The Commentariat -- July 31

Tea Potty Floats Past Rudderless Ship of State. Maureen Dowd bemoans the lack of leadership in Congress or from this guy: "The laconic president emerges from the sidelines periodically to warn about economic default, but we’re already in political default." ...

... I've posted a comments page on Maureen Dowd's column on Off Times Square. Update: Karen Garcia & I have posted our comments. Garcia's made the cut. The moderators held back mine, so you'll have to read it here. ...

... NEW. Read It and Weep. Felicia Sonmez of the Washington Post: "On Sunday morning, [Senate Minority Leader Mitch] McConnell [R-Ky.] sketched the outlines of a $3 trillion, debt framework that would pair an immediate increase in the federal borrowing limit with immediate spending cuts. The proposal would also include caps on spending over the next decade and would mandate that a bipartisan committee of lawmakers recommend further cuts and potential changes to entitlement programs by the fall, with a 'trigger' mechanism to ensure that action is taken to reduce the debt if the committee reaches a stalemate. The process would involve a 'resolution of disapproval' by Congress that would allow the debt ceiling to be further raised next year if one-third of either chamber agrees – an idea first proposed by McConnell in a 'Plan B' he unveiled several weeks ago. The move would shift the political burden of raising the debt ceiling to the White House from congressional Republicans. Also included in the nascent proposal would be a provision calling for a vote on a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution...." ...

... Even worse, you can watch & listen to Mitch explain the deal to Gloria Borger of CNN:

... In which the only panelist worth hearing is Krugman. I put these videos up on Off Times Square in response to a comment, but just to hear Krugman -- and the delusion he's up against -- is enlightening for us all:

... Very Serious Suckers. Paul Krugman: "Anyone reading the newspapers with an open mind had a pretty good idea of what would happen in the debt fight; only Washington insiders managed to fool themselves." ...

... Eric Dash & Nelson Schwartz of the New York Times: "In the last few days, top [Wall Street] executives have been in close contact with Washington in a last-ditch attempt to prod lawmakers toward a compromise by Tuesday...." ...

... Green Eggs & Ham. Frank Bruni has breakfast with Grover Norquist.

New York Times Editors: "The economy is in trouble, and Washington — fixated on budget slashing at a time when the economy needs more spending — seems determined to make matters worse." The editors have some admittedly piecemeal suggestions to help keep the economy from returning to full recession mode. ...

... CW: As I've Been Saying, Ad Nauseum. Catherine Rampell of the New York Times: "... there is, in theory, a happy solution to our debt troubles. It’s called economic growth. No need to raise taxes or cut programs. Just get the economy growing the way it used to.... Back in the Great Depression, Washington tightened its belt with disastrous results. Congress severely reduced spending in 1937, plunging the economy back into the hole. Ultimately, that meant even more federal borrowing.... After World War II, gross federal debt reached 122 percent of G.D.P., the highest ratio on record. But over the next 40 years, it fell to about 33 percent. That wasn’t because some blue-ribbon panel prescribed austerity; it was because the American economy became much, much richer.... Countries that undertake fiscal consolidation in the midst of a crisis — like the one Washington is in right now — tend to be penny-wise and pound-foolish." ...

... The Ratings Agencies Really Don't Care about You. Peter Schroeder of The Hill: "The 'limited magnitude' of both debt plans put forward by congressional leaders would not put the nation's AAA credit rating back on solid footing, Moody's Investors Service announced Friday.... It added that 'prolonged debt ceiling deliberations' have increased the odds of a downgrade.... As far as it is concerned, the nation will only default if it misses an interest or principal payment on U.S. debt, not if it misses payments on other obligations like federal employee salaries or Social Security benefits." [emphasis added]

The president’s proposing cuts to Social Security and Medicare has the potential to sap the energy of the Democratic base — among older voters because of Medicare and Medicaid and younger voters because of the lack of jobs. And second, all these fiscal austerity proposals on the table will make the economy worse. -- Damon Silvers, AFL-CIO policy director ...

