The Commentariat -- July 12, 2013

Obama 1.0. Larry Gordon of the Los Angeles Times: "Janet Napolitano, the U.S. secretary of Homeland Security and former governor of Arizona, is being named as the next president of the University of California system, in an unusual choice that brings a national-level politician to a position usually held by an academic.... Her appointment also means the 10-campus system will be headed by a woman for the first time in its 145-year history."

Paul Krugman on "libertarian populism," which "will surely be touted all over the airwaves and the opinion pages by the same kind of people who assured you, a few years ago, that Representative Paul Ryan was the very model of a Serious, Honest Conservative. So let me make a helpful public service announcement: It's bunk." Krugman explains what it is & why it's bunk.

Senator McConnell broke his word. The Republican leader has failed to live up to his commitments. He's failed to do what he said he would do -- move nominations by regular order except in extraordinary circumstances. I refuse to unilaterally surrender my right to respond to this breach of faith. -- Harry Reid, on the Senate floor yesterday ...

I ate shit on some of those nominees. -- Harry Reid, not on the Senate floor

... Alexander Bolton of the Hill: "Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) on Thursday afternoon scheduled several votes to end debate on a slew of executive branch nominees, including several staunchly opposed by Republicans. The procedural maneuver sets up a showdown with Republicans next week over the Senate's filibuster rule. Reid and other Democratic leaders urged colleagues in a private meeting earlier in the day to support changing the rule if Republicans blocked the nominees." ...

... Greg Sargent: "By filing cloture on all of them, Reid is giving Republicans one last chance to move on them, on the theory that if they fail to do so, it will help drive home to fellow Dems -- and the media, and the American people -- that they really have no choice but to hit the nuke button." ...

... Scott Lemieux in Lawyers, Guns & Money: "... a large part of me still has trouble believing that it isn't a bluff." ...

Macabre Mitch designs Harry Reid's tombstone. Try to get a little more tasteless, won't you, Mitch? You could, you know, put a date of death on it.... Jeremy Peters of the New York Times: "A tense and sometimes peevish back-and-forth between the leaders of both parties unfolded on the Senate floor throughout the day, with Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the Republican leader, accusing Mr. Reid of trying to do irreversible damage to an institution that in many ways still functions as it did when the Constitution was drafted." ...

     ... CW: Peters just lets McConnell's remark stand without challenge. A reporter who knew his subject would point out that "The first filibuster in U.S. Senate history began on March 5, 1841," nearly 54 years after "the Constitution was drafted." (Passive voice!) In fact, the principle difference between the way the Senate of the early Congresses functioned & the way it functions today is the employment of the filibuster for every damned vote. This really is an egregious bit of "reporting." ...

... Steve Benen: "McConnell would have the public believe that if the Senate is forced to vote up or down on executive branch nominees, without an opportunity for obstructionism, it would necessarily 'kill' the institution. And that's hopelessly crazy." ...

... Unusual Times. Ezra Klein: "So far as Reid is concerned, Republicans have already killed pretty much everything else the Democrats might want to do. When he's been confronted with the argument that Republicans might bring everything to a stop if Democrats change the rules, I'm told Reid's reply is sharp: 'And that would be different how?'" ...

... A Democratic Senate staffer sees the upside for Mitch: "But if you're McConnell ... wouldn't you want Reid to nuke you? It helps you raise money with the base, it means you don't have to negotiate these nominations that your base doesn't like, and it leaves the door wide open to nuke us back -- and worse -- if they take over." ...

New York Times Editors: "... the House has retreated from the national mainstream into a cave of indifference and ignorance." ...

... Pete Kasperowicz & Erik Wasson of the Hill: "The House approved a stripped-down farm bill Thursday in a tight 216-208 vote, giving a huge boost to Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) and other Republican leaders after the embarrassing failure of an earlier bill last month. The bill passed despite a veto threat from President Obama, objections from most Democrats and opposition from farm groups and conservative organizations.... Only 12 Republicans voted against the bill, while no Democrats supported it." ...

