The Commentariat -- October 5

On today's Off Times Square, I ask readers how they deal with letters from friends & relatives spouting crazy Conspiracy Theories.

I will say that my big priority is making sure that as many people are participating in our democracy as possible. Some of these moves in some of the other states that we’ve seen try to make it tougher to vote, restricting ballot access, making it hard on seniors, making it hard on young people. I think that’s a big mistake, and I have made sure that our Justice Department is taking a look at what’s being done across the country to ensure that people aren’t being denied access to the franchise. -- Barack Obama, in an interview last week ...

... Ari Berman of The Nation: "The fact that Obama invoked the Justice Department is very important, since the department has the authority under the Voting Rights Act to approve, deny or modify these laws.... Career lawyers in the civil rights division of the Justice Department, who were frequently sidelined and overruled during the Bush Administration, are reasserting their authority and independence under Obama. They may be the only ones who can halt the GOP’s war on voting."

President Obama talks to George Stephanopoulos of ABC News:

David Nakamura & Paul Kane of the Washington Post: "There is a noticeably more aggressive, confrontational President Obama roaming the country these days, selling his jobs plan and attacking Republicans for standing in the way of progress by standing up only for the rich.... The emergence of this more pugnacious Obama has heartened Democrats.... 'We don’t see it as confrontation; we see it as leadership,' said Mary Kay Henry, president of the Service Employees International Union."

You don’t have some inherent right just to, you know, get a certain amount of profit, if your customers are being mistreated. This is exactly the sort of stuff that folks are frustrated by. -- Barack Obama on Bank of America's decision to charge customers $5 a month to use their debit cards ...

... Ylan Mui of the Washington Post: President "Obama is the latest of a chorus of critics to take aim at the new fee, which will be assessed monthly on customers who use their debit card to make purchases starting next year. Bank of America has said that new government regulations — most notably a cap on the amount banks can charge retailers each time a debit card is swiped — have eaten into their profit margins." ...

... Felix Salmon of Reuters: "the [Consumer Financial Protection Bureau does not exist to prevent banks from charging stupid fees as part of a self-defeating protest against the Durbin amendment... Debit-card payments ... are pretty much the cheapest way that any customer can transact, from the bank’s perspective. It costs vastly more for a bank to process a paper check.... As for the proper role of the CFPB, one thing I’m desperately looking forward to is a simple public database of all the banks..., with a very easy way of comparing the features and fees of each. It would be particularly great if the CFPB could bestow some kind of gold star on the best and cheapest products."

I think people are quite unhappy with the state of the economy and what's happening. They blame, with some justification, the problems in the financial sector for getting us into this mess. And they're dissatisfied with the policy response here in Washington. And at some level, I can't blame them. -- Fed Chair Ben Bernanke, on Occupy Wall Street ...

... Neil Irwin & Lori Montgomery of the Washington Post: "Ben S. Bernanke went to Congress on Tuesday with a message: Cut out the brinkmanship over tax and spending policy and slash budget deficits more than planned — but don’t do it so fast that it undermines economic growth. In making this unusually explicit push, the Federal Reserve chairman told lawmakers that the increasingly likely scenario — that they do nothing to put the nation’s finances on a sound footing and let the nation lurch from crisis to crisis — is not an acceptable option."

Liz Alderman & Jack Ewing of the New York Times: "The European debt problems that have roiled global financial markets for the last 18 months are showing signs of turning into a far deeper challenge: Europe’s second recession in three years. Greece, Ireland, Portugal and Spain are already in downturns or fighting to avoid them, as high unemployment and austerity belt-tightening take their toll. But in the last few weeks, even prosperous Germany and France, the Continent’s powerhouses, have started to be dragged down, hurt by the ebbing of business orders from indebted countries in the rest of Europe."

New York Times Editors: "a Senate bill, with strong bipartisan support, to punish countries that manipulate their currencies is a bad idea. It could do even more damage to the American economy if — as is all too likely — China decides to retaliate."

Scholar Jenna Jordan in a New York Times op-ed: "Evidence shows that killing terrorist leaders — or 'decapitating' terrorist organizations, in military parlance — rarely ends violence on its own and can actually have adverse consequences."

Occupy Wall Street

Jillian Rayfield of TPM: "Occupy Wall Street’s momentum is reaching new heights this week as the movement spreads throughout the country and the core group of protesters in New York City prepare for the unions to join up on Wednesday." ...