... Jackie Calmes of the New York Times notices Our Conservative Republican President has turned off liberal voters. No kidding. ...

... NEW. Glenn Greenwald: "... a slew of millionaire politicians who spent the last decade exploding the national debt with Endless War, a sprawling Surveillance State, and tax cuts for the rich are now imposing extreme suffering on the already-suffering ordinary citizenry, all at the direction of their plutocratic overlords, who are prospering more than ever and will sacrifice virtually nothing under this deal (despite their responsibility for the 2008 financial collapse that continues to spawn economic misery).  And all of this will be justified by these politicians and their millionaire media mouthpieces with the obscenely deceitful slogans of 'shared sacrifice' and 'balanced debt reduction' -- two of the most odiously Orwellian phrases since 'Look Forward, not Backward' and '2009 Nobel Peace Prize laureate.'..." ...

... Pollster Stan Greenberg in a New York Times op-ed: "... many voters prefer the policies of Democrats to the policies of Republicans. They just don’t trust the Democrats to carry out those promises.... They think that the game is rigged and that the wealthy and big industries get policies that reinforce their advantage. And they do not think their voices matter." Greenberg proposes a series of prescriptions that Democrats should follow to turn around public prescriptions.

News Ledes

** New York Times: "President Obama and Congressional leaders of both parties said late Sunday that they had agreed to a framework for a budget deal that would cut trillions of dollars in federal spending over the next decade and clear the way for an increase in the government’s borrowing limit."

Politico: "Late in the afternoon, a statement from Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said: 'Senator Reid has signed off on the debt-ceiling agreement pending caucus approval.'"

New York Times: "HSBC, Europe’s biggest bank, plans to announce thousands of job cuts on Monday as part of a wide-ranging cost-reduction program that started in May, a person with direct knowledge of the decision said Sunday. HSBC plans to cut about 10,000 jobs, or 3 percent of its global work force...."

At 1:20 pm ET, it appears the Senate is voting on cloture on the Reid bill. So the vote failed & they're going to reconsider it at 4:00 pm ET. Reid says he's still working with the House & the Administration. Jay Newton-Small of Time has an update on negotiations, but the rank-and-file of both parties are wary of the deal, she says.

If there's a word that would be right here that would sum up the mood, it would be relief ... default is far less of a possibility now than it was a day ago. -- Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY)

ABC News: "Democratic and Republican Congressional sources involved in the negotiations tell ABC News that a tentative agreement has been reached on the framework of a deal that would give the President a debt ceiling increase of up to $2.4 trillion and guarantee an equal amount of deficit reduction over the next 10 years. The details are still being worked out, and a senior White House aide tells ABC News, 'talks continue but there is no deal to report.'" Bloomberg News: ditto. ...

... Here's the latest from the Washington Post. AND the latest from the New York Times is here.

... Washington Post: "Shortly after 10 p.m., Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) announced that talks between McConnell (R-Ky.) and Vice President Biden had made significant progress, prompting Reid to delay a vote that had been scheduled for 1 a.m. Sunday on his own debt-limit measure."

Los Angeles Times: "Syrian security forces loyal to the embattled regime of President Bashar Assad launched a major military assault on opposition strongholds Sunday, using tanks and gunfire in authorities' latest attempt to crush a pro-democracy movement that appears to be gathering momentum ahead of the emotionally and religiously charged holy month of Ramadan." Al Jazeera story here; with video.

The Commentariat -- July 30

I've posted an Open Thread for today's Off Times Square.

The President's weekly address:

     ... The transcript is here. ...

     ... Binyamin Appelbaum of the New York Times: "Mr. Obama ... laid the blame for the impasse squarely on House Republicans in his weekly address, which largely repeated his remarks on Friday as the stalemate gripped Washington."

... Republican senators say "compromise." This video was produced by Senate Democrats:

... "The Tea Fragger Party." Conservative Kathleen Parker of the Washington Post: "Fragging: 'To intentionally kill or wound (one’s superior officer, etc.), esp. with a hand grenade.' The behavior of certain Republicans who call themselves Tea Party conservatives makes them the most destructive posse of misguided 'patriots' we’ve seen in recent memory.... The Tea Party was a movement that changed the conversation in Washington, but it has steeped too long and has become toxic. It’s time to toss it out." ...

