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Taylor Marsh has been writing on line since 1996, with the archives provided here a representation of that work.

Tag Archives | 2012

Progressive Notes: GOP Freaks… Russ Could Return & Latest Happenings

By on 04 June 2011

Texan4Hillary offers his perspective as a movement progressive activist.

We have lots of progressive news to catch up on so let us get to it!

Progressives are never going to let the Right off the hook for their move to end Medicare. Republican Congressman Charlie Bass, in swing state New Hampshire, is caught up in a firestorm over his vote to kill Medicare. This effective new ad from PCCC/DFA is sure to boost his opponent progressive Ann Kuster, who barely lost to him in 2010. And the GOP is begging for it to be taken off the air! The ad:

Senator Sanders has a new bill to radically cut costs of prescription drugs in America. Whenever our very serious deficit hawks decide to actually enact programs to do so they might want to check out Sanders’ very smart plan to end high drug costs in this country:

Drugs are cheap. There are few drugs that would sell for more than $5-$10 a prescription in a free market. However, many drugs in the United States sell for hundreds of dollars per prescription and sometimes several thousand dollars per prescription. There is a simple reason for this fact: government-granted patent monopolies.

The government gives patent monopolies to provide an incentive for drug companies to carry through research. This is an incredibly backward and inefficient way to pay for research. It leaves us paying huge amounts of money for cheap drugs. It also often leads to bad medicine.

We can do better and Senator Bernie Sanders has proposed a way. He has introduced a bill to create a prize fund that would buy up patents, so that drugs could then be sold at their free market price. Sanders’ bill would appropriate 0.55 percent of GDP (about $80 billion a year, with the economy’s current size) for buying up patents, which would then be placed in the public domain so that any manufacturer could use them at no cost.

This money would come from a tax on public and private insurers. The savings from lower-cost drugs would immediately repay more than 100 percent of the tax….

What a concept! End the drug company monopolies on patents and let the government allow drugs to be sold at their cheap free market prices. The dilemmas of high drug costs would disappear for the consumer and for healthcare providers.

FDR’s grandson, Curtis Roosevelt, has a great piece at Huffington Post on the banks, Congress and our trust:

Widows like Granny, my great-grandmother Sara Delano Roosevelt, had implicit trust in the people who handled her financial affairs, in much the same way that she assumed integrity and professional standards in her doctor or lawyer.

Looking back again, I’m not at all sure that my grandfather, Franklin Roosevelt, swallowed his mother’s idealistic notions. As Assistant Secretary of the Navy during eight years in Woodrow Wilson’s administration, he had handled all the Navy’s contracts and labor relations. He then observed during the Harding and Coolidge presidencies how business interests were given the highest priority, and then, even during the Great Depression, how President Hoover considered our capitalistic system sacrosanct, untouchable.

The Pecora Commission was set up right before FDR was sworn in but he defended it and believed in its work:

Alan Brinkley, in a recent edition of Vanity Fair, describes the Pecora Commission’s investigation, concluding that it “had a lasting impact on the public’s image of the financial world, and it helped make possible new laws and regulations aimed at preventing a depression-size calamity from befalling the country again.”

He adds: “Congress has been remarkably decorous about investigating what went wrong.” He writes that, in contrast to the Pecora Commission, today, “showboating and modestly informed members of Congress berate witnesses without eliciting any useful disclosures — only self serving apologies.” (Replies from the CEO of Goldman-Sachs come to mind.)

But to ask, “Where is our Ferdinand Pecora?” sidesteps the real questions: Where is the White House? Where is presidential leadership in our crises?

President Obama should note that President Roosevelt’s slamming the bankers and financiers — beginning with his inaugural address and right up through his campaign for a second term — did not destroy the country’s banking system.

Yes we share Curtis Roosevelt’s alarm at the lack of concern from Obama and Congress about our out of control financial system. He then hits Obama:

We haven’t been able to count on the banking community since my childhood, and we can’t count on this Congress to give us the equivalent of the Pecora Commission. However, we should be able to count on our president.

There are many differences between those days and today, but presidential leadership should remain the same. Confidence in FDR won for the Democrats the 1934 mid-term election, and then provided Roosevelt with an overwhelming victory in 1936, electing him to a second term. Enough said.

FDR’s grandson is no fan of he current Democratic president. Is this a problem?

Meanwhile in Versailles, these days known as Washington DC, our president and Congress are mired in negotiations over raising the debt limit. Why negotiate over this when the GOP ransom is Medicare and Medicaid? especially after the Dems won a GOP House district last week? What nonsense. But we have some signs lead Dems plan to push against cuts not only to Medicare but Medicaid:

A Democratic briefing for several dozen Medicaid advocates on Republican plans to cut the program by close to $750 billion resulted in what one participant called a “clarion call” to action.

The advocates filing out of the darkened Senate building were under strict orders to keep tight-lipped, but a few participants indicated that no firm decisions were made during the meeting. Rather, they said, the public can expect to increasingly hear that the magnitude of cuts contemplated by Republicans would not be achievable without hard budget caps; that approach would hurt beneficiaries and would shift costs to the states, participants said, since the growth in Medicaid spending is expected to remain below that of the private sector, according to the latest CBO projections.

Turning Medicaid into block grants like Ryan wants will cost states up to 30pct more, like Texas. If anything Medicaid should fully subsidized by the federal government with no burden on state budgets.

Robert Reich is one of those progressive economists too few listen to on the Hill. He wonders if the hit Wall St. took this week is a turning point . The destruction of Main St. might now be hurting Wall St. and forcing changes that might be positive:

.. The economy needs 125,000 new jobs a month just to tread water, given that at least 125,000 people join the potential labor force every month. Simply put, if new hires are in the range of five digits, American consumers will not have enough purchasing power to buy what the private sector can produce.

The leaders of the Street and big business may now have to wake up to a reality they’ve tried to avoid — that the central economic problem of our time isn’t the long-term budget deficit but the immediate deficit in aggregate demand.

They may not yet see the necessity of a renewed social contract linking pay to per capita productivity, but they will understand something must be done to fuel jobs and wages.

