The Commentariat -- Jan. 11, 2013

The New York Times eXaminer has several excellent columns up on WikiLeaks/Bradley Manning.

OMG. OB/GYN Phil Gingrey, who also happens to be a Congresscritter (R-Ga.), tells the Marietta Daily Journal that former Rep. Todd Akin (R-Mo.) was "partially right" about "legitimate rape" because women who are "tense and uptight" often cannot ovulate. (Gingrey does add a caveat: "a woman may have already ovulated 12 hours before she is raped, you're not going to prevent a pregnancy there ... because the horse has already left the barn, so to speak.") See, ladies, if you do get pregnant as the result of rape, there's a good chance you really wanted it. So it was consensual. And that makes you a slut.

"Mint That Coin!" Paul Krugman explains the debt ceiling & the trillion-dollar coin to shut-ins. ...

... Jamelle Bouie of the American Prospect sees the trillion-dollar-coin as a powerful negotiating tool. It tells Republicans that, ultimately, President Obama has all the leverage. He can ignore any & all of their demands, not just because he has the public (& the business community) on his side, but also because he always has the coin as a legal go-around. ...

... Hey, look -- Fox "News" is as stupid as Congress. Bet you're all surprised. Screenshot via Jed Lewison of Daily Kos:

... CW: Brian Beutler of TPM gets into a lot of tea-leaf-reading in this post on GOP debt-ceiling strategy, but his bottom line is what's important: "John Boehner will have a small margin for error. And if he misses, it will leave him more or less where he was after his fiscal cliff Plan B fell apart, and he'd be the one forced to choose between surrender and economic havoc." For all his bluster, Boehner knows that he cannot count on his caucus to go along with any deal that recognizes real-world exigencies. It isn't just back-stabbing backbenchers, either; Boehner's top two lieutenants & some committee heads voted against the tax-&-spending deal.

Julie Pace & Erica Werner of the AP: Vice President "Biden is scheduled to meet with video game representatives Friday as the White House explores cultural factors that may contribute to violent behavior." ...

... Michael Shear of the New York Times: "Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. will present President Obama with proposals for stemming gun violence by Tuesday, setting in motion legislative and executive actions that will encompass guns, ammunition, mental health services and violent images in popular culture.... Mr. Biden did not say whether he would recommend a renewal of the 1994 assault weapons ban, which expired in 2004. But he cited several other measures, including efforts to limit the availability of high-capacity magazines and the need for what he called 'near universal background checks' that would go beyond doing checks at gun shows." ...

It is unfortunate that this administration continues to insist on pushing failed solutions to our nation's most pressing problems. We will not allow law-abiding gun owners to be blamed for the acts of criminals and madmen. -- NRA statement, issued after its representatives met with the Vice President ...

... Reid Epstein of Politico: "President Barack Obama is trying an end run around the NRA -- rallying groups as varied as churches, medical organizations, retailers and the Rotary Club to build support for new gun regulations." ...

... Steve Holland of Reuters: "More than a hundred scientists from virtually every major U.S. university told Biden's task force in a letter that research restrictions pushed by the NRA have stopped the United States from finding solutions to gun violence. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has cut gun safety research by 96 percent since the mid-1990s, according to one estimate. Congress, pushed by the gun lobby, in 1996 put restrictions on CDC funding of gun research. Restrictions on other agencies were added in later years." ...

... Contributor Mushiba recommends this post by Joan Chittister of the National Catholic Reporter re: the Newtown massacre. Chittister is in error when she writes, "In the United States 88.8 people per 100 own a gun." I know this because I made the same mistake. That is the approximate rate of guns/population in the U.S., but the percentage of adults who live in households with guns is far less than that -- about 47 percent. That is, for a lot of gun owners, one is not enough. Nonetheless, Chittister punchline is beyond reproach, IMHO.

... Robbie Brown of the New York Times: Keith "Ratliff's passion for firearms made him something of a celebrity on the Internet, where he helped make scores of videos about high-powered and exotic guns and explosives. His YouTube channel, called FPSRussia, became the site's ninth largest, with nearly 3.5 million subscribers and more than 500 million views. But last week..., the police in northeast Georgia found him dead at his office on Jan. 3, shot once in the head. He was surrounded by several guns, but not the one that killed him. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation is treating it as a homicide." ...

Half of all mass killings in the United States have occurred since the assault weapons ban expired in 2005, half of all of them in the history of the country. -- Former President Bill Clinton, at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Jan. 9 (CW: I linked a story on this yesterday)

... the available data shows that Clinton was way off-base in his assertion, making an exaggerated claim -- which his office would not even defend. -- Glenn Kessler of the Washington Post

** Banks. Always. Win. Jessica Silver-Greenberg: "Federal banking regulators are trumpeting an $8.5 billion settlement this week with 10 banks as quick justice for aggrieved homeowners, but the deal is actually a way to quietly paper over a deeply flawed review of foreclosed loans across America, according to current and former regulators and consultants."

Edward Wyatt of the New York Times: "Banks and other lenders will be prohibited from making home loans that offer deceptive teaser rates or require no documentation from borrowers, and will be required to take more steps to ensure that borrowers can repay.... The rules, being laid out by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and taking effect next January, will also set some limits on interest-only packages or negative-amortization loans, where the balance due grows over time." ...

... New York Times Editors: "... the rules ... include some features that could hurt lower-income borrowers." ...

... Peter Eavis of the New York Times: "As part of a fervent lobbying effort, banks warned repeatedly that strict regulations could crimp lending at a time when the housing market was just starting to get back on its feet. Regulators seemed to give some credence to that concern. Citing the 'fragile state' of the housing market, the bureau said it would allow new mortgages to meet more flexible standards for affordability during a phase-in period of up to seven years."