... Steve Benen: "... Boehner has spent at least two weeks tending to the self-esteem of right-wing lawmakers, telling them how great and important they are, and reinforcing their belief that they’ll never have to compromise with anyone on anything. And today, instead of slowly trying to acclimate his caucus to reality, Boehner will lead them into yet another chest-thumping tantrum. Boehner, at this point, seems principally concerned with his political survival, no matter the consequences for the rest of us." ...

... Ezra Klein: "Boehner has spent the past two days wasting his political capital assembling an irrelevant coalition of conservatives.... Boehner has not been governing. What should have happened Friday is obvious: Having failed to pass a conservative resolution to the debt crisis without Democratic votes, he should have begun cutting the deals and making the concessions necessary to gain Democratic votes." ...

... AND Klein reviews opinions on the Constitutional option. ...

... Jonathan Chait of The New Republic reviews how we got in this mess, & he seems to make Washington pundits the fall guys. Obama initially wanted a clean bill but the punditocracy talked him into linking the debt limit to deficit reduction: "... the deficit hawks who represent the center of Washington establishment thought badly underestimated the danger entailed by tying high stakes negotiations involving the Republican Party to a cataclysmic event. Happy visions of Bob Dole and Tip O'Neill danced in their heads, oblivious to the reality of what they were facing." CW: but hasn't Obama repeatedly asserted that he "never listens" to the bobbleheads? Well, at least Obama didn't listen to me; I've said all along he should insist on a clean bill.

... Tara Bernard of the New York Times: Whatever deficit deal emerges, the parties have all agreed Social Security is "on the table" (CW: make that the operating table, surrounded by doctors wielding dull scalpels), even though it has not contributed to to the deficit. CW: in fact, the Congress has routinely borrowed Social Security funds to reduce the deficits in annual budgets. That's why Social Security, though technically in the black, is actually out of money. It's got nothng but monthly receipts & a fistful of IOUs from Treasury.

Actually, No.John Judis of The New Republic: Barack Obama twists Abraham Lincoln's words & deeds 180 degrees to fit a narrative that grievously mischaracterizes the former President. See also Ta-Nahisi Coates column here, and John Farrish's comment (#3) here. I hope somebody buys Obama an accurate biography of Lincoln for his (Obama's) birthday, which is this coming week. ...

... Last December historian Eric Foner contrasted Obama's & Lincoln's reactions to their mid-term election "shellackings":

Charles Blow writes a very affecting column about his grandfather Fred Rhodes who was recommended for a Silver Star for bravery in action during World War II, but certainly because he was black, did not receive one.

Josh Gerstein of Politico: "A New York Times reporter need not testify in court about who gave him details on a top-secret CIA program targeting Iran, a federal judge has ruled. In May, federal prosecutors subpoenaed Times reporter James Risen to testify against former CIA officer Jeffrey Sterling, who's accused of revealing top-secret details about a CIA effort to undermine Iran's nuclear program. Prosecutors allege that Sterling was a source for Risen...."

CW: I linked an item on this earlier in the week, but it bears repeating. Steve Benen: "... an unexpected religious coalition [is] trying to influence the outcome of the debt-ceiling fight on Capitol Hill. This coalition, made up of several different Christian denominations [is] looking out for those [poor people] likely to be hurt the most by the Republican crisis.... Congressional Republicans, who traditionally present themselves as allied with religious morality, continue to believe cutting public investments is paramount, whether Jesus would pursue a similar course or not."

News Ledes

New York Times: "The top two Republicans in Congress said Saturday that they had begun new talks with President Obama and their fellow Congressional leaders to try to find a way to end the debt limit fight that is threatening to throw the federal government into default in just a few days.... Senator Mitch McConnell [R-Ky.]... said during a news conference ... that he expected a deal soon." The Reid bill won't pass the Senate because 43 Republicans will vote against it, which means the vote on cloture will come up short. ...

