Editore"s Note
Tilting at Windmills

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February 23, 2011

BOEHNER CLEARLY DIDN'T THINK THROUGH HIS DOMA RESPONSE.... The Obama administration announced this afternoon that it would no longer defend the Defense of Marriage Act, having concluded that the law is unconstitutional.

The response from the nation's most powerful Republican was priceless.

Michael Steel, a spokesman for [House Speaker John] Boehner, said in an e-mail he questions why Obama "thinks now is the appropriate time to stir up a controversial issue that sharply divides the nation" when "most Americans want Washington to focus on creating jobs and cutting spending."

Just at face value, this response is almost laughably weak. There's ongoing litigation, and the Justice Department had to decide how best to proceed. So, it did. Besides, waiting for "the appropriate time" to take a side on a "controversial issue," generally means indefinite paralysis.

But the larger problem here is with Boehner's office lacking any and all self-awareness. This Speaker, after all, leads a House Republican caucus that has spent its first seven weeks tackling multiple abortion bills, health care, private-school vouchers, Planned Parenthood, a resolution to promote the phrase "In God We Trust," and even a measure tackling marriage rights in the District of Columbia.

Boehner's office questions why the White House "thinks now is the appropriate time to stir up a controversial issue that sharply divides the nation"? Has his spokesperson been conscious for the last two months?

Steve Benen 3:35 PM Permalink | Trackbacks | Comments (9)

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A RECIPE FOR A WEAKER ECONOMY.... If federal policymakers want to make the economy worse, on purpose, all they have to do is approve the Republican agenda. The Financial Times has this report today.

The Republican plan to slash government spending by $61bn in 2011 could reduce US economic growth by 1.5 to 2 percentage points in the second and third quarters of the year, a Goldman Sachs economist has warned.

The note from Alec Phillips, a forecaster based in Washington, was seized in the ongoing US budget fight by Democrats as validating their argument that the legislation approved by the Republican-led House of Representatives last Saturday would do significant damage to the US recovery.

Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) responded to the Goldman Sachs report, saying in a press statement, "This nonpartisan study proves that the House Republicans' proposal is a recipe for a double-dip recession. Just as the economy is beginning to pick up a little steam, the Republican budget would snuff out any chance of recovery. This analysis puts a dagger through the heart of their 'cut-and-grow' fantasy."

Well, one would certainly like to think so.

Remember, this analysis comes a week after additional research found that the Republican spending cuts could lead to roughly 1 million job losses. (Asked about this, Speaker John Boehner replied last week, "So be it.")

I'd gladly note the GOP response to all of this, but as best as I can tell, there isn't one. Republicans don't know -- and by all accounts don't care -- what the economic results would be if their plan was approved. They don't hold hearings to explore the effects of the proposal, and party officials haven't offered any economic projections they believe would result from their plan in implemented.

They just want to cut, no matter what it does the country. This isn't about consequences, it's about making the GOP base feel good about itself.

We now have independent analyses showing that the Republican spending measure would push the economy back towards a recession and would deliberately make unemployment worse. If Democrats balk, the GOP will shut down the government.

Why this isn't the lead story in every news outlet in the country remains unclear.

Update: I suppose the next question is why Republicans would pursue a plan they know would slow the economy. Among the possibilities: (1) they fear inflation that doesn't exist; (2) they have to hurt the country on purpose to undermine President Obama's re-election chances; (3) they consider the deficit more important the economy, just on principle; (4) something else? I'd love to understand the GOP's motivations, but just as importantly, I'd love for the media to press the GOP on its motivations.

Steve Benen 2:45 PM Permalink | Trackbacks | Comments (21)

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THE CHEESE STANDS ALONE.... The Republican Party's anti-union efforts were supposed to spread from Wisconsin to Indiana, and it appeared that the Hoosiers were in for a similar confrontation. Indeed, like their Wisconsin brethren, a group of Indiana Democrats fled to Illinois yesterday to deny the GOP majority the necessary quorum to proceed on a related bill.

By late yesterday, however, Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels (R) announced his opposition to the proposal, and today, the bill died.

Republicans have killed a controversial labor bill that has sparked a Democrat work-stoppage and large union protests at the Statehouse. [...]