President Obama nominates Jack Lew to be Secretary of the Treasury (see also yesterday's Commentariat for some details:

... Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) won't be voting to confirm Jack Lew. He says why here. ...

... Paul Krugman will appear on Bill Moyers' PBS show this evening. Here's a preview in which he talks about the position of Treasury Secretary:

"Behold, the New Democratic Chutzpah." Dave Weigel makes that case that Republicans in both Houses finally may have jumped the shark. The latest over-the-top remarks come from Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), the ranking member of the Budget Committee: "Jack Lew must never be secretary of the Treasury." Weigel says Sessions' statement boils down to this: "Barack Obama's nominee ... [has] a dangerous amount in common with Barack Obama." Ergo, Weigel writes, "Every time a Republican threatens an Obama nominee, their job gets easier." Weigel sees the same thing happening elsewhere: Jay Carney's refusal to rule out the trillion-dollar coin, Joe Biden's announcing the likelihood of executive action on gun regulation. CW: let's hope Weigel is right. ...

... Robert Reich: "... when the nation is jeopardized -- whether in danger of defaulting on its debts or succumbing to mass violence -- a president is justified in using his authority to the fullest. The mere threat of taking such actions ... could be useful in pending negotiations with congressional Republicans. They have not shied away from using whatever means available to them to get their way. The President should not be reluctant to play hardball, either."

Reed Abelson & Julie Creswell of the New York Times: "The conversion to electronic health records has failed so far to produce the hoped-for savings in health care costs and has had mixed results, at best, in improving efficiency and patient care, according to a new analysis by the influential RAND Corporation."

Kevin Drum on "runaway" Medicare costs: "First, our population is aging and we're going to pay for that. Deal with it. Second, Medicare is going to have some excess growth above that, and we should look for ways to get that under control. But that excess growth is fairly modest.... Healthcare is a problem. But it's not an insurmountable one.... Our future is not the budgetary nightmare that conservatives keep trying to make it out to be." With a chart to prove it. ...

... CW: pundits usually neglect to point out that there is an easy way to cover almost all of the additional costs of Medicare: hire more workers and pay workers more. The payroll tax is a percentage of income & the tax for Medicare has no cap. The more workers earn, the more they'll pay in. I am pretty sure that the main reason for the Medicare shortfall is income inequality.

New York Times Editors: "An authoritative report issued by the Institute of Medicine this week found that, on average, Americans experience higher rates of disease and injury and die sooner than people in other high-income countries. That is true at all ages between birth and 75 and for even well-off Americans who mistakenly think that top-tier medical care ensures that they will remain in good health.... Likely explanations include a large uninsured population and more limited access to primary care, two problems that should be mitigated by the health care reforms that will kick in next year; higher levels of poverty and income inequality in this country; weaker safety net programs; sedentary lifestyles and obesity; higher rates of drug abuse and traffic accidents that involve alcohol; and greater use of firearms in acts of violence." CW: and Republicans think "cutting entitlements" is a damned good idea.

Sarah Lyall of the New York Times: "... climate change is not just about rising temperatures, but also about intense, unpleasant, anomalous weather of all kinds." Lyall & her fellow reporters list a string of weather horrors. ...

... David Sirota has an excellent post in Salon titled "Your Weatherman Probably Denies Global Warming." Research shows that weather forecasters could educate millions of confused climate-change deniers; of course they won't be doing so if they're deniers themselves. Also, Sirota includes this fun figure, one I've been wanting to know: "... thanks to the U.S. Senate filibuster, lawmakers representing just 11 percent of the population can kill almost any national legislation." ...

... For all the good it will do, Gene Robinson has a reminder for fiscal conservatives/climate-change deniers: "... we're going to deal with climate change whether we like it or not. We're going to spend many billions of dollars over the coming years providing disaster relief in the wake of hurricanes and other destructive weather events. If we're a bit smarter, we'll spend even more to protect our coastal cities from storm surges of the kind that devastated parts of New York.... But if we were really smart, we'd be talking about how to mitigate the ultimate damage by weaning ourselves from coal, oil and other energy sources that produce carbon emissions."

Local News

Sydney Lupkin of ABC News: "Planned Parenthood will face a judge on Friday in Texas, trying to overturn a massive defunding of the family planning nonprofit in the state. They say they're not the only ones suffering. Women like Landon are left scrambling for new doctors, and even non-Planned Parenthood linics find themselves at a crossroads."

Jack Healy of the New York Times: "Nearly six months after a mass shooting in a Colorado movie theater..., and with last month's killings at Connecticut's Sandy Hook Elementary School..., Gov. John W. Hickenlooper of Colorado called Thursday for universal background checks on all gun sales in the state ... in his annual State of the State address.... Democrats, who now control both houses of Colorado's Legislature, rose to their feet and applauded the governor's proposal while Republicans sat silently.... Mr. Hickenlooper, however, stopped short of proposing a ban on assault weapons or outlawing high-capacity ammunition magazines, which are being pursued in New York."

Right Wing World

Ted Cox of DNAinfo Chicago: "Tea Party favorite Joe Walsh [who lost his bid for re-election] says conservatives are losing the 'war' for U.S. voters and encouraged his backers at a South Loop rally to engage in civil disobedience to defy the Affordable Care Act or new gun regulations. At his most aggressive, he told dozens of supporters to 'defy and or break the law and engage in civil disobedience' if faced with federal health care law restrictions or new gun laws." ...

... Scott Keyes of Think Progress: "Lawmakers in two states, Wisconsin and South Carolina, have proposed legislation to arrest any official caught trying to implement Obamacare. In South Carolina, the legislation proposed a possible five-year prison sentence for federal employees or contractors who attempt to enforce the law."

