The Commentariat -- November 19

Austan Goolsbee, Chairman of the White House Council of Economic Advisers, discusses the rebirth of the American auto industry:

Art from Oleg Volk.Jim Fallows has several posts on the TSA body scans. One includes a copy of this letter from James Ehrler, a former airlines pilot, to his Senator, Amy Klobuchar. Here's a snippet of Ehrler's letter, but I recommend your reading the entire letter:

... if I were to tell you that 30,000 people were dying every year in the air you would be appalled and demand something be done.... Now, obviously, this is not happening in the air but it is happening on the roads *every year*. And we *can* stop that bloodshed! How? By limiting vehicles to no more than 10mph. ... Yet we, as a society, are *not* willing to do that because we *are* willing to make cost/benefit tradeoffs.

Scott Wilson of the Washington Post: "... since his midterm shellacking this month, [President Obama] has suffered a series of foreign policy setbacks, in Congress and abroad, that have put his agenda for improving America's standing and strength overseas at risk. From failing to secure a free-trade agreement in South Korea to struggling to win Senate ratification of an arms-control treaty with Russia, Obama has bumped up against the boundaries of his power at a defining moment of his presidency." ...

... Peter Baker of the New York Times: "... President Obama has decided to confront Senate Republicans in a make-or-break battle over arms control that could be an early test of his mettle heading into the final two years of his term. He is pushing for a vote on a signature issue despite long odds, daring Republicans to block an arms-control treaty at the risk of disrupting relations with Russia and the international coalition that opposes Iran’s nuclear program." CW: as President of the Senate, Joe Biden should make the Senate stay in session till they ratify. If it runs into the beginning of the next Congress. the President should declare a national emergency, & hold 'em down. With marshals! ...

... Paul Krugman: "China, Germany and the Republican Party are all trying to bully the Federal Reserve into calling off its efforts to create jobs.... China and Germany want America to stay uncompetitive; Republicans want the economy to stay weak as long as there’s a Democrat in the White House." ...

... Meanwhile, Simon Johnson notes that the Irish debt crisis may "become euro-zone wide," & the EU may call on China to pump money into the IMF to save Ireland. AP backstory: "Irish, European and International Monetary Fund officials mounted tough negotiations Friday over terms of a massive credit line for Ireland's debt-crippled banks — with the fate of Ireland's prized low business taxes in the firing line."

Glenn Thrush of Politico: "Senate Democrats – including typically mild-mannered Bill Nelson of Florida – lit into President Barack Obama during an unusually tense air-clearing caucus session on Thursday.... Several senators and senior aides told POLITICO that Nelson was just one of several senators to express anger at White House missteps.... Added one veteran senator: 'It was the most frank exchange of views I’ve ever seen.'" CW: Thrush wrote a story yesterday on the meeting, which I previously linked (the story has since been modified).

More evidence of Democrats showing some spine:

New York Times Editorial Board deplores Republican leaders' rudeness & disrespect for the office in refusing to meet with the President. ...

... Ergo, Gene Robinson of the Washington Post says President Obama should ignore the Republicans & use his vast powers to set & execute his own agenda. There is a lot he can do without legislative authority.

Who Cares about the Constitution? Steve Clemons notes that a group of "so-called strict constructionist" Senators-Elect, including Rand Paul, have written to Harry Reid urging him to violate the 20th Amendment of the Constitution which sets Congressional terms.

Ezra Klein: Yesterday, "Sens. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Scott Brown (R-Mass.) introduced the 'Empowering States to Innovate Act.' The legislation would allow states to develop their own health-care reform proposals that would preempt the federal government’s effort.... Wyden, with the help of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), was able to build a version of this exemption into the original health-care reform bill, but ... was forced to accept a starting date of 2017.... The Wyden/Brown legislation would allow states to ... start implementing them in 2014, rather than wasting time and money setting up a federal structure that they don’t plan to use." Conservatives love the bill, & some Democrats like it, too.

One Reason We're Glad She Won. Igor Volsky of Think Progress: Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) told a local radio station she would vote for repeal of "don't ask, don't tell." ...

... CW: I guess it's Maddow Day. Here's a good segment on DADT repeal:

Not Exactly News -- She's Done It Before. Geoffrey Dunn in the Huffington Post: in her new book Sarah Palin writes racist remarks about Michelle Obama. ...

... The Reliable Source has a few more grizzly droppings here. ...

... But Palin's new presidential bid book might not help her. James Carville likes the "designated old white guy":

The Commentariat -- November 18

The President Gets a Scolding, Scolds Back. Glenn Thrush of Politico: "After joining Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and other Democratic congressional leaders at the White House this morning, [House Speaker Nancy] Pelosi told a closed-door meeting of House Democrats that she informed Obama 'our caucus feels strongly about the $250,000 tax cut threshhold ... and the president is very much aware of the Democratic caucus's position.' ... In turn, Obama told Reid ... that he is willing to let them pursue their own compromise ideas, provided they secure enough votes to pass.... Reid and Pelosi ... both pressed Obama ... to adopt a tough bargaining stance with the GOP and avoid the muddled messaging that has characterized some administration pronouncements. Obama ... responded by reminding the leaders that they bore the burden of passing any compromise." CW Note: this story has been modified & expanded. Also see Thrush story on the meeting linked in November 19 Commentariat.

President Obama on New START treaty:

     ... Here's a transcript of the President's remarks.

Sheryl Gay Stolberg & Helene Cooper of the New York Times: some Democrats say the President must change strategies &, in the face of the same old Republican obstruction -- only more so -- rely more on his executive powers to get things done. ...