Never underestimate the power of Wall Street and big business to set the terms of the economic debate in our nation’s capital. After all, Wall Street and big business pay the tab of politicians on both sides of the aisle. Even if the middle class can’t get the attention our representatives in Washington, those who fund their campaigns can.

Richard Trumka, head of the AFL-CIO, is seeking to harness the energy of voters enraged at their Republican governors, but isn’t sure about getting those voters to support Obama this time:

President Barack Obama faces waning enthusiasm from union members as he prepares for his 2012 re- election bid, AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka said.

“It will be more challenging this time than it was last time to motivate our members,” Trumka, 61, said in an interview today at Bloomberg’s offices in Washington.

With the DC focus on debt not jobs, free trade pacts which ship out our jobs and cuts to programs the people need Trumka is trying the only real thing he can do: organize locally, punish candidates who do not fight for workers. Trumka wants a progressive America and doesn’t care if the Right calls it socialism:

Trumka said he’d like to see the U.S. become more like a European nation that provides pensions and health care for all its citizens. He said he is accustomed to criticism and doesn’t mind if conservatives call that socialism.

“Being called a socialist is a step up for me,” he said.

Good news: Russ Feingold is seriously considering running for Senate in 2012 and will decide this summer. Should he run he will walk back into the Senate as voters have huge remorse for dumping him.

On Right wing nut watch we have yet another winner from Governor Scott. Governor Rick Scott continues to get into law the most outrageous affronts imaginable. He is the Dems’ best friend for ’12 and a terrible enemy of the poor and minorities. I cannot imagine the courts upholding this one:

Saying it is “unfair for Florida taxpayers to subsidize drug addiction,” Gov. Rick Scott on Tuesday signed legislation requiring adults applying for welfare assistance to undergo drug screening.

“It’s the right thing for taxpayers,” Scott said after signing the measure. “It’s the right thing for citizens of this state that need public assistance. We don’t want to waste tax dollars. And also, we want to give people an incentive to not use drugs.”

Under the law, which takes effect on July 1, the Florida Department of Children and Family Services will be required to conduct the drug tests on adults applying to the federal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program. The aid recipients would be responsible for the cost of the screening, which they would recoup in their assistance if they qualify. Those who fail the required drug testing may designate another individual to receive the benefits on behalf of their children.

Shortly after the bill was signed, five Democrats from the state’s congressional delegation issued a joint statement attacking the legislation, one calling it “downright unconstitutional.”

“Governor Scott’s new drug testing law is not only an affront to families in need and detrimental to our nation’s ongoing economic recovery, it is downright unconstitutional,” said Rep. Alcee Hastings. “If Governor Scott wants to drug test recipients of TANF benefits, where does he draw the line? Are families receiving Medicaid, state emergency relief, or educational grants and loans next?”

Uh yeah. What were voters thinking to put in a guy who paid billions to the government over defrauding Medicare fraud? What a monster.

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Romney: ‘The world is getting warmer’

By on 04 June 2011

The old Mitt Romney would have come to Friday’s gathering of religious conservatives and waxed on about his opposition to abortion, his belief in God and the importance of family values. The new Mitt Romney only briefly mentioned “the sanctity of human life’’ and cast unemployment as the moral crisis of our time. His economy-focused pitch at the Faith and Freedom Conference was a sign that the former Massachusetts governor, who officially launched his second bid for the White House on Thursday, has learned from the mistakes of his last campaign. – Romney Sticks with Economic Message at Faith and Freedom Conference

Mitt Romney has decided that joining the real world is the only way he’s going to win the general election.

“I believe the world is getting warmer, and I believe that humans have contributed to that,” he told a crowd of about 200 at a town hall meeting in Manchester, New Hampshire. “It’s important for us to reduce our emissions of pollutants and greenhouse gases that may be significant contributors.” – Reuters

Conventional wisdom is that any Republican trying to win the nomination will have to fall off the right-wing cliff to get it, which will make him or her unelectable against Pres. Obama.

Romney is betting, smartly, that there are a lot of Republicans who would vote for a sane Republican if given the chance.

Now, Mr. Romney has a ways to go from flip-flopping opportunist to rational man of reality, but embracing environmental science is not a bad beginning, as long as it’s led by an economic message, which Romney just might have learned is the only issue that will win him the GOP prize.

Perhaps he’s also decided that the flat earth wackos like Sarah Palin will never be on his side no matter what crazy talk he offers up, so he might as well go out with some dignity, which just might also get him the nomination.

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It’s Obama’s Economy Now

By on 03 June 2011

This is not a revelation, because I wrote about it in great detail before the 2010 midterms, sounding warnings for months and months that Pres. Obama buying into the Right’s economic argument would end in big trouble for us all.

The connection between the foreclosure crisis and rampant unemployment is well known by economists and the administration. Diving home values and heavy debt burdens force cutbacks in both consumer spending and tax revenue for local governments. These reduced spending levels and lower government revenues force layoffs in both the public and private sector. And those layoffs, in turn, spur more foreclosures. A July 2010 report from the International Monetary Fund suggested that foreclosure problems added 1.25 points to the unemployment rate — or more than 10 percent. On Thursday, President Barack Obama warned House Democrats in a private meeting that the housing situation could drag down the entire economy. His stated concern about foreclosures, however, doesn’t match up with the administration’s public response. – Huffington Post

Unsurprisingly, it was foretold by Paul Krugman as well:

Maybe the most notable contrast between Mr. McCain and Mrs. Clinton involves the problem of restructuring mortgages. Mr. McCain called for voluntary action on the part of lenders — that is, he proposed doing nothing. Mrs. Clinton wants a modern version of the Home Owners’ Loan Corporation, the New Deal institution that acquired the mortgages of people whose homes were worth less than their debts, then reduced payments to a level the homeowners could afford.

… I was pleased that Mr. Obama came out strongly for broader financial regulation, which might help avert future crises. But his proposals for aid to the victims of the current crisis, though significant, are less sweeping than Mrs. Clinton’s: (Mr. Obama) wants to nudge private lenders into restructuring mortgages rather than having the government simply step in and get the job done.

Mr. Obama also continues to make permanent tax cuts — middle-class tax cuts, to be sure — a centerpiece of his economic plan. It’s not clear how he would pay both for these tax cuts and for initiatives like health care reform, so his tax-cut promises raise questions about how determined he really is to pursue a strongly progressive agenda.