News Ledes

Presidents Obama & Karzai joint press conference:

... New York Times: "President Obama ... said Friday that beginning this spring American forces would play only a supporting role in Afghanistan, which opens the way for a more rapid withdrawal of the troops. Though Mr. Obama said he had not yet decided on specific troop levels for the rest of the year, he said the United States would accelerate the transition of security responsibilities to the Afghans, which had been set to occur at the middle of the year, because of gains by Afghan forces."

AP: "Charting the course for a war's end, President Barack Obama and Afghan President Hamid Karzai meet Friday at the White House to discuss the future of the U.S. role in Afghanistan and the 66,000 American troops in harm's way. The two leaders plan a joint afternoon news conference."

Washington Post: "The CIA has opened the year with a flurry of drone strikes in Pakistan, pounding Taliban targets along the country's tribal belt at a time when the Obama administration is preparing to disclose its plans for pulling most U.S. forces out of neighboring Afghanistan."

Washington Post: "The Pentagon will impose a freeze on hiring civilians, slash operating costs on military bases and take other immediate steps to trim spending in preparation for the possibility that Congress will fail to reach a deal to avert billions of dollars in additional cuts, defense officials said Thursday. Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta said he ordered the cutbacks as a precautionary measure because he has grown pessimistic that Congress and the White House will reach agreement."

ABC News: "In a ruling that comes as little surprise, the judge overseeing the Aurora, Colo., theater massacre has ordered that there is enough evidence against James Holmes to proceed to a trial."

AP: "Islamic militants seeking to topple President Bashar Assad took full control of a strategic northwestern air base Friday in a significant blow to government forces, seizing helicopters, tanks and multiple rocket launchers, activists said. The Taftanaz air base in the northern Idlib province is considered the biggest field in the country's north for helicopters used to bomb rebel-held areas and deliver supplies to government troops."

New York Times: "British police and the country's leading children's charity drew a horrific picture on Friday of almost six decades of accusations of sexual abuse of children as young as eight by television host Jimmy Savile, and prosecutors admitted for the first time that they could have brought him to trial before his death but failed to do so." The Guardian story is here: "The report paints a stark picture emphasising the tragic consequences of when vulnerability and power collide. His offending footprint was vast, predatory and opportunistic." The Guardian lists key findings here. The pdf of the actual report is here.

New York Times: "Boeing's newest and most sophisticated jet, the 787 Dreamliner, suffered more mishaps on Friday, when All Nippon Airlines of Japan reported incidents involving planes on two domestic flights." ...

... AP: "The Federal Aviation Administration is undertaking a comprehensive review of the critical systems of Boeing's 787s, the aircraft maker's newest and most technologically advanced plane, after a fire and a fuel leak earlier this week, the agency said Friday."

New York Times: "Senior United States and Russian diplomats met on Friday with Lakhdar Brahimi, the United Nations and Arab League special envoy, to discuss possible mechanisms for ending the Syrian conflict but with little sign that an agreement was close."

The Commentariat -- Jan. 10, 2013

Steve Coll of the New Yorker: "... the statistical election-modeller Samuel Wang, of the Princeton Election Consortium, has argued that we are in an 'asymmetric' period of Republican manipulation of electoral maps. According to Wang's math, twenty-six seats out of the thirty-three-seat Republican advantage in the House can be attributed to gerrymandering in states with legislatures controlled by Republicans. He estimates that, in 2012, the number of American voters disenfranchised by this mapmaking ... was in the neighborhood of four million."

Gail Collins: "Forty years ago this month, the Supreme Court handed down the great abortion rights decision Roe v. Wade.... Every time the anti-abortion movement pushes too far, it reminds people that its cause, no matter how filled with moral fervor, is basically about imposing one particular theology on the rest of the country. Over the long run, the nervous, ambivalent, uncomfortable public won't let that happen." CW: I would argue, as did E. J. Graff is a column I linked the other day, that it is basically about a primitive purity culture, which holds that if women are going to have sex -- consensual or not -- they have to accept the consequences.

** Linda Greenhouse: Robert Bork was one crazy bastard. Or something like that. A very good read.

Kevin Freking of the AP: "The United States suffers far more violent deaths than any other wealthy nation, due in part to the widespread possession of firearms and the practice of storing them at home in a place that is often unlocked, according to a report released Wednesday by two of the nation's leading health research institutions. Gun violence is just one of many factors contributing to lower U.S. life expectancy...." ...

... Philip Rucker of the Washington Post: "The White House is working with its allies on a well-financed campaign in Washington and around the country to shift public opinion toward stricter gun laws and provide political cover to lawmakers who end up voting for an assault-weapons ban or other restrictions on firearms." ...

... Amie Parnes of The Hill: "President Obama will likely take executive action in an effort to tamp down the recent rash of gun violence, Vice President Biden said Wednesday. 'The president is going go act,' said Biden, who is conducting meetings all week on gun control. 'There are executive orders, executive action that can be taken. We haven't decided what that is yet, but we're compiling it all.'" ...

... Linda Feldmann of the Christian Science Monitor: "The Drudge Report website responded with this display: 'White House threatens "executive order" on guns.' Pictured above were two notorious dictators from the 20th century, Adolph Hitler and Josef Stalin." CW: because in the mind of Drudge, curbing mass murder by homicidal maniacs is akin to genocide. This is about as upside-down as a mind can go -- which probably means Matt Drudge will be mentally disqualified from owning firearms & ammo. ...

... Evan McMorris-Santoro of TPM: "... a Republican congressman warned on Wednesday the idea sounded like 'dictatorship' to him.... 'The Founding Fathers never envisioned Executive Orders being used to restrict our Constitutional rights,' Rep. Jeff Duncan (R-SC) said in a statement Wednesday. 'We live in a republic, not a dictatorship.'" CW: Hey, Jeff, the Founding Fathers never envisioned your having a Constitutional right to carry an assault weapon loaded with 100 rounds. ...

