Damn gummint socialists

I think the fine folks in Georgia can do just fine without this onerous, socialist, Hitler-like government intervention. Read the rest of this post...

Enviros want your quilted toilet paper

I get the argument, and it's valid - to make fluffy, puffy, softer, quilted toilet paper, you have to cut down old growth trees (who knew?). But if they're suggesting we use the crappy TP that Europeans use, well... It's pretty bad over here. I'm not so sure this is going to go over, or under, very well. Read the rest of this post...

Senator Brown: Rahm is "wrong" about the votes for the public option in the Senate

As John reported below, it looks like White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel has already thrown in the towel when it comes to passing the public option in the Senate. Amazing. Rahm is supposed to be so tough and aggressive. Funny how lately that side of Rahm only shows up when he's yelling and swearing at liberal groups.

Tonight, via TPM, we learn that Senator Sherrod Brown said Rahm is "wrong":

Emanuel is "wrong, because of this: Not every Democrat right now would prefer the public option in the Senate ... but no Democrat in the end is going to vote against a procedural question to kill the health care bill," [Senator Brown] said.

"The 60 Democrats will stay together on procedural questions and then, on final passage, some may vote against it because it's got a public option. But I don't see that," he said. Brown added that at least 50 Democrats in the Senate support the public option.

Senator Brown knows Senate procedure and how to count votes. Now, if only Rahm read AMERICAblog.com, just yesterday he would have seen Senator Brown say quite clearly that the Senate would pass the public option in response to our questions:

Here's the key part of Brown's answer on the public option:

I believe that when I see surveys like 70% of Americans doctors, a recent Robert Wood Johnson survey, support the public option, I think the President supports it, he continues to advocate for it. I think an overwhelming majority of Democrats in the House and Senate support it. I expect that come October or November, December at the latest, when we send a bill, a healthcare bill to President Obama’s, to put it on his desk, I sincerely believe it will include a strong public option.

I'm sticking with Senator Brown on this. Who knows where Rahm Emanuel is getting his info?

UPDATE: Senators Schumer and Rockefeller, both Senate Finance Committee members, announced tonight that they are going to fight for the public option:

Liberal Senate Democrats on Friday will push to add a government-run insurance program to the health care bill in the Finance Committee, setting off a potentially explosive debate with Republicans who view the idea as a step toward “socialized medicine.”

Read the rest of this post...

Credit card defaults hit new record high

Predictable and not encouraging news for the banks who are also eying commercial real estate problems. Whether the gentle handling of the banks have delayed the banking pain (as some suggest) remains to be seen but it does look like an over-valued sector over time. Reuters:

The U.S. credit card charge-off rate rose to a record high in August, as more Americans lost their jobs, Moody's Investors Service said on Wednesday, in another sign consumers remain under stress.

The Moody's credit card charge-off index -- which measures credit card loans that banks do not expect to be repaid -- rose to 11.49 percent in August from 10.52 percent in July.

Read the rest of this post...

So is Rahm saying Obama should have let Hillary be president instead?

I'm trying to understand Rahm's latest doom and gloom pronouncement on the public option, and it befuddles me. It sure sounds like Rahm is saying that since they don't have the votes in the Senate today to pass the public option, before the White House has even lifted a finger to lobby Senators on behalf of the president's campaign promise, they'll therefore never have the votes:

Emanuel professed pessimism that healthcare reform would include a strict public (or "government-run") option, though he signaled an expectation that House liberals may still push for the prized reform.

"I think Senate's been clear about the prospect there is," Emanuel told PBS's Charlie Rose when asked if healthcare can pass with the public option.

See, now to someone outside of politics, perhaps what Rahm said today made sense. Oh well, you might be thinking, Rahm is right, we just don't have the votes in the Senate - so let's just quit. But to someone actually in politics, what Rahm just said is awfully odd. He's openly saying that the administration's strategy for winning on any issue is to float their idea publicly, and if they don't have enough support at the git-go, before they've even tried to convince anyone, they'll just cave and walk away.

If that's the case, then why is Barack Obama even president? He didn't have the votes when he first started out in the race. Hillary was ahead in every poll. So why didn't he just quit? After all, Team Obama doesn't fight for things they believe in, Rahm is telling us - they simply quit at the git-go if the initial polls are bad.

