A fix for HealthCare.gov, access to affordable care

By Michael J.W. Stickings

According to the WaPo, Obama Administration officials will announce tomorrow that they met today's deadline for fixing, more or less, HealthCare.gov, the website where you're supposed to be able to sign up for affordable health insurance under Obamacare, though questions and challenges remain:

Government and outside technical employees worked through the night on the latest upgrade, intended to increase the Web site's capacity for consumers seeking to go through the early stages of registering for an account and then logging in. The upgrade was successfully completed about 4 a.m. Saturday, according to a government official familiar with the project, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe details that the administration was not publicly disclosing.

But it was not immediately apparent, the official said, whether the improvement meant that the site can now meet one of the Obama administration's internal goals — for 80,000 people per hour to be able to register and 320,000 per hour to be able to log in — and added that the overnight tinkering was, at least for now, causing a slight increase in error messages on the site.

The fix can't come soon enough, because I really need to sign up for new insurance -- and to buy into this relatively progressive new system where insurance companies can't completely fuck consumers by denying them access to care for any number of reasons.

Oh... wait.

I live in Canada. And here, of course, we have a universal single-payer system that combines with private insurance to provide Canadians with guaranteed access to care as well as significant choice.

I feel for Americans, I really do. Unless you have a lot of money and/or excellent coverage through work, you're either fucked or in a position to be fucked at some point -- by having care denied or by being financially crushed by the overwhelming cost of care.

Or at least you were. Obamacare isn't perfect, but it's an effort to fix some of the American health system's worst abuses, both in terms of cost and coverage. Tens of millions of Americans stand to benefit from it, and they will once the registration process is fixed, just a technical glitch, though of course many have been able to sign up already.

But still, America, what we have up here is far better. Won't you join us in our more advanced state of civilization?

A.M. Headlines

(Reuters): "Crucial weekend for Obamacare website begins with a shutdown"

(New York Times): "Despite filibuster limits, a door remains open to block judge nominees"

(The Hill): "Pressure builds on Boehner for NSA vote"

(Wall Street Journal): "Narrow budget agreement comes into view"

(The Guardian): "China scrambles fighter jets towards US and Japan planes in disputed air zone"

Listening to Now: Paul Desmond plays "Mrs. Robinson"

By Richard K. Barry

The sweetest tone ever accomplished on an alto saxophone has to belong to Paul Desmond. In 1970 Desmond recorded an album called Bridge Over Troubled Water, consisting entirely of Simon & Garfunkel songs. 

Richard S. Ginell writes:

Against the odds as determined by bopsters, Desmond finds something beautiful, wistful, and/or sly to say in each of these ten tunes.

I love this album. I picked it up in vinyl some time ago and have enjoyed it immensely.  

P.M. Headlines

(Washington Post): "Christmas tree arrives at White House"

(Associated Press): "Same-sex couples set to legally marry in Hawaii"

(ABC News): "Obamas might stay in Washington after presidency ends"

(Los Angeles Times): "Kentucky governor sees health law as chance to heal an ailing state"

(Paul Krugman): "Obamacare’s secret success"

Shop 'til you drop

By Mustang Bobby

If you’re going out to join the throngs at the mall, have fun and remember where you parked.

I’m not going to sneer at the people who have been lined up since earlier this week to get great deals. Hey, that’s capitalism and that’s how we roll.

My only suggestion is that you shop with an eye to local merchants rather than the big dogs. There will always be a Wal-Mart or a Target, but the local bookstore or clothier might be a better place to find something special, and it keeps your money in your neighbourhood.

(Cross-posted at Bark Bark Woof Woof.)