Barack Obama never pretended to have a progressive agenda, but what is clear is that his rightward leanings are mimicking the trouble we’d have if a Republican president was in the White House.

He didn’t even offer a fight on taxes before the 2010 midterms, which was followed by capitulating and compromising on Bush tax cuts. Now he’s offered a grand gesture to House Democrats saying he won’t extend them again, but it comes way too late.

Democrats have every right to be furious at Pres. Obama’s economic message and policies.

Rep. Dennis Cardoza (D-Calif.) said Obama’s approach to the foreclosure crisis has been “an absolute failure” and predicted it will continue to drag down the economy unless he changes tack.

“For the life of me, I can’t figure out why a community organizer who says he cares about families, who says he cares about communities, has just turned his back on one of the biggest problems in America,” said Cardoza, who co-chairs the Democratic Caucus Housing Stabilization Task Force. “The way they get defensive when you point out it’s been a failure just underscores to me they don’t have a clue about what to do.”

Cardoza’s central California district has been hit hard by foreclosures. The three cities he represents — Modesto, Stockton and Merced — all rank in the top 10 cities with the highest foreclosure rates in the country. Three out of five homeowners in his district are “underwater,” owing more on their home loans than their houses are worth.

“I don’t blame [the administration] for causing the housing crisis,” Cardoza said. “But at two-and-a-half years in office, if they can’t figure out something to do soon that turns us around, I guarantee you they will pay for this at the ballot box.”

Pres. Obama’s formulating his deficit commission was the nail in the economic argument, because it solidified the Right’s talking points that the deficit is all important in a recession when spending is required. It opened the door for Paul Ryan’s Medicare scheme that gave the Dems a boost with NY-26, but put entitlements on the table in the first place.

No one is more responsible for the conversation about deficit reduction over revenue, while ignoring the foreclosure catastrophe, and giving Republicans the floor on austerity, than Pres. Obama. If he doesn’t figure out how to turn it around he deserves to lose his job.

On the foreign policy front, if Pres. Obama doesn’t come up with real reductions in troops in Afghanistan, a policy that is breaking us, rumored to be anywhere from a paltry 5,000 to as high as 15,000 (the minimum that should be considered), his leadership is unworthy of the challenges we face. (But let’s not kid ourselves that Mitt Romney or Tim Pawlenty are up to the job either.) Leon Panetta at the Pentagon is a hopeful sign, as he’s an OMB guy and a deficit hawk, which in the SecDef position could be important, but the election can only foreshadow what might come in a second term. Getting out of Iraq is another point of contention, but instead we get Sec. Clinton opening up the Iraq cookie jar to U.S. businesses, though considering all preemption cost this country getting something back isn’t the worst of Obama’s plans.

Of course, you can’t talk economy without mentioning health care fee-for-service costs that remain a huge drag; so Obama got the kudos without the results needed, leaving us all with a hangover and a lot more that needs to be done, with no will to tackle it.

The economic news today brings with it the reality of what could have been done earlier, starting with corporations who aren’t paying their fair share of taxes, but also includes targeting mill-billionaires to create a higher tax bracket for the super wealthy. It’s attacking the problem through revenue that is broadly accepted by the American people as being fair. Channeling Bill Clinton’s tax policy when everyone knew the “recovery” would be fragile certainly made a hell of a lot more sense than sucking up to the Republican economic model, which is what Barack Obama did instead.

Now Obama’s only option is trying to change the narrative, because he can’t change the reality that may not have started on his watch, but which he’s managed as a Republican, with the results similarly catastrophic.

As Jared Bernstein has said, who last month joined Center on Budget Policy and Priorities (after serving in the White House), the “cut spending craze” has got to stop, as it “threatens to make an already tough situation worse.”

Wasted wisdom, because Pres. Obama’s not listening.

Screen capture from Huffington Post.

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Why Obama Could Lose Reelection: Unemployment Ticks UP

By on 03 June 2011

“Today’s data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics show that the job market has weakened considerably as employers added only 54,000 jobs in May. Yet Congress is dithering on increasing the debt ceiling. Failing to do so will lead to a sharp and immediate drop in economic output due to reductions in government spending and investment and their effects on the private sector. Employers’ confidence in the ability of Congress to act may be already shaken. Clearly, today’s data show that the labor market would be unable to handle such a large shock. Policymakers should focus first and foremost on doing no harm and acting to sustain, not derail, the economic recovery.“ – CAP Senior Economist Heather Boushey

Osama schmama, the state of jobs means more to Americans than catching and killing the mastermind of 9/11. Voters have very short allegiances.

Felix Salmon is dreaming through the one ray of light he sees in the disastrous jobs news today and that is it might get Congress to act more seriously and quit playing chicken with the debt ceiling and get down to solving some of our economic challenges.

Republicans are likely gleeful at the jobs number, because nothing can hurt Obama’s reelection chances more than the economy, specifically the way people are feeling about their future, which right now isn’t good.

Pres. Obama has not been a jobs president. He hasn’t spoken to the issue in any way that resonates. It’s like he doesn’t understand how people are feeling. There is a complete out of touch feeling about everything Obama does on jobs and the economy, as if the issue isn’t impacting the lives of real people and families. I’m not sure there is any way to change this. Barack Obama just isn’t a feel your economic pain kind of president.

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Palin Punches Romney on Mandates

By on 02 June 2011

From the presidential peanut gallery in New Hampshire…

The Tea Party has declared Mitt Romney is a non-starter for them. Their reigning spokesperson Sarah Palin weighed in from New Hampshire, as Romney declared his candidacy in a speech that claimed “Barack Obama has failed America.”

From MSNBC’s First Read:

When a reporter followed up that Romney has distinguished his state mandate from the federal one President Obama signed into law in 2010, Palin responded that even state mandates are problematic.

“He makes a good argument there that it does. States rights and authority and responsibility allowed in our states makes more sense than a big centralized government telling us what to do,” she said.

“However, even on a state level and even a local level, mandates coming from a governing body, it’s tough for a lot of us independent Americans to accept, because we have great faith in the private sectors and our own families … and our own businessmen and women making decisions for ourselves. Not any level of government telling us what to do.”

