produce evidence we own property.

Chris Hedges and Jim Hightower are right in claiming the financial elites want more and now they want what assets the pubic sector have. But the question I have is why after the economic situation of the last decade do we believe that the private sector has any special knowledge or talents applicable to the public sector? It was the public sector which had to bail their asses out of disaster. We now the private sector can make profits--but can they create jobs anymore or even a sustainable economy for the country?

I suppose I should take solace in Hedges' call for the creation of monastic communities to keep the democratic ideals alive. After all my namesake St. Columba from Iona,an isolated island off Scotland, kept civilization alive with his library of 13 books during the Middle Ages. With all the teachers being fired or being bullied by the billionaire's club, there will be alot of talent to forge the next civilization. But the unravelling will be ugly.

Bizarro World

The new Teaparty negotiating tactic seems to be "Unless I get what I want, I kill the country." In a rational world, the debt ceiling vote would be a clean vote and everyone can debate the budget separately. But today, little Ricky Cantor says the Republicans will let the debt hit the ceiling. Mitch McConnell has asked Senate Republicans not to filibuster the vote. He wants the Democrats to be fully responsible. But that strategy may have gone down the tubes today as Rand Paul has vowed to filibuster raising the debt ceiling. John Boehner wants to attach all sorts of draconian budget cuts on top of the bill. Paul Begala, Democratic strategist, says that Republicans are playing Russian roulette with a fully loaded gun, pointing out themselves.

Just a point of fact--the debt ceiling will have to be raised and very frequently if the Ryan Plan were approved in any event. Yet we have Sean Hannity talking about Obama wanting to raise the debt ceiling. This is not an optional matter. What Republicans are playing with is the total credit of the United States. The credit markets would enter chaos, interest rates would dramatically rise, the market would crash in ways that make 2008 look tame, and there would probably be a global fiscal metldown and the dollar would no longer be used as a reserve currency because we would not be seen as creditable. And all this to score a political point against President Obama.

I agree with Begala in a way but the problem is that President Obama must spell out the consequences of these actions by the Republicans. It is a frontal assault on all of America. We are not broke by any means and there are no winners in this--even the GOP corporate funders would be devastated and all those with 501 (K)s would take serious hits. It is not clear to anyone how America would recover.

The debt issue is coming to a real flashpoint because it's likely that Japan will have to sell American treasuries to recover from the Tsunami and the nuclear accident and China is experiencing a trade deficit so that purchasing more treasuries may be off the table. That's why President Obama's speech tomorrow on his long-term strategies to curb the national debt is important. External events are driving us to have a plan in place for the next few years and not the long horizon of the Ryan Plan, which can not meet any of his goals. The question for Republicans is who do they think will buy treasuries when their own plan intends to add almost $15 more trillion to the nation debt.

Early word about the Obama speech has clarified that he will use only some of the Bowles-Simpson recommendations and add considerably more of his own. I trust that he has developed a plan since he formed an advisory committee on the national debt headed by Paul Volcker before he even took the oath of office. Advance word about his restoring past tax brackets have met with an absolute refusal by John Boehner, who has previously said that everything, including tax hikes should be on the table. For all the chatter that Boehner is being blackmailed by the teabaggers, one should realize that these issues have to be decided somewhat rationally.

The objective problem is that taxes must be raised, even if you cut programs. The United States has created for itself a revenue problem that has existed for at least ten years. But Americans will not support tax hikes unless they understand the broader context. With the right-wing media machine, I fear that may be close to impossible. Bernie Sanders' millionaire surtax is probably the way to sell tax increases because it plays on populism. Obama's more methodical, measured approach will get lost in the din.

What is really fascinating is that there has been no uproad among the 55 and younger about Paul Ryan's plan. Eric Cantor was blunt in saying that Social Security and Medicare would not exist for those his age or younger. There is no financial reason for this to be true, it's simply an ideological position.

We are hearing again that America has the highest corporate tax rates in the world, even though corporate taxes compose only 6% of the government's total revenue. In fact,if you paid any tax this year, you are contributing more to the government's revenues than the top 100 American corporations combined. And you are effectively paying a higher personal rate than the average corporate rate.

To grabble with these issues, you're into sophisticated stuff. I can imagine the GOP attaching Medicare privatization to a debt ceiling bill. Something that needs extensive study and debate used as a simple throwaway. The same applies to most of the next budget debate. Are we actually going to have hearings in the House on the budget? There were none about the financial consequences of de-funding the Affordable Care Act. You don't like it? It doesn't matter what the consequences.

