Debt Ceiling Panic Blame begins with reckless GOP House leaders, not “rebellious” freshmen Representatives

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Everyone keeps saying that this is happening because these Tea Bagging, Freshmen “outsiders” aka Republican Representatives are bucking against the way Washington works. It’s not so. Boehner, Cantor and the GOP house leadership fomented this economically destructive stupidity with approval of their political donors and now are having a hell of a time getting their caucus to fall back in line:

An intensive endgame at hand, Republican leaders abruptly postponed a vote Thursday night on legislation to avert a threatened government default and slice federal spending by nearly $1 trillion.

“The votes obviously were not there,” conceded Rep. David Dreier, R-Calif., after Speaker John Boehner and the leadership had spent hours trying to corral the support of rebellious conservatives.

Just over a week ago, Darrell Issa said that the threat of default is imaginary…

We should not be having a discussion with a artificial deadline of August 2nd, set by the President so the President can extort a deal through his reelection period. That’s not right, it’s not what the American people expect us to do.”

Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC) piled on Tuesday, saying, “The president needs a crisis to blame us for the economy that he’s made worse.”

Darrell Issa: Debt Deadline Is ‘Artificial’ Date Obama Is Using To ‘Extort’ A Deal From Congress | ThinkProgress.

Boehner’s tact is not a Wall Street by surprise. In May, he told Wall street that his approval of a debt ceiling increase would be saddled with three demands:

1) “Without significant spending cuts and reforms to reduce our debt, there will be no debt limit increase. And the cuts should be greater than the accompanying increase in debt authority the president is given. We should be talking about cuts of trillions, not just billions.”

2) “They should be actual cuts and program reforms, not broad deficit or debt targets that punt the tough questions to the future.”

3) “With the exception of tax hikes — which will destroy jobs — everything is on the table. That includes honest conversations about how best to preserve Medicare.”

Rep. Jeb Hensarling spoke in May was clear about this the GOP demands for spending cuts to be greater than the amount of debt ceiling increase:

Before Tuesday’s vote, Texas Republican Jeb Hensarling, chairman of the House Republican Conference, said the vote will show that Congress won’t raise the debt ceiling without cutting more spending.

“It’s an important vote to have to show the president that is not where Congress is, it’s not where the American people are,” he said.

via House Rejects Debt Limit Increase Without Cuts : NPR.

Walking out of negotiations or refusing to work towards progress was not borne of the new Tea Party faction either? Majority Leader Cantor led that behavior:

The breakdown was set off by the surprise decision of Representative Eric Cantor of Virginia, the House majority leader and one of two Republicans participating in sessions led by Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr., to quit the negotiations.

So when you read stories about Boehner and Cantor telling Tea Baggers Representatives to bite the bullet and vote for their deal, mind you they are trying to pull Tea Baggers back from from where they led them.

All the deals being debated and voting on now satisfy GOP demands. There are no revenue demands. Obama now only has one demand: make the debt limit increase extend to the end of 2012 so that the US’s credit rating doesn’t get downgraded under the threat of more debt ceiling negotiations 3 to 4 months from now and 6 months again afer that. Boehner, Cantor and the GOP leadership have already walked their caucus passed accepting this clearly GOP leaning legislation and a political win and their troubles getting Tea Baggers to vote for their legislation in the House is borne of their own irresponsible leadership.

Rep. David Wu (D-OR) Resigns

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Hope he gets help. He needs it. And this investigation shouldn’t stop here, the allegations are very serious.

Rep. David Wu (D-OR) was behaving so strangely that staffers staged multiple interventions and requested he check into a psychiatric hospital, The Oregonian and Willamette Week reported on Friday. Staffers went so far as to make inquiries about the availability of beds in Portland and Washington.

Staffers Feared For Rep. David Wu’s Mental Health, Staged Interventions | TPMMuckraker.

Waiting for grown ups

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If Wall Street, GOP Senate and Hedge Fund Managers haven’t come out against House GOP’s game of default chicken yet and advocated for the Reid or McConnell plans, which both are all spending and tax cuts, shouldn’t you have to assume all of those folks are hedged against a default of the US government already?

It just seems to me like Daddy just went to get some cigarettes and bread, and we are the newly abandoned bastard who is too innocent and naive to figure out our father is a deadbeat and Mommy isn’t crying because her allergies are just killing her.

