;)
Thursday
Sep192013
The Commentariat -- Sept. 20, 2013
NEW. Ed O'Keefe of the Washington Post: "The House passed a short-term spending plan Friday morning that would continue funding government operations through mid-December but withhold funding for President Obama's signature health-care law, firing the opening salvo in what promises to be a contentious 10 days of debate on Capitol Hill over extending government operations by only three months." ...
... ** "The Crazy Party." Paul Krugman provides a history lesson that illuminates just how crazy the Republican party is. ...
... We Hope You & Your Children Starve! Ron Nixon of the New York Times: "House Republicans narrowly pushed through a bill on Thursday that slashes billions of dollars from the food stamp program, over the objections of Democrats and a veto threat from President Obama. The vote set up what promised to be a contentious fight with the Senate and dashed hopes for passage this year of a new five-year farm bill. The vote was 217 to 210." ...
House Republicans' vote to deny nutrition assistance to hungry, low-income Americans is shameful. The Senate will never pass such hateful, punitive legislation. -- Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) ...
... ** Tim Egan: "A Republican majority that refuses to govern on other issues found the votes to shove nearly 4 million people back into poverty, joining 46.5 million at a desperation line that has failed to improve since the dawn of the Great Recession. It's a heartless bill, aimed to hurt. Republicans don't see it that way, of course. They think too many of their fellow citizens are cheats and loafers, dining out on lobster." They're hurting their own voters: "Among the 254 counties where food stamp use doubled during the economic collapse, Mitt Romney won 213 of them, Bloomberg News reported." ...
... Charles Pierce: on the dangers of Chuck Todd-style "journalism": "According to Chuck's notion of what his job is, when conservative politicians latch onto a phony Fox News story [all SNAP recipients dine on lobster while you're whipping up mac & cheese for the kiddies!] in order to make policy, it is the job of the Democrats -- or, perhaps, of the SNAP recipients themselves, who have, as we know, virtually unlimited access to the airwaves -- to correct the arrant bullshit." ...
I guarantee you one thing, Mike [Lee] and I are going to fight with every breath in our body [the defund ObamaCare]. As Churchill said, we will fight on the beaches, we will fight in the streets, we will fight at every step to stop the biggest job killer in America. -- Ted Cruz (R-Texas), on Hannity Wednesday night
Or Not. Shutdowns are bad, shutdowns are not worth it, this law [the Affordable Care Act] is not worth causing a shutdown over. -- Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah), at a press conference Thursday
... Dave Weigel of Slate explains the Republicans' "make-believe fight to defund ObamaCare." ...
... Ultra-conservative Byron York, writing in the Washington Examiner, explains an element of the ruse: under Senate rules, Cruz, Lee, et al., can't even filibuster for defunding ObamaCare. A Republican "Senate aide says no one should be surprised. 'This is not a gimmick or a scheme,' says the aide. 'It is Rule 22 of the U.S. Senate. Everybody knew this. This is an existing rule. It is taught in Senate class when you do your orientation. It is not a surprise. Nobody sprung it on him [Sen. Cruz].... As the prospect of an actual legislative battle over defunding nears, it's becoming more and more apparent that Sen. Cruz and his allies have very few options. In the end, it's not likely to be much of a battle at all." ...
... Alexander Bolton of the Hill explains how Harry Reid will nip the filibuster of the funding resolution in the bud -- without even allowing for the usual 30 hours of "debate" & at the same time sparing his Republican friends from having to vote for funding the Affordable Care Act. If this is how the story plays out, it's kinda fascinating. ...
... Jonathan Chait has an excellent long piece on "the plot to kill Obamacare.... The historical echo is fitting in the sense that Obamacare has come to fill the place in the conservative psyche once occupied by communism and later by taxes.... The transformation of Obamacare from a close relative of Republicans' own health-care ideas to the locus of evil in modern life is owing to several things, including the almost tautological political fact that its success would be Obama's.... [Obamacare] reforms have added up to a revolution in modern medical economics.... The contrast between the cautiousness of mainstream health-policy analysts and the perfervid certainty of those on the right reprises what has become a common pattern in American political debate.... The right has dominated the Obamacare public debate through blunt rhetorical force." ...
