The Commentariat -- Nov. 26, 2012
Brought forward from yesterday's Commentariat: My column for the New York Times eXaminer is elegantly titled "Pat Some Butts, Barry -- Maureen Dowd." Clearly, this is My Week of Going Classy. ...
... A Lesson for Maureen Dowd: Here Was a Hero. U.S. Airman Reis Leming, who saved Britons during a storm & flood in 1953, died November 4 at age 81.
Michael Shear of the New York Times: President "Obama's aides are trying to harness the passions that returned him to the White House, hoping to pressure Republicans in Congress to accept tax increases on the wealthy. The president's strategists are turning first to the millions of e-mail addresses assembled by the campaign and the White House."
John Schriffen of ABC News: Today is "Cyber Monday, the biggest online shopping day of the year. Shoppers are expected to spend more than $1.5 billion today, up 20 percent from last year.... It has already been a big holiday weekend with a record $59.1 billion spent at U.S. stores and websites.... Online sales on Thanksgiving Day, traditionally not a popular day for online shopping, rose 32 percent from last year to $633 million.... And online sales on Black Friday were up 26 percent from the same day last year, to $1.042 billion. It was the first time online sales on Black Friday surpassed $1 billion."
Welcome to Your Newer, Friendlier GOP
Oink, Oink. In an appearance on Fox "News" yesterday, perpetual Sunday talkshow guest Sen. John McCain [R-Az.] hinted he would back off his attacks on U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice, Ian Millhiser of Think Progress reports. CW: it occurs to me that what really ticked off McCain was the fact that Rice appeared on all five major Sunday shows, probably pushing him out of his usual seat at a few of the network shows. He isn't a racist, sexist pig; he's a camera hog. ...
... Writing before McCain "softened his stance" on Rice, John Heilemann of New York predicted that President Obama would nominate Rice for Secretary of State & the Senate would confirm her. Heilemann listed five reason for his prediction. Reason 4. "Because McCain is being a jackass -- and Obama is sick of it." ...
... For the good of the country, it's time to fetch a butterfly net for McCain.... It's a measure of the fallen state of the GOP that this bitter, ever-more-incoherent hothead is now the party's only elected official with a voice on foreign affairs -- unless you count his boot-licking Sancho Panza, Lindsey Graham. -- Frank Rich
... Oh, and here's McCain urging his party to STFU on women's health issues: "There is no doubt whatsoever that the demographics are not on our side and we are going to have to give a much more positive agenda. [...] And as far as young women are concerned, absolutely. I don't think anybody like me, I can state my position on abortion, but, to -- other than that, leave the issue alone." Igor Volsky of Think Progress has the story. Volsky notes that Romney adviser Dan Senor conceded last week "that the GOP's focus on women's health hurt them in the election and criticized Republicans who pulled the party into 'a really idiotic debate' about contraception." CW: You'd almost think that all that crap high-minded talk about religious freedom was not really a principled stand but was rather an excuse to accuse President Obama of being a serial baby-killer. ...
... Anne Flaherty of the AP: "The White House could finally have its chance to close the books on its Benghazi public relations disaster, as key Republicans signal they might not stand in the way of U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice to become the next secretary of state.... One senior GOP Senate aide said Sunday that Republicans hadn't united against Rice and were not convinced she was worth going after." ...
... AND here we have Sen. Sancho Panza Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) suggesting "that he could conceivably abandon the [Grover Norquist] pledge as part of a deal to avoid going over the so-called 'fiscal cliff.'" Now, remember, this is all a ploy Republicans are using to gut the social safety net. Via Travis Waldron of Think Progress. ...
... So thanks, Dick, for falling into the trap. George Stephanopoulos of ABC News: "Sen. Dick Durbin said today that his Democratic colleagues in the House and Senate should be willing to address entitlement programs like Medicare and Medicaid in deficit reduction negotiations." ...
