There will still be days like yesterday

By Mustang Bobby 

We're all familiar with the tiny little fundamentalist Christian group known as Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka, Kansas. They consist mainly of the Phelps family, led by their patriarch, Fred Phelps, and they are most famous for demonstrating at the funerals of dead soldiers killed in the war as well as prominent people, including victims of terrorism, and carrying signs that proclaim GOD HATES FAGS and such gentle comfort. Their belief is that God so hates gays that he is inflicting his wrath on this nation for tolerating their existence that he does such things as kills soldiers for defending America. I don't know if they plan to show up at the funerals for the victims of the shooting in Connecticut, but I wouldn't put it past them.

Several states have written laws to prevent this pathetic little band of misfits from picketing at funerals, and they have also been sued for causing emotional distress. However, the courts have been circumspect about infringing on their right to express their opinions, and they were successful in defending themselves against the lawsuit. The rights of the people to express themselves, no matter how execrable their opinions are, cannot lightly be infringed.

Many if not all other Christian denominations have been swift to condemn the Westboro Baptist interpretation of the Bible, and they are equally horrified to see the name of their God libeled in such a way. Of course, not all Christians believe what they do and it would be unfair to tar them with the broad brush of bigotry and homophobia. And even as there are milder versions of the Phelps theology out there edging into the mainstream, they are still not representative of the vast number of Christians who are loving, kind, gay-friendly, or LGBT themselves.

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It's not about being "crazy." The Connecticut shooting did not happen in a mental-health vacuum.

By Michael J.W. Stickings

Well, here it comes... as we knew it would.

The connecticut school killer, Adam Lanza, was insane:

He was dark and disturbed, a deeply troubled boy from a wealthy family who unnerved his neighbors and classmates.

Mass murderer Adam Lanza, 20, was a ticking time bomb, people who knew him told the Daily News. 

"This was a deeply disturbed kid," a family insider told the Daily News. "He certainly had major issues. He was subject to outbursts from what I recall." 

Lanza, who friends and officials said suffered from Asperger's syndrome or a personality disorder, had a tortured mind.

This may all be true, but it's also the way America in general and right-wing gun nuts and their various supporters and enablers in particular refuse to take any responsibility for violent crime, especially gun crime.

It's not the guns, it's never the guns, it's the crazy guy -- this is the standard refrain. And if we all had guns, we'd be able to stop the crazy guys with guns -- this is what inevitably follows.

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Crazy everywhere, well-armed here

By Frank Moraes

Everyone wants to know why it is we have so many mass shootings -- one every five days on average. Most of all, I want to know. Brad Plumer wrote what turned out to be a disappointing story over at Wonkblog, "Why Are Mass Shootings Becoming More Common?" It was disappointing because it turns out that we don't know. 

One of the more compelling theories is that mass shootings are contagious. I'm serious. Plumer doesn't say, but I think I know how it works. A mentally unstable person sees the news coverage of a mass shooting. He thinks, "Maybe that's what I need! Maybe that will fix me!" I know that line may sound cavalier, but I don't mean it that way at all. I know what it's like to feel that you have no control on your emotions, and the desperation that goes along with it. Luckily, my mental dysfunctions do not go along with a confused sense of reality. But I can see how these people would follow others who have gone before. 

It is much too convenient to hang all of this carnage on the media, however. For one thing, according to Richard Florida's work, there really is no correlation (within the United States) between gun deaths and mental illness. But he did find a correlation between gun deaths and loose gun regulation. To be clear: the more restrictive the gun laws, the lower the rate of gun deaths. So gun availability -- and this surprises no one, right? -- is a critical issue. 

Brad Plumer provided an amazing comparison. Yesterday, another mentally ill man attacked a group of children. Twenty-two of them were injured -- some of them badly. But none were killed. This is because it happened in China and the man only had a knife. 

People are crazy all over the world. We need to do something about that: for them as well as us. But the biggest social problem with the mentally ill here in America is that they are too well armed. 

(photo: "History of gun violence in America grows" at NBC News)

 (Cross-posted at Frankly Curious.)