Don’t look now but we now know Sarah Palin’s role. She’s the wingnut ombudsman from Tea Party country putting the Republican establishment on notice. Keeping them honest, making sure they are held accountable.

From this perch she’ll throw pot shots at presidential wannabes not keeping true to We the People, as defined by the Tea Party people, a significant group that holds sway over who wins the primary. It’s from here she’ll also amass her platform for Fox News channel as conscience of the new conservatives.

Barry Goldwater is cringing from beyond.

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Mitt Romney’s Strongest Competition is Mitt Romney

By on 02 June 2011

“All of this background noise from Sarah Palin and Donald Trump and the talk about Chris Christie and Rick Perry just benefits Mitt Romney,” said New Hampshire GOP strategist Mike Dennehy, who oversaw McCain’s two wins in the state and isn’t supporting any candidate now. “He just keeps his head down as all the attention goes to the sideshow.” – New Hampshire: Mitt Romney’s must-win state

Over at Politico, there were 16 FB “likes”and 27 tweets of the story above. Huffington Post has their own Romney announcement post, which is ever grimmer: no tweets, no FB “likes.” There’s just no excitement anywhere for this guy, except at the DNC, which put together this video to welcome Mr. Romney into the mix.

Mitt Romney looks the part. Jamie Gangel’s interview with him for “Today” showed a more relaxed Romney from his last run for office, but there’s just something about him that’s still moored in the 20th century. The good news is that in a lackluster field he’s considered the frontrunner, is raising lots of money, but also has a game plan to wait out everyone else through a hard slog to the nomination.

His patter against Barack Obama includes giving the President an “f” in the job, also saying he’s “one of the most ineffective presidents” ever. Evangelicals and Tea Party people aren’t excited about Romney, but until someone rises who can raise more money they may be stuck with him.

Also planning a little event of her own is Sarah Palin, who has decided tonight is the night she’ll swing through New Hampshire for a clam bake. I’m sure it’s all coincidence that she’s doing it on Romney’s announcement day.

UPDATE: …and right on time, Sarah Palin says it’s all a “coincidence.”

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BLOWBACK: Chris Christie’s Rockefeller Entrance to Son’s Baseball Game

By on 01 June 2011

Aristide Economopoulos/The Star-Ledger

Gov. Christie is pictured departing from his spanking brand-new AugustaWestland helicopter, which was reportedly purchased at a cost to taxpayers of $12.5 million. How he used it yesterday is the stuff of an amateur politician forgetting about perceptions in an era of austerity, which Gov. Christie helped to usher in as the champion of waste-busting.

The dust swirling around Gov. Chris Christie’s big shot entrance yesterday proves just how dangerous Democrats think he could be to Pres. Obama. I wrote back in March that I believe he’s the only Republican who comes close to the personal and political qualities of taking on Obama. Christie’s bluntness and seeming transparency makes him the ultimate un-Obama. Christie hasn’t disappointed either, because like all newcomers he’s let it all go to his head, his poll numbers in New Jersey cratering from where he started.

Yesterday’s stunt won’t help. Everyone is piling on because Christie’s behavior was so appalling it’s hard not to.

Gov. Chris Christie arrived at his son’s baseball game this afternoon aboard a State Police helicopter.

Right before the lineup cards were being exchanged on the field, a noise from above distracted the spectators as the 55-foot long helicopter buzzed over trees in left field, circled the outfield and landed in an adjacent football field. Christie disembarked from the helicopter and got into a black car with tinted windows that drove him about a 100 yards to the baseball field.

During the 5th inning, Christie and First Lady Mary Pat Christie got into the car, rode back to the helicopter and left the game. During a pitching change, play was stopped for a couple of minutes while the helicopter took off.

It’s bad enough it could sweep “Weinergate” out of the headlines.

Wall Street Journal: Chris Christie’s Helicopter Ride to Home Plate.

Ben Smith: Christie Can’t Go Home Again.

ABC’s The Note: Governor Christie Takes State Helicopter To Son’s Baseball Game.

New York Times: Christie Takes State Copter to Son’s Ballgame.

MSNBC’s First Read: Chris Christie’s helicopter ride.

It all segues into the other news coming in about his meeting with Iowa Republicans: Chris Christie won’t run for president, but he’ll visit Iowa this summer.

Damage control to follow.

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2012 Dish: Biden Courts GeoCities Co-Founder & Gay Activist

By on 31 May 2011

V.P. Biden did some heavy courting of the gay and lesbian community via the South Hampton this past weekend, staying at David Bohnett’s “sprawling” estate, who is a player in the gay, bisexual and transgender-rights activist world. From Page Six:

On Sunday, Biden was spotted on the beach while a huge security presence was visible at Bohnett’s First Neck Lane estate. Tech entrepreneur Bohnett, a large contributor to the Democratic National Committee, is a family friend of the Bidens. He founded GeoCities, is a trustee of amfAR and chairman of the David Bohnett Foundation.

A White House spokesman said, “I can confirm the Bidens are staying at the private residence of David Bohnett,” adding they were there from Friday until yesterday.

This is just another example of how important moneyed activists in the LGBT community are to Democrats going into 2012 and just how important they think backing Obama-Biden is. Republicans are as hostile as they’ve ever been to this community, with the Right’s war on women just one example of the damage they can do when in power in the states. Obama’s presidency gave this community movement on DADT, so that’s where the money will remain.

h/t Ben Smith

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Palin in Leather Ignites New Age of Political Paparazzi

By on 30 May 2011

“Is this bus tour a trial run for a planned race, or is it an attempt to remain visible and relevant?” asked Charlie Cook, publisher of the nonpartisan Cook Political Report in Washington. “You can count all the people who really know what Sarah Palin is thinking and planning on one hand.” – Bloomberg


video via TPM

How’s Jon Huntsman going to compete with a good looking woman in leather?

He can’t, no one can, and the fact that Sarah Palin shows up at Rolling Thunder like this is one reason the establishment GOP has given up attacking her; they’ve simply got no play but to wait her out.