... So let's see what Paul Krugman says about the "fiscal cliff": "Now yet another organization, Fix the Debt, is campaigning for cuts to Social Security and Medicare, even while making lower tax rates a 'core principle.' That last part makes no sense in terms of the group's ostensible mission, but makes perfect sense if you look at the array of big corporations, from Goldman Sachs to the UnitedHealth Group, that are involved in the effort and would benefit from tax cuts. Hey, sacrifice is for the little people.... But if the U.S. government prints money to pay its bills, won't that lead to inflation? No, not if the economy is still depressed." ...
... Apropos of Krugman's column, contributor Calyban links to the overview of a report by the Institute for Policy Studies: "The Fix the Debt campaign has raised $60 million and recruited more than 80 CEOs of America's most powerful corporations to lobby for a debt deal that would reduce corporate taxes and shift costs onto the poor and elderly. This report focuses on the Fix the Debt campaign's corporate tax agenda and in particular the windfalls the campaign's member corporations would reap from a territorial tax system. We also analyze the savings the Fix the Debt campaign's CEOs have derived from the Bush tax cuts and how many of them received more in compensation last year than their corporations paid in federal income taxes." Download the report at the linked page. ...
... Criminal Journalists Practice Economics without a License & without a Clue. The geniuses at ABC "News" do not read Krugman. Digby digs up this graphic, which ABC "News" went to some expense to compile. They must have rooms-full of Very Serious Elves over there at the Owned & Operated by the Fantasyland Division of the Walt Disney Company ABC "News" who whiz around copying down what billionaire deficit hawk Pete Peterson says. Here's the top and the bottom of the chart,
... The whole scary graphic is worth a look. You're ruined! Here's what Digby has to say about it. Digby liberally borrows from ...
... Economist James Galbraith who explains to dummies -- who, needless to say, include the VSEs at the WDC's O&O ABC -- why "the fiscal cliff is a scam ... a mechanism for rolling back Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid." ...
... Robert Kuttner of American Prospect, writing in the Huff Post, has another good piece explaining conservatives' fiscal cliff ruse: "... so much the better for the Republicans if they can trick the Democrats into sharing responsibility for [cuts to popular social safety net programs]. A further piece of mischief is the premise that we somehow need a 10-year budget deal that reduces the projected deficit by something like $4 to $5 trillion. We don't.... If we get a recovery with something close to full employment, the deficit naturally comes down.... President Obama holds a very strong hand.... If the president is too determined to get a deal to appreciate what a strong hand he has, then it is up Democrats in Congress and the progressive community ... to make sure that Obama doesn't follow Republicans off their cliff."
... Fortunately for Pete Peterson, the New York Times and the White House are giving him a boost. The Times now has a special livebloggish thing titled "Debt Reckoning -- The Fiscal Deadline in Washington." In a scary entry by Peter Baker (at 6:11 am, Nov. 26) we learn "Americans could spend nearly $200 billion less next year on cars, clothes, furniture and other consumer products than they would otherwise if automatic tax increases take effect as currently scheduled, the White House warned in a report issued Monday morning.... The White House released it as part of an effort to turn up the pressure on Congress, which has barely a month to reach an agreement with President Obama on how to avoid the tax and spending changes or risk sending the nation back into recession." ...
... NEW. Robert Reich: "This kind of fear-mongering [by the White House] plays into Republican hands." ...
... There are billionaires & billionaires. Warren Buffett in a New York Times op-ed: "I support President Obama's proposal to eliminate the Bush tax cuts for high-income taxpayers. However, I prefer a cutoff point somewhat above $250,000 -- maybe $500,000 or so. Additionally, we need Congress, right now, to enact a minimum tax on high incomes."
... BTW, Krugman backs up "Adam Davidson for some much-needed mythbusting about the supposed skills shortage holding the US economy back." CW: As I noted the other day, Davidson doesn't seem to get macroeconomics, but he does understand that if businesses won't pay highly-skilled workers decent wages, they should quit complaining that they can't find highly-skilled workers. ...