Guns are part of the problem

By Frank Moraes

Here is a map from The Rachel Maddow Show based upon data put together by Ezra Klein. There is no doubt that this has something to do with gun availability:

A.M. Headlines

(Fox News): "Gunman who killed 26 forced his way into Connecticut elementary school, police say"

(Washington Post): "A normally stoic president sheds tears over mass shooting of  'our children'"

(CBS News): "Obama repeats call for 'meaningful action" on guns"

(New York Times): "Obama's cautious call for action sets stage to revive gun debate"

(Reuters): "Egyptians votes on divisive constitution"

Horror in Connecticut; a violent, gun-obsessed America gone mad

By Michael J.W. Stickings

After what happened in Connecticut on Friday, I have little desire to write. About anything. It's not because I don't have anything to say, it's because I'm so saddened and so sickened that part of me doesn't want to care anymore about the United States. And I wonder why the hell I bother.

There isn't much I can say about the horrific mass shooting that left so many people, including so many children, dead. No words seems adequate to capture it. It's not that horrific things don't happen all the time, it's that a horrific thing like this touches us deeply because it was so close to us, to all of us with children, to all of us who know people who have children, to all of us who are capable of human feeling.

But I will say this...

This was not an isolated incident. This was not some one-off committed by a lone psychopath with no connection to anything else going on in society. No, this was yet another horrifically violent act, mass murder committed with guns, in a violent and gun-obsessed culture that refuses that deal with its own violent obsessions and tendencies.

This was worse than anything I can remember, including Columbine, yet it was also more of the same.

You won't hear this from conservatives, of course. Theocratic assholes like Mike Huckabee say that this happened because God was removed from schools. Others will say -- and you'll hear this all over Fox News especially, if you haven't already -- that now is not the time to talk politics, and so let's not talk about guns and gun control, shame on you liberals for politicizing a tragedy. Still others will say it wasn't the guns it was the madman with the guns. And, yes, there have already been calls for guns in schools, as if having more guns in society will somehow make society safer.

These people can all go fuck themselves.

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P.M. Headlines

(NBC News): "Elementary school massacre: 27 killed, including 20 kids, at Connecticut school"

(Slate): "President Obama, today is the day to politicize these tragic events"

(David Frum): "Every day is the day to talk about gun control"

(CBS News): "Will Connecticut shooting spur gun control action?"

(U.S. News & World Report): "Rice withdrawal sparks gender concerns on Cabinet"

(ABC News): "Marijuana not high Obama priority"

Take the money and run

By Mustang Bobby

Hostess Brands and Twinkies may be gone, the company shut down, and workers laid off, but the people who ran the place made out pretty well: 

According to a report by the Wall Street Journal, Hostess' CEO, Gregory Rayburn, essentially admitted that his company stole employee pension money and put it toward CEO and senior executive pay (aka "operations"). While this isn't technically illegal, it's another sleazy theft by Hostess executives – who've paid themselves handsomely while running their company into the ground. Just last month, a judge agreed to let Hostess executives suck another $1.8 million out of the bankrupt company to pay bonuses to CEOs.

This would be just another business day in Mitt Romney's America.

Never on Sunday

By Mustang Bobby

Today's edition of right-wing stupidity comes from Ron Christie, the sock-puppet commentator who shows up on MSNBC the way the Washington Generals show up at a Harlem Globetrotters game. 

He's all twitterpated because President Obama will be sworn in at a private ceremony on January 20, 2013 at the White House and the public won't be invited:

That's because January 20, 2013 is a Sunday, so the big public ceremony will be held the following day. It's happened before: both Dwight Eisenhower's and Ronald Reagan's second inaugural happened to fall on Sundays and this is how it was done.

But since it's President Obama, Ron Christie gets to prove that once again there is nothing this man won't do to shame America.

Sheesh.

