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Defending the Right to Treat Your Employees Like Dirt by Paul Waldman, prospect.org | November 16, 2012
Getting tired of eating at Chick-Fil-A every day to express your hatred of liberals? Well, now you have a couple more options. You can chow down at Applebee's, where the CEO of their New York franchises went on TV to declare that he won't be doing more hiring because of the costs Obamacare would impose. Or you can head over to Papa John's, whose CEO, John Schnatter, has said that Obamacare could add as much as—brace yourself—10 cents to the cost of a pizza, and since obviously customers would never tolerate such price gouging, he'll just have to cut back employees' hours. In our new era of corporate political activism, we're goin to be seeing a lot more of this kind of thing. So let's make sure we all understand exactly what it is these chieftains are complaining about: They don't want to give their employees health insurance. That's it. read more »What Benghazi Is about: Scandal Envy by Paul Waldman, prospect.org | November 16, 2012
If you're looking at the Republican harumphing over Benghazi and asking yourself, "Why are we supposed to be so mad about this again?" you're not alone. So what's going on here? I can sum it up in two words: scandal envy. Republicans are indescribably frustrated by the fact that Barack Obama, whom they regard as both illegitimate and corrupt, went through an entire term without a major scandal. They tried with "Fast and Furious," but that turned out to be small potatoes. They tried with Solyndra, but that didn't produce the criminality they hoped for either. Nixon had Watergate, Reagan had Iran-Contra, Clinton had Lewinsky, and Barack Obama has gotten off scott-free. This is making them absolutely livid, and they're going to keep trying to gin up a scandal, even if there's no there there. Benghazi may not be an actual scandal, but it's all they have handy. read more »The Republicans Still Don't Get It by Eugene Robinson, The Washington Post | November 16, 2012
A mandate for the GOP? Don’t make me hurt myself laughing. The ideological hero and policy guru of the House Republican caucus, Paul Ryan, couldn’t even carry his home town of Janesville, Wis. (And Mitt Romney, by the way, lost all of his various home states.) Look, President Obama won 332 electoral votes to 206 for Romney. Much has been written about the demographic shifts that threaten the GOP’s future, but there has been less acknowledgment of an obvious fact about the present: Voters preferred Obama’s policies to Romney’s. read more »Life, Death and Deficits by Paul Krugman, The New York Times | November 16, 2012
America’s political landscape is infested with many zombie ideas — beliefs about policy that have been repeatedly refuted with evidence and analysis but refuse to die. The most prominent zombie is the insistence that low taxes on rich people are the key to prosperity. But there are others. And right now the most dangerous zombie is probably the claim that rising life expectancy justifies a rise in both the Social Security retirement age and the age of eligibility for Medicare. Even some Democrats — including, according to reports, the president — have seemed susceptible to this argument. But it’s a cruel, foolish idea — cruel in the case of Social Security, foolish in the case of Medicare — and we shouldn’t let it eat our brains. read more »From The 47% To ‘Gifts’: Mitt Romney’S Ugly Vision Of Politics by Ezra Klein, The Washington Post | November 16, 2012
When Mitt Romney thinks he’s behind closed doors and he’s just telling other people like him how politics really works, the picture he paints is so ugly as to be bordering on dystopic. It’s not just about class, but about worth, and legitimacy. His voters are worth something to the economy — they’re producers — and they respond to legitimate appeals about how to best manage the country. The Democrats’ voters are drags on the economy — moochers — and they respond to crass pay-offs. Romney doesn’t voice these opinions in public. He knows better. But so did the voters. That’s what you see in the overwhelming rejection Romney suffered among African-Americans, Hispanics, Asians, and young voters. They sensed that Romney fundamentally didn’t respect them and their role in the economy, and they were right. read more »The Neocons’ Waterloo by Robert Parry, consortiumnews.com | November 15, 2012
The decisive defeat of Mitt Romney in the presidential race and the forced resignation of ex-Gen. David Petraeus as CIA director have marginalized America’s neoconservatives more than at any time in the past several decades, confining them mostly to Washington think tanks and media opinion circles. The neocons bet heavily on a Romney victory as they envisioned a return to power, like what they enjoyed under President George W. Bush when they paved the way for the U.S. invasion of Iraq and dreamed of forcing “regime change” in Iran and Syria. During the campaign, Romney largely delegated his foreign policy to a cast of neocon retreads from the Bush era. Yet, amid the wreckage of the past week the neocons now find themselves without a strong ally anywhere inside the Executive Branch. read more »47 Percent, Part 2 by Paul Waldman, prospect.org | November 15, 2012
It seems that Mitt Romney still doesn't get that voting isn't a commercial transaction. Yes, sometimes voters make a choice based on their own lives. If you're worried about whether you'll be able to get health insurance, and one candidate has already passed a law ensuring that you will be able to, while the other candidate promises to repeal that law, you have a direct and personal interest in the election's outcome. On the other hand, if one candidate spent a year heaping contempt on people like you – whether because you're gay, or Latino, or an urban dweller, or whatever – then even if you think his policies might not affect you too directly, you probably still won't vote for him. But it's also possible to look at what the government has done for you and make a wider judgment about how the government is treating other people. read more »The Sore Losers Club by Steve Kornacki, salon.com | November 15, 2012
Sometimes, losing national candidates actually manage to enhance their reputations in defeat. The most famous example of this is probably Bob Dole, who growled his way through the 1996 campaign but then turned in a winning performance on David Letterman’s “Late Show” a few days after the election, giving rise to something of a post-political career as a humorist. Al Gore knows something about this too; his concession of the 2000 election earned him respect that had eluded him throughout that campaign. Based on their conduct since last week’s election, though, it’s safe to say that the two most recent national losers won’t be joining this company anytime soon. read more »The Inconvenient Truths Of 2012 by E.J. Dionne, The Washington Post | November 15, 2012
As Republicans dig out from a defeat that their poll-deniers said was impossible, they need to acknowledge many large failures. Yet Obama and his party need to understand that running a majority coalition is difficult. Managing a coalition that includes African Americans, Latinos, white working-class voters and suburbanites in the new and growing metro areas will take skill and subtlety. And Democrats need to recognize that some of their core constituencies typically vote in lower numbers in off-year elections. The party requires a strategy for 2014. But these are happy problems compared with what the GOP and the conservative movement confront. They need to rethink their approach all the way down. A party that wants to govern has to do more than run against government. For the right, this is the inconvenient truth of 2012. read more »Obama's Message To GOP Is, Ante Up by Ruth Marcus, The Washington Post | November 15, 2012
As the debt ceiling loomed last year, President Obama believed that Republicans had him over a barrel. They had won the midterm election. More important, calling the GOP’s bluff seemed too big a bet: Defaulting on the debt risked plunging the global financial system into chaos. The president’s mind-set as the “fiscal cliff” approaches is far feistier. He won reelection in a campaign that centered on higher taxes for the wealthy. Even more, in the White House view, the hazard of cliff-jumping is way less than the danger of ceiling-hitting. So rather than extend the Bush tax cuts for higher-income taxpayers, the president is willing to risk another recession — a move he would blame, and with good reason, on Republican intransigence. Consequently, the president has adopted a doubly tough posture as cliff negotiations commence. 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 »
