CNBC: “The U.S. economy added far more jobs than expected in September, pointing to a vital employment picture as the unemployment rate edged lower, the Labor Department reported Friday. Nonfarm payrolls surged by 254,000 for the month, up from a revised 159,000 in August and better than the 150,000 Dow Jones consensus forecast. The unemployment rate fell to 4.1%, down 0.1 percentage point.”
To keep the Conversation going, please help me by linking news articles, opinion pieces and other political content in today's Comments section.
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Thank you to everyone who has been contributing links to articles & other content in the Comments section of each day's "Conversation." If you're missing the comments, you're missing some vital links.
Public Service Announcement
Washington Post: "Americans can again order free rapid coronavirus tests by mail, the Biden administration announced Thursday. People can request four free at-home tests per household through covidtests.gov. They will begin shipping Monday. The move comes ahead of an expected winter wave of coronavirus cases. The September revival of the free testing program is in line with the Biden administration’s strategy to respond to the coronavirus as part of a broader public health campaign to protect Americans from respiratory viruses, including influenza and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), that surge every fall and winter. But free tests were not mailed during the summer wave, which wastewater surveillance data shows is now receding."
Washington Post: “Comedy news outlet the Onion —reinvigorated by new ownership over this year — is bringing back its once-popular video parodies of cable news. But this time, there’s someone with real news anchor experience in the chair. When the first episodes appear online Monday, former WAMU and MSNBC host Joshua Johnson will be the face of the resurrected 'Onion News Network.' Playing an ONN anchor character named Dwight Richmond, Johnson says he’s bringing a real anchor’s sense of clarity — and self-importance — to the job. 'If ONN is anything, it’s a news organization that is so unaware of its own ridiculousness that it has the confidence of a serial killer,' says Johnson, 44.” ~~~
~~~ Marie: I'll be darned if I can figured out how to watch ONN. If anybody knows, do tell. Thanks.
Washington Post: “First came the surprising discovery that Earth’s atmosphere is leaking. But for roughly 60 years, the reason remained a mystery. Since the late 1960s, satellites over the poles detected an extremely fast flow of particles escaping into space — at speeds of 20 kilometers per second. Scientists suspected that gravity and the magnetic field alone could not fully explain the stream. There had to be another source creating this leaky faucet. It turns out the mysterious force is a previously undiscovered global electric field, a recent study found. The field is only about the strength of a watch battery — but it’s enough to thrust lighter ions from our atmosphere into space. It’s also generated unlike other electric fields on Earth. This newly discovered aspect of our planet provides clues about the evolution of our atmosphere, perhaps explaining why Earth is habitable. The electric field is 'an agent of chaos,' said Glyn Collinson, a NASA rocket scientist and lead author of the study. 'It undoes gravity.... Without it, Earth would be very different.'”
New York Times: “Hvaldimir, a beluga whale who had captured the public’s imagination since 2019 after he was spotted wearing a harness seemingly designed for a camera, was found dead on Saturday in Norway, according to a nonprofit that worked to protect the whale.... [Hvaldimir] was wearing a harness that identified it as “equipment” from St. Petersburg. There also appeared to be a camera mount. Some wondered if the whale was on a Russian reconnaissance mission. Russia has never claimed ownership of the whale. If Hvaldimir was a spy, he was an exceptionally friendly one. The whale showed signs of domestication, and was comfortable around people. He remained in busier waters than are typical for belugas....” ~~~
~~~ Marie: Oh, Lord, do not let Bobby Kennedy, Jr., near that carcass. ~~~
~~~ AP Update: “There’s no evidence that a well-known beluga whale that lived off Norway’s coast and whose harness ignited speculation it was a Russian spy was shot to death last month as claimed by animal rights groups, Norwegian police said Monday.... Police said that the Norwegian Veterinary Institute conducted a preliminary autopsy on the animal, which was become known as 'Hvaldimir,' combining the Norwegian word for whale — hval — and the first name of Russian President Vladimir Putin. 'There are no findings from the autopsy that indicate that Hvaldimir has been shot,' police said in a statement.”
