The Commentariat -- September 19

This is not class warfare. it's math. -- Barack Obama

... The plan is here (pdf).

... Steve Kornacki of Salon explains why: Obama has finally figured out that Congressional Republicans will oppose his every policy, so he has shifted into campaign mode to establish the difference between Republican & Democratic proposals. CW: I think he "caught on" about 18 months too late, & as Kornacki points out "late may not be better than never" in terms of Obama's political future. But it's all he's got. ...

... NEW. Nice Guys Finish Last. Ezra Klein says the reason Obama changed course is that, well, his bipartisan strategy was losing voters. ...

... Matt Yglesias: "... as a statement of vision [President Obama's deficit reduction plan] sets up the contrast with the opposition quite clearly. House Republicans want to repeal Medicare in order to make tax cuts for the rich affordable, President Obama wants to tax the rich in order to make Medicare affordable. Some [progressive] critics will focus on the relatively small changes to federal health care programs here, but the President is essentially doing what progressives have been urging him to do for months — abandoning the strategy of pre-compromising, and planting his flag in a way that draws strong contrasts." ...

... NEW. Digby: President Obama "frames it as a 'shared sacrifice' so that people still believe it's right to trade essential middle class benefits for millionaire chump change. I hate that formulation and I think it's a mistake to perpetuate it.... Overall, I think the obvious takeaway is that the White House isn't looking to make any more deals to please Wall Street and burnish its 'post-partisan' image before the election. To that, I can only say 'thank God.'" ..

... NEW. Jon Walker of Firedoglake: "... it is important to remember: simply because the president did not put ... cuts [in Medicare] on the table doesn’t mean he took these cuts off the table."

... See also Glenn Greenwald's post, linked below. Oh, and there's this from VastLeft.com, via Greenwald:

... And here is why you should never, ever pay any attention to anything coming from the mind of Mark Penn, the man who sabotaged the primary election for Hillary Clinton.

Bill Keller of the New York Times: "The decline in Obama’s political fortunes, the Great Disappointment, can be attributed to four main factors: the intractable legacy bequeathed by George W. Bush; Republican resistance amounting to sabotage; the unrealistic expectations and inevitable disenchantment of some of the president’s supporters; and, to be sure, the man himself." CW: I'm not a big fan of Keller's, but this seems to be a pretty "fair & balanced" essay; most of us can agree with most of the points (I think) -- which is a pretty amazing feat in itself. ...

... I've posted a Keller page on Off Times Square.

Krugman, the Movie

... But He Does It Anyway. Paul Krugman: the U.S. and European nations have instituted austerity programs to boost corporate & public "confidence" in government. "Strange to say, however, confidence hasn’t surged. Somehow, businesses and consumers seem much more concerned about the lack of customers and jobs, respectively, than they are reassured by the fiscal righteousness of their governments. And growth seems to be stalling, while unemployment remains disastrously high on both sides of the Atlantic.... What we really need ... is to convince a substantial number of people with political power or influence that they’ve spent the past year and a half going in exactly the wrong direction, and that they need to make a U-turn." ...

... Former Fed Chair Paul Volcker in a New York Times op-ed: "... the danger is that if, in desperation, we turn to deliberately seeking inflation to solve real problems — our economic imbalances, sluggish productivity, and excessive leverage — we would soon find that a little inflation doesn’t work. Then the instinct will be to do a little more — a seemingly temporary and 'reasonable' 4 percent becomes 5, and then 6 and so on. What we know, or should know, from the past is that once inflation becomes anticipated and ingrained — as it eventually would — then the stimulating effects are lost." ...

... Binyamin Appelbaum of the New York Times: "Investors have concluded that the Federal Reserve will announce new measures to promote economic growth after a meeting of its policy-making committee ends Wednesday. Long-term interest rates have moved as if the Fed had already spoken. The central bank is often ... facing the choice of whether to do more to improve the economy. But the anticipatory behavior of investors means the Fed really faces a slightly different choice...: whether to risk doing less than expected."

