The Commentariat -- November 17

My column in today's New York Times eXaminer looks at the Times editor's embrace of Sen. Tom Coburn's (R-Okla.) report titled "Subsidies of the Rich & Famous." Here's an excerpt:

... The editors had a duty to tell us that Coburn’s agenda doesn’t stop with closing loopholes, loopholes that can be reopened at the whim of Congress or the ingenuity of a tax lawyer. The premise that underlies Coburn’s plan is anything but populist.... Tom Coburn intends – via a flat tax – to raise taxes on those less fortunate Americans. At the same time he would cut programs designed to help them through hard times. Coburn says so right in that letter the Times editors so glowingly cited. They just left out the part where Coburn reveals his real scheme.

... AND for you Tom Friedman fans, Jason Linkins has a fairly hilarious take on Friedman's latest:

Would it be too much to ask for someone — perhaps one of his New York Times colleagues — to give famously airheaded columnist Thomas Friedman a bit of an explanation of what is actually going on in the world of politics? Or just provide him with some sort of real world mooring point to which his precious barnacles of thought could cling?

Charles Pierce of Esquire on the future of Occupy. And a history lesson. Read his whole post, please. Here's the history part:

Generally, people tend to love goals in the abstract, but resent the inconvenience that accomplishing those goals may cause them in their daily lives.... In 1954, for example, a Gallup Poll showed that 55 percent of the people supported the Supreme Court's decision in Brown v. Board of Education. Five years later, after the stirrings of a larger movement, and the violent backlash against it, had become increasingly obvious, Gallup found that 59 percent of the people it polled thought the decision had 'caused more trouble than it was worth.' In May of 1961, Gallup found that 57 percent of its respondents thought that the sit-ins at lunch counters and various other forms of direct action against segregation 'hurt the cause' of black people around the country.

... AND this, from David Atkins in Hullabaloo: "It's perhaps most important to note that advocacy for social justice has never really been publicly popular at the time. It's hard to believe today, but at the time, the public overwhelmingly blamed the students for the Kent State Massacre." ...

... Beth Fouhy of the AP: "Polling shows the public supports the message of the Occupy Wall Street movement even if people have reservations about the encampments themselves. And political observers say Democrats may be missing a chance to reinvigorate their base."

Gail Collins: "This week, the House of Representatives took time out of its busy schedule of going home for vacation to ... approve a bill requiring states with strict gun regulations to honor concealed weapon carry permits issued in [all other] states.... The bill passed 272 to 154. It’s a law-enforcement nightmare for states that take gun regulation seriously. There’s no national database cops can check if they stop someone who’s carrying a gun with an out-of-state permit. Some state records aren’t available at all."

Prof. Lawrence Lessig, in a New York Times op-ed, opposes the Constitutional amendment proposed by nine U.S. senators as "just the latest verse in a very tired song.... So long as elections cost money, we won’t end Congress’s dependence on its funders. But we can change it. We can make 'the funders' 'the people.' Following Arizona, Maine and Connecticut, we could adopt a system of small-dollar public funding for Congress." Lessig would give a $50 rebate -- a/k/a "democracy voucher" -- to every taxpayer, who would use the $50 to contribute to congressional candidates who would not accept big-check financing. ...

... Here's Lessig, speaking a few weeks ago in Seattle. Fascinating:

... A Congress of the One Percent. We've said it before, but just in case your forgot, Michael Beckel of Open Secrets is here to remind you: "About 47 percent of Congress, or 250 current members of Congress, are millionaires, according to a new study by the Center for Responsive Politics of lawmakers' personal financial disclosure forms covering calendar year 2010. The Center's analysis is based on the median values of lawmakers' disclosed assets and liabilities. That lofty financial status is enjoyed by only about one percent of Americans." CW: I expect that if the CRP ran the numbers for MOCs in leadership positions, the percentage would be even higher. After all, junior members haven't had as much time to cash in. Also, if you wondered why GE got so many tax breaks that the company not only paid no taxes in 2010, the taxpayers paid GE. Here's a partial explanation (this does not speak at all, of course, to GE's campaign contributions & other lobbying efforts):

What happens if the deficit reduction Super Committee fails to make a deal? Isabel Sawhill of the Brookings Institution has the short answer, and it isn't pretty.

"Concierge Care." Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel, in a New York Times op-ed: "Half the population — mostly young people and healthy adults — consumes just 3 percent of [healthcare] costs, while the sickest 10 percent consumes 64 percent. Real cost control requires changing the way we care for these high-cost patients with multiple chronic conditions.... Controlling costs can do more than simply save money, it can also improve the quality of medical care and these patients’ lives.... 'High touch medicine' or 'concierge medicine' [is] not for rich people who can afford it, but for chronically ill patients who need it." Emanuel explains how concierge care would work, and how some physician groups are making it working right now.

This was the worst thing a Democratic president had ever done on our issues. Period. -- Gene Karpinski, President of the League of Conservation Voters

Betrayal. John Broder of the New York Times takes a hard look at President Obama's cold decision, engineered by Chief-of-Staff Bill Daley & regulatory czar Cass Sunstein, to nix the EPA's new ozone regulations. ...

