The Commentariat -- February 7

Helene Cooper & Mark Mazzetti of the New York Times profile Hosni Mubarak. Most interesting tidbit (to me):

A 2009 cable [part of the WikiLeaks dump] describes Mr. Mubarak telling another visitor from Washington, Senator Mitch McConnell ... that he had warned President George W. Bush not to attack Iraq. Iran, he said, only started to 'breathe' once he United States removed Saddam Hussein> from the scene. 'Removing Saddam from power was the biggest mistake ever committed,' Mr. Mubarak told Mr. McConnell....

... Joby Warrick & Scott Wilson of the Washington Post: "Once it was clear they were stuck with Mubarak, [Obama] administration officials refocused their efforts on encouraging Egyptian government officials and opposition groups to begin work on a blueprint for a transition to a new government.... Administration officials, in interviews, described a diplomatic blitz that targeted scores of Egyptian government and military officials, urging an immediate halt to violent attacks against protesters by pro-Mubarak demonstrators. U.S. officials, with backing from allies in the region, also pushed to encourage opposition groups to agree to negotiations on power-sharing, even as Mubarak continued to cling to the presidency." ...

... Kareem Fahim, et al., of the New York Times: "While hard facts are difficult to come by, Egyptians watching the rise of a moneyed class widely believe that self-dealing, crony capitalism and corruption are endemic, represented in the public eye by a group of rich businessmen aligned with Gamal Mubarak, the president’s son, as well as key government ministers and governing party members." ...

... Marcy Wheeler has what I think is an accurate analysis of the Suleiman "consensus" statement. The full statement is here (at 3:46 pm GMT). Like the protesters, Wheeler is not impressed. ...

... Michael Scherer of Time: "... it is difficult to distinguish Obama's cautious approach from that of his predecessors, who have been forced to compromise the idealistic vision the United States advertises with its pragmatic interests." This sharply contradicts what Obama said during his campaign and in accepting his Nobel Peace Prize.

Stan Collender of Capital Gains & Games takes a cynical view of the Obama Administration's proposed budget cuts, as new OMB Director Jake Lew broadly outlined in a New York Times op-ed. Collender writes, "I suspect the administration wants to force these GOP officials to be seen lobbying against the spending cut proposals.  Look for them to be invited to some high profile meetings at the White House with heavy media coverage."

Paul Wiseman & Derek Kravitz of the AP: businesses are laying off fewer workers, but even those that are hiring tend to hire the already-employed rather than the unemployed.

James Grimaldi of the Washington Post: the White House has again stymied efforts of the ATF to impose an emergency rule to hamper Mexican gunrunners. The proposed rule: "that gun dealers along the Mexican border report anyone who buys two or more assault weapons in five days." Surprise: the NRA opposes the ATF rule, & the Administration is bowing to their whims on the excuse that the rule represents "excessive regulation." CW: maybe this story should go in "Right Wing News," the right wing being the Obama Administration.

Right Wing News

** Tom Hamburger, et al., of the Los Angeles Times: "The billionaire brothers David and Charles Koch no longer sit outside Washington's political establishment, isolated by their uncompromising conservatism. Instead, they are now at the center of Republican power, a change most evident in the new makeup of the House Energy and Commerce Committee.... Republicans on the committee have launched an agenda of the sort long backed by the Koch brothers. A top early goal: restricting the reach of the Environmental Protection Agency, which oversees the Kochs' core energy businesses." CW: the article provides an excellent example of how moneyed special interests directly purchase Congressmembers. There are no middlemen. It's strictly cash & carry out. ...

... Louise Radnofsky of the Wall Street Journal: "EPA rules were cited more than those from any other agency in more than 100 letters sent by trade associations, businesses and some conservative groups to House oversight committee chairman Darrell Issa (R., Calif.) in response to his call for businesses to identify regulations they deemed burdensome...."

Republicans Really Hate Women. Evan McMorris-Santoro of TPM: "The controversy over 'forcible rape' may be over, but now there's a new Republican-sponsored abortion bill in the House that pro-choice folks say may be worse: this time around, the new language would allow hospitals to let a pregnant woman die rather than perform the abortion that would save her life.... New language inserted into the bill just this week would go far beyond Stupak, allowing hospitals that receive federal funds but are opposed to abortions to turn away women in need of emergency pregnancy termination to save their lives."