... This message brought to you by the Koch brothers: Ladies, if you sign up for ObamaCare, creepy Uncle Sam will rape you:
... Don't worry, gentlemen, creepy Uncle Sam is a proctologist, too:
... Jon Chait: "The rape-clown argument ... is the product of sheer fantasy. In what world does giving people tax credits to offset the cost of private insurance subject them to the risk of some kind of dystopian federal intrusion?" Read the post for wingers' answer to that question. ...
... We Hope You & Your Children Die of Curable Illnesses. Lizette Alvarez & Robert Pear of the New York Times: "As many states prepare to introduce a linchpin of the 2010 health care law -- the insurance exchanges designed to make health care more affordable -- a handful of others are taking the opposite tack: They are complicating enrollment efforts and limiting information about the new program. Chief among them is Florida, where Gov. Rick Scott and the Republican-dominated Legislature have made it more difficult for Floridians to obtain the cheapest insurance rates under the exchange and to get help from specially trained outreach counselors." ...
... New York Times Editors: "Florida has been shameless in attempting to destroy what top officials call 'Obamacare,' with tactics that will deprive its own poor and middle-income citizens of the benefits of the national reform law. Although almost 25 percent of Florida's population, or 3.8 million people, are uninsured, the state declined to expand its Medicaid program to cover more low-income residents despite extremely generous federal matching grants to pay for such expansions. And it refused to set up its own health care exchange, leaving that job to the federal government. A few months ago, the Republican-dominated Legislature and Republican governor stripped the state insurance commissioner's office of its broad powers to hold down premium increases to affordable levels. In the latest outrage, the state Department of Health on Sept. 9 ordered some 60 county health agencies, whose clinics treat large numbers of poor and uninsured people, to bar from their premises counselors, or 'navigators,' seeking to inform people how to enroll in insurance plans and get subsidies under the health reform law."
Michael Schmidt of the New York Times: "The director of the F.B.I., James B. Comey, provided on Thursday the most up-to-date account of the gunman's rampage at the Washington Navy Yard, saying that he was 'hunting people to shoot' as he made his way through the building but did not appear to have targeted a particular person or group of people." ...
... Jia Lynn Yang & Matea Gold of the Washington Post: "USIS, the Falls Church government contractor that handled the background check for national security leaker Edward Snowden, said Thursday it also vetted Navy Yard shooter Aaron Alexis for his secret-level clearance in 2007. The company, which is under criminal investigation over whether it misled the government about the thoroughness of its background checks, said earlier this week that it hadn't handled Alexis' case." CW: Vetted? Make that "was paid to vet." ...
... Danielle Ivory, et al., of Bloomberg News: "Both the Snowden and Alexis cases have called attention to an underfunded, flawed vetting process for obtaining clearances, where quality is forfeited in favor of speed and underpaid investigators rush to keep up with demand, according to security specialists."
The Hon. Tom Delay. Ed O'Keefe of the Washington Post: "A Texas appellate court has overturned the conviction of former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Tex.) for allegedly scheming to influence Texas state elections with corporate money. A three-judge panel voted 2-1 to overturn the conviction, calling the evidence 'legally insufficient,' according to court papers released Thursday. The decision formally acquits DeLay of all charges, but it could still be appealed by the government." (Read the court's majority opinion and dissenting opinions.)" Read the whole story. ...
... Charles Pierce: "Let us not forget that, indicted or not, convicted or not, imprisoned or not, redeemed or not, Tom DeLay never drew a breath in public life when he wasn't making it infinitely worse than it was before he got elected."
Nicolle Gaouette of Bloomberg News: "The Kennedy mystique dominated a Senate hearing [Thursday] on Caroline Kennedy's nomination to be U.S. ambassador to Japan, as lawmakers spent about as much time praising her family's legacy as they did asking questions." ...