... "Ignorance, Green & Ideology Are ... Hurting Democracy." Julian Brooks of Rolling Stone interviews science writer Shawn Lawrence Otto about his new book Fool Me Twice, Fighting the Assault on Science in America. "... too many Americans are either plain ignorant of science or actively hostile to it, or both. And that's as true of political leaders and journalists as it is of ordinary citizens (to say nothing of corporate leaders who see action on climate change, say, as a threat to the bottom line)."

Where Did I Put that $600 Million? Ben Protess & Azam Ahmed of the New York Times: "Nearly three weeks after $600 million in customer money went missing from MF Global, the search for the cash has been hampered by the bankrupt brokerage firm’s sloppy record-keeping, an increasingly worrisome situation that has left regulators frustrated and customers in the lurch.... As authorities comb through some 38,000 customer accounts, they are growing more suspicious about what went wrong at MF Global, the commodities powerhouse once run by Jon S. Corzine, the former Democratic governor of New Jersey." ...

... NEW! Karen Garcia sees the cruel, ironic contrast between the official treatment of multimillionaire (at least $600 million?) Jon Corzine & the Occupy Protesters: "Regulators and investigators are literally living at their desks trying to avoid actually having to charge Corzine with anything. Meanwhile, the people who actually had their life savings, pensions and futures stolen by the Global Financial Cabal are being arrested as they protest near the NYSE."

Joe Nocera: why didn't Joe Paterno "go to the police or do more than he was minimally required to do under the law"? Maybe it was because, after two losing seasons & questions about the then-75 year-old coach's fitness, he was trying to save his job.

Right Wing World

He isn't a human being. He's a gaseous state.... He's a whirling dervish of dishonesty. -- Chris Matthews, on Newt Gingrich

     ... Here's the updated Bloomberg story; we linked the original two days ago. Clea Benson & John McCormick: "Newt Gingrich made between $1.6 million and $1.8 million in consulting fees from two contracts with mortgage company Freddie Mac, according to two people familiar with the arrangement. The total amount is significantly larger than the $300,000 payment from Freddie Mac that Gingrich was asked about during a Republican presidential debate on Nov. 9 sponsored by CNBC, and more than was disclosed in the middle of congressional investigations into the housing industry collapse." ...

     ... In the segment, David Corn refers to a Mother Jones story that runs down Newt's lies and contradictory statements. I couldn't find it. But for a fine partial list, see Akhilleus' comment in Tuesday's Off Times Square. A full list would require a whole book. Since Newt is fond of writing books, as soon as his presidential candidacy fails, maybe that would be a good project for him. ...

     ... Tim Egan: "This is not just another Gingrich laugher, up there with his revolving Tiffany’s account or his multiple personal hypocrisies. This story encapsulates why Washington is broken and how the powerful protect and enrich themselves, unanchored to basic principles.At the same time, it’s a case study in the Gingrich method: denounce something as outrageous, while doing that very outrageous thing himself. (Politicians with ties to Freddie Mac came in for scathing Gingrich criticism in 2010.)"

How do you say 'delicious' in Cuban? -- Herman Cain, in Miami's Little Havana. CW Answer: "Delicioso," similar to the way you say it in American ...

      ... AND other displays of ignorance.

Mark Murray of NBC News: "It has become the new Republican attack on President Obama: He thinks Americans are lazy. GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney leveled that charge [Tuesday].... [Wednesday], Rick Perry uses the line of attack in a new TV ad. 'Can you believe that?" Perry says to the camera. "That's what our president thinks is wrong with America? That Americans are lazy?' ... But when you examine what Obama said on Saturday..., it's pretty clear ... he wasn't calling Americans lazy; rather, he was calling U.S. business practices to attract foreign investors lazy. In fact, you could interpret his full remarks as a call to arms to improve on that front." CW: Where's Obama's rapid response team?

News Ledes

New York Times: "Federal authorities charged a 21-year-old Idaho man on Thursday with trying to assassinate President Obama. They said he had told friends that he believed the president was 'the Antichrist' and that he 'needed to kill him,' according to a complaint filed in federal court." Here's the arrest warrant.

New York Times: "Hundreds of protesters from Zuccotti Park clashed with the police as they tried to reach the New York Stock Exchange Thursday morning, and many were arrested. Protesters had vowed to prevent traders from reaching the Stock Exchange on Wall Street and some traders did appear to have a hard time reaching the building. But the Stock Exchange opened for trading as usual at 9:30 a.m."

     ... The New York Daily News has a liveblog here. "Wall Street under siege! Protesters clog streets, at least 50 arrested." With video. Update: "More than 175 protesters have been arrested today -- among the most recent was Councilman Jumaane Williams and dozens of union members after they sat on the ground on Centre Street." ...

AP: "Tightening ties with Asian nations as China's might rises, President Barack Obama prepared Thursday to be the first U.S. president to take part in a summit of East Asian nations. Ahead of his diplomatic efforts here, the White House announced trade deals to show progress on the jobs front back home." ...

... New York Times: "Fresh from having announced plans for an expanded American military presence in Australia, President Obama came to this remote northern town [of Darwin, Australia] that will be the base of operations and told American and Australian troops ... 'We are deepening our alliance and this is the perfect place to do it.... This region has some of the busiest sea lanes in the world.' Mr. Obama arrived in Bali, Indonesia, Thursday evening for the East Asia Summit on regional security and economic issues." ...

