The Commentariat -- June 28

I've posted an Open Thread on Off Times Square. Kate Madison, Karen Garcia & I have posted comments on David Brooks' column. Looks as if the moderators dumped both Madison's & my comments, so you'll have to read them here. Update: my comment came up on Page 3 at #56; no sign of Madison's comment.

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) is seeking co-signers for his letter to President Obama, the final paragraph of which I've reproduced here. Please consider signing. I've signed. Thanks to commenter Waltwis for the link. He's signed, too:

Please do not yield to outrageous Republican demands that would greatly increase suffering for the weakest and most vulnerable members of our society.  Now is the time to stand with the tens of millions of Americans who are struggling to survive economically, not with the millionaires and billionaires who have never had it so good.   

CW: I'm linking to usually-liberal Gene Robinson's column not because I agree with it -- I don't -- but because it's a perfect example of Beltway pundits not knowing what they're talking about when it comes to economics, then buying into Republican talking points. He says -- get this! -- that because of the state of the economy, this would be a terrible time to remove tax breaks for the rich. Idiot! ...

... The fact is you can’t tax the very people that we expect to invest in the economy and create jobs. -- Speaker John Boehner ...

... Really? Take a look, Messrs. Robinson & Boehner, at this chart which Ezra Klein publishes in today's Washington Post:

... AND Annie Lowrey of Slate on tax cuts for the rich: "... those who say that every tax cut pays for itself are simply wrong." In fact, even in instances where tax cuts increased revenues coming from the rich, overall tax revenues decreased.

Legal scholar Rick Hasen, writing in The New Republic, sees some teensy slivers of a silver lining in the Supremes' 5-4 decision striking down part of Arizona's campaign finance law; to-wit: "the Roberts Court seems to have retreated from the suggestion that all campaign finance laws, aside from disclosure, are in constitutional trouble.... The Court confirmed that Citizens United did not overturn the law related to contribution limits.... Justice Kagan, who dissented in today’s Arizona case, has emerged as a forceful intellectual voice for the constitutionality of reasonable campaign finance regulation.... The Court did not level a death blow to public financing laws.... Lump sum payments should be okay."

Your Daddy Owns You. Dahlia Lithwick in Slate, on Justice Clarence Thomas's dissent in Freedom Club v. Arizona: "Thomas launches into what is surely one of the oddest, most discursive examinations of the Joys of Puritanical Parenting." CW: under Infotainment, I linked to a satirical article in which Thomas supposedly claims he's only 3/5ths of a Justice. But in real life, Thomas seems to long for ye good old days when children & wives were chattel. So, more or less the same thing, just different groups of enslaved people -- uh, groups which, conveniently enough, do not include him.

New York Times Editors: "It appears as though there are sufficient votes in the State Legislature to pass a marriage-equality bill in New Jersey — a positive change from last year when the freedom to marry was defeated in the Democratic-led State Senate. The obstacle is Gov. Chris Christie, a Republican."

Economist Adam Hersh in Think Progress: Republican governors & legislatures have been slashing state budgets, usually claiming the cuts with spur their states' economic growth. "But the data actually show the opposite of their claims to be true: steep spending cuts are hampering economic recovery in some states, while other states that resisted cuts or increased spending are now seeing declining unemployment rates, faster private-sector job creation, and stronger economic growth." Thanks to Bob M. fo the link. Here's a graph that makes Hersh's point:

Prof. Pam Luecke reviews Reckless Endangerment by Gretchen Morgenson & Joshua Rosner, about the genesis of the financial crisis. The authors finger James Johnson, Fannie Mae's CEO from 1991 to 1998, as the “anonymous architect of the public-private homeownership drive that almost destroyed the economy in 2008.” ...

... Neil Irwin of the Washington Post with five reasons the Swedish economy is "growing rapidly, creating jobs and gaining a competitive edge. The banks are lending, the housing market booming. The budget is balanced." CW: maybe the reason the Swedish government has made such good policy decisions is that women make up nearly half the parliament and hold half the ministerial positions.