... Drew Grant of the New York Observer: a Fox "News" producer interviews Occupy Wall Street activist Jesse LaGreca for a segment of the Greta van Susteran show. Funny, LaGreca ended up on the metaphorical "fair & balanced" cutting room floor [despite the fact that the producer made a big point of telling LaGreca how fortune he was that Fox "News" was giving him air time]. But, courtesy of Occupy Wall Street & the Observer, La Greca does get his message out -- just not to Foxbots, most of whom really need to hear it. Thanks to reader Haley S. for the link:

... Clear enough. That's why Jared Bernstein is scratching his head over why news "analysts" are scratching their heads over the Occupy Wall Street protests. After all, what's not to understand? --

Given the facts of the income distribution, the trends in real middle-class incomes and poverty, the failure of policy to do much to change these trends, the government bailouts of the only class that’s benefitted from the recovery so far, the absence of clear punishment/accountability for the financial and political institutions that helped inflate the debt bubble that continues to squeeze economies across the globe, and the dysfunctionality of the current political system (they’re arguing more about whether they can keep the lights on than whether they can help solve the economic problems), the more interesting question is what took so long for such protests to show up?

... OR maybe this heartbreaking site -- "We Are the 99 Percent" -- would help clueless news "analysts." Nothing will help Mitt Romney (see his "analysis" of Occupy Wall Street in today's Right Wing World. And he's the best the GOP's got.) ...

... Ezra Klein: "The organizers of Occupy Wall Street are fighting to upend the system. But what gives their movement the potential for power and potency is the masses who just want the system to work the way they were promised it would work....  Ninety-nine percent of Americans sense that the fundamental bargain of our economy -- work hard, play by the rules, get ahead -- has been broken, and they want to see it restored." ...

... Harold Meyerson of the Washington Post: "Better late than never, the movement to take America back from Wall Street has arrived. On Wednesday, the ranks of the Occupy Wall Street encampment will swell as Move­On.org members, union activists and ordinary disgruntled citizens join the demonstration against our financial sector’s misrule of the American economy.... Once the servant of industry, banking became our dominant industry. It has ceased to serve us. We serve it."

"The Apocalypse Caucus." David Fahrenthold of the Washington Post: "Twenty [House] lawmakers ... calculate that the best way to fix government is to act as if you wouldn’t mind if it burned down.... The group now includes 12 Republicans and eight Democrats. Their votes say something about wh at it means to be a legislator in a Congress that governs by cliffhanger — both sides reaching agreement only when a catastrophe looms. This unofficial caucus believes that power goes to those who seem least afraid of catastrophe."

Chris Frates of the National Journal: "A top staffer to Eric Cantor is leaving the House majority leader's office to launch a Super PAC aimed at raising Cantor's national profile....  The PAC will be run by Cantor's deputy chief of staff John Murray and would give Cantor a vehicle he could use to run for vice president, should the opportunity arise...." CW: because what the U.S. needs is a vice president who "is trying to stop the U.S. government in its tracks." (See Jason Zengerle's profile of Cantor, linked in yesterday's Commentariat.)

CW: Debunked. A few days ago the New York Times published an op-ed by Martin Lindstrom, who identifies himself as a "branding consultant," & who postulated that people love the iPhones because the devices stimulated "the insular cortex of the brain," an area he associated with "love and compassion." I didn't link to the piece, but it was popular on the Times Website. In today's paper, 45 neuroscientists signed onto a rebuttal letter to the editor, which says, in part, 

The kind of reasoning that Mr. Lindstrom uses is well known to be flawed, because there is rarely a one-to-one mapping between any brain region and a single mental state; insular cortex activity could reflect one or more of several psychological processes. We find it surprising that The Times would publish claims like this that lack scientific validity. ...

      ... Just thought you might want to know.

Right Wing World

I think it’s dangerous — this class warfare. -- Mitt Romney, on Occupy Wall Street

The 'Romney Rule' seems to be that millionaires like Mitt should pay a lower tax rate than maids. -- Paul Begala, Democratic pundit

CBS News: "Herman Cain has moved into a tie with Mitt Romney atop the field of Republican presidential candidates, according to a new CBS News poll, while Rick Perry has fallen 11 percentage points in just two weeks." CW: As bizarre as the poll results are, they really reflect the GOP base's longing for ABR, i.e., Anyone but Romney.

Are You Ready for Some Crow Pie?
Hank Williams, Jr., Wants His Royalties Back

Hank Williams, Jr., Monday: "In an interview ... on Fox News' 'Fox & Friends,' Williams, unprompted, said of [President] Obama's outing on the links with House Speaker John Boehner: 'It'd be like Hitler playing golf with (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu.' Asked to clarify, Williams said, They're the enemy,' adding that by 'they' he meant Obama and Vice President Joe Biden." AND "Anchor Gretchen Carlson later said to him, 'You used the name of one of the most hated people in all of the world to describe, I think, the president.' Williams replied, 'Well, that is true. But I'm telling you like it is.'" 