(h/t: Blue Texan)

Craziest Republican of the Day: Steve King

By Michael J.W. Stickings

Quite a few Republicans are still suffering from Benghazi fever, and wingnutjob extraordinaire Steve King of Iowa has it worse than most: 

I believe that it's a lot bigger than Watergate, and if you link Watergate and Iran-Contra together and multiply it times maybe 10 or so, you're going to get in the zone where Benghazi is," Mr. King said. "I don't think the public has any idea, and I tell you, I don't either, of the chronology of the events — what took place, and who was where doing what and why. And all the way down through — we still haven't seen an autopsy report on the ambassador yet. Simple questions that you would ask in the first 24 hours have not been asked yet. 

So... he doesn't have a fucking clue what happened -- he admits as much -- but he's sure it was really, really, really bad. Like, the worst scandal ever. By far.

As ThinkProgress notes, "mainstream media outlets have extensively reported emerging details about the assault, many of which have undercut Repubican attempts to create a faux-scandal out of the events, over the past three months." (Have a look at TP's extensive timeline.) 

I've also written about it here, here, and here.

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Familiarity breeds support, at least in politics

By Richard K. Barry

Bloomberg reported yesterday that 90% of House members and 91% of U.S. Senators who sought reelection in 2012 were successful. This is a better return rate than was achieved in 2010 when 85% of House members and 84% of senators seeking reelection were able to win back their seats.

We all know that incumbency is a very powerful thing. It's just funny when approval ratings for our national institutions are so low, we still send the same folks back to their old jobs. 

I guess that means Americans may not like other people's representatives, but they like their own just fine. 

Breaking: Democrats grow a spine

By Mustang Bobby

Via TPM:

President Obama has made it abundantly clear he will not surrender to the GOP's demands if Republicans refuse to raise the debt limit next year. Democratic leaders on Capitol Hill say they have his back.

But what about rank and file Democrats? If the GOP is serious about replaying the 2011 debt limit crisis next year, would they unite behind Obama? If House Republicans pass debt ceiling legislation which includes billions or even trillions of dollars in cuts to social programs next year, and then leave town just before the deadline, would House and Senate Dems really call John Boehner's bluff?

Early signs suggest they would.

"I don't think the country will stand for it and I think Democrats will make it clear that you cannot threaten the economy of the United States for your political purposes," Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) said in response to a question from TPM on Wednesday.

Rank and file Democrats are starting to back him up.

Wow. I'll believe it when I see it, but stock up on the Jiffy-Pop just in case.

The Obama-Boehner conspiracy

By Frank Moraes

There has been a lot of reporting on the fact that there isn't anything to report about the Fiscal Cliff negotiations. John Stanton makes a big deal of this in his almost fun article for BuzzFeed, "The Fiscal Cliff Is Boring Washington To Death." Everyone seems to agree that the lack of leaks indicates that the negotiations are at least going fairly well. I have a different theory. 

The two sides have decided that they can't get anything done until next year. The Republicans just can't allow a vote on supposedly raising taxes. And it's even worse than that. If they struck a deal on the income tax rates, they would either have to give on the extension of the payroll tax holiday, or they would also in effect be raising payroll taxes. So everything gets a lot easier for Boehner & Co. in 2013. 

But there is a wrinkle. The staffs of Obama and Boehner really are meeting all the time. What could they be doing? They could be working on a deal that they will make on January 2nd or 3rd. I really don't know. What I do know is that Obama gets a better deal in 2013. And I know that Boehner will have a much easier time selling a deal to the Republicans in 2013. (I would be embarrassed if I were a Republican and I had to take a worse deal just to satisfy the idiots in power in my party.) 

So I'm still inclined to think that we are going over the Fiscal Cliff. Or maybe I'm just optimistic. Or drunk.

(Cross-posted at Frankly Curious.)

Lawyers, guns, and money

By Capt. Fogg

This is the title of the song, and as the song goes, the shit has hit the fan, at least for John Hammar, an ex-Marine from Ft. Pierce, Florida, a town just a few miles north of me. I'm sure you've heard that he's been jailed under one of Mexico's tough and comically ineffective gun control laws. Of course, your sense of comedy may differ on this point.

Seems Hammer and his friend had planned to drive across the Mexican border near Matamoros in a Winnebago filled with surfboards and camping gear -- and an old shotgun he'd inherited from his great grandfather which, as purchased from Sears, has a 24" barrel -- an inch too short for Mexico, although just fine in Florida. U.S. officials told him that all he had to do was to file some papers with the Mexican authorities and it would be legal, but they were wrong and Mr. Hammar now sits chained to a cot in a Mexican jail cell hoping at least for lawyers and money. No more guns please.