National Journal: "Three members of Herman Cain’s campaign team apologized on Wednesday after a local police officer [in Coral Springs, Florida] who said he was there to protect the Republican presidential candidate manhandled a reporter.... As ... journalists trailed Cain, the officer, who was in plain clothes, blindsided National Journal/CBS News reporter Lindsey Boerma into the side of the campaign bus. Moments later, as journalists circled around the bus toward Cain, the same man stuck his arm out and clotheslined Boerma." CW: "Clothesline" (v.) Def: "To knock (a person) over by striking his or her upper body or neck with one's arm, as if he or she had run into a low clothesline."

... Al Jazeera: "China has reacted angrily to remarks by Barack Obama signalling a significant shift in US policy vis-a-vis Asia.... The People's Daily, the Chinese newspaper that is the organ of the ruling Communist Party, was clear in its opposition to reinforced US-Australia security ties.... 'Australia surely cannot play China for a fool. It is impossible for China to remain detached no matter what Australia does to undermine its security,' the paper said."

The Commentariat -- November 16

Some politicians may physically remove us from public spaces -- our spaces. You cannot evict an idea whose time has come. -- Occupy Wall Street, via Bloomberg News!

The Occupy Wall Street movement has been committed to peaceful, nonviolent action from its inception. And it will keep spreading no matter what elected officials tell police to do. But that doesn’t mean these raids are acceptable. In fact, they are inexcusable. -- Richard Trumka, President, AFL-CIO

Cara Buckley of the New York Times: "In New York, where the police temporarily evicted Occupy Wall Street protesters from Zuccotti Park early Tuesday, and in other cities, dozens of organizers maintained that the movement had already reshaped the public debate. They said it no longer needed to rely solely on seizing parks, demonstrating in front of the homes of billionaires or performing other acts of street theater.... Even before the police descended on Zuccotti Park overnight, some early proponents of Occupy Wall Street had begun suggesting that it was time to move on. On Monday, Adbusters, the Canadian anti-corporate magazine that conceived of the movement, indicated that the protesters should “declare victory” and head indoors to strategize." ...

... So here's the Washington Post's take on the Occupy movement: Eli Saslow & Colum Lynch: "... lately the most divisive issue has become the protests themselves. The Occupy Wall Street encampments that formed across the country to spotlight crimes committed on Wall Street have become rife with problems of their own. There are sanitation hazards and drug overdoses, even occasional deaths and sexual assaults. On Tuesday, New York and other cities across the country continued the chaotic, disruptive process of picking sides. Police made arrests in at least six states; three civil rights groups filed lawsuits on behalf of protesters. Mayors and city officials from coast to coast held emergency meetings...." ...

... The Official Presidential Waffle is here. ...

... CW: my response to Tom Friedman's column appears in today's editon of the New York Times eXaminer. Take a look at the eXaminer's front page, as there's quite a lot of interest. You can find my column here. Here's the lede graph:

The news of the day was that Mayor Michael Bloomberg shut down Zuccotti Park where protesters were advocating for the 99 Percent. But Tom Friedman, America’s No. 1 Very Serious Person, is in India, so he was not in a New York state of mind when he wrote his column for today’s New York Times. Friedman is a multimillionaire, and as Belén Fernández noted in a recent New York Times eXaminer interview, he has boasted that he has 'total freedom, and an almost unlimited budget, to explore.' We assume that his current sojourn in India is a similarly extravagant exploration. Really, contemplating America’s 99 Percent would not be on his itinerary.

... New York Times Editors: "We suspect there was a better, less-disruptive way to get demonstrators to deal with problems cited by the city and the park’s owner, Brookfield Office Properties." CW: if you read the whole editorial, you'll find plenty of waffle -- with syrup -- here, too. The Times editors clearly want to stay on Bloomberg's team. ...

... Meanwhile, Alex Pareene of Salon has the goods on the New York Daily News in the title to his blogpost: "Daily News cheers Occupy Wall Street raid, until Daily News reporter is arrested." Pareene writes, "They [the Daily News] seem totally uninterested in the NYPD’s excessively violent tactics, including the harassment, abuse and arrest of various reporters, which doesn’t get a mention in the editorial. Then a Daily News reporter was arrested, along with at least two other reporters. Now, according to the Daily News Twitter feed, at least, the NYPD’s behavior is 'alarming.' The newspaper has alerted its attorney. The Daily News is owned and published by billionaire real estate mogul Mort Zuckerman."

... In is not just radical lefties who are complaining about Baron von Bloomberg's secretive, militaristic midnight raid on Zuccotti Park. Here are Brian Stelter & Al Baker of the ever-so MSM New York Times on "police suppression of the press.... At a news conference ... Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg defended the police behavior, saying that the media was kept away 'to prevent a situation from getting worse and to protect members of the press.'" So the press can go into war zones with bullets flying, but they can't go to downtown Manhattan. Seems reasonable. ...

... Paul Krugman: "By acting so badly, Bloomberg has made it easy to see who won’t be truthful and can’t handle open discourse. He’s also saved OWS from what was probably its greatest problem, the prospect that it would just fade away as time went on and the days grew colder. Quite a night’s work." ...

... Felix Salmon of Reuters: when Paul Krugman debated Larry Summers. An interesting read. ...

     ... Krugman responds: "... my pessimism has been selective; I’ve been pessimistic about unemployment and growth, but optimistic about interest rates and inflation. So it’s not just about crying doom, doom. I think that counts for something — especially since I’ve been right."