A.M. Headlines

(New York Times): "Doesn’t eat, doesn’t pray and doesn’t love"

(CBC News): "New Snowden docs show U.S. spied during G20 in Toronto"

(USA Today): "For many, Thanksgiving was a day for shopping"

(Real Clear Politics): "Biden seeks center in Obama's sphere of influence"

(CNN Money): "American, US Air cleared to land merger"

On the Hustings

(CNN): "Perry plans campaign-style swing through South Carolina"

(Mike Allen): "Presidential campaign gurus to push for big debate changes based on rise of social media and early voting"

(TPM): "MAP: Incumbent Republicans face almost all of the primary challenges"

(Roll Call): "GOP lawmaker challenges freshman for California seat"

(Wall Street Journal): "Cuomo would beat GOP rival by more than 40 points: Poll"

Thanksgiving in the retail Earth

By Capt. Fogg

Stopped for gas yesterday, the kind of magnificent, glorious day that makes your heart sing and your body forget its age. 74 degrees, with a few little clouds, the bright sun shining off the newly waxed red convertible, air as fresh as it is anywhere wafting like the smell of jasmine off the blue Atlantic.

The advertising sign on the gas pump has a picture of bundled up people on a toboggan and snow. My neighbors have begun to put up fake icicles, fake frost, chrome caribou and sleds festooned with lights and other reminders that Christmas, a month away, is really a pastiche of ancient Northern European winter celebrations. It's jarring, a disturbing denial of reality as though all the world were northern. It's jarring like wearing a wool suit and wing tip shoes on the beach.

It's in the teens up North where I used to live and when I say live I mean huddle in the dark waiting for Spring, leaving for work in the dark, returning in the dark, spending hours each week shoveling snow in subzero temperatures, but you can't have Christmas without archaic imagery and the more modern but strictly above the 40th parallel iconography as given to us by such bards as the Coca Cola company, Montgomery Wards and all the commercial interests that have latched on to the holiday. The plastic fat men, robed in plastic furs -- the descendants of a skinny Nikolaos of Myra, will bloom on manicured green lawns bordered by bougainvillea and hibiscus and not an iota of irony will spoil the spirit unless the polystyrene saint is shattered by a falling coconut. 

Read more »

Happy Thanksgiving!

By Richard K. Barry

As an American living in Canada, I try very hard to get down for the Thanksgiving holiday. It's one of those unusual holidays for me because Canadians celebrate Thanksgiving in early October, and the fourth Thursday in November in Canada is just that and nothing more.

Unfortunately, the potentially bad weather kept me in Toronto this year, but I decided to take the day off anyway and with my wife have a nice meal at home. My colleagues are working. Everything else is a normal business day, but I've been watching the parades all morning on TV, with a log on the fire, and I'll watch football later and eat in the late afternoon.

And then I'll Skype the family in Central Jersey, which is how we do it these days.

I wanted to post some Thanksgiving music so did what I always do, which is go online and see what the Internet has to say about appropriate tunes for the occasion. I was rather surprised to see that some people consider the jazz standard "Autumn Leaves" a Thanksgiving song. Whatever. It's also one of my all time favourites, so I couldn't resist.

I'll even split the difference and post a version by Canadian Diana Krall.

To our American friends, from Michael and me and the Reaction team: All the best for Thanksgiving and the entire holiday season. 

A.M. Headlines

(CNN): "Macy's Thanksgiving balloons will fly"

(USA Today): "Holiday shopping begins as Thanksgiving turkey cooks"

(Josh Marshall): "A realist's take on Obamacare"

(Mike Murphy): "Obamacare is a GOP jackpot"

(NPR): "Italy Senate expels 3-time ex-Premier Berlusconi"

Vimeo of the Day: Seattle and the Pacific Northwest

By Michael J.W. Stickings

With winter descending with a vengeance on the Toronto area, and on so much of eastern Canada and the northeastern U.S., one thing is clear to me: I hate winter. Maybe that makes me something less of a Canadian than I ought to be, but, honestly, I'd prefer to live in a more temperate climate.

I'm not saying I don't like eastern Canada, or Toronto in particular, and, also honestly, I have nothing if not a deep and abiding connection to this place, to parts of Canada that get quite cold, whether it's Toronto or Prince Edward Island, which I love so much, or Montreal, where I spent most of my childhood, or to the northeastern U.S., to New Jersey and New York and Massachusetts, where I spent most of my teenaged and college years, but at this time of year, with another long winter ahead of us, that connection becomes a tad tenuous.

