Markets drop as jobless filings rise

NYT:

A slowdown in American manufacturing and weak employment data sent stocks lower on Thursday as investors continued to absorb news of a weak economic recovery.

The separate reports from the Federal Reserve and the Labor Department were a fresh reminder of the slow pace of the recovery. Manufacturing, in particular, had shown tentative signs of a rebound in recent months.

The reports were enough to reverse the upward trend of the previous two days, when the market rose 1.1 percent.

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More on Dems' anti-Bush message

Chicago Trib:

Democrats are putting cash behind their anti-Bush message, taking to the airwaves today with an ad that frames the election as one of "big choices."

Timed to coincide with the end of its summer meeting in St. Louis, the Democrat National Committee is launching a new television ad that "amplifies the choice voters are going to face this fall," a senior party spokesman said.

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Target finds itself in hot water over campaign spending

What's interesting to me is the degree to which support for marriage equality has become a litmus test for the gay community and our allies. That doesn't just spell trouble for companies, it spells trouble for politicians too.

When Target gave money in July to a pro-business group in Minnesota, the company thought it was helping its bottom line by backing candidates in its home state who support lower taxes. Instead, the retailer has found itself in a fight with liberal and gay rights groups that has escalated into calls for a nationwide boycott and protests at the company's headquarters and stores.

The problem: Target's $100,000 helped pay for TV ads supporting the gubernatorial campaign of Republican state Rep. Tom Emmer, who thinks Minnesota's corporate taxes should be lower. As it turns out, he also wants to ban same-sex marriage.

It was an embarrassing stumble for a company that has carefully cultivated an image of urbanity and hipness -- and that's earned goodwill with the gay community. The company offers benefits to domestic partners and receives sterling marks from liberal groups for its tolerance of gays. Target has even been an annual sponsor of the Twin Cities Gay Pride Festival.

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Palin says elections aren't about winning

Yeah. They're clearly not about intellect either.

The Republicans' 2008 vice presidential nominee promised a pack of "mama grizzly" candidates would rise up and defeat Democrats in this November's elections. But office-seekers she supported in Kansas, Wyoming and Washington state lost their primaries despite her high-profile endorsements. And Karen Handel lost her runoff contest for Georgia governor a day after sharing an Atlanta stage with Palin.

Now, Alaska's Senate primary on Tuesday is shaping up as an embarrassing defeat in her own backyard. Sen. Lisa Murkowski is expected to dispatch the challenger Palin has endorsed in the Republican contest.

Palin says it isn't about picking winners.

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Send 'Why We Can't Wait' to the White House

Digby quotes this from Rick Perlstein's Facebook page:

White House announces frustration at gays for demanding full marriage equality. My idea: send the White House thousands of copies--tens of thousands of copies?--of "Why We Can't Wait" by Martin Luther King. I've just gone to Amazon and done so. 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, Washington D.C., 20500. I just went to Alibris.com and sent a $.99 copy. You should, too, and spread the word.

Action opportunity — It's cheap, easy, and you can do it now. The alibris link to the book is here. The address of the White House is bolded above. Just click it.

UPDATE: Amazon link here.

UPDATE 2: The lowest cost Amazon edition (at the moment) is $2.00 used, got by clicking the "Mass Market Paperback" link on the main Amazon page in the original Update above. (Thanks to BeccaM in the comments.)

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Dems hit at Bush in new cable ad

The Hill:

Democrats again used former President George W. Bush as a foe in their latest TV ad campaign, driving home the point Republicans would restore policies that helped create the economic downturn.

The Democratic National Committee (DNC) released a new cable ad Friday that harped on their campaign message that the November midterm elections will be a choice between Democratic policies that will bring the country out of the recession versus Republican policies that helped created it.

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The effort to make Sharron Angle appear normal

The GOP is dealing with the fact that a lot of its Teabagger supported candidates are certifiably crazy. Las Vegas Sun:

In the span of a year, Nevada voters have encountered three different Sharron Angles.

First came Primary Campaign Angle, who, trying to distinguish herself from a crowded Republican U.S. Senate field, talked to anyone, anywhere and was unafraid to declare her deeply conservative philosophy.

Then she won the primary and voters met Down-in-the-Bunker Angle, who fled reporters and hunkered down to raise money.

Now emerges Prime Time Angle. Bolstered by a professional communications staff, she is once again sparring with groups of reporters and granting lengthy sit-down interviews to “mainstream” news outlets such as The New York Times. But the latest edition, while more polished, appears to be missing some of her previous fire, if her speech Wednesday before the Washoe County Republican Women’s Club is any indication.

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Far right candidates are destroying the GOP brand

NYT editorial:

For months, it has been clear that Republican Congressional candidates would benefit from independent voters’ dissatisfaction with President Obama. With the Republican field now largely in place, all voters might want to take a close look at who those candidates are.

The party has nominated so many at the far right of the spectrum, as well as some other unusual choices — Linda McMahon, the candidate for the United States Senate in Connecticut made millions running the sex-and-violence spectacle known as World Wrestling Entertainment — that the Republican brand is barely recognizable.

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Worried Democrats courting elderly voters as midterm elections near

Wash Post:

In a poll this month by the Pew Research Center, 46 percent of seniors reported that they would be voting for the Republican on their congressional ballot this fall, compared with 43 percent for the Democrat. The most recent Gallup data showed an even starker difference: Fifty-three percent of seniors said they would vote for a Republican House candidate and 38 percent said they would opt for the Democrat.

"They are the voting group we are doing the worst with," said Celinda Lake, a Democratic pollster. "They are also the voting group with the highest turnout in an off-year election. So it is going to be up to the individual members of Congress to go out there and make their case personally to seniors in their districts."