Congratulations, Sarah Palin, you have turned the Washington press corps into a bunch of paparazzi stalking your every move. – Jay Newton-Small

Newton-Small gets it. Palin is playing hard to get, with a little elusive butterfly thrown in, playing her sex appeal for all it’s worth. It’s part of what makes her irresistible to the press, but also why she can play them so well. Who’ll get the scoop the moment she decides? She’s the first woman to mine political sex appeal for millions.

John F. Kennedy, Ronald Reagan, Barack Obama, all these presidential hopefuls courted the political press. But since the age of Sarah Palin dawned, her ability to draw a crowd, create chaos and make news, made possible by Roger Ailes and Fox New channel, has altered the journalistic playing field.

It’s annoying to be dragged around by a woman in leather, but that’s exactly what Sarah’s doing. Whether people like it or not she’s a story demanding to be covered.

Who can resist a woman in leather straddling a Harley?

A woman who won’t let her obsession with what people think or say about her keep her from tying everyone in knots all the way to the bank.

There’s just no way this image is either presidential or will win over enough Independents for Palin to be competitive in the general election, though after her Harley stunt I’m even less convinced she’ll run. The first thing she’ll have to do is turn the blue collar, disaffected white voters in the rust belt her way; these are the people who were skeptical about Obama in the first place, with the economy making them pull away again. Sarah’s got a very hard sell ahead, very hard. She’s half the politician and one-eighth the policy acrobat of Hillary Clinton, the last woman these same voters trusted.

The GOP’s problem, however, is that the rest of their field looks neutered compared to Palin’s political parade. All Palin has to do is get the nomination to make U.S. history. With the men she’s currently up against it doesn’t look that hard from her vantage point.

The scuttlebutt is she’s off to Pennsylvania on her “One Nation” bus tour (h/t Mike Allen’s Playbook), using a theme that’s very familiar.

That’s it from me, after all it’s Memorial Day and I smell barbecue. What are you cooking today?



front page of the Times of London

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Honoring Veterans on Memorial Day

By on 29 May 2011

This weekend we salute Seal Team 6 and all the other warriors, including those who sit behind a desk to help our troops. Here’s to the war hero dogs, who make a huge difference. The men and women at home, including the National Guard in Joplin, Missouri, as well as soldiers stationed around the globe. A big thank you to the families, especially the spouses who sacrifice so much.

The pictures here show the scene in Washington, D.C. on Saturday when Rolling Thunder came into town. It was a Harley Davidson extravaganza. There was a long line waiting to walk through the Vietnam Memorial when I was there, which was well before noon.

You could hear the sounds of the Supremes as men and women milled through the area, talked and took in the morning. One thing that was different about Rolling Thunder being in town is that in Washington, D.C. pedestrians have the right of way, with signs posted stating this clearly. But when a group of riders came through the area around the Mall they didn’t stop for anyone. People adjusted for the day.

As for Sarah Palin and reports of her un-campaign trying to hijack Rolling Thunder, Ted Shpak their national legislative director has a message for the wannabe president:

“She wasn’t invited. We heard yesterday she came out with a press release she was coming to Rolling Thunder”… Shpak says Palin’s attendance “is a big distraction” and that his “phone has been ringing off the hook” ever since she announced her intention to attend the event.

“We’re not political. This is not a political event … Maybe she’s coming because she knows we have a half a million people in town and thinking she can start her [campaign]?” stated Shpak.

“We’re taking care of our issues and that’s why we’re here.”

Politicians like Sarah Palin have been using Memorial Day and exploiting associations with the military and veterans groups for decades.

Enjoy your holiday. I’m cooking ribs for my hubby, with barbeque sauce so spicy it will be sure to get his attention. Have fun, be safe.

Here’s to you uncle Dick and all the soldiers who serve.

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Lawrence Slides Easily Into Olbermann Slot

By on 27 May 2011

“Liberals amuse me,” he said on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” program after the election last fall. “. . . I live to the extreme left of you mere liberals.” – A starring role as the cable guy

A snippet from the profile on Lawrence O’Donnell is below. It’s a terrific piece for O’Donnell, who seems to have found a comfortable spot outside and well beyond his PBS/Charlie Rose penchant. The cable yakker circus demands something different.

“I’ve never done anything that I need to be doing tomorrow,” he says. “If someone says, ‘We no longer want you here,’ I won’t show up again. It was true at ‘The West Wing.’ It was true in the Senate. I’ve lived a life of unplanned freelance employment. I don’t have some expectation” of continuity.

I can so relate to this statement. Looking at my life you can see it manifested and I wouldn’t have it any other way, though it’s never easy, especially on people watching what it takes to do what I do.

Growing up watching Gloria Steinem, coming of age in the modern feminist era, politics was not so much something I chose, but instead something I lived. My big brother had a lot to do with my deep interest in the machinations of politics, but the foundation was the age I experienced. It’s the one constant in my life, the foundation of who I am.

The rest is manifested through artistry.

I remember watching Lawrence O’Donnell’s short-lived show on Saturday. He had guests on and played moderator. “The Last Word” was okay at 10 pm, but upon Olbermann leaving, Lawrence seems to have taken flight. I don’t always agree with him or the lengths he goes to demolish his chosen adversary of the evening, like last night’s unending screed targeting Sarah Palin, but his nightly op-ed rants are always intelligently insightful television. Lawrence on Sarah:

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Even at his most brutal moments, which the video above illustrates, Lawrence does it with a wink and a nod, as if he’s playing us all, but he knows we know it, so it’s okay. His subject, however, is not as lucky. Palin’s bus tour reduced to exactly what it is, a bus tour all about her, not the presidency or this country, whether she runs or not. Lawrence is sure she won’t and says so. I don’t care so much about predictions like that, because I don’t see the merit except for the person who wants to be able to claim credit. For me it’s always about the ride, because I simply rarely ever care where it lands (as my life proves).

The most deliciously taunting aspect of O’Donnell’s broadcasts is his unabashed socialist defense, last night talking about the United States and the people who are scared to admit that part of what makes this country work is the meld of capitalism and socialism. Lawrence doesn’t say he’s progressive or even liberal, but instead scoffs at what he sees as weak-kneed posturing, my words, clearly ready to tweak anyone who thinks being far Left is wacky when compared to the reality of how we all live in this country.

Blunt transparency is enormously appealing, especially in an era where bs is the standard currency for punditry.