Senate President Pro Tempore David Long, R-Fort Wayne, said that he, Bosma, R-Indianapolis, and Daniels all agree that the matter instead should be studied by a legislative committee later this year.

The so-called "right to work" bill would bar companies and unions from negotiating a contract that would require non-union employees to pay a fee for representation.

There are, not surprisingly, other pending bills Indiana Dems are concerned about, but for now, this is a victory.

Also today, anti-labor efforts in Iowa came to an abrupt halt in Iowa, as Gov. Terry Branstad (R) announced he's not interested in changing the state's collective bargaining law.

If Wisconsin's Scott Walker (R) were looking for some cover from his Republican allies, especially in the Midwest, he's not finding much in the way of support.

Steve Benen 2:10 PM Permalink | Trackbacks | Comments (9)

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OBAMA ADMINISTRATION DROPS DOMA SUPPORT.... President Obama has long said he opposes the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), but his administration has nevertheless felt compelled to defend the law in court. It's been the subject of considerable debate.

As of this afternoon, however, the debate changed considerably, with the the president showing some welcome and much-needed leadership.

President Obama has decided that the Defense of Marriage Act is unconstitutional and has asked his Justice Department to stop defending it in court, the administration announced today.

"The President believes that DOMA is unconstitutional. They are no longer going to be defending the cases in the 1st and 2nd circuits," a person briefed on the decision said.

The full statement from the Justice Department is online here. It includes this sentiment from Attorney General Eric Holder:

After careful consideration, including a review of my recommendation, the President has concluded that given a number of factors, including a documented history of discrimination, classifications based on sexual orientation should be subject to a more heightened standard of scrutiny. The President has also concluded that Section 3 of DOMA, as applied to legally married same-sex couples, fails to meet that standard and is therefore unconstitutional. Given that conclusion, the President has instructed the Department not to defend the statute in such cases. I fully concur with the President's determination.

Consequently, the Department will not defend the constitutionality of Section 3 of DOMA as applied to same-sex married couples in the two cases filed in the Second Circuit. We will, however, remain parties to the cases and continue to represent the interests of the United States throughout the litigation. I have informed Members of Congress of this decision, so Members who wish to defend the statute may pursue that option."

For those on the anti-gay right who've tried to label Obama "our first gay president," today's move probably won't help matters.

But for millions of Americans seeking justice, the administration's reversal may prove to be very helpful, indeed.

To clarify, today's news does not mean DOMA is dead, at least not yet. It's still federal law, and will remain on the books until Congress repeals it or the courts strike it down. But effective immediately, Obama's Justice Department believes DOMA is unconstitutional and will no longer defend it against two ongoing legal challenges.

It's another civil-rights breakthrough for the Obama administration.

Steve Benen 1:15 PM Permalink | Trackbacks | Comments (13)

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PRANK CALL EMBARRASSES WISCONSIN'S WALKER.... Yep, the call everyone's been talking about is, in fact, legit.

Here's something for your "can this possibly be for real" file this morning. Over at the Buffalo Beast -- the former print alt-weekly turned online newspaper founded by onetime editor Matt Taibbi, typically best known for its annual list of "The 50 Most Loathsome Americans" -- there appear to be recordings of a phone call between Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker and current editor Ian Murphy. Now, why on earth would Scott Walker want to talk on the phone with the editor of an online site in Buffalo? Well, he wouldn't.

But what if said editor pretended to be David Koch of the famed Koch Brothers? Well, that's a different story altogether, apparently! And so Walker, believing himself to be on the phone with his patron, seems to have had a long conversation about busting Wisconsin's unions.

Buffalo Beast Publisher Paul Fallon told The Huffington Post that the audio is "absolutely legit." That the call took place as described by the Beast has been confirmed by Walker spokesman Cullen Werwie.

The site that conducted the prank and posted the original story is no longer accessible -- the traffic surge brought it down -- but the conversation between Walker and the man impersonating Koch is on YouTube. Here's Part 1 and here's Part 2.

The governor's office confirmed this morning that Walker fell for the prank, but added, "The phone call shows that the governor says the same thing in private as he does in public."

That's largely true, but not entirely. Let's walk through this story a bit.

First, it's remarkable Ian Murphy, pretending to be Koch, even got through. He talked to Walker's chief of staff, Keith Gilkes, and said he couldn't leave a return number because, "My goddamn maid, Maria, put my phone in the washer. I'd have her deported, but she works for next to nothing." This, oddly enough, led Gilkes to invite "Koch" to call back and speak directly to the governor.

