Daily Show - World of Class Warfare

The Daily Show goes where we've been for a while. How long until the political class wakes up to the real debate about who is the moocher class. The truth is that tax cuts for the rich haven't delivered the promised jobs and it's only created a weaker middle class and more poor. Read the rest of this post...

Two bad polls for Obama

PPP says the base is demoralized.  Again, we've been predicting this for over two years now. From PPP:

The debt deal really does appear to have demoralized the base, and the weird thing about it is that this is one issue where if Obama had done what folks on the left wanted him to do, he also would have had the support of independents. The deal has proven to be a complete flop in swing states where we've polled it like Colorado, North Carolina, and Ohio. And in every single one of those states a majority of voters overall, as well as a majority of independents, think new taxes are going to be needed to solve the deficit problem.

It's not really the one issue. 70% of Americans supported the public option. A large percentage of Americans wanted us out of Iraq and Afghanistan. 70% wanted DADT repealed. There have been a lot of issues over the past several years where the left has been ahead of the game.

Nate Silver makes a point in his polling analysis, and I think it's dead wrong:

Nevertheless, analysts should be careful to distinguish the liberal blogosphere from liberal Democrats over all and furthermore from the Democratic base, which includes many voters who do not identify themselves as liberal.

We're far past the time that it's just the liberal blogs who are disappointed in the President, and the PPP poll shows it. It's a regular topic of discussion at this point as to whether the President is a wimp. That talk may have started with the liberal blogs, who recognized the trait a good two years ago, but it's hardly just us anymore. The recent Krugman piece titled "President Pushover" comes to mind.

And it's not just Krugman, lots of reporters I know think Obama is a pushover. As do a number of Democratic members of Congress, some who are finally beginning to speak out. Then there are Dems across the country. Yeah, some of them still like Obama, but a lot are disappointed as hell. You could throw a stone in Washington, DC and you'd have a hard time hitting a Democrat who would tell you they love the way Obama's doing his job.

I think the liberal blogs have a bit of a Cassandra complex. They're awfully good at seeing what's coming, but no one wants to believe them. Well, believe them now. Read the rest of this post...

Boehner says no to letting supercommittee also focus on job creation

Get this: Cutting the deficit will create more than enough jobs, so Congress doesn't need to focus on jobs otherwise.  Wow.  Talk about the flat earth society.  Cutting the deficit is going to cut economic growth and kill jobs.  That's not to say the long term deficit doesn't need to be gotten under control eventually.  But let's not lie to the American people and pretend that deficit reduction is somehow going to help the economy by creating jobs over the next few years. It's not. Read the rest of this post...

New York AG Schneiderman subpoenas three energy companies over disclosures to investors

New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman continues his aggressive confrontation of powerful state interests. He's already taken on the mortgage industry and taken some heat. Now it's the oil and gas businesses in New York state.

The NY Times (my emphasis):

Subpoenas were sent to the three companies — Range Resources, Cabot Oil and Gas, and Goodrich Petroleum — according to the sources, who have direct knowledge of the investigation. Mr. Schneiderman also broadened a continuing investigation by his office into a fourth company, Chesapeake Energy, asking it to respond to similar questions about its shale gas wells, they said.

The four companies were chosen because they are heavily involved in natural gas drilling and because New York State has more than $45 million of its pension money invested with them. If a company improperly reported to investors how its wells were likely to perform or failed to disclose the true costs of drilling, there could be repercussions for the state’s financial portfolio.

Some legal experts consider the subpoenas an indication of Mr. Schneiderman’s growing willingness to confront powerful interests. The action also opens a new front in an already heated debate in New York and other states over how much to allow companies to drill, and how they should be regulated.

Schneiderman is applying a 1921 law, the Martin Act, which allows him to "subpoena virtually any document from any business operating in the state, and ... choose between civil or criminal charges."

There's actually much more in the article, including information about fracking.

Shame on him for actually using power when he has it. I thought only Republicans got to do that.

GP

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Dem. House member Maxine Waters says black community want Obama to get tough

LA Times:

"We were basically held up in raising the debt ceiling, until they got all of those budget cuts they demanded," Waters said. "We didn't raise any revenue and they didn't close any tax loopholes. I believe the Democratic Party and the president of the United States should not have backed down. We should have made them walk the plank."

What's interesting is that you often hear that the black community is one of the only constituencies that remains undivided in its support of the President. Waters' comments would tend to suggest otherwise.

Yesterday, Waters also demolished Rep. Allen West. It's a classic:
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Texas schools not doing well under Perry

From Bloomberg:

The estimated public high school graduation rate in Texas ranks 43rd of the 50 states, at 61.3 percent, according to the Legislative Budget Board’s 2010 Texas Fact Book.