Brian Beutler of TPM: "CBO Director Doug Elmendorf’s testimony before the Senate Budget Committee Tuesday was full of bad news for the unemployed, and thus for President Obama. This is the stuff Republicans blasted out to reporters: Unemployment will likely be sky high through next year, GDP growth has been and will continue to be anemic. But his prepared remarks confirm this is in part a product of the GOP’s unwillingness to pass the big-ticket items in Obama’s jobs bill. And they also imply that the GOP’s economic counter-proposals would do almost nothing to actually improve things." Read Beutler's whole post, which includes the money (literally) quote of Elmendorf's testimony.

CNN: "Americans are skeptical that a congressional super committee will reach a deficit reduction agreement by next week's deadline, according to a new national survey. And a CNN/ORC International Poll released Wednesday, one week before the panel's November 23 deadline, also indicates that a plurality of the overall public, as well as crucial independent voters, would blame the Republicans more than the Democrats if no agreement's reached." CW: good. Some people are paying attention. ...

... Alexander Bolton of The Hill: "Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said Tuesday that Democrats will block Republican efforts to torpedo cuts to the Pentagon should the supercommittee on deficit reduction fail. Reid’s threat is yet another signal that Democrats are preparing for a supercommittee flop, and are largely comfortable with the cuts that would be triggered if there is no bipartisan agreement." ...

... ** Steve Benen writes a short post that tells you pretty much all you need to know about the impending Super Committee fail: "When this panel fails next week, major news organizations will tell the public that “both sides” chose not to reach an agreement. Those reports will be wrong." Read the whole post. ...

... Here's a contrary view from Jay Newton-Small of Time, who looks at the up- and downsides -- for Democrats -- of a Super Committee washout.

Law Prof. Einer Elhauge, in a New York Times op-ed: "For decades, Americans have been subject to a mandate to buy a health insurance plan — Medicare.... Many opponents dismiss this argument because Medicare (unlike the new mandate) requires the purchase of health insurance as a condition of entering into a voluntary commercial relationship, namely employment, which Congress can regulate under the commerce clause.... Even if you accept this distinction, it means that Congress can mandate the purchase of health insurance as long as it conditions that mandate on engagement in some commercial activity." And guess what? We all "engage in commercial activity." The Court has decided in the past, for instance, that even producing your own food can be regulated under the commerce clause. CW: in other words, the individual mandate is a slam-dunk, unless you take a look at yesterday's Commentariat & see what Justices Scalia & Thomas are up to -- in which case, all objective arguments are moot.

Two Three "Big Picture" Think Pieces

     Prof. Andrew Bachevich in Common Dreams: "... the most disturbing aspect of contemporary American politics, worse even than rampant dysfunction borne of petty partisanship or corruption expressed in the buying and selling of influence.  Confronted with evidence of a radically changing environment, those holding (or aspiring to) positions of influence simply turn a blind eye, refusing even to begin to adjust to a new reality." P.S. Read the comments, too, especially the one by "Siouxrose." Thanks to reader Lisa for all three links.

      Prof. Juan Cole: though you wouldn't know it from listening to or reading American media, the protests movements in the U.S., Europe & the Middle East, including Israel, are all about the same thing: the concentration of wealth in a corrupt, connected elite that deprives ordinary citizens of a decent standard of living.

     Tom Engelhardt in Al Jazeera on the "other" American dream: imperialism a/k/a the imaginary Pax Americana. Um, it's a nightmare.

The DOJ Loves Banksters. Catherine Rampell of the New York Times: "Federal prosecutions for financial institution fraud have tumbled over the last decade, despite the recent troubles in the banking sector.... Federal prosecutions for other crimes have grown tremendously, with the number of total new prosecutions filed for all federal crimes nearly doubling over the last decade." With charts to prove it. CW: if you don't think this is a reflection of Wall Street control of Washington, call me; I've got a bundle of swell mortgage derivatives to sell you.

Carol Leonnig & Joe Stephens of the Washington Post: "The Obama administration, which gave the solar company Solyndra a half-billion-dollar loan to help create jobs, asked the company to delay announcing it would lay off workers until after the hotly contested November 2010 midterm elections..., newly released e-mails show.... The announcement [of layoffs] ultimately was made on Nov. 3, 2010 — immediately following the Nov. 2 vote."

Scott Brown, Overnight Populist. Pat Garofalo of Think Progress: "In an attempt to burnish his Wall Street reformer credentials ahead of his race against Harvard Law Professor and consumer advocate Elizabeth Warren, Sen. Scott Brown (R-MA) today plans to introduce the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge (STOCK) Act of 2011, which would apply laws against insider trading to members of Congress.... Brown’s move comes after a 60 Minutes report [featured in yesterday's Commentariat].... [Brown] earlier endorse[d] President Obama’s nominee to head the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. But these positions don’t change the fact that Brown worked to water down key provisions of the Dodd-Frank financial reform law before granting the law his support, actions which earned him the appreciative donations of the financial services industry."

Right Wing World

President Newt. Steve Thomma of McClatchey News: "Newt Gingrich is the strongest Republican candidate when matched head to head against Democratic President Barack Obama, according to a McClatchy-Marist Poll released Tuesday. The former speaker of the House of Representatives is neck and neck with the incumbent president, back just 2 percentage points among registered voters. Obama leads 47 percent to 45 percent."