ESPN Monday: "While Hank Williams, Jr. is not an ESPN employee, we recognize that he is closely linked to our company through the open to Monday Night Football. We are extremely disappointed with his comments, and as a result we have decided to pull the open from tonight’s telecast."

Hank Williams Tuesday: "I have always been very passionate about politics and sports and this time it got the best or worst of me. The thought of the leaders of both parties jukin' [sic] and high fiven' [sic] on a golf course, while so many families are struggling to get by, simply made me boil over and make a dumb statement, and I am very sorry if it offended anyone. I would like to thank all my supporters. This was not written by some publicist."

ESPN Tuesday: "ESPN said it had made no decision on Williams' future beyond the Monday night telecast."

Local News

To the Members of the California State Senate:

I am signing SB 769 which allows for a dead mountain lion to be stuffed and displayed. This presumably important bill earned overwhelming support by both Republicans and Democrats.

If only that same energetic bipartisan spirit could be applied to creating clean energy jobs and ending tax laws that send jobs out of state.

Sincerely,
Edmund G. Brown Jr. [Governor, State of California]

CW: not as on point as this classic letter from Brown's predecessor, but a good letter all the same:

M. J. Lee of Politico: "Trying to calm fearful parents after many Hispanic students stopped showing up in school in response to Alabama’s new immigration law, the state’s top education official said kids will be enrolled even if they don’t have birth certificates. The state’s interim superintendent, Larry Craven, ... said that while a contentious provision of the law upheld by U.S. District Judge Sharon Blackburn last week requires all students enrolling on or after Sept. 29 to present their birth certificate, they will be accepted at school even without documents."

News Ledes

     ... CNN has more here.

Even ABC News has a liveblog: "We've heard reports on crowd size ranging from 2,000 (an officer guessed) and 15,000 (organizers guessed). I'd say it's much closer to the latter. And for every protester, there must be two metal barriers. This is a very tightly-held rage." New York Daily News story here.

New York Times: "... the Supreme Court on Wednesday [heard arguments] over whether Congress acted constitutionally in 1994 by restoring copyright protection to foreign works that had once been in the public domain. The affected works included films by Alfred Hitchcock and Federico Fellini, books by C. S. Lewis and Virginia Woolf, symphonies by Prokofiev and Stravinsky and paintings by Picasso."

New York Times: "Justices Stephen G. Breyer and Antonin Scalia of the Supreme Court crossed Constitution Avenue on Wednesday to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee about the role of judges under the Constitution, offering unscripted responses on issues like conflicts of interest and cameras in the courtroom." See video under Thursday's Commentariat.

ABC News: "Steve Jobs, the mastermind behind Apple's iPhone, iPad, iPod, iMac and iTunes, has died, Apple said. Jobs was 56." ...

     ... Update: The New York Times obituary is here. Wall Street Journal obituary here; with video.

New York Times: "The Rev. Fred L. Shuttlesworth, a storied civil rights leader who survived beatings and bombings in Alabama a half-century ago as he fought against racial injustice alongside the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., died on Wednesday in Birmingham, Ala. He was 89."

New York Times: "Senate Democratic leaders on Wednesday proposed a 5 percent surtax on people with incomes of more than $1 million a year to pay for the package of job-creation measures sought by President Obama and to quell a brewing revolt among Democrats against the White House plan."

New York Times: "Sarah Palin is not running for president. Ms. Palin, the former governor of Alaska, ended her inscrutable cat-and-mouse game with the political establishment on Wednesday afternoon by saying that she would not join the field of Republican candidates seeking her party’s nomination, but would still work to oust President Obama." ...

... Gawker has Palin's full statement.

AP: "President Barack Obama has signed legislation to keep the federal government running for another six weeks. Congress must now finish work on agency budgets for the new fiscal year.... Obama had been expected to sign the bill into law later Wednesday, but signed it when he returned to Washington after appearances Tuesday in Texas."

New York Times: "Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin, a Democrat, narrowly won a special election for governor [of West Virginia] on Tuesday, successfully defending himself against Republican attacks that tried to link him with
President Obama and his health care overhaul." Charleston Gazette story here.

Bloomberg News: "The Obama administration outlined a plan to upgrade the U.S. electric grid, providing as much as $250 million in loans for rural towns and urging steps that would bar utilities from using market power to raise prices. The strategy encourages state and federal regulators to favor “smart-grid” technologies such as advanced meters that can increase energy efficiency. It advises protections for consumers against anti-competitive actions as companies develop services to take advantage of new technologies."

