Mideast crisis grows.
Mideast crisis grows.
“Israel’s Security Cabinet approved early Tuesday widening the ground offensive in Lebanon and rejected a cease-fire until an international force is in place,” the AP reports. Meanwhile, “Syrian President Bashar al-Assad told the Syrian military on Monday to raise its readiness, pledging not to abandon support for Lebanese resistance against Israel.”
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United on Iraq.
United on Iraq.
“Key Democratic leaders in the House and Senate” — including Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi, Joseph Biden, and John Murtha — united today “to call on President Bush to begin pulling U.S. troops out of Iraq by the end of the year,” the AP reports. Read their letter.
Boehner Pledges To Privatize Social Security: ‘We’re Going to Get Serious About This’
Boehner Pledges To Privatize Social Security: ‘We’re Going to Get Serious About This’
In an interview with the Washington Times published yesterday, House Majority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) promised to privatize Social Security:
Q: Where does Social Security reform stand?
A: I just met with Congressman [Frank R. Wolf, Virginia Republican], a few minutes ago with his SAFE Commission [formed to fix the entitlement programs]. In 1990 when I first ran for Congress, I talked about the need to reform these big entitlement programs because the sooner we began the process, the easier it would be to make the necessary changes so that these programs were sustainable for the long term. … If I’m around in a leadership role come January, we’re going to get serious about this.
Privitization plans championed by Boehner and others would sharply cut guaranteed benefits and are opposed by the overwhelming majority of Americans. Nevertheless, Boehner is just the latest prominent conservative to reaffirm his commitment to privatize Social Security in the months and years to come.
Sistani warns U.S. of regional war.
Sistani warns U.S. of regional war.
“Islamic nations will not forgive the entities that hinder a cease-fire,” Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani said today “in a clear reference to the United States.” The Iraqi leader added that “dire consequences will befall the region” if a cease-fire is not agreed upon. Last week, it was reported that Sistani was “on the verge of withdrawing his tacit but vital support” for U.S. efforts in Iraq.
Army In Crisis: Two-Thirds of Brigade Combat Teams Not Ready to Report for Duty
Army In Crisis: Two-Thirds of Brigade Combat Teams Not Ready to Report for Duty
In an interview today with Fox News’ Neil Cavuto, President Bush declared, “We have a very strong military and we can deal with any threat to the homeland there is and will if we have to.”
In reality, “the Army is showing the wear and tear of constant battle after nearly five years of war.” Rep. Ike Skelton, the ranking member on the House Armed Services Committee, recently reported:
Army readiness is in crisis. The administration has brought us here because of a lack of planning and a lack of funding. Today two-thirds of the brigade combat teams in our operating force are unready.
As a result of the crisis, the Army is being forced to cut resources to nondeployed forces to make sure front-line troops stay at the highest combat readiness. Rep. John Murtha explained that these are “the units that could be called upon or would be called upon to go to war in North Korea, Iran, or any other country or region.”
In 2000, Bush explained who should be blamed for a military that is overextended:
So let’s get something straight right now. To point out that our military has been overextended, taken for granted and neglected, that’s no criticism of the military. That is criticism of a president and vice president and their record of neglect. [CNN, 11/3/00]
Today, two-thirds of the Army’s brigade combat teams are a testament to Bush’s record of neglect.
White House Conspicuously Absent From Blair, Schwarzenegger Energy Meetings
White House Conspicuously Absent From Blair, Schwarzenegger Energy Meetings
British Prime Minister Tony Blair and California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger are convening a series of high-profile meetings this week to discuss solutions to global climate change. Twenty-five chief executive officers of major corporations around the world will be in attendance, including the heads of BP, DuPont Co., and Goldman Sachs Group.
But there is one group that will be notably absent: the White House. Greenwire reports (sub. req’d):
The Bush administration’s top environmental adviser received an informal invitation to attend the California-UK event, but White House Council on Environmental Quality Chairman Jim Connaughton’s spokeswoman said he could not participate because of a scheduling conflict.
Connaughton’s spokeswoman, Kristen Hellmer, said the deal did not upset the Bush administration.
“This is just a wonderful amplification of the work that President Bush and Prime Minister Blair agreed to at the G8 last year,” she said. “This wasn’t a surprise.”
The meeting may not be a suprise, but it is an embarrassment for the administration. The agenda will focus on items that Bush pledged he would act on but hasn’t: 1) regulating carbon dioxide and 2) encouraging new, greener technologies.
Barry Rabe, a University of Michigan professor and an expert on U.S. climate policy at the state level, said the administration’s failure to attend sends the wrong message. “It suggests certainly in this instance the federal government is really conspicuous by its absence,” he said.