Second, and more important, is the fact that Walker talked about a scheme to bring state Senate Democrats back to the capitol.

"An interesting idea that was brought up to me by my chief of staff, we won't do it until tomorrow, is putting out an appeal to the Democratic leader. I would be willing to sit down and talk to him, the assembly Democrat leader, plus the other two Republican leaders -- talk, not negotiate and listen to what they have to say if they will in turn -- but I'll only do it if all 14 of them will come back and sit down in the state assembly. They can recess it... the reason for that, we're verifying it this afternoon, legally, we believe, once they've gone into session, they don't physically have to be there. If they're actually in session for that day, and they take a recess, the 19 Senate Republicans could then go into action and they'd have quorum because it's turned out that way. So we're double checking that. If you heard I was going to talk to them that's the only reason why."

In other words, Walker's plan was to bring Dems back under false pretenses, set the trap, then screw them over. So much for the notion of acting in good faith.

And third, when the Koch impersonator suggested a scheme involving "planting some troublemakers" among the protestors, Walker conceded, "[W]e thought about that," before explaining that he questioned its impact. Perhaps the governor's office can clarify this one -- it's certainly not what the governor has been saying "in public."

When the site is back up, the online transcript is certainly worth reading. At a minimum, it casts Walker in a very negative light -- again -- at a crucial time in the larger controversy. For those wondering if perhaps the governor is in over his head, the comments he made on this call won't generate renewed confidence in his abilities.

Steve Benen 12:30 PM Permalink | Trackbacks | Comments (52)

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WEDNESDAY'S CAMPAIGN ROUND-UP.... Today's installment of campaign-related news items that wouldn't necessarily generate a post of their own, but may be of interest to political observers:

* Former White House chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel won Chicago's mayoral race yesterday, cruising to a fairly easy victory.

* Speaking of mayoral races, voters in Kansas City, Mo., ousted incumbent Mayor Mark Funkhouser yesterday. He's the first K.C. mayor in more than 80 years to be denied a second term.

* The right-wing American Crossroads GPS, created in part by Karl Rove, is launching radio ads targeting 22 House Democrats. The attack: these Dems aren't doing enough to support brutal, job-killing spending cuts.

* The NRSC has high expectations in the race against Sen. Claire McCaskill (D) in Missouri next year, but so far, high-profile candidates are skipping the contest. Yesterday, Rep. Jo Ann Emerson (R) said she, too, isn't going to run in the statewide contest.

* The GOP primary in Virginia's U.S. Senate race is getting a little crowded. Virginia Beach attorney David McCormick is the latest to launch a campaign in the commonwealth.

* At an event in Nevada yesterday, scandal-plagued Sen. John Ensign (R) was asked by an elderly constituent, "Have you repented to God for your affair?" He said he has.

* On a related note, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee is getting increasingly optimistic about the party's chances against Ensign, and committee officials have lined up meetings with a series of prospective candidates, including Rep. Shelley Berkley (D).

* Republicans probably shouldn't invest too heavily against Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D) in Rhode Island next year -- a new survey from Public Policy Polling shows him looking very strong.

* And in case there were any lingering doubts about his intentions, Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour (R) was in Iowa this week, meeting with Iowa's governor and other state GOP leaders.

Steve Benen 12:00 PM Permalink | Trackbacks | Comments (5)

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SMALL BUSINESSES SPEAK OUT, CONT'D.... Last week, Jeffrey Leonard, CEO of the Global Environmental Fund, talked to Stephen Colbert about his article in the latest issue of the Washington Monthly. The appearance generated some interesting responses.

If you missed the interview (and the article), Leonard is shining a light on a serious problem small businesses face, but which hasn't generated much in the way of attention: "Many small firms are handicapped by a new twist on an old parasitic business practice that large corporations are using in the wake of the 2008-09 financial crisis, one that has significantly reduced the cash available to small businesses to invest and hire new employees."

Leonard has several proposed changes, but the most straightforward is also the most effective: require companies with federal contracts pay their suppliers within 30 days of invoice. The shift would not only improve small business cash-flow, but would also help expand hiring.