Forbes magazine named Scott Brown Wall Street’s favorite senator. I was thinking that’s probably not an award I’m going to get.... The people on Wall Street broke this country, and they did it one lousy mortgage at a time. -- Elizabeth Warren, Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate, Massachusetts

Boston Globe: "Elizabeth Warren ... clearly was the most adept in the first debate among the six candidates vying for the Massachusetts Democratic Party’s 2012 US Senate nomination.... But that’s not to say it’s time for a general election matchup against Republican Scott Brown, either. Four of the five other candidates on stage passionately articulated views across the liberal end of the political spectrum, highlighting their different backgrounds and showing reason to hear them another day." ...

... If you want to watch the debate, the Boston Herald has a report & full video here.

Washington Post: "... officials at the Army Corps of Engineers and technology company representatives ... were indicted on corruption-related charges that were made public Tuesday." They "got together and agreed to file inflated invoices for federal contracting services, prosecutors said. Then they bought millions of dollars worth of BMWs, Rolex and Cartier watches, flat-screen televisions, first-class airline tickets and investment properties across the globe." All have pleaded not guilty.

New York Times: "The New York attorney general and the United States attorney in Manhattan filed separate lawsuits on Tuesday against the Bank of New York Mellon, accusing it of cheating state and other pension funds nationwide out of foreign exchange fees over the last decade."

New York Times: "An Israeli scientist ... Daniel Shechtman, 70, a professor of materials science at Technion -- Israel Institute of Technology -- ... won this year’s Nobel Prize in Chemistry for discovering a material in which atoms were packed together in a well-defined pattern that never repeats."

The Commentariat -- October 4

Today's Off Times Square asks, "Should the federal government be irrelevant?"

Yes. -- House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, in response to a reporter's question, "The $447 billion jobs package as a package: dead?" ...

... Republican Bruce Bartlett in the New York Times: "People are increasingly concerned about unemployment, but Republicans have nothing to offer them. The G.O.P. opposes additional government spending for jobs programs and, in fact, favors big cuts in spending that would be likely to lead to further layoffs at all levels of government. Republicans favor tax cuts for the wealthy and corporations, but" these have no stimulative effect. So Republicans have embraced "the idea that government regulation is the principal factor holding back employment.... No hard evidence is offered for this claim; it is simply asserted as self-evident.... Regulatory uncertainty is a canard invented by Republicans that ... is a simple case of political opportunism, not a serious effort to deal with high unemployment."

Prof. Lawrence Lessig in a Bloomberg News opinion piece, suggests a complicated campaign finance reform law. CW: generally speaking, Lessig has a lot to say about campaign finance reform & has encouraged formation of a Constitutional Convention to get to the heart of it -- here, for instance). For me, here's the main takeaway from Lessig's column, which is adapted from a forthcoming book:

The threat to the republic is an economy of influence that draws our democracy away from the will of the people. Congress has allowed an engine of influence to evolve that seeks simply to enrich those connected to it. The rich secure their wealth through the manipulation of government and politicians.

Elisabeth Rosenthal of the New York Times: "E-mails released Monday in response to a Freedom of Information Act request filed by the environmental group Friends of the Earth paint a picture of a sometimes warm and collaborative relationship between the lobbyist for the pipeline company, Trans-Canada, and officials in the State Department, the agency responsible for evaluating and approving the billion-dollar project. The exchanges provide a rare glimpse into how Washington works and the access familiarity can bring." ...

... Bill McKibben, in a New York Times op-ed: E-mails obtained via an FIOA request show that in the Obama/Clinton State Department, cronyism has been far more important than professional expertise in "evaluating" the TransCanada project, the Keystone XL pipeline that will carry tar sands from Canada across the center of the continent. Oh yeah, and so much for President Obama's vow of transparency.

Seung Min Kim of Politico: "Bank of America announced last week that it will soon start charging most of its customers $5 per month for using their debit card — a move intended to recoup the revenue that the bank will lose under new federal regulations that went into effect Oct. 1. Those rules, authored by [Sen. Dick] Durbin [D-Ill.], capped the amount of swipe fees — what banks can charge retailers for processing debit cards. Other banks are likely to follow Bank of America’s lead.... Over the past few days, critics of the Durbin amendment blamed the Illinois Democrat for the debit fee hike. The Chicago Tribune, in an Oct. 1 editorial, dubbed the new charge the 'Durbin Fee' and blasted the senator for pushing the swipe fee change." Here's Durbin's response, from the Senate floor:

Adam Liptak of the New York Times interviews retired Justice John Paul Stevens, who has written a book on five Chief Justices under whom he served in one capacity or another.