Michigan Back Roads: Ionia, Michigan. "There is something going on all the time and much of it takes place in the historic downtown district. The historic architecture in downtown Ionia, Michigan is enough to encourage a day trip just to stroll along and admire the buildings. The museums and court house of Ionia sandstone are unique in the state. The theatre is beautiful and will take you back in time." ...
... CW: Yes, indeed, there is always something going on in Ionia. That's why when you take that stroll, you might want to wear full-body armor. ...
... Responsible Gun Owners, Ctd. Angie Jackson of MLive: "Two men died Wednesday, Sept. 18, in a shootout that stemmed from a road rage confrontation, Ionia, [Michigan] police said.... Initial investigation shows the Ionia men, ages 43 and 56, pulled into the car wash parking lot after a road rage incident. They exited their vehicles and eventually drew handguns and exchanged fire, police said.... Police said both men ... held permits to carry concealed weapons." ...
... Digby: "... there is a lesson in this for all of us. Behave as though any nut you come across in public is armed and willing to use his gun whenever he's crossed. Because freedom." Thanks to James S. for the link. ...
... CW Note: authorities in Michigan -- which is not the craziest state in the Union -- decided these two violent, unstable men were fit to own firearms & to carry them into public places.
... Thanks to Jeanne B. for the above.
Laurie Goodstein of the New York Times: "Pope Francis, in the first extensive interview of his six-month-old papacy, said that the Roman Catholic Church had grown 'obsessed' with preaching about abortion, gay marriage and contraception, and that he has chosen not to speak of those issues despite recriminations from some critics. In remarkably blunt language, Francis sought to set a new tone for the church, saying it should be a 'home for all' and not a 'small chapel' focused on doctrine, orthodoxy and a limited agenda of moral teachings." ...
... Andy Borowitz: "Saying he was 'sorry it had to come to this,' Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia said today that he was forming an 'independent search committee' to select a new Pope.... Justice Scalia said he had 'no other alternative' but to pick a new Pope himself after reading what he called a 'disturbing' interview with Pope Francis today: 'The Pope said he doesn't want to speak out against abortion and gay marriage. Well, sorry, my friend, but that's the entire job description.'"
News Ledes
Chicago Tribune: A three-year-old boy was among "13 people shot as neighbors played basketball in Cornell Square Park in the Back of the Yards Thursday night.... Witnesses told police a gray sedan pulled up to the park around 10:15 p.m. and two people opened fire in the 1800 block of West 51st Street. Thirteen people who were on the court or were watching the pick-up game were hit by gunfire, many of them in the arms or legs."
Reuters: "New rules limiting emissions from U.S. power plants that are expected to be proposed on Friday will "provide certainty" to the coal industry, environment and energy chiefs told lawmakers anxious about the fuel's future."
Guardian: "The Syrian conflict has reached a stalemate and President Bashar al-Assad's government will call for a ceasefire at a long-delayed conference in Geneva on the state's future, the country's deputy prime minister has said in an interview with the Guardian."
New York Times: "Iran's leaders, seizing on perceived flexibility in a private letter from President Obama, have decided to gamble on forging a swift agreement over their nuclear program with the goal of ending crippling sanctions, a prominent adviser to the Iranian leadership said Thursday."
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Reader Comments (17)
@MAG: yesterday you wrote, in part, re: the Fed's decision not to "taper," "I would think, soon or later tapering has to start. If anyone sees the validity in his reasoning of why to hold off better than I can, please explain it to my dense head."
Well, yeah, everyone acknowledges that tapering will start sooner or later. The reason the Fed decided to hold off is, in a word, Congress. Bernanke said as much Wednesday. The Fed is concerned about two things here, & Bernanke has been pretty clear, if diplomatically so, about this: (a) the upcoming chaos that will be created when Congress shuts down the government & defaults on the debt, & (b), Congress's failure to responsibly stimulate the economy.
Druckenmiller, whom you cited in your comment is right insofar as the immediate beneficiaries of the Fed's continued purchase of commercial papers is good for him & less good for the middle class & poor. It would be a lot better if instead of the Fed's investing in bonds, the Congress sent $$ to the poor & middle class, who would quickly put it back into the economy by spending on food & braces for the kids' teeth. The Fed can't do that, so it has to do what it can to fulfill its mandate to foster job growth.
