;)
The Commentariat -- Oct. 25, 2013
If you give a bully a dollar today, they ask for a dollar and a half tomorrow. It has taken a while for all my caucus to come to that understanding. And quite frankly, the president, wonderful man that he is, he doesn't like confrontation and he likes to work things out with people. I was too lenient. Don't blame it all on him. -- Harry Reid, on 2011 & 2012 negotiations with GOP bullies
Erik Wasson of the Hill: Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) "ruled out the possibility that a budget conference committee convening next week will reach a 'grand bargain' that would cut entitlements, raise taxes and reduce spending. 'We are not going to have a grand bargain in the near future,' he said. Instead, he suggested negotiators should focus on a replacement for sequestration and forget 'happy talk' about a grand bargain." As contributor James S. says, "Bravo (and amazing). Maybe now the White House will wake up."
Robert Pear of the New York Times: " Federal officials did not fully test the online health insurance marketplace until two weeks before it opened to the public on Oct. 1, contractors told Congress on Thursday.... Lawmakers from both parties expressed anger during the hearing at the performance of contractors hired to build the online health insurance marketplace...." The Washington Post story is here. BTW, Joe Barton & Tim Murphy, whom we quoted yesterday as being completely unperturbed by the flawed rollout of the Bush administration's Medicare expansion, are cited in the articles as being highly critical of the ACA Website. Barton, typically, invents a supposed flaw in the ACA site which is totally false. ...
... Brian Beutler of Salon: "The GOP plan ... is to use Healthcare.gov's problems as a pretext for undermining the entire law, even in states where people are signing up by the thousands. And the goal now is to obscure the enormous differences between the two in order to fuse an attack on Obamacare with a post hoc effort to slither away from responsibility for the shutdown.... Republicans ... could have put the [Healthcare.gov] issue to real political use. Instead they're resorting to the same kind of outrageous, self-discrediting overreach that has defined every chapter of their campaign against Obamacare." ...
... Dana Milbank: "Fresh from a shutdown and almost a default over Obamacare, House Republicans' new legislative strategy is to investigate Obamacare. Is it any wonder this Congress, and congressional Republicans in particular, is held in such low public esteem?" ...
... Via Greg Sargent.
... Alex Rogers of Time: "Families USA has received a $1 million grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, which it will use to collect and distribute to the media personal stories of those who have benefited from the new health insurance exchange rolled out by the Obama Administration October 1."
Sahil Kapur of TPM: "Raising the Medicare eligibility age to 67 saves far less than previously projected, a revelation that makes the policy far less attractive in upcoming deficit reduction negotiations in Congress." CW: I'm so surprised. Paul Krugman said this years ago. Moreover, it isn't "savings" if the cost is passed on to the elderly -- AND at a premium --- individuals don't have the clout to negotiate healthcare costs the way Medicare does. In addition, raising the age would cause some 65-year-olds to put off treatment, thus becoming sicker & needing more care. Raising the Medicare eligibility age was always a stupid idea.
James Ball of the Guardian: "National Security Agency monitored the phone conversations of 35 world leaders after being given the numbers by an official in another US government department, according to a classified document provided by whistleblower Edward Snowden. The confidential memo reveals that the NSA encourages senior officials in its 'customer' departments, such the White House, State and the Pentagon, to share their 'Rolodexes' so the agency can add the phone numbers of leading foreign politicians to their surveillance systems." ...
... Ellen Nakashima of the Washington Post: "U.S. officials are alerting some foreign intelligence services that documents detailing their secret cooperation with the United States have been obtained by former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden, according to government officials. Snowden, U.S. officials said, took tens of thousands of documents, some of which contain sensitive material about collection programs against adversaries such as Iran, Russia and China. Some refer to operations that in some cases involve countries not publicly allied with the United States." ...