... David Firestone of the New York Times: "Most changes to the current system ... has to come through legislation.... But there are several significant steps the president can take on his own." Firestone lists those steps. ...

... Maggie Haberman of Politico: "Former President Bill Clinton said Wednesday he hopes former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and other gun-control activists bring change to the country in the wake of the Newtown massacre, calling the proliferation of high-capacity weapons 'nuts.' 'Why does anybody need one of those things that carries 100 bullets? The guy in Colorado had one of those,' said Clinton, referring to the movie theater massacre in Aurora, Colo., last year. 'Half of all mass killings in the U.S. occurred since the assault weapons ban expired in 2005.'" ...

... E. J. Dionne on gun control: "A large share of ... Republicans, particularly those from the Northeast, are growing impatient with the extent to which their party's image is being shaped by the wishes and opinions of its most right-wing members, many of them from one-party districts in the South. Suburban Republicans especially need to declare their independence from viewpoints antithetical to those held by the vast majority of their constituents." Dionne thinks some of these MOCs may voice their support for gun legislation. CW: However, they -- and the public -- will have to press the House leadership to even bring up legislation for a vote.

... Wal-Mart Finds Time for Biden. Abram Brown of Forbes: "Wal-Mart has now decided that it will, after all, attend week-long talks about gun legislation at the White House. At first, Wal-Mart declined the Oval Office overtures, a direct invitation from the task force led by Vice President Joe Biden, saying no executives were available.... Wal-Mart [is] ... the nation's largest seller of munitions.... Wal-Mart says it won't make any changes to the way it sells firearms." ...

... Thomas Kaplan & Danny Hakim of the New York Times: "Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo and legislative leaders believe they are close to an agreement on a package of gun laws that includes a restrictive ban on assault weapons, and lawmakers hope to vote on it as soon as next week."

Obama 2.0

NEW. Obama & Lew both mentioned Lew's "penmanship" during the President's nomination announcement today. Lew also mentioned Geithner's. Here's what they're talking about. Oliver Cox of NBC News: "We have ... confirmed that Jack Lew's signature is a series of looped scribbles that resembles the markings left on a notepad when you can't seem to get your pen working. As Treasury secretary, Mr. Lew's signature will be printed on all bills minted during his tenure."

Jackie Calmes & Annie Lowrey of the New York Times: "President Obama will announce on Thursday that he intends to elevate his chief of staff and former budget director, Jacob J. Lew, to be his next secretary of Treasury, according to officials familiar with the decision."

Mark Landler & Steven Greenhouse of the New York Times: "Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis announced on Wednesday that she was stepping down, becoming the latest woman to leave President Obama's cabinet at a time when his personnel choices are drawing scrutiny for their lack of female candidates." CW: looks like the President could use some of those binders full of women.

Steven Mufson & David Nakamura of the Washington Post: "White House aides said, however, that [Attorney General Eric] Holder, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki would remain in their current posts. People familiar with Holder's thinking said he does not expect to stay in office for Obama's entire second term, and perhaps for as little as a few months." CW: the less time, the better. ...

... CW Update. Okay, Holder can stay as long as he wants if he will realize the NRA's fears -- Jordy Yager of The Hill: "... gun-rights groups are suspicious of Holder's involvement and fear he is pushing the White House toward tougher restrictions on gun ownership and increased penalties for illegal firearms." This would at least leave Holder with a legacy of doing something besides whacking whistleblowers & fighting a few state voter suppression laws.

Here's the link to commentary by Noam Scheiber of The New Republic, which P. D. Pepe mentions in today's Comments, on Obama's nomination of Jack Lew. Scheiber, who has written on budget negotiations in which Lew was a principal, writes a balanced assessment.

Juli Weiner of Vanity Fair: "Fun fact: Lew is also a practicing Orthodox Jew, so John McCain and Lindsey Graham's go-to strategy of opposing Obama's nominees on the basis of apathy toward Israel is going to be. . . trickier. Not that John McCain and Lindsey Graham won't try."

Jim Kuhnhenn of the AP: "In selecting Lew to replace Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, Obama not only picks an insider steeped in budget matters but also a tough bargainer. Some Republicans complain that Lew has been unyielding in past fiscal negotiations.... Lew, 57, has often been described as a 'pragmatic liberal' who understands what it takes to make a deal even as he stands by his ideological views."

Alex Massie of The Spectator: "Republicans objecting to Chuck Hagel’s nomination to serve as the new US Defense Secretary have only themselves to blame. Having run Susan Rice out of the running to succeed Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State, there's no way President Obama could stomach losing a second high-profile nomination before he's even formally accepted his second term.... More importantly, the objections to Hagel's nomination are a useful reminder why, at least in terms of foreign policy, this present bunch of Democrats is preferable to their Republican opponents." Via Jonathan Bernstein.

Jamelle Bouie in the Washington Post: "Barring extraordinary circumstances, cabinet nominations are almost always confirmed, as they should be -- the chamber's role is to give advice and consent, not set policy for the administration. But if the mounting opposition to Lew -- and current opposition to Hagel -- is any indication, Republicans are prepared to jettison that norm so that they can block Obama's ability to pursue his agenda.... If the GOP wants to pick cabinet members, then it should start by winning a presidential election."

Good for Nicholas Confessore of the New York Times! "In Washington's running battles over taxes and spending..., [leaders of] Fix the Debt have lent a public-spirited, elder-statesman sheen to the cause of deficit reduction.... But ... many of the campaign's members will be juggling their private interests with their public goals: they are also lobbyists, board members or executives for corporations that have worked aggressively to shape the contours of federal spending and taxes, including many of the tax breaks that would be at the heart of any broad overhaul. While Fix the Debt criticized the recent fiscal deal between Mr. Obama and lawmakers..., companies and industries linked to the organization emerged with significant victories on taxes and other policies.... Close to half of the members of Fix the Debt's board and steering committee have ties to companies that have engaged in lobbying on taxes and spending, often to preserve tax breaks and other special treatment." Some of the more high-profile miscreants: former Senators Sam Nunn (D-Ga.) & Judd Gregg (R-N.H.), Erskine Bowles & Honeywell CEO David Cotes.

