The War-On-Women: Winning a Few Battles!!!

Could be worse, this week. From Kansas, this:

WICHITA, Kan. -- A federal judge ordered Kansas to immediately resume funding a Planned Parenthood chapter on the same quarterly schedule that existed before a new state law stripped it of all federal funding for non-abortion services.

U.S. District Judge J. Thomas Marten on Tuesday rejected the state's request that it pay Planned Parenthood of Kansas and Mid-Missouri monthly and only for services provided.

The judge also declined to order Planned Parenthood to post a bond in the event the state prevailed in the lawsuit.

And from the great state of Texas:

AUSTIN, Texas — A federal judge on Tuesday blocked key provisions of Texas' new law requiring a doctor to perform a sonogram before an abortion, ruling the measure violates the free speech rights of both doctors and patients.

U.S. District Judge Sam Sparks upheld the requirement that sonograms be performed, but struck down the provisions requiring doctors to describe the images to their patients and requiring women to hear the descriptions.

And kudos to Judge Sparks:

Sparks was particularly troubled by the requirement that victims of sexual assault or incest sign statements attesting to that fact to get around the provision. That would require women to disclose "extremely personal, medically irrelevant facts" that will be "memorialized in records that are, at best, semi-private," Sparks wrote.

"(It) is difficult to avoid the troubling conclusion the Texas Legislature either wants to permanently brand women who choose to get abortions, or views these certifications as potential evidence to be used against physicians and women," Sparks wrote.

I can think of two, high-profile Republican governors who are not too happy today...

Flip and Flop

Pretty funny, given that up until now he has said he believes marriage is an issue that should be decided by the states.

The story goes like this:

As gay marriage was about to become legal in New York last month, Texas Gov. Rick Perry channeled his inner libertarian and offered this comment: “You know what? That’s New York, and that’s their business, and that’s fine with me,” Mr. Perry said. “If you believe in the 10th Amendment, stay out of their business if you live in some other state or particularly if you’re the federal government.”

The remarks came at a meeting of GOP donors and governors in Aspen, Colo., on July 23, a day before the first same-sex marriages were performed in New York. A week later, as it became increasingly clear Mr. Perry would run for president, he told the Associated Press he would support a constitutional amendment that defines marriage as between a man and a woman.

“Yes, sir, I would. I am for the federal marriage amendment,” he told the AP. “And that’s about as sharp a point as I could put on it.”

On Friday, Mr. Perry completed the 180-degree turn: He signed the National Organization of Marriage’s anti-gay-marriage pledge.

And if I may say so myself, the same goes for Mitt Romney, who is running neck-and-neck with Perry for winner of the flip-flopper-of-the-campaign-season, award:

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

And the winner of the highly coveted, flip-flopper-of-the-campaign-season award is...

Words of Wisdom

With a major hurricane threatening to hit the I-95 corridor, Republican-2012-Presidential-nominee-wannabee Ron Paul sees no place for FEMA – the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

After a lunch speech today, Ron Paul slammed the Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA, and said that no national response to Hurricane Irene is necessary.

“We should be like 1900; we should be like 1940, 1950, 1960,” Paul said. “I live on the gulf coast, we deal with hurricanes all the time. Galveston is in my district.

So, in memory of the 8,000 who died in the 900 Galveston Hurricane:



Be safe, everyone. From the hurricane, from everyone who wants to turn the clock back to 1900, and from everyone wanting to be your President.

From San Juan to Santiago

Only 674 miles.

Happy for all those Puerto Ricans of Cuban descent, who get to visit.  And everyone else.

Where in the World is Martha's Vineyard?

I have long been thinking that Texas Gov. Rick Perry is starting to come off as someone not particularly interested in his fellow Americans – unless of course, they are EXACTLY like he is. Unless they have lived the same exact life experience he has. I also believe strongly that unless he changes that perception, he will start to be looked upon as not-a-particularly-likable-guy. And that’s not going to fly.

From an interview he did on Laura Ingraham’s radio show Thursday:

During an interview on the Laura Ingraham radio show on Thursday, Republican presidential candidate Rick Perry characterized the nation's capital as a "seedy place."

"Look, I am not an establishment figure, never have been and frankly I don't want to be," said the Texas governor. "I dislike Washington."

Former president Bill Clinton recently jabbed Perry over his posture toward the country's capital city.

“He’s saying ‘Oh, I’m going to Washington to make sure that the federal government stays as far away from you as possible -- while I ride on Air Force One and that Marine One helicopter and go to Camp David and travel around the world and have a good time,'" he said while speaking at a fire fighter’s conference in the Big Apple, according to the New York Observer. "I mean, this is crazy."