After the interview, we heard from more than a few small businesses that could directly relate to what Leonard described. We started publishing some of their responses Tuesday, and we're keeping the series going today.

Here, for example, is a note we received from Silicon Valley.

I was in the middle of writing my attorney this evening about collecting from our mega-client who owes us about $70K, when Mr. Leonard's segment on The Colbert Report came on. I was stunned. He is absolutely spot-on with his observation.

I started a small but growing consulting practice in 2009 with some of the best minds in Silicon Valley. I was able to put 30 - 45 folks "back to work" through independent projects and consulting assignments. Most of these folks are former high-level execs who were victims of the recession. We banded together and decided to move forward. We work with companies of varying sizes mostly in the life sciences, medicine, and emerging clean technologies. The work we will do will literally save lives and improve the human condition.

With the exception of one client, ALL of our clients are practicing the strategy described by Mr. Leonard. I am constantly on the phone with the client's accounting departments, my attorney, or collection agencies. For the most part, nothing works. Our clients are clients who are "flush with cash" -- no doubt about it. Our mega-client has never paid on time even though our attorney firm wrote an "iron-clad contract," the company has consistently violated the terms of the contract. The value of the contract over a two-year period meant about $400K to us. To a small company, that's a heck of a lot and will keep a lot of folks' lights on and health insurance paid. Not only is the mega-client now walking away from the contract without penalty, they are offering us .30 cents on the dollar for services already delivered and used. In fact, the work was so good is was to be showcased to their top management in Europe. There's no problem with the work -- they simply decided they won't pay and are bullying us into accepting less.

Because we work a lot in the intellectual property space, we're also seeing companies buying up patents and other IP from very small businesses who are selling at bargain-basement prices because they can't get funding or have to unload the only thing of value they have left -- their intellectual property. One company's VP of Emerging Technologies told me, "We don't even have to validate the IP or value it since all the entrepreneurs want is to get what they can. We're accumulating as much IP as we can for almost nothing." There you have it. Small businesses and start-up companies sitting in the world's center of innovation who will be forced out of the market by bullying tactics and greedy large companies.

Small businesses have very little recourse -- almost none of us can afford to pursue litigation -- and, the large companies know it. If you look at some of the names of our team on our website, their resumes are pretty spectacular. These companies get McKinsey and Boston Consulting quality work and either don't pay, pay way late, or offer vastly reduced amounts for work already produced. The banks won't lend to small business and the clients won't pay. So much for economic recovery.

There was also this letter from a businessperson in Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania.

Continue reading...

Steve Benen 11:30 AM Permalink | Trackbacks | Comments (20)

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WHEN THE RIGHT'S RHETORIC TURNS VIOLENT.... In the wake of last month's shootings in Tucson, it was common for folks on the left to suggest the right relied too often on violent rhetoric. Conservatives, invariably, were outraged.

There is, however, a rationale behind the assumptions. For example, incidents like these come up from time to time.

On Saturday night, when Mother Jones staffers tweeted a report that riot police might soon sweep demonstrators out of the Wisconsin capitol building--something that didn't end up happening--one Twitter user sent out a chilling public response: "Use live ammunition."

From my own Twitter account, I confronted the user, JCCentCom. He tweeted back that the demonstrators were "political enemies" and "thugs" who were "physically threatening legally elected officials." In response to such behavior, he said, "You're damned right I advocate deadly force." He later called me a "typical leftist," adding, "liberals hate police."

Only later did we realize that JCCentCom was a deputy attorney general for the state of Indiana.

If there's a compelling defense for a state deputy attorney general to recommend use of "live ammunition" and "deadly force" against pro-labor protestors, I can't think of it.

On a related note, Jay Bookman reports this morning that the Service Employees International Union will hold a rally in Atlanta today, at Georgia's state capitol. Conservative activists have been encouraged to attend -- with firearms.

Update: The Indiana deputy A.G. has reportedly been fired.

Steve Benen 10:55 AM Permalink | Trackbacks | Comments (51)

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GOP OFFICIALS PLAY THE 'WHO US?' GAME.... With the prospects of a government shutdown growing every day, it appears every Republican in Congress has been told to repeat the same line over and over again.

Here, for example, was the perpetually-confused Sen. Scott Brown (R-Mass.), talking yesterday to Fox News:

"There's no Republican that's going to shut the government down or wants to shut the government down. The only people talking about that right now are the Democrats."