Fox News of course is running around screaming and yelling about "trumped up charges," which seems strange, U.S. laws about barrel length being just as arbitrary as Mexico's and carrying punishments at least as severe. In fact, U.S. laws require gun owners to know more than you'd expect the average lawyer knows and are just as arbitrary as concerns lengths and dates of manufacture and type of stock. It's possible in fact for a gun to be quite legal to send through the mail and an identical one with a one digit serial number difference to be felonious. It's possible to own a handgun to which fitting a folding stock can put you in jail for being below a certain arbitrary barrel length. Mexican law, unbeknownst to Hammar and his advisors, classifies a nearly antique relic from Sears Roebuck as a military weapon, a practice quite akin to the U.S. classification of an ordinary rifle as being an assault rifle because of the shape of the stock or the country of manufacture. 

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Hagel to the Pentagon, Kerry to Foggy Bottom?

By Michael J.W. Stickings

Bloomberg reports:

Former Republican Senator Chuck Hagel has emerged as the leading candidate to become President Barack Obama's next secretary of defense and may be nominated as soon as this month, according to two people familiar with the matter.

Hagel, who served as an enlisted Army infantryman in Vietnam, has passed the vetting process at the White House Counsel's office, said one of the people. The former Nebraska senator has told associates that he is awaiting final word from the president, said the other person. Both requested anonymity to discuss personnel matters. 

***** 

Obama invited Hagel, 66, to the White House on Dec. 4 to discuss the position with him, according to an administration official. The president hasn't made a final decision, said another official. Both asked for anonymity to discuss internal deliberations.

There's a lot of anonymous sourcing going on here, but I suppose it's a credible report. And I suppose that as far as establishment figures go Hagel wouldn't be a bad choice, particularly if John Kerry ends up getting State now that Susan Rice has pulled out of contention. (And I much prefer Kerry at State than Rice. He's also an establishment figure, of course, but I think he's more of an independent thinker than she is.)

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A.M. Headlines

(Washington Post): "Obama decides not to wage costly fight for Rice"

(Politico): "Obama avoids Rice fight"

(CNBC): "Only 15 states opt to run Obamacare exchanges"

(Associated Press): "'Cliff'' crash may clear way for deal in January"

(Reuters): "U.S. states inch closer to pre-recession prosperity"

Quote of the Day: Graham on gay marriage

By Mustang Bobby

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) on marriage equality:

[S]lavery was outlawed by a Constitutional amendment. If you want to propose a Constitutional amendment legalizing same-sex marriage and it passes, that's the law of the land.

As NTodd notes, we already have one that covers it.

P.M. Headlines

(Washington Post): "Susan Rice withdraws for candidate as secretary of state"

(Bloomberg): "Hagel said to top Obama's list to take over at Pentagon"

(Wall Street Journal): "Durbin: Medicare age off table at White House"

(Pew Research Center): "As fiscal cliff nears, Democrats have public opinion on their side"

(Reuters): "Insight: How Republicans engineered a blow to Michigan's powerful unions"

Thought crime in London

By Frank Moraes

Ah, justice! The London bomb plotters are in jail, but the English court system isn't done yet; they have thought crimes to punish! Ruksana Begum is the sister of one of the plotters. She downloaded a copy of Inspire, al-Qaida magazine in order to understand what was going on with her angry brother. I'm not just saying this. This is what the judge in this case says. Unfortunately, like all the Nazis at Nuremberg, he must "follow orders" and so was left with no choice but to put her in a cage for a year.

In one way, this makes me feel good. It isn't just the United States that is a horror show of injustice and cruelty. But in a more fundamental sense, it makes me despair: humans are just a horrible species. It reminds me of the cannibalistic chimpanzees from Planet Earth.[1] The truth is, I don't really understand the justice system. We should perhaps rename it the "law system," because it is about enforcing laws not meting out justice. If we cannot have justice, at least we can stop claiming that we do.