If I may take a moment to remind the good governor that should he become President, he will be the President of all the people – including the residents of Washington, DC. Including the residents of lots of places he probably doesn’t much care for. And that while plenty of people don’t like Washington DC, it is still a city full of people who want to serve their fellow citizens. A city populated by young folks who come to live there because they care about service to America. Even if you don’t exactly agree with them.

He seemingly has a problem with folks who frequent Martha’s Vineyard, too. Also from Laura Ingraham’s radio show.

As the smoke cleared, Perry offered a final parting shot. Asked by Ingraham to pledge that he would never vacation on Martha's Vineyard, Perry replied, "I'm not even sure where it is." Ingraham laughed and concluded, "That's good enough for me."

Not sure what’s worse – the prideful, anti-intellectualism associated with pretending to not care enough to know the geography of the country you want to lead, or the your-are-not-as-American-as-I-am meta-construct that just won’t seem to die.

I have said it before. Unless he is careful:  a divider, not a uniter.

My Way or The Highway!

“You’re either with us, or against us…”



Black or white. In or out. One of President George W. Bush’s most quoted, lines. One of his most referred to, thoughts. My Cuban mother still says that much to Pres. Bush’s chagrin, it’s something Fidel Castro would have said in the early 1960’s.

I always assumed President Bush’s inability – or perhaps better said, lack of desire – to see the subtleties of public policy imperatives and foreign policy issues stemmed from a lack of interest in engaging with ideas. Not necessarily a lack of interest in engaging with people, mind you. But lack of interest in engaging with their ideas – especially if those ideas were different from his own. I always rather suspected he had no problem sitting across the table with people who had lived a different life experience than he had. I imagine him being rather interested in hearing other folks’ stories – just not necessarily, their ideas.  Over a non-alcoholic beer.

Enter present-day Texas Gov. Rick Perry. I have now listened to, and read the text to his Presidential bid announcement speech various times.  I have learned he thinks Ben Bernanke's economic policy borders on treason.  I now know he questions President Obama's patriotism.  I surmise that he has some problems with evolution, since he seems to think if you teach both creationism and evolution, most are "smart enough to figure out which one is right."  And most of all, I know he believes in abstinence education, not because he has some personal preference for it – which is not in and of itself a bad thing – but because despite all evidence to the contrary, he says "it works."

For years I heard that one of President Bush's saving graces was that he was a likable guy.  I admit to never quite getting that, but I did always view him as someone who liked being around other people – even if only superficially.  Right now, all I can see in Gov. Perry's Texas twang and swagger is not only someone who is not particularly interested in those who have lived a different life experience, but frankly, someone who thinks better of his own experience than that of other Americans. There's nothing wrong with being from small-town America and marrying your high school sweetheart.  Quite the contrary,  But hey, that's not the only way to be.  Not the only life to have led.

If Gov. Perry doesn't make his own life experience more accessible to a greater number of Americans, they ain't gonna like him.  They won't be able to relate to him.  They won't think he's a likable guy.  Which means he ain't going no where.  And the only way for him to do that is by appearing to be more interested in, and sympathetic to the lives of others, and attempt to point out commonalities of experience.   After all, it's the American way.

Not quite President Bush's version of my-way-or-the-highway.  But a version, none-the-less.  

Abstinence Works!

And why does abstinence work? Because I say so. Because I want it to work. Because I want you to believe in the exact same things I believe.

And that “I” would be none other than Republican-2012-Presidential-nominee-wannabee, Texas Gov. Rick Perry.



And for more on the Texas teen pregnancy rate, see here. And here. And here.

On Defining The Tea Party

In case you missed it, the New York Times published an opinion piece yesterday on the nature of Tea Party members, written by two academics who have been researching the topic for years. David Campbell and Robert Putnam began speaking to folks in 2006 as part of a study into national political attitudes, and as the result of continued interviews with their subjects, became able to predict who would become a Tea Party supporter, years later.

Some of the results. The emphasis is mine:

Our analysis casts doubt on the Tea Party’s “origin story.” Early on, Tea Partiers were often described as nonpartisan political neophytes. Actually, the Tea Party’s supporters today were highly partisan Republicans long before the Tea Party was born, and were more likely than others to have contacted government officials. In fact, past Republican affiliation is the single strongest predictor of Tea Party support today.

What’s more, contrary to some accounts, the Tea Party is not a creature of the Great Recession. Many Americans have suffered in the last four years, but they are no more likely than anyone else to support the Tea Party. And while the public image of the Tea Party focuses on a desire to shrink government, concern over big government is hardly the only or even the most important predictor of Tea Party support among voters.