In the actual world of politics, rather than the world that Team Obama is trying to sell us, politicians make proposals, then fight for them, then finally they assess whether it's worth continuing the fight. They don't make a proposal, not make any attempt to get support for it, suggest publicly that they don't even really care about it, then stick their finger in the air and take a poll - then quit. That is, unless they never wanted to win in the first place. Read the rest of this post...

NASA warns on ice melting in Greenland, Antarctic

The problem continues to worsen.

New satellite information shows that ice sheets in Greenland and western Antarctica continue to shrink faster than scientists thought and in some places are already in runaway melt mode.

British scientists for the first time calculated changes in the height of the vulnerable but massive ice sheets and found them especially worse at their edges. That's where warmer water eats away from below. In some parts of Antarctica, ice sheets have been losing 30 feet a year in thickness since 2003, according to a paper published online Thursday in the journal Nature.

Read the rest of this post...

ACORN, on offense, sues conservative filmmaker

Via Ben Smith.

ACORN, taking a break from its apology tour, said today that it's filing suit against James O'Keefe, Hannah Giles and Andrew Breitbart's Breitbart.com.

The complaint: "The video and audio footage was taken without the knowledge of Williams and/or Thompson and in violation of Maryland's Courts and Judicial Proceedings Code §§ 10-402(a) and 10-410, which requires two party consent to all electronic surveillance. Violation of the law is a felony, and entitles parties whose rights were violated to sue."

Read the rest of this post...

"Socialism" saved Wall Street

Robert Reich:

[T]he Dow is up despite the biggest consumer retreat from the market since the Great Depression because of the very thing so many executives are complaining about, which is government’s expansion. And regardless of what you call it – Keynesianism, socialism, or just pragmatism – it’s doing wonders for business, especially big business and Wall Street. Consumer spending is falling back to 60 to 65 percent of the economy, as government spending expands to fill the gap.

Read the rest of this post...

Pelosi: “I don't even want to talk about a trigger”

Good:

Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-Maine), who is being courted by the Obama administration as their best hope for getting a Republican to sign on to President Barack Obama’s healthcare initiative, supports a trigger. But Pelosi does not.

“I don't even want to talk about a trigger,” Pelosi said at her weekly press conference. She said the “attitude” of her fellow Democrats is that “a trigger is an excuse for not doing anything.”

The "trigger" is a concoction of Snowe and Rahm Emanuel. It's a gimmick and not everyone is falling for it.

The Obama administration (meaning Rahm Emanuel) spends way too much time courting Olympia Snowe when there are 60 Democrats in the Senate. That's a filibuster-proof majority.

And, in the House, the bloc of progressives who won't vote for a final bill unless it includes a strong public option are standing strong, according to Greg Sargent. Guess that means Rahm will have to rush to the Hill to scream and swear at the liberals because they actually support Obama's stated agenda. Read the rest of this post...

DeMint: Obama ‘Puts Our Troops At Risk’ By Working On Health Reform

Specifically, he said that Obama is trying to jam health care reform down our throats, and that Obama is listening too much to the left. In fact, Obama has shown outright disdain for the left, and rather than jamming health care reform on anyone, he's caved on his biggest promises regarding that reform in an effort to woo the mystical bipartisanship. What this lesson teaches us is that Obama is going to be called a liberal shill no matter how much he ignores the core constituencies of the Democratic party. He's going to be called mean and authoritarian regardless of how nice he tries to be to the GOP. It does not pay to gear your actions towards avoiding GOP criticism. They will criticize you regardless. The best you can do is stick to your principles, and promises, and remember who brung you to the dance in the first place. Read the rest of this post...

Paul Kirk appointed interim Senator from Massachusetts

As of Friday, there will be 60 Democratic votes in the Senate again:

Governor Deval Patrick today named Paul G. Kirk Jr. to serve as interim US senator, making the announcement in the presence of the immediate family of the late Edward M. Kennedy.

"He is a distinguished lawyer, volunteer, and citizen, and he shares the sense of service that so distinguished Senator Ted Kennedy," Patrick said at a press conference at the State House. "Paul will not seek the open seat in the special election coming up in January. But for the next few months, he will carry on the work and the focus of Senator Kennedy, mindful of his mission, and his values, and his love of Massachusetts."

Kirk said he plans to take the oath of office on Friday.

The President already issued a statement, (received via email):

"I am pleased that Massachusetts will have its full representation in the United States Senate in the coming months, as important issues such as health care, financial reform and energy will be debated. Paul Kirk is a distinguished leader, whose long collaboration with Senator Kennedy makes him an excellent, interim choice to carry on his work until the voters make their choice in January."