So, then, why not the Pacific Northwest? Seattle and Portland seem like wonderful cities, it's a lovely and beautiful part of the world, I really like wine (and especially Pinot Noir) from Washington and Oregon, there's a great micro-beer culture, it's a fantastic place for unpretentious foodies, and well, the climate generally appeals to me. A bit too much rain, perhaps, but whatever. I can deal with that.

And yet I've never been there. Alas. But this nice video reminds me that it's high on my list, and that even if I never live there I really must spend some quality time there. So from a frigid, snow-draped Toronto, I offer this, described as such:

They say it's gloomy, it's cloudy, it's wet, I say it's paradise. I've been in The Pacific Northwest about three years now and have fallen head over heels for the place.

Maybe so, Larry, maybe so.

Seattle and the Pacific Northwest from Larry Gorlin on Vimeo.

P.M. Headlines

(Wall Street Journal): "The dirty secret of Black Friday 'discounts'"

(Huffington Post): "Top-secret document reveals NSA spied on porn habits as part of plan to discredit 'radicalizers'"

(Politico): "Small business Obamacare online enrollment delayed a year"

(Bloomberg): "Democrats run biggest cities as U.S. residents cluster by party"

(USA Today): "Obama pardons Thanksgiving turkey (and tells jokes)"

Many people just hate Iran

By Frank Moraes

I have a great fondness for Iran. Or maybe it is just that I really like the food at Maykadeh Persian Cuisine in San Francisco. Whatever. But the truth is my impression of Iran is as a modern people who would very much like to throw off the chains of their theocratic overlords and rush as fast as possible to their own variation of modernity. And what I say to all such people is, "Welcome!" And the best way to do that is to include Iran in our world, not exclude it. Our long-running tiff with Iran has been a disaster.

So the fact that we are talking to Iran in some capacities and that we have at least a short-term deal with them is great. So I'm being honest. I'm really not terribly worried about Iran getting a nuclear weapon. I wish they would not. We need to be destroying nuclear weapons not creating them; we certainly don't need more countries with them. And Iran acquiring one would start a Middle East arms race. But fundamentally, I want good relations with Iran—which I think will solve the nuclear issue anyway.

People on the other side of the issue are not being honest. None of this is about a nuclear armed Iran. What these people want is a weak Iran. People in the region have their reasons. If Iran's economy took off, it would be a powerhouse. That would understandably make Israel nervous. And with a strong economy would go much of the power of the theocratic state. And the other despots of the region wouldn't like to see that.

Read more »

On the Hustings

(National Journal): "The Hotline's Senate race rankings: Democrats on defence"

(Washington Post): "Is another Republican wave building?"

(The Advocate): "Jindal nonprofit expands staff"

(Public Policy Polling): "Illinois Governor's race looks like a toss up"

(Politico): "Tea party unscathed in early GOP civil war"

Behind the Ad: Liz Cheney still says she's from Wyoming

By Richard K. Barry

Who: The Liz Cheney Senate campaign

Where: Wyoming

What's going on: Liz Cheney, who is running against incumbent Sen. Mike Enzi for the GOP nomination in Wyoming, is still going on about being from Wyoming. As Steve Benen notes, "Cheney never lived in Wyoming as an adult before 2012, but she spent part of her childhood going to school in Casper." That's it. Just part of her childhood. 

I don't think anyone takes issue with the fact that the Cheney clan has a long and distinguished history in the state. The point appears to be that Ms. Cheney hasn't lived there very much.  One thing seems clear and that is that she thinks where she is from matters to the voters of Wyoming, which is why she is shouting so much about being from there.

The ugly word for what she is attempting is "carpetbagger," and the term has a long and nasty pedigree. It implies a kind of political opportunism more aligned with the interests of something other than the interests of the constituents. 