Chaos provokes government shake-up in Iraq.
Chaos provokes government shake-up in Iraq.
“Iraq’s interior minister faced calls for his dismissal Monday because of the security crisis in Baghdad and surrounding towns,” the AP reports, while an Iraqi vice president said that Cabinet changes “would be made soon but did not specify which ministers would be replaced.”
Hagel: The Iraq War Is ‘An Absolute Replay Of Vietnam’
Hagel: The Iraq War Is ‘An Absolute Replay Of Vietnam’
Four months ago, Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-NE) described the conditions in Iraq as a “low grade civil war.” Today, his view is much more bleak. In an interview with the Omaha World Herald, the Vietnam War veteran said that the country had descended into “absolute anarchy” and the war was “an absolute replay of Vietnam.”
Hagel also blasted the Pentagon’s plan to send 5,000 additional U.S. troops to Iraq, saying the move was opposed by several four-star generals:
[Hagel] said that in the previous 48 hours, he had received three telephone calls from four-star generals who were “beside themselves” over the Pentagon’s reversal of plans to bring tens of thousands of soldiers home this fall.
Instead, top Pentagon officials are suspending military rotations and adding troops in Iraq. The Pentagon has estimated that the buildup will increase the number of U.S. troops from about 130,000 to 135,000.
“That isn’t going to do any good. It’s going to have a worse effect,” Hagel said. “They’re destroying the United States Army.“
Hagel — unlike Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN) — understands that “staying the course” in Iraq isn’t an option.
Congressman Brags About Sabotaged Minimum Wage Bill: ‘You Have Seen Us Really Outfox You’
Congressman Brags About Sabotaged Minimum Wage Bill: ‘You Have Seen Us Really Outfox You’
At 2 a.m. on Saturday morning, the House of Representatives passed a bill that links a $2 increase in the minimum wage to a dramatic cut of the estate tax for millionaires.
A few hours earlier, Rep. Zach Wamp (R-TN) went on the House floor to brag about this ploy, which has little chance of passing the Senate. Wamp said to his opponents, “I know why you’re so mad and why you say things you don’t really mean. It’s because you have seen us really outfox you on this issue tonight.” Watch it:
Transcript: More »
South Dakotans reject abortion ban.
South Dakotans reject abortion ban.
47 percent of South Dakotans will vote to overturn the near-total abortion ban passed into law this year, which included no exceptions for incest or rape, according to a new poll. 39 percent said they would uphold the ban. More at South Dakota Campaign for Health Families.
To Paris With Love: Multi-Millionaire Heirs Get 183 Years of Minimum Wage Income
To Paris With Love: Multi-Millionaire Heirs Get 183 Years of Minimum Wage Income
House conservatives passed a bill last week that combined a minimum wage hike with a dramatic cut to the estate tax (aka the Paris Hilton Tax).
By my calculations, the minimum wage hike will increase the incomes of full-time, minimum wage workers by $84 a week, or about $4,368 a year. This would bring their income up to just over $15,000 a year (assuming 40 hours per week and 52 weeks per year.)
By contrast, the heirs of multimillionaires would receive substantially more by way of benefits. Consider the heirs who stand to receive a $10 million fortune through married parents. Under the new proposed law they would receive a tax break of as much as $2.76 million (compared with the 2006 estate tax law.)
Put another way, the heirs of the $10 million estate would get a tax break worth as much as 183 years of the income of a full-time minimum wage earner.
– John Irons, Director of Tax and Budget Policy
Cross-posted at BudgetBlog. Check out BudgetBlog every day for real-time analysis and commentary on the federal budget.
Schumer calls Bolton filibuster “unlikely.”
Schumer calls Bolton filibuster “unlikely.”
Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) “supported an effort last year to block Mr. Bolton’s nomination from gaining a full Senate vote, but he confirmed that he is considering changing his position,” the New York Sun reports.
Lying About Ledeen: National Review Falsely Claims NeoCon ‘Has Opposed Military Action Against Iran’
Lying About Ledeen: National Review Falsely Claims NeoCon ‘Has Opposed Military Action Against Iran’
The right-wing blogosphere is up in arms over a Rolling Stone article about prominent neo-conservative Michael Ledeen. The article, written by James Bamford, argues that Ledeen was using unreliable intelligence to push the Bush administration into military action against Iran. The National Review’s Andrew McCarthy and Mark Levin claim that the premise of Bramford’s article is flawed because Ledeen opposes military action against Iran:
Yet, anyone even vaguely familiar with Michael’s work knows that he has opposed military action against Iran — notwithstanding that he was years ahead of most experts in accurately portraying Iran’s role as the terror master at the center of the jihadist network.