New York Times: Botswana's “President Mokgweetsi Masisi grinned as he lifted the diamond, a 2,492-carat stone that is the biggest diamond unearthed in more than a century and the second-largest ever found, according to the Vancouver-based mining operator Lucara, which owns the mine where it was found. This exceptional discovery could bring back the luster of the natural diamond mining industry, mining companies and experts say. The diamond was discovered in the same relatively small mine in northeastern Botswana that has produced several of the largest such stones in living memory. Such gemstones typically surface as a result of volcanic activity.... The diamond will likely sell in the range of tens of millions of dollars....”
Click on photo to enlarge.
~~~ Guardian: "On a distant reef 16,000km from Paris, surfer Gabriel Medina has given Olympic viewers one of the most memorable images of the Games yet, with an airborne celebration so well poised it looked too good to be true. The Brazilian took off a thundering wave at Teahupo’o in Tahiti on Monday, emerging from a barrelling section before soaring into the air and appearing to settle on a Pacific cloud, pointing to the sky with biblical serenity, his movements mirrored precisely by his surfboard. The shot was taken by Agence France-Presse photographer Jérôme Brouillet, who said “the conditions were perfect, the waves were taller than we expected”. He took the photo while aboard a boat nearby, capturing the surreal image with such accuracy that at first some suspected Photoshop or AI."
Washington Post: “'Mary Cassatt at Work' is a large and mostly satisfying exhibition devoted to the career of the great American artist beloved for her sensitive and often sentimental views of family life. The 'at work' in the title of the Philadelphia Museum of Art show references the curators’ interest in Cassatt’s pioneering effort to establish herself as a professional artist within a male-dominated field. Throughout the show, which includes some 130 paintings, pastels, prints and drawings, the wall text and the art on view stresses Cassatt’s fixation on art as a career rather than a pastime.... Mary Cassatt at Work is on view at the Philadelphia Museum of Art through Sept. 8. philamuseum.org”
New York Times: “Bob Newhart, who died on Thursday at the age of 94, has been such a beloved giant of popular culture for so long that it’s easy to forget how unlikely it was that he became one of the founding fathers of stand-up comedy. Before basically inventing the hit stand-up special, with the 1960 Grammy-winning album 'The Button-Down Mind of Bob Newhart' — that doesn’t even count his pay-per-view event broadcast on Canadian television that some cite as the first filmed special — he was a soft-spoken accountant who had never done a set in a nightclub. That he made a classic with so little preparation is one of the great miracles in the history of comedy.... Bob Newhart holds up. In fact, it’s hard to think of a stand-up from that era who is a better argument against the commonplace idea that comedy does not age well.”
Adam Clymer of the New York Times: "Thomas S. Foley, a courtly congressman from Washington State who as speaker of the House sought to still the chamber's rising tide of partisan combat before it swept the Democratic majority, and Mr. Foley himself, out of office in 1994, died on Friday at his home in Washington, D.C. He was 84." CW: In case you are hazy on what a horrible excuse for a human being Newt Gingrich is, read Speaker Foley's obituary.
AP: "Republican Rep. Bill Young, Florida's longest-serving member of Congress and a defense hawk who was influential on military spending during his 43 years in Washington, died Friday. He was 82." Andrew Meacham writes the Tampa Bay Times' obituary. ...
Julia Preston & Ashley Parker of the New York Times: Democrats want to press immigration reform legislation, but it all depends upon whether House Speaker John Boehner thinks President Obama hurt the widdle feewings of crazed hostage-takers.
Sheryl Gay Stolberg of the New York Times: "Americans for Prosperity has spent millions in states around the country, including Arkansas, Florida, Ohio, Louisiana, Michigan, Pennsylvania," and Virginia to undermine the Affordable Care Act by lobbying against the Medicaid expansion in these states.