... Here's a Strategy Change. Josh Gerstein of Politico: "President Barack Obama took steps on Wednesday to force a Senate vote on legislation that would begin to dismantle the military's 'don't ask, don't tell' policy banning openly gay service members during the ongoing lame-duck legislative session, hosting a second White House strategy session with gay rights advocates and personally lobbying a key lawmaker who favors repeal of the ban." ...

... Maybe This Is Why. Sam Stein: "At a private meeting on Tuesday afternoon, George Soros, a longtime supporter of progressive causes, voiced blunt criticism of the Obama administration, going so far as to suggest that Democratic donors direct their support somewhere other than the president":

We have just lost this election, we need to draw a line. And if this president can't do what we need, it is time to start looking somewhere else. -- George Soros

Glenn Greenwald cuts through the hyper-rhetoric on the verdict in the Ahmed Ghailani terrorism "show trial." A jury convicted Ghailani "on one count of conspiracy to blow up a government building, a crime which entails a sentence of 20 years to life, but acquitted him on more than 280 charges of murder and conspiracy relating to the 1998 bombings of the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania."

Mark Landler of the New York Times: Secretary of State Hillary Clinton expects to play more of a role as lobbyist for American foreign policy "as the White House girds for a more hostile Congress bent on challenging or even blocking the Obama administration’s foreign policy agenda, whether arms control, the Middle East peace process, the war in Afghanistan or the tentative outreach to Cuba." ...

... Sen. Jon Kyl -- Friend of Rogue Nuclear Nations. New York Times Editorial Board: "After months of negotiations with the White House, [Kyl] has decided to try to block the lame-duck Senate from ratifying the New Start arms control treaty. The treaty is so central to this country’s national security, and the objections from Mr. Kyl — and apparently the whole Republican leadership — are so absurd that the only explanation is their limitless desire to deny President Obama any legislative success.... We can only hope that other senators in the party will decide that the nation’s security interests must trump political maneuvering."

Worse than a Banana Republic. Nicholas Kristof. "The top 1 percent of Americans owns 34 percent of America’s private net worth... The bottom 90 percent owns just 29 percent. That also means that the top 10 percent controls more than 70 percent of Americans’ total net worth."

CNN: "Only a third of all Americans think Bush-era tax cuts should be extended for families regardless of how much money they make, according to a new national poll." CW: and that one-third is stupid as shit.

Even with the help of what was presumably a pricey speechwriting team, [Sarah] Palin’s ignorance of monetary policy is difficult to repress. -- Noam Scheiber ...

... Noam Scheiber of The New Republic on the dangerous marriage of the rich & populists: "... the Tea Party is generating a formidable attack on the Fed’s monetary-policy prerogatives by fusing longstanding critics of easy money (the Pauls) with the people who just want to rail against elites." CW: Scheiber is talking principally about monetary policy, but this trend is more pervasive than that, as the midterm results illustrate.

Dear Mitch & John, If your conference wants to deny millions of Americans affordable health care, your members should walk that walk. You cannot enroll in the very kind of coverage that you want for yourselves, and then turn around and deny it to Americans who don't happen to be Members of Congress. Love, Four Liberal Democratic Congressmembers

Art from Oleg Volk.Jordy Yager of The Hill: John Pistole, "the head of the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), offered on Wednesday to have airport screeners come to Capitol Hill to give senators a pat-down so they could fully understand the mechanics of the newly deployed, controversial technique.... Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano has gotten a pat-down," as his Pistole. ...

... There is no evidence these new body scanners make us more secure. But there is evidence that former [Bush] Homeland Security Chief Michael Chertoff made money hawking these full body scanners.... These body scanners are a violation of the Fourth Amendment right against unreasonable searches and seizures. -- Rep. Ted Poe (R-Texas)

Amanda Terkel of the Huffington Post profiles the conservative Federalist Society. ...

... Adam Liptak of the New York Times: "In decisions on questions great and small, the [Supreme] Court often provides only limited or ambiguous guidance to lower courts. And it increasingly does so at enormous length."

Brian Stelter of the New York Times: Sen. Jay Rockefeller wants the FCC to "end" Fox News & MSNBC because they're not letting him conduct business-as-usual in the corridors of power. Stelter points out the FCC has little or no power over cable station content because cable doesn't use the public airwaves. CW translation: I'm a fucking Rockefeller & a U.S. Senator, I'm the creme de la creme, & these loudmouthed peons from Nowhere, U.S.A., are not showing proper respect. Surely the First Amendment doesn't apply to those people. Here's Sen. Superior now:

... Speaking of Really Rich Senators ... The Poor Get Poorer, and the Congress Gets Richer. Open Secrets: "Despite a stubbornly sour national economy congressional members’ personal wealth collectively increased by more than 16 percent between 2008 and 2009, according to a new study by the Center for Responsive Politics of federal financial disclosures released earlier this year." The Center's full report begins here.

President Obama awards the National Medal of Science and the National Medal of Technology and Innovation in a ceremony in the East Room of the White House:

President Obama drops by a meeting with leading equal pay advocates in the Roosevelt Room of the White House:

... in the United States Senate ... the Paycheck Fairness Act died when a vote to move the bill forward failed by just that count -- 58 to 41, two votes short of the 60 votes required.  It is the very same bill that passed in the House with bipartisan support in January 2009. Today, only Democratic senators voted to support Paycheck Fairness for women -- not a single Republican voted to allow the Senate to move forward. It is notable that the first vote after the election in which the American people sent a clear message that they want Washington to work better, the Republicans blocked a common sense measure aimed simply to help ensure that women get the pay they deserve. -- Valerie Jarrett