Ledeen makes a similar argument is his own response to Bramford, claiming “I’ve openly and consistently opposed military invasion.”
Actually, writing for the National Review on July 11, Ledeen said the United States should attack Iran:
But one thing I do know: I would insist that my soldiers have the right of “hot pursuit” into Iran and Syria, and I would order my armed forces to attack the terrorist training camps in those countries.
The National Review has every right to defend Ledeen. But they should at least make a modest effort to get their facts straight.
ThinkFast: July 31, 2006
ThinkFast: July 31, 2006
Rove attacks the media. During his commencement speech at GWU graduate school of political management, “Rove lambasted journalists for playing what he said was a ‘corrosive role’ in politics by ‘focusing on process, not substance.’”
Is the U.S. prodding Israel to attack Syria? The Jerusalem Post reports, “[Israeli] Defense officials told the Post last week that they were receiving indications from the United States that the US would be interested in seeing Israel attack Syria.”
Arguing Iraq is a central front in the war on terror, Iraqi officials are demanding that they be compensated with economic and military assistance for fighting terrorists on behalf of other countries. “Iraq is now defending not only Iraqis but is also defending the region and the world,†national security adviser Mowaffak al-Rubaie said. “So what is the world giving us in return?â€
Medicare’s “doughnut hole†is starting to hit shocked and angry seniors. “They have just learned that their Medicare drug plans are maxing out on early coverage and that they must spend $2,850 from their own pockets before coverage will resume.â€
“Britain and California are preparing to sidestep the Bush administration and fight global warming together by creating a joint market for greenhouse gases. … Such a move could help California cut carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping gases scientists blame for warming the planet. President Bush has rejected the idea of ordering such cuts.†More »
Suspension over.
Suspension over.
The Israeli army says its air force has struck southern Lebanon despite an agreement to halt air raids for 48 hours, the AP reports.
Israel agrees to 48-hour suspension
Israel agrees to 48-hour suspension
“of aerial activity over southern Lebanon after its bombing of a Lebanese village on Sunday that killed a number of children.” The AP reports, “It was not immediately clear how much Israeli military activity the suspension would end. [An Israeli] official said only that the agreement covered aircraft, which would not rule out the use of ground troops or ground-based weapons systems.”
Matthews: War in Iraq United ‘the Disparate Pieces of Shia Radicalism into a Frankenstein Monster’
Matthews: War in Iraq United ‘the Disparate Pieces of Shia Radicalism into a Frankenstein Monster’
Chris Matthews, at the conclusion of his Sunday morning talk show explored the impact of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq. Matthews said that Iraq used to be “a country which has fought revolutionary Iran for eight years to a bloody stand still.” Now, it’s a “Shia dominated ally of Iran.” Matthews concluded: “Our brave soldiers have fought, died and been dismembered in Iraq only to connect the disparate pieces of Shia radicalism into a frankenstein monster that has come to life right there on our TV screens.” Watch it:
Transcript: More »
Rice abandons talks, shuttles back to the United States.
Rice abandons talks, shuttles back to the United States.
“Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was forced to cancel a trip to Beirut Sunday after an Israeli airstrike killed more than 50 people, mostly women and children, in the southern Lebanese town of Qana in the bloodiest attack since the hostilities began between Israel and Lebanon’s Hezbollah militia. But she did not call for an immediate ceasefire. Rice will abandon her Middle East negotiations at least temporarily to return to Washington Monday.”
Zakaria: Rumsfeld ‘Seems In A Parallel Universe and Slightly Deranged’
Zakaria: Rumsfeld ‘Seems In A Parallel Universe and Slightly Deranged’
Newsweek editor Fareed Zakaria ripped into Donald Rumsfeld this morning on ABC’s This Week. Watch it:
Transcript:
[If I were running against conservatives,] I would make up a campaign commercial almost entirely of Donald Rumsfeld’s press conferences, because the man is looking — I mean, it’s not just that he seems like a bad Secretary of [Defense]. He seems literally in a parallel universe and slightly deranged. If you listen to what he said last week about Iraq, he’s living in a different world, not a different country.
Zakaria may have been referencing Rumsfeld’s “glib” remarks last week when asked whether Iraq was getting “closer to a civil war“: More »
An environmental disaster
An environmental disaster
in Lebanon. “Lebanon is facing an environmental crisis after an Israeli air strike on the Jiyeh power station, about 20km south of Beirut caused 10,000 tons of oil to spill into the Mediterranean sea.”
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