I'm pleased that the Democrats have 60 Senators in their caucus in order to pass (not just debate) strong legislation on health insurance reform, financial reform and energy.

Now that the Democrats have 60 Senators again, will Rahm Emanuel and his White House colleagues continue to treat Olympia Snowe like the only Senator that matters? (UPDATE: At DailyKos, slinkerwink reports that Rahm is saying the Senate doesn't have the votes to pass the public option and this is a key point:

I believe one of the qualities of a chief of staff in the White House is to do some arm-twisting. Looks like he's not bothering to twist the arms of these Senators on the Senate Finance Committee when it comes to the three public option amendments being offered. It means that he's fine with the Democrats on the Senate Finance Committee not supporting the public option, and voting it down in favor of a possible trigger amendment being floated by Senator Snowe.

Seems like Rahm only plays hard ball with the liberal groups in DC. Besides that, his bark apparently has no bite.)

In Massachusetts, a primary is scheduled for December 8th with the general election on January 19, 2010. Read the rest of this post...

Huff Post: Dueling Whip Counts Hold Fate Of Public Option

Very interesting story about how the Blue Dogs really aren't ten feet tall at all. In fact, they're looking downright wobbly. Probably because, as the article notes, polling in their own districts shows widespread support for the public option. Read the rest of this post...

Nate Silver: GOP "in good shape" to take back the House

So much for the Democratic revolution. It was fun while it was lasted. Nate from 538.com:

Would 53% of the popular vote be enough for the Republicans to win a House majority? A quick look, based on my analysis with John Kastellec and Jamie Chandler of seats and votes in Congress, suggests yes.

It's still early--and there's a lot of scatter in those scatterplots--but if the generic polls remain this close, the Republican Party looks to be in good shape in the 2010.

P.S. Is there any hope for the Democrats? Sure. Beyond the general uncertainty in prediction, there is the general unpopularity of Republicans; also, it will be year 2 of the presidential term, not year 6 which is historically the really bad year for the incumbent party. Still and all, the numbers now definitely do not look good for the Democrats.

Forgetting for a moment that the President's and Congress' public display of weakness and fear has gotten us to this point, the President and Congress are now going to tell us that they need to cave even further on their promises to us, and move more to the middle, in order to preserve their hold on power. Which of course, will make both Obama and the Dems in congress even more wishy-washy and timid, and hurt their standing with the public even further.

Not to mention, if we do lose the House next year, then all bets are off for all of the President's other delayed promises. There's a real reason in politics why you strike when the iron is hot. We had the chance to do great things at the beginning of this year, and in a very real way, President Obama, who we supported heartily for election, blew it. And our congressional leadership hasn't exactly been bold either. The president has been successfully reining them in. And look where it's gotten them. It's time for Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid to save their own jobs first. Read the rest of this post...

We've made it easier for you to comment

We made a change yesterday that makes it easier for you to write your own comments in response to one of our posts.

A you know, we welcome your opinion on the blog, and by simply clicking the "comments" button at the end of any given post, you'll be taken to a page where you can weigh in with your thoughts about the topic at hand. A while back we changed the settings so you no longer "have" to register to comment. Still, by registering you can safeguard your name (or pseudonym) so nobody else gets it first.

What we did last night is even better. You now no longer have to refresh the page in order to post a comment, or update the comments to see what everybody else has written. Once you're on the comments page to a particular post, just write your comment, publish it, and it will appear on the page without refreshing/reloading the page. The same thing happens when someone posts a new comment while you have the page already open - their comment will magically appear in front of you as it's published, no page reload (i.e., no delay) necessary.

We know the site can sometimes load slow, and trust me there's little we can do about it (we've tried). But this tweak will, I think, make it hugely easier to comment. In essence, once you're on the page, the comments will operate almost like a chat room.

In the end, we sacrificed some of our all-important pageviews in order to make the comments easier for you, but I trust the increased utility of the comments will hopefully make this an even better, more interesting, and vibrant community. So we think it's worth it. Try it out. It's quite cool. Read the rest of this post...

Thursday Morning Open Thread

Good morning.

Obama is in Pittsburgh today for the G-20. I was in Pittsburgh last month for Netroots Nation. It's a great town. I suspect the city will be a bit more intense during the G-20 then it was during the blogger conference.