This raw, bullying style negotiation seems to be dominating the political landscape . For instance, The Wisconsin Supreme Court race has raised so many issues concerning how Prosser managed to find enough votes to win that it deserves for the public's piece of mind a recout. Well, Prosser is trying to bully Kloppenberg in not seeking a recout. Governor Scott Walker today threatened that if the Supreme Court race is not resolved soon,he will be "forced" to pay off tens of thousands of workers. Why? There is no financial reason for this. It's just strongarm tactics.

Viscerally the American people are reacting against all this. 48% of Americans now believe--with justification--that the GOP is an extreme party. Almost all the bullies are seeing their approval ratings nose-dive. Boehner has lost 18% in just two weeks. Yet nothing the public believes seems to matter to any of these people. And the sad fact of the matter is that they may be right. After Citizens United,the actual influence of citizens in our political system has been rendered negligible. The progressive reaction against Obama mirrors this frustration that we are all being pushed under the bus by a gang of brownshirts.

I have other problems. They relate to Paul Krugman's attacks on the Ryan Plan as fraudulent. If you go through almost all the proposals being floated by the GOP at both the federal and state level they are so extreme but they also would not achieve even what they say they want. And, here you look behind the scenes of who benefits and even those corporate interests don't either. It is all nonsense.

But the Washington media lets them get away with this. An example of this syndrome is the exchange the Today Show had with Bill Cosby about Donald Trump. Cosby snorted about Trump's birther statements and then the host said,"well, you will have to seriously think about Trump if he runs for President." Bill Cosby,"No, I won't. he's not a serious person." Just because you are crazy and can get on camera doesn't make you legitimate, except here in Washington.

The Donald is tied with Huckabee for number 1 favorite for the Republican nomination, according to the latest CNN poll. Romney is fifth. What does that tell you about the state of the Republican Party?

David Frum is worried that if Mitt Romney gets the nomination and loses, then it will only solidify the teabaggers and that the GOP will doubledown on nutland in 2014 and 2016. What's interesting about Frum and Brooks ,et all, they do not realize how far gone the party is anyway.

My advice to Democrats is to be Democrats. You can not rely on independents. The recent polling shows that independents, who voted 57% for Republicans last elections have totally reversed their position in massive voters' remorse. If Democrats stand against the insanity, the independents should follow. But these people are close to the nuttiness of the GOP.

Tuesday Before the Government Shutdown

All sides are signalling there will be a government shut-down. President Obama turned down the House's offer to go with a short-term spending bill to save face. The Fox Wurlizer is running the usual GOP spokespeople trying to minimize damage to the GOP and to try and turn the tables on President Obama. Even people like Gerson think President Obama has the GOP cornered. But I'm not sure because I don't know how crazy Americans are anymore.

Charlie Cook reports from his meeting with GOP strategists that unlike the previous week where everyone was so sure the GOP would keep the House and then take the Senate in 2012. This conversation shows that the House's failure to act as mature adults puts the GOP majority in the House in danger and senior strategists believe the Senate has now become iffy.

And if you want to throw more fuel on the fire,check out the alleged comments by John Boehner to Matt Taibbi of the Rolling Stone on www.examiner.com . I find it astonishing that this is a true story but it has gone viral. First, I have a hard time believing John Boehner would agreed to be interviewed by Matt Taibbi. Second, I can't believe the Speaker of the House would actually let his hair down with such bluntness. But,it does sound like John Boehner after a few drinks. That's the problem. If the remarks are true, they present the GOP with a PR disaster of the first magnitude.

Some highlights: "Can't pay your student loan? Face it your parents were lazy and you couldn't afford college. The world needs ditch diggers and you were born into a family of them. Can't pay your mortgage? You're house was too expensive and you couldn't afford it." " I have news for you--there are plenty of jobs out there--the unemployed don't want them."

In this interview, John Boehner attacks the younger generation as "too addicted to TV, fast food, cheap credit and facebook." He also goes on to attack unions and their demands for a living wage. The phrasing and tone is just about right in capturing where the new GOP is. We'll have to wait and see if this interview if for real.