But also bear in mind that everybody gets some benefit from the bonds the Fed buys. First of all, it isn't just Jamie Dimon or Lloyd Blankfein who are getting rich off these purchases. The Fed buys from all its member banks, & there are hundreds of those -- more than a third of U.S. banks are member banks. So that means the profits are going to banks all over the country, & some of that $$ does "trickle down" to local communities.
In addition, those bonds aren't just sitting in a vault on Wall Street. They earn interest. The Fed turns all but 6 percent of its profits over to -- the federal government. Those profits run in the billions; about $80 billion last year. (Before the financial crisis, the Fed earned considerably less -- in 2007, only $38 billion, because, um, it didn't hold so many bonds.) $80 bil would pay for a lot of food stamps, if Congress gave a fuck.
In addition, by keeping interest rates low, QE3 is helping to hold down the deficit by allowing the government to borrow at cheaper rates, & to the (limited) extent it stimulates the economy, it is putting taxpayer dollars into the government's pocket. The lower interest rates of course mean that you & I, and businesses, can borrow at cheaper rates, too. So if you decide to take out a car loan or take on a home loan, you benefit, too. And businesses should be more willing to borrow to expand their ops. (That business part works only if businesses think you will be spending more $$.)
There is no agreement on how useful quantitative easing really is, but liberal economists -- and that includes Republican Ben Bernanke -- think it's a helluva a lot better than the anti-stimulus coming out of Washington. If Congress were doing its job, there would probably have been no QE2 & 3.
Hope that helps. Also, I wish other contributors would kick in when commenters ask questions, so I don't have to be the Answerer. You might think I'm a lazy dabbler who has nothing else to do, but in fact, I am single-handedly packing up & loading a houseful of furniture into little PODs, & I do this dabbling only for a respite from the backbreaking stuff. The moving part doesn't allow me all that much time to dabble.
Marie
Ak and I have predicted that something like this Michigan incident was bound to happen, which is like predicting the sun will rise in the east. As Digby said, it's lucky they only shot each other. Gang members in violent neighborhoods shoot at each other all the time and frequently hit others. Iowa says it's OK for a blind person to carry.
This gun worship brings to mind a line from Shakespeare's "Julius Caesar." "A curse shall fall over the limbs of men."
Sigh.
Re: SNAP benefits
I would highly recommend the documentary "A Place At the Table" http://www.magpictures.com/aplaceatthetable/, which is currently streaming on Netflix, or can be purchased online. This film does an excellent job of documenting the real faces of food stamp recipients and the victims of our skewed food and labor policies: children. Hunger affects learning; obesity from eating cheap, processed foods leads to lifelong health problems. It's disgraceful that the richest country on earth can't find the means to feed its children well.
I live in a small, rural town in eastern Connecticut, and volunteer with our local food pantry. Every week, another woman and I drive to the regional food bank in New London to bring back meat, non-perishables, and produce. When I began volunteering about four years ago, each of us only needed to go about once a month. Now weekly trips are necessary, and frequently we go together to fill two carloads of food. I also use monetary donations to purchase food that's not available at the food bank, and spent $1400 two weeks ago to replenish our bare cupboards. Our numbers hit a record in August. Contrary to the FOX claim, it's not lobster-eating beach bums that are utilizing our pantry. It's people with jobs: grocery store clerks, Walmart cashiers, hospital workers, even people working in our school system. They're hungry and often ashamed, but have families to feed. One in seven children in Connecticut - one of the richest states! - now lives below the federal poverty line.
Please watch the film, and ask others to do the same. We need to counter the "poison of ideology" (Egan), which is spewed by the heartless Republicans. Progressives must go on the offense, accepting no less than a living wage, increased SNAP benefits, healthier school lunches, and increased availability of quality food. In other words: put food pantries out of business.
@Janice. Thank you so much for the work you're doing to feed the hungry. Surprised you didn't mention buying lobster on those trips to New London.