... And in pretty easy-to-understand terms, Krugman explains to us non-economists how economic modeling works -- or is supposed to work if the model isn't designed "to support a predetermined political or policy position." ...
... Just as a reminder that your Newer, Friendlier GOP is composed of the same old pre-election throwbacks, Republican Senators are so fit to be tied over tweaks to the filibuster rules by which they effectively shut down the Senate during much of Obama's first term that they're threatening to shut down the Senate over any changes to filibuster rules. Obstruction is what they do.
Astronomer Neil deGrasse discusses the End of the World on December 21, 2012 & people who didn't take enough science in school. Via Digby:
New York Times Editors: "There are now 166 men held at Guantánamo, 76 fewer prisoners than when Mr. Obama took office. Only a handful of those remaining have been charged with any crime or legal violation.... Civil liberties, human rights and religious groups are now urging Mr. Obama to veto the military authorization bill for the 2013 fiscal year if it contains any language that denies the executive branch the authority to transfer Guantánamo detainees for repatriation or settlement in foreign countries or for prosecution in a federal criminal court. They make a powerful case...."
Serge Kovaleski & Brooks Barnes of the New York Times: how a small-time crook & congenital liar made the film "Innocence of Muslims" that sparked riots in Islamic countries.
Rick Hertzberg is a bit late to the game with his commentary on the election, but reading Hertzberg is always a pleasure. Plus, I learned something I didn't know: that gerrymandering doesn't account for all of the Republicans' advantage in the House. And his report on the Wall Street Journal's takes on the elections of 2004 & 2012 is just precious.
News Ledes
New York Times: "Mary L. Schapiro, who overhauled the Securities and Exchange Commission after the financial crisis, announced Monday that she was stepping down as chairwoman of the agency.... Ms. Schapiro will also relinquish her position as one of the five members of the agency's commission.... The White House announced on Monday that President Obama was naming Elisse B. Walter, a commissioner at the S.E.C., as the new chairwoman.... Ms. Walter's appointment does not require Congressional approval because the Senate previously confirmed her as a commissioner."
The Never-Ending Story. Politico: "The Supreme Court on Monday ordered the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals to examine the constitutionality of the health reform law's employer requirements and mandatory coverage of contraceptives without a co-pay. The move could open the door for President Barack Obama's health law to be back in front of the Supreme Court late next year."
New York Times: "Cracks appeared on Sunday in the government of President Mohamed Morsi of Egypt, as he faces mounting pressure over his sweeping decree seeking to elevate his edicts above the reach of any court until a new constitution is approved. Mr. Morsi's justice minister began arguing publicly for a retreat. At least three other senior advisers resigned over the measure. And it has prompted widening street protests and cries from opponents that Mr. Morsi, who already governs without a legislature, was moving toward a new autocracy in Egypt...." ...
... The Guardian has a liveblog. Morsi will meet with judges to try to work out a compromise.
New York Times: "Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak announced Monday that he would soon 'leave political life,' after a half-century career in the military and government that included two years as prime minister. Coming days after the end of a weeklong air blitz on the Gaza Strip and eight weeks before Israelis head to the polls, Mr. Barak's move is the latest to show the disarray in Israel's center-left bloc."
Guardian: "UBS has been fined £30m [$47.5 million] by the UK's Financial Services Authority -- and could see its investment banking activities hampered by the Swiss regulator -- after the former trader Kweku Adoboli was jailed for fraud. Adoboli, a relatively junior City trader who almost destroyed UBS through increasingly reckless illicit deals, was jailed last week for seven years after being convicted of what police describe as the biggest fraud in UK history."
Al Jazeera: "The 18th United Nations climate change conference (COP18) has opened in the Qatari capital."
AP: "A natural gas explosion that injured more than 20 people and damaged 42 buildings in Springfield, [Massachusetts]'s entertainment district was blamed on a utility worker who accidentally punctured a high-pressure pipeline while looking for a leak. The president of the gas company involved says the employee followed proper procedure and protocol."