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David Brock Gears Up

By on 27 May 2011

Democratic oppo 2012 is up and running. The LA Times reported in April how Democrats were going to arm themselves after the Citizens United case and it’s in full swing, labeling Brock’s group a “research hub.” Mike Allen highlights the story today in his Playbook.

David Brock’s new group, apart from Media Matters, already targeted Tim Pawlenty when he confused Iraq and Iran. Using trackers, candidates are followed, the every campaign stop monitored. Republican gaffes will be spotlighted, videotaped and blasted to potential voters. From Politico:

Initially billed as a massive Democratic group that would spend hundreds of millions of dollars to defeat Republican candidates in 2012, American Bridge has scaled back and reorganized following the launch of Priorities USA, the independent expenditure group headed by Obama White House veterans. Their new goal: build a comprehensive video library for Democratic ad makers to use to defeat Republican House and Senate candidates — and, of course, the eventual Republican presidential nominee.

“We will definitely have the biggest research and tracking shop in politics,” said Chris Harris, a spokesman for the group.

Taking the playbook from Karl Rove’s American Crossroads, which had real success in 2010, Brock’s group and others are playing the unlimited money game, because if you can’t beat ‘em if they’re out spending you 10 to 1, so there is really no other choice but to join ‘em.

Unlimited campaign cash sloshing around is one hell of a way to run a democratic republic.

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Romney Sends Leftover Pizza to Obama Campaign

By on 26 May 2011

Who says Mitt’s a stiff?

Not wanting any of the leftover slices to go to waste, Romney sent the remaining pies to where else but President Obama’s Chicago reelection headquarters.

Asked if the pies actually made it to Obama’s HQ, a campaign source said that they had.

In fact, Romney himself tweeted a photo of a delivery boy heading out with the loot, writing, “Great deep dish at @ginoseast. Sending the extra slices to @barackobama and his Chicago HQ team.”

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Palin Wants More Cake

By on 26 May 2011

“We are not changing Sarah Palin’s status,” Bill Shine, executive vice president of programming for Fox News, said in a statement Thursday. – Fox News keeping Sarah Palin on board despite bus tour

Fox News channel kicked Santorum and Gingrich out the door in March, with Huckabee’s announcement allowing him to stay.

Sarah Palin’s bus tour is just that, a bus tour. She thrives on this stuff and so do her fans. The rest is show biz and a lot of fun to watch. Seriously, have you seen the other guys?

The American presidency isn’t a kingship, it’s Hollywood.

Ronald Reagan cemented that image for Republicans just like John F. Kennedy did for Democrats. Having a woman in the mix brings something new, especially anyone who competes with the energy of Sarah Palin, who’s great looking as well.

Palin’s teasing everyone and firing up media outlets to follow her parade. At least there will be excitement along the way for those covering her. There’s just not much Hollywood in TPaw.

Palin photo from “Alaska.”

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Sarah Palin Second to Romney in Latest Gallup

By on 26 May 2011

Mitt Romney (17%) and Sarah Palin (15%) now lead a smaller field of potential Republican presidential candidates in rank-and-file Republicans’ preferences for the party’s 2012 nominee. Ron Paul, Newt Gingrich, and Herman Cain essentially tie for third, with Cain registering 8% support in his initial inclusion in Gallup “trial heat” polling. Notably, 22% of Republicans do not have a preference at this point. – Gallup

The big news in Gallup is that 22% of Republicans are undecided so far. There’s room for someone else to emerge, as its put in political circles, there’s just no one that fills that gap right now.

As for the video, it’s not new, but Markos Moulitsas tweeted the link, which gives a better feel for what’s being reported as the Palin’s new address in Arizona. Considering that most Alaskans have had their fill of Palin it’s not a bad idea, especially since she has a lot in common with Barry Goldwater, even if her dream is to be tied to Reagan, which a film about Sarah is going to do when it opens in Iowa in June. An Arizona residence also reminds people she was McCain’s running mate, which even though it was calamitous put her on the national map.

So, SarahPAC is born.

I’ve made it no secret that I’d like to see Michele Bachmann and Sarah Palin both run. I’d like to see women running for leadership political positions as much as possible. I don’t support their politics, but having watched any number of imbecilic men trudge through the presidential process, I have no intention of making light of their efforts should they choose to jump in, even if I sneer at their political positions.

It would be a supreme letdown if after Hillary Rodham Clinton’s historic run there were no women in 2012 vying for the top job. We have to keep pushing against this ultimate glass ceiling until 18 million cracks turns into the first female presidency, which will take a lot more than either Bachmann or Palin have shown so far, though Rep. Bachmann has at least shown some flashes of deftness recently, particularly during the 2011 budget battle.

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Ed Schultz Apologizes

By on 26 May 2011

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Schultz is on voluntary unpaid absence for the coming week, with MSNBC issuing a statement late yesterday about Ed Schultz’s embarrassing public belch.

The comments over at Ed’s MSNBC page are wholly supportive of the blue collar talk radio hero, whose passions drive his programs, with quite a few of the monitored comments culled out.

Schultz was wrong and what he said was incredibly insulting.

Rush Limbaugh accused Pres. Bill Clinton of being a drug trafficker, while “Reverend” Jerry Falwell suggested Clinton might be a murderer, even as Sean Hannity postulated that Vince Foster might have been murdered and questioned Hillary Rodham Clinton’s possible involvement of a cover-up. Hannity dragged this lie back out during the ’08 primary season.

But if you want to know why Mitch Daniels listened to the women in his family and chose not to run for president, this whole sorry spectacle reveals a primary reason.

It makes you wonder if Sarah Palin, whose run-ins with the media have comprised her entire national rise, can toughen up enough to take what would come if she says yes to running in 2012.

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My $0.02/Saturday: Sailboats at Sunset

By on 30 April 2011

Escaping Dystopia 2011...

Morning, news junkies.