Gingrich is definitionally what conservatism, properly speaking, opposes. Conservatism was born in the eighteenth century against the grand pronouncements of the French philosophes; it roots itself in practice not theory; it distrusts massive, profound reorganization of anything. In all of this, Gingrich is, in fact, conservatism's nemesis: an autodidact megalomaniac, contemptuous of existing institutions, and bent on dragging an entire culture, country and, yes, civilization into a fantastic pocket of his own small mind. -- Andrew Sullivan, putting the Newt into historical perspective

 News Ledes

Public Opinion has some of the latest developments in the Occupy movement, via the AP. A very good synopsis. ...

... ABC News: "President Obama and Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard on Wednesday announced that the US military will begin a permanent presence Down Under — part of a greater Obama administration strategy to contain the rise of China in the Pacific. By mid-2012, a company-sized rotation of Marines, between 200-250, will be stationed at an Australian military base in the Northern territory. That will ramp up to a full force of 2,500 Marine personnel as part of a Marine, Air, Ground Task Force In addition, the US Air Force will be able to use Australian Air Force facilities significantly more than it does now."

ABC News: "... authorities are increasingly concerned that a man sought in connection with a bizarre shooting incident on the Washington Mall last week may pose a threat to President Obama. The Secret Service now suspects that a bullet fired in this incident may have hit the White House after a bullet round was found in a White House window, though the round had not yet been conclusively linked to the incident.  The round was stopped by ballistic glass behind the historic exterior glass, while an additional round has been found on the exterior of the White House. Police believe the suspect, 21-year-old Oscar Ramiro Ortega of Idaho, is mentally ill." With video.

New York Times: "As a steady drizzle began early Wednesday morning, only a few dozen protesters remained in Zuccotti Park.... There were no tarps or sleeping bags — just a few dozen people clustered together or slumped on granite benches, shielding themselves with whatever they had: umbrellas, rain coats, pieces of cardboard and garbage bags."

Al Jazeera: "Syrian activists say that army defectors have attacked an intelligence complex in the Damascus suburbs in what appears to be one of their boldest assaults so far against government security forces. Members of the Free Syrian Army fired heavy weaponry and machine guns at a large air force intelligence complex situated in Harasta on the northern edge of the capital along the Damascus-Aleppo highway early on Wednesday, a spokesperson for the Syrian Revolution General Commission told Al Jazeera."

The Commentariat -- November 15

Since I'm boycotting the New York Times comments, I've found a new (and pretty exciting) venue for my comments on Times op-ed columns: the New York Times eXaminer. Please consider becoming a NYTX subscriber. My comment on David Brooks' column is here. The lede paragraph:

If you think you’re better than Joe Paterno, you’re vain. So says David Brooks in today’s New York Times op-ed section. Brooks turns to science and history to explain away Penn State head coach Joe Paterno’s failure to stop one of his coaches, Jerry Sandusky, from serially raping young boys.... To make his case, Brooks lumps assistant coach Mike McQueary in with Paterno.... False equivalencies are Brooks’ specialty, so let’s see how this one works.

A Conspiracy of Mayors. Gregg Levine of Firedoglake: "Embattled Oakland Mayor Jean Quan, speaking in an interview with the BBC..., casually mentioned that she was on a conference call with leaders of 18 US cities shortly before a wave of raids broke up Occupy Wall Street encampments across the country."

The Gothamist has several stories on the Zuccotti Park evictions. Here's the lede on one:

During our coverage of the eviction of the Occupy Wall Street protesters early this morning, a NPR reporter, a New York Times reporter, and a city councilmember were arrested. Airspace in Lower Manhattan was closed to CBS and NBC news choppers by the NYPD, a New York Post reporter was allegedly put in a "choke hold" by the police, a NBC reporter's press pass was confiscated and a large group of reporters and protesters were hit with pepper spray. ...

... Also see the Democracy Now! main page. ...

... NEW. Chris Spannos of the New York Times eXaminer on the Times' coverage of the Zuccotti Park eviction: "The Times coverage does include some quotes from protesters, and their allotment of some space to Adbusters’ views is complementary. However, the overall framing and emphasis trivializes Occupy Wall Street while at the same time emphasizes the struggles of Mayor Bloomberg." ...

... NEW. Al Baker & Joseph Goldstein of the New York Times: the NYPD's operation to evict protesters from Zuccotti Park was a "minutely planned, almost military-style operation.... Hundreds of officers were involved. The overnight hours of Monday into Tuesday were chosen because it was believed the park would be at its emptiest, the police said. The operation was kept secret from all but a few high-ranking officers, with others initially being told that they were embarking on an exercise when they set out on Monday evening."

How to Make a Million Dollars. First, Become a Congressman ...

     ... Carolyn Lochhead of the San Francisco Chronicle: "Pelosi spokesman Drew Hammill ... called the report 'a right-wing smear' based on a new book by conservative author Peter Schweizer of the Hoover Institution, a think tank based at Stanford University.... Pelosi spokesman Hammill said '60 Minutes' relied heavily on a 'discredited conservative author who has made a career out of attacking Democrats,' citing Schweizer books such as 'Do as I Say (Not as I Do): Profiles in Liberal Hypocrisy.'" ...

     ... Update. Daniel Stone of the Daily Beast details the relationship among then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi, her husband investor Paul Pelosi, and Visa, whose headquarters are in Pelosi's San Francisco Congressional district. I see a definite conflict-of-interest but no smoking-gun evidence that Pelosi allowed her husband's financial interests to trump her legislative agenda. Just business-as-usual for the One Percenters. Still, I'd like to see your take on Off Times Square.