So what do Tea Partiers have in common? They are overwhelmingly white, but even compared to other white Republicans, they had a low regard for immigrants and blacks long before Barack Obama was president, and they still do.

And yes, they are social conservatives with a desire to see politics and religion mix. The authors make the argument that it is no surprise they support Representative Michele Bachmann of Minnesota and Gov. Rick Perry of Texas.

More important, they were disproportionately social conservatives in 2006 — opposing abortion, for example — and still are today. Next to being a Republican, the strongest predictor of being a Tea Party supporter today was a desire, back in 2006, to see religion play a prominent role in politics. And Tea Partiers continue to hold these views: they seek “deeply religious” elected officials, approve of religious leaders’ engaging in politics and want religion brought into political debates. The Tea Party’s generals may say their overriding concern is a smaller government, but not their rank and file, who are more concerned about putting God in government.

Chris Matthews interviewed one of the authors, David Campbell on his MSNBC show Hardball yesterday.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

So, Tea Partiers are conservative Republicans, and conservative Republicans are Tea Partiers. And the media is responsible for propagating the myth that it is some new, populist grassroots movement, born out of the pain of the recession. Big surprise.

The authors will be updating their book “American Grace: How Religion Divides and Unites Us” with the results of this study. Looking forward to reading it.

Searching for the Savior

Not necessarily as in, Jesus. As in, 2012-Republican-Presidential-nominee-wannabee. But given the state of religion and politics in our country right now, might be the same thing. But I digress.

Yesterday, it was Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI). Here, here, here and here.

Today, it’s New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie. Here, here, here and here.

Does it get any better than, this?

Corporations As People, My Friend

I just can't seem to get over the Mitt Romney corporations-are-people, my friend, thing.



Wondering what's worse: really thinking corporations are people in some sort of legal sense, or truly believing corporations are people because they are made up of human beings -- and that in the end corporations are people because everything they earn ultimately goes the "people."  Human beings, as Mitt Romney said.

Betting Mitt Romney is having a much harder time getting over this one, than I am

On The Wisconsin Recall

A quite interesting analysis from Talking Points Memo on the chances Republican Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker will face a recall:

Is it still possible for Wisconsin Democrats to recall Gov. Scott Walker, following their narrow failure last week to take control of the state Senate via recall elections? New survey numbers from Public Policy Polling (D) suggests that the answer is unclear -- and a lot would seemingly depend on whether they can recruit a top candidate, such as former Sen. Russ Feingold.

Walker's approval rating is still underwater, with 45% approval to 53% disapproval. However, a later question asked: "Would you support or oppose recalling Scott Walker from office before his term is up?" The answer was 47% support, to 50% oppose -- down slightly from a 50%-47% support margin in a PPP survey from late May, though both are within the margin of error.

Lots of factors at play, here of course. The narrow failure of – and very high expectations associated with – the Democrats to take control of the State Senate last week via that particular recall process. Failed expectations, of sorts. And of course, as noted in the article, the sizable number of people in the state who are generally opposed to the concept of recall elections regardless of the state-of-the-state. I am somewhat sympathetic to that argument, myself.

Folks may simply be suffering from recall-related burnout – the State Senate recall process was intense, by anyone’s definition. Sentiment may change as the ramifications of Gov. Walker’s budget implementation become obvious, and the effort may pick up steam. Or the opposite may happen, even if things get worse.

I am hopeful the good people of Wisconsin won’t fall into the collective depression that seems to be sweeping the country, and stick to the notion that change is possible. However they define change, and whatever they want that change to be.

Rick Perry, Week One

Nice start.  In summary, Federal Reserve Chair Ben Bernanke should be tried for treason, and he's not so sure if the President loves his country.

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa -- Texas Gov. Rick Perry capped off his first full day of campaigning in Iowa on Monday by suggesting that if the Federal Reserve prints more money between now and November 2012 it would be akin to an act of treason.

“If this guy prints more money between now and the election,” Perry said, “I don’t know what y’all would do to him in Iowa, but we -- we would treat him pretty ugly down in Texas. Printing more money to play politics at this particular time in American history is almost treacherous -- or treasonous in my opinion.”

And on President Obama's patriotism:



I guess having once suggested Texas should secede from the Union is neither treasonous, nor unpatriotic.

Can't wait until tomorrow. And the day after that. And the day after that.

A Dios Le Pido

On a Juanes kick at my house.



Happy Monday, all!

Es Por Ti

Not sure, why, except that I love this song.