John Mayard Keynes speaks, & Krugman hears him, seemingly for the first time:

There Are No Fat Women in Politics. Ruth Marcus: "Sure, [New Jersey Gov. Chris] Christie’s weight will be a topic if he decides to run. If he were a woman, though, it would have been the end of the discussion. That’s not a complaint, just a simple observation of reality when it comes to gender politics."

Right Wing World *

Adam Serwer of Mother Jones: "As Texas Gov. Rick Perry deals with the fallout from the revelation that his family leases a hunting camp called 'Niggerhead,' Herman Cain is facing his own backlash — for suggesting that the Perrys' conduct was 'insensitive.' ... You might have anticipated that Perry would face a firestorm for being associated with the property [CW: yes, you might], but it's Cain whose remarks are drawing the most criticism from the right." ...

... Dan Amira of New York Magazine: "So among Republicans, the widespread response to the Post story was ... 'the liberal media is smearing another Republican as a racist!' It's in this context that the backlash has occurred. Cain wasn't expressing reasonable grievances — he was 'piling on' and legitimizing a sleazy political attack.... Ladies and gentlemen, your modern-day GOP." Amira reproduces some tweets from prominent wingers.

L.A. Times reporter Michael Hiltzik, in a Washington Post op-ed: Rick Perry's campaign & his book Fed Up! center around attacks on the New Deal. But he repeatedly "employ[s] misconception, misrepresentation and misquotation" to make his points.

Keach Hagey of Politico: after Hank Williams, Jr., compared President Obama to Hitler on a Fox "News" segment, ESPN had the good sense to cut Williams' famous musical intro from its "Monday Night Football" broadcast. Thanks to Doug R. for the link.

* Uh, where black is white & white is black??

News Ledes

New York Times: "Arthur C. Nielsen Jr., who transformed the company his father founded in 1923 into an international leader in market research, helping to make its name synonymous with television ratings, died on Monday in Winnetka, Ill., where he lived most of his life. He was 92."

New York Times: "Months of wrangling at the Security Council over a resolution condemning Syria failed on Tuesday after Russia and China vetoed a resolution that contained a weak reference to the possibility of sanctions against Damascus."

AP: "Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke bluntly warned Congress on Tuesday of what most of America has sensed for some time: The economic recovery, such as it is, 'is close to faltering.'" ...

... AP: "Stocks made up much of their morning losses Tuesday after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said the central bank is prepared to take more steps to stimulate the economy. The pullback left the S&P 500 index down 20 percent from its April peak, a drop that is widely considered the start of a bear market."

President Obama spoke about the American Jobs Act in Dallas Mesquite, Texas, this afternoon.

TPM: "Seeking to consolidate party support for President Obama's jobs bill, Senate Democrats are considering a proposal to impose a five percent surtax on millionaires to pay for the legislation, according to two party aides."

New York Times: "With limited discussion and zero fanfare, the House on Tuesday approved and sent to President Obama a measure to keep the government operating through mid-November, ending for now the threat of any shutdown. By a vote of 352 to 66, the House approved the measure, passed by the Senate just a week ago, closing another anguished chapter in the fiscal war between Republicans and Democrats that continues to dominate Congress."

New York Times: "After a kinetic month in which some of the biggest names in American industry and Republican politics urged him to run for president, Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey spent a quiet weekend at home, coming to a sobering conclusion on Tuesday: 'Now is not my time.'”

AP: "Stocks slid again Tuesday as Europe’s debt crisis showed few signs of being solved any time soon and officials said Greece will have to wait until November to get its hands on much-needed bailout cash."

AP: "Three U.S.-born scientists won the Nobel Prize in physics on Tuesday for their studies of exploding stars that revealed that the expansion of the universe is accelerating." American Saul Perlmutter will "share the 10 million kronor ($1.5 million) award with U.S.-Australian Brian Schmidt and U.S. scientist Adam Riess."

New York Times: "House Republicans are laying the groundwork for another battle with President Obama over spending and domestic policy with a bill that would cut some of his favorite health and education programs, tie the hands of the National Labor Relations Board and eliminate federal grants for Planned Parenthood clinics."

AP: "Protests against Wall Street entered their 18th day Tuesday as demonstrators across the country showed their anger over the wobbly economy and what they see as corporate greed by marching on Federal Reserve banks and camping out in parks from Los Angeles to Portland, Maine." Washington Post story here.

Democracy Now!: "A final settlement has been reached in a federal lawsuit challenging the police crackdown on journalists reporting on the 2008 Republican National Convention and protests in St. Paul, Minnesota. Democracy Now! host and executive producer Amy Goodman, along with former producers Nicole Salazar and Sharif Abdel Kouddous ... were among dozens of journalists arrested that week in St. Paul. The settlement includes $100,000 in compensation paid by the St. Paul and Minneapolis police departments and the Secret Service."