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) used nearly identical language three weeks ago, and Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) and House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) echoed the talking point last week, and Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) adopted the same line on Monday.

It's hard to overstate how ridiculous this is. To be sure, I understand the underlying point -- if Republicans shut down the government next week, they don't want to be blamed -- but only a fool could find the GOP rhetoric on this credible.

The record isn't in dispute. ThinkProgress has been keeping a running tally of Republican lawmakers who've been talking up the notion of shutting down the government, dating back to September. Indeed, the list keeps growing -- over the weekend, Rep. Joe Walsh (R-Ill.) told constituents, "If my Republican leadership asks me to vote for a budget, even a two-week budget, that doesn't have spending cuts, I will say no and I will shut down government."

"The only people talking about that right now are the Democrats"? Are you serious?

Republican leaders appear absolutely certain that the political world is dominated by easily-fooled suckers. I'm not certain they're wrong -- the lead story on Politico this morning featured this headline: "Shutdown: Does GOP have the edge this time?"

Steve Benen 10:25 AM Permalink | Trackbacks | Comments (23)

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ANOTHER FEDERAL COURT VICTORY FOR THE AFFORDABLE CARE ACT.... Over the last year, there have been all kinds of court rulings related to the health care reform law, but most deal with procedural issues. They all matter, but the ones that deserve the most attention are the ones that deal with the substance of the Affordable Care Act and the legal merit of the challenges.

Going into yesterday, four federal district courts had ruled on the legality of the law, with each side winning twice. Yesterday, Judge Gladys Kessler tipped the scales and made the right call.

Judge Kessler adopted the government's position on whether Congress's authority to regulate interstate commerce is so broad that it can require people to buy a commercial product. Past Supreme Court decisions have established the standard that Congress can control "activities that substantially affect interstate commerce."

The judge suggested in her 64-page opinion that not buying insurance was an active choice that had clear effects on the marketplace by burdening other payers with the cost of uncompensated medical care.

"Because of this cost-shifting effect," she wrote, "the individual decision to forgo health insurance, when considered in the aggregate, leads to substantially higher insurance premiums for those other individuals who do obtain coverage."

Judge Kessler added: "It is pure semantics to argue that an individual who makes a choice to forgo health insurance is not 'acting,' especially given the serious economic and health-related consequences to every individual of that choice. Making a choice is an affirmative action, whether one decides to do something or not do something."

The judge also tossed out a claim that the law restricted the plaintiffs' exercise of religious freedom because the mandate to buy health insurance conflicted with their belief that God would provide for their well-being. She wrote that such a burden, if it existed at all, was too minor to require invalidation of the law.

Perhaps most notably, Kessler's ruling added that those who buy the argument embraced by the two judges who ruled against the law are choosing to "ignore reality." As Jonathan Cohn explained, she also has no use for the so-called "broccoli argument."

The ruling is the result of a case brought by the American Center for Law and Justice, a right-wing legal group created by radical TV preacher Pat Robertson. It also keeps the partisan nature of the legal dispute alive -- three judges appointed by Democratic presidents have sided in support of the law, two judges appointed by Republican presidents did the opposite.

As a practical matter, all of these rulings are of limited value, since the issue will ultimately be decided by the U.S. Supreme Court, but given all the breathless media attention the conservative court rulings received, it's worth noting that there are now three federal court rulings that make it obviously clear that the health care reform law is clearly constitutional.

Steve Benen 9:30 AM Permalink | Trackbacks | Comments (18)

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WALKER TRIES A 'FIRESIDE CHAT'.... If Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) thought he was winning the fight over his union-busting efforts, he probably wouldn't have felt compelled to deliver a statewide address last night.

But the far-right governor did feel compelled to speak for about 10 minutes to his constituents, in what was billed as a "fireside chat."

I always find it difficult to know how "regular" folks will respond to a speech like this, but if Walker hoped to change the direction of the debate -- or even offer a compelling defense for his controversial crusade -- he appears to have fallen far short.

For example, instead of ratcheting down the rhetoric, the Republican governor reiterated his threat to start firing thousands of public employees unless he gets the punitive, anti-labor proposal he wants. Walker added that he'd blame Democrats for the layoffs.