Annie Lowrey in Slate: another cost of big cars & SUVs: they kill people.

Mayors Against Illegal Guns, NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg's group, has produced this effective ad. Via Ben Smith:

Right Wing World *

Gene Kessler of the Washington Post: Michele Bachmann exaggerates or just makes stuff up, even in her announcement she's running for president. ...

... AND PolitiFact looks into Bachmann's appearance on CBS News' "Face the Nation." They give her three "Barely Trues," a "False" and a "Pants-on-Fire." And they are being really generous. For instance, the PolitiFact people don't seem to understand the complete falsity of Bachmann's claim that the Affordable Care Act would kill 800,000 jobs. What the CBO actually said is that 800,000 people might quit working for health insurance if they could get it another way. But that doesn't eliminate the jobs themselves -- it just takes those workers out of the job market & thus makes the jobs available for unemployed workers. Major difference. Includes video. ...

... ** PLUS, Best of All, There's This from Stephanie Condon of CBS News: "Speaking from her home town of Waterloo, Iowa on Monday, Bachmann told Fox News, 'John Wayne was from Waterloo, Iowa. That's the kind of spirit that I have, too.' As the Washington Times first noted, however, the actor John Wayne was born nearly 150 miles away in Winterset, Iowa. John Wayne Gacy, Jr. -- the serial killer -- was born in Waterloo. CW: yep, I would agree that Bachmann has that serial killer spirit. ...

... Ed Kilgore of The New Republic wonders if Bachmann, who had a low threshold to jump ("Are you a flake?"), can stand up to media scrutiny, particularly of her long-held, hard-right Christian fundamentalist views. Kilgore notes that Republican elites will not go after her religious views & Republican voters will not be reading Matt Taibbi. So who will question Bachmann?

* Where the truth is the enemy of the good.

Local News

Rick Scott. Even scarier than this unretouched photo of him.Don Van Natta & Gary Fineout of the New York Times: Florida Gov. Rick "Scott’s sinking popularity has Republican politicians and some strategists worried that his troubles could hamper their chances of tilting the state’s 29 electoral votes back into their column in 2012. President Obama won Florida by 2.8 percentage points in 2008."

Stephen Colbert -- and Rick Scott -- want you to help out Rick Scott (segment begins about 1:45 min. in):

     ... Unlike the canned letter Scott provides you to send to your local newspaper editor, Colbert's canned letter allows you to fill in some of your very own words.

News Ledes

President Obama in Iowa today, speaking on the critical role of manufacturing in the U.S. economy:

Politico: "The Obama administration will not move forward on a controversial proposal to have 'secret shoppers' pose as patients to investigate how difficult it is for Americans to obtain primary care."

New York Times: "The legal adviser to the State Department said Tuesday that the Obama administration might have been better served if its officials had consulted more closely with Congress on American involvement in Libya, but defended the administration’s position that it was not required to seek explicit Congressional authorization for the venture. Repeating the administration’s position that the United States role in Libya is “limited,” Harold H. Koh, the legal adviser, testifying under sometimes frosty questioning by members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said that it was the administration’s first belief that it was not required to seek Congressional approval for the mission there under the Vietnam-era War Powers Resolution...."

President Obama toured the Alcoa Davenport works in Moline, Illinois, Bettendorf, Iowa, after which he spoke on the critical role manufacturing plays in the American economy. Update: Related New York Times story here. See video above.

New York Times: "Christine Lagarde was named Tuesday as the new managing director of the International Monetary Fund, taking on one of the most powerful positions in global finance as a worsening debt crisis in Greece rattles financial markets worldwide."

ABC News: "Rep. Gabrielle Giffords made her first public appearance in front of a crowd since being shot in the head Jan. 8, rising from her wheelchair to hug and kiss her husband, former astronaut Mark Kelly, when he received the Spaceflight Medal."

Los Angeles Times: "A 50,000-acre wildfire raging through tinder-dry ponderosa forest sent up towering plumes of smoke, rained down ash and forced the mandatory evacuation Monday of Los Alamos, home to the nation's premier nuclear weapons research lab."