Hope everyone is having a good weekend!

As Maine Goes, So Goes the Nation

Everything you ever wanted to know about the state of American schools, through the eyes of the Chinese:

A school district in the deep woods of Maine that sought out Chinese students to help boost its enrollment and its finances fell far short of its ambitious goal of bringing in 60 students.

Only six Chinese students will attend high school in the northern Maine town of Millinocket this fall.

The target of five dozen was probably overly ambitious, officials said. The efforts also were hindered by a recruiter in China who failed to deliver any students and a writer who told readers of a national Chinese newspaper that the school was merely "mediocre" and that Millinocket children hang out in parking lots for fun.

Each student attending will pay $24,000 in tuition, room and board.

But school officials found it a harder sell than expected.

An opinion column in June in the Global Times, a national newspaper in China, took aim at U.S. public high schools in general and Millinocket in particular.

The author, an adjunct instructor at a law school program in China and a former high school teacher and prosecutor in the United States, wrote that "the first thing to understand is that the average U.S. public high school isn't very good." He went on to call Stearns a "run of the mill" school and said the "biggest kick for (Millinocket) kids is hanging out in a supermarket parking lot."

A good experience, yes. A good education for a year, maybe.  Depends on how you define it.  But a hard sell at $24,000 year is understandable.

Why I Want To Be Your President: The Republican Debate Edition

Lots of insight on Thursday night at the Iowa debate, from the 2012-Republican-Presidential-nominee-wannabees:

Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann seems to think she would be a better President than former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, because she is less “Minnesota nice.”

Former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty seems to think he would be a better President that Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann, because he is less “Minnesota nice.”

Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich needs to lose the visible annoyance at being asked questions he thinks are beneath him. Maybe he should just consider himself lucky when asked a “Mickey Mouse” question.

Former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum needs to be assured that one of the other candidates will take up the mantle of defending the unborn when he flames out.

Unless I missed it, Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney did not repeat his assertion – uttered earlier in the day at the Iowa State Fair – that “corporations are people, my friend.”

Former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman thinks everyone else needs to spend more time talking about jobs. Too bad he didn’t really take his own advice.

Businessman Herman Cain thinks there are a bunch of problems in Afghanistan, but didn’t have enough time to explain them to us. How convenient.  Oh, and he personally doesn't dislike Mormons, but his neighbors do.  Nice neighbors he has.

And Texas Rep. Ron Paul played the role of libertarian well: too much spending on wars, roll back the Affordable Care Act, keep the Federal government out of same-sex marriage out, and phase out the Federal Reserve.

More next week, I am sure!

The “Political” Response to The Response

Rachel Maddow did two long segments on Wednesday night, making the argument that The Response, Texas Gov. Rick Perry’s prayer and fasting event last weekend in Houston was indeed a political event – despite the fact that he and his people, and much of the media branded it for the most part – as not.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

So, in short, not necessarily political because of a sense there was an overt mix of religion and politics. Not necessarily political because a sitting, elected official lead an event decidedly religious in nature.

Rather, political because of the nature of those who were involved in the event – those who supported it. Political in nature because those religious folks involved are themselves, well – political. Part of The New Apostolic Reformation, who believe that in order to get the world ready for the rapture, they must clear the way for it. To do this, in part, means taking over politics and government. Not just spiritual revival, but political revival.

And here, Rachel Maddow’s interview with Forrest Wilder, who just wrote the cover story for the Texas Observer on all this:

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

A clip from the story. The emphasis is mine. You can read it in its entirety, here:

If they simply professed unusual beliefs, movement leaders wouldn’t be remarkable. But what makes the New Apostolic Reformation movement so potent is its growing fascination with infiltrating politics and government. The new prophets and apostles believe Christians—certain Christians—are destined to not just take “dominion” over government, but stealthily climb to the commanding heights of what they term the “Seven Mountains” of society, including the media and the arts and entertainment world. They believe they’re intended to lord over it all. As a first step, they’re leading an “army of God” to commandeer civilian government.

In Rick Perry, they may have found their vessel. And the interest appears to be mutual.

Watch the videos and read the story. You will get a very clear picture of who Texas Gov. Rick Perry is. And if you are the type who likes to look into the future, what his possible Presidential campaign might look like. It will be very, very interesting if he runs.

If he is elected – not so much.

Across The Pond

Some interesting commentary on the riots and such in Britain. From today’s New York Times. Read the entire piece, here:

A street of shuttered shops, locked playgrounds and closed clinics, a street patrolled by citizens armed with knives and bats, is not a place to build a life.