Some Sports: NFL, Winnipeg Jets, Copa América

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It’s been an fun few days of sports news.

First off, Hockey the NHL is out in Atlanta and in in Winnipeg.. The Thrashers are now the Winnipeg Jets. I’ve got nothing against at Atlanta, it’s just that no one cares about hockey there. IN Winnipeg, Hockey is religion

Second, the NFL Labor strife is over, and the CBA seems like a fair agreement for both sides. Ray Lewis can rest easy, evil will not spread because De Smith and Roger Goodell were able to broker a 10 year CBA with no take backs. Salaries for team employees will be restored. I hope any folks who were laid off will be rehired. The best news? A $620M to $1B will be set aside for benefits for NFL players who retired before 1993 over the next 10 years. This “Legacy Fund” will be funded by money that used to go to the rookie pool:

Will my favorite player from the sixties still be left to his own devices in a nursing home somewhere? Pension funds and health benefits for retired players are increased under the new agreement, with some money that formely went to paying rookies now reassigned to former professional players. N.F.L.P.A. executive director DeMaurice Smith has included former players in the negotiations.

via The Sporting Scene: The N.F.L. Deal: A Fan’s Guide : The New Yorker

Third, Yesterday, Uruguay beat Paruguay 3-0 to win Copa América 2011 in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Brazil’s play in this tournament was sub par and underwhelming. That federation is looking to remake the team. Host team Argentina led by Messi genius could not prevail as his side faltered in the Quaterfinals vs. Uruguay. While Uruguay is the smallest country in the 12 nation tournament, Diego Forlan, who scored two goals, is football royalty at home and around the world. He is relentless in attack and is an exciting goal scorer.

Fourth, rumors of Favre to the Eagles are being firmly smacked down. I refuse to link to anything about that stupid rumor.

 

 

On Borders

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In “You’ve Got Mail” Joe Fox (Tom Hanks) family business turned Goliath Fox’s Books, a Borders-like mega chain, moves into a New York neighborhood and crushes the life out of Kathleen Kelly’s (Meg Ryan) local bookstore The Shop Around the Corner. Now the giant is Amazon and a more nimble Barnes and Noble and Borders is The Shop Around the Corner except for one thing. Kathleen Kelly’s fictional shop employed a handful of highly educated, well positioned job seekers in the booming late 1990s while Borders employed 11K workers who are losing their jobs in the worst recession since the great depression. The hits just keep on coming.

UPDATE: Also, the argument that Borders failed because of taxes is nutty on its face. Tea Party/Norquist ideology passed off as facts. Barnes and Nobles exists and is still in business. They incur taxes for books sold in stores as well, but pursued an e-reader strategy based around the nook that has helped them increase revenue. Borders fell because they were poorly managed inefficient business. Not because of predictable sales taxes.

“I don’t know what the argument is for letting bridges collapse.”

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The Liberal Argument for raising revenue in a recession was framed perfectly by former Obama economic adviser Larry Summers:

We have infrastructure in this country — I mean you can argue whether we need a new high speed rail system or whether we don’t need a new high speed rail system. But I don’t know what the argument is for letting bridges collapse. I don’t know what the argument is.

via Brainstorm Tech video: Larry Summers on debt, bubbles, and Obama – Fortune Tech

This is what the President is only touching on when he says “he cannot guarantee Social Security checks” and this is what rank and file Democrats need to argue for. The end result of the GOP push to cut spending is one that will reduce our standard of living for years to come.

AT&T and the Democratic House Caucus

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The top two recipients, not surprisingly, were House Speaker John Boehner, the Ohio Republican, who received $77,300; and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, the Nevada Democrat, who received $36,150. Neither signed the letter.

Here are the 72 House Democrats who sent the letter, followed by how much each received from the AT&T in the last election.

Amount 2010 cycle[…]

Chaka Fattah $8,000

via AT&T Gave $500k to House Democrats Pushing The T-Mobile Takeover | paidContent.

$8000 dollars for my congressman means I get to be pushed to AT&T and probably get lower quality service. great.