What we have carefully done is exclude some extraneous pieces. -- Rep. Pete Sessions (R-Texas)

Kids going to bed hungry at night in this nation is extraneous? -- Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.)

Extraneous? For almost 50 years, food stamps have been part of the annual farm bill, and the $80 billion spent on the program keeps tens of millions of Americans, about half of them children, from going hungry. -- Dana Milbank

... Louie Can't Handle the Truth. David Edwards of the Raw Story: "Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX) on Thursday objected over and over again in order to keep statements out of the congressional record that accused Republicans of hurting working families by taking food stamps out of the farm bill." ...

... Kevin Drum: "Because, really, what's the point of being a modern Republican if you can't cut back on food aid for the poor during a period of extended high unemployment?" ...

... Jonathan Chait of New York: "The existence of farm subsidies is insane, and the fact that a party that hates government so much it engages in a continuous guerilla war of shutdowns, manufactured currency crises, and outright sabotage can't eliminate it may be the most telling indicator of the GOP's venality. They only hate necessary government spending. Totally unjustifiable spending is fine with them." ...

... CW: Excellent analysis by Patrick in today's Comments. But you don't have to be as smart as Patrick to be repulsed by "representatives of the people" who would let the people starve. The House's antipathy to food stamps ties in with Krugman's debunking of "libertarian populism," linked above. White people need to eat, too.

The Constitution says a majority. It doesn't say the Hastert rule, or sometimes the Hastert rule, or when I feel like it the Hastert rule. It says the majority. And there are ways to achieve the majority that I hope they will pursue. -- Nancy Pelosi, teaching Constitution 101 to House GOPpers ...

... Brian Beutler of TPM: "... if there's a way to get [to immigration reform], the public will actually get clearer instructions from House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi than anyone in the GOP. ...

We've got a broken system and it needs to be fixed. I made a strong case yesterday that it needs to be fixed. And that Republicans ought to be part of the solution. It's always in the party's best interest when we're doing the right thing for the country. -- John Boehner, Thursday

Perhaps Boehner will actually be able to deliver something. If not, he really will deserve the title of being of the weakest House Speakers in American history. -- Jed Lewison, Daily Kos ...

... Sideshow. Russell Berman & Molly Hooper of the Hill: "House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) and Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) are drafting legislation to provide a path to citizenship for immigrant children who were brought to the U.S. illegally by their parents, their offices said Thursday. The bill, which a Cantor spokeswoman said is in its 'early stages,' would be the first House Republican proposal to address the status of illegal immigrants, but it would not go nearly as far as Democrats want. While the legislation resembles the DREAM Act that is part of the Senate immigration bill, aides said it would not be as broad."

... "Pass the Bill!" David Brooks takes down phony conservative objections to the Senate immigration bill. No, really, he does! ...

... "The Great Wall of Texas." Conservatives Glenn Hubbard & Tim Kane in the Atlantic: "Despite the cautionary tale of Rome, building walls, both literal and figurative, has remained a habit of great powers in decline -- the fateful course taken not only by Ming China, but also Soviet Russia, and even Great Britain.... The last thing we need is a wall."

Another Stupid House Protest Vote. Russell Berman of the Hill: "The House will vote next week to delay the implementation of both the employer and individual mandate in the healthcare law, Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) announced Thursday. Republicans are looking to seize on the Obama administration's decision last week to delay the employer mandate, the requirement that businesses provide healthcare to employees or pay fines." CW: of course the reason Obama delayed implementing the employer mandate is that it needs fixing & House Republicans won't vote for the fixes -- even fixes that would suit them.

Tal Kopan of Politico: "Asked why there is gridlock [in Washington], 51 percent of voters surveyed said it was because Republicans are determined to block Obama, while 35 percent said it was because the president lacks the skills to persuade congressional leaders to work together, a Quinnipiac poll out Friday morning found." CW: so 35 percent of Americans are ignorant or wilfully ignorant. That sounds about right.