Americans ought to ponder this aspect of Britain’s trauma. After all, London is one of the world’s wealthiest cities, but large sections of it are impoverished. New York is not so different.

The American right today is obsessed with cutting government spending. In many ways, Mr. Cameron’s austerity program is the Tea Party’s dream come true. But Britain is now grappling with the consequences of those cuts, which have led to the neglect and exclusion of many vulnerable, disaffected young people who are acting out violently and irresponsibly — driven by rage rather than an explicit political agenda.

America is in many ways different from Britain, but the two countries today are alike in their extremes of inequality, and in the desire of many politicians to solve economic and social ills by reducing the power of the state.

Britain’s current crisis should cause us to reflect on the fact that a smaller government can actually increase communal fear and diminish our quality of life. Is that a fate America wishes upon itself?

And for an example of the total clueless apparent across the pond right now, take a close look:



America is indeed very different from Britain in many ways. Immigrants and young Brits of color live alongside institutions that in many ways are constant reminders that they will never, ever reach the highest echelons of powers – a monarchy they cannot marry into, an official-state church they do not belong to, and an educational system that in tracking children at a young age leaves newcomers never able to play catch-up. Yes, what we are seeing is the result of the austerity measures, but within the context of a web of institutionalized, systemically entrenched, and all-too-powerful institutions that ensure certain sectors of society will never ever be, all that they can be. The messages are very clear.

Here in the United States, we live with the myth of the American Dream. Not sure what has to happen here to have that myth completely shattered. But if and when it is, that’s when we might see something like what is happening in Britain.

NY Special Election

News from my old stomping ground:

(CNN) – With New York's special election to replace former Democratic Rep. Anthony Weiner, who resigned amidst scandal, less than five weeks away, a new poll finds the race narrowing with a six point lead for the Democratic candidate.

According to the Siena Research Institute survey released Wednesday, Democrat David Weprin leads with 48 percent of the vote, while Republican businessman Bob Turner follows behind at 42 percent in what was once presumed a solidly safe district for Democrats.

I spent my years as a teenager living in the Brooklyn part of this Congressional District. In those days, very capable of voting against their own best interests. Would not be surprised if that were still the case.

London Burning

A must read today, by Maria Margaronis, in The Nation:

But it’s taken years to brew the toxic mix of hopelessness, frustration and disenfranchisement, envy, anger and boredom, greed and selfishness, humiliation and recklessness that’s erupted in Britain this week--years in which the gap between rich and poor grew wider, racism was allowed to fester, consumerism and celebrity culture replaced community. While we in the middle classes got on with our oh-so-busy lives, averting our eyes from the poverty just a few blocks away, sending our kids to schools where there are other “motivated parents,” talking politics, we allowed the rifts in our own neighbourhoods to deepen until they became almost unbridgeable.

This morning, down the road, people stared at the broken shops, shaking their heads in disbelief. “It’s mad,” they said. “Just mad.” Small groups of women set out with brooms and dustpans to sweep up the broken glass. There is a kind of solidarity taking shape, a wish to protect what we have, now that it’s under threat. People are talking to each other, asking if everything's all right. The challenge, when all this dies down, will be to stay awake, to keep on doing that, until solidarity spreads.

A country that must seriously take a look at how their entrenched, institutions of power and control subtly ensure that “the other” is told on a consistent basis that they can never achieve the highest ranks. A country – by all means not terribly religious nature – that in maintaining an official “state religion” inextricably ties religion and the state together in such a manner as to elevate the importance of membership in one faith above all others.

A country that tracks students to make decisions at such a young age about what to study, that any elementary school-aged immigrant arriving in London will already find him or herself unable to play the catch-up necessary to complete in the academic realm.

And of course, the monarchy. While it can be argued that the monarchy has no real power, until the new royals adopt a baby of Pakistani heritage and announce he will be the future King of England, the institution only serves as yet another reminder of what is, and is not accessible to all members of society.

Today From Wisconsin

As lots of folks are telling us, today is D-Day in Wisconsin. Six Republican state senators are facing a recall, largely because they supported Republican Gov. Scott Walker in his drive to limit the collective bargaining rights of public employees. Two Democratic senators face their own recall next week. If the Democrats can come out ahead with a net of three seats, they will take control of the state Senate.

From the Madison-based, Progressive Magazine:

If the Democrats win, they will be able to put the brakes on Walker’s runaway train. And they’ll set the stage for a huge confrontation with Walker six months from now, when he may have to face a recall himself, probably against none other than Russ Feingold.

And a Democratic win would send a signal to other Republican governors that they’ll pay a price if they follow Walker’s lead and try to destroy the right to organize or decimate public education, which Walker has also done.

