The Commentariat -- March 30

President Obama explains why I love Steven Chu. Hear it through:

Karen Garcia has a new post about former Wisconsin Sen. Russ Feingold's effort to remove GE CEO Jeff Immelt as head of the President's Craven Council on Jobs. As Feingold writes, not only did GE pay no taxex on $14 billion in profits [actually, GE got government grants, too, so they had a net gain], Immelt's salary doubled & Feingold hears GE is planning to ask union workers for major concessions in wages & benefits. Garcia's post includes a link to Feingold's petition drive, which is also here. 

President Obama speaks with NBC News' Brian Williams about assistance to Libya. He says he will not rule out arming the rebels:

... CNN Staff: "President Barack Obama made clear in interviews Tuesday with the three major U.S. television networks that he was open to arming the rebel fighters."

** This is a Blood-Boiling Must-Read. Neil Barofsky, who is retiring today as Special Inspector General for TARP, says TARP utterly failed the American people:

The government has declared [TARP's] mission accomplished, calling the program remarkably effective 'by any objective measure.' ... I regret to say that I strongly disagree. The bank bailout, more formally called the Troubled Asset Relief Program, failed to meet some of its most important goals.... Treasury’s mismanagement of TARP and its disregard for TARP’s Main Street goals ... may have so damaged the credibility of the government as a whole that future policy makers may be politically unable to take the necessary steps to save the system the next time a crisis arises. This avoidable political reality might just be TARP’s most lasting, and unfortunate, legacy." ...

... Michael Powell & Andrew Martin of the New York Times: "... the [Obama] administration’s broader foreclosure prevention effort [was a dismal failure], as tens of billions of dollars remain unspent and hundreds of thousands of homeowners have been rejected. Now the existence of the main program, the Home Assistance Modification Program, is in doubt. Saying it is a waste of money, the Republican-controlled House voted on Tuesday night to kill the foreclosure relief program. The Senate, which the Democrats control, will pursue a rescue. But Democrats, too, consider the program badly flawed. The effort has failed to stanch a wave of foreclosures and a decline in home prices, which have fallen for six consecutive months and are now just barely above their recession low, according to a key index updated on Tuesday. All of this threatens the fragile economy...."

Mark Bittman, a New York Times food critic, "stopped eating on Monday and joined around 4,000 other people in a fast to call attention to Congressional budget proposals that would make huge cuts in programs for the poor and hungry." ...

... Bittman, et al., would not have to go hungry if fat, lazy Democrats had done their jobs. Steve Benen: "... most of the country has no idea the extent to which the GOP's proposed cuts would be devastating to key domestic priorities. These are cuts that, if put to a poll, the vast majority of the American mainstream would reject out of hand. But here's another thought: maybe most of the country has no idea how brutal these cuts are because Dems haven't told them.... It might be frustrating to Democrats in Washington to be on the defensive right now, but much of this is the result of the party choosing not to go on the offensive when it had the chance." CW: WTF is the leadership doing? Partial answer here: ...

... Party Line. Jennifer Steinhauer: in a conference call to reporters, Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) lets slip that House Republicans are extremists. ...

... Michael O'Brien of The Hill: "Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) said riders to defund Planned Parenthood and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) wouldn't fly in the upper chamber.... Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) signaled earlier Tuesday that while he wasn't thrilled with the riders, he'd be willing to consider them." ...

... Government Shutdown, Step 2. Molly Hooper & Erik Wasson of The Hill: "House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) on Tuesday ruled out another short-term measure to fund the government, raising pressure on both parties to reach a deal to avert a government shutdown after April 8." ...

Artwork for Politico.Twitterwars. The Budget Debate in 140 Characters or Less. Meredith Shiner of Politico reports on the dueling tweets of Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) & House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.).

"Everybody Floss!" Karen Garcia. HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius -- in a letter to all 50 governors reminding them their states could opt out of, well, optional portions of the Affordable Care Act -- provides a blueprint for reducing coverage.

Bill Maher isn't sorry he called Sarah Palin a cunt & Michele Bachmann a bimbo, says the local reviews for his standup gig in Dallas, Texas, were great:

... Bush Administration foreign policy advisor & serious hawk Dan Senor on Sarah Palin's and other Republicans' criticism of President Obama's speech on Libya (the video quality sucks, but it's worth hearing):

     ... Video of Half-Gov. Palin's "analysis," in which she calls President Obama's speech "full of chaos", "dodgy", and "dubious," is here.