The financial meltdown two years ago hit those of retirement age the hardest, and seniors remain slightly more negative about the Democratic-backed health-care overhaul than the general public, according to polls. A striking number of seniors, about 36 percent, believed the misconception that the law "allowed a government panel to make decisions about end of life care for people on Medicare," according to a July poll by the Kaiser Family Foundation.

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In the Gulf, scientists don't think most of the oil is gone. Far from it.

Someone isn't telling the truth about the BP oil spill.

Scientists think the oil is far from gone. We heard that from two different sources yesterday.

From a hearing on Capitol Hill, a NOAA scientist weighs in:

Roughly three-quarters of the oil that spilled into the Gulf of Mexico from BP’s ruptured well is still in the environment, a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration official told a House panel Thursday. 
 


The estimate contrasts previous pronouncements by administration officials that only about a quarter of the oil remains to be addressed. 
 


Bill Lehr, a senior scientist at NOAA, said at a House Energy and Commerce subpanel hearing Thursday that federal officials have only confirmed that 10 percent of the 4.1 million barrels of oil that leaked into the Gulf have been either skimmed or burned. 
 


And, there's this from Woods Hole scientists, via the Washington Post:

Academic scientists are challenging the Obama administration's assertion that most of BP's oil in the Gulf of Mexico is either gone or rapidly disappearing -- with one group Thursday announcing the discovery of a 22-mile "plume" of oil that shows little sign of vanishing.

That plume was measured in late June and was described Thursday by scientists from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Massachusetts. The biggest news was not the plume itself: For weeks, government and university scientists have said that oil from BP's damaged well is still underwater.

The news was what is happening -- or not happening -- to it.

The scientists said that when they studied it, they saw little evidence that the oil was being rapidly consumed by the gulf's petroleum-eating microbes. The plume was in a deep, cold region where microbes tend to work slowly.

If the scientists are right, we've got a problem. Actually, we've got a couple problems. First, the problem of the oil. And, then, why we're not getting the truth from the government. Read More......

Friday Morning Open Thread

Good morning.

So, the President is on vacation at Martha's Vineyard for the next week and a half. Deputy Press Secretary Bill Burton will be giving daily press briefings. Yesterday, Mr. Burton informed us that Obama is, in fact, a Christian. Yes, that's an issue these days because of the Pew Poll that found 20% of Americans think he's a Muslim. Says a lot about the state of our nation. It's absurd. And, why hasn't Obama's pal Rick Warren spoken out on this issue?

Also, while Team Obama is in Massachusetts, perhaps Burton or someone can explain if the President thinks DOMA is constitutional. They're all in a state that allows marriage equality, but married same-sex couples are denied federal benefits. A federal judge recently ruled that DOMA is unconstitutional. By October 18, we'll know if the Obama administration is appealing that decision. Every indication is that DOJ will appeal. So, where does the President stand on DOMA? Constitutional or not? Obama was a constitutional law professor. He must have an opinion.

DC has emptied out...that's a good thing... Read More......

Colbert on Dr. Laura's resignation

Continuing the trip down Schlessinger Memory Lane, here's Stephen Colbert on Dr. Laura.



And thanks for reminding us of her history as everything she came to hate.

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Jon Stewart goes Glenn Beck on News Corp's $1 million 'gift' to the GOP

We covered this story here, with a nice link to Bloomberg, because it's news, and that's what we do. What does Jon Stewart do? He releases his inner Beck.



By the way, there's a serious side to this story, which Stewart's trip to Beckistan didn't tease out.

Corporations are "preparing the battlefield" of public opinion for Citizens United–style numbers. The NY Times:

As a “527” political association, the Republican governors’ group can raise unlimited amounts of money from corporate donors and individuals, and it was free to do so even before the Supreme Court’s landmark ruling this year in the Citizens United case. That ruling freed corporations to make direct political expenditures to influence campaigns, for instance, through media buys and commercials.

Dave Levinthal, a spokesman for the Center for Responsive Politics, said seven-figure donations from anyone to “527” associations were unusual, but a $1 million donation from a news organization was particularly rare.

Why does this matter to Republicans? The Bloomberg article John linked to above:

Republicans, fueled by record fundraising, are poised to win most of the state governorships in November, which would give them an advantage in congressional redistricting and a new pool of talent for national office. . . . [T]he governors will help redraw congressional and state legislative lines after the 2010 census.

And the benefit to News Corp (aside from the usual Ailes-driven tastiness):

News Corp. opposes proposed federal rule changes that would weaken the position of its Fox network in negotiations with cable companies. Governors may have a stake in the issue. In March, for example, New York Governor David Paterson stepped in with a call for binding arbitration in a dispute over fees between Bethpage, New York-based Cablevision Systems Corp. and Burbank, California-based Walt Disney Co.’s ABC.

There's a Wellpoint side to this story as well:

Wellpoint Inc., the biggest U.S. health insurer, contributed a total of $500,000 to the Republican group.

This is just the beginning. Wait till the rest of America's 400 billionaires start flexing their muscles. There may not be enough fingers on the planet to fix this dyke.

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Girdles for men

Being a 40-something baby boomer (or I just missed being one, I can never quite tell), I can appreciate the utility of a man-girdle. But still, it reminds me of my mom telling me that when they were kids they'd buy really tight blue jeans, get them soaking wet, then slip them on in the bath, under water, and let them slowly dry and shrink on their bodies.

There's also the issue of wearing one of these things, picking up somebody really hot, and then you get home and they find out you're wearing a girdle. I'm not sure there's enough Viagra in the world to fix that one. Read More......

The day that Jed Bartlett took on Dr. Laura

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