... Michael Bender & Kathleen Hunter of Bloomberg News: "A battle for control of the Republican Party has erupted as an emboldened Tea Party moved to oust senators who voted to reopen the government while business groups mobilized to defeat allies of the small-government movement."
Charlie Savage of the New York Times: " The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court released a new legal opinion on Friday that reauthorized the once-secret National Security Agency program that keeps records of every American's phone calls. The opinion also sought to plug a hole in a similar ruling made public last month."
Friday afternoon, President Obama announced his nomination of Jeh Johnson as Secretary of Homeland Security:
Heart of Darkness, Ctd. From the Mind of Dick to "Homeland" Script. AP: "Former Vice President Dick Cheney says he once feared that terrorists could use the electrical device that had been implanted near his heart to kill him and had his doctor disable its wireless function.... Years later, Cheney watched an episode of the Showtime series 'Homeland' in which such a scenario was part of the plot."
Local News
California Really Is a "Laboratory of Democracy." Adam Nagourney of the New York Times: Virulent partisanship is on the wane in California. "Lawmakers came into office this year representing districts whoselines were drawn by a nonpartisan commission, rather than under the more calculating eye of political leaders. This is the first Legislature chosen under an election system where the top two finishers in a nonpartisan primary run against each other, regardless of party affiliations, an effort to prod candidates to appeal to a wider ideological swath of the electorate. And California voters approved last year an initiative to ease stringent term limits, which had produced a statehouse filled with inexperienced legislators looking over the horizon to the next election. Lawmakers can now serve 12 years in either the Assembly or the Senate."
Gail Collins: "These days, when you say 'Texas' in the context of heavy-breathing Republican extremism, everybody immediately thinks of Senator Ted Cruz. Which is really unfair when there are so many other members of the state delegation trying to do their part." ...
... Wait, Wait, Gail. You Left Out the Candidates for Lt. Gov.! "Scenes from a Broken Republican Party." In Texas, GOP candidates for lieutenant governor are arguing the merits of repealing the 17th Amendment, which provides for the popular election of U.S. senators. As Jonathan Bernstein writes in theWashington Post, the prominence of this ridiculous "issue" is symptomatic of what's wrong with the Republican party. Thanks to James S. for the link. CW: I'd wouldn't mind if Texas would repeal the whole Constitution & secede. ...
... Manny Fernandez of the New York Times: Texas Republicans still loveTed Cruz. "He's a fighter." "Texas is not America." Etc.
Elizabeth Chuck & Pete Williams of NBC News: "Same-sex marriages will begin Monday in New Jersey after the state Supreme Court ruled Friday that the state must begin granting same-sex marriage licenses, a rebuff to Gov. Chris Christie." ...
... Chris Geidner of BuzzFeed: "Before Senator-elect Cory Booker comes to Washington, he plans to start the ball rolling on marriage equality in New Jersey by marrying several same-sex couples at 12:01 a.m. Monday, Oct. 21...."
All of us need to stop focusing on the lobbyists and the bloggers and the talking heads on radio and the professional activists who profit from conflict and focus what the majority of Americans sent us here to do.... -- President Obama, speaking Thursday morning ...
The President of the United States has accused me of being worse than useless. He is not attacking my ideas; he is attacking me as a person, suggesting not only that I have negative value but also that I profit from the harm I do to the rest of the American people. He says the same about half the writers whose works I link. I take these charges seriously. I will stop Reality Chex the moment I decide the POTUS is right or likely right. -- Marie Burns
Since Obama doesn't brook bloggers, he would not have read this before he condemned me.
Jonathan Weisman & Jackie Calmes of the New York Times: "With the government reopened and a debt default averted for now, Congressional negotiators on Thursday plunged into difficult budget talks to avoid a repeat crisis within months, and quickly agreed to lower their sights from the sort of grand bargain that has eluded the two parties for three years." ...