Today is Wisconsin day--elections for their Supreme Court and, as importantly,elections for the Milwaukee county supervisor, the post that Scott Walker held. The turnout for the election should be unusual for this kind of election. The Koch industries people have been pouring money into ads against the Democratic candidate. Normally, Prosser, the Republican incumbent would win, but now everyone knows that the Supreme Court will decide if Scott Walker union-busting bill is constitutional.

The Recall effort continues apace. Democrats have passed the number for two recall elections so far. Those trying to recall the Democrats have been a financial and political bust.

With all the hype by Republican governors in ending collective bargaining in Ohio, Wisconsin, Florida and elsewhere, none of our MSM types noted a recent decision by a federal judge in Illinois that states can not unilaterally abrogate collective bargaining because it violates the National Labor Relations Act of 1935. A fascinating judgment that puts all these state actions in doubt.

After we deal with the government shutdown--does this mean that all military operations must stop?--, we will next have to raise the debt ceiling. Timothy Geithner wants you to know that if not raised, we will face a fiscal crisis the likes of which we haven't seen before. I bet the House will not vote for a rise in the debt ceiling and we will have mayhem for a while.

Today, Washington Post--after nearly three years of health debate in this country--had a piece on whether Americans seeking medical care abroad will affect our healthcare system. This has been a story in the blogosphere for the last 4 years. Today, over 5 million Americans live abroad simply because they can get affordable healthcare. The number will rise even as the President's healthcare plan takes affect. At some point, I expect countries will have a backlash against more American immigration because of healthcare. Personally, it is really an option I am exploring because we are reaching a point very soon--without anything major wrong--of not being to afford healthcare in this country.

So while the social net is being torn to pieces by the teabaggers, let's hail the Green Mountain State, which addressed their deficit problem with an innovative solution. They are adopting a single-payer healthcare system and nearly 20,000 doctors have resolved to move there to implement it. If only Vermont had some shoreline.

Update: John Boehner just received a standing ovation when he told the House Republicans that the Government would shut down. Remember this guy said that a government shutdown would hurt the economy and actually cost more than if you kept it open.

Our truly amazing press corps did not ask a single question of the Republican leadership on why they are advocating the elimination of both Medicare and Medicaid. For an analysis of how wrong Ryan's plan on Medicaid is, read Matt Yglesias' analysis at Think Progress. Ryan refers to this as "welfare reform" which for those with a memory happened in the 1990s and was the worst move President Clinton ever did.

Consider this--Right now there is one Presidential candidate--Barack Obama. Now you are a Republican. Would you want to run on the platform just announced today by the House GOP leadership? You are stuck with this nonsense. Ryan's budget plan is now the national Republican platform for 2012. So even before you try to define yourself, you have to either defend abolishing Medicare and Medicaid and altering Social Security or refute what in the platform you disagree with. This is a big hanging curveball for President Obama and the Democrats. Just tie whatever Republican wins the nomination to this plan. Sink or swim, folks.

Tim Kaine has announced he will run for Senate in Virginia against George "Macaca" Allen. Kaine said this was the best decision he has ever made. Two lackluster candidates and governors.

Only Hot Tuna can save us now. Jorma Kaukonen and Jack Cassady are back with their first studio album in 20 years. Produced by Larry Campbell, it was recorded at Levon Helms' Studio in Woodstock. The album includes two Rev. Gary Davis songs the two have not recorded before. It's amazing that I have been listening to them for 40 years. Bonus--you get a Hot Tuna tatoo.

Correction--CDC Not Defunded--Yet

I got ahead of the vote yesterday. The defunding of CDC hasn't been brought to the floor of the House yet. So call your congresscritters and let them know you don't want the plague.

Paul Ryan did respond to Harry Reid's statement of social security and said he was "flabbergasted". Yes, of course, Social Security didn't add to the deficit but a bipartisan reform would "assure the markets." No comment.

Forbes' author Unger posted a nifty piece on their policy blog which outlines when and why corporations and the wealthy adopted a state by state policy like in Michigan and Wisconsin. He said the strategy was adopted shortly after Citizens United. The first prong was to defund unions so that the corporate money would dwarf any ability of unions to counter their political power. This, Rachel Maddow has outlined several times on her show. Unger says that the wealthy and corporations decided that taking care of the unfortunate simply led to an "indulged" country and that the country can not afford it anymore. (Note: the Clinton years left a surplus and projected surpluses for the outyears.)