     ... Update. The story has a new lede: "New budget talks between top Congressional Republicans and President Obama made progress late Saturday, suddenly stirring optimism that a last-minute deal could be reached to avert a potential federal default that threatened significant economic and political consequences." Majority Leader Reid delayed the vote on his compromise bill until 1:00 pm ET Sunday.

... At 6:05 pm ET, Harry Reid said McConnell's assertion that there would be "a deal soon" is not true; Reid said no progress has been made today. No link. ...

... At 3:12 pm ET, the House voted down the Reid bill. Big surprise. Majority Leader Eric Cantor is making a speech; says there are no planned votes tomorrow, but warns that could change. New York Times item here. ...

... The Hill: "Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) has revised his plan to raise the debt limit in a last-ditch bid to attract Republican support. The biggest change is that Reid would give the president almost unilateral power to raise the debt limit, borrowing an idea introduced by Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.)."

Washington Post on the upcoming Senate votes on a debt limit bill. Reuters on the same.

New York Times: "The leadership of the Libyan rebels acknowledged late Friday that a group of their own soldiers had killed their top military commander, contradicting statements made a day earlier as the rebels scrambled to avoid tribal revenge attacks that could divide their ranks. The death of the commander, Gen. Abdul Fattah Younes, has shaken both the rebel leaders trying to oust Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi and their Western supporters by revealing divisions and intrigue within the rebel forces. The shifting and elliptical accounts of General Younes’s death have raised new questions about the rebel leaders’ credibility."

New York Times: "Employees of The New York Post, Rupert Murdoch’s irreverent and hard-charging city tabloid, were told Friday to keep any documents that may pertain to the kind of illegal activity that has led to arrests and a widening investigation at the News Corporation’s British newspapers.... The directive was the clearest sign yet that the company’s lawyers believe the scope of two early-stage investigations in the United States ... could broaden."

The Commentariat -- July 29

I've posted an Open Thread for today on Off Times Square.

Paul Krugman reiterates in his column a point he made is a blogpost earlier this week -- that "News reports [specifically, about the debt crisis] portray the parties as equally intransigent; pundits fantasize about some kind of 'centrist' uprising, as if the problem was too much partisanship on both sides." It ain't.

Greg Sargent: "... the White House is circulating a new set of talking points to outside allies and surrogates, instructing them on a new way to make this case: If Boehner has his way, the debt ceiling debate will steal Christmas.... On MSNBC..., David Plouffe made a similar claim, pointing out that the Boehner plan would ensure that 'this whole debt ceiling spectacle' will be repeated again a few months from now over the holidays. The debt ceiling debate would ruin Christmas,' Plouffe said. He was apparently ad-libbing the line, but now it’s found its way into the White House’s official talking points." ...

... Grinch or Anti-Christ? Elizabeth Dias of Time: "On Wednesday, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops sent a letter to Speaker Boehner informing him of its opposition to his deficit reduction proposal and arguing that 'future budgets cannot rely on disproportionate cuts in essential services to poor persons.' [CW: Boehner is Roman Catholic.] On Thursday, religious organizations went from polite protest to full-scale mobilization.... And nearly a dozen religious leaders were arrested inside the Capitol on Thursday while praying and protesting a budget that would balance itself on the backs of the poor with cuts in crucial areas, like Medicaid and food stamps.... Prayer vigils, led by different religious leaders, continue outside the United Methodist Building on Capitol Hill." ...

... No Winners in the Republican Civil War. Dan Balz of the Washington Post: "The stunning events that played out Thursday night ... was both a failure of leadership and a failure by those who wouldn’t follow.... The damage to Boehner’s credibility as speaker and to the Republican Party more generally could well linger well beyond the outcome of this episode. Republicans have now steered themselves into a position that could make an ultimate resolution of the debt-ceiling standoff that much more difficult.... If there is to be a compromise — and the outlines of a plausible agreement were under active discussion on Capitol Hill before the House bill was pulled — it is likely to be one that badly splits the Republicans in the House." ...