Chris Hedges ushered in 2011 by calling it a brave new dystopia. For a brief moment in time, the Egyptian and Wisconsin protests provided a glimmer of “there’s something happening here,” but then we were returned to our regularly scheduled dystopic nightmare. I don’t know about you, but lately I’m finding that the actual headlines these days sound more satirical than the ones in the Onion. They leave me either wanting to lolsob…or just sob. So, on that note…

Above, to the right… from National Geographic’s Intelligent Travel:

This photo of sailboats at sunset has us yearning for the sea, which makes it an Editors’ Pick for week one of our 2011 Traveler Photo Contest in the category of Outdoor Scenes. The photographer Ken Michael Jon Taarup writes, “Boracay has never ceased to amaze many people from all over the world. With its white crystal sand, pristine blue waters, and beautiful sunsets, this place still tops the list of the most visited and beautiful resorts in the Philippines.”

That’s so you have something calming to visualize while you read my Saturday picks.

Alright, grab your morning cuppa if you haven’t already, and read on.

Let’s just get the biggest distraction out of the way first…

Tornado aftermath: Pictures say a 1000 words

“Depressing women’s history news of the week”

Being pro-choice means understanding that self-determination for women regarding sex, sexuality, reproduction and motherhood is a fundamental precursor to womens’ ability to achieve their own educational, economic and familial aspirations, a fundamental precursor to the health and well-being of individuals and families, and a core condition of the long-term stability and health of society. It therefore also means understanding the profound connections for women–supported by more than ample evidence–between economic and educational status and unfettered access to comprehensive sexual health education, contraception, family planning services, and abortion care.

The War on Unions… now brought to you by Dems in MA?

The bill will take a month before coming to the state Senate, but the overwhelming vote in the House, and [Gov.] Patrick’s kinder, gentler rights-stripping plan, make it look like something’s going to happen in Massachusetts. Time to get out in the streets in another blue state.

“I’ve played at hundreds of protests and demonstrations, and this was really unique,” he said. “It was every segment of society. It was radical students and cops on the same side, and I’d never seen that before.”

Hillaryland

  • The otherwise serious and reliable Laura Rozen overreacted a bit to Hillary taking a few days of Easter R&R time off with her family. There’s a reason Hill was dubbed the “Energizer Secretary.” The woman works non-stop. She has a personal life that she’s entitled to attend to and/or just recharge every few years or so.

Click to view HQ. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

When Bushies fight… Get out your popcorn

First of all, I didn’t have modest experience in management. Managing Stanford University is not so easy. But I don’t know what Don was trying to say, and it really doesn’t matter. Don can be a grumpy guy. We all know that.

As always, Black Agenda Report tells it like it is…

  • This is an instant classic! Please read and disseminate. Bruce A. Dixon’s Top Ten Answers To Excuses For Obama’s Betrayals and Failures. Note Number 9 — it’s for all the Obamaphiles who won’t accept that Obama is the third Bush-Cheney term. And, to quote a snippet from Numero Uno (Re: “It’s our fault the Obama presidency hasn’t kept its commitments. We need to ‘make him do it.’”):

You cannot make a US president do what he fundamentally doesn’t want to. Michelle Obama is nice to look at, but she is no Eleanor Roosevelt. Franklin Roosevelt used to publicly bask in the hatred of wealthy banksters. Barack Obama’s dream is mostly not to piss off rich people.

  • For more on the atrocities of Bush-Cheney III, give BAR’s April 25th podcast a listen. In the first segment BAR’s Glen Ford interviews Labor Notes editor Mark Brenner, who sees no growth and no jobs on the horizon and says:

“Absolute disaster for working folks. If we follow the Ryan plan or if we follow the Obama plan, none of it spells good news for the rest of us.”

  • In another segment, Clarence Thomas, former Local 10 union secretary-treasury, says “what one needs to understand is that this is not simply an attack on public sector workers, it is also an attack on public services.” Thomas says the goal is to put labor back where it was before the New Deal, noting that it is a corporate and rightwing agenda in which “the Democratic party is complicit.”

The ongoing crackdown on dissidents: Syria, China

In response to the brutality of the crackdown, President Barack Obama signed an executive order today instituting sanctions against the Syrian intelligence agency and two of Assad’s brothers, a White House official confirmed. Meanwhile, the UN Human Rights Council voted in Geneva today to condemn the Syrian crackdown.

“The [Executive Order] is a watershed,” Andrew Tabler, a Syria expert with the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, told The Envoy. “This is the first time an Assad has been designated by the [U.S. government], and the first time the USG has issued an EO on human rights in Syria. Until a few months ago Human Rights was a distant fifth on our list of issues with Syria. Now it’s emerged as the center of our policy.”

Ms. Cheng was arrested on what was supposed to have been her wedding day last fall for sending a single sarcastic Twitter message that included the words “charge, angry youth.” The government, lacking a sense of humor, sentenced her to a year in labor camp.

Timeout: Art break

We’re about halfway through, so click to read the rest… Continue Reading →

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Activist Sues Sarah Palin for $100,000

By on 29 April 2011

… back when Sarah was the Gov. In fact, Thoma claims he proposed state action to solve the problem and even made up signs and fliers to push the issue. But Palin didn’t take kindly to the criticism, says Thoma, and she “undertook a campaign against [Theodore] … to punish, embarrass, discredit and silence” him. [...] Thoma wants Palin to fork over more than $100k for all of the harm she’s caused. – Palin Sued For $100k Over Alleged Traffic Conspiracy

This is only the beginning of what could turn out to be quite a season pain for Sarah Palin.

A cascade of anti-Palin books are also on their way. Oh, and if you didn’t know already, the snapshot is Julianne Moore as Sarah Palin in HBO’s upcoming “Game Change,” based on the dishy blockbuster book by Mark Halperin and John Heilemann. There’s nothing in the book that’s positive for Palin, so chalk that up as another coming her way.

St. Martin’s Press has “The Lies of Sarah Palin: The Untold Story Behind Her Relentless Quest for Power,” by Geoffrey Dunn coming out next month. Dunn did a stem-winding Trig Trutherism piece recently, which HuffPos refused to post.

Politico did a big piece on the anti-Palin push, as well as Trig Trutherism, Andrew Sullivan’s claim to infamy, and is supposedly going to be the subject of other books yet unnamed, with a Kentucky professor going after it, too.

Simon & Schuster has evidently bought disgruntled former aide Frank Bailey’s manuscript, which he’s been shopping for a while.

Crown’s got “The Rogue: Searching for the Real Sarah Palin,” by journalist and author Joe McGinniss, the guy who planted himself next door to Sarah in Alaska.