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Americans side overwhelmingly with Obama and the Democrats on fiscal policy

By Michael J.W. Stickings

I've got this, Speaker. You lose.

Reflecting the right-leaning, Republican-friendly, split-the-difference views of the Beltway media generally, NBC is pumping up a new poll that suggests Americans are hungry for compromise:  

An overwhelming majority of Americans want Congress and the Obama White House to reach a deal featuring both tax increases and spending cuts to avert the so-called fiscal cliff, according to the latest national NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll.

Oh really. So Americans just want each side to give in and meet halfway, because apparently each side is equally right/wrong and perfection can be found right in the middle alongside the Beltway media and its indisputable wisdom? 

Uh, no:

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Boehner: Obama must reveal mythic bad government

By Frank Moraes

Pollsters are constantly asking Americans how much the government spends on foreign aid and how much it ought to spend on foreign aid. The numbers never really change in any substantial way. In a poll in 2010, Americans thought that the government spends about 25% of its budget on foreign aid and that it ought to only spend 10% of its budget on foreign aid. In fact, the government spends 1% on foreign aid.

I know: Americans are ignorant. Nothing to see here. Dog bites man. Now if our political elites thought such rubbish, that would be a story. Jonathan Chait wrote a really insightful column this afternoon that addresses this very issue, "Why Republicans Can't Propose Spending Cuts." Basically, his argument is that Republicans are vague on what it is they don't like about government. But they are just certain that government is too damned big!

This, according the Chait, is why Boehner keeps yelling at Obama for not offering spending cuts. It isn't a negotiating strategy. Rather, it is Boehner asking Obama to show him the hundreds of billions of dollars in government waste that Republicans just know is hidden in the budget. The problem, of course, is there is no such thing. By the standards of developed countries, we spend very little on social programs. We do, undoubtedly, spend too much on our military, but the Republicans wouldn't think of cutting that. In fact, think back on Romney's budget proposal: he wanted to cut taxes, spend more on military, and spend more on Medicare. What does that leave? Medicaid, basically.

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Speaking of absurd: Scalia on homosexuality

By Mustang Bobby

Justice Antonin Scalia really has it in for gay people, and he doesn't mince words:

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia compared homosexuality and murder on Monday as he argued at a Princeton seminar that elected bodies should be allowed to regulate actions they see as immoral.

"If we cannot have moral feelings against homosexuality, can we have it against murder? Can we have it against other things?" Scalia said, according to The Associated Press. 

[...]

Scalia was asked about controversial comments he had made in the past that argued that the constitutionality of subjects like the death penalty, abortion or sodomy laws were all "easy" to decide by considering the Constitution as understood by its writers.

Scalia said that while he did not believe such hyperbole was "necessary," he did think it was "effective" in forwarding his argument that legislatures should be allowed to ban acts they believe to be immoral.

"It's a form of argument that I thought you would have known, which is called the 'reduction to the absurd,'" Scalia said.

Scalia said he did not equate homosexuality morally with murder, but was making a point about the state's ability to regulate them.

When you are a Justice on the United States Supreme Court and you can't distinguish between a state of being, as in your sexual orientation, and a violent act, it's high time you found another line of work.

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More "fiscal cliff" bullshit from Republicans and the media

By Michael J.W. Stickings

And really, if you want bullshit (as opposed to all-out right-wing evil), just turn to CNN:

One of the reasons Tuesday night's conversation between President Barack Obama and John Boehner did not go well was because the GOP House speaker sent the White House a fiscal cliff proposal calling for a permanent extension of Bush-era tax cuts for all Americans, including for incomes in the top 2%, a Democratic source said Wednesday.

Democrats took the GOP counter offer to mean that tax reform cannot result in any marginal rates higher than current law, according to the source, who said Boehner's proposal was a "sign" to Democrats that "Boehner and the GOP are unwilling or unable to do any sort of deal that can pass the Senate or be signed by the president."

Democrats favor raising tax rates on wealthy Americans as part of a deal to avoid the year-end fiscal cliff, while Republicans want to extend the Bush-era cuts for all income levels.