If I were from Wyoming, I wouldn't necessary reject a candidate because they haven't lived in the state for a long time, or never as an adult. I'd reject him or her if I thought they were only running in order to have the title "senator" attached to their name when they invariably go back to Washington to resume a role primarily as a hotshot conservative opinion maker. 

Liz Cheney seems to have lovely children, as seen in this ad. And, as I say, the family appears to go way back in the state. But is that the point?

Weather woes

By Mustang Bobby

If you’re going anywhere today or tomorrow in the Eastern half of the United States, it’s going to be a slog.

The massive Winter Storm Boreas, blamed for at least 14 deaths in the Plains and West, is parked over the East Coast and South Wednesday, halting Thanksgiving traffic with snow, ice, heavy rains, and even a tornado. In general its wreaking havoc on travel plans in the air and on the roads on the busiest travel day of the year.

“The timing of the storm couldn’t be worse,” said Chris Vaccaro, spokesman for the National Weather Service headquarters in Silver Spring, Md. “We are seeing numerous threats as the storm is beginning to develop and intensify.”

Listening to Interlochen Public Radio out of northern lower Michigan, they’re under a lake-effect snow advisory until tomorrow with snowfall of an inch an hour expected.

But even south Florida hasn’t escaped the weather; at least the rain. It’s been storming on and off since Saturday. It’s expected to clear off for tomorrow though, and become partly cloudy with highs in the low 80′s.

(Cross-posted at Bark Bark Woof Woof.)

A.M. Headlines

(New York Times): "A plea to avoid crush of users at health site"

(Paul Krugman): ""The Obamacare worm turns"

(Reuters): "Americans back Iran deal by 2-to-1 margin: Reuters/Ipsos poll"

(Politico): "President Obama pitches new rules for political nonprofits

(ABC News): "Nasty storm threatens to upend holiday travel"

P.M. Headlines

(Washington Post): "US bombers fly across China’s new air defines zone"

(The Seattle Times): "Supreme Court will take up new health law dispute"

(Reuters): "Obama administration proposes new limits on tax-exempt political groups"

(Charlie Cook): "Too soon to know if Obama can bounce back"

(Huffington Post): "CBS News' Lara Logan taking leave of absence over discredited '60 Minutes' Benghazi report"

In on it

By Mustang Bobby

I have to admit that I’ve never seen Fox and Friends other than the occasional clip that pops up on a site to illustrate just how incredibly gob-smacking that crew can be. Apparently Steve Doocyis the driver of this particular clown car, and he’s echoing the sentiment of Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) who suspects dark motives behind the Iranian nuclear agreement and its timing.

Fox News host Steve Doocy and the network’s “objective” news anchor Bret Baier agreed on Monday that President Barack Obama’s timing was questionable in announcing a deal with Iran that broke three decades of gridlock on preventing the country from obtaining nuclear weapons.

“Don’t you think it’s a little curious?” Doocy asked Baier during a Monday Fox & Friends segment. “Some of my friends were talking over the weekend, isn’t that curious timing? Out of nowhere, you know, in the midst of Obamacare not unrolling correctly, the president’s poll numbers never been lower then, look, [Secretary of State] John Kerry pulls a rabbit out of his hat and changes the subject.”

“Yes,” Baier agreed after a pause. “I mean, you’re right. It is questionable timing as far as, you know, how much this is sucking up the oxygen in the room and Obamacare was taking a lot of front-page space. However, they had been working on the deal for while and it did come together at this time. I mean, they unrolled it at this point.”

“It’s handy for them,” Doocy concluded.

In the real world, these folks would realize that for that to be true — that the White House arranged the agreement just to take the pressure off Obamacare — the president would have had to get the Grand Ayatollah of Iran to go along with it. They’d also have to have had the French, Chinese, and Russians on board, too.

If the president really had that kind of persuasive power, don’t you think he would have used it on his IT crew to get the website working rather than waste it on a country we’ve basically shunned for more than three decades?

Hate makes people say really stupid shit.

(Cross-posted at Bark Bark Woof Woof.)