With Palin sounding more and more like a candidate these days all this negative talk will keep her busy. I doubt her fans will care, because nothing will deter them, though the negative press will keep them busy. Rebecca Mansour better get some sleep. She’ll need it.

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Obama’s Economic Message Malpractice

By on 28 April 2011

Republican primary voters at this early stage of the game now give billionaire developer Donald Trump the edge over presumptive favorites Mitt Romney and Mike Huckabee in the race to be the GOP’s presidential nominee in 2012. – Another Meaningless Poll That Sends a Message to Democrats


From Superman Reannounces US Citizenship – Action Comics #900 written by David S. Goyer with art by Miguel Sepulveda.

It got blown out by Trump versus Obama contest, but a Washington Post – Pew poll released late Tuesday night revealed why so many people are disenchanted with the Democratic Party. In the age of Obama, Republican economics has now completely replaced Democratic Party ideals, which have always been moored to jobs, middle class growth, and retirement security.

Democrats have also led the way on changes to the concern question: 81 percent of Democrats now say the federal budget is a major problem that must be addressed now, up from 64 percent in December.

A new Marist poll backs up Pres. Obama’s economic malpractice: 40% — approve of how the president is dealing with the country’s economy while nearly six in ten — 57% — disapprove.

This is why the argument recently forwarded by Ezra Klein that Obama is a “moderate Republican” is so damaging, even as Obama loyalists try to lap it up as a positive triangulation that could work for Democrats, because all that matters is reelecting Pres. Obama.

Why do Democrats and progressives want to back a moderate Republican to lead the Democratic Party? This is supposedly what progressives found so abhorrent about Pres. Bill Clinton’s presidency, along with the fact that he hurt the party, but no one can say that jobs weren’t his number one focus. So why are these same progressives accepting Barack Obama who is not advancing Democratic Party economics or focusing on jobs?

Missed in all the noise of Donald Trump is something very simple. David Frum talked about it yesterday, while tying himself in knots, citing Trump’s background as a “troubled student (at one point he attended a military school) who nonetheless gained admission to Wharton.” Frum going on to say his father’s wealth was an aid to his trajectory to Wharton, but it’s the former that’s the issue.

Trump’s bullying braggadocio of Pres. Obama, as well as his puffing up of his own prowess, is gauchely low brow. It’s common. As David Brooks wrote recently, it’s the “gospel of success,” which every person wants to dream about again, but which they can’t grab a hold of today. It’s rooted in something well beyond Democratic versus Republican economic points of view. Ups and downs, failures and fulminating falsehoods and all, this billionaire to bankruptcy and back again represents what people see America needs to do, too. Our great country economically hobbled with no one having the answers except to take things away from people who are barely holding on, Donald Trump not only says no to Paul Ryan’s Medicare scheme, but in the same breath he says no to China, OPEC, the Saudis and everyone else he sees laughing at America.

Meanwhile, Pres. Obama is in charge, but seen to be failing at doing anything about jobs or the economy, barely mentioning jobs in his first term.

It’s also why Obama’s reelection campaign began with a question “are you in?” Because the optimism, hope and change portion of Barack Obama’s mystique has left the stage, with all that’s left behind is let’s win this one for Obama.

I have no idea if a legitimate Republican can grab on to the message of what’s possible in America today, which Pres. Obama can’t find with both hands, his aides and the power of the presidency behind him. But the kernel of success in 2012 lies in parts of what Donald Trump’s low brow persona has tapped in the American populace through his crassly competitive and confrontational style, even if people recoil at the prospect of ever voting for Donald Trump.

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The Event that Binds Democrats Closer to Obama

By on 28 April 2011

“Trump and the rest have played a very divisive card from the fact of his birth to now implying that he got into two Ivy League schools … by affirmative action, which clearly brings race into the matter,” said the Rev. Al Sharpton. “It certainly enrages a lot of African-American voters, Latino voters and progressive whites that feel that this is the most divisive, polarizing tactic.” – President Obama takes on the birther political circus

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Orly Taitz got thrown off Lawrence O’Donnell’s show last night, after a screaming match that was as much of a circus as anything that went on yesterday.

Before that happened, Lawrence O’Donnell attacked his own employer’s involvement for their silence over Donald Trump using “Celebrity Apprentice” as cover, but this morning there is collective silence. That should tell you all you need to know about the media power and the story we’re watching on Pres. Obama’s long form birth certificate. O’Donnell claims, which you can see in the video above, that NBC executives already know if Trump is coming back as a paid NBC employer next year and they should announce it now, otherwise they are complicit in Trump’s crazy.

Today there is a lot of spin out of the White House on why they released the long form birth certificate, including that allowing Donald Trump to go on and on would help Obama’s Republican opponent, whoever he or she may be.

The White House thinks you’re stupid, but knows the media covering him is. At present, though Americans are disgruntled with the direction of the country, with gas and the economy making Pres. Obama very beatable in 2012, there is no Republican yet who can accomplish the act.

The White House excuse is not only nonsense, but over exercised political righteousness that is trying to hide the problem. You also had an anonymous Democrat saying that the party had learned that swiftboat lies take hold and can be dangerous, explaining why Pres. Obama finally petitioned Hawaii to release his long form birth certificate. Unfortunately, the reason for the release is that Obama and his people had already let this happen, let the birther insanity take root.

What was revealed in polling is that Independents and Republicans were glomming on to the birther issue as true. This is why Obama and his team did what they did, because they had to.

Question is, are these Independents and Republicans racist or is it about something else? The consensus is that Trump and others are racist. What do you think?

Whatever it is you can bet that the charges coming from Trump are going to bind many Democrats closer to Obama than they were before. Rally ’round the President is a powerful call. If the whole birther event is seen as racist instead of just crazy it will also cause a shunning of Republicans, which is why David Frum wrote what he did yesterday.

I wish it were otherwise, but it does seem that these racialized attacks on Obama have exacted a toll on him. But they also have exacted a toll on the opposition to Obama. The too-faint repudiation of birtherism by regular Republicans has shaped not only the Obama brand, but also the Republican brand. It was not only white people who heard the implied message about who counts and who does not count as a “real American.” – The Birther Disgrace

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