A Republican source insists the White House may have misinterpreted the latest GOP offer, since Boehner's offer includes tax reform down the road, which would render anything permanent moot.

Okay. Deep breath.

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One of these is wrong

By Carl 

Either North Korea successfully placed a "weather satellite" in pole-to-pole orbit around the earth or it's spinning wildly out of control and could crash at any moment.

We report, you duck and cover.

This story is less important for the content -- nearly every nation on the planet, including Russia but not China, have forcefully condemned the launch -- and more important for the interesting spin (pardon the pun) the US is putting on it.

Let's assume for a moment that, indeed, the satellite is wildly out of control. So the U.S. is warning the world to keep an eye out. If this was confirmed by anyone else (South Korea is closely tracking the launch, and even picked up the first stage as it splashed down for further examination,) then the US is prudently advising the world of a potential hazard, much like the US warned about SpaceLab back in the '70s, and Russia about its satellite in 2009.

But there's been no independent confirmation. Which makes the U.S. statement curious, to say the least.

So now let's assume it's all smoke. What is the process for making such a statement in the first place?

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A.M. Headlines

(Washington Post): "Groups want to push right-to-work elsewhere"

(The Hill): "Senators feel left out of fiscal talks"

(CNN): "Dem. source: GOP calling for permanent extension of cuts for wealthiest 2%"

(MarketWatch): " U.S. stocks rise further as Fed adds stimulus"

(Reuters): "Clinton to testify on Benghazi report on December 20"

(Businessweek): "North Korea still years away from credible missiles"

Ravi Shankar (1920-2012)

By Richard K. Barry

Ravi Shankar, the Indian sitarist who worked with The Beatles and other rock stars, and who helped introduce Indian music to a worldwide audience, has died at the age of 92 at a hospital near his home in San Diego.

As The New York Times writes:

Mr. Shankar, a soft-spoken, eloquent man whose virtuosity transcended musical languages, was trained in both Eastern and Western musical traditions. Although Western audiences were often mystified by the odd sounds and shapes of the instruments when he began touring in Europe and the United States in the early 1950s, Mr. Shankar and his ensemble gradually built a large following for Indian music.

Here's a clip of Shankar on the old Dick Cavett Show. Hey, who's that guy with Dick?


(Cross-posted at Hogtown Hipster.)

P.M. Headlines

(Politifact): "Lie of the Year: the Romney campaign's ad on Jeeps made in China"

(Reuters): "Bernanke: Fed's ability to support the economy is limited"

(The Guardian): "US invites Syrian opposition leader for talks after backing new coalition"

(CNN): "Wall Street critic Warren to join Senate Banking Committee"

(Reuters): "California Governor Brown treated for early stage prostate cancer"

Cayman Islands leader arrested on corruption charges

By Michael J.W. Stickings

BBC:

The premier of the Cayman Islands has been arrested as part of a corruption investigation, local police say.

The charges against McKeeva Bush, 57, include misuse of a government credit card and importing explosive materials.

Mr Bush has been in power since his United Democratic Party (UDP) won general elections in 2009.

The British overseas territory is one of the world's largest financial centres and a well-known tax haven.

That's right. The head of the Cayman Islands (not counting that silly monarch across the pond) is a guy named Bush.

Which is really the most fitting name, don't you think?

Other than Romney, of course.

With gun rights go responsibilities

By Frank Moraes

I used to live in Portland, and I remember the Clackamas Town Center being the most festive shopping mall I had ever visited. It had a ice rink where I saw Tonya Harding practice -- a big attraction in the early 1990s. So I was shocked to read that there was a shooting rampage at the mall this afternoon. Shocked because it hit uncomfortably close to home, not because I was shocked about yet another mass shooting in our vast bastion of gun owners' rights. There is, after all, a mass shooting here every five days.

I know: crazy people do crazy things; evil people do evil things; stupid people do stupid things. But it is interesting that this shooting happened on the very day that "[t]he Seventh Circuit overturned Illinois' law forbidding concealed-carry of handguns -- the last remaining law in the whole country against concealed carry." Now I know what many of you are thinking, "But these permits are only given out to responsible adults!" My tendency is to say that you ought to tell that to Trayvon Martin, and leave it at that. But for me, it is a little more personal.