On the Hustings

(Smart Politics): "Return of the King: Charlie Christ and ex-governor come backs"

(The Hill): "Dem poll: Republican Daines up big in Montana Senate race"

(Roll Call): "GOP rising star launches House bid in New Hampshire"

(CNN): "Poll: Democrats lose 2014 edge following Obamacare uproar"

(Pew Research): "Study: Having daughters makes parents more likely to be Republican"

Boehner's Obamacare woes

By Frank Moraes

As you may recall, yesterday, I wrote about John Boehner's experience signing up for Obamacare, GOP Silence on Good Obamacare News. My focus was on the fact that when bad news comes out about Obamacare (Or just news that seems like it is bad news), the conservative press is all over it. But when that news is shown to be incorrect, nothing is said. In that case, as soon as Boehner indicated that he wasn't able to sign up for Obamacare, the right wing chamber started to echo. But when less than an hour later we was able to do it, the right wingers just dropped the subject.

There was also the issue that it seemed like Boehner had received a decent deal on the exchange, so I talked about the fact that he didn't mention it. But then, his office announced through Politico that he was actually paying twice as much as he was before. I smelled a rat. In an update, I noted:

First, that sounds like it comes direct from Boehner's office and not an actual journalist. Second, given that the Boehners get their insurance through their employers, wasn't the actual cost they were paying higher than their own contributions? That is: what about the employer's contribution? Third, by opting out of employer insurance, are they throwing themselves into a high risk pool—namely the "old and smoking" pool?

Well, my answer came today from some fine reporting by Michael Hiltzik at the Los Angeles Times, The Dirty Secrets Behind Boehner's "Spiking" Obamacare Premiums. I'm still not certain how Boehner's current plan works, but the main reason he has to pay more is because he is moving from an employer plan that doesn't take his age into account to a private plan that does.

Think about it: this is how insurance works. We constantly hear conservatives complain about how young healthy people shouldn't have to subsidize healthcare for the old and unhealthy. But that's how employer provided insurance works. As Hiltzik shows, if Boehner were 50 instead of 64, he would be paying less through Obamacare. What's more, if Boehner worked anywhere but in Congress, nothing would change:

Boehner has only his congressional colleagues to blame for his having to use the insurance exchange at all—the Senate GOP mandated that members of Congress and their staffs, uniquely among federal employees, move their insurance to the exchanges. And now they're complaining about the complexity and cost? That's gall.

The takeaway from all of this is that Boehner may be doing worse by moving to private insurance through Obamacare. But he is not typical of people who work for Congress. And he is nothing at all like people who don't work for Congress. This is all very typical: scratch an Obamacare horror story and you find nothing there but a fairly well designed system that is providing people with good health insurance at a reasonable cost.

(Cross-posted at Frankly Curious.)

A.M. Headlines

(Dana Milbank): "Republicans mindlessly oppose Iran nuclear deal"

(Washington Post): ""Karzai tells Susan Rice of more demands for accord extending U.S. troop presence"

(The Hill): ""HealthCare.gov won't be perfect on Dec. 1, administration says"

(Politico): "As deadline nears, ticking clock on Democratic patience"

(New York Times): "Praised by de Blasio, Dinkins responds with an arrow"

P.M. Headlines

(BBC): "Hague welcomes Iranian nuclear deal"

(Washington Post): ""Iran nuclear deal could complicate other U.S. foreign policy efforts in the Middle East"

(The American Prospect): ""No, the failure of Obamacare would not lead to single-payer"

(Roll Call): ""White House wants to keep Pentagon propaganda websites"

(USA Today): "Nasty winter storm could snarl holiday traffic in East"

The Tea Party has always existed

By Frank Moraes

Captain Fogg over at Human Voices wrote a very compelling contrast between the way the far right treats Obama versus how they treated Kennedy, Remembering the Hero. Even though today Kennedy has an approval rating that tops 90%, while he was in office, he received the same kind over-the-top rhetoric about how he was discarding the Constitution and how he was a traitor.

Let me take it a bit further. Basically, since at least World War II, there has always been about 20% of the population that thinks that the commies are taking control of the nation. That's not just me, that's the conclusion of Change They Can't Believe In.

