The Commentariat -- April 12

Read of the Week: "Paul Ryan's Slasher Novel." Michael Kinsley, in Politico, ticks off the fictitious elements of "The Path to Prosperity." (He could have started with the title.) Of "Path," Kinsley writes, "To liberals, it’s the nightmare of a madman with an ax chasing you down a long hallway. To conservatives, it’s a sweet dream of wonderland, where angels dine on Heritage Foundation press releases.... You would think, reading the document, that the only reason we have fiscal problems is the willful perversity or ignorance of everybody but Ryan."

Gene Robinson: "The far-right ideologues in the House seek to starve the federal government to the point where it can no longer fulfill its constitutional duty to promote the general welfare. I don’t mean to sound apocalyptic, but that’s what this struggle comes down to. Their inspired tactic — which has worked so well that they would be crazy to abandon it — has been to take a wildly extreme position and stick to it with the obstinacy of a mule. When Democrats offer to negotiate, Republicans increase their demands. The result is that they shift the battlefield and end up fighting on terrain so friendly that they literally can’t lose." ...

... It's Back! The Catfood Commission Has Nine Lives. As if to prove Gene Robinson's point, Lori Montgomery & Zachary Goldfarb of the Washington Post write, President Obama "is expected to offer support for the [Simpson-Bowles] commission’s work and a related effort underway in the Senate to develop a strategy for curbing borrowing. Obama will frame the approach as a responsible alternative to the 2012 plan unveiled last week by House Republicans, according to people briefed by the White House." ...

... Which Caught House Democrats Unawares. Suzy Khimm of Mother Jones: "Many Congressional Democrats found out about Obama's surprise speech by watching the Sunday shows.... House Democrats had already been preparing to release their own 2012 budget, under the leadership of Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.).... Now liberals fear that Obama may be taking the GOP bait, as he vows to make his own reforms to Medicare and Medicaid — an approach that could put a split between the White House and Congressional Democrats on entitlement reform." CW: finally we have a three-party system: Democratic, Republican-conservative (Obama), Republican-batshit-crazy (formerly called "Republican").

"Government by People Who Hate You." Economist Dean Baker in Truthout: "... the pundits call [Paul] Ryan's [budget] plan 'serious.' Yes, it is very serious. It is a serious plan for taking tens of trillions of dollars from low-income and middle-income people and giving them away as tax breaks to the rich and to the health care industry. It is about as serious as a robber with a gun pointed at your head." ...

... Neither Steve Benen, nor Greg Sargent whom he cites, explains it very neatly, but the upshot of an AP canvass in Paul Ryan's district is that his supporters have no idea Ryan's plan shifts the burden of paying for healthcare downward -- to them. Democrats really must get serious about messaging. And they cannot rely on President Obama to be their messenger. He is just not going to do the job.

** Philip Rucker of the Washington Post takes what amounts to a first look at what's actually in the budget deal Congressional leaders & the President struck last Friday. "More than half of the $38 billion in spending cuts ... would hit education, labor and health programs. Funding for federal Pell grants, job training and a children’s health-care initiative would face cuts, senior congressional aides said. A multitude of other programs — from highway and high-speed rail projects to rural development initiatives — also would experience significant reductions. But some of the worst-sounding trims are not quite what they seem, and officials said they would not necessarily result in lost jobs or service cutbacks. In several cases, what look like large reductions are actually accounting gimmicks." ...

Binyamin Appelbaum of the New York Times: "The budget deal struck last week amounts to a bet by the Obama administration that the loss of $38 billion in federal spending will not be the straw that breaks the back of a fragile economic recovery.... The proposed federal spending cuts ... do not amount to much by themselves, about 0.25 percent of annual domestic activity. But they join a growing list of minor problems impeding growth, economists said, including higher fuel prices and bad weather, Europe’s creeping malaise and the effect of the Japanese earthquake.... And it raises the question of how many more small cuts the president can afford." ...