Thomas Edsall in the New York Times: "The slow implosion of the Republican Party -- along with the growing strength of a Democratic coalition dominated by low-to-middle-income voters -- threatens the power of the corporate establishment and will force big business to find new ways to reassert control of the policy-making process." And find it they will, as they always have.

Coin Tease. Michael Scherer of Time: "Despite repeated questioning [during yesterday's briefing, Obama Press Secretary Jay Carney] refused to rule out categorically the possibility of minting [a trillion-dollar coin]. But he also made clear that it is not a current option under consideration. 'The option here is for Congress to pay its bills,' Carney said, after flipping to a page in his briefing book that appeared to anticipate the question. 'There is no Plan B. There is no backup plan. There is Congress's responsibility to pay the bills of the United States.'" ...

... Scott Lemieux of the American Prospect provides more argument about why the trillion-dollar coin is legal. Besides, "in the context of a minority party transforming what has always been a symbolic vote into a yearly threat to destroy the functioning of the American government, it's difficult to take the argument that norms should preclude a lawful but unprecedented response from the Obama administration seriously." ...

... In case I've never mentioned it, Congressional Republicans Are Incredibly Stupid. Matt Yglesias of Slate: "The biggest and weirdest myth out there about the $1 trillion platinum coin is the idea that it would require a large quantity of platinum to make one. The National Republican Campaign Committee, for example, is out there warning that 'The amount of platinum needed to mint a coin worth $1 trillion would sink the Titanic.' ... Saying that the government would need a lot of platinum is like saying a $100 bill needs to have 100 times as much cotton in it as a $1 bill. Nobody would be able to fit them into their wallets.... [Ergo,] the metallic content of a coin is entirely irrelevant to its monetary value and has been for a long time." CW: mmm, is that a $100 bill in your pocket or are you just glad to see me? If you missed it, read Joe Weisenthal's piece I linked yesterday. This idea that the trillion-dollar coin has to be as big as the Titanic comes from that same misunderstanding of what money is. It's a very short hop from this misapprehension to believing the federal deficit is "immoral." (See Jon Chait's post on that, also linked yesterday.)

Michael de la Merced & Ben Protess of the New York Times: "The American International Group will not join a lawsuit against the federal government over its $182 billion financial crisis bailout, the company said on Wednesday. The decision by A.I.G.'s board follows a public uproar that erupted after The New York Times reported on Monday night that the company was weighing whether to join a $25 billion lawsuit filed by its former chief executive, Maurice R. Greenberg, on behalf of fellow shareholders."

Happy Birthday, Richard Nixon -- RIP, Campaign Finance Law. Kathy Keily & Bill Allison of the Sunlight Foundation in the Huffington Post: "It was actually Nixon who, in 1971, signed into law the Federal Election Campaign Act, limiting the amount of money that could be donated to congressional and presidential campaigns and requiring that those donations be reported. And he was also responsible for the strengthening of that law: The Watergate scandal that drove the nation's 37th president to resign on Aug. 9, 1974, in the middle of his second term, also prompted Congress to pass more regulations on campaign contributions and to create the Federal Election Commission."

Inauguration

Josh Israel of Think Progress: "The Presidential Inauguration Committee announced Tuesday that the President Obama has selected Pastor Louie Giglio of the Georgia-based Passion City Church to deliver the benediction for his second inauguration. In a mid-1990s sermon identified as Giglio's, available online on a Christian training Web site, he preached rabidly anti-LGBT views." Includes audio of sermon. CW: couldn't Obama get somebody to vet these yokels? Really, he has to lose Louie. ...

... ** So Long, Giglio. Update. Ali Weinberg & Andrew Mach of NBC News: "A pastor chosen by President Obama to deliver the inaugural benediction later this month has withdrawn amid controversy over anti-gay remarks he made more than a decade ago. In a mid-1990s sermon, Rev. Louie Giglio, an Atlanta minister and founder of the Passion Conferences, a group dedicated to uniting students in worship and prayer, advocated for 'ex-gay' therapy and urged listeners to prevent the 'homosexual lifestyle' from becoming accepted."

Henry Jackson of the AP: "Tickets to President Barack Obama's inauguration are supposed to be free, but they're being peddled on eBay and Craigslist for up to $2,000 apiece. Congressional offices and the Presidential Inaugural Committee, which are both distributing tickets to inaugural events, are trying to clamp down on the black market. So far, their efforts haven't stopped online entrepreneurs."

Barry Svrulga of the Washington Post: "... on Wednesday, [Barry] Bonds and [Roger] Clemens were denied entry to the Baseball Hall of Fame, a sharp rebuke not only to those two stars, but an apparent condemnation of the steroids-tainted period in which they played the game.... For the first time since 1996, the baseball writers elected no one to the Hall. Among those rejected were Sammy Sosa, the slugger who sits eighth on the all-time home run list and who joined Clemens and Bonds on the ballot for the first time. Mark McGwire, who sits 10th on the all-time home run list, failed again, receiving his lowest percentage in seven years of eligibility. McGwire has admitted steroid use. Sosa was widely suspected of it. The vote was the latest emphatic, if expected, pronouncement that the vast majority of the 569 writers who cast ballots are not ready to elect even the best performers if there are fears they used drugs."

News Ledes

New York Times: "Bomb blasts in two Pakistani cities killed at least 115 people on Thursday and wounded more than 270, offering harrowing evidence of how the country's myriad internal conflicts could destabilize it as elections approach."