Eric Cantor: shallow, callow fanatic. Paul Ryan: bold & courageous

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After Cantor cheerily walked out on budget talks led by VP Joe Biden last month, Andrew Sullivan called Eric Cantor a “shallow, callow fanatic”

They see this ideologically, i.e. not politically. But the political facts are these. Federal tax revenues are at a 50-year low; marginal rates are lower for many than they were when Reagan was president. In a divided government, any achievement requires some sacrifice from both sides. And yet the GOP is insisting that its side offers no sacrifice, even as the other party controls the Senate and the White House. Their own party, moreover, contributed dramatically to the debt we now face. And there is no clear evidence that raising revenues will lead to economic decline. […]

This is brinksmanship with all of our lives, our money, our core financial stability and future growth. It is an outrageously reckless way to run a government.

via Cantor’s Cant – The Dish | By Andrew Sullivan – The Daily Beast.

Eric Cantor is being berated by Sullivan for trying to pull the budget deal towards Paul Ryan’s no new taxes, dollar for dollar trade of cuts for debt ceiling increase, medicare busting budget plan…but Paul Ryan is still very bold and serious because he was the first to propose drastic cuts to entitlement spending. Mind you, dragging all of this out has been in the GOP schedule from the beginning. The so serious Paul Ryan acknowledged the coming “brinkmanship” in May:

Just a day after Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner announced that the United States had hit its $14.3 trillion debt limit, Rep. Paul Ryan predicted that negotiations over raising the limit would go until the “last minute” – despite Geithner’s entreaties to act “as soon as possible” in order to prevent an economic crisis.

These guardians of low tax rates for the rich have cynically used the debt ceiling and expanding deficit as cover for their anti-tax agenda. All the plans on the table all inflate the federal deficit more than doing nothing. We will not be better off after August 2nd whether an agreement is made or not.

“The Secret”: James Arthur Ray didn’t visualize a not guilty verdict, attracted conviction

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James Arthur Ray, a Guru who “taught” his followers “The Secret” and would subject them to re-birthing more commonly known as cooking people alive in a sweat lodge, has been convicted of negligent homicide.

Prosecutors argued that Ray was criminally negligent in subjecting Kirby Brown, Liz Neuman and James Shore to life-threatening conditions, and that he deserved prison for their deaths. They played a recording of him urging participants to ignore their bodies’ signs of distress during what he called a “hellacious” event.

“The Secret” is that really, really, really positive thinking creates positive outcomes when you really, really, really believe it:

The secret behind “The Secret” is something called, “The Law of Attraction.”

“Everything that is coming into your life, you are attracting into your life,” explains Bob Proctor, a self-help leader featured in the film, “The Secret.”

“And it’s attracted to you by the virtue of the images you are holding in your mind.”

As “The Secret’s” sales boomed, Ray was catapulted into the self-help stratosphere. His book “Harmonic Wealth” became a best-sellers, and he started popping up all over, on Larry King, as a judge at the Miss America pageant and on Oprah, who enthusiastically embraced”The Secret.”

It’s important to remember Oprah’s role in all of this promotion of nonsense. She flipped on James Frey for lying on her show. She was applauded by many for it. Oprah never moved to correct those who for various reasons, pushed snake oil cures to the masses on her show. Part of the reason, is her personal embrace of some of the quack science. Here she tells Larry King how “The Secret” was the key to her career.

She never corrected Ray for appearing on her show and promoting dangerous nonsense because she was a devotee herself.

Who are the Libyan Rebels?

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A question that hasn’t fully been answered and leaves more doubt about the Libyan mess we have mired ourselves in while sustaining the rebels coup attempt against Gaddaffi. Now rebels are rumored to have death squads.

Rebel commanders have created a wanted list and placed suspects under round-the-clock surveillance. Secret militia units raid houses without court warrants and often interrogate suspects for hours. Those released have to sign a document stating their loyalty to the revolution.

[…]

In recent weeks, at least seven former members of the internal security police have turned up dead, their bodies riddled with bullets. Although it is not known who killed them, many suspect that they died at the hands of rebel-affiliated death squads.

via Libyan rebels accused of reprisal attacks – The Washington Post.

How are the detainees treated under rebel care? Reports are not positive.

The woman’s 18-year-old son, Amar Abdul Baset, said his mother had left Gaddafi’s military in the 1980s and had been a housewife ever since, receiving a pension.

