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Cliff After Cliff by Charles M. Blow, The New York Times | January 3, 2013
We have a deal. But please hold your applause, indefinitely. We momentarily went over the fiscal cliff but clawed our way back up the rock face. Unfortunately, we are most likely in store for a never-ending series of cliffs for our economy, our government and indeed our country. Soon we’ll have to deal with the sequester, a debt-ceiling extension and possibly a budget, all of which hold the specter of revisiting the unresolvable conflicts and intransigence of the fiscal cliff. Imagine an M. C. Escher drawing of cliffs. Be clear: there is no reason to celebrate. This is a mournful moment. We — and by we I mean Congress, and by Congress I mean the Republicans in Congress — have again demonstrated just how broken and paralyzed our government has become, how beholden to hostage-takers, how vulnerable to extremism. read more »The Wingnut Trifecta by Joan Walsh, salon.com | January 3, 2013
Right-wing claims that Hillary Clinton faked illness to avoid testifying about the Benghazi tragedy would be funny if they weren’t so ugly. It’s the wingnut trifecta, smearing our most popular past Democratic president, Bill Clinton, along with our current president, Barack Obama, and the current 2016 front-runner, all with one shot. Imagine birtherism crossed with the worst of the hateful anti-Clinton lies, like the “Vince Foster was murdered” claim. That’s Hillary-health trutherism. But so far right-wingers claiming that Clinton somehow faked her concussion have gone virtually unchallenged on Fox News and right-wing sites like Newsbusters and the Daily Caller. This is crazy. read more »Republicans Against ... the Violence Against Women Act? by Jamelle Bouie, prospect.org | January 3, 2013
Every so often, Congress has to tackle “no-brainer” legislation. These are bills that, for the most part, are broadly supported by both parties and don’t require much in the way of time, negotiation, or effort to resolve and pass. One of them is the Violence Against Women Act, which provides funding for shelters and other services, and targets resources toward prosecution of violent crimes against women. House conservatives would rather kill the Violence Against Women Act—which has helped drive a significant reduction in domestic violence—than allow it to be reauthorized with new protections for Native Americans, LGBT Americans, and undocumented immigrants. Ladies and gentlemen, your Republican Party. read more »Dark Money Group Told IRS They Would Stay Out of Politics, Then Didn’t by Kim Barker, propublica.org | January 2, 2013
Five conservative dark money groups active in 2012 elections previously told tax regulators that they would not engage in politics, filings obtained from the IRS show. The best known and most controversial of the groups is Americans for Responsible Leadership [1], an Arizona-based organization. Not long after filing an application to the IRS pledging — under penalty of perjury — that it would not attempt to sway elections, the group spent more than $5.2 million, mainly to support Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney. Much hangs on these applications, all of which are still pending. The tax code allows social welfare nonprofits to engage in political activities as long as public welfare, not politics, is their primary purpose. If the IRS ultimately decides not to recognize these groups, they could have to disclose their donors. read more »The End of the Hastert Rule by Michael Tomasky, thedailybeast.com | January 2, 2013
Well, now we know what it takes for House Republicans to see a little bit of reason: It takes Fox News anchors warning them that if they don't pass the fiscal cliff bill, they'll be universally blamed. I would guess that there were some interesting phone calls being made yesterday afternoon to Speaker Boehner's office, calls we'll never know about, from various rich and influential people telling him to quit playing games and do the responsible thing. Even so, it's worth remembering that only 85 of 241 Republicans backed the cliff bill. In other words, if it had been entirely up to them, they'd have killed it. That will always be worth remembering. read more »The Republican Party Is the Problem by Jamelle Bouie, prospect.org | January 2, 2013
The Republican Party is the problem. President Obama isn’t perfect—he’s a mediocre negotiator, with a penchant for giving away too much. But he’s dealing with a group of fanatical, rabidly anti-government conservatives, who—over the last two years—have threatened to shut down the government, crash the global economy, and induce a second recession in order to lower taxes on the rich and slash spending on a collection of the nation’s most vulnerable citizens. There’s nothing Obama—or any Democrat—can do to mitigate the policy nihilism of right-wing conservatives in the House. And so we should expect more of it. Not the least because these same Republicans also won re-election in 2012, in districts that also voted to elect Mitt Romney president. They have no incentive to cooperate, and with the debt ceiling on the horizon, a new opportunity to force crisis. read more »Tea Party Extremism and the 'Cliff' by Paul R. Pillar, consortiumnews.com | January 2, 2013
It is irresponsible to help create a mess and then to walk away and expect someone else to clean it up. That’s true whether the mess is a spill in the kitchen or something comparably sticky, smelly or hazardous in deliberations in Congress. Multiple press reportsobserve that this is what the political tantrum known as the Tea Party has been doing. We haven’t heard much from the Tea Partiers recently because they opted out of participation in the fiscal cliff drama as the rest of the country counted down the time remaining until the New Year’s, and budgetary, ball drops. In this latest phase in the tantrum, Tea Partiers unhappy that the political game has not gone entirely their way (with the outcome of the presidential election being, of course, their principal setback) have decided to take their own ball and bat and go home. read more »Mr. Smith's Insane Cousins Go to Washington by Michael Tomasky, thedailybeast.com | December 21, 2012