Boston Globe: Boston "Mayor Thomas M. Menino declared a public health emergency Wednesday morning because of the expanding flu outbreak. Health care centers across the city will be offering free vaccines to anyone who hasn't yet been immunized. The city has 700 confirmed cases of flu so and four flu-related deaths. Last year Boston had only 70 confirmed cases."

Reuters: "Afghan lawmakers said on Wednesday disaster and civil war would follow if Washington pushed ahead with a suggestion to withdraw all its troops from the country after 2014." CW: also, they feared there would be no way for them to steal any more American cash.

New York Times: "Three Kurdish women, including a founding member of a leading militant group fighting for autonomy in Turkey, were shot to death at a Kurdish institute in central Paris, police officials said on Thursday, potentially complicating fragile efforts to negotiate a cease-fire in the decades-old conflict.

AP: "A community in Quebec's Far North is calling for outside help to free about a dozen killer whales trapped under a vast stretch of sea ice. Locals in Inukjuak said the mammals have gathered around a single hole in the ice -- slightly bigger than a pickup truck -- in a desperate bid to get oxygen." CW: cue climate deniers to cite this as disproof of global warming.

AP: "Junior Seau, one of the NFL's best and fiercest players for nearly two decades, had a degenerative brain disease when he committed suicide last May, the National Institutes of Health told The Associated Press on Thursday. Results of an NIH study of Seau's brain revealed abnormalities consistent with chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE)."

The Commentariat -- January 9, 2013

My column in the New York Times eXaminer is on David Brooks' latest pack o'lies.

You will want this guy on your side:

... Charles Pierce prints Hagel's entire 2002 speech on the Iraq War Resolution. As far as I can tell, video of the 2002 speech is not available on the Internet. ...

... Pierce profiled Hagel in 2007. ...

... Juan Cole: "Top Ten Reasons Chuck Hagel Should Be Secretary of Defense."

Elections Matter. Norm Ornstein in The New Republic: "... the Senate has a core of assertive, brainy liberals greater than we have seen in decades.... The new liberal base has a slew of people who remind me of their predecessors in their passion, intelligence, persistence, and, for many, grasp of how the Senate works.... This group of strong-willed and ideologically determined liberals will not be pushovers for President Barack Obama and the policies of his administration. However it works, the infusion of new talent combined with seasoned veterans makes the 113th Senate a new and dynamic vessel for liberal aspirations."

M. J. Lee of Politico: "Former Rep. Barney Frank says it was the year-end standoff over the fiscal cliff that prompted him to seek an appointment to John Kerry's Senate seat and then to go public with hopes for his next career move."

Jeffrey Jones of Gallup: "An average of 47% of Americans identified as Democrats or said they were independents who leaned Democratic in 2012, compared with 42% who identified as or leaned Republican. That re-establishes a Democratic edge in party affiliation after the two parties were essentially tied in 2010 and 2011."

Jonathan Chait of New York: Washington's "centrist deficit drones ... are merely performing the opinion journalism equivalent of wishing passersby a Merry Christmas.... If you look closely at [their writings], they uses phrases like 'solve problems' and 'reduce the deficit' almost interchangeably.... When figures like Erskine Bowles and Alan Simpson are invited on to programs like Meet the Press, they are treated as disinterested wise men rather than political advocates.... David Gregory ... does not question their own ideas.... All believe unswervingly that the solution to the long-term deficit requires both parties to move to the center.... Obama's negotiating position is exactly the same as the centrists." ...

... CW: I think Chait is exactly right & Paul Krugman is full of shit when he flatters himself like so: "Does anyone doubt that the White House pays attention to what I write?" Krugman claims he is more influential as "an outside man" than he would be as Treasury Secretary. I don't see where he has had much, if any, effect on the Obama-Geithner twins.

Money is the creation of the state. -- John Maynard Keynes

Here's Krugman, BTW, again on the trillion-dollar platinum coin: "What the hysterics see is a terrible, outrageous attempt to pay the government's bills out of thin air. This is utterly wrong.... In practice minting the coin would be nothing but an accounting fiction, enabling the government to continue doing exactly what it would have done if the debt limit were raised.... So minting the coin would be undignified, but so what? At the same time, it would be economically harmless -- and would both avoid catastrophic economic developments and help head off government by blackmail." CW: Now, Paul, try to explain that to Sen. Rand Paul. The Rand Pauls are the real reason Krugman would not go to Washington, if invited. (Also, the reason he would not be invited.) ...

... ** Joe Weisenthal of Business Insider: "In order to have a 'serious' debate about fiscal policy, as so many pundits claim to want, we must first understand what money is, and how governments get it.... The answer is that they have always created it, and any notion of the government 'running out' are illogical. Remember, money is a fiction. Real wealth is capital assets, our infrastructure, our cars, our houses, and most importantly the potential human ingenuity and cooperation. Money is just something that the government creates to facilitate the trade in all of those things. The #MintTheCoin debate, more than any other fiscal debate we can remember, gets right to this matter." Read the whole post. ...

... Ryan Cooper of the Washington Monthly: Law Professor Laurence Tribe says minting a trillion-dollar-coin is clearly legal under the statute & to do so would not be exploiting a "loophole"; the statute clearly places no limit on the value of coins to be minted under its terms. ...

... Ed Kilgore on the "moral" assumptions of deficit-hawkery: "... scratch a deficit hawk, and you will often very quickly find a disdain for the 'indiscipline' of debtors, of those who insufficiently save, of those who aren't as prudent and responsible as the deficit hawk. The interesting thing about the platinum coin proposal is that it flushes all those sentiments right out into the open where they can be addressed head on." ...