** Steven Pearlstein of the Washington Post relates an excellent -- and do-able -- idea to help millions of underwater homeowners: order Fannie Mae & Freddie Mac to allow fully-paid-up mortgageholders to refinance at lower interest rates with low refinanacing fees & no appraisals, & grant banks who agree to similar low refinancing charges "immunity from lawsuits stemming from loans issued during the bubble." The plan's designers, at least one of whom is a Republican, "estimate that their plan could allow as many as 25 million households to refinance mortgages and have an extra $70 billion every year to spend and invest — the equivalent of a $70 billion-a-year tax cut that can be had at no cost to taxpayers." Reading Pearlstein's prose is a bit of a slog, but especially if you hold such a mortgage, it's worth a read.

If (former President) Bill Clinton had been in the White House and had failed to address this problem, we probably would be marching on the White House. There is a less-volatile reaction in the CBC because nobody wants to do anything that would empower the people who hate the president. -- Emanuel Cleaver (D-Mo.), Chair of the Congressional Black Caucus

David Goldstein of McClatchy News: "As chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus, [Rep. Emanuel Cleaver] has been at odds with President Barack Obama over his administration's response to the soaring unemployment rate in the African-American community. Nearing 17 percent, joblessness among blacks is at a three-decade high and almost twice the size of the overall unemployment rate. The black caucus wants the president to do more."

Michiko Kakutani of the New York Times: "The portrait of the Obama White House that the veteran journalist Ron Suskind draws in his searing new book, 'Confidence Men,' is that of a young, inexperienced president lacking the leadership and managerial skills to deal effectively with the cascading economic problems he inherited; a brainy but detached executive with a tendency to frame policy matters intellectually 'like a journalist, or narrator, or skilled observer'; an oddly passive C.E.O. whose directive on restructuring the banks in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis was, the author says, ignored or slow-walked by his own economic team." CW: this is the most informative review of Suskind's book I've read, & it gives a much fuller picture of Suskind's conclusions than have news reports that mostly picked out the good gossip & left it at that. Suskind pretty much confirms what most of us have figured out. Thanks to Kate M. for the link. ...

... ** Glenn Greenwald: "Geithner wasn't chosen and hasn't remained despite being 'associated with the deregulatory policies of the past' and despite being the bankers' 'man in Washington.'  He is empowered precisely because of those facts.... Obama featured progressive economists during the campaign, only to immediately subordinate them to Wall-Street-subservient officials once in power.  Feigning progressive leanings for political gain is Obama's modus operandi.... That's why -- after 2 1/2 years -- we suddenly see an outburst of 'fighting for jobs' and, now, a call to raise taxes on the rich.  He does that precisely because everyone -- especially the rich -- knows it will not and cannot happen." CW: Greenwald's is a well-supported POV (he's been providing the evidence for years), so it would be naive & irresponsible to rule it out. ...

... AND here's a really entertaining conversation between Frank Rich & Adam Moss of New York Magazine on Suskind's book. CW: I have always thought former Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-ND) was the most fiscally responsible member of the Senate (he retired in 2011). Dorgan tolc President-Elect Obama in December 2008 exactly what I would have (& did on Reality Chex) about his utterly horrible economic personnel choices:

I don't understand how you could do this. You've picked the wrong people!

E. J. Dionne: "However justified their past grievances might be, [Democrats] have a powerful collective interest in seeing the fighting Obama get his new act off the ground."

The motivation for this is somewhere between despicable and reprehensible. In a close election, that could be devastating. -- former Gov. Ed Rendell (D) ...

... Katharine Seelye of the New York Times: "The newly empowered Republicans in Pennsylvania are considering changing the way the state awards its electoral votes in presidential elections despite growing concerns by some Republicans that the move could backfire." ...

... Nate Silver: Silver lays out a number of the scenarios in which their little plot could backfire. ...