Here's the Netflix page for "A Place at the Table." Of course the people who need to see this film are not typical Reality Chex readers; they're Republican MOCs.
I wonder if food banks like yours do anything to encourage your clients to lobby their MOCs to expand (rather than contract) the food stamps program. I realize that even with food stamps there is a need for your work, but it would be nice if Congress would act in numerous ways to lighten your load. It seems to me it would be a good idea for food pantries nationwide to make it really easy for their customers to contact their Congressmen: like dial the number & hand them the phone. Or have them sign a petition. Or give them generic letters to send off. No use contacting those who are already on our side, I guess, but it would be good if some of these self-righteous Congressional teabaggers had to squirm when they heard from the working poor who have to rely on food pantries.
Marie
Marie, sorry to have interfered with your packing & moving. But, appreciate your explanation, which makes far better clarifications than anything else I've read. While it appears that if the money guys are feeling somewhat embarrassed by the continued Fed largesse then maybe we are closer to sooner! Though the disproportionate (sumpthin' is better than nothing) 'trickle-down' aspect is especially grating.
About a year-and-a-half ago I, too, single-handedly went through packing up for what I swear is the my last move. Still a few unpacked boxes and things that I've vowed to sort and organize, but haven't yet! And no clue as to what happened to two brand new king-size pillows (perhaps 'packing' in an over-sized garbage bag was not such a good idea) and my immersion blender.
Re: "Am I confused or are they stupid? How is it that the Republican Party can demand unfettered procreation with no birth control AND no assistance for feeding the hungry little mouths?
Oh, no gun control; no longer confused. Makes sense now.
Stop the pill; shoot to kill. Nice.
Obama may yet bail Boehner out on the budget––BIG MISTAKE!
http://www.newrepublic.com/article/114783/government-shutdown-2013-democrats-shouldnt-help-boehner-avoid-one
@Marie: Yes, right after I hit send, I thought of the New London/lobster connection. Interestingly, we're occasionally able to bring back leftovers from food shows, which include such delicacies as lobster ravioli, grass fed beef and bison, and fancy little desserts. Crumbs from the table . . . .
In terms of lobbying, our food bank is partnered with United Way, which asks people to advocate as well as to give and volunteer. I don't know if they organize the clients in any of the ways you suggested. However, the film I mentioned documents a trip that an organized group of clients took to Washington D.C. to testify before a House committee. What struck me were two things: how poised and articulate the women were (I'd be shaking in my shoes!) - and the number of empty seats among the committee members. How do you get absent self-righteous Congressional teabaggers to squirm?
I realize the film preaches to the choir, but maybe if enough of us watch it and get the message, we'll stamp our feet and raise our voices loud enough to keep the President and the Democrats from negotiating with the hostage-takers.
"... it would be good if some of these self-righteous Congressional teabaggers had to squirm when they heard from the working poor ..."
Marie, take a break, the mothballs and packing tape glue are causing you to hallucinate. These guys can't hear the working poor, they have chosen to be "poor deaf."
And, while you are working your tail off, thanks again for doing what you do for us, providing the best single source of political reality in the media universe. You may not be a saint, by your own admission, but you certainly do great good for your readers.
Our World According to Wingnuts: No Government Healthcare; Food stamps for only those very few that deserve it; lots and lots of guns for everyone all the time anytime and everywhere; enhance the rich, ignore the poor; favor shutting down the government if they don't get their way; do everything possible to degrade Obama; concentrate all their energy on their investigation into BENGAZI and last, but not least show women they mean business when they prevent them from getting pills, abortions, and basic health care. Yes, sirree, they jest love their country with all their black hearts, and tattered flags. God bless America!
In the Oct 15th Wine Spectator there is a lengthy article about Tom Colicchio. It references his work with the hungry and the fact that his wife, Lori Silverbush, is one of the makers (director) of "A Place at the Table". I suspect Wine Spectator readers are more likely to be Republican than progressive Dems (always enjoyed being an outlier). Feed a little info to them while they're reading about Harlan Estate wines.