William Neuman & Randal Archibold of the New York Times: "The United States is conducting a diplomatic full-court press to try to block Edward J. Snowden ... from finding refuge in Latin America, where three left-leaning governments that make defying Washington a hallmark of their foreign policies have publicly vowed to take him in.... But Washington is finding that its leverage in Latin America is limited just when it needs it most...." ...

... Ellen Barry of the New York Times: "Officials at Moscow's Sheremetyevo Airport said that Edward J. Snowden ... plans to meet with representatives of international human rights organizations at the airport on Friday afternoon, breaking his silence after spending nearly three weeks in the airport's transit zone." ...

... Will Englund of the Washington Post: "Human rights activists and lawyers here have received e-mailed invitations to a Friday afternoon meeting with fugitive Edward Snowden at Moscow's Sheremetyevo Airport. The invitation, with Snowden's name on it, says he wants to discuss his future status. Several of those invited said they believe the 30-year-old former contractor for the National Security Agency, in hiding since leaking classified information about U.S. surveillance programs, may have decided to seek asylum in Russia." ...

... UPDATE. Miriam Elder of the Guardian: "The US whistleblower Edward Snowden has said he is requesting political asylum in Russia in a meeting with human rights activists at Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport. Snowden said he would stay in Russia until he could win safe passage to Latin America, according to Tanya Lokshina of Human Rights Watch, who was at the meeting.... The Kremlin said on Friday that it had not yet received Snowden's new asylum request." ...

... Ellen Nakashima of the Washington Post: "A National Security Agency internal review of damage caused by the former contractor Edward Snowden has focused on a particular area of concern: the possibility that he gained access to sensitive files that outline espionage operations against Chinese leaders and other critical targets.... The possibility that intelligence about foreign targets might be made public has stirred anxiety about the potential to compromise the agency's overseas collection efforts. U.S. officials fear that further revelations could disclose specific intelligence-gathering methods or enable foreign governments to deduce their own vulnerabilities." ...

... Glenn Greenwald, et al., of the Guardian: "Microsoft has collaborated closely with US intelligence services to allow users' communications to be intercepted, including helping the National Security Agency to circumvent the company's own encryption, according to top-secret documents obtained by the Guardian. The files provided by Edward Snowden illustrate the scale of co-operation between Silicon Valley and the intelligence agencies over the last three years. They also shed new light on the workings of the top-secret Prism program, which was disclosed by the Guardian and the Washington Post last month.... Material collected through Prism is routinely shared with the FBI and CIA, with one NSA document describing the program as a 'team sport'." ...

... Dominic Rushe of the Guardian: "Yahoo has called on Fisa, the secretive US surveillance court, to let it publish its legal argument against a case that gave the government "powerful leverage" in persuading tech companies to co-operate with a controversial data-gathering program. In a court filing first reported by San Jose Mercury News the company argues the release would demonstrate that Yahoo 'objected strenuously' in a key 2008 case after the National Security Agency (NSA) demanded Yahoo customers' information." ...

... Jim Finkle of Reuters: "The annual Def Con hacking convention has asked the U.S. federal government to stay away this year for the first time in its 21-year history, saying Edward Snowden's revelations have made some in the community uncomfortable about its presence.... The government had previously always been welcome at Def Con, where hard core hackers have held tongue-in-cheek 'spot the Fed' contests to identify government officials who often stick out in the colorful crowd."

I'm not a fan of secession. -- Sen. Rand Paul, clarifying his views ...

... Howard Fineman: "In an interview with The Huffington Post, Sen. Rand Paul stoutly defended an aide who, as a radio shock jock in South Carolina, praised John Wilkes Booth, heaped scorn on Abraham Lincoln and wore a ski mask emblazoned with the stars and bars of the Confederate Battle Flag. Paul (R-Ky.) stressed that he opposed such views, many of which have been recanted by the Senate aide, Jack Hunter, who co-wrote Paul's first book in 2010 and who is now his social media adviser in Washington."