I have a lot of friends and acquaintances who are what I would call gun fanatics. They broadly fall into two categories (although there is overlap): hunters and paranoids. I don't too much dig on hunting, but whatever; some people need more to be content than a fine English translation of Don Quixote; I understand. But the paranoids? They're dangerous. They really think that their guns are going to keep them safe and they are eager to find (or force) a situation in which they can prove it. Add to this the very common spice of libertarianism, and you end up bitter enders who think they are the last line of freedom from the coming Brown Shirts. I actually share some of their concerns, but given that they think the socialist hellscape has already arrived, I don't have much faith in their judgement. And that is the primary issue.

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Testing, testing: Rubio's rhetoric for 2016

By Mustang Bobby

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) is already making it clear that he's planning on running for president in 2016. He's already on the stump as one of the more attractive and less vitriolic of the party, and he's got a really good business model already in place: after all, how unlikely is it that America will elect a first-term senator with a name ending in a vowel as president?

Jonathan Chait at New York magazine looks at the new model and finds that under the hood, though, it's the same vehicle as the one they ran last year:

On the budget, Rubio delivered the Republican weekly radio address, and his message was more of the old-timey religion: We must get the national debt under control. Tax increases will not solve our $16 trillion debt. Only economic growth and a reform of entitlement programs will help control the debt.

This is the classic Republican metaphysical dodge, which not only argues for keeping taxes as low as possible but refuses to acknowledge that revenue bears any relationship at all to deficits. Deficits equal spending! Two legs bad, Reagan good!

On immigration, meanwhile, Rubio is carefully positioning himself to oppose any potential deal. He is not coming out and immediately throwing his body in front of the legislative train. Rather, he pleads that we must not try to do everything at once and should instead try to reform immigration "step by step." Of course, "step by step" is exactly the catchphrase Republicans used to oppose health-care reform. It's a way of associating yourself with the broadly popular goal of reform while giving yourself cover to oppose any particular bill that has a chance to pass. You're not against reform, you're against this reform. It's too much, too fast.

The Republicans and Mr. Rubio seem convinced that it's not what they say, it's the way that they say it that is ruining their message and why they lost the election. And as long as they keep thinking that, they'll keep losing. 

(Cross-posted at Bark Bark Woof Woof.)

No, Boehner, you tell us what popular programs you'd like to cut

By Michael J.W. Stickings

As usual, more ridiculousness from Republicans on the "fiscal cliff":

House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) said on Tuesday that he was still waiting on the White House to detail what spending cuts President Obama would be willing to make in a potential deal to avert the so-called fiscal cliff at the end of the year.

"Where are the President's spending cuts?" Boehner said in speech on the House floor.

Talk about negotiating from a position of weakness. This is just bullshit posturing. As Greg Sargent notes, "Dems have already agreed to well over $1 trillion in spending cuts in 2011 -- cuts Boehner himself said were significant at the time. By contrast, Republicans have not agreed to a penny in new rates."

Two things are going on:

1) As Sargent suggests, "the idea is to try to blame the White House and Dems for the failure to reach a deal. But polls continue to show that Republicans are losing this PR battle badly."

2) "As for the demand that the White House go first in detailing its spending cuts, this is an almost laughably transparent ruse. As I keep noting, if Dems propose more in detailed spending cuts, Republicans will simply dismiss them as unserious, no matter what Dems offer -- pulling the talks further and further in their direction."

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The case for cliff diving

By Frank Moraes

Noam Scheiber over at The New Republic makes the case: "To Save His Second Term, Obama Must Go Over the Fiscal Cliff." He counters the standard thinking that while it may be tactically smart to go over the Fiscal Cliff, it is bad strategy. He quotes a number of people who argue that if Obama wins this fight, he will so anger the Republicans that he won't be able to get anything done for the next two years. Scheiber calls this for the nonsense that it is.