How to Make $100 Million. First, get a job at Fannie or Freddie.... Chris Isidore of CNN Money: "Mortgage finance giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac received the biggest federal bailout of the financial crisis. And nearly $100 million of those tax dollars went to lucrative pay packages for top executives, filings show. The top five executives at Fannie Mae received $33.3 million in 2009 and 2010, while the top five at Freddie Mac received $28.1 million. And each company has set pay targets of as much as $17 million for its top managers for 2011." CW: this isn't news, but it's a good reminder of one place your tax dollars are going to enrich the One Percenters.

Dear Super Committee: A Politico poll (here) "is getting lots of attention today because it found solid public skepticism that the deficit supercommittee will reach a deal before the November 23rd deadline. But the numbers in the poll that are more interesting are the ones that clearly display what the public wants the supercommittee to do to cut the deficit. There’s no mystery here. When it comes to the two most contentious items on the agenda, the public strongly backs tax hikes on the rich, and strongly opposes cuts to entitlements." Sincerely, Greg Sargent.

Dear Supreme Court: "A new CNN poll on the issue of health care reform finds that support for the law’s central and most controversial element, the individual health insurance mandate, has climbed into majority territory. In the new poll, support for the individual mandate — requiring people to get health insurance — has climbed to 52%, with 47% opposed. When the last survey was taken in June, that a majority of 54% opposed it, with 44% in support." ...

     ... Paul Krugman comments on the newfound popularity of the individual mandate but adds, "... as one commenter at TPM put it, Republicans appear to have had an eTiffany: New National Polls Show Newt Leading In GOP Race. I’m trying to think of something sarcastic to say, but really, how can satire and parody compete with this kind of reality?" ...

... ** NEW. James Oliphant of the Los Angeles Times: "The day the Supreme Court gathered behind closed doors to consider the politically divisive question of whether it would hear a challenge to President Obama’s healthcare law, two of its justices, Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas, were feted at a dinner sponsored by the law firm that will argue the case before the high court.... Bancroft PLLC, was one of almost two dozen firms that helped sponsor the annual dinner of the Federalist Society.... Another firm that sponsored the dinner, Jones Day, represents one of the trade associations that challenged the law, the National Federation of Independent Business. Another sponsor was pharmaceutical giant Pfizer Inc, which has an enormous financial stake in the outcome of the litigation.... In attendance was, among others, Mitch McConnell, the Senate’s top Republican and an avowed opponent of the healthcare law. The featured guests at the dinner? Scalia and Thomas." CW: what could possibly be wrong with that? ...

... Sheryl Gay Stolberg of the New York Times on how the individual mandate became law.

Sunday, Off Times Square commenter Trish Ramey rightly criticized a New York Times Magazine article by Adam Davidson in which Davidson claimed the middle class -- which he defined down to those earning $30,000 a year or more -- would have to "give up some benefits ... or ... pay more in taxes" to reduce the deficit. Ramey & I pointed out a few errors in Davidson's analysis. Now comes Real Economist Dean Baker, in a New York Times eXaminer story, who goes further: Davidson "too quickly dismisses the possibility of getting substantial additional tax revenue from the wealthy." Baker notes that Davidson also ignores healthcare reform as a source of reducing federal expenditures. "At some point," Baker writes, "we likely will need more revenue from the middle class since we will probably want to increase government spending in some areas like infrastructure, education, and research and development. However, this is not a near-term prospect and quite possibly not even something that will be necessary over the course of a decade." 

** Andrew Cohen of The Atlantic: "Celebrating his affinity for crazy talk, Herman Cain said Saturday night ... that he would leave it up to our military to determine what is and what is not torture. Fellow future also-ran Michele Bachmann picked up the ignorance stick and carried it even further down the road; water-boarding those terror detainees, she said, was 'very effective.' Not to be outdone, noted historian Newt Gingrich tried to make believe that Anwar Al-Awlaki, the U.S. citizen killed in a drone strike a while back, was first duly 'convicted' of  being a terrorist.... I would like to blame President Barack Obama for the silliness.... He practically invited it when he refused to authorize a national commission on torture -- a so-called 'Truth Commission' -- that would have filled with factual testimony and documentary evidence the vacuum that now exists on the topic...." Read the whole post. See also today's Right Wing World, wherein we learn Mitt Romney has jumped on the torture bandwagon. ...

... Political science Prof. Jonathan Bernstein dissents: "So, yes, blame Obama for not addressing an issue he should have addressed, but do remember that controlling what the opposition says and believes is far beyond the powers of the presidency." CW Translation: Cain will still be ignorant, Bachmann will still be crazy & the Newt will still be a congenital liar.

Pretty clear Elizabeth Warren is no Martha Coakley. -- Chuck Todd, MSNBC, Tweet ...

... Scott Brown Is Worried. Bobby Caina Calvan of the Boston Globe: "Senator Scott Brown today endorsed the nomination of Richard Cordray, the former Ohio attorney general, to lead the federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau -- whose chief architect, Elizabeth Warren, is challenging Brown in his reelection bid next fall. Cordray’s nomination is being fiercely opposed by Senate Republicans, 44 of whom signed a letter to President Obama in May expressing their concerns that there is too little oversight over the new agency.... Brown ... did not sign the letter...."