Washington Post: In a 5-4 ruling, "the Supreme Court on Monday struck down part of Arizona’s public campaign finance law, the latest in a series of its rulings holding that the right of political speech trumps government efforts to restrain the power of money in elections. The court rejected Arizona’s system of providing additional funding to publicly funded candidates when they face big-spending opponents or opposition groups." You can read Roberts' majority opinion & Kagan's dissent here (pdf).

AP: "Workers across Greece walked off the job Tuesday at the start of a 48-hour general strike as lawmakers debate a new round of austerity reforms, which must be passed if the country is to get crucial bailout funds."

The Commentariat -- June 27

I've posted an Open Thread on Off Times Square & have added my comment on Douthat's column. Update: it came as no surprise to me the Times axed my comment. Read it & you'll see why.

Karen Garcia, who lives in New Paltz, New York, has a fine post on New York's passage of the gay marriage law. She features Republican State Sen. Steven Saland, who is likely to lose a re-election bid because he voted for the bill, and young New Paltz Mayor Jason West, who illegally performed same-sex marriages as an act of civil disobedience in 2004. ...

... Here's Republican New York State Sen. Mark Grisanti, who also changed his vote to "yea." It's a moving speech, delivered on the Senate floor before he registers his vote:

... Where's Barry? New York Times Editors: "After [Barack Obama] took office, it became evident that Republicans intended to portray him as a radical, out-of-touch leftist no matter what he did. Supporting same-sex marriage at this point is hardly going to change that drumbeat, and any voter for whom that is a make-or-break issue will probably not be an Obama supporter anyway." CW: there is a stark contrast in the courage quotient between Obama & those Republican state senators who may lose their seats.

Dexter Filkins of the New Yorker on the Afghanistan endgame: "Over time, the Pentagon’s focus shifted toward Afghanistan itself — toward helping its people rebuild their society, which has been battered by war and upheaval since the late nineteen-seventies. In strategic terms, the U.S. has swung between counter-insurgency and counterterrorism. Or, put another way, between enlightened self-interest and a more naked kind."

Mike Lofgren, a retired Republican Congressional staffer, in a Los Angeles Times op-ed: "The big deficit facing the U.S. is mostly Republican in origin, the Congressional Budget Office says. The Bush tax cuts alone have added $3 trillion in red ink, yet the party wants to double down on its failed policy." Thanks to Jeanne B. for the link.

Lori Montgomery & Paul Kane of the Washington Post: "As President Obama prepares to meet Monday with Senate leaders to try to restart talks about the swollen national debt, some Republicans see a potential path to compromise: significant cuts in military spending."

Nick Timiraos & Maurice Tamman of the Wall Street Journal: "The percentage of mortgage applications rejected by the nation's largest lenders increased last year, spotlighting how banks' cautious lending practices are hampering the nascent housing market recovery."

The real reason House Republicans want to keep the typical worker’s pay secret is that it may embarrass some companies to reveal that they pay their CEO in the range of 400 times what they pay their typical worker. -- Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) ...

... CW: Menendez added a provision of the Dodd-Frank law I didn't know about -- requiring companies to reveal how much more compensation their CEO receives than does their average employee. So Peter Whoriskey of the Washington Post reports that "a group backed by 81 major companies — including McDonald’s, Lowe’s, General Dynamics, American Airlines, IBM and General Mills — is lobbying against new rules that would force disclosure of that comparison." Ever accommodating, "on Wednesday, a House committee approved a bill that would repeal the disclosure requirement.... The committee vote was largely along partisan lines: Twenty-nine Republicans and four Democrats supported repeal; 21 Democrats opposed it."

Jonathan Tilove of the New Orleans Times-Picayune: "The president of the Christian conservative Family Policy Network sent Sen. David Vitter, R-La., a letter Monday calling on him to follow the lead of former Rep. Anthony Weiner, D-N.Y., and resign rather than leave Republicans and conservatives open to charges of hypocrisy." Thanks again to Jeanne B.