Frank Rich on Obama & Egypt, Eliot Spitzer, immigration reform & Rick Perry.

Local News

Kevin Roose of New York on Washington, D.C., city council's decision to establish a minimum "living wage" despite WalMart's strongarm attempt to intimidate them: "It would have been easy for D.C.'s city council to bow to Walmart's threat, repeal or soften the minimum-wage hike, and brag to constituents about their job-creating success. Instead, they made a brave, values-driven decision about what kinds of jobs they wanted in D.C. and set policy accordingly. That's the right of every municipality, and it's an impulse that should be exercised much more often."

Michael Grynbaum & Thomas Kaplan of the New York Times: "After a four-day petitioning blitz, Eliot Spitzer turned in 27,000 signatures Thursday night to claim a spot on the Democratic primary ballot for New York City comptroller. Mr. Spitzer collected nearly as many signatures as Anthony D. Weiner has for his mayoral candidacy, 30,000, but Mr. Weiner had weeks, not days, to conduct his petitioning operation.... The sizable number of signatures collected by Mr. Spitzer is a raw demonstration of what an independently wealthy candidate can achieve in a short time -- Mr. Spitzer was said to have paid hundreds of dollars a day to his petitioners...."

Chris Tomlinson of the AP: "This time when the Texas Senate takes up tough new abortion restrictions, the chamber's top Republican is determined not to let anything -- or anyone -- derail a vote. The Senate's leader, Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst, has scheduled a vote for Friday on the same restrictions on when, where and how women may obtain abortions in Texas that failed to become law after a Democratic filibuster and raucous protesters were able to run out the clock on an earlier special session."

Alexander Burns of Politico: "Suddenly under legal and political siege, [Virginia Gov. Bob] McDonnell is the subject of one of the swiftest downfalls in recent memory: once known as a spotlessly clean, law-and-order politician, the governor stands accused of questionable financial dealings that range from the tacky to the jaw-dropping." ...

... Ruth Marcus of the Washington Post: "Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell (R) ... has no business continuing in office." Marcus runs down some of Bob & Maureen's excellent gifts.

News Ledes

Washington Post: John Franklin Riggs, 46, an Eastern Shore fisherman, swam 5 hours against the tide & currents to reach the shore & get help to rescue his family after their boat capsized in the Chesapeake Bay. Quite a story.

New York Times: "Amar G. Bose, the visionary engineer, inventor and billionaire entrepreneur whose namesake company, the Bose Corporation, became synonymous with high-quality audio systems and speakers for home users, auditoriums and automobiles, died on Friday at his home in Wayland, Mass. He was 83."

AP: "A new 977-count indictment filed Friday provides a numbing look at what prosecutors say was 10 years of captivity for the three women in suspect Ariel Castro's home in a rough Cleveland neighborhood. Among the most serious charges: that he caused the death of one of his victims' fetuses by punching and starving her."

Orlando Sentinel: "The jury in the George Zimmerman murder trial began deliberations this afternoon to determine whether he is guilty of murder in the shooting death of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin."

New York Times: " Hundreds of thousands of Egyptian Islamists and other supporters of Mohamed Morsi ... filled public squares in Cairo and other cities on Friday in an intensified campaign aimed at returning him to power. The United States also dialed up its criticism, calling on Egypt's interim authorities to release Mr. Morsi."

AP: "A former manager with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers was sentenced to more than 19 years in prison Thursday for orchestrating a $30 million bribery and kickback scheme that authorities called historic in scope. U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan called Kerry F. Khan's conduct, which included wiretapped conversations about a planned sexual encounter with a teenage girl and the assault of his mistress by an associate in the Philippines, 'shocking, vicious and cruel.' The judge imposed a sentence four years longer than what prosecutors had recommended. Khan ... acknowledged pocketing bribes from corrupt contractors in exchange for certifying bogus or inflated invoices for services that were never provided."