AP: "The owners of two Southern California firms were among 55 people indicted by a federal grand jury in a $250 million income-tax fraud scheme claiming refunds were available through a secret government account, prosecutors and the Internal Revenue Service said Monday.... Hundreds of false tax returns were filed with the IRS seeking refunds. Refund checks for $5 million went out in error, IRS Special Agent Felicia McCain said Monday."

AP: "To the dismay of consumer groups and the discomfort of Democrats, President Barack Obama wants Congress to make it easier for private debt collectors to call the cellphones of consumers delinquent on student loans and other billions owed the federal government." CW: oh, debt collectors have lobbyists, too.

New York Times: "Elizabeth Warren ... will face off against her lesser-known Democratic opponents Tuesday in a debate that will be an important early test of her skills as a candidate." Boston Herald: "The Democratic candidates for U. S. Senate debate is scheduled for 7 tonight, at Durgin Hall on the UMass — Lowell campus. The debate is free and open to the public."

AP: "Palestinian officials said Monday that the U.S. has suspended West Bank development projects worth tens of millions of dollars after Congress froze funding to dissuade the Palestinians from seeking U.N. recognition of an independent state. It's the first concrete sign of repercussions for the Palestinians' decision to defy Washington on the issue."

The Commentariat -- October 3

Today's Off Times Square is on Slow Food (and Cheap Tomatoes). ...

... Chris Hedges in TruthDig: "... one of the most important battles in the history of migrant labor is launched by the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW). If this battle succeeds it will nearly double the wages of the farmworkers who labor in the $600 million tomato-growing industry. A victory over the supermarket chains also would hold out the possibility of significantly alleviating the draconian conditions that permit forced labor, crippling poverty and egregious human rights abuses, including documented cases of slavery, in the nation’s tomato fields. If the CIW campaign—which is designed to pressure supermarket chains including Publix, Trader Joe’s, Wal-Mart, Kroger, and Ahold brands Giant and Stop & Shop to sign the CIW Fair Food Agreement — fails, however, it threatens to roll back the modest gains made by farmworkers." CW: Hedges, in my opinion, often goes over the top. Not this time. If anything, he's downplaying the plight of tomato pickers. Thanks to commenter Janice for the link. The CIW site is here.

** "The Koch Method." How to Make a Billion Dollars: Steal, Cheat & Lie. Asjylyn Loder & David Evans of Bloomberg News: "A Bloomberg Markets investigation has found that Koch Industries -- in addition to being involved in improper payments to win business in Africa, India and the Middle East -- has sold millions of dollars of petrochemical equipment to Iran, a country the U.S. identifies as a sponsor of global terrorism. Internal company documents show that the company made those sales through foreign subsidiaries, thwarting a U.S. trade ban. Koch Industries units have also rigged prices with competitors, lied to regulators and repeatedly run afoul of environmental regulations, resulting in five criminal convictions since 1999 in the U.S. and Canada."

Al Baker & Joseph Goldstein of the New York Times: "As the Occupy Wall Street protests ... lurch into their third week, it is often the white shirts [i.e., police commanders] who lay hands on protesters or initiate arrests. Video recordings of clashes have shown white shirts — lieutenants, captains or inspectors — leading underlings into the fray." ...

... Natasha Lennard, the New York Times stringer arrested on the Brooklyn Bridge Sunday, writes a Times blogpost on "covering the march."

As a freelancer, I did not have an official police press pass. I was, however, fortunate enough to be the first to be processed from my bus, with only a disorderly conduct violation summons, in no small measure because of my editors’ contacting Police Headquarters to ensure my swift release.

... John Cassidy of the New Yorker: New York City Police Commissioner Ray Kelly's strongarm tactics are turning a peaceful protest into a worldwide news story. And Mayor Michael Bloomberg is inadvertently helping Occupy Wall Street, too. ...

... E. J. Dionne: "This week, progressives will highlight a new effort to pursue the road not taken at a conference convened by the Campaign for America’s Future that opens Monday.... A real left could usefully instruct Americans as to just how moderate the president they elected in 2008 is — and how far to the right conservatives have strayed." The Campaign for America's Future site is here. It looks pretty good -- and pretty progressive.

Paul Krugman: "... given our economy’s desperate need for more jobs, a weaker dollar is very much in our national interest — and we can and should take action against countries that are keeping their currencies undervalued, and thereby standing in the way of a much-needed decline in our trade deficit. That, above all, means China." The Senate "will ... take up legislation that would threaten sanctions against China and other currency manipulators."