... Krugman again: "The money morality people are basically adopting a pre-Enlightenment attitude toward monetary and fiscal policy -- and why not? After all, they hate the Enlightenment on all fronts. The bottom line is that we aren't really having a rational argument here. Nor can we: rationality has a well-known liberal bias." ... CW: this is a polite way of saying that conservatives are ignorant, superstitious, narrow-minded martinets forever caught in a Medieval time warp. I don't like to make sweeping generalizations, which are usually unfair, but most elite members of the conservative movement are just Louie Gohmerts with better manners & diction.

Carl Hulse of the New York Times: "As she begins her second Congress as leader of the opposition in the House, Representative Nancy Pelosi of California is confident that Democrats will get behind President Obama on the big clashes with Republicans. But she thinks the president should aggressively line up much wider support for raising the federal debt limit and enacting new gun rules."

Yo, Erskine. The Centrist, the Orange Man & the Turtle Have Already "Come Together" to Reduce the Deficit. Suzy Khimm of the Washington Post: "... the Jan. 1 fiscal cliff deal represented just one portion of the deficit reduction that's been going on since 2011. The Center for American Progress calculates that President Obama and Congress have successfully enacted $2.4 trillion in deficit reduction since the beginning of fiscal year 2011, which began in September 2010. About one-quarter of that comes from revenues (primarily the fiscal cliff deal) and almost two-thirds from spending cuts.... That doesn't count the 10 months of the sequester that are scheduled to take effect on March 1...." ...

    ... Update: here's the original Center for American Progress piece -- from which Khimm takes her figures & charts -- on deficit reduction. It's in plain English.

Jason Langes of Reuters: "The U.S. Congress should accept in the next round of deficit-reduction talks that revenue from taxes must be raised further if it expects President Barack Obama to sign off on a deal, the president's top economic adviser, Gene Sperling, said in an interview" with Reuters.

Capitalism as Dark Comedy. David Atkins of Hullabaloo on AIG's possible "Thank you, America. Now we're suing your ass": "What's most appalling ... is ... that everyone is behaving as modern capitalism demands. AIG 'innovated' financial products to meet shareholder expectations of quarterly profits as the market demanded. When those products went belly up, the government couldn't let AIG go bankrupt without destroying the entire economy. With AIG back on its feet due entirely to government largesse, the faceless, soulless corporation is once again doing its job in attempting to maximize value to its shareholders. Everything is working exactly as the system is designed to, actually. And it will keep working this way until we overthrow it in favor of a new system that doesn't prioritize short-term profit over long-term stability, corporate persons over real persons, and shareholder return over wage growth."

Dear American Taxpayers: ... Oh, and as for our ad campaign, 'Thank you, America'? We’re sticking with that, just changing the first word. See you in court. -- Your friends at A.I.G. Via Andy Borowitz ...

Some People Are Just Not Amused: Taxpayers across this country saved AIG from ruin, and it would be outrageous for this company to turn around and sue the federal government because they think the deal wasn't generous enough. Even today, the government provides an ongoing, stealth bailout, propping up AIG with special tax breaks -- tax breaks that Congress should stop. -- Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.)

Warren is sponsoring a citizens' petition urging Congress "to end AIG's ongoing bailout and special tax status. Enough is enough." ...

... Ben White & Anna Palmer of Politico: Washington's reaction to AIG's possible suit against the government has been fast & furious.

New York Times Editors: "In the face of widespread evidence of illegal foreclosure practices, federal regulators in 2011 told the big banks to investigate themselves.... Not surprisingly, after spending an estimated $1.5 billion on consultants, the banks have found little wrongdoing and provided no meaningful relief. Equally unsurprising, regulators will let the banks off with a wrist slap for their failure to execute credible and effective reviews.... For the new settlement to have any credibility, regulators must appoint an independent monitor with full authority to oversee, analyze and publicly report on the deal's enforcement."

Simon Dumenco of Ad Age: "Facebook doesn't just screw users with its shifty privacy practices; it also engages in shifty (if technically legal) tax-dodging practices. Just before Christmas, Britain's The Guardian newspaper reported that Facebook uses a byzantine accounting technique called -- no kidding -- the 'Double Irish' to drastically minimize its tax burden. Basically, 'Facebook is structured so that companies buying advertisements ... anywhere outside of the U.S. have to pay Facebook Ireland.' Through a complicated series of maneuvers involving royalty payments and transfers to the Cayman Islands, Facebook Ireland is then able to report a huge loss, 'despite it accounting for 44% of the social network's revenues.' Per Business Insider's math, that means Facebook paid just $4.64 million on its entire non-U.S. profits of $1.34 billion for 2011 -- an effective tax rate of 0.3%." CW: I really resent major media outlets forcing me to utilize Facebook, which itself is forcing me to cover its tax obligations. Here's a truism you can "take to the bank": Billionaires are assholes. (Yeah, yeah, Warren Buffett.) Thanks to Mushiba for the link.

Julie Pace of the AP: "... Vice President Joe Biden is meeting at the White House with victims groups and gun-safety organizations. Wednesday's meeting is to be part of a series of gatherings Biden is conducting this week at the White House, aimed at building consensus around proposals to curb gun violence.... The vice president will meet Thursday with the National Rifle Association and other gun-owner groups. Meetings with representatives from the video-game and entertainment industries are also planned."

Heidi, You're Not in North Dakota Any More. Sam Stein of the Huffington Post: "The Coalition to Stop Gun Violence will run advertisements in the Washington publications Politico and Roll Call in addition to North Dakota newspapers, calling out [Sen. Heidi] Heitkamp [D-N.D.] for criticizing comprehensive gun control reform. 'No parent should have to send their children to school wondering if they will come home,' the ad reads. 'Shame on you, Senator Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND) for telling the country on Sunday that the Obama Administration's response to Newtown -- which may include universal background checks and a ban on assault rifles and high-capacity ammunition magazines -- is "extreme."'" Includes reproduction of the ad. Also text of a mealy-mouthed response from Heitkamp's office.