And it’ll send the message that resistance works.

If the Democrats prevail, the voters of Wisconsin will be sending a message to every other Governor who has been trying to use corporate dollars to crush the power of labor. And budget cuts, of course. Ohio, here. Michigan, here. Indiana, here.

Not so much of course, if the Republicans prevail. And Gov. Scott Walter could be the new darling of the Republican party.

Ed Schultz broadcast his MSNBC television show last night from Madison, and will do the same today. His segments were great.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

We should all watch the results tonight. They will be a test of today’s political mood.  And from the looks of it this morning, the jury is still out.

In Response to The Response

In honor of the fact that it looks like this week Texas Gov. Rick Perry becomes an official 2012-Repubican-Presidential-nominee-wannabee, I watched his entire presentation at the prayer and fasting event he sponsored this weekend in Houston, The Response.


I think I now know everything I ever needed to know about Rick Perry. In reality, I don’t think his words were as much about dividing people against each other, as they were evidence of an inability – or lack of desire to – or interest in, bringing people of differing backgrounds together.

And you need to be able to the latter well, if you want to succeed on the national stage.

He will have to do much better than this.

Offering Hope

UPDATE:  And they hire lobbyists, too.  Surprise, surprise.

President Obama needed to spend the entire weekend seriously bashing Standard & Poors. And not just because of Friday’s downgrading of the U.S. Credit Rating. He needed to spend the entire weekend questioning the S & P’s credibility in making such a judgment. He needed to remind the American people that the S & P – and other institutions with unchecked power – are the ones that got us into this mess.

Just like Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA) did here:

Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) angrily denounced the ratings downgrade, saying S&P was “trying to justify their reputation” after failing to spot problems in the nation’s financial system before the economic crisis of 2008.

“These are some of the people who have the worst records of incompetence and irresponsibility around,” Frank, the top Democrat on the House Financial Services Committee, said on MSNBC’s “Rachel Maddow Show.”

And just like former Clinton-era Labor Secretary Robert Reich, did here. The emphasis is mine:

Pardon me for asking, but who gave Standard & Poor’s the authority to tell America how much debt it has to shed, and how?

If we pay our bills, we’re a good credit risk. If we don’t, or aren’t likely to, we’re a bad credit risk. When, how, and by how much we bring down the long term debt — or, more accurately, the ratio of debt to GDP — is none of S&P’s business.

S&P’s intrusion into American politics is also ironic because, as I pointed out recently, much of our current debt is directly or indirectly due to S&P’s failures (along with the failures of the two other major credit-rating agencies — Fitch and Moody’s) to do their jobs before the financial meltdown. Until the eve of the collapse S&P gave triple-A ratings to some of the Street’s riskiest packages of mortgage-backed securities and collateralized debt obligations.

Or Paul Krugman did, in The New York Times today:

It’s not the whole story, but something like this threatens to develop:

1. US debt is downgraded, sparking demands for more ill-advised fiscal austerity

2. Fears that this austerity will depress the economy send stocks down

3. Politicians and pundits declare that worries about US solvency are the culprit, even though interest rates have actually plunged

4. This leads to calls for even more ill-advised austerity, which sends us back to #2

Behold the power of a stupid narrative, which seems impervious to evidence.

And then this morning, he needed to outline steps explaining to the American people how he – in his leadership capacity – was going to limit the ability of such institutions, to influence economic policy to the extent necessary. Instead, we got this:



Gridlock. Legitimate source of concern. Need to tackle our deficits. Spending cuts.

Oh yeah, and tax “reform” and “adjustments” to Medicare that we need not fear. Common sense and compromise. Lack of political will. And some stuff about jobs that had little to do with creating decent jobs that won’t cause people ulcers as they try to figure out how to pay exorbitant health insurance bills.

Despite this President's continual efforts to offer hope, the words "depressing" and "bewildering" seem best suited, for today,

The Downgrade

On MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow Show last night, Congressman Barney Frank (D-MA) expressed his outrage at the S & P downgrading of the U.S. credit rating, with a negative outlook. Listen carefully – an excellent analysis all around.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Not just a mathematical error, but a blatant political move designed to tilt our economic policy in a conservative direction. Despite the error, actually. Deficit reduction did not go far enough, in “our view.” And the American “political process” is not great, either.

Yet another institution that helped get us in the mess we are in, continuing to have the ability to exert power over economic policy, and the lives of the average American. How this is still possible, is beyond comprehension.