Thanks to contributor JJG for his brilliant observation. (See today's Comments.)... James Kanter of the New York Times: " The leaders of Germany and France offered on Friday to hold talks with the United States in an effort come up with mutually acceptable rules for surveillance operations, easing a trans-Atlantic spying dispute that has plunged relations between America and Europe to a low point." CW: Yes, spy rules should work. ...
... Peter Beinert of the Daily Beast: "In a world where other countries have more power relative to the U.S., it's increasingly dangerous to believe we can do things to them we would never tolerate them doing to us. Many decades ago, the man sometimes called Obama's 'favorite theologian' argued that the 'pride and self-righteousness of powerful nations are a greater hazard to their success than the machinations of their foes.' It would be nice if Obama remembered that, if even if Fox News won't." ...
... Brendan Sasso of the Hill: "... Edward Snowden on Thursday disputed Sen. Dianne Feinstein's (D-Calif.) claim that the government's phone record collection program is not 'surveillance.' 'Today, no telephone in America makes a call without leaving a record with the NSA. Today, no Internet transaction enters or leaves America without passing through the NSA's hands,' Snowden said in a statement Thursday. 'Our representatives in Congress tell us this is not surveillance. They're wrong.'" ...
... Here's the Advocate profile of Glenn Greenwald by Natasha Vargas-Cooper, which contributor Diane linked yesterday. Diane described Greenwald as "emotionally immature." As I read, I felt as if I was peeking at the private thoughts of a precociously well-spoken but otherwise average teenager.
Spies on a Train. Eric Schmitt of the New York Times: While traveling on the Acela, Tom Matzzie, a former Washington director of MoveOn.org, overheard former NSA Director Michael Hayden talking to reporters on background. So Mattzie tweeted it in real time. The tweets are here. CW: Matzzie claims in the tweets that Hayden made disparaging remarks about the Obama administration, but since he never gives specifics, his tweets are pretty useless. ...
... Charles Pierce made something of Hayden's insistence -- as tweeted by Matzzie -- that he be IDed as "a former senior administration official," not to mention Hayden's monumental indiscretion.
Paul Krugman beats up on the usual suspects -- Simpson, Bowles & Greenspan -- & leaves them bloody pulps on the side of the road: "... the next time you see some serious-looking man in a suit declaring that we're teetering on the precipice of fiscal doom, don't be afraid. He and his friends have been wrong about everything so far, and they literally have no idea what they're talking about." Avoid the urge to be a good Samaritan. ...
... Shaun Tandon of AFP: "Secretary of State John Kerry warned Thursday that the greatest risk to the United States was its own dysfunction as he pleaded for no repeat of a government shutdown. Kerry said that the two-week paralysis triggered by lawmakers of the rival Republican Party had set back vital government functions and also cut into the credibility of the United States." ...
... Mario Trujillo of the Hill: "Hillary Clinton on Thursday night blamed lawmakers who govern by ideology for sending the country careening from crisis to crisis.... Specifically alluding to the government shutdown, Clinton derided the consequences when lawmakers use 'scorched earth' tactics and operate in an 'evidence-free zone.'" ...
... Think these are just Democratic talking points? Here's Ben White of Politico -- yes, Politico: "The latest round of fiscal drama has sputtered to a temporary close, but the routine crises have one clear victim: the U.S. economy, which is once again losing altitude. And for the third year in a row, Washington gets much of the blame." CW: Okay, White throws in the shoddy Healthcare.gov rollout & NSA spying to, you know, "balance" his piece, but the "balance" is not very convincing, especially on the Website issue.
Ben Terris of the National Journal profiles Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), focusing on her "evolution" from Blue Dog to sorta liberal.
A Festering Wound. I missed this report by Jane Mayer last week, but it's worth a read, as it concerns the CIA's continued defense of its Bush-era torture policies. ...
... Juan Cole sees a larger problem: "How corrupt our system has become is evident when even the New Yorker emphasizes that a secret Senate report found that torture in the Bush years was 'unnecessary' and 'ineffective.' Not that it was 'unconstitutional.'"
What Is Pete Sessions' Problem with President Obama?