Jim Acosta of CNN: "A staunch supporter of gun rights for years, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid may be changing his position on the contentious issue in the aftermath of the school shooting in Newtown, Connecticut.... 'He's in a different place than he was in 2010,' [a Reid] adviser told CNN."

Pete Yost of the AP: "A defence contractor whose subsidiary was accused in a lawsuit of conspiring to torture detainees at the infamous Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq has paid $5.28 million to 71 former inmates held there and at other U.S.-run detention sites between 2003 and 2007. The settlement in the case involving Engility Holdings Inc. of Chantilly, Virginia, marks the first successful effort by lawyers for former prisoners at Abu Ghraib and other detention centres to collect money from a U.S. defence contractor in lawsuits alleging torture. Another contractor, CACI, is expected to go to trial over similar allegations this summer. The payments were disclosed in a document that Engility filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission two months ago but which has gone essentially unnoticed."

Inauguration

Sheryl Gay Stolberg of the New York Times: "On Wednesday the president's inaugural planners will announce that [Cuban-American poet Richard] Blanco is to be the 2013 inaugural poet, joining the ranks of notables like Robert Frost and Maya Angelou." Stolberg profiles Blanco.

Katie McDonough of Salon: "The historic Washington National Cathedral will soon begin performing same-sex marriages. The church will be among the first Episcopal congregations to offer the marriage sacrament to gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender members.... Rev. Mariann Edgar Budde, the Episcopal bishop of Washington, decided in December to implement marriage rites to reflect the new law allowing same-sex marriage in the District of Columbia and Maryland, but each priest in the diocese will be allowed to decide whether or not to perform same-sex unions."

Ronen Bergman interviewed Israeli President Shimon Peres for the New York Times Magazine. For some reason, the interview took place six months ago & is just being published now.

News Ledes

New York Times: "The country is in the grip of three emerging flu or flulike epidemics: an early start to the annual flu season with an unusually aggressive virus, a surge in a new type of norovirus, and the worst whooping cough outbreak in 60 years. And these are all developing amid the normal winter highs for the many viruses that cause symptoms on the 'colds and flu' spectrum."

New York Times: "Military prosecutors preparing to try Pfc. Bradley Manning said on Wednesday that they would introduce evidence that Osama bin Laden requested and received from a Qaeda member some of the State Department cables and military reports that Private Manning is accused of passing to WikiLeaks."

ABC News: "After two days of apparent indifference, accused Aurora shooter James Holmes smiled and smirked at disturbing self-portraits and images of weapons shown in court today, according to the families of victims who watched him."

AP: "The Obama administration says it might leave no troops in Afghanistan after December 2014, an option that defies the Pentagon's view that thousands of troops may be needed to contain al-Qaida and to strengthen Afghan forces. 'We wouldn't rule out any option,' including zero troops, Ben Rhodes, a White House deputy national security adviser, said Tuesday."

New York Times: "The Iranian government is behind hacking attacks on major American banks, according to government security experts."

New York Times: "For Boeing, much rides on the success of its newest and most sophisticated jet, the 787 Dreamliner. But a spate of mishaps is reviving concerns about the plane's reliability and safety."

New York Times: "An element of the New York Police Department's stop-and-frisk practice was deemed unconstitutional by a federal judge on Tuesday, a ruling that may have broad implications for the city's widespread use of police stops as a crime-fighting tactic. The decision, the first federal ruling to find that the practice under the Bloomberg administration violates the Fourth Amendment protection against unreasonable search and seizure, focused on police stops conducted in front of several thousand private residential buildings in the Bronx enrolled in the Trespass Affidavit Program."

Washington Post: "A military judge refused Tuesday to toss out the case against WikiLeaks suspect Bradley Manning but ruled that any sentence the Army private receives should be reduced by 112 days because of his mistreatment in confinement."

New York Times: "Australia on Wednesday was grappling with an unprecedented heat wave that has sparked raging bushfires across some of the country's most populated regions -- pushing firefighters to their limits, residents to their wits' end and leaving meteorologists tracking the soaring temperatures into uncharted territory."

Reuters: "India denounced Pakistan on Wednesday over a firefight in the disputed territory of Kashmir in which two Indian soldiers were killed, but the nuclear-armed rivals both appeared determined to prevent the clash escalating into a full diplomatic crisis.

Guardian: "Drones have taken centre stage in an escalating arms race between China and Japan as they struggle to assert their dominance over disputed islands in the East China Sea. China is rapidly expanding its nascent drone programme, while Japan has begun preparations to purchase an advanced model from the US. Both sides claim the drones will be used for surveillance, but experts warn the possibility of future drone skirmishes in the region's airspace is 'very high'."

AP: "Investigators picked through the wreckage Tuesday of a heavily loaded U.S.-owned cargo helicopter that crashed in the Peruvian jungle shortly after takeoff, killing its five American and two Peruvian crew members. The tandem-rotor Chinook BH-234 chopper, owned by Columbia Helicopters, Inc. of the Portland suburb of Aurora, Oregon, crashed Monday near the provincial capital of Pucallpa. It was under contract for petroleum exploration support, en route to a drilling location in northern Peru...."

AP: "Venezuela's decision to postpone the inauguration of President Hugo Chavez as he remains in Cuba battling cancer has prompted furious accusations from the opposition that the government is violating the constitution and should tell the country how ill the socialist leader really is."

Reuters: "- The Bank of Japan will consider easing monetary policy again this month and also perhaps doubling its inflation target to 2 percent, sources said, as the economy's weakness threatens to delay its escape from two decades of deflation. Any easing will likely take the form of another increase in the BOJ's 101 trillion yen ($1.2 trillion) asset buying and lending program, mostly for purchases of government bonds and treasury discount bills...."