... Robert Kuttner of the American Prospect, Blogger: "Obama, in this [shutdown/default] crisis, has discovered that a spine is a very useful thing to have. He has discovered that when he hangs tough, the latent schisms in the Republican Party break open. He needs to carry that new toughness into December and January, and beyond. His own worst enemy is both his congenital desire to appease and his on- and-off flirtation with cutting social insurance."
Sixty-two percent of House Republicans voted against their own [budget] number, voted against opening up government and then voted against ending the default of our full faith and credit. What was squandered in that period of time, was not only quantitatively measured in terms of it slowed our GDP growth, jeopardized our credit rating, eroded consumer and investor confidence, it also diminished confidence in government, in governance. Did they know what this irresponsibility cost us? ... Was their tantrum worth $24 billion? [the estimated cost to the economy of the shutdown & debt default threat] I don’t think so. Perhaps they didn’t know how costly it would be…. We knew it was at a cost in addition to the cost to the working families. -- Nancy Pelosi, at a news conference Thursday
An interesting tidbit in this longish piece by Carrie Brown & Jonathan Allen of Politico: It was President Obama, not Leader Reid, who quashed Susan Collins' so-called bipartisan offer. ...
It should have been the Senate Republicans that rode like the cavalry to support the courageous stand House Republicans were taking. Instead, they became the Air Force, bombing our own troops, bombing House Republicans, bombing conservatives, and you can't win when one house of Congress turns its cannons on the other half. -- Ted Cruz, further endearing himself to his fellows at the 100 Club
... Todd Gillman of the Dallas Morning News: "... by the time Cruz’s crusade to defund Obamacare finally crashed to a halt Wednesday, the Texas senator had precious few friends left. The government shutdown alienated colleagues in both parties. It generated fresh animosity toward the tea party and a flurry of recriminations toward Cruz. Voter support for the Republican Party plunged. And the health care law survived unscathed." ...
... ** Huff Post Bloggers Sam Stein & Ryan GriminterviewHarry Reid, who has a few choice word for David Vitter (R-La.) & Ted Cruz. CW: One thing Vitter & Cruz have succeeded in changing in Washington: those quaint Senate good manners. Nothing from Harry about "the distinguished gentleman...."
Eric Yoder of the Washington Post: "The budget measure that ended the partial government shutdown allows for a 1 percent raise for federal employees in January in addition to providing back pay for those furloughed...."
Jia Lynn Yang & Tom Hamburger of the Washington Post: The business community still loves John Boehner, and "Boehner’s friends in the business community are getting ready to take sides in a few Republican primary races against tea party candidates in Michigan, Idaho and Alabama who could cause the House speaker more trouble." ...
... Molly Ball of the Atlantic, Blogger: "What was once an uneasy alliance between Tea Partiers and Republican loyalists is increasingly marked by hostility — and many on the right now want a divorce." ...
... CW: Ball's discussion of internal hostility reminds me of Obama press secretary Robert Gibbs' 2010 extended comments derogating the "professional left" who "wouldn't be satisfied if Dennis Kucinich was president." In reviewing some of Gibbs' complaints, it's kind of obvious that those on the "professional left" (including bloggers!) have been vindicated. Obama has realized the errors inherent in his willingness to negotiate with Republicans -- from rolling over for a grand bargain to the sequester ploy that backfired. He knows that the surge in Afghanistan was a mistake, that Guantanamo remains a festering disaster, & that the NSA should be reined in. The economy -- at least for most of us -- continues to stagnate because the stimulus wasn't big enough & the aid to homeowners (legislated but minimally implemented) continued the drag on the housing market. (But bankers are doing fine!) Obama's decision to throw Elizabeth Warren under the bus had a silver lining that emerged through no fault of his. And the problems ObamaCare is experiencing -- caused in great part by the Supreme Court's allowing states to opt out -- might have been avoided under a single-payer plan. You can probably add to the list.