Karen Tumulty of the Washington Post profiles Nancy Pelosi. Here's Tumulty talking about her interview with the former Speaker, who aims to get her old job back:

Ian Urbina of the New York Times: "In its annual forecasting reports, the United States Energy Information Administration, a division of the Energy Department, has steadily increased its estimates of domestic supplies of natural gas, and investors and the oil and gas industry have repeated them widely to make their case about a prosperous future. But not everyone in the Energy Information Administration agrees. In scores of internal e-mails and documents, officials within the Energy Information Administration, or E.I.A., voice skepticism about the shale gas industry."

Oh, we haven't had a hard-to-believe TSA story in awhile. This one from the Northwest Florida Daily News should do: "Jean Weber of Destin, [Florida,] filed a complaint with the Department of Homeland Security after her 95-year-old mother was detained and extensively searched last Saturday while trying to board a plane to fly to Michigan to be with family members during the final stages of her battle with leukemia. Her mother, who was in a wheelchair, was asked to remove an adult diaper in order to complete a pat-down search."

Kate Zernike of the New York Times: The Tea Party plans to have its own debt commission, which will meet over the summer & make recommendations to lawmakers. "The commission is being organized by FreedomWorks, [which Zernike describes as] the libertarian advocacy group that helped grow the Tea Party movement." Actually, Freedom Works is Dick Armey's front group, & Dick Armey is a radical social conservative, not a libertarian.

Doctor Shopping. Robert Pear of the New York Times: "Alarmed by a shortage of primary care doctors, Obama administration officials are recruiting a team of 'mystery shoppers' to pose as patients, call doctors’ offices and request appointments to see how difficult it is for people to get care when they need."it.

Massimo Calabresi of Time: "As Texas Republican Governor Rick Perry gets closer to deciding whether to enter the 2012 presidential race, it’s clear his campaign would be about jobs.... Texas is a job-generating wonder.... Perry’s main claim to job-creation fame, though, comes from his high-profile raids on other states.... Beginning in 2003, Perry convinced the Texas legislature to give him control over several massive, largely unsupervised funds that provide subsidies to businesses that move to Texas." Turns out, the job creation didn't go so well, as corporate recipients of Texas taxpayers' largesse failed to produce the promised jobs. CW: as blogger Robert Nagle pointed out to me this weekend, one of the recipients of these funds was the notorious Countrywide Financial. As Nagle wrote in an August 2010 post:

Amazingly, one beneficiary of the Texas Enterprise Fund was Countrywide Financial who received $20 million from the State of Texas before going bankrupt under allegations of fraud. Not only did Perry approve of giving funds to Countrywide, he actually made a point to give a speech touting it as the fund’s 'crowning jewel.' ... Countrywide later became known for being a primary cause of the subprime loan mortgage meltdown....

News Ledes

New York Times: "The White House and Congressional Republicans remained deeply divided on Monday over whether a budget-cutting deal tied to a debt limit increase should contain new federal revenues."

For news on the guilty verdicts of ousted Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich , see Blago -- the Trials(s) under The Soaps! drop-down menu.

Politico, re" Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice David Prosser's alleged chokehold on Justice Ann Walsh Bradley: "State capitol police are investigating and have yet to discuss the incident publicly, though a statement on the matter is expected Monday." ...

     ... Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Update: "The Dane County,  [Wisconsin,] Sheriff's Office is investigating a claim by Supreme Court Justice Ann Walsh Bradley that Justice David Prosser put her in a chokehold earlier this month. 'After consulting with members of the Wisconsin Supreme Court, I have turned over the investigation into an alleged incident in the court's offices on June 13, 2011 to Dane County Sheriff Dave Mahoney,' Capitol Police Chief Charles Tubbs said in a statement."

AP: "The Supreme Court said Monday that California cannot ban the rental or sale of violent video games to children. The high court agreed with a federal court’s decision to throw out California’s ban on the sale or rental of violent video games to minors. The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in Sacramento said the law violated minors’ rights under the First and Fourteenth amendments." The decision was 7-2. ...

