The Commentariat -- November 17

My column in today's New York Times eXaminer looks at the Times editor's embrace of Sen. Tom Coburn's (R-Okla.) report titled "Subsidies of the Rich & Famous." Here's an excerpt:

... The editors had a duty to tell us that Coburn’s agenda doesn’t stop with closing loopholes, loopholes that can be reopened at the whim of Congress or the ingenuity of a tax lawyer. The premise that underlies Coburn’s plan is anything but populist.... Tom Coburn intends – via a flat tax – to raise taxes on those less fortunate Americans. At the same time he would cut programs designed to help them through hard times. Coburn says so right in that letter the Times editors so glowingly cited. They just left out the part where Coburn reveals his real scheme.

... AND for you Tom Friedman fans, Jason Linkins has a fairly hilarious take on Friedman's latest:

Would it be too much to ask for someone — perhaps one of his New York Times colleagues — to give famously airheaded columnist Thomas Friedman a bit of an explanation of what is actually going on in the world of politics? Or just provide him with some sort of real world mooring point to which his precious barnacles of thought could cling?

Charles Pierce of Esquire on the future of Occupy. And a history lesson. Read his whole post, please. Here's the history part:

Generally, people tend to love goals in the abstract, but resent the inconvenience that accomplishing those goals may cause them in their daily lives.... In 1954, for example, a Gallup Poll showed that 55 percent of the people supported the Supreme Court's decision in Brown v. Board of Education. Five years later, after the stirrings of a larger movement, and the violent backlash against it, had become increasingly obvious, Gallup found that 59 percent of the people it polled thought the decision had 'caused more trouble than it was worth.' In May of 1961, Gallup found that 57 percent of its respondents thought that the sit-ins at lunch counters and various other forms of direct action against segregation 'hurt the cause' of black people around the country.

... AND this, from David Atkins in Hullabaloo: "It's perhaps most important to note that advocacy for social justice has never really been publicly popular at the time. It's hard to believe today, but at the time, the public overwhelmingly blamed the students for the Kent State Massacre." ...

... Beth Fouhy of the AP: "Polling shows the public supports the message of the Occupy Wall Street movement even if people have reservations about the encampments themselves. And political observers say Democrats may be missing a chance to reinvigorate their base."

Gail Collins: "This week, the House of Representatives took time out of its busy schedule of going home for vacation to ... approve a bill requiring states with strict gun regulations to honor concealed weapon carry permits issued in [all other] states.... The bill passed 272 to 154. It’s a law-enforcement nightmare for states that take gun regulation seriously. There’s no national database cops can check if they stop someone who’s carrying a gun with an out-of-state permit. Some state records aren’t available at all."

Prof. Lawrence Lessig, in a New York Times op-ed, opposes the Constitutional amendment proposed by nine U.S. senators as "just the latest verse in a very tired song.... So long as elections cost money, we won’t end Congress’s dependence on its funders. But we can change it. We can make 'the funders' 'the people.' Following Arizona, Maine and Connecticut, we could adopt a system of small-dollar public funding for Congress." Lessig would give a $50 rebate -- a/k/a "democracy voucher" -- to every taxpayer, who would use the $50 to contribute to congressional candidates who would not accept big-check financing. ...

... Here's Lessig, speaking a few weeks ago in Seattle. Fascinating:

... A Congress of the One Percent. We've said it before, but just in case your forgot, Michael Beckel of Open Secrets is here to remind you: "About 47 percent of Congress, or 250 current members of Congress, are millionaires, according to a new study by the Center for Responsive Politics of lawmakers' personal financial disclosure forms covering calendar year 2010. The Center's analysis is based on the median values of lawmakers' disclosed assets and liabilities. That lofty financial status is enjoyed by only about one percent of Americans." CW: I expect that if the CRP ran the numbers for MOCs in leadership positions, the percentage would be even higher. After all, junior members haven't had as much time to cash in. Also, if you wondered why GE got so many tax breaks that the company not only paid no taxes in 2010, the taxpayers paid GE. Here's a partial explanation (this does not speak at all, of course, to GE's campaign contributions & other lobbying efforts):

What happens if the deficit reduction Super Committee fails to make a deal? Isabel Sawhill of the Brookings Institution has the short answer, and it isn't pretty.

"Concierge Care." Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel, in a New York Times op-ed: "Half the population — mostly young people and healthy adults — consumes just 3 percent of [healthcare] costs, while the sickest 10 percent consumes 64 percent. Real cost control requires changing the way we care for these high-cost patients with multiple chronic conditions.... Controlling costs can do more than simply save money, it can also improve the quality of medical care and these patients’ lives.... 'High touch medicine' or 'concierge medicine' [is] not for rich people who can afford it, but for chronically ill patients who need it." Emanuel explains how concierge care would work, and how some physician groups are making it working right now.

This was the worst thing a Democratic president had ever done on our issues. Period. -- Gene Karpinski, President of the League of Conservation Voters

Betrayal. John Broder of the New York Times takes a hard look at President Obama's cold decision, engineered by Chief-of-Staff Bill Daley & regulatory czar Cass Sunstein, to nix the EPA's new ozone regulations. ...

... "Ignorance, Green & Ideology Are ... Hurting Democracy." Julian Brooks of Rolling Stone interviews science writer Shawn Lawrence Otto about his new book Fool Me Twice, Fighting the Assault on Science in America. "... too many Americans are either plain ignorant of science or actively hostile to it, or both. And that's as true of political leaders and journalists as it is of ordinary citizens (to say nothing of corporate leaders who see action on climate change, say, as a threat to the bottom line)."