Perhaps it has something to do with this. I've never understood why Creationism types can't just accept that maybe God made evolution. If God gave man free will, why is it not possible he gave the same to nature? Nature progresses as it will, with no interference from the big guy.  I'm not saying that's what happened, but it's certainly possible if you believe in God.  So why does the far-right always have to knock evolution? Read the rest of this post...

GOP prez candidate Huntsman believes in evolution and global warming

While to normal folk this revelation is hardly earth-shattering, in GOP primary land, this is akin to saying you believe in the Easter Bunny. Read the rest of this post...

House progressives blast Obama. DeFazio says Prez lacks will to fight

The relationships between progressive House Democrats and the administration seems somewhat strained. Jim McGovern (MA-3):

"We need to get the focus back on jobs," said McGovern. "Here we are at the end of August, and Congress hasn't done anything about jobs."

McGovern voted "no" on the debt ceiling compromise, calling is "a catastrophe" that disagreed with both President Obama and the American people's stance on revenues.

"I didn't run for Congress to dismantle the New Deal," said McGovern.

The Massachusetts Rep is a loyal supporter of the president, but feels that the current political climate in the country calls for bolder leadership.

Oregon Rep. Peter DeFazio (OR-4)is only slightly less pointed in his criticism of President Obama.

“Fight? I don’t think it’s a word in his vocabulary,” said the Springfield Democrat, who specifically cited Obama's lack of follow-through in promises to restore Bush tax cuts for the wealthy.

“I believe Oregon is very much in play. I mean we are one of the harder hit states in the union, particularly my part of the state. I've just done six town hall meetings, have seven to go but people are shaking their heads and saying 'I don't know if I’d vote for him again.'” Defazio said.

Asked if he was surprised, the congressman shrugged.

“Not at all," DeFazio said. "One guy asked me, 'Give me 25 words what he's about and what he’s done for me.' I’m like, 'It could have been worse.'”

Burn. Read the rest of this post...

Bachmann says people are worried about the rise of the Soviet Union

Which disappeared over 20 years ago. Read the rest of this post...

NASA: greenhouse gasses may encourage hostile alien invasion

You mean there may be alien forces more hostile than the Teabaggers? The Guardian:

It may not rank as the most compelling reason to curb greenhouse gases, but reducing our emissions might just save humanity from a pre-emptive alien attack, scientists claim.

Watching from afar, extraterrestrial beings might view changes in Earth's atmosphere as symptomatic of a civilisation growing out of control – and take drastic action to keep us from becoming a more serious threat, the researchers explain.

This highly speculative scenario is one of several described by scientists at Nasa and Pennsylvania State University that, while considered unlikely, they say could play out were humans and alien life to make contact at some point in the future.

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Feingold isn’t running for Governor or Senate

There was a lot of speculation about whether Russ Feingold would run for Governor or Senate in Wisconsin. There was a lot of hope that he'd take on Scott Walker if there's a recall. Today, Feingold announced that he's not doing either:

I am grateful for the friendship and support of so many fellow Wisconsinites who suggested I consider running for statewide office in the coming months. While I may seek elective office again someday, I have decided not to run for public office during 2012.

This was a difficult decision, as I thoroughly enjoyed my tenure in both the State Senate and the U.S. Senate, and I know that progressives are eager to reverse some of the outrageous policies being pursued by corporate interests at both the state and federal levels. I am also well aware that I have a very strong standing in the polls should I choose to run again for the U.S. Senate or in a recall election for governor. After twenty-eight continuous years as an elected official, however, I have found the past eight months to be an opportunity to look at things from a different perspective.

Just yesterday, PPP released polling from Wisconsin that showed Feingold had the best chance to pick up the open Senate seat:

The Wisconsin Senate seat being vacated by Herb Kohl is looking like a genuine Republican pick up opportunity, with both Tommy Thompson and Mark Neumann leading all the potential Democratic candidates we tested besides Russ Feingold.

Feingold, who doesn't seem terribly interested in running, would still be the strongest potential candidate. He has the best favorability rating of anyone we looked at both overall (49/43) and specifically with independents (52/37). He would have the slightest advantage over Thompson, 48-47, and a more healthy one over Neumann at 51-44. Feingold led them by 10 and 12 points respectively when PPP first looked at this race in May so there's been a good amount of movement toward the Republicans since that time.

Voters in the state are pretty evenly divided in their feelings about Thompson with 44% rating him favorably and 42% unfavorably. He would start out with decent sized leads over all the Democratic candidates not named Russ Feingold- 7 points over Ron Kind at 48-41, 8 over Tammy Baldwin at 50-42, and 8 over Steve Kagen at 49-41. Thompson was tied with Kind, led Baldwin by only 1, and had just a 3 point advantage over Kagen the last time we polled so again these numbers show momentum in the GOP's direction.