Ron Nixon & Eric Lichtblau of the New York Times: "Talk of cutting tax breaks to raise money and reduce the debt has become a mantra in Washington, but it threatens sacred ground: such breaks are a favorite tool among both Republicans and Democrats to reward supporters and economic interests in their home states. The 71,000-page tax code has become loaded with dozens of obscure but economically valuable tax breaks."

Charles Riley of CNN Money: "Raise taxes on the rich, and you'll put the nation's 'job creators' at risk ... is a ubiquitous Republican talking point.... The argument: Many small businesses file taxes under the individual tax code. But while that argument makes for a good bumper sticker, it's a misleading simplification of a complex policy issue.... In sharp contrast to the rhetoric, current data suggests small businesses don't create an outsized number of jobs, very few small business owners fall into the top two tax brackets, and tax cuts for small businesses are ineffective stimulus measures."

Buffett Rule Reagan Rule. Thanks to Pat Garofalo of Think Progress for this gem:

... And speaking of Warren Buffett:

Some Are More Equal than Others. Anna Palmer of Politico: "Reporters and government watchdog groups are up in arms over the secrecy surrounding the [deficit-reduction super]committee ... which has met more frequently in secret than publicly and has rejected calls to disclose its donors and post its documents online. But some of Washington’s highest-paid lobbyists ... say senior staffers have given them readouts from closed-door committee meetings.... Democratic and Republican lobbyists say they continue to get corporate clients with interests before the committee face time with members and staff." CW Note: Palmer writes that "both sides do it," but the only examples she cites are Republican committee members. Thanks to reader Bob M. for the link.

Andy Grimm of the Chicago Tribune: "A Chicago woman's lawsuit over her partner's death at the Indiana State Fairgrounds could have widespread implications for same-sex couples across the nation, legal experts say. Alisha Brennon entered into a civil union with Christina Santiago in June, shortly after civil unions became legal in Illinois. In August, Santiago was one of seven people killed when a storm blew apart an outdoor concert stage in Indianapolis. Brennon has filed three lawsuits seeking damages for the death of her partner. The suits could force courts to decide whether civil unions in one state have legal standing in another." ...

... Ken Starr (yep, that one) in a New York Times op-ed: "Cameras in the courtroom of the United States Supreme Court are long overdue." CW: love it when I agree with Ken Starr.

The annual New Yorker Festival was this weekend, & the New Yorker has blogposts & video excerpts of some of the events here. Here, Danalynn Recer, founder and executive director of the Gulf Region Advocacy Center, discusses the effect of racism on the death penalty:

Gardiner Harris of the New York Times: as more & more nurses are receiving doctorates in nursing, physicians -- in some cases with backing of state legislatures -- are pushing back against allowing nurses to take the title of "doctor." CW: excuse me while I adjust my god-complex meter. People with doctorates in a myriad of other fields are routinely called "doctor." In fact, I can't recall medical doctors objecting when doctors in related fields -- like clinical psychology -- are addressed as "doctor." Why not nurses? Oh, wait. The vast majority of nurses are women.

Noah Bierman of the Boston Globe: "Elizabeth Warren holds a commanding lead over her rivals for next year’s Democratic US Senate nomination [in Massachusetts] and would be in a dead heat with Republican Scott Brown in the 2012 general election, according to a poll released last night."

A Caucus Divided against Itself.... Molly Hooper of The Hill: "GOP lawmakers told The Hill that redistricting pitting incumbents versus incumbents, coupled with the threat of Tea Party primary opponents, has sparked a lot of anxiety among House Republicans."

Right Wing World

Jason Zengerle of New York Magazine profiles Eric Cantor, comparing him to the obnoxious "Leave It to Beaver" character Eddie Haskell. "The House majority leader is trying to stop the U.S. government in its tracks. And so far, he’s doing a pretty effective job."

Rick Perry, BFF of Sleazy Mortgage Lenders. Jack Gillum of the AP: "As Texas governor, Rick Perry spent tens of millions in taxpayer money to lure some of the nation's leading mortgage companies to expand their business in his state.... Just as the largest banks began receiving public cash, they aggressively ramped up risky lending. Within four years, the banks were out of business and homeowners across Texas faced foreclosure. In the end, the state paid $35 million to subsidize it. An Associated Press review ... found that Perry downplayed early warnings of an impending mortgage crisis as alarmist.... As Perry offered $20 million in grants to Countrywide and $15 million to Washington Mutual Inc. — each blamed for having a major role in one of the country's most serious recessions — he took in tens of thousands of their dollars for his gubernatorial campaign."