... Meanwhile, Alexander Burns of Politico: Nebraska Republicans are pushing to go from a Congressional District-based Electoral College to a winner-take-all system to avert the possibility that Obama will -- as he did in 2008 -- win one whole Electoral College vote in the 2nd Congressional District (Omaha area).

Right Wing World

Class Warfare, Republican Style. Do these people ever listen to themselves? --

     ... Who knew Chris Jansing was a Bolshevik? Well, she does have her red dress on. Alex Seitz-Wald of Think Progress has more. ...

... THEN, Laura Clawson of Daily Kos does the math & finds that Poor Mr. Moneybags there is paying those 500 workers he so benevolently employs far less than $11,400 a year -- gross. CW: Oh, what could be wrong with that? ...

... John Cook of Gawker doesn't even have to do any math to learn that it costs $200,000 a year just to feed a Republican Congressional family of six. ...

     ... Steve Benen piles on: "If it seems like these incidents come from fairly often, it’s because they do. Last month, Rep. Steve Southerland (R-Fla.) complained that his $174,000 per year congressional salary is inadequate, given all 'the hours' he works. In March, Rep. Sean Duffy (R-Wis.) complained to voters that he’s 'struggling' on his $174,000 congressional salary, and to prove the point, he complained about 'driving a used minivan.' In April, Rep. Denny Rehberg (R-Mont.), the 23rd richest member of Congress who owns millions of dollars in farm and ranch land, whined that he and his wife 'are struggling like everyone else.' ... As a rule, politicians make an effort not to appear out of touch. These guys aren’t even trying."

Republicans -- Keeping millions out of work to put one man out of a job. -- Attribution: Hazy

Mitch Daniels Gets It Half-Right. Jeff Zeleny of the New York Times: "Four months after he decided against jumping into the Republican presidential race, Gov. Mitch Daniels of Indiana says that he has occasionally been frustrated by the discourse in the campaign and that the field could benefit from at least one more contender whose candidacy was rooted in a message of fiscal discipline. Mr. Daniels said his party’s candidates had a responsibility to conduct a 'more candid and honest' conversation about the nation’s financial burdens, particularly Social Security and Medicare."

Walt Cronkite (really!) of CBS News: "Presidential hopeful Mitt Romney highlighted his Michigan roots Wednesday at an Arizona Ford dealership, telling the owner about his collection of Cadillacs." (Emphasis added.) CW: so he strapped his dog to the hood of a Cadillac?

News Ledes

TPM: "The Justice Department said Monday that Texas' state House and congressional redistricting plans didn't comply with Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act (VRA), indicating they thought the maps approved by Gov. Rick Perry (R) gave too little voting power to the growing Latino population in the state. Officials with DOJ's Civil Rights Division said ... they had concerns with the state House plan and the plan for congressional redistricting."

President Obama made remarks on the deficit & recommendations to the Joint Congressional Committee on Deficit Reduction this morning. CW: Video & link to document in left column. ...

... New York Times: "President Obama called on Monday for Congress to adopt his 'balanced' plan combining entitlement cuts, tax increases and war savings to reduce the federal deficit by more than $3 trillion over the next 10 years, and said he would veto any approach that relied solely on spending reductions to address the fiscal shortfall."

... Reuters: "Republican leaders on Sunday criticized President Barack Obama's proposal for a new tax on millionaires, calling it 'class warfare' and predicting it will face heavy opposition in Congress." CW: but it's not "class warfare" when they do the bidding of the rich at the expense of the rest of us?

The Hill: "Three congressional Democrats are introducing a bill Wednesday that would abolish the federal debt ceiling. The lawmakers say that the recent debate to raise the ceiling and avoid default had a 'disastrous' effect on the U.S economy, and that the legislation would keep parties from using a potential default as a hostage in future budget debates.... But the bill is unlikely to gain traction, especially in the Republican-controlled House."

New York Times: "Greek leaders struggled through the weekend to agree to a set of radical budget reductions that would satisfy foreign lenders’ demands even as they tried to stave off mounting resistance to those cuts at home."