Anyone who reads me with any regularity know that I don't buy any of this talk about honor among politicians. In fact, I've been defending the Republicans for their intransigence. Politics is about getting power to enact the policies that you favor. That's why there are two political parties: because they disagree. That's why we work to win elections. Bipartisanship doesn't make any sense as an end in itself. It only works when each side thinks the trade offs are worth while. We could have a deal where the top tax rate goes up to 99% and we end Medicare and Social Security. That would be bipartisan: both parties would hate it. But both sides would be giving up something that's important to them! So it must be good, right?
 
Scheiber says there are currently two kinds of Republicans in Congress: "moderately delusional and the utterly, irreconcilably delusional." The moderately delusional are those who understand that the tax fight cannot be won. The irreconcilably delusional are the ones who think that with a stiff upper lib and a song in your heart, all things are possible. They aren't. But as Scheiber notes, even the moderately delusional crowd is wrong: why would Obama take a 37% top tax bracket when he automatically gets a 39.6% top tax bracket by doing nothing at all?

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Why are Republicans so angry with President Obama?

By Michael J.W. Stickings

Oh CNN, you really do have unintentionally hilarious headlines sometimes in your quest to be a serious news organization that people should pay attention to: 

Angry with Obama, GOP threatens political war next year

As opposed to... what? Not waging war on him? Haven't Republicans been doing that all along? How is next year going to be any different? This is the disloyal opposition that has pursued obstructionism as a way to block him at every turn. They hate him, and they're not about to work constructively with him.

Now, why are so very angry now? Or even more angry, we are led to believe, than before? Let's go multiple choice...

Republicans are angry with President Obama because:

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The concert for people who really shouldn't need it (but do)

By Carl 

Tonight I, like hundreds of millions around the globe, will be glued to my television to watch the 12.12.12 Concert for Sandy Relief.

And like hundreds of millions of people around the globe, I have better things to do with my three hours than sit and watch TV.

It's not that I'm knocking either the concert or the intent behind it. People in this area still need help getting back on their feet and my last few weeks have been spent doing what I can and then some to assist. Even people who adequately prepared and even had enough insurance to cover their losses are waiting around for checks to begin rebuilding and feeding themselves.

It's this last I'm finding a really bitter pill to swallow.

This tragedy occured within ten miles of the greatest concentration of wealth on the planet. Hell, this tragedy affected the greatest concentration of wealth on the planet!

So where are the rich? Where are the dazzling limos and gleaming boats, the pearl-strung ladies who lunch, delivering meals and blankets? 

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A.M. Headlines

(New York Times): "As fiscal talks heat up, questions on whether Boehner can get the votes"

(Associated Press): "Obama's fiscal cliff strategy is tricky balance"

(Think Progress): "Obama suggests raising Medicare eligibility age is on the table in fiscal cliff talks"

(Fox News): "Reid says budget deal by Christmas 'extremely difficult'"

(Washington Post): "Michigan enacts right-to-work laws, dealing blow to unions"

(Financial Times): "UK employment hits record levels"

Why the debt ceiling is no problem

By Frank Moraes

Have you stopped thinking about the Fiscal Cliff and moved right on to the brewing debt ceiling fiasco? You are not alone. I haven't talked much about it recently, but this has been weighing heavily on my mind as well. I liked what I was hearing from the president. Last week at the Business Roundtable, he said, "I want to send a very clear message to people here: we are not going to play that game next year." Yes! You have to be strong with the Republicans. But let's face it: playing chicken with a crazy person is very dangerous because they don't care about the consequences.

Today, Ezra Klein laid out the thinking of the White House, and I must say that I find it very persuasive. And comforting:

Whatever House Republicans might think, the White House is all steel when it comes to the debt ceiling. Their position is simple, and it's typically delivered in the tone of voice that Bruce Willis reserves for talking to terrorists: they're happy to raise the debt ceiling on their own, as would be the case under their proposal to take authority for the debt ceiling away from Congress. But if Congress rejects that offer, then the debt ceiling is Congress' problem, and the White House will not help.

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If U.S. land were divided like U.S. wealth

By Frank Moraes 

This is from High Noon in the Garden of Good & Evil. It is called "If U.S. Land Were Divided Like U.S. Wealth."