Unger does write that these people believe that if we are to afford the wars we must fight,we can not coddle the poor and unfortunate. That is why, for instance, if you look at tax proposals in the state of Michigan, Ohio and Wisconsin you will see that taxes on the lower classes and seniors are increased but corporate taxes and taxes on the wealthy are cut. Unger doesn't support this. He just points out studies that demonstrate the catastrophic effect of these policies on the middle class and the poor. He wonders whether the business climate will really be improved. He ends his blog with a note that societies that opt for such disparities of wealth always fail. This is in Forbes, The Capitalist Tool.

For further reading, you might pick up a copy of Thomas Hartmann's "Unequal Protection--How people Became People--and How you Can Fight Back." He has revised the book to include an analysis of the Citizens United case.

If you want an overview of the war against America, Senator Bernie Sanders' speech is now out in paperback--"The Speech: A Historic Filibuster on Corporate Greed and the Decline of our Middle Class". (Nation Books)

Toto, we are not exceptional anymore. Amnesty International has issued statements on various American issues before--the death penalty, Bush's Torture policy, the treatment of Bradley Manning. But I've not seen a systemic blast at the United States as was issued yesterday. Amnesty urged several US States to abandon planned legislation that would drastically restrict workers' rights. "States including Colorado, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, New Mexico, Ohio, Oklahoma and Tennessee have proposed bills severely limiting collective bargaining of trade union members. A similar bill was passed in Wisconsin on Friday."

Amnesty continues," State governors must withdraw support for these measures which, if adopted,would violate international law. The US has an obligation to uphold the rights of American workers--including the specific right to organize and bargain collectively."

The sad thing is that the United States was instrumental in drafting the ILO Conventions and other international standards for labor relations.
Also conventions on basic human rights. Ah, forget it.

A Kaiser poll is out that shows 51% of Americans either want to keep the healthcare bill or expand it.

An AP/ Washington Post poll is out that shows 53% of Americans approve of same sex marriage , while 44% of them are against. This is a dramatic increase from 2004 when only 32% approves.

Henry Waxman went snopping around and found that the Pentagon overpaid Howard Sargeant , a billionaire oilman and Republican donor, $200 million for oil supplies during the Iraq War. And you wonder why we keep going to war. It's a money making machine.

Maybe, this is why NPR was defunded. NPR investigative reporters did a detailed piece on how major corporations, particularly Google, used offshore tax havens to escape American taxes. The reporters estimate that America loses about $60 billion a year. It's an excellent story with nice elements of color.

But if the IRS can not collect corporate taxes,they can audit you if you or your partner had an abortion. Mother Jones did an excellent piece on the recent House bill prohibiting government funds for abortions. The IRS would be required to pursue taxpayers on how they paid for their abortions and answer a whole questionnaire. The article documents this accurately. Remember the adage that government is overhead. Well,I guess the GOP wants to create more of it. Is there not a privacy issue here? Forget it.

President Glenn Beck addressed the nation yesterday about the re-alignment of the world and the crisis in Japan. I worry about him doing this more frequently because his audience--what remains of it--will actually believe he is President. If he does it more frequently, that means Roger Ailes is conditioning his audienece to accept a Mormon for President. One sympathetic to corporate interests. I wonder whether he has anyone in mind.

Charles Koch is the one to watch, not David. David is the doofus brother, I'm convinced. The family are isolationists but Dad founded the John Birch Society to go after domestic enemies. And it seems Charles is still at it. Does anyone remember the DVD "Obsession: Radical islam's War Against the West". This truly horrible DVD was slipped into Sunday papers here in Virginia just prior to the 2008 campaign. It was meant to send a message not to vote for you know who. Funded by Charles. Why I mention it is that there is another little Koch campaign that the Obama Administration is funding the creation of mosques abroad. Totally untrue but go for it. This is another project of the teaparty crowd.

And people criticize President Obama for going to Rio? A trip that has been planned for over a year and had been recommended to anyone interested in American relations with Latin America.

America Backs McColm Plan for Social Security

Yes, the numbers are in and it's overwhelming. Between 75-80% of Americans believe to solve any problems with Social Security we simply raise the FICA cap and few believe we should cut benefits. These numbers exist for every age group. Even 67% of teabaggers are for raising the FICA cap. It is rare for any polling on a policy matters to yield such an overwhelming consensus.