He argued that his proposal is intended to "protect the hardworking taxpayer," which seems odd given that taxpayers won't save any money from ending collective bargaining rights, and many of those poised to get screwed are themselves hardworking taxpayers.

Perhaps most notably, Walker also insisted that "everyone else has to sacrifice." What he neglected to mention is that state employees have already agreed to less pay and fewer benefits -- in other words, they're ready and willing to sacrifice -- and the fact that the governor just handed out a bunch of tax breaks to those who he clearly doesn't expect to sacrifice.

In the meantime, Walker apparently isn't inspiring his ostensible allies, either. Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels (R) announced his opposition yesterday to his own party's anti-union bill, and asked that it be pulled. Around the same time, Florida Gov. Rick Scott (R) announced he doesn't have a problem with the collective-bargaining rights the Wisconsin governor is fighting to take away.

And even in Wisconsin, former Gov. Tommy Thompson, one of Walker's Republican predecessors, notably declined to endorse the union-busting proposal currently under consideration.

If Walker thinks he's winning this argument, he's not paying close enough attention.

Steve Benen 8:40 AM Permalink | Trackbacks | Comments (58)

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INCHING EVER CLOSER TO A GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN.... For those hoping to see Congress avoid a government shutdown next week, yesterday was more than a little discouraging.

For what it's worth, it's getting easier to summarize the nature of the debate, and both parties have straightforward, easy-to-define positions. For Democrats, the line is, "Let's give ourselves more time to discuss budget cuts." For Republicans, the line is, "Give us budget cuts first, and then we'll discuss budget cuts."

That may sound silly, but it's actually the state of affairs among congressional leaders.

As the strategic jockeying in a fight over federal spending kicked into high gear, the Republican House speaker, John A. Boehner, said on Tuesday that it was up to the White House and the Democrats who control the Senate to agree to at least some Republican-backed cuts to help reach a short-term deal and avoid a government shutdown early next month.

The House on Saturday approved more than $60 billion in spending reductions, for the fiscal year that runs through Sept. 30, that would hit nearly every area of the government. Not one Democrat voted for the bill, and the White House has threatened to veto it.

Senate Democrats, saying more time is needed to reach a longer-term agreement, are calling for a 30-day extension that would continue to hold spending generally at last year's levels, but Republicans say that is not enough.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) presented an approach yesterday he thought offered a way out of the mess. By midday, he'd asked the Senate Appropriations Committee to produce a "clean" bill -- no hidden goodies, no pork, no policy measures -- that would keep the government's lights on for 30 days. The point, of course, would be to avoid a shutdown and give policymakers time to work out a deal for the rest of the fiscal years.

Better yet, Reid's plan is arguably a spending-cut plan -- it would maintain spending levels below the White House's budget request, which is what House Republicans have used as a baseline.

Naturally, GOP leaders immediately announced that Reid's plan isn't good enough. They said they expect the Senate to vote on the brutal cuts the House approved over the weekend -- a plan Republicans know can't pass -- and barring that, Boehner & Co. demand the upper chamber agree to "some" cuts, though the minimum figure remains unclear.

And the response to that from Senate Democrats is that they're "willing to go deeper" into the budget, but "want a few weeks to work this out."

An inflexible deadline looms, and policymakers have until a week from Friday to figure something out. Last week, I said there's a 70% chance of a shutdown. As of this morning, I'd say it's at least 80%.

Steve Benen 8:00 AM Permalink | Trackbacks | Comments (18)

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February 22, 2011

TUESDAY'S MINI-REPORT.... Today's edition of quick hits:

* By all accounts, the streets of Tripoli are a war zone: "Libya appeared to slip further into chaos on Tuesday, as Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi vowed to 'fight until the last drop of my blood' and clashes intensified between rebels and his loyalists in the capital, Tripoli. Opposition forces claimed to have consolidated their hold over a string of cities across nearly half of Libya's 1,000 mile Mediterranean coast, leaving Colonel Qaddafi in control of just parts of the capital and some of southern and central Libya, including his hometown."

* New Zealand: "Rescue workers spent a cold, rainy night searching through rubble for survivors of a powerful earthquake that struck New Zealand's second-largest city, Christchurch, on Tuesday, killing at least 65 people."