You can say that I endorse Mitt Romney, but that's not just because I'm a white man. We all have things which we're for and ideas which we support. -- Pete Sessions, 2012
I know of not one Republican candidate that would not appear publicly with Mitt Romney and I know many Democrats that don't even want to be in the same city -- forget the same stage -- with President Obama. -- Pete Sessions, 2012
I cannot even stand to look at you. -- Pete Sessions, to President Obama, 2013
Do your own translations. It's easy! -- Constant Weader
Local News
Brett Logiurato of Business Insider: "A North Carolina county precinct GOP chair [Don Yelton] resigned on Thursday after an offensive interview that aired on 'The Daily Show' Wednesday, in which he said 'lazy black people' want 'the government to give them everything.'" Here's the segment. Aasif Mandvi is awesome:
... CW: I have finally figured out the difference between ObamaCare & RomneyCare. The percentage of blacks in Massachusetts, based on the 2010 census, is 7.9 percent. The percentage of blacks in the U.S. is 13.1 percent. The percentage of whites in Massachusetts is 83.7; in the U.S. it's 77.9. Moreover, the median income of blacks in Massachusetts is significantly higher than of blacks in the U.S., so fewer black Massachusetts residents need assistance in paying for health insurance. The rage against ObamaCare is rage against black people. Romney could have just said so during the campaign instead of going with those vague &/or nonsensical attempts to explain why RomneyCare = good & ObamaCare = bad. I guess the people who know the code figured out the real difference. I'm kinda slow.
News Ledes
Reuters: "The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Thursday recommended tighter restrictions on products that contain hydrocodone, an opioid painkiller present in commonly prescribed potentially addictive drugs such as Vicodin."
Reuters: "In reviewing Fukushima working conditions, Reuters interviewed more than 80 workers, employers and officials involved in the unprecedented nuclear clean-up. A common complaint: the project's dependence on a sprawling and little scrutinized network of subcontractors - many of them inexperienced with nuclear work and some of them, police say, have ties to organized crime. Tepco sits atop a pyramid of subcontractors that can run to seven or more layers and includes construction giants such as Kajima Corp and Obayashi Corp in the first tier. The embattled utility remains in charge of the work to dismantle the damaged Fukushima reactors, a government-subsidized job expected to take 30 years or more."
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Reader Comments (9)
Computer games with real life consequences;
http://www.gq.com/news-politics/big-issues/201311/drone-uav-pilot-assassination?currentPage=4&printable=true
..."If you give a bully a dollar today, they ask for a dollar and a half tomorrow. It has taken a while for all my caucus to come to that understanding. And quite frankly, the president, wonderful man that he is, he doesn’t like confrontation and he likes to work things out with people. I was too lenient. Don’t blame it all on him." -- Harry Reid, on 2011 & 2012 negotiations with GOP bullies
Hooray for Harry! He, I think, has wanted to fight the scrub ass little bullies for quite awhile, but has been held back by Obama's excessively hopeful and codependent operating style. I do see signs that our overly negotiable President is "growing a pair!" He is more openly sardonic and "testy" in his speeches about ACA. What a relieving thought!
Re: "Yes, spy rules should work. ..." These people did not spend enough quality time with Mad Magazine in their early years. If they had they would have learned the lessons of "Spy vs. Spy".
Thank you Daily Show for providing an excellent example of your typical Tea Party moron.
The Atlantic Wire on Glitchgate, and ignorant reporters and congresscritters.
http://www.theatlanticwire.com/politics/2013/10/why-reporters-and-congress-arent-good-bets-fix-healthcaregov/70913/
Many children going through the "Terrible Two's" can drive their parents to reach for the old scotch bottle after they finally get their kinder to bed. It can be a trying time, indeed. But every once in awhile there is a break in the frustration and something happens to lighten the load. Aasif Mandi, in today's dealing with our arrested development types, nailed "some have called me a bigot"–– Don Yelton to the old rugged cross and lo, there was light and clarification on the RIGHT regarding their agenda. Mandi lightened our load, gave us a laugh, and caused the fool to get fired. Little nuggets––little satisfactions can keep one looking forward to the time when the two's will finally make it to three––the golden age, so they say.