     ... Update. The New York Times story is here. Justices Thomas & Breyer filed separate dissents. The decision & other opinions are here.

AP: "Outspoken congresswoman and tea party favorite Michele Bachmann cast herself as the 'bold choice' for the Republican presidential nomination as she formally kicked off her campaign Monday in her Iowa home town. Outside a historic mansion in Waterloo, Bachmann said she is waging her campaign 'not for vanity,' but because voters 'must make a bold choice if we are to secure the promise of the future.'"

Los Angeles Times: "The Dodgers filed for bankruptcy protection Monday in a move that owner Frank McCourt said would stabilize the financial future of the team. The move also could extend the battle for ownership of the Dodgers well beyond this season."

AP: "The International Criminal Court decided Monday to issue an arrest warrant for Libyan leader Moammar Kadafi and two of his relatives. The court ruled that there was enough evidence to grant a request for the warrants by the court's chief prosecutor, who has said he has evidence that links Kadafi and two relatives to "widespread and systematic" attacks on civilians as part of their effort to hold on to power." New York Times story here.

The Commentariat -- June 26

Faint Praise. Maureen Dowd says of Barack Obama's slow "evolution" on gay marriage, "He’s not as bad as New York’s Archbishop Timothy Dolan, who gave another grumpy interview on Thursday ... asserting: 'You think it’s going to stop with this? You think now bigamists are going to want their rights to marry? You think somebody that wants to marry his sister is going to now say, "I have a right"? I mean, it’s the same principle, isn’t it?'” Yup, gay marriage is just like incest & bigamy. Oh, why not do the full Santorum & add bestiality? ...

... I've added a Dowd page to today's Off Times Square, but write on any topic. Karen Garcia & I have commented on Dowd. The Times has squelched my comment, but you can recommend Garcia's, which is Comment #1.

Frank Bruni, in his first Washington Post op-ed column, writes a fine one about gay rights & gay marriage.

This bears repeating. New York Times Editors: "Multinational companies say they could repatriate hundreds of billions in foreign profits and pump them into domestic investment and hiring, but only if Congress and the White House agree to cut the tax rate on those profits to 5.25 percent from 35 percent.... According to Congress’s Joint Committee on Taxation, the proposed cut would cost $79 billion over 10 years.... They call their plan 'the next stimulus.' Sounds more like extortion. In the last five years American businesses have kept abroad more than $1 trillion worth of foreign earnings.... The Obama administration should not give in to such corporate coercion.... The last time big businesses got such a 'tax holiday,' in 2005, companies spent most of the money rewarding their shareholders with stock buybacks and dividends, not in hiring."

There should start to be some real investigations as to whether Clarence Thomas can continue to serve as a justice on the Supreme Court. -- Rep. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.)

Darlene Superville of the AP: "On her second overseas business trip without the president, and to the black motherland, [Michelle Obama,] America's first black first lady, was warmly received everywhere she went, often with song and to the point of almost being moved to tears. She spoke passionately about her causes, tickled and danced with some of the youngest Africans, and sat with presidents and first ladies, including Nelson Mandela, South Africa's former president and a hero of the anti-apartheid movement."

The Washington Post's top story today, by Carol Leonnig, et al., asks if President Obama is too cozy with clean-energy manufacturers -- some of whom contributed heavily to his 2008 campaign -- at the expense of, you know, dirty energy producers. CW: I think the Republican party wrote this one for the Post.

Crime Blotter

Douglas Martin of the New York Times: "Randall Dale Adams, who spent 12 years in prison before his conviction in the murder of a Dallas police officer was thrown out largely on the basis of evidence uncovered by a filmmaker, died in obscurity in October in Washington Court House, Ohio. He was 61.... The film that proved so crucial to Mr. Adams was 'The Thin Blue Line,' directed by Errol Morris and released in 1988." CW: Now that we know so much about wrongful convictions, I don't know if we would be so shocked by "The Thin Blue Line" as viewers were in 1988, but if you haven't seen it, do so. Most documentaries aren't riveting; this one is. Martin's article, which outlines Adams' story is pretty riveting, too.