Right Wing World

Public Policy Polling: "Newt Gingrich has taken the lead in PPP's national polling. He's at 28% to 25% for Herman Cain and 18% for Mitt Romney. The rest of the Republican field is increasingly looking like a bunch of also rans: Rick Perry is at 6%, Michele Bachmann and Ron Paul at 5%, Jon Huntsman at 3%, and Gary Johnson and Rick Santorum each at 1%." ...

Michael Tomasky, in the Daily Beast: "The idea that [Newt Gingrich is] a serious presidential candidate is preposterous. Even if he were the nominee..., he’d say crazy things. He’d reignite the whole Obama-is-a-Kenyan-anticolonialist business.... He’d be a disaster.... The guy has more baggage than a Stones tour.... Poll respondents probably don’t remember the government shutdown or even have any idea it ever happened. They’re also probably not quite fully aware that his wife is his ex-mistress, the woman with whom he was committing infidelity at precisely the same moment he was baying that Bill Clinton had driven America to ruination by doing the same." ...

... Clea Benson of Bloomberg News: "Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich said during a Nov. 9 debate that he earned a $300,000 fee to advise Freddie Mac as a 'historian' who warned that the mortgage company’s business model was 'insane.' Former Freddie Mac officials familiar with the consulting work Gingrich was hired to perform for the company in 2006 tell a different story. They say the former House speaker was asked to build bridges to Capitol Hill Republicans and develop an argument on behalf of the company’s public-private structure that would resonate with conservatives seeking to dismantle it."

Roger Simon of Politico: "Obama ... may not even need an opposition research team this election. All he needs is a guy with a DVR and the patience, the grit, the sheer fortitude to watch every minute of every Republican debate.... There have been 10 major debates over the past six months. And what has been the result? They have made Obama look better." An amusing & apt commentary.

Brig. Gen. John Johns (Ret.), in a New York Times op-ed: "The problem with [GOP presidential candidates' bellicose] arguments is that they flatly ignore or reject outright the best advice of America’s national security leadership. Former Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, retired chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen, former congressman Admiral Joe Sestak and former CENTCOM Commander General Anthony Zinni are only a few of the many who have warned us to think carefully about the repercussions of attacking Iran. Two months ago, Sestak put it bluntly: 'A military strike, whether it’s by land or air, against Iran would make the aftermath of the Iraqi invasion look like a cakewalk with regard to the impact on the United States’ national security.'”

Must See Teevee. In a conversation with Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel editors, Herman Cain tries to remember what Libya is. Maybe he has it confused with "Ubeki-beki-beki-beki-stan-stan":

     ... Richard Oppel, Jr., of the New York Times: "Video of Mr. Cain’s appearance on Monday before editors and reporters at The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel went viral almost immediately after it was posted online, and drew immediate comparisons to Rick Perry’s recent stumble in a debate when he froze in discussing which federal agencies he would eliminate." ...

     ... Adam Serwer of Mother Jones: "There are plenty of valid criticisms of Obama's Libya effort.... Cain didn't mention any of [them]." ...

     ... Prof. Daniel Drezner in Foreign Policy: "The Herman Cain Mercy Rule Is Now in Effect.... I have a personal preference that ignoramuses should be drummed out of presidential politics as quickly as possible.... There's no point in blogging about him anymore.  I can only pick on an ignoramus so many times before it feels sadistic." ...

     ... Charles Pierce of Esquire channels Cain: "How come they know so much about Libya in Milwaukee? How come they know so much about Wisconsin in Milwaukee? What is all this stuff twirling around in my head? Ideas? Ahh, probably not, but you can never tell."

He Hears Voices. I have had one very well known Muslim voice say to me directly that a majority of Muslims share the extremist views. -- Herman Cain, to GQ Magazine. Later in the interview (linked), Cain confirmed he was talking about American Muslims. Later in the day, Cain's spokesman said Cain was talking about Muslims "in another country." ...

... Michael Shear of the New York Times: " Victor Zuckerman, a pediatrician, said on Monday that he was dating Sharon Bialek in the 1990s when she told him that Herman Cain had touched her inappropriately. Dr. Zuckerman held a news conference Monday with Gloria Allred, the lawyer who represents Ms. Bialek, in an attempt to buttress the allegations that Ms. Bialek lodged against the Republican presidential candidate last week."

"Pre-arranged Dishonesty -- A Conspiracy before the Fact." David Bernstein of the Boston Phoenix recounts the deal Mitt Romney made with William Bain before agreeing to head up Bain Capital. "To me, this vignette perfectly gets to the core of Mitt Romney.... Romney always leverages his considerable assets ... to manipulate circumstances to avoid personal risk.... The number-one goal is to protect, at all costs, the Mitt Romney brand.... It's very hard to tell whether people have agreed to lie on someone's behalf or not. But it certainly seems that Romney has always been able to seize credit for successes, and avoid blame for problems." Via Greg Sargent. ...

... "Faking It." Steve Benen. "... one of Romney’s key rhetorical problems — he can fake it when it comes to giving the appearance of competence, which raises expectations, but the facade falls apart when anyone stops to consider the details. Indeed, Saturday night’s debate was a disaster for Romney, at least for those who gave his answers meaningful scrutiny." ...