Also, there's been lots of buzz here in DC following Mike Lux's post yesterday about the White House trying to redefine the public option to mean a trigger. The White House denies it, via Sam Stein. I still believe Lux. My understanding is that there was an effort from top White House people to change the common definition of the public option to a "trigger" -- a ploy that would never give us a public option. That new push for a trigger significantly changed what everyone thought was part of their common purpose. I think all those groups with the common purpose of health insurance reform are being too nice and timid especially if they're being sold out. Nice and timid don't work.

Let's get started.... Read the rest of this post...

Germany accuses UK and US of blocking banker reform

And they're right about that. As mentioned before, the US and UK lead the world in this business so both countries remain very afraid of what might happen to their dominance should the bankers be pushed too hard. Especially during a recession such concerns are understandable though along the way, Washington and London have ignored how deep the impact has been on everyone. Caution is one thing but cowardice is another.

A war of words broke out between London and Berlin yesterday as the German Finance minister, Peer Steinbrück, made an outspoken attack on the City. As world leaders meet at the G20 summit in Pittsburgh, Mr Steinbrück laid bare the disagreements between France and Germany on one side and the UK and US on the other about tighter regulation.

He said he hoped that the summit would agree "specific measures" to limit bankers' bonuses, but added: "There is clearly a lobby in London that wants to defend its competitive advantage tooth and nail.

"In the United States, too, the financial industry is evidently putting a lot of pressure on Congress with the message, 'Don't take things too seriously with regulation'."

Read the rest of this post...

Obama dodges Gordon Browne - five times

As unpopular as Brown is these days, it's understandable that Obama has "scheduling conflicts" all day. The Independent:

Gordon Brown has made five abortive attempts to secure a formal one-to-one meeting with Barack Obama during his four-day visit to the US this week, it emerged yesterday.

Although British officials denied that the Prime Minister had been snubbed, all he has managed so far is a 15-minute conversation with the President in the kitchens of the UN headquarters in New York as they left the building together. Officials said their on-the-hoof discussion covered Afghanistan and the global economy.

Read the rest of this post...

Experimental vaccine reduces HIV risk by 31%

This is amazingly good news.

The result came after the world's largest Aids vaccine trial of more than 16,000 volunteers in Thailand.

Recent failures led many scientists to think such a vaccine might never be possible.

Even though the benefit is modest, "it's the first evidence that we could have a safe and effective preventive vaccine", military spokesman Jerome Kim said in a telephone interview. He helped lead the study for the US Army, which sponsored it with the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

Read the rest of this post...

Bank of America, JPMorgan change overdraft fees

It's amazing what a bit of Congressional pressure will do. They need to do this a lot more often. The overdraft fees have long been an easy source of revenue for the banks and for years, Republicans and even some Democrats chose not to do a thing about it. Here's one very NSFW example of their handy work.

As lawmakers prepare to implement sweeping credit card reforms, Bank of America Corp. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. are moving to overhaul overdraft fees and practices that have been criticized industrywide as excessive and harmful to consumers.

Bank of America Corp. said Tuesday it will cap the fees it charges customers for overdrawing their accounts, backpedaling on the hikes the company imposed just this year. Starting Oct. 19, Bank of America no longer will charge overdraft fees when a customer's account is overdrawn by less than $10 in one day.

A $35 fee will still be levied if the account isn't brought into balance within five days.

It's about time. Read the rest of this post...

Moody's: California, Florida housing recovery by 2030

Nevada and Arizona are not looking very good either. For buyers it may be OK news provided they're not in a rush to sell for a few decades. Definitely not good news for the previously high flying states. Read the rest of this post...

Fringe religious right black pastor warns religious right conference to stop giving fodder to racism

Well this is interesting. A well-known far-right anti-civil-rights activist went to the religious right's Values Voters summit and warned the attendees that they need to stop acting in a way that makes people think they're racists. Absolutely fascinating. Why would he need to lecture the religious right about the way they're acting, a way that makes mainstream America think they're racists, unless they weren't in fact acting like racists?

More importantly, at the same time that many Democrats are distancing themselves from accusations that the anti-Obama anger is race-based, we have a top religious right preacher seemingly freaked out enough about the charge that he's lecturing the audience at a top religious right conference to stop doing things that make people think they're racist.

That means the charge scares the religious right. It also means that think there's a kernel of truth to it, at the very least.

And for the rest of us, that means we shouldn't be afraid to call out the far-right running the Republican party for it's intolerance and bigotry. Read the rest of this post...