Last year I wrote about the mythical problems with Social Security. I suggested raising the cap and the result would be to ensure Social Security through the year 2175 and beyond. We could even give people a raise. Even if we do nothing , Social Security will pay out full benefits through 2037 and then the cut would be to 90% for a decade and then to 80%. It's not as if Social Security vanishes.

Cynically, I know why Americans support this. Only a few percent of Americans now earn more than the cap of $106,000. So the solution is painless for the nation.

That's why you are not going to hear a peep from President Obama on this issue. There really is not a problem and he can actually kick the can down the road until a second term. Progressives started to howl that President Obama was going to put Social Security on the table for negotiations with the Republicans. Yesterday, the White House denied that and denied President Obama would support raising the retirement age.

Meanwhile Paul Ryan will be answering the President's speech tonight. But Ryan can not speak openly about his plans to privatize Social Security and turn Medicare into a voucher system. Another thing Paul won't talk about is his plan to raise taxes for those earning $20,000 to $200,000 and severely cutting taxes for the rich. Coporate taxes also would be eliminated and instead Ryan wants to create a consumption tax, which will hurt the poor and the middle class. You will not hear any of that tonight.

President Obama takes the podium tonight with a 56% approval rating in the latest CNN/ Opinion Research poll and a 46% approval rating among independents, about a ten point leap since the election. He also has a 57% approval rating among investors for his economic policies.

Finally, the White House is beginning to wake up to their communications problem. They have been ushering in Democratic talking heads and political types to discuss the content of tonight's speech so that the media will not be dominated by Republican talking heads like the last two years. The flashy addition will be the Enhanced capability to the White House's live feed of the speech. We are promised all those nifty graphs and blackboard drawings about the stimulus and economic growth. Whether this can overcome the GOP noise machine is still problematic.

At tonight's State of the Union, we will be missing several Supreme Court Justices because they felt dissed last year when President Obama criticized their Citizens United decision that gave total power in the United States to corporations. Some say the three most likely AWOLs will be Chuckles Thomas, Fat Tony Scalia and Judge Alito. It would be seen as too tacky if the Chief Justice Roberts didn't show.

The question is whether we will see the "most dangerous person in America" or the person Glenn Beck believes is the "most powerful man in America"--Cass Sunstein,the University of Chicago professor who now is in charge of evaluating business regulations for President Obama. Actually I am comforted to think Cass really is the most powerful man in America.

Which brings me to Glenn Beck's jihad against elderly CUNY professor Frances Fox Piven, who is "sowing the seeds of revolt." Apparently, Glenn Beck believes that there are nine people, which he calls the "The Intelligent Minority" who control America. Now some of these people are dead but their influence lingers on. They are Edward Bernays, the father of modern advertising, Sigmund Freud, George Soros, Andy Stern, Walter Lippman, Frances Fox Piven, former Governor Rendell, and Richard Trumpka, the head of the AFL-CIO. I'm dsappointed he left out the boogey-man of the Right, Saul Alinsky. Of his list, only Richard Trumpka is not Jewish. I guess Dick is the red herring because Alinsky would have made it totally too obvious. Perhaps, this is being snarky but the only "Christian" group allowed to proselytize in Nazi German were the Mormons. Is Beck anti-semitic much?

It's better to keep your ethnic smears more oblique so you can plot a political comeback. In this state of the "Cooch", George Allen, "Mr. Macaca", is plotting his return to the Senate and has thrown his helmut into the ring in a race against Webb.

Rahm Emmanuel has been thrown off the ballot for mayor of Chicago. No one knows what this means and Rahm vows he will triumph. If he somehow becomes mayor, how will he deal with Abu Dubai, which owns all of Chicago's parking meters? This was another great move by Mayor Daley who sold them to the country's Sovereign Fund.

I want to know where Halliburton will move its headquarters once Dubai sinks, which it is doing. I like how the U.S. Chamber now refers to companies like Halliburton as "our American foreign companies".

The military still can not find any connection between Private Manning, who is being kept in solitary at Quantico, and Julien Assange and Wikileaks. Manning is being without any charge.

Later we will explore what the Jasmine revolution and the Wikileaks publishing of the cables on the Middle East Peace Talks means or does not.

One of the most interesting sidelights of tonight's speech will be the rebuttal by teabagger Michelle Bachmann. I think I've misunderstood the teabaggers. A Michelle Bachmann should be viewed as Cindy Sherman gone bad. This is performance art. Just like Sarah Palin is the reality television candidate. The teabaggers are avant-garde. Tacky, true. But the Koch Brothers are self-proclaimed anarchists and big bankrollers of the arts. They know the history of vanguard art movements. Here they got a chance to buy one for their own. And imagine the laughs at the Koch household having a political movement named after a gay sexual practice. It's so DADA.