Where Did I Put that $600 Million? Ben Protess & Azam Ahmed of the New York Times: "Nearly three weeks after $600 million in customer money went missing from MF Global, the search for the cash has been hampered by the bankrupt brokerage firm’s sloppy record-keeping, an increasingly worrisome situation that has left regulators frustrated and customers in the lurch.... As authorities comb through some 38,000 customer accounts, they are growing more suspicious about what went wrong at MF Global, the commodities powerhouse once run by Jon S. Corzine, the former Democratic governor of New Jersey." ...

... NEW! Karen Garcia sees the cruel, ironic contrast between the official treatment of multimillionaire (at least $600 million?) Jon Corzine & the Occupy Protesters: "Regulators and investigators are literally living at their desks trying to avoid actually having to charge Corzine with anything. Meanwhile, the people who actually had their life savings, pensions and futures stolen by the Global Financial Cabal are being arrested as they protest near the NYSE."

Joe Nocera: why didn't Joe Paterno "go to the police or do more than he was minimally required to do under the law"? Maybe it was because, after two losing seasons & questions about the then-75 year-old coach's fitness, he was trying to save his job.

Right Wing World

He isn't a human being. He's a gaseous state.... He's a whirling dervish of dishonesty. -- Chris Matthews, on Newt Gingrich

     ... Here's the updated Bloomberg story; we linked the original two days ago. Clea Benson & John McCormick: "Newt Gingrich made between $1.6 million and $1.8 million in consulting fees from two contracts with mortgage company Freddie Mac, according to two people familiar with the arrangement. The total amount is significantly larger than the $300,000 payment from Freddie Mac that Gingrich was asked about during a Republican presidential debate on Nov. 9 sponsored by CNBC, and more than was disclosed in the middle of congressional investigations into the housing industry collapse." ...

     ... In the segment, David Corn refers to a Mother Jones story that runs down Newt's lies and contradictory statements. I couldn't find it. But for a fine partial list, see Akhilleus' comment in Tuesday's Off Times Square. A full list would require a whole book. Since Newt is fond of writing books, as soon as his presidential candidacy fails, maybe that would be a good project for him. ...

     ... Tim Egan: "This is not just another Gingrich laugher, up there with his revolving Tiffany’s account or his multiple personal hypocrisies. This story encapsulates why Washington is broken and how the powerful protect and enrich themselves, unanchored to basic principles.At the same time, it’s a case study in the Gingrich method: denounce something as outrageous, while doing that very outrageous thing himself. (Politicians with ties to Freddie Mac came in for scathing Gingrich criticism in 2010.)"

How do you say 'delicious' in Cuban? -- Herman Cain, in Miami's Little Havana. CW Answer: "Delicioso," similar to the way you say it in American ...

      ... AND other displays of ignorance.

Mark Murray of NBC News: "It has become the new Republican attack on President Obama: He thinks Americans are lazy. GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney leveled that charge [Tuesday].... [Wednesday], Rick Perry uses the line of attack in a new TV ad. 'Can you believe that?" Perry says to the camera. "That's what our president thinks is wrong with America? That Americans are lazy?' ... But when you examine what Obama said on Saturday..., it's pretty clear ... he wasn't calling Americans lazy; rather, he was calling U.S. business practices to attract foreign investors lazy. In fact, you could interpret his full remarks as a call to arms to improve on that front." CW: Where's Obama's rapid response team?

News Ledes

New York Times: "Federal authorities charged a 21-year-old Idaho man on Thursday with trying to assassinate President Obama. They said he had told friends that he believed the president was 'the Antichrist' and that he 'needed to kill him,' according to a complaint filed in federal court." Here's the arrest warrant.

New York Times: "Hundreds of protesters from Zuccotti Park clashed with the police as they tried to reach the New York Stock Exchange Thursday morning, and many were arrested. Protesters had vowed to prevent traders from reaching the Stock Exchange on Wall Street and some traders did appear to have a hard time reaching the building. But the Stock Exchange opened for trading as usual at 9:30 a.m."

     ... The New York Daily News has a liveblog here. "Wall Street under siege! Protesters clog streets, at least 50 arrested." With video. Update: "More than 175 protesters have been arrested today -- among the most recent was Councilman Jumaane Williams and dozens of union members after they sat on the ground on Centre Street." ...

AP: "Tightening ties with Asian nations as China's might rises, President Barack Obama prepared Thursday to be the first U.S. president to take part in a summit of East Asian nations. Ahead of his diplomatic efforts here, the White House announced trade deals to show progress on the jobs front back home." ...

... New York Times: "Fresh from having announced plans for an expanded American military presence in Australia, President Obama came to this remote northern town [of Darwin, Australia] that will be the base of operations and told American and Australian troops ... 'We are deepening our alliance and this is the perfect place to do it.... This region has some of the busiest sea lanes in the world.' Mr. Obama arrived in Bali, Indonesia, Thursday evening for the East Asia Summit on regional security and economic issues." ...

National Journal: "Three members of Herman Cain’s campaign team apologized on Wednesday after a local police officer [in Coral Springs, Florida] who said he was there to protect the Republican presidential candidate manhandled a reporter.... As ... journalists trailed Cain, the officer, who was in plain clothes, blindsided National Journal/CBS News reporter Lindsey Boerma into the side of the campaign bus. Moments later, as journalists circled around the bus toward Cain, the same man stuck his arm out and clotheslined Boerma." CW: "Clothesline" (v.) Def: "To knock (a person) over by striking his or her upper body or neck with one's arm, as if he or she had run into a low clothesline."

... Al Jazeera: "China has reacted angrily to remarks by Barack Obama signalling a significant shift in US policy vis-a-vis Asia.... The People's Daily, the Chinese newspaper that is the organ of the ruling Communist Party, was clear in its opposition to reinforced US-Australia security ties.... 'Australia surely cannot play China for a fool. It is impossible for China to remain detached no matter what Australia does to undermine its security,' the paper said."