Alec MacGillis of the New Republic, Blogger: "They’re back! Barely had Harry Reid and Mitch McConnell announced their agreement to reopen the government and raise the debt ceiling than zooming in from the leaden skies came our old friends, the fiscal hawks. Fix the Debt, the organization that took flight last year from the very deep pockets of octagenarian Blackstone co-founder Pete Peterson, held an afternoon event at the National Press Club to remind everyone that, crisis averted, the real problem in this country remained our crushing long-term debt.... One by one, the officials offered the usual above-it-all bipartisan bromides, scrupulously avoiding naming the people or even the party that brought the crisis to a head." ...
... Paul Krugman, Blogger: "Fix the Debt didn’t just help create a climate of crisis with its fearmongering over the deficit; the fiscal scolds actively cheered GOP hostage-taking in 2011, and were still lending support to hostage tactics this time around.... Fix the Debt isn’t just ineffectual in its pursuit of a Grand Bargain, it’s an actively malign force in our politics, in effect acting as an ally of the extortionists." ...
... Charles Pierce, Blogger: "This is the real threat to the recovery right here.... It is this permanent class of deficit fetishists and austerian fantasts. These are the people who will wreck lives. These are people who get heard in the White House.... Every time the president mentons the deficit, these guys get their semi-annual woodies and a little bit of actual progressive politics dies again. These are the people whose credentials really should have been revoked last night, if there actually was the kind of Democratic triumph that we're being sold today." ...
... Humor Break. Wonkblog: Fix the Debt hosted a TwitterChat after their dog-and-pony show. "They got trolled." Enjoy.
Obama 2.0. Nedra Pickler of the AP: "President Barack Obamahas chosen former Pentagon lawyer Jeh Johnson as the new secretary of the Homeland Security Department. Obama plans to announce Johnson's nomination Friday. He must be confirmed by the Senate before taking over the post most recently held by Janet Napolitano." ...
... Brian Resnick & Matt Berman of the National Journal, Bloggers: "Johnson's legacy at the Defense Department is marked by two high-profile issues: his advocacy of the repeal of 'don't ask, don't tell,' and — as chief lawyer at the Pentagon — his legal authority over all drone strikes carried out by the Defense secretary and President Obama." ...
... Obama 2.0. Reuters: Gen. Keith Alexander, "the director of the National Security Agency, and his deputy are expected to depart in the coming months, US officials said on Wednesday, in a development that could give President Obama a chance to reshape the eavesdropping agency. ...
... Greg Miller, et al., of the Washington Post: "... documents provided to The Washington Post by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden ... reveal the agency’s extensive involvement in the targeted killing program that has served as a centerpiece of President Obama’s counterterrorism strategy." ...
... James Risen of the New York Times: "Edward J. Snowden ... said in an extensive interview this month that he did not take any secret N.S.A. documents with him to Russia when he fled there in June, assuring that Russian intelligence officials could not get access to them.... He also asserted that he was able to protect the documents from China’s spies because he was familiar with that nation’s intelligence abilities.... 'There’s a zero percent chance the Russians or Chinese have received any documents,' he said."
Charles Pierce, Blogger: "Everyone in the courtier press, and a good portion of the blogosphere, is making great sport of that poor stenographer who apparently snapped last night and started yelling about the Freemasons and the Constitution.... There is no intellectually honest way to say that what that poor woman started shouting on the House floor last night, and what Michele Bachmann or Ted Cruzsay every day as a perfect illustration of how they view the world. Our courtier media doesn't hate crazy. It just hates improv." ...
... Geoff Earle of the New York Post: Dianne Reidy's husband, Dan Reidy, says the long hours she had to work during the shutdown made her snap. Both Reidys are Pentacostals, who believe God can speak through them.
Humor Break. Ben Yakas of Gothamist: "Stephen Colbertwas the keynote speaker at the 68th annual Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation charity dinner last night at the Waldorf Astoria — and he spent the full 14 minutes of his speech zinging NYC's rich and powerful. And that motley crew included Christine Quinn, Ray Kelly, Cardinal Timothy Dolan, Governor Andrew Cuomo, and of course, diminutive Mayor Bloomberg."