... In the photo that accompanies his post, WashPo D.C. columnist Colbert King is smiling. In reality, he is livid over the federal budget deal that "threw the city under the bus.... When Barack Obama comes calling for another cheap photo-op with young, smiling D.C. faces, just say no." ...

... President Obama does a little retail policking with 8th-graders from Altona Middle School in Longmont, Colorado. The President had mentioned the students' planned visit in his remarks on the budget deal Friday night. ABC News backstory here:

Damian Paletta & Carol Lee of the Wall Street Journal: "White House officials have opened the door to a deal with Republicans that would allow the U.S. to increase its ability to borrow, potentially easing worries in financial markets that the country might default on its debt." ... 

... Because just demanding a clean bill is way too sensible. Josh Marshall of TPM: "The president needs to start saying now that Boehner and Cantor need to pass a clean no-conditions bill to raise the debt ceiling. You can't negotiate with hostage takers -- not at the local bank heist, not in the Middle East, not at the other end of Pennsylvania Avenue."

What a Mess! Nick Timiraos of the Wall Street Journal: "Hopes are fading for a far-reaching settlement between regulators and banks over improper home foreclosures as some regulators press ahead to reach their own settlements with banks that others involved in the talks deem weak. The dispute pits federal regulators against state attorneys general, who are seeking stiff penalties and comprehensive changes in the way banks foreclose on homeowners and modify loans. Advocates of tougher sanctions accuse federal banking regulators, including the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the Federal Reserve, with going easy on the banks."

CW: Fracking Methane. The Times moved Joe Nocera from the business page to the op-ed page, and Nocera's first couple of op-ed pieces seemed okay. Today, he gives us a column the gist of which is, "I have a billionaire friend -- Boone Pickens -- who has an idea on how to make more billions [exploit our natural gas resources], & concludes "If Congress can’t pass this thing [the Boone Pickens bill], there’s really no hope." Read the comments. Then read Tom Zeller's report, also in the Times: "Natural gas, with its reputation as a linchpin in the effort to wean the nation off dirtier fossil fuels and reduce global warming, may not be as clean over all as its proponents say."

Right Wing World *

There is zero chance that Donald Trump would ever be hired by the American people. I saw Donald Trump kind of rising in the polls and given his behavior and spectacle the last couple of weeks, I hope he keeps rising. There may be a small part of the country that believes these [birther] things, but mainstream Americans think it's a sideshow. That's not leadership, that's kind of sideshow behavior. -- David Plouffe, Obama campaign advisor ...

... I am leading a lot of polls and doing very well. I can tell you I am [the Obama campaign's] worst nightmare.... I know for a fact that I am the only candidate they are concerned with. They are very concerned because I am challenging [President Obama] as to whether or not he was born in this country where there is a real doubt. -- Donald Trump

Vanity Fair edtor Graydon Carter gets a hand-written note from Trump, which will give you a chuckle, at the Donald's expense. With facsimile of the note. This guy is so much funnier than his hair.

I just say very simply, why doesn’t he show his birth certificate? Why has he spent over $2 million in legal fees to keep this quiet and to keep this silent? -- Donald Trump, April 10, 2011

More power to him [Trump]. He’s not just throwing stones from the sidelines, he’s digging in, he’s paying for researchers to find out why President Obama would have spent $2 million to not show his birth certificate. -- Former Alaska governor Sarah Palin, April 9, 2011

It is bizarre to see two possible presidential candidates give support to absurd and false claims that have been debunked time and time again. -- Glenn Kessler, the Washington Post fact-checker ...

... Even at Auto Week, "the Trump card is a joker." Steven Cole Smith: "... the selection of Trump to drive the pace car for the 100th-anniversary race is just unfathomable."

RomneyCare? Whazzat? Steve Benen: Mitt Romney announced the formation of his exploratory committee yesterday. "... his sole gubernatorial accomplishment served as a blueprint for President Obama's health care policy. In fact, the timing of Romney's launch may not be entirely coincidental -- this week is the fifth anniversary of the former governor signing his health care reform measure into law in the Bay State, and it's more than possible he's hoping that launching his presidential bid will overshadow the anniversary." ...