* Markets freaked out a bit today, leading to a Saudi announcement: "Trying to calm turbulent oil markets, Saudi Arabia's oil minister said on Tuesday that the OPEC cartel was ready to pump more oil to compensate for any dropoff caused by unrest in the Middle East."

* He's usually more diplomatic: "To the shock of President Hamid Karzai's aides, Gen. David H. Petraeus suggested Sunday at the presidential palace that Afghans caught up in a coalition attack in northeastern Afghanistan might have burned their own children to exaggerate claims of civilian casualties, according to two participants at the meeting."

* It's not just Wisconsin: "Protestors packed into Ohio's State Capitol building and several thousand more gathered outside on Tuesday, as its legislature planned new hearings on a bill that would effectively end collective bargaining for state workers and dramatically reduce its power for local workers, like police officers and firefighters."

* Don't forget the anti-union push in Florida, too: "The bill would bar government employers from deducting either union dues or voluntary contributions to union political accounts."

* In Madison, a left-leaning website used by union supporters to rally protesters has been inaccessible in Wisconsin's capitol. Hmm.

* On a related note, "Americans for Prosperity" are launching an ad campaign in Wisconsin. Imagine that.

* I wish I knew why Republican governors don't like their constituents, and seem to want their state economies to suffer.

* Rep. David Wu (D) of Oregon is now being treated with medication and counseling after an "intervention" staged by his staffers.

* Terrific graphic from Jamison Foser: "People likely to be hired by CNN."

* George Will sure could use an editor.

* Post of the Day: "The Relationship between Union Membership and State Budget Deficits."

* The National Institute for Civil Discourse will be housed at the University of Arizona, and its honorary co-chairmen will be former presidents George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton.

* And Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D) is ready to see his home state of Nevada end legal prostitution, which he believes may be an impediment to economic development: "Nevada needs to be known as the first place for innovation and investment -- not as the last place where prostitution is still legal." We'll see how that goes.

Anything to add? Consider this an open thread.

Steve Benen 5:30 PM Permalink | Trackbacks | Comments (25)

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DONALD RUMSFELD WAS THE SECRETARY OF DEFENSE FOR 6 YEARS.... Alexis Madrigal went poking through Donald Rumsfeld's online archive yesterday, looking for instances which the former Pentagon chief referenced Libya. He found a doozy.

This memo was sent on April 7, 2003, to then-Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Douglas Feith. Rumsfeld's subject line read, "Issues w/Various Countries," and it reads:

We need more coercive diplomacy with respect to Syria and Libya, and we need it fast. If they mess up Iraq, it will delay bringing our troops home.

We also need to solve the Pakistan problem.

And Korea doesn't seem to be going well.

Are you coming up with proposals for me to send around?

Thanks.

This is literally the entire memo. No, it's not a parody.

Donald Rumsfeld was, by the way, the Secretary of Defense for six years, a tenure that included overseeing two wars.

And as far as Dick Cheney is concerned, Rumsfeld was "the best Secretary of Defense the United States has ever had."

Steve Benen 4:40 PM Permalink | Trackbacks | Comments (27)

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ANTI-UNION AGENDA NOT POPULAR WITH AMERICAN PUBLIC.... There have been a few polls making the rounds related to Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker's (R) union-busting efforts, but I was waiting for an independent poll unaffiliated with any of the relevant players.

This one qualifies.

The public strongly opposes laws taking away the collective bargaining power of public employee unions as a way to ease state financial troubles, according to a new USA TODAY/Gallup Poll.

The poll found that 61% would oppose a law in their state similar to one being considered in Wisconsin, compared with 33% who would favor such a law.

Now, this was a national poll, so it doesn't tell us how folks in Wisconsin feel about their own governor's crusade, but the results nevertheless suggest Republicans, who've rallied in large numbers behind Walker and his proposal, are not on the same page as most Americans.

The results should also send a signal to policymakers in other states who are planning Walker-like moves -- I'm looking at you, Indiana, Florida, Ohio, and Tennessee -- that the public isn't buying the GOP's anti-union line, at least not yet.

On a related note, the same USA Today/Gallup poll found that a majority of Americans oppose raising taxes to close budget gaps, and a plurality oppose reducing or eliminating government programs.

Yeah, that's helpful.

Steve Benen 3:50 PM Permalink | Trackbacks | Comments (25)

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