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Why Grover Still Matters by Brian Beutler, talkingpointsmemo.com | November 28, 2012
To critics of all the recent focus on Grover Norquist, the power of his anti-tax pledge isn't mythical, or really even that important. Their explanation is rather straightforward: Republicans don’t want to raise taxes not because Norquist tells them they can’t, but because they don’t want to raise taxes. Because rich people don’t want their taxes to go up. This is materially true, but I think it’s an incomplete account, both of the unique situation Republicans face right now, and of the interesting way Norquist fits into the bigger picture. It’s certainly the case that a lot of very rich people want their taxes low, and they provide Norquist and a few other powerful conservatives the means to enforce strict discipline among elected officials to keep them that way. But there’s something unique about Norquist’s rules that distinguish him from the Club for Growth or other powerful conservative anti-tax voices: Unlike the rest of them, he has the pledge. read more »Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein Wants Seniors to Get Less by Ethan Rome, Huffington Post | November 28, 2012
The hypocrisy of Lloyd Blankfein, a Wall Street banker, and other corporate leaders who have inserted themselves into the debate over major tax and spending decisions under consideration in Congress is nothing short of repugnant. Blankfein's Goldman Sachs got billions from the federal government during the Wall Street bailouts, enabling him to hold a job that paid him $16.1 million in 2011, and now he wants the rest of us to take a pay cut -- now and in the future. Referring to Social Security, he told CBS, "You're going to have to do something, undoubtedly, to lower people's expectations of what they're going to get." That's a second-rate vision for a first world country, and we just voted for a lot better than that. Blankfein is one of many Fortune 500 CEOs who joined together under the name "Fix the Debt," a campaign to cut Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid to address the federal deficit during the fiscal showdown. read more »A Strategic Plan for Liberals by The American Prospect, prospect.org | November 28, 2012
In August of 1971, corporate attorney Lewis Powell—two months shy of his appointment to the United States Supreme Court by President Richard Nixon—wrote a memo to Eugene Sydnor Jr., who chaired the education committee of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. In Powell’s and the chamber’s view, the American free-enterprise system, and conservatism more generally, was losing the battle of ideas and policy to an ascendant liberalism. “No thoughtful person,” Powell wrote, “can question that the American economic system is under broad attack.” It was high time the chamber began to change all that, and to that end, Powell laid out a number of specific steps that the chamber and business could undertake. The right is reaping the rewards of having built for the long term. And the left … the left needs a Powell Memo of its own, its own 40-year plan read more »How Obama Shouldn’t Back Down Vs. the GOP by Michael Tomasky, thedailybeast.com | November 27, 2012
On the one hand, it’s possible to look at all these Republicans distancing themselves from Grover Norquist and his famous pledge as an encouraging sign that they can read and understand election results. On the other, let’s not get carried away. The “compromise” they are offering is no compromise at all, really. And what they want in return from Democrats—which they are keeping intentionally vague—shows very clearly that they haven’t yet quite accepted the idea that elections have consequences. It’s nice to see Norquist’s Maginot Line holding about as well as the real one did. It’s been a long time coming. But let’s break down what this really amounts to, because it’s not something to be celebrated in and of itself just yet. read more »What Do Republicans Want? by Paul Waldman, prospect.org | November 27, 2012
As we head into negotiations on the Austerity Trap (better known by the inaccurate moniker "fiscal cliff," which I refuse to use), there's a clear narrative emerging. This narrative has it that Democrats want to see taxes increase on rich people, which Republicans aren't happy about, while Republicans want to see entitlement "reform," which Democrats aren't happy about. So once everybody gives a little, and Republicans accept some tax increases for the rich while Democrats accept some "reform" of Social Security and Medicare, then we can have a happy ending. The problem with this is that while the Democrats' position is quite clear—the Bush tax cuts should expire for income over $250,000—the Republicans' position is extremely vague, on both the tax side and the entitlement side. read more »To Change Our Direction, It’s Time to Follow Nature’s Lead by Sarah van Gelder, yesmagazine.org | November 27, 2012
I live among Chief Seattle’s people, and one of the things I’ve learned from this experience is humility. I say, “I’ve lived here 12 years—longer than I’ve lived anywhere!” And then I look around at the ancient petroglyphs and the shell middens that whiten the beaches, and I remember that my neighbors’ ancestors have lived here for thousands of years. I talk about the growing divide in our society between the 1 percent and the 99 percent. Then I’m invited to a potlatch, where a seafood feast is followed by an outpouring of gift giving. Ah yes, these people figured out centuries ago that inequality upsets the delicate balances that allow societies to thrive. So instead of gaining status from accumulating stuff, they earn respect by giving it away. read more »Do Republicans Have a Southern Problem? by Jamelle Bouie, prospect.org | November 27, 2012
One of the more interesting elements of President Barack Obama’s re-election victory was his strong performance in the South. He won Virginia and Florida—again—and came close to a win in North Carolina, where he lost by just two points. “Obama’s 2012 numbers in the Southeastern coastal states,” writes Douglas Blackmon for The Washington Post, “outperformed every Democratic nominee since Carter and significantly narrowed past gaps between Democratic and Republican candidates.” Indeed, Blackmon—who won a Pulitzer for the book Slavery by Another Name—sees this as a crack in the Republican Party’s otherwise solid hold on the South. A growing African American population, combined with greater Latino immigration and a shrinking white electorate has allowed Democrats to make gains in states that were once GOP strongholds. Judging from Election Day, this is most true in the five states that hug the coast: Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida. read more »Did Social Security and Medicare Crash the Economy? by Dean Baker, finance.yahoo.com | November 27, 2012