Justice Scalia Violently Forces American People to the Right (would make a good HuffPost headline). The Reliable Source: on his way to court yesterday, Justice Antonin Scalia caused a four-car pileup on the Washington Parkway when he rear-ended the car in front of him. The Park Police ticketed the justice. Brooke Salkoff, a former NBC reporter, "told us she was just behind Scalia’s vehicle, a shiny black BMW in the left lane. 'It slammed into the car in front of his, which pushed the other two forward,' and caused them all to skew into the right lane." [Emphasis added.]

Right Wing World *

Her action today again flies in the face of the separation of powers between the three branches of government. -- Assembly Speaker Jeff Fitzgerald, on Judge Sumi's restatement of her injunction barring implementation of Wisconsin's anti-union law. Fitzgerald of course has it backwards; by refusing to conform to the judge's ruling, it is he who violates separation of powers. Oh, and that's "among the three branches," you illiterate twit. ...

... Extremer & Extremer. Patrick Marley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: "A Dane County judge [Maryann Sumi] said Tuesday she is concerned the Department of Justice has a conflict in representing Secretary of State Doug La Follette and must provide him with independent counsel.... The issue arose after La Follette grew frustrated that his attorneys were not asking questions of a witness. 'My attorney won’t ask a question on my behalf,' La Follette told the court." CW: I think an attorney's refusal to represent his client is grounds for disbarment.

Eric Hananoki of Media Matters: "In newly uncovered audio, a Fox News executive boasts that he lied repeatedly during the closing days of the 2008 presidential campaign when he speculated on-air 'about whether Barack Obama really advocated socialism.' Speaking in 2009 onboard a pricey Mediterranean cruise sponsored by a right-wing college, Fox Washington managing editor Bill Sammon described his attempts the previous year to link Obama to 'socialism' as 'mischievous speculation.' Sammon, who is also a Fox News vice president, acknowledged that 'privately' he had believed that the socialism allegation was 'rather far-fetched.' ... Sammon also pushed Fox News colleagues to play the socialism card." Includes audio. ...

... Howard Kurtz in the Daily Beast: but now Sammon says "he doesn’t regret repeatedly raising it on the air because ... 'it was a main point of discussion on all the channels, in all the media' — and by 2009 he was 'astonished by how the needle had moved.'”

... Greg Sargent: Sammon "... doesn’t regret having spread an idea he personally found far-fetched, because so doing helped ensure that the far-fetched idea ultimately gained widespread acceptance. That’s a peculiar attitude for a 'news' executive, isn’t it?"

... So Adam Serwer of American Prospect suggests an appropriate new Fox slogan:

Fox News: We lie to you. But it's okay, because you believe it.

     ... Simon Miloy of Media Matters Update: "Bill Sammon: 'It wasn't a lie. It was pre-truth!'"

The "Squirmish" in Libya." George Zornick of Think Progress: "Last night [Monday] on Fox News, Greta van Susteren hosted former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (R) to discuss what Palin termed the 'squirmish' in Libya.... The former governor ... casually septupled the cost of U.S. intervention. According to figures released by the Pentagon, the intervention cost $600 million in the first seven days. Palin, however, claimed that the no-fly zone — which, for the record, she called for — cost that amount daily." With video.

Joe Klein of Time: "It is particularly excrutiating watching the Republican Party presidential candidates who, on a daily basis, pronounce some ignorant racist or irreligious twaddle.... I have never before seen such a bunch of vile, desperate-to-please, shameless, embarrassing losers coagulated under a single party's banner. They are the most compelling argument I've seen against American exceptionalism."

* Where facts never intrude.

Local News

Reuters: "Arizona Governor Jan Brewer on Tuesday signed into law a controversial bill that makes the state the first in the nation to outlaw abortions performed on the basis of the race or gender of the fetus.... Under the new Arizona statute, doctors and other medical professionals would face felony charges if they could be shown to have performed abortions for the purposes of helping parents select their offspring on the basis of gender or race.... Opponents [of the law] have maintained that while such abortions may be happening in other countries like China, no clear evidence can found of it occurring in Arizona."

News Ledes

NBC News: the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) "the U.N. nuclear watchdog, suggested Japan consider widening the evacuation zone around the stricken Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant." ...