Buckets of crazy. -- House GOP Aide, explaining why Speaker Boehner couldn't round up enough votes to pass a bill that won't pass the Senate anyway ...

... Jennifer Steinhauer & Robert Pear of the New York Times write a somewhat amusing account of the uncertainty in the House yesterday. At various points both Democrats & Republicans were sure their side had the votes on Boehner's deficit plan. ...

... Dana Milbank: "... the thwarting of the Boehner Plan ... displayed how ungovernable the House Republican majority is. With the nation just days from a default, the chamber is at the mercy of a handful of people who believe they are on a mission from God." ...

... Reader Doug R. found this commentary by Mark Price on the front page of Fox "News"'s Website. Price makes a strong case for raising the debt ceiling & blames "both parties." Strikingly, Price calls out Democrats for being willing to make cuts to Medicare & Social Security "that will surely hurt working and middle-income families the hardest" and Republicans for being unwilling to close corporate loopholes or raise taxes on the wealthy, "the one group to benefit handsomely from the last decade of economic growth." Doug says he hopes "millions of right wingers will read [Price's piece]. CW: me too. ...

... NEW. Jeffrey Rosen of The New Republic reviews the judicial philosophies of the Supremes & reasons that they would either refuse to hear a case against President Obama for invoking the Fourteenth Amendment, or -- if they agreed to hear it --  seven of the nine would decide in favor of Obama. ...

... Michael Tomasky, writing in the Daily Beast, makes a strong case for Obama's invoking the Fourteenth Amendment, and outlines the reasons Obama is reluctant to do so. Tomasky concludes that none of Obama's reasons justify his allowing Treasury to go into default. ...

... Mike Lillis of The Hill: "President Obama should invoke the 14th Amendment to hike the debt ceiling unilaterally as a last resort to prevent a government default, House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) said Thursday.... The remarks align Hoyer with a number of other House Democratic leaders...." CW: Hoyer is the second-ranking Democrat in the House. This is pretty remarkable. Top Congressional legislators are saying, "Go ahead, Mr. President; overrule us." ...

... Unions have made a big ad buy going after members of Congress who won't raise the debt ceiling. Here's the ad targeting Sen. Dean Heller of Nevada (the appointee who replaced John Ensign):

Chart of the Day. The next time some Republican talks about tax-and-spend Democrats, whip out this New York Times chart. The contrast between new costs incurred by the Bush Administration & new costs incurred & projected under the Obama Administration is stunning:

... NEW. Ezra Klein comments on the chart: "Obama’s major expenses were temporary — the stimulus is over now — while Bush’s were, effectively, recurring.... It’s clear now that [the Bush tax cuts] lowered [revenue] indefinitely, which means this chart is understating their true cost." ..

Klein in Bloomberg News: Democrats are going to lose the debt-ceiling battle. But, come the end of 2012 when the Bush tax cuts expire, they are in position to win new revenues.

Michael Grunwald of Time: "President Obama will announce a near-doubling of fuel efficiency standards for cars and light trucks, and the Big Three automakers — GM, Ford and Chrysler — will support it.... Obama was right to cut a deal with the Big Three, along with Honda and Hyundai, up front. Every U.S. President since Nixon has talked about ending our dependence on Middle East oil, but these standards represent the most significant effort to do something about it in a long time."

CW: I guess "dictator" is the new "Hitler." Debbie Wasserman Schultz used it to describe Tea Party Republicans (see yesterday's Commentariat), & now, tit-for-tat, Constitutional scholar Michele Bachmann is using it to describe a potential Fourteenth-Amendment move by President Obama:

Tim Egan writes than many on the right in Europe & the U.S. say the "manifesto" by Nowegian anti-Muslim terrorist & mass-murderer Anders Behring Breivik is "correct" or "good" or "great." He cites, among others, Pat Buchanan, an Italian member of the European Parliament & the denizens of GlennBeckistan. (Beck himself likened the young victims of Breivik to "Hitler youth.") CW: my comment on Egan's column is posted on Off Times Square. ...