She was interrogated for 12 hours. The rebels peppered her with questions and showed her a list of suspects. They asked whether she was working with anyone on the list or organizing military action for Gaddafi. Before they released her, she was ordered to sign a pledge that she supported the revolution, her son said.

“When she came back, she was very scared,” Baset recalled. “It’s the same tactics Gaddafi’s regime used.”

This is the side we’re on.

Tax Holiday for tax shelters would not help the economy

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The GOP wants to give a tax holiday to US Corporate tax dodgers who have stashed money overseas. The argument is that such a tax holiday would flood our economy with new cash.

They were treated to such a holiday in 2005, and according to MIT economics professor Kristin Forbes, who was a member of Bush’s council of economic advisers:

“For every dollar that was brought back, there were zero cents used for additional capital expenditures, research and development, or hiring and employees wages.”

via p m carpenter’s commentary: Another ‘facts holiday’.

Tax cuts, benefits and subsidies for the rich do not make them “job creators”.

Maryland GOP operatives accused of fraud

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Isn’t it enough to run, try hard and then lose an election?

Well, today Ehrlich’s Communication Director and a well known scum for hire in Maryland politics were indicted on multiple counts of election fraud. TPM has details here and Steve Benen weighs in here

via Balloon Juice » This Indictment is quite a read…

No one at so liberal MSNBC has asked their newest contributor Michael Steele, Lt. Gov. under Ehrlich, what the deal is with his old campaign pals.

 

CBO: Debt by ending Bush Tax Cuts + “Obamacare” + Medicare as is < Debt under Ryan Plan

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It’s that simple. The Ryan Plan is like a suit worn by TNT sportscaster Craig Sager: Bold. Not Serious.

The Congressional Budget Office just released the latest edition of its long-term budget outlook (pdf), and it shows the same thing as always: If Congress lets the Bush tax cuts expire or offsets their extension, implements the Affordable Care Act as scheduled and makes or offset the Medicare cuts prescribed by the 1997 Balanced Budget Act — which CBO calls the “extended baseline scenario” — the national debt will be totally manageable. If Congress passes laws extending the Bush tax cuts without offsetting the cost, repealing the Affordable Care Act and its cost controls and protecting doctors from Medicare cuts without making up the savings elsewhere — the “alternative fiscal scenario” — the national debt will be totally out of control:

via CBO: We’ll only have giant deficits if Congress wants giant deficits – Ezra Klein – The Washington Post.

The mathematics have not changed.

US Diplomacy in Syria: Effective & Efficient

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US Ambassador to Syria, Robert Ford is making waves with proactive diplomacy.

That was the blunt verdict offered by U.S. Ambassador Robert Ford in a wide-ranging telephone interview with Foreign Policy today. Ford sharply criticized the Syrian government’s continuing repression against peaceful protestors and called on President Bashar al-Assad to “take the hard decisions” to begin meaningful reforms before it is too late. Not, Ford stressed, because of American concerns but because of the impatience of the Syrian opposition itself. “This is not about Americans, it is about the way the Syrian government mistreats its own people,” Ford stressed repeatedly. “This is really about Syrians interacting with other Syrians. I’m a marginal thing on the sidelines. I’m not that important.”

Some might disagree. Last Thursday and Friday, Ford made a dramatic visit to the embattled city of Hama to demonstrate the United States’ support for peaceful protests and its condemnation of the Syrian government’s use of violence. His trip to Hama electrified supporters of the Syrian opposition, and marked a sharp escalation in U.S. efforts to deal with the difficult Syrian stalemate. It also sparked a vicious Syrian response, as government-backed mobs attacked the U.S. Embassy in Damascus, inflicting considerable damage. In a caustic note posted to his Facebook page, Ford called on the Syrian government to “stop beating and shooting peaceful demonstrators.” Ford’s sharp criticism of the Syrian government’s violence against peaceful protestors and detailed outline of multilateral and American diplomatic efforts to pressure the Syrian regime suggest that the recent U.S. rhetorical escalation does mark a new stage in the ongoing crisis.

via Our Man in Damascus | Marc Lynch.

This is a heartening example of where diplomacy can be used to apply enormous pressure to certain oppressive regimes.