Comments

[Patrick]

The Hill (Kasperowicz/Wasson) characterizes passage of the no-SNAP Farm Bill as a big boost for Speaker Boehner, which is a very sad comment. The "boost" just seems to be that Republican House members did not reject another bill that he allowed to come to the floor. But there is no mark of leadership here, just further evidence that House "leadership" (yes, irony quotes) panders to the lowest motives of the base. This bill is DOA unless SNAP gets added back in conference, and amounts to another protest vote by House Republicans. It is not an attempt at governance.

This bill is a good example of the rolling tragedy unfolding in our national politics. Food assistance (stamps, SNAP, etc.) has been tied to ag policy (subsidies) for forty years in part because the original "War on Hunger" established that food stamps, as a pseudo-currency, provided better outcomes for all than the previous surplus commodity distribution programs. Keeping food aid tied to ag programs made original policy sense, but over the years the food assistance program became more of an independent objective and the tie to ag more tenuous.

So here's the tragedy: if we had a legislature that viewed food assistance as a national priority, and which had a sense of investment in the continuity of programs to promote the national good, and had any degree of trust among partisan factions, we could make the logical progression, to separate food assistance legislation from agricultural support laws. We could have logical national programs that separated agricultural support, food assistance, ag R&D, soil conservation and environmental protection. Such separation has the potential to create better programs, that are more efficient, more effective, and potentially less wasteful. But there is no way to develop the necessary common vision and trust, when a majority in the House, for years, denies the national benefit of investment in such programs and looks upon many of them as "welfare," subject to cuts for specious deficit management goals.

If you were starting out to build a new country, one of the very first political objectives you would have would be to get agriculture right. If the people don't eat, you don't have a country. It is the second basic requirement of polity, after national security. Some would say the first.

That our House of Representatives cannot address successfully this seriously high priority really indicates that they do not know what their responsibilities are. That our national press does not highlight this problem means that it no longer serves as the voice of the needs of the people, probably just due to ignorance. Ag is boring until you can't find food.

If we had a working legislative branch, all of this would be a no-brainer instead of an unfolding tragedy. And all you ex-English majors out there will recall that the central characters in tragedies don't know that they are screwed, by their own devices, through their pride, ignorance, habit or other flaw.

If the press won't do it, how do voters learn that their elected representatives are failing in epic ways, not just in their daily peccadilloes that seem more interesting to the news cycle?

[Barbarossa]

@Patrick: Yes, the party that wants to protect "the unborn" has no compunction about letting 'em starve once they're out of the womb.

[Julie in Massachusetts]

On Tuesday I watched Bill Moyers' Frontline documentary 'Two American Families'. Started in 1992, it follows the lives of 2 middle-class families living in Milwaukee (http://billmoyers.com/2013/07/10/two-american-families/). For the most part, both families experience hard economic times through no fault of their own. And, no matter how hard they work or how many jobs they have, they barely eke out living.

This should be required viewing for get rid of minimum wages David Koch, send jobs to China Walmart, and all members of Congress. Although, I'm quite sure it would fall on deaf ears. I don't understand how wealthy and powerful people can have such ignorant attitudes toward the working class. Are they so removed from reality that they don't realize what many hard working families are experiencing? Do they suffer from some sort of God incarnate delusion? Or, are they just simply mean spirited assholes living in a cesspool of greed?

[PD Pepe]

@Patrick: Excellent summary of Shakespearian tragedies in the 21st century. I have almost given up trying to understand the mindset of those that appear not to have an inner core of decency or compassion.

@Julie: And did you notice that the difference between the white family having had the husband/ father sever his relationship with his wife and children (when young) had a much more difficult time of it than the black family whose marital relationship was firmly intact and from the looks of it remained quite passionate despite all their struggles. Also they managed to send at least one of their children off to college who is now a successful businessman.