And from Paul Krugman, in yesterday’s New York Times. The emphasis is mine:

More than that, everything I’ve heard about S&P’s demands suggests that it’s talking nonsense about the US fiscal situation. The agency has suggested that the downgrade depended on the size of agreed deficit reduction over the next decade, with $4 trillion apparently the magic number. Yet US solvency depends hardly at all on what happens in the near or even medium term: an extra trillion in debt adds only a fraction of a percent of GDP to future interest costs, so a couple of trillion more or less barely signifies in the long term. What matters is the longer-term prospect, which in turn mainly depends on health care costs.

So what was S&P even talking about? Presumably they had some theory that restraint now is an indicator of the future — but there’s no good reason to believe that theory, and for sure S&P has no authority to make that kind of vague political judgment.

In short, S&P is just making stuff up — and after the mortgage debacle, they really don’t have that right.

Barney Frank urges us not to pay any attention to these people, but will anyone with power and control listen? Is it even a possibility?

In short, by Atrios:

Apparently we're supposed to care about what some idiots at some corrupt organization think about anything.

The Republicans will use this as an excuse to lobby for more deficit reduction. And I have no faith the Democrats will use what happened yesterday to (begin to) systematically ensure that the institutions that got us where we are, are stripped of their power now, and for good.

Looking forward to the day when something like this happens again, and we can collectively say, “who cares.” And mean it.

Why I Want To Be Your President: Republican Round-Up

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney seems to be, in the money:

A mystery company that pumped $1 million into a political committee backing Mitt Romney has been dissolved just months after it was formed, leaving few clues as to who was behind one of the biggest contributions yet of the 2012 presidential campaign.

The existence of the million-dollar donation — as gleaned from campaign and corporate records obtained by NBC News — provides a vivid example of how secret campaign cash is being funneled in ever more circuitous ways into the political system.

The company, W Spann LLC, was formed in March by a Boston lawyer who specializes in estate tax planning for “high net worth individuals,” according to corporate records and the lawyer’s bio on her firm’s website.

The corporate records provide no information about the owner of the firm, its address or its type of business.

Any clues in this story about how he might run the economy?

UPDATE:  Mystery solved.   The anonymous done is Ed Conard, a strong Romney supporter who was a top official at the private-equity firm Romney helped create.  And I ask again:  any clues in this story about how Romney might run the economy?

Former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty flip-flopped on gay marriage:

A day after refusing the sign a pledge from the National Organization for Marriage to oppose gay marriage, Tim Pawlenty changed his mind.

“After reviewing the pledge, the governor wanted to sign it and we sent it to them this morning,” said Pawlenty spokesman Alex Conant.

The five-step pledge asks candidates to commit to steps to “protect marriage nationally.” It includes supporting a federal marriage amendment defining marriage as the union between one man and one woman, defending the Defense of Marriage Act in court and appointing Supreme Court justices who will “not invent a right to gay marriage.”

On Thursday Michele Bachmann, Rick Santorum and Mitt Romney all signed it. And Maggie Gallagher, chairman of the board of NOM, expressed her disappointment about Pawlenty to The Wall Street Journal:

Not to mention the fact that when Mitt Romney was running against Ted Kennedy in his 1994 Senate race, he said he would be a better advocate for gay rights than Kennedy. So many ways to say “flip-flop…”

Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich seems to think President Obama is actually listening to Paul Krugman:

Newt Gingrich may not be reading New York Times columnist Paul Krugman’s columns very carefully.

On Monday, Gingrich appeared on Bill O’Reilly’s Fox News show and said that President Barack Obama’s tenure in the White House “is a Paul Krugman presidency.”

“He believes that stuff. He actually believes in left-wing economic idea. The only problem with them is it doesn’t work,” said Gingrich. “All the advisers he has and ideas he has are wrong.”

If only. Sigh.

Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin ♡s Michele Bachmann:

Did any of the Republican contenders please Palin?

"Michele Bachmann," she said (Bachmann voted against the debt-ceiling increase). "She spoke out and she cast her vote according to her principles, she stood true."

But on Mitt Romney, not so much:

"Bless his heart, I have respect for Mitt Romney, but I do not have respect for what he has done through this debt increase debate," she said. "He did this, he waited until it was a done deal that we would increase the debt ceiling and more money would be spent, more money would be borrowed and spent on bigger government, and then he came out and made a statement that he didn't like the deal after all. You can't defer an issue and assume that the problem is then going to be avoided."

Former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum thinks schools indoctrinate our children. The emphasis is mine:

“You wonder why young people can vote and flock for a guy like Barack Obama and say, if you look at the surveys, that socialism is better than capitalism — well, that’s because they don’t understand America,” Santorum said. “They haven’t been taught.”