And save the TA-TAs.

Time For Racheting Down The Rhetoric Is Over

House Republican Study Group has issued its plan to cut $2.5 trillion from the federal government over ten years. In my day, the House Study Group was where the GOP would put the radical right-wingers that didn't have the social skills to be hired as congressional aides. Among its suggestions is to defund USAID, the National Endowment for the Humanities, The National Endowment for the Arts, Public Broadcasting,all state aid forcing states to cut more government employees, AMTRAK and all funding for High Speed Rail, among other things.

But never fear the House Republicans said their agenda was to create jobs. So after the repeal of healthcare, now they are after global warming. This just edged out a new House bill to oppose all federal funding for abortion even though it doesn't exist now and to provide a "conscience clause" for all medical practitoners opposed to abortion. Randall Terry of Operation Rescue plans to run in the Democratic primaries against Barack Obama to make him answer questions on abortion. His past answer has been abortion should be "legal but rare." What more does Randall want? Rick Santorum blasted Obama--who has not said anything on abortion for over a year--for being a black man who condones abortion. Rick is suggesting that African-Americans are most likely to get abortions and that threatens their race. But since Rick is a member of the Christian Right, his main concern is the demographic winter coming for white people in the U.S.

Down in Tucson, the Arizona Tea Party wants to remove Sheriif Dupnick for his comments that the political rhetoric of the country trigger the slaughter. In Arlington, Massachusetts, a right-wing blogger who said "1 down and 537 to go" was arrested for keeping a large stockpile of weapons on hand. Teabaggers were quick to defend him and also are posting blogs arguing that revolutionary violence is OK because the Catholic Just war doctrine applies.

While most Americans supported President Obama's Tucson speech and the ceremony there, Franklin Graham resented the lack of references to Jesus Christ. Since the target of the assassination attempt was a Jewish Congresswoman, you might think references to Jesus might be inappropriate. I did and that's why I thought Eric Holder's long quotes from II Corinthians, which talked more about Jesus Christ than the usual prayers was wrong. I think Franklin was trying indirectly to defend his soul sister Sarah Palin.

The former Navy Chaplain says that the repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell is a threat to national security and is actually a war on God. I always thought the repeal finally made the Navy legitimate."In the Navy..." The only military service represented in the Village People.

Talk about making money, the President's Midas Touch even concerns DADT. The repeal actually saves the American taxpayer $200 million. From TARP to the BP Oil Spill to DADT, Obama just coins money. That's what "Grand Theft Auto" Issa should be investigating. How come a socialist can make so much money?

Meanwhile,in the States, there is an ominous pattern of governments withdrawing Medicare from single Adults. That doesn't sound like anything significant but we are dealing with one of the few parts of the social nets, which supports the mentally ill. Are we going to rehospitalize the mentally ill? Maybe we could privatize mental asylums.

President Obama again betrayed his socialism by appointing GE's CEO Immelt as the head of his economic council, which has been renamed to emphasize jobs. Arianna Huffington seems to be hysterical that Obama ordered a government-wide effort to eliminate unnecessary regulations on business as a way to quietly stimulate the economy. Since this was also done during the Clinton Administration,I really don't see the great danger.

More dangerous is the effort by House Republicans to defund the new Consumer Protection Agency being created by my Sweetheart of the Rodeo, Elizabeth Warren. All she has to do is get it to July and the FED will fund it.

Rep. Peter King wants to start his investigations into American Muslims as part of the intelligence committee. No doubt he will ask Frank Gaffney, Washington's Go-To Islamophobe, to provide scholarly cover. I think we should encourage a widescale witchhunt. How about targeting Kareem Abdul Jabbar for the Muslim plot to corrupt basketball? Cat Stevens for introducing Sufi themes in his music. How about we go after Salmon Rushdie for a change? Why let Iran have all the fun? The possibilities are endless. Then the accused could be waterboarded to see whether they tell the truth. It would be like combining the Inquisition with the Salem Witch Trials and add a little Joe McCarthy. It would be boffo box on Fox News. This is an opportunity the country can't miss. We can then invite Franklin Graham to testify on how evil Islam is and how the Pentagon's National Prayer Committee kicked him off for his position.