Jonathan Cohn of the New Republic, Blogger, reviews the botched ObamaCare rollout, which isn't so botched in most of the states that are running their own exchanges. (Exception: Hawaii, which used the same contractor the feds did.)
Senate Races
Tom Jensen of Public Policy Polling: "PPP’s newest Kentucky poll finds voters in the state extremely unhappy about the government shutdown, and taking it out on Mitch McConnell. The Republican Senator Minority Leader now trailsAlison Lundergan Grimes 45/43 for reelection." (CW: this doesn't mean too much at this point, but any time a Republican's numbers look squishy in Kentucky, it's news.)
Mississippi GOP Senator Gets Tea Party Challenger. Daniel Strauss of TPM: "Mississippi State Sen. Chris McDaniel (R) jumped into the Senate race for Sen. Thad Cochran's (R-MS) seat on Thursday and was immediately endorsed by two prominent conservative organizations.... Cochran has not officially announced whether he is running for reelection."
This victory for common sense is a testament to his profound tenacity, the trust his colleagues have in him and his ability to lead. And it is clear it would not have happened without him. -- Neera Tanden, President of the Center for American Progress, on Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid
P.S. Nancy Pelosi did some mighty fine cat-wrangling, too. -- Constant Weader
... Erin McClam of NBC News: "President Barack Obama said Thursday, as the federal government blinked back to life, that the 16-day shutdown and threat of national default had inflicted 'completely unnecessary damage on our economy.'" CW: AND he took a shot at me! It's at 5:45 in that the POTUS calls me a piece of dirt. I'm going to have to think about that:
... Tom Cohen, et al., of CNN: "President Barack Obamasigned a bill that ends the 16-day partial government shutdown and raises the debt ceiling, the White House said early Thursday morning." ...
... Russell Berman of the Hill: "Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) split with his party's leadership and voted against the Senate fiscal agreement on Wednesday night.... Shortly after the House vote, Boehner announced four Republican appointees to the conference committee: Ryan, Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.), Rep. Tom Price (Ga.) and Rep. Diane Black (Tenn.). Price and Black also voted against the Senate bill." CW: So, one semi-normal ultra-conservative (Cole) and three crazed ideologues. This should work well. ...
... CW: Boehner's continued support for the Tea Party crazies, as evidenced by his budget conference nominees is a terrible sign of times to come. Not only did he not listen to the so-called moderates who urged him to distance himself from the wingnuts, he eschewed advice like this from William Galston, writing in the Wall Street Journal on Tuesday: "It's hard to see how the U.S. can govern itself unless corporate America pushes the Republican establishment to fight back against the tea party -- or switches sides." It would be a mistake to think Boehner somehow redeemed himself by consenting to allow Democrats & some Republicans to spare the nation from default & re-start the government. He is just as horrible a hack today as he was on Tuesday. ...
... If you thought things couldn't get more bizarre....Politico: "A House floor stenographer was abruptly hauled out of the chamber after charging the dais and screaming during Wednesday's late night vote on raising the debt ceiling and funding the federal government. As the bill sailed toward final passage, the presiding lawmaker suddenly began pounding the gavel. Witnesses on the floor said the woman, identified as Dianne Reidy, seized a microphone and began yelling during the vote." ...
... Geoff Earle of the New York Post has more, with video. Thanks to James S. for the link. ...
... David Nakamura, et al., of the Washington Post: "Sixteen days after a federal shutdown began and one day before the United States would have exhausted its ability to borrow money, Congress approved a bill to reopen the government and raise the debt ceiling until Feb. 7. President Obama has promised to sign the legislation immediately, meaning hundreds of thousands of federal workers could be back at work Thursday." ...
... CW: The House is now expected to vote tonight. ...
... Update: The house voted on a voice vote; the chair declared the "yeas" won; i.e., the Senate bill passed. There was a call for a recorded vote & a 15-min. vote is ongoing at 9:57 pm ET. ...