Yesterday I read several Canter statements about "program abuse", the middle class paying for such abuses, get a job, yada yada yada. Thursday night Cantor told Fox News's Greta Van Susteren that the food stamp program should be about "the dignity of a job." Big agri-business is busting at the seams with dignity while accepting their huge payoffs. They have an insatiable hunger.
http://cnsnews.com/news/article/susan-jones/cantor-gop-food-stamps-bill-says-able-bodied-people-should-work
I believe in the dignity of a job. When the wing nuts of the Republican party continue to back economy restricting programs they become the greatest deniers of this basic human dignity.
Why are food pantry customers not up in arms and raising hell with their congressman? Embarrassment and the mistaken feeling that their condition is of their own doing. Been there at one time in my life, it is soul crushing.
Economists talk about percentage cutbacks in x or y program in such a way that the cutbacks seem innocuous . No mention is ever made of the multiplier effects on the economy. European economists have found out a 5% cut in economic stimulus results in a 25 to 30% cut in economic activity. The multiplier works on the way down like it is suppose to work on the way up.
Marie, you are a phenomenon, packing for a move and presenting a clear headed essay on the benefits of stimulus is a marvel to behold. I agree with all the plaudits coming your way from those who love you and this creation of yours.
A comment on Krugman, Egan, food stamps, food banks and a possible government shutdown (thanks PD Pepe for the New Republic reference), which I sent to the Times last night. It's hard to express sufficient outrage, but I tried.
"A pictorial metaphor for the farcical tragedy unfolding before our eyes, where the cliche has all the features of reality:
A seething mass of mostly white cornered rats (let's call them the little r's, for short), convinced by years of unrelenting, visceral appeals to their unreason that their day is done and that their only hope lies in a desperate, berserker struggle, teeth-bared, no holds barred, no quarter given, against those enemies who would overwhelm them.
Then there are bigger, equally cornered rats, (let's call the the big R's) whose power is dependent on the small r's, whose unreason they have tapped and encouraged for the last thirty years. If the small r's thought things were bad (economically, socially, morally), the big R's told them they were really far worse than they thought, that it was all the enemy's fault, and the big R's battened on the little r's rage.
But despite all they could do, the enemy kept getting stronger and now the mostly white rats, little r's and big R's both, have been cornered by history's march, and they fear for their lives. There seems to be no escape. Evil is about to triumph.
The only possibility left? Burn down the house around them and take the evil enemy with them, hoping, trusting only the righteous rats will rise again...
But the pressures are immense, and the fear is great, and rats is rats.
And, cornered, they turn on one another, slashing and biting, and begin to eat their own.
After all, blood is blood...and rats is always rats."
It'll be an entertaining couple of weeks.
Detailed article in Pro Publica on the decision to overturn the conviction of 5 New Orleans police officers for murder in the wake of Katrina. The behavior of prosecutors stretches credulity.
http://www.propublica.org/nola/story/plenty-of-misconduct-and-129-pages-of-one-judges-disbelief/
Re: Ken W's latest comment on R. canniballis/ In her recent NYRB piece (http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2013/sep/26/stranglehold-our-politics/?pagination=false) Elizabeth Drew makes the following comment: "Most uncommonly, [Cruz] is hated and feared by most of his colleagues (including Republicans) -- such strong feelings about a fellow senator are rare."
I think any person with a functioning brain only needs to watch Cruz in action for a few minutes to conclude that he is a dangerous psychopath -- a completely selfish backstabber, vicious, untrustworthy, and void of any moral principle. Such a creature is a threat to everybody, especially other senators. While I would certainly enjoy watching Cruz being eaten alive -- it would restore some sense that justice is not completely impossible -- I suspect that a thoroughly bipartisan agreement will develop which puts Ted in a very small soundproof box that he can see out of but not escape.
Keith Howard
PD, If you have time, will you recap what the New Republic has to say about Obama bailing out Boehner? I don't have a subscription and have read my "quota" so they block the article.
Good grief. Marie, my request should not be handled by you. I swear, if you reply I'm not even gonna read it. So sit down, then get your usual three hours of sleep so you can keep us abreast of all the wonderfulness of this country.