Under They envy us our freedom department. I want to thank the Christian community in the United States for their great support for the Chaldean Christians in Iraq, who are being exterminated in the democracy we created. The last Christian left Anbar Province yesterday. Those who haven't been "disappeared" have gone into exile, making the Iraqi refugee flow the largest in the history of the Middle East. Hopefully, our Christians will come to the defense of the followers of John the Baptist, who still live in Iraq but are keeping a low profile. At least those awful Muslims came to the defense of Egypt's Coptic Christians, who had been subjected to suicide bombers and police brutality. The Muslim community in Egypt provided thousands of people to act as human shields against further attacks on the Coptics as they celebrated their Christmas.

Common Cause is taking aim at Supreme Court Justices Fat Tony Scalia and Chuckles Thomas claiming both men have a conflict of interest in the Citizens United case because they attended and participated in the Koch Brothers secret campaign conferences. If it were proven that both men had a conflict of interest, then Citizens United would have to be tried again. My problem is how does the Supreme Court actually regulate conflict of interest issues among justices. We know Elena Kagan recused herself from a series of cases when she got on since she had argued the government's case as Solicitor General but what if she hadn't. What mechanism exists to ensure this aside from impeachment which never will happen?

Rachel Maddow continues to report on the Spokane Martin Luther King bomb. The FBI has said it was the most sophisticated device they have seen in the States. They also claimed its positioning was very professional and that the damage done would have been profound. Federal authorities are already talking about this as "domestic terrorism". White supremacist groups aiming to push for the secession of the Pacific Northwest have been commmenting on this but not claiming credit. We should look back at the Belfast, Maine "dirty nuke" case, which disappeared from the media. There a neo-Nazi, who actually collected Hitler's kitchenware, had all the ingredients for a dirty bomb in his basement. He was upset by the election of Barack Obama and wanted to set the bomb off around Washington,D.C. He was only captured because he had abused his wife once too often and she ratted him out. I would imagine if we probe deep enough in Spokane we'll find some of the white supremacists from Idaho involved.

Speaking of secessionists, the National Enquirer, which gained credibility by exposing the Edwards'affair, reports that Todd Palin may be canoodling with a massage therapist. That's what a member of the Alaska Independence Party might do.

Glenn Beck has returned to his bipolar form. After displaying a slight contrition on Tucson, he is warning the American public about a "Reichstag". Glenn, it already happened, the Republicans took the House.

Paul Ryan has been chosen to respond to President Obama's State of the Union Address. Ryan's Blueprint for America has been buried with all the new GOP craziness. If this surfaces,people will have a field day. Ryan blasted the CBO for actually costing out his Blueprint, which they said would run massive deficits for decades and render the United States a type of Albania. Ryan has been given the most power any Budget Chairman in the House has ever had. He has veto on any budget proposals submitted in the House and also by the Senate in any reconciliation. It should be interesting if he talks about his ideas to privatize Medicare, Social Security and raise taxes on the middle class. Trust me he won't.

Conservatives are panicking over the rise of China. Even Mitt Romney believes the United States has to increase its military spending to compete because "the Chinese army works for very small pay." Of course, Republicans might pass funding for high-speed railso we can compete with China in this and other areas. What is it about economic development that the New GOP doesn't understand?

Personally, I am very skeptical that China will surpass the American economy anytime soon. And I also do not believe they manage capitalism better. I don't believe China can maintain its growth rate at 8% for the foreseeable future, which they claim they need to. Also by the time they are scheduled to surpass our economy, they will have a greater percentage of elderly in their population than we would. What terrifies the Chinese is the prospect of internal instability and their own military strategy suggests that.

Yesterday the Chinese leader tried to reassure Americans that they are playing a mature role in the global system. He pointed to the issues of Iran,Afghanistan and economic issues where the United States and China are cooperating closely. While Americans should be concerned about human rights issues, the preponderance of concern here in Washington is that China is about to surpass us. First, we have to drum up the Islamophobia. Then we can generate the fear of the Yellow Peril. We don't have energy for both right now.

I found it ironic that the Uighurs demonstrated here in Washington against the Chinese government. Under the previous administration, the Uighurs ended up being tortured in Gitmo and interrogated by the Chinese. When President Obama started releasing them, Congress made sure they could not be repatriated to the United States, despite having host families volunteering to take care of them.