... Update 2: The vote has passed the 220 mark, with 60 Republicans voting yea at this point. Final vote: 285 to 144; all 198 Democrats in attendance voted "yea"; 87 Republicans also voted "yea" to 144 "nays." President Obama to speak at 10:30 am Thursday.
... Jonathan Weisman & Ashley Parker of the New York Times: "... the Senate voted overwhelmingly, 81-18, on Wednesday evening to approve a proposal hammered out by Republican and Democratic leaders after the House was unable to move forward with any resolution. The House was expected to follow suit within hours and approve the Senate plan, which would finance the government through Jan. 15 and raise the debt limit through Feb. 7. Shortly after the vote, Mr. Obama praised Congress for action and said the vote cleared the way for substantive budget negotiations." ...
... CW: In the Senate the motion to invoke cloture on the bill to re-open the government & raise the debt ceiling passed 83-15 (I think). Update: The bill itself passed 81-18. ...
... Jonathan Weisman & Jennifer Steinhauer of the New York Times: "Speaker John A. Boehner ... said that the House would not block a bipartisan agreement reached in the Senate that yielded virtually no concessions to the Republicans.... The Senate is expected to vote on the bill Wednesday evening, with final passage coming late Wednesday or early Thursday. ...
... David Nakamura, et al., of the Washington Post: "Boehner, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) and Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) told Republicans at a closed-door afternoon meeting that they all plan to vote for the deal, said Aaron Schock (R-Ill.).... [Boehner] told conservative radio host Bill Cunningham that he would encourage his caucus to support the Senate measure.... Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) has pledged the support of all 200 Democrats, meaning Boehner would have to supply at least 17 votes." ...
... Joan McCarter of Daily Kos has a rundown of the key provisions. As contributor Dave S. points out, "It also includes language allowing President Obama to waive the debt ceiling, which could be overridden by a vote of disapproval by Congress that could then be vetoed by the president." CW: This provision begins on Page 24 of the bill, linked above. As I read it, this presidential privilege expires February 7, 2014. In addition, Rachel Maddow pointed out this evening that the "modification" to the ACA -- verifying income eligibility for ACA subsidies -- is something that's already in the Affordable Care law. So Republicans got nothing, & giving the President the ability to raise the debt ceiling (which I think is an old idea of Mitch McConnell's) is a big plus for the economy. ...
... CW Update: Okay, I read the bill right, but I didn't consider this significant wrinkle: Jack Lew can still use "extraordinary measures" after February 7. Ergo, Lori Montgomery & Rosalind Helderman write in the WashPo: "Enforcement of the debt limit is suspended until Feb. 7, setting up another confrontation over the national debt sometime in March, independent analysts estimated." So whether or not there's another debt ceiling debacle in March could depend upon whether or not House Republicans think it's a good for their re-election. However, since the government is funded only till January 15 under the bill, the Next Big Crisis will likely occur in the dark days of winter, & maybe the debt ceiling issue will be worked out then. Democrats probably will demand it as part of the budget deal. ...
... Pete Kasperowicz of the Hill outlines some "surprises" in the bill, including a McConnell kickback: a hefty increase in the "authorization for spending on construction on the lower Ohio River in Illinois and Kentucky." ...
No one should be surprised that this is the response of the Washington establishment. The American people rose up and spoke with an overwhelming voice and at least at this stage Washington isn't listening to them. The House listened, but the Senate has not.... [I] never had any intention to delay this vote. -- Sen. Ted Cruz (RTP-Texas), who yesterday would not say whether or not he would delay the vote
(The dream of keeping poor people from seeing a doctor must never die. -- Ted Cruz [paraphrase by Andy Borowitz])
For the party, this is a moment of self-evaluation, we are going to assess how we got here. If we continue down this path, we are really going to hurt the Republican Party long term.... This has been a really bad two weeks for the Republican Party. -- Sen. Lindsay Graham (R-S.C.)
Let's just say sometimes learning what can't be accomplished is an important long-term thing, and hopefully for some of the members they've learned it's impossible to defund mandatory programs by shutting down the federal government. -- Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.)