... Waterboard Romney. Rachel Weiner of the Washington Post: "Mitt Romney did not weigh in during the debate, but aides later told reporters that the former Massachusetts governor does not believe waterboarding is torture and did not rule out its use in a Romney administration. At the debate, candidates got cheers for supporting waterboarding — but so did Paul for declaring it torture." CW: in his press conference Sunday, President Obama responded to the GOP presidential candidates' support of torture. "They're wrong," he said. And elaborated. (See video of full press conference under Monday's Ledes.)

Charles Pierce: Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) is busy being a populist again. He's incensed about "welfare for the well-off," something he apparently never noticed before. Pierce writes,

The problem, of course, is that, even if you believe Coburn is sincere, and not using this as a dodge to avoid putting the top rate back where it belongs, every one of these loopholes can be recreated in a heartbeat when the 'millionnaires and billionnaires' and their tax lawyers get a hold of whatever 'reform' passes to close them. That's not even to mention that lurking behind Coburn's ostensible concern ... is the argument for a flat tax 'with no loopholes at all.' The cuts to Social Security and Medicare will be real and they will be permanent. Oligarchy, on the other hand, never sleeps.

"Tea Party Plans Premeditated Felony." Paul Tascoupe of PolitiScoop: "The kick off campaign to recall embattled governor Scott Walker [R-Wisc.] kicks off in just four days and with that date approaching, the tea party has plans of its own. Politiscoop has received several screen shots of tea party and right wing activists planning to pass themselves off as those circulating petitions to recall the governor. In one facebook post a user named Charles Atlas Shrugging begins the plan by saying 'I'd like to collect signatures of those who want to recall Walker ... so I can have something to feed my shredder....'" Thanks to Jeanne B. for the link. ...

     ... In a follow-up post, Tascoupe identifies "Charles Atlas Shrugging" as Charles Brey. Besides his litany of Tea Party activities, which includes an appearance on "Fox & Friends," Brey "belongs to a Militia known as 'The Regulators Anti-Socialism Vigilance Committee.'"

News Ledes

Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel: "Organizers started the official clock Tuesday on gathering more than a half million recall petitions against Gov. Scott Walker, Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch and four senators. Surrounded by media cameras and led by two possible Walker opponents if a recall election is triggered - former Dane County Executive Kathleen Falk and Professional Fire Fighters of Wisconsin President Mahlon Mitchell - the recall group United Wisconsin marched through downtown here to make the filing with state elections officials." Wisconsin State Journal story here.

AP: "Hundreds of police officers in riot gear raided Zuccotti Park early Tuesday, evicting dozens of Occupy Wall Street protesters from what has become the epicenter of the worldwide movement protesting corporate greed and economic inequality. Hours later, the National Lawyers Guild obtained a court order allowing Occupy Wall Street protesters to return with tents to the park. The guild said the injunction prevents the city from enforcing park rules on Occupy Wall Street protesters." ...

     ... The New York Times City Room has a liveblog here. The main Times story, which I also linked in yesterday's Ledes, and which has been updated numerous times, is here. ...

     ... The Guardian has a liveblog here which looks to be slightly more timely than the NYT liveblog. Update: The Guardian has switched to a new liveblog (here). So for background go to the first link; for the latest, check out the second. ...

     ... AP Update: "A New York judge has upheld the city's dismantling of the Occupy Wall Street encampment, saying that the protesters' first amendment rights don't entitle them to camp out indefinitely in the plaza. Supreme Court Justice Michael Stallman on Tuesday denied a motion by the demonstrators seeking to be allowed back into the park with their tents and sleeping bags." New York Daily News story here. The text of the judge's decision is here. ...

     ... New York Times Update: "The police opened the gates to Zuccotti Park just after darkness fell and let in a single-file line of people as a crowd surrounded the park.... 'You have to walk through a gantlet of officers,' said Andy Nicholson, 54, of Manhattan.... One by one, about 750 people crowded into the park. Those carrying backpacks and large amounts of food were turned away, and the evening’s general assembly meeting began with logistics, like where demonstrators would be able to eat and sleep."

AP: "Pounding away with executive actions, the White House is laying out new steps to cut fraud in Medicare and Medicaid, keeping up its campaign of acting without Congress as President Barack Obama tends to diplomacy — and relaxation — far from Washington. Many of the moves that support Obama's "we can't wait" mantra are modest and bureaucratic, including the newest measures being announced Tuesday, but are nevertheless intended to show a president in action while he largely faces gridlock over jobs with Republicans in Congress."

Al Jazeera: "At least 70 people have been killed in violence across Syria over the past 24 hours in one of the bloodiest days since an anti-government uprising began eight months ago, activists reported. The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Tuesday that 27 civilians were shot dead by security forces and 34 soldiers as well as 12 suspected army deserters were killed in clashes. Most of the victims were killed in the southern flashpoint province of Deraa, the observatory said in a statement."

NEW. Tampa Tribune: "Penn State assistant coach Mike McQueary 'didn't just turn and run' after witnessing Jerry Sandusky allegedly sodomize a boy and 'made sure it stopped,' according to an email McQueary sent to friends and former teammates."

NEW. Guardian: "The WikiLeaks founder, Julian Assange, has lodged an application to take to the (British) supreme court his case against extradition to Sweden. Assange, 40, who faces sex crime allegations, recently lost a high court battle against removal.... He will ask senior judges in London on 5 December to certify that his case raises a question of general public importance, and should be considered by the highest court in the land."