Plan B was a conservative plan with one little tiny dash of compromise, one small and mostly symbolic feather step outside the safe zone of hard-right ideology and toward...not even the center, but the far-right fringe of the center. And the Republicans could not vote even for that. So we'll go over the cliff, and Obama will have more leverage, and we'll see what happens then. But make no mistake. Mr. Smith's insane cousins have come to Washington, and insane people can't be reasoned with. The country is stuck with the vandals, and vandalism is all they can commit, because that is who they are. read more »The Humiliation Of John Boehner by Steve Kornacki, salon.com | December 21, 2012
Last night was hardly the first public humiliation that John Boehner has suffered at the hands of his fellow Republicans, but it’s probably the most stark. And it raises some very basic questions about the House speaker’s political future – like whether he even has one. The demise of Plan B also calls Boehner’s job security into question. The Obama-era conservative base has never trusted him; he’s been in Washington too long, he cut too many pre-2008 deals with Democrats, and he voted for too much spending. Since he claimed the speaker’s gavel, they’ve been watching him like a hawk for any sign he’s about to sell them out, virtually eliminating his ability to cut deals on their behalf. What happened last night indicates that this dynamic hasn’t changed since the election, and with the January 3 vote for speaker coming up, there is some chatter now that House conservatives might attempt to dethrone Boehner. read more »It’s a Mad, Mad Michigan by Anna Clark, prospect.org | December 21, 2012
Sure, lame-duck legislatures are bound to be a bit mad. But the session that just closed in Michigan was one for the ages. Aflush with the flurry of bills sent to the desk of Governor Rick Snyder—not so much speaking to his opinion on their quality—a politics-loving friend of mine in Detroit exclaimed, “It’s like Christmas in … well, in December.” The swift passage of right-to-work in Michigan picked up national and international headlines last week. But that overhaul of labor law is only one piece of the expansive legislative plan for the state that now awaits Snyder’s go-ahead. read more »
The Latest
Recession Fueling Right-Wing Extremism, Reuters | April 14, 2009
Right-wing extremists in the United States are gaining new recruits by exploiting fears about the economy and the election of the first black U.S. president, the Department of Homeland Security warned in a report to law enforcement officials. read more »
Chinese Drywall Poses Risks, MSNBC News | April 12, 2009
At the height of the U.S. housing boom, when building materials were in short supply, American construction companies used millions of pounds of Chinese-made drywall because it was abundant and cheap. read more »
Citizens Held As Immigrants, MSNBC News | April 12, 2009
In a drive to crack down on illegal immigrants, the United States has locked up or thrown out dozens, probably many more, of its own citizens over the past eight years. An investigation has documented 55 such cases. These citizens are detained for anything from a day to five years. It is illegal to deport U.S. citizens or detain them for immigration violations. read more »
U.S. Food Safety No Longer Improving, The New York Times | April 10, 2009
After decades of steady progress, the safety of the nation’s food supply has not improved over the past three years, the government reported. And, it said, in the case of salmonella, the dangerous bacteria recently found in peanuts and pistachios, infections may be creeping upward. read more »
Pistachios Tested Positive For Salmonella For Months, USA Today | April 3, 2009
The company that recalled 2 million pounds of pistachios had been receiving positive salmonella tests for as long as five months, federal officials say. Salmonella in nuts from Setton Pistachio was detected by one of the company's food-manufacturing customers. read more »
FDA Issues Another Nut Warning, The Washington Post | March 31, 2009
Federal food safety officials warned that consumers should stop eating all foods containing pistachios while they figure out the source of a possible salmonella contamination. read more »
G20 Leaders Target Tax Havens, Christian Science Monitor | March 31, 2009
For more than a decade, governments have applied moral pressure on Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Singapore, Monaco, and a host of countries that allow the well-heeled to park their money out of the sight of tax authorities at home. Now, they are threatening to replace the tough talk with strict sanctions on those countries that continue to shelter tax evaders with bank secrecy rules. read more »
Poor Records Slow Food Probes, Reuters | March 27, 2009
Many U.S. food handlers do not maintain proper records to track products such as milk and oatmeal, making it hard to identify the source of a food-borne outbreak, a government investigator said. The U.S. food supply system has come under scrutiny in the wake of high-profile recalls. read more »
Regulators Ramp up Fraud Training After Madoff, Reuters | March 24, 2009
Burned by their failure to uncover the biggest Ponzi scheme in history, U.S. securities regulators are ramping up training of staff on how to spot the warning signs of market swindles. The Securities and Exchange Commission's inspection unit is offering 90-minute classes for employees. read more »
China Fires Eight Regulators Over Milk Scandal, The New York Times | March 22, 2009
China said that eight senior regulators were fired last week for “slack supervision” in a tainted milk scandal that killed at least six children and sickened over 300,000 last year. The government said high-ranking regulators in the country’s major food supervisory agencies were stripped of their positions and their membership in the Communist Party. read more »