Life on the Lam with Whitey. Katharine Seelye of the New York Times profiles Catherine Elizabeth Greig, reputed Boston mobster James "Whitey" Bulgar's companion. The FBI has arrested both, and they are back in Boston where they both face trials for multiple felonies.

The trailer for the documentary film "Incendiary," on the execution of Texan Cameron Todd Willingham for a crime of arson and murder he most likely did not commit:

Right Wing World *

Melanie Mason & Matea Gold of the Los Angeles Times: "Rep. Michele Bachmann has been propelled into the 2012 presidential contest in part by her insistent calls to reduce federal spending.... But the Minnesota Republican and her family have benefited personally from government aid, an examination of her record and finances shows. A counseling clinic run by her husband has received nearly $30,000 from the state of Minnesota in the last five years, money that in part came from the federal government. A family farm in Wisconsin, in which the congresswoman is a partner, received nearly $260,000 in federal farm subsidies."

* Where taxpayers should subsidize me but not you.

Local News

Crocker Stephenson, et al., of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: "An argument between state Supreme Court Justices David Prosser and Ann Walsh Bradley became physical earlier this month, according to sources who told the Journal Sentinel two very different stories Saturday.... According to some sources, Prosser wrapped his hands around Bradley's neck. According to others, Bradley charged Prosser, who raised his hands to defend himself and made contact with her neck. A joint investigation by Wisconsin Public Radio and the Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism first reported Saturday on the incident, stating that Prosser 'grabbed' Bradley around the neck.... The confrontation occurred after 5:30 p.m. June 13, the day before high court's release of a decision upholding a bill to curtail the collective bargaining rights of public employees." ...

     ** ... Update: "Supreme Court Justice Ann Walsh Bradley late Saturday accused fellow Justice David Prosser of putting her in a chokehold during a dispute in her office earlier this month. 'The facts are that I was demanding that he get out of my office and he put his hands around my neck in anger in a chokehold,' Bradley told the Journal Sentinel."

... Ian Millhiser of Think Progress: "Under Wisconsin law, '[w]hoever intentionally causes bodily harm or threatens to cause bodily harm to the person or family member of any judge ... is guilty of a Class H felony.' ... Should the allegations prove true, however, there are at least four paths to remove Justice Prosser from office.” ...

... Steve Benen: "Given Prosser’s track record and apparent hostility towards women, it’s awfully difficult to give him the benefit of the doubt. And if true, putting one’s hands around a colleague’s neck, in anger, seems like a no-brainer when it comes to removing a judge from the bench. Indeed, it sounds an awful lot like assault and battery."

Daniel Bice of the Journal Sentinel: "After dropping nearly $9 million from his own pocket to win a seat in the U.S. Senate, Ron Johnson didn't have to feel the pain for very long. Johnson's plastics company paid him $10 million in deferred compensation shortly before he was sworn in as Wisconsin's junior senator, according to his latest financial disclosure report.... 'It looks like a scheme to get around a century-old law' barring corporate donations to candidates, said Mike McCabe, head of the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign."

News Ledes

Washington Post: "Hu Jia, a prominent Chinese dissident whose activism on behalf of the environment and AIDS suffers [sic.] landed him in prison for the last three and a half years, was released in the pre-dawn hours Sunday and returned to his home in Beijing, his wife said in a Twitter posting."

AP: Lulz Security, "a publicity-seeking hacker group that has blazed a path of mayhem on the Internet over the last two months, including attacks on law enforcement sites, said unexpectedly on Saturday it is dissolving itself. Lulz Security made its announcement through its Twitter account. It gave no reason for the disbandment, but it could be a sign of nerves in the face of law enforcement investigations. Rival hackers have also joined in the hunt, releasing information they say could point to the identities of the six-member group."