[Patrick]

From Politico on VA Gov McD: "... well, now nobody’s sure what to call Bob McDonnell."

Stick a transvaginal probe in him and call him "done." :)

[safari]

I moved to France a few years after the financial collapse to pursue a Master's degree and expand my possibilities in a world that suddenly seemed much less sure of itself. There was absolutely no way I could've paid for a Master's degree in the US without becoming a slave to the banks, so I saved up what I could working two jobs and took off. My two year program, including a minimum social security coverage, cost around 3,000 euros (about $4,000). The laws here allow you to work quite easily while studying so I've been able to get by quite handily. On the day when I had to enroll and they told me the amount I was blow away after 5 years of writing checks over twice that amount for just one semester. When I tell students here that I've paid $500 for a semester of books they just shake their heads. There's no comparison. C'est la folie.

Of all the things broken in Washington, I really can't believe that they can't come together to push down the interest rates on student loans again. In a sane society, this shouldn't even be a question. Higher education costs are already out of control, and now we're increasing the burden on our youth, the country's futue, all so the banks can rake in some more cash. Add this to the fact that the only jobs our economy is producing are the low wage and/or part time positions, the future of college graduates looks as daunting as ever.

Since I've been here, I've witnessed the evolution of the social impacts the Great Recession has been causing. It's one of the bigger cities so there have always been beggars, but they had almost always been people of color, very rarely Blacks, but mostly Arab or Roms. Yet more and more, I've been seeing a growing white presence among the beggars on the street. And especially concerning, a lot of younger people around my age.

At first I must admit I sort of dismissed the younger people as being lazy or just not wanting to work, seeing as they didn't seem to be physically incapacitated in any way. Reminiscing on all that I had done to get here, I couldn't believe they couldn't pick up a job washing dishes at least. Yet as I talk to more and more people and I hear their stories of despair of these university-educated students applying for job after job without any luck, I started to change my perception of this new phenomenon by contextualizing it in the bigger picture of the Eurozone crisis that is slowly seeping across the French borders. Without knowing their personal stories, there's a legitimate chance that these young beggars have literally been rejected from the system. They played the game, which in any other time would've been sufficient, but they fell through the cracks. With such dire economic conditions today, we can't afford to stigmatize people asking for help by writing them off as lazy or what not. Now more than ever, we need to be helping those who are in need of a crutch before they become disenchanted with the system and turn to drugs and/or alcohol like most beggars unfortunately. For the time being, this situation is only getting worse.

Seeing this evolution here makes me sick to think about what is happening on the other side of the Atlantic as the situation is surely being replicated on a massive scale in the US. Going to sleep hungry in the country of plenty. These Satanic Republicans trying to smother the Food Stamp bill is really a new low for these craven vultures. That they would do this now, knowing full well the dire situation of millions of their own citizens, cannot be explained with reason nor logic. It's just their black hearts that jolt with joy when they stick it to the poor even in their most dire times of need.

May their God torture their souls for eternity. Amen.

[Diane]

Those Democrats (I'm talking to you Carl) who are fixated on what the Republicans will do should they gain control of the Senate are completely missing the much more important implications. Judges, Judges, Judges!!!!! Judges have an ongoing, huge impact on how the country is governed (or not) far beyond a President or a Senator. Jeebus, look at the Supreme Court. Please remove your head from your ass and come up for air. Would you rather have a judiciary on your side for the next several decades with a potential wingnut Republican Senate, or have the same wingnut Senate AND a wingnut judiciary. The Senate as deliberative body is a fantasy. That boat not only left the dock, it has circled the world a couple times. Add your apparently wizened up balls to Harry's and lets get it on. McConnell is not honorable nor interested in governance. His history is abundantly clear. He has nothing but disdain for anyone who can't add to his wealth. The Senate is only a means to increase and protect the wealth that came with his marriage to a wealthy wife.