... Stephanie Condon of CBS News: "Democratic officials in key primary states are holding 'celebrations' this week to mark the fifth-year anniversary of the health care plan Romney implemented in Massachusetts. The White House has said the nation has Romney to thank for inspiring the president's health care overhaul. The administration has called the Massachusetts plan the 'template' for its national reforms and even recruited a top Massachusetts health care administrator to help establish the new, nationwide changes."

A Joke-in-Waiting. Kevin Bogardus of The Hill: "Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) will head to Capitol Hill Thursday to talk about his battle with public-sector unions. Walker is scheduled to testify that morning at the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee hearing on state and local government debt." Darrell Issa chairs the committee.

* Where facts never intrude.

Local News

Mary Spicuzza of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: "The Democrat on the Waukesha County Board of Canvassers who was widely quoted as endorsing the county clerk's official ballot count that flipped the state Supreme Court winner last week said Monday that she was never told more than 14,000 missing votes from Brookfield until shortly before a Thursday news conference.... [Here's her statement.] Meanwhile, in Madison, the state's top election official referred to 'apparent negligence' by Waukesha County Clerk Kathy Nickolaus.... The state agency will not certify the election results until it finishes its review of what happened in Waukesha County." ...

... Rep. Tammy Baldwin, who represents the Madison, Wisconsin, area, has asked AG Eric Holder to investigate the election count.

Ashley Halsey of the Washington Post: "The air traffic controller who allegedly slept for most of five hours while on duty in Tennessee is on probation for an incident last year when police records say he dumped a drink on his girlfriend’s head and then pursued her to a local Waffle House, where witnesses said he brandished a handgun. The Federal Aviation Administration suspended Jonathan Keith Poindexter, 27, and is taking steps to fire him after he allegedly was found sleeping Feb. 19 on a makeshift bed in the radar room of the Knoxville airport while working alone on the overnight shift."

News Ledes

New York Times: "Thirteen alumni of a Cape Cod summer camp have reported being sexually abused there decades ago since Senator Scott P. Brown revealed that he was groped by a counselor there as a child, a lawyer said Tuesday.... The former counselors who have been accused of abuse include a 43-year-old man who committed suicide outside the camp last week.... The camp lost its accreditation on Friday and announced that it would not operate this summer while the authorities investigate abuse claims."

New York Times: "House Republicans scurried on Tuesday to secure the votes needed for a bill that would keep the government financed for the rest of the fiscal year, delaying action by one day to abide by their self-imposed rule to air all legislation publicly for three days before a vote."

Los Angeles Times: "Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss,  ... identical twins who alleged that Mark Zuckerberg stole the idea for Facebook from his Harvard classmates — the gist of which became the hit movie "The Social Network" — cannot back out of a settlement they signed with Zuckerberg in 2008, a federal appeals court panel has ruled. The Winklevosses had sought to overturn the negotiated settlement, worth about $65 million at the time, alleging that Facebook had swindled them out of their fair share of stock. Facebook's value has risen sharply since the deal was reached."

Washington Post: "Kenneth T. Robinson, a mortgage broker, pleaded guilty [yesterday] to his role in an insider trading scheme spanning 17 years.... Based in part on Robinson’s cooperation, the Justice Department and the Securities and Exchange Commission last week charged trader Garrett D. Bauer and corporate lawyer Matthew H. Kluger with collaborating in a ... scheme that netted more than $32 million since 2006 alone.... Kluger worked for some of the nation’s most prominent corporate law firms."

The Washington Post has a follow-up story on the arrest of D.C. Mayor Vincent Gray and several members of the D.C. Council "at a protest on Capitol Hill, as city officials turned up the volume on their complaints about a federal spending deal that imposes controversial riders on the District."

New York Times: "France on Tuesday renewed its denials of involvement in the arrest of the strongman of Ivory Coast, Laurent Gbagbo, who was captured and taken into custody by his rival on Monday, ending a four-month standoff that left hundreds dead, strained international diplomacy and dragged the country back into civil war."