Santorum said he’s been criticized for saying earlier this week, “Schools indoctrinate our children.” He added, “I said ‘indoctrination’ and I meant it.”

Well, at least it got me thinking about the differences between educating and indoctrinating, in this era where public schools are indeed failing our children.

And finally, kudos to Herman Cain!

Presidential candidate Herman Cain won the straw poll at the Western Conservative Summit in Denver this weekend with 48 percent of the votes, followed by Texas Governor Rick Perry.

“How about spectacular,” Cain said to ABC News when asked how he felt about winning. “I would say that winning the straw poll is not bad for somebody who has a 48 percent name ID and with a lot of people who didn’t really give me a chance. I am doing as well as I’m doing for one simple reason. My message is resonating with the people. Secondly, my approach to problem solving, so I guess there’s two reasons, is resonating with the people, so that does make us feel really really excited.”

More as the week goes on, for sure!

Happy Weekend!

I for one, will be anxiously awaiting a tally on how many actually show up to Texas Gov. Rick Perry's prayer and fasting event -- The Response -- in Houston's Reliant Stadium tomorrow.

Anyone else think the reaction to today's jobs numbers has been somewhat muted?  Collective nation-wide depression, or lots of pundit-type folks on their August vacations?  Anyway, to that end, enjoy!  Heavens knows too many of us will be working until we are over 80, so staying forever young is more important than ever.



Happy weekend, all!

Prayer, Fasting and Converts

Well, I suppose that if your main purpose is indeed to convert folks to Christianity, then purposely not inviting people of other faiths to your event is counter productive. From Sarah Posner, at Religion Dispatches:

Right Wing Watch reports that the spokesperson for The Response, Texas Governor Rick Perry's August prayerfest, admits that the event is intended to convert people to Christianity.

Eric Bearse, the event's spokesperson, took to American Family Radio to counter critics' charges that it was an exclusively Christian event, but said that "anyone who comes to this solemn assembly regardless of their faith tradition or background, will feel the love, grace, and warmth of Jesus Christ in that assembly hall, in that arena. And that’s what we want to convey, that there’s acceptance and that there’s love and that there’s hope if people will seek out the living Christ."

People for the American Way president Michael Keegan says Bearse's statement disproves Perry's claim that the event will be open to people of all faiths, and that his "behavior is inappropriate for any public official, much less one who is weighing a run for the presidency."

I maintain that if this event is not well attended, it will mark a serious stain on Gov. Perry’s yet unannounced bid for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination. Even as he tries to distance himself from the hoopla. The emphasis is mine:

Texas Governor Rick Perry, who is widely expected to announce a presidential campaign later this month, plans to attend at a prayer and fasting event called "The Response" on Saturday despite criticism that the event inappropriately mixes religion and politics.

Perry's representatives said the governor will be at the event for the entire, seven-hour duration.

Perry himself has played down his involvement, saying at one point, "I may be ushering, for all I know."

Not to say that ushering is not a very important way to participate in religious worship, mind you.

For anyone wishing to counter Gov. Perry’s prayer and fasting event in Houston this weekend, there are many alternative events to attend. Check here!

Family, Faith and Freedom

So, so, so looking forward to seeing how many people actually show up at Texas Gov. Rick Perry’s prayer and fasting event, The Response, this weekend in Houston.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

When Gov. Sam Brownback (R-KS) backs out on you, you know you are in trouble. Maybe because he isn’t that crazy about hearing his chosen religion characterized as a “godless theology of hate. “

And if you are in Houston this weekend, be sure to attend The “Family, Faith and Freedom” celebration which will take place from 7 to 9 p.m. at Mount Ararat Baptist Church (5801 W. Montgomery Rd., Houston, TX) on the evening before “The Response.”

The War-On-Women: The End of Civilization As We Know It

Today, dedicated to Rep. Steve King, R-IA:

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Remind me to tell my doctors that birth control is not medicine. And all the medical researchers, too.

After being on vacation for two weeks, it’s good to be reminded what these folks are all about: opposition to the new federal guidelines requiring insurance companies to cover birth control with no co-pay costs is not about money or religion. It is squarely about thinking that the role of women in our society is to produce babies. Because as the good congressman said,

“Preventing babies from being born is not medicine. That's not -- that's not constructive to our culture and our civilization. If we let our birth rate get down below replacement rate we're a dying civilization."

Women doing anything other than having babies is not only not constructive to propagating American culture, but makes me responsible for the death of civilization.

Such power, we women have. Who knew?