Ever since 2009, I've been amused and outraged that the Tea Party is treated as some legitimate political movement. The mainstream press just loved the idea of middle class people finally organizing. But that's not what was happening at all! These were the McCarthyites who knew that 81 communists worked in the State Department. These were the Birchers who ranted about the communist plot of water fluoridation in 1960. And of course, these were the people with the "treason" signs on the parade route in Dallas.

I think our country would be a good deal better off if we knew more about John Wilkes Booth. He wasn't crazy. It was just that in the circles he ran, it was a given that Lincoln was a tyrant. In his mind, he was Brutus in Julius Caesar—not an assassin but a hero of the people.

No one thinks themselves greater patriots than the Tea Party. But they aren't patriots to the United States. They are patriots to some kind of vague notion of what they think America once was. And most sadly, that usually means an America where only whites had power.

I don't think most of these people really wanted armed revolt and political assassination. But Captain Fogg is right that these people are sowing it. But whenever there is a tragedy that they helped create—whether it is Dallas or Oklahoma City—they slink away. For a while. When they come back, they don't slink. They stride proudly back with their signs, "Obama's Plan: White Slavery!"

(Cross-posted at Frankly Curious.)

On the Hustings

(Washington Post): "To campaign manager Bill Hyers, home is where the vote is"

(Roll Call): "Obama campaign media, analytics gurus partner up"

(The Hill): "Walker: GOP must shed ‘party of no’ image"

(Quinnipiac): "Florida's Scott starts reelection year 7 points down"

(Buzzfeed): "Michigan Senate candidate switches stance on Obamacare repeal in one day"

It worked, dammit

By Mustang Bobby

House Speaker John Boehner tried to prove that Obamacare is a massive failure by trying to sign up for it. And he would have succeeded had the program not worked.

He even did a special tweet noting his hopeless situation. Not terribly surprising given the frustrating experiences so many have had.

Actually, it turns out he had successfully enrolled and got a call confirming that about an hour after his tweet. But it gets better.

According to Scott MacFarlane, a reporter for the local NBC affiliate in Washington, reports that a DC Health Care exchange representative actually tried to contact Boehner by phone during the enrollment process but was put on hold for 35 minutes, after which time the representative finally hung up.

If at first you don’t fail, try, try again.

(Cross-posted at Bark Bark Woof Woof.)

A.M. Headlines

(The Hill): "Filibuster's end imperils Sebelius"

(Globe and Mail): "Canada 'deeply skeptical' Iran will follow through on nuclear deal"

(TPM): ""Schumer 'disappointed' with Obama's Iran nuclear deal"

(Fareed Zakaria): "What critics are getting wrong about Iran deal"

(Contra Costa Times News): "Storm threatens Thanksgiving travels"

P.M. Headlines

(Wall Street Journal): "Israel grapples with best way forward on Iran"

(BuzzFeed): "Obama’s very personal deal with Iran: Did he finally earn that Nobel?"

(Capitol View): "Franken open to delaying healthcare mandate if website problems persist"

(The Hill): "Filibuster change clears path for Obama climate regs crackdown"

(Roll Call): "In Illinois, district offices leap into tornado recovery efforts"

Listening to Now: Fleetwood Mac - "Never Going Back Again"

By Richard K. Barry

This is one of my favourite Fleetwood Mac songs. "Never Going Back Again" was the third track on the first side of the legendary Rumours album, which was released in 1977. Maybe I like it so much because Lindsey Buckingham's guitar part is such a blast to play. 

I have no idea about the origins of this clip, but it's clearly more recent. Love it. 

Behind the Ad: The Koch brothers feel your pain (stop laughing)

By Richard K. Barry

Who: Americans for Prosperity (a conservative outside group backed by the Koch brothers)

Where: Six Democratic incumbents

What's going on: Last week Americans for Prosperity, a front group for the obnoxiously rich Koch brothers, launched attack ads on the Obamacare rollout against three Democratic senators and three congressman. The lucky recipients of the attention are Sens. Mark Begich (AK), Mary Landrieu (LA), Kay Hagan (NC), and Reps. Ron Barber (AZ), Joe Garcia (FL) and Partick Murphy (FL). Obviously these folks are perceived as vulnerable.