Romney v. Buffett. Michael Scherer of Time: Mitt "Romney, a wealthy man whose income mostly comes from long-term investments, is exactly the sort of 'millionaire and billionaire' that [President] Obama likes to hold up for scrutiny, since the source of Romney's income allows him to pay a lower percentage of his money to the federal government each year than many middle-class wage earners." Romney has not released his tax returns, but a rough guesstimate is that he & his wife earned about $7.5 million in 2010. The Romneys probably paid about 14 percent of their gross income in taxes; under the "Buffett Rule," they would have paid at a rate of about 30 percent. 'The President's party want to take from some[ [Me!] and give to others [You!],' Romney said in a recent debate.... Romney has tried to cast himself as a defender of the middle class. His economic plan would maintain the 15% capital gains rate for those making more than $200,000 in total income, and eliminate any capital gains tax on those making less than $200,000." CW: pardon my math, but it appears the Buffett Rule would cost the Romneys about $1.2 million for 2010 alone.

News Ledes

The Hill: "The Senate voted Monday to advance legislation pressuring the Chinese government to stop undervaluing its currency, a practice most economists agree is giving the country an unfair trade advantage and is costing the U.S. jobs. The Senate voted 79-19 to end debate on a motion to proceed to the bill.... The strong show of support suggests it could well be approved in the upper chamber by the week’s end. Passage through the House is less clear, however, and GOP leaders have given no indication they will move forward with it." ...

... Roll Call: "House Majority Leader Eric Cantor said today that President Barack Obama’s jobs plan has no chance of passing the GOP-controlled House. Instead, the Virginia Republican said he will push for consideration of a series of proposals that are included in Obama’s package, such as a 3 percent withholding provision for government contractors and approval of free-trade deals with Colombia, South Korea and Panama."

New York Times: "Fannie Mae, the mortgage finance giant, learned as early as 2003 of extensive foreclosure abuses among the law firms it had hired to remove troubled borrowers from their homes. But the company did little to correct the firms’ practices, according to a report issued Tuesday [by the agency's inspector general]. Only after news reports in mid-2010 began to describe the dubious practices ... did Fannie Mae’s overseer start to scrutinize the conduct. The report was critical of that overseer, the Federal Housing Finance Agency...."

New York Times: "The Supreme Court started its new term on Monday with arguments in a difficult and consequential case over California’s attempt to cut Medicaid payment rates."

No, I don’t, because if you look at the overall portfolio ... over all, it’s doing well, and what we always understood was that not every single business is going to succeed in clean energy. -- Barack Obama, on whether or not he regrets the Solyndra clean energy loan ...

... New York Times: "Some White House officials were so concerned last year about the financial health of Solyndra, a solar equipment manufacturer that had received federal loans, that they warned that a presidential trip to the company’s California factory could prove a major embarrassment, newly disclosed e-mails show." ...

... Market Watch: "As the Obama administration continues to take heat for an ill-fated $535 million loan guarantee to the now-bankrupt solar panel maker Solyndra, a Bush administration official [-- Walter Streight Howes, a director in the Department of Energy --] says he would have done the same thing."

President Obama held a Cabinet meeting this morning.

CNN: "South Carolina’s Republican presidential primary will be held on Jan. 21 of next year.... The move is designed to put space between South Carolina and Florida, which bucked national Republican Party rules last week and decided to hold their primary on Jan. 31. The updated calendar is likely to push the Iowa caucuses and New Hampshire primary even earlier into January...."

AP: "Three scientists won the Nobel Prize in medicine on Monday for discoveries about the immune system that opened new avenues for the treatment and prevention of infectious illnesses and cancer. American Bruce Beutler and French scientist Jules Hoffmann shared the 10 million-kronor ($1.5 million) award with Canadian-born Ralph Steinman...." ...

     ... New York Times Update: Dr. Ralph Steinman died on September 30, hours before the Nobel Committee decided to award him the Prize in Medicine. Although the award cannot be made posthumously, the Committee -- which was unaware of his death -- decided to grant him the award since it had already announced he had won the prize.

Los Angeles Times: "Protesters who have camped outside Los Angeles City Hall since Saturday, inspired by on-going Occupy Wall Street demonstrations in New York, will spend a second night sleeping on the pavement this evening. Loosely organized by a group called Occupy Los Angeles, several hundred people marched and rallied Sunday, holding signs that blasted corporate influence on government. They used Internet sites to mobilize and get attention."

You want to be commander in chief? You can start by standing up for the men and women who wear the uniform of the United States, even when it's not politically convenient. We don't believe in standing silent when that happens. -- Barack Obama, on Republican presidential candidates' standing silent while the debate audience booed a gay soldier ...

... President Obama at a Human Rights Council event Saturday night:

     ... The transcript, as delivered, is here.