... Jonathan Strong of National Review about the last House Republican conference before the vote. Boehner received a standing O. CW: Maybe because he didn't "disrespect" the kidnappers. Or maybe because that "respect" cost billions of dollars & untold hardship. Whatever. "Representative Aaron Schock of Illinois said the lesson of the episode was that Boehner should cut out the far-right flank and work with centrist Democrats. Most of the top conservatives who pushed the House GOP into an Obamacare fight weren't very introspective, offering positive words about the fight and hope for victories to come." ...
... M. J. Lee of Politico: "Wall Street cheered a long-awaited deal to re-open the government and increase the nation's borrowing cap that emerged Wednesday, as Congress is poised to end a government shutdown now in its third week and squash fears that the United States may default on its financial obligations. The Dow Jones industrial average, which climbed quickly after the opening bell and remained steady throughout the day, closed 205.82 points higher. The Nasdaq also shot up 45.42 points, while the S&P 500 was up 23.48 points." ...
Something has gone terribly wrong when the biggest threat to our American economy is the American Congress. -- Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.V.), December 31, 2012, after the fiscal cliff deal
... Annie Lowrey, et al., of the New York Times: "... the cost of Congress's gridlock has already run well into the billions, economists estimate. And the total will continue to grow even after the shutdown ends, partly because of uncertainty about whether lawmakers might reach another deadlock early next year." ...
Jeanne B. writes, "Republicans have too many masters":
... Daniel Strauss of TPM: Mike Kibbe, "the President and CEO of the tea party group Freedomworks, predicted that House Republicans who vote in favor of the latest plan to avert a debt default and re-open the federal government, will face primary challengers." ...
... Igor Bobic of TPM: "Heritage Action announced Wednesday that it will include the Senate deal to avert default and reopen government as a key vote in its scorecard, urging members to vote oppose the measure." ...
... Caitlin MacNeal of TPM: "The U.S. Chamber of Commerce announced Wednesday that it supports the new Senate plan to end the shutdown and raise the debt ceiling, and it will include the measure as a key vote."
David Corn of Mother Jones: "About two weeks ago, as tea partiers in the GOP-controlled House were forcing a government shutdown, some House Democrats sent a private and informal message to House Speaker John Boehner: If you need to break with the die-hard conservatives of your caucus to keep the government running and avoid a debt ceiling crisis, we might be able to try to help you protect your speakership, should far-right Republicans rebel and challenge you."
Thanks to contributor Roger H. for this (see yesterday's thread). Speaking of education, you've educated MAG & me:
... BTW, wingers repeatedly attribute the saying to Joe Biden; also found one kid-you-not claim it came from Keith Ellison (D-Minn.).
** Beth Reinhard of the National Journal: "Twelve states, as well as the House of Representatives, have voted to outlaw abortion after 20 weeks -- the exact moment when some parents are just learning about severe or even fatal defects. Only Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas include exceptions for fetal impairment.... These 20-week bans...predominantly target women who are carrying gravely impaired babies or whose pregnancies are putting their own health at risk.... The overlap between states with tougher abortion restrictions and lower standards of living is rarely mentioned...."
Dylan Byers of Politico: "James Risen, the New York Times investigative reporter who has refused to testify against his alleged CIA source, has pledged to take his case to the Supreme Court following a federal appeals court decision not to reconsider his case."
Senate Race
Jonathan Tamari of the Philadelphia Inquirer: "Gov. [Chris] Christie [of New Jersey] has until Nov. 13 to certify the results of the special Senate election, though he doesn't expect to take that long. 'The winner of (Wednesday's) election will be sworn in as quickly as possible after the results have been verified and certified. We fully anticipate this to happen before the Nov. 5th election day,' said a statement from Gov. Christie's office." Cory Booker's win means Democrats pick up another Senate seat, which Christie filled shortly after Sen. Frank Lautenberg's (D) death with Republican Jeff Chiesa.
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