The talk in Washington these days might lead people to think that the main cause of the economic downturn is the Social Security and Medicare benefits being paid to retirees. After all, we have people from both parties giving us assurances that cuts to these programs are an essential part of any budget deal. This is the sort of topsy-turvy thinking that passes as conventional wisdom in Washington. In case it's necessary to remind people, our economy plunged due to the collapse of a Wall Street fueled housing bubble. The loss of demand from the collapse of the housing bubble both led to a jump in the unemployment rate from which we have still not fully recovered and also the large deficits of the last five years. read more »The Fiscal Cliff Is A Lie by Michael Lind, salon.com | November 27, 2012
The need for a “grand bargain” involving taxes and entitlements — in the next few years, if not immediately — has moved to the center of discussion in Washington. But it’s the wrong grand bargain — and a very bad deal for Middle America. According to the conventional wisdom, any grand bargain should be modeled on plans like the Bowles-Simpson plan or the Rivlin-Domenici plan — financing lower tax rates on the rich by closing tax loopholes and cutting Social Security and Medicare. In the aftermath of an election in which the candidates of the rich were trounced at the polls, America’s plutocratic conservatives might be satisfied with merely maintaining existing low tax rates on the rich, while capping loopholes and cutting Social Security and Medicare. This entire approach should be rejected. It is based on two fallacies. read more »Is Grover Finally Over? by Frank Bruni, The New York Times | November 27, 2012
Someday someone will write a dark history — a farce, really — of how Grover Norquist managed to bring nearly all of the Republican Party to heel, compelling legislator upon legislator to lash themselves to his no-new-taxes pledge. Until then we’ll have to content ourselves with his misfortune over the last few days. No sooner had a nation digested its turkey than his goose began to be cooked. The spreading rebellion in the Republican ranks was manifest on the post-Thanksgiving Sunday talk shows. read more »
The Latest
Security Experts Skeptical on Guantanamo Detainee Report, CNN | January 26, 2009
Security experts are questioning information released by the Pentagon last week, saying 61 former detainees from its detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, may have returned to terrorist activities. The report says 18 former detainees are confirmed to have participated in attacks, and 43 are suspected to have been involved in attacks. read more »
Guantanamo Case Files in Disarray, The Washington Post | January 26, 2009
President Obama's plans to expeditiously determine the fates of about 245 terrorism suspects held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and quickly close the military prison there were set back last week when incoming legal and national security officials — barred until the inauguration from examining classified material on the detainees — discovered that there were no comprehensive case files on m read more »
FEMA Flood Maps Outdated, Associated Press | January 25, 2009
Nearly four years after the devastation of Hurricane Katrina, researchers called on the federal government to upgrade its flood maps, arguing that the effort could save lives as well as stem losses to properties and businesses. read more »
Republicans Resist Recovery Plan, iht.com | January 25, 2009
Republicans plan to test President Barack Obama's commitment to bipartisanship as his $825 billion stimulus package heads to the floor of the House of Representatives this week, with the House Republican leader saying that many in his party will vote no unless there are significant changes to the plan. read more »
GAO Targets Regulatory Agencies , Associated Press | January 23, 2009
The U.S. regulatory structure policing the financial sector is outdated, federal oversight of medical products is inadequate and the government's tracking system for toxic chemicals is in danger of becoming obsolete, the investigative arm of Congress said. read more »
More Bad Accounting in Veterans Health Care , Associated Press | January 23, 2009
Two years after a politically embarrassing $1 billion shortfall that imperiled veterans health care, the Veterans Affairs Department is still lowballing budget estimates to Congress to keep its spending down, government investigators say. read more »
GOP Wants Changes in Recovery Bill, CNN | January 22, 2009
House Republican leaders have asked for a meeting with President Obama to offer major changes to the $825 billion economic recovery package urged by the president and proposed by House Democrats last week. Republicans want a greater focus on incentives for businesses to create more jobs, instead of direct spending on infrastructure projects. The Democratic proposal was created at Obama's urging. read more »
Banks Skirt Supervision, The Washington Post | January 22, 2009
At least 30 banks since 2000 have escaped federal regulatory action by walking away from their federal regulators and moving under state supervision, taking advantage of a long-standing system that allows banks to choose between federal and state oversight, according to a review of government records. read more »
Obama Opens Public Records, mcclatchydc.com | January 22, 2009
President Barack Obama, in his first full day in office, revoked a controversial executive order signed by President Bush in 2001 that limited release of former presidents' records. read more »
Toymakers Protest Product Tests, Business Week | January 22, 2009
Few small craft shops and artisan toymakers noticed last summer when Congress passed a sweeping new product safety statute known as the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act. The law, drafted after millions of lead-tainted imports were recalled in 2007, mandates strict testing for lead and other hazards in any product aimed at children, from toys to clothes to kids' books, starting Feb. 10. read more »