Russell Berman of The Hill: getting his minions to repeal healthcare & cut Congressional budgets (CW: they didn't cut 'em much) was easy. Now comes the hard part for Speaker John Boehner.

Steve Benen: "Drudge touted a bizarre story that claimed the Texas blackouts were 'a direct consequence of the Obama administration's agenda to lay siege to the coal industry, launch a takeover of infrastructure under the contrived global warming scam, and help usher in the post-industrial collapse of America.' Limbaugh followed up.... On Friday, 'obama triggers blackouts' was the #1 'Hot Search' in America, according to Google.... The story, such as it was, gained enough attention that the White House felt the need to explain that the right had simply made this garbage up out of whole cloth."

In a Wall Street Journal op-ed, new Sen. Rand Paul roughly outlines (very roughly) his proposal to cut the federal budget by $500 billion. One cut: the entire Department of Education. 

News Ledes

President Obama spoke at the National Chamber of Commerce this morning. New York Times story here. Video above. Transcript of speech, as delivered, via the White House. Washington Post post-speech story.

AP: "President Barack Obama says the United States intends to formally recognize Southern Sudan as a sovereign, independent state in July.Obama made the announcement Monday in a statement congratulating the people of Southern Sudan for 'a successful and inspiring' referendum." Read the President's statement here. ...

... Reuters: "Sudan's president Monday said he accepted a southern vote for independence in a referendum that is set to create Africa's newest state."

Los Angeles Times: "U.S. Rep. Jane Harman (D-Venice), a leading congressional voice on anti-terrorism issues, plans to resign from Congress to head up the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, a senior congressional source confirmed Monday, setting up a special election to choose her successor in a coastal district that stretches from Venice into the South Bay."

Guardian: "The last Labour government did 'all it could' to help release the Libyan convicted of the Lockerbie bombing to secure a BP oil deal and strengthen its political ties with Libya, an official review has found.The study of hundreds of confidential government papers by the Cabinet Office concluded that there was an 'underlying desire' by the UK government to see Abdelbaset al-Megrahi released early from his life sentence to further UK-Libyan relations."

Reuters: "President Barack Obama said on Monday talks to resolve Egypt's crisis were making progress, but the main Islamist opposition in Cairo said it could quit the process if protesters' demands were not met. Obama's comments seemed to contradict those by Egyptian opposition figures who reported little progress in talks over demands including the immediate exit of President Hosni Mubarak."

New York Times: "Leaders of the Egyptian democracy movement vowed Sunday to escalate their pressure for the resignation of President Hosni Mubarak, even as his government portrayed itself as already in the midst of American-approved negotiations to end the uprising." ...

... New York Times: "After disappearing in Egypt more than a week ago, leaving an ominous message on his Twitter account, Wael Ghonim, who leads Google’s marketing efforts for the Middle East and North Africa, is expected to be released by Egyptian authorities to his family on Monday afternoon, a friend of the Ghonim family said Sunday night." ...

    Los Angeles Times Update: "Wael Ghonim, the Google executive who has been missing since participating in the first few anti-government protests in Egypt, was released on Monday, according to reports from Al Jazeera."

... Clever Ploy. AP: "Egypt's embattled regime has decided to give government employees a 15 percent raise in salaries and pensions as it seeks to bolster support amid mass protests demanding President Hosni Mubarak's ouster. Monday's decision came during the first Cabinet meeting since the crisis erupted two weeks ago."

New York Times: "Facing his most crucial legal battle so far, Julian Assange, the founder of the antisecrecy organization WikiLeaks, appeared on Monday at a hearing to decide whether he will be extradited to Sweden to face accusations of sexual abuse." ...

     ... Guardian Update: "The prosecutor leading the rape and sexual assault case against Julian Assange is a 'malicious' radical feminist who is 'biased against men', a retired senior Swedish judge has told the hearing into Assange's extradition to Sweden."