Right Wing World *

... Amy Sullivan of Time has a good post on the right's tortured double-standard claim that Norwegian Christian terrorist Anders Behring Breivik "can't be a Christian" (oh, and neither can Barack Obama and Bill Clinton), but Islamic terrorists are definitely serious Muslims following their faith into terrorism territory. ...

... Allow Jon Stewart to elaborate:

... PLUS, in Right Wing World, liberals attack conservatives, but conservatives are always nice to liberals:

President Obama, quit lying. Have you no shame, sir? In three short years, you’ve bankrupted this country. -- Rep. Joe Walsh (R-Ill.), in an anti-Obama video ...

... Have you no decency? -- Joe Walsh, to his wife Laura's attorney, who asked that the Congressman's drivers license be suspended until he paid court-ordered child support ...

... Deadbeat Dad. Abdon Pallasch of the Chicago Sun-Times: "Freshman U.S. Rep. Joe Walsh, a tax-bashing Tea Party champion who sharply lectures President Barack Obama and other Democrats on fiscal responsibility, owes more than $100,000 in child support to his ex-wife and three children, according to documents his ex-wife filed in their divorce case in December." Thanks to reader Jeanne B. for the link. ...

... "Deadbeat Party." Gene Lyons in Salon: "How does 'deadbeat Republicans' sound? Because the simple fact is that the GOP under George W. Bush put two wars, a Medicare drug benefit, and tax cuts heavily slanted toward the rich on the national credit card. Now that the bill's due, they're planning to skip town and stick Democrats with the charges." Thanks to Jeanne B.

What's a Potential Presidential Candidate to Do? Carrie Dann of NBC News: Texas Gov. Rick Perry, a staunch states rights advocate, was "fine" with New York State's gay marriage law last week, saying the law was "their call," but he isn't anymore.

* Where Christians are always good people and the elites are deadbeats (CW: which I guess is okay if they're Christian deadbeats).

News Ledes

Politico: "House Republicans will bring up Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s debt limit package Saturday just to vote it down, an attempt to show that the legislation is dead in the lower chamber, according to GOP leadership sources." ...

     ... AND barely an hour later, the Senate blocked Boehner's bill. No link. ...

... New York Times: "House Republicans muscled through a revised debt limit plan without a single Democratic vote on Friday night and headed toward a confrontation with the Senate, where Democrats were anxiously awaiting the newly passed measure so they could reject it. President Obama has also threatened to veto it." Boehner added a requirement for a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution. ...

... Washington Post: "House Republican leaders moved Friday to bring their debt-limit bill to a vote after recrafting it to appease tea party-allied conservatives, but President Obama said the plan has 'no chance of becoming law' ...."

Politico: "Stepping up pressure on divided Republicans, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid announced Friday he’d take the lead and move his bill to raise the national debt limit as President Barack Obama called for a bipartisan deal to avert an economy-shaking default next week. Calling his plan 'the last train out of the station,' Reid said there are only hours to act before Tuesday’s Treasury deadline, so he plans to file a procedural motion Friday to move towards a final vote in the next few days." ...

... Politico: "House Republican leaders plan to tie a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution to their two-step debt-ceiling bill — a move that is turning momentum back toward Speaker John Boehner’s plan." CW: I guess it doesn't matter that the Senate won't pass such a bill & the President would veto it if they did. ...

... New York Times: "The reverberations of Washington’s impasse over a debt deal are already being felt in the short-term credit markets, a key artery of the economy that daily supplies trillions of dollars of credit. Over the last week, big banks and companies have withdrawn $37.5 billion from money market funds that invest in Treasury debt and other ultra-safe securities, the biggest weekly drop this year."

President Obama spoke about fuel efficiency standards this morning. Here's a Reuters story.

AP: Abdel-Fattah Younis, "the head of the Libyan rebel armed forces, was shot and killed Thursday just before arriving for questioning by rebel authorities, their political leader said in a carefully worded statement to reporters that gave few etails on who was behind the killing."

President Bush explains the "My Pet Goat" incident:

   ... Here's a related print story from Reuters.