The question is to what extent the rollout will be a campaign issue next fall. I'm as annoyed as any Democrat that Obama and team gave Republicans so much to work with. But I'm confident the plan will work eventually and be very popular. But timing is everything.

In the short term we can expect Republican money to make the best of the current climate. In this ad, targeted to women voters, the narrator says that "Obamacare doesn't work. It just doesn't."

"I trusted the president and Senator Begich. Lots of promises were made to pass ObamaCare. They knew the real truth," says the narrator in the Alaska ad. "Senator Begich didn't listen. How can I ever trust him again?"

Obamacare has been a favourite target of Americans for Prosperity (AFP) all year, as they have tried to convince women voters that affordable health care is not their friend.

In an article in The Hill, AFP President Tim Phillips is quoted:

Some politicians are scrambling to distance themselves from ObamaCare. But people are hurting. They're losing their doctor, seeing the plan they liked stripped away from them, seeing prices go up and their options dwindle. Political games won't fix this. We want to make sure this is the number one issue on everyone's mind.

You'll have to forgive me for not believing the Koch brothers give a rat's ass how much Americans might be hurting.

(Memo to the Koch brothers: Find an actress who doesn't seem constipated).

On the Hustings

(Los Angeles Times): "Gov. Jerry Brown's not saying whether he'll seek fourth term"

(Stu Rothenberg): "The most competitive race in West Virginia?"

(Roll Call): "Matt Bevin reports millions in cash and assets ready for campaign"

(Reuters): "Republican governors seek distance from Washington gridlock"

(The Hill): "Healthcare law key to Love’s Utah rematch"

Chris Matthews' delusion in Tip and the Gipper

By Richard K. Barry

If the New York Times had asked me to write a review of Chris Matthews’ new book on the relationship between ’80s era House Speaker Tip O’Neill and President Reagan, it would have pretty much been, at least in substance, exactly what David Greenberg wrote on Friday.

Beside having a good guffaw at the suggestion that so many wonderful things got done because of the friendly relationship between the two men, I would have pointed out, as did Greenberg, this:

But on the key legislative issue of Reagan’s presidency — the 1981 fight over his budget, which slashed taxes on the rich — O’Neill simply got rolled. Spooked by the president’s popularity, which surged after he was shot by John Hinckley in March of that year, O’Neill failed to compete with Reagan in the new age of media politics. Worse, he also came up short in his supposed strong suit — riding herd on his caucus — as scores of Democrats, fearing the tax-cutting bandwagon, defected to back the Reagan bill. The consequences — skyrocketing budget deficits and debilitating inequality — have plagued us ever since.

There other thing about the Reagan presidency that I find crazy-making is the suggestion, frequently accepted by the dolts on Morning Joe among other places, that Reagan presided over a period of peace, love and good will in which everyone felt included in America’s prosperity and to which we should return if we understand our own best interests.

Many insiders did indeed swoon over the president’s ready charm, but his election depended just as crucially on his very public meanness, his zest for the punitive — the vows to crack down on domestic spending, “welfare queens” and the Evil Empire. An account of Reagan’s triumph that locates the key in his Hollywood smile cannot explain the victories that the conservative movement continued to enjoy after his exit.

Yes, Reagan did usher in something, and we are now living with the ugliness of the Tea Party movement as a reminder of exactly what that was.

(Cross-posted at Raggy Waltz.)

A.M. Headlines

(Washington Post): ""Iran, world powers reach historic nuclear deal"

(USA Today): "Israel calls Iran nuclear deal a 'historic mistake'"

(Bloomberg): ""Iran to reap $7 billion in sanctions relief under accord"

(New York Times): "Tension and flaws before health website crash"

(The Hill): "Filibuster faces terminal decline"