The display during the Healthcare hiccup hearings was something to behold––all those old guys pretending they knew how the internet works and some Republicans putting on their conspiracy hats trying desperately to pin Obama for this "terrible failure." Phil Gingrey, even went so far as to think he could do a Nixonian probe by saying "We have to find out how this was done, who knew what when, and how soon did they know it." No one, I imagine knew exactly what he meant, but in hearing like this, it doesn't seem to matter.
Re: Sheldon Addlepated: Matthew Duss in The Americon Prospect:
http://prospect.org/article/bomb-me-big-sheldon
Duss agrees with me. He's just a cranky old man whom no one would pay attention to if it weren't for his money. If he did it to get into the news, he succeeded.
Re: The spy who love me: As a person who did spend much too much quality time with Mad Magazine I have a question. If the NSA is as good as they say they are; Why the fuck are they asking suits to look into their black books for phone numbers? Jez, weak link here; spies, get a new number ID for every call. Cell phones, don't leave home without twenty of them. Sent from one of my Iphones
As I was taking an afternoon stroll through various websites, I had a thought (no comments on the rarity of that occurrence). Most of the "up and comers" of the Republican Party, Tea wing or otherwise, are not Barack Obama and that pretty much fries them and/ or puzzles them no end.
Rubio has terminal dry mouth and his presence is more high school debater than Presidential. Although he waves the Cuban flag at every opportunity, the loyal Republican in him thinks minorities are lazy and looking for handouts. He stretches the facts in his own "story" when it suits. He's in awful conundrum right now because ..well...immigration. Damn that Obama. He's got a better personal story, he speaks with intelligence, charisma and presence, the history of African Americans in this country vs that of Cubans - not even close and the worst thing is that Rubio will never be President. Oh, I never seen Obama guzzle water like a camel preparing for a long desert trek.
Ted Cruz has greasy hair and a pronounced character disorder. He's loud and he tries to be a bully, which is hard if you're 5' nothin'. Nothing else to see, as I have been saying he will self destruct. The President is tall and doesn't have greasy hair. He also beat Cruz like a rented mule over the shutdown.
Chris Christie, catchy name by the way if you were in a boy band, is morbidly obese. Even with the purported lapband procedure or whatever (having a hard time believing he had surgery, it normally works pretty fast), he's still morbidly obese. In modern times, people don't like really fat Presidents. The "takin' care of business, tellin' it like it is " meme is not going to work forever. The translation is that he is loud and a bully. I have to say his Sandy Hook moves with Obama were good though. Actually, he doesn't articulate his beliefs, he shouts at people who say no to him. He seems to be still forming his beliefs and policy positions. The President is slim and elegant. He doesn't shout at people and for the most part is very articulate.
Rand Paul is a stoner, which to some folks is charming in an off center way. However, his racial animus won't fly. As Pierce is forever pointing out, at 5 min 1 second into any conversation butterfly nets are in order. Nuff said. Actually, I don't think he dislikes the President, good chance he is more likely to forget who it is. The media is trying way too hard to spin him as a serious contender. Its probably an inside joke for journalists.
Paul Ryan. The dumbbell, hat ass backwards picture makes me pee my pants every time I see it and will forever define Ryan. That vision of Gomer Pyle's twin just isn't presidential. His Ayn Rand fetish is spun as economic brilliance and he has demonstrated that he was absent when the PHD in smarts were handed out. He's a mean son-of-a-bitch, but he's a earnestly mean son-of-a-bitch. Again President is whip smart, elegant and presidential. The mom jeans slip has long been forgotten.
I guess if I were any of these asswipes, I'd hate Obama too. Charismatic, whip smart, elegant, poised, presidential, empathetic....