... NBC News: "The Environmental Protection Agency and the Food and Drug Administration say that very low levels of radiation have turned up in a sample of milk from the West Coast state of Washington. The FDA said such findings are to be expected in the coming days because of the nuclear crisis in Japan, and the levels are expected to drop relatively. (Iodine-131 has a very short half-life — only about eight days.)"

Washington Post: "After weeks of arguing, Republicans and Democrats on Capitol Hill began negotiations Wednesday on a possible budget agreement that would slash federal spending by as much as $33 billion and avert a government shutdown." ...

... Washington Post: "Having difficulty finding consensus within their own ranks, House Republican leaders have begun courting moderate Democrats on several key fiscal issues, including a deal to avoid a government shutdown at the end of next week."

New York Times: "The two houses of the Ohio Legislature approved a far-reaching bill on Wednesday that would hobble the ability of public-employee unions to bargain collectively and undercut their political clout. They sent the bill to Gov. John R. Kasich, a Republican, who lawmakers said would sign it in the next few days.The Republican-dominated Senate voted 17 to 16 in favor of the bill Wednesday evening, hours after the House passed it, 53 to 44, with 5 Republicans joining 39 Democrats in opposition."

Wisconsin State Journal: "State officials have not stopped putting in place changes to collective bargaining rules for public employees despite a judge's order barring the law's implementation — and a threat of sanctions against anyone who violates it."

** Reuters: "President Barack Obama has signed a secret order authorizing covert U.S. government support for rebel forces seeking to oust Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, government officials told Reuters on Wednesday. Obama signed the order, known as a presidential 'finding', within the last two or three weeks, according to government sources...." ...

... Boots on the Ground? New York Times: pursuant to that finding, "the Central Intelligence Agency has inserted clandestine operatives into Libya to gather intelligence for military airstrikes and to contact and vet the beleaguered rebels battling Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi’s forces, according to American officials." ...

... Al Jazeera: "Moussa Koussa, the Libyan foreign minister, has defected to the United Kingdom, the British foreign ministry has confirmed. The ministry said in a statement that Koussa had arrived at Farnborough Airport, in the south of England, on a flight from Tunisia on Wednesday. 'He travelled here under his own free will. He has told us that he is resigning his post. We are discussing this with him and we will release further details in due course,' the statement said.... It added that Koussa was one of the most senior officials in Gaddafi's government with a role to represent it internationally, which is 'something that he is no longer willing to do'."

... AP: "Rebels retreated Wednesday from the key Libyan oil port of Ras Lanouf along the coastal road leading to the capital Tripoli after they came under heavy shelling from ground forces loyal to leader Moammar Gadhafi. NATO planes flew over the zone where the heaviest fighting was under way and an Associated Press reporter at the scene heard explosions, indicating a new wave of airstrikes against Gadhafi's forces."

... New York Times: "The Obama administration is engaged in a fierce debate over whether to supply weapons to the rebels in Libya, senior officials said on Tuesday, with some fearful that providing arms would deepen American involvement in a civil war and hat some fighters may have links to Al Qaeda. The debate has drawn in the White House, the State Department and the Pentagon, these officials said, and has prompted an urgent call for intelligence about a ragtag band of rebels who are waging a town-by-town battle against Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi, from a base in eastern Libya long suspected of supplying terrorist recruits."

New York Times: "The Syrian government resigned Tuesday in what might have been a prelude to other concessions in a speech President Bashar al-Assad is expected to give to the nation on Wednesday, part of an expanding effort to address protests against his authoritarian rule. The resignation was seen as a significant — if primarily symbolic — gesture in a nation where the leadership rarely responds to public pressure and where decisions are made not by the cabinet but by the president and his inner circle, including multiple security services."

New York Times: "Ivory Coast tipped further toward civil war on Wednesday as forces opposed to the nation’s strongman, Laurent Gbagbo, dismissed a ceasefire offer and advanced toward the nation’s political capital, Yamoussoukro."

** Washington Post: "An ideologically divided Supreme Court on Tuesday stripped a $14 million award from a wrongfully convicted man who had spent 14 years on death row and successfully sued New Orleans prosecutors for misconduct. Conservative justices prevailed in the 5 to 4 ruling, which shielded the district attorney’s office from liability for not turning over evidence that showed John Thompson’s innocence. It was the first decision of the court term that split the justices into ideological camps, and Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg emphasized her disagreement by reading a summary of her dissent from the bench." Read the opinion, concurring opinion & dissent here (pdf).