LGBT political organizations are lining up to support Baldwin, who could be the first openly gay Senator. Read the rest of this post...

Romney may win GOP primary, and whoever wins will be to the right of Reagan

Ron Brownstein in National Journal:

That dynamic creates the possibility that the populist voters most resistant to Romney will divide between Perry and Bachmann rather than uniting behind either. In theory, Romney could face a similar splintering of the managerial class if moderate former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman develops into a serious competitor. But Huntsman fizzled at the Iowa debate and hasn’t yet proven he will be a major factor.

If the current dynamics hold, the number of populist votes Perry loses to Bachmann will vastly exceed the number of managerial votes Romney loses to Huntsman. That could allow Romney to squeeze past his rivals with plurality victories not only in states like Florida and Georgia closely divided between the two camps, but even in contests such as South Carolina or Iowa that tilt toward the party’s populist side.

The GOP race’s emerging three-way dynamic virtually assures that the party’s nominee in 2012 will run on an agenda to the right of any nominee since (at least) Ronald Reagan in 1980 -- a prospect that may excite conservatives, and hearten nervous Democrats, in equal measure.

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Global markets tanking, gold up again, over fears of US recession

As of a few weeks ago, I'm officially spooked as well.

Global stocks slid again Friday as fears of a possible U.S. recession combined with ongoing worries over Europe's debt crisis, which is stoking acute fears over the continent's banking sector.

European banking shares hit a near two and a half year low on renewed worries of the health of the continent's banks, while safe-haven gold prices nudged up against the $2,000 an ounce mark, and crude prices fell as investors feared a global slowdown will zap demand for crude.

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Investors removing money from BRIC countries

In recent years the BRIC countries - Brazil, Russia, India and China - have profited from investors scared off from the US and EU recession. That party now appears to be at an end. As the recession starts to take a closer look at these countries, the greenback may end up being the safe investment to weather the storm once again. Interesting times.

Indeed, assets in BRIC funds surged 1,600-fold from a low base to about $38 billion between 2003 and 2007 as shares in the rapidly growing BRIC economies produced almost a 600 percent return.

The tide, however, has turned.

BRIC funds collectively have seen net outflows in every month since March 2010, according to data from fund tracker Thomson Reuters Lipper.

Their combined assets have shrunk by a fourth to just over $28 billion from the record high of 2007. The cumulative net outflows under such funds since March 2010 has risen to $9.5 billion.

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China's stock market down for fifth week

Not a surprise, but still not good news.

China’s stocks fell, driving the benchmark index toward a fifth week of losses, after U.S. equities plunged on concern the global economic slowdown is deepening and the China Securities Journal reported the central bank will maintain tight monetary policies.

Jiangxi Copper Co. and China Shenhua Energy Co., the nation’s producers of copper and coal, led a retreat for commodity producers after oil and metal prices slid. Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd., the nation’s biggest listed lender, slumped the most in almost two weeks. Maanshan Iron and Steel Co. fell 2 percent after first-half earnings declined.

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That proposal to expand Medicare might have been more likely to survive court challenge than the individual mandate

Ari Melber argues that with last week's appellate ruling against health care reform's individual mandate, it might have been better, in retrospect, to expanded Medicare, which was one of the options being discussed until Lieberman was permitted to shoot it down. (I say "permitted" because the President saved Lieberman's behind when Dems were thinking of not permitting him to caucus with them, and what did the President get in return? Not just that, but when has Lieberman ever been punished for any of his bs moves like when he killed Medicare expansion?)


Transcript of video, after the jump.

Last week, an appeals court invalidated the core of President Obama's health care law.


This may sound familiar, because several federal judges have already ruled on the Affordable Care Act. Some have upheld it. Others say the law is unconstitutional. The Supreme Court will probably have the last word.


But there's more to this story. The legal trouble facing the health care act reveals some unexpected risks of blind compromise as a legislative strategy – and it discredits this nonsense media narrative that every compromise is automatically pragmatic.


Back when the health care law passed, many experts touted it as a "grand compromise." Pundits said that liberals didn't get exactly what they wanted – a larger government role in covering people. And all those tea party town halls did not achieve their aim – which was to kill any bill.


Now, however, we are getting a clearer picture of how it’s all shaping up.


Remember, the liberal proposals were essentially to beef up government health care. A public option would create voluntary, public plans to compete with private insurance. Expanding Medicare would have covered millions of Americans.


When Democrats backed down, however, the so-called compromise actually changed the fundamental approach to reforming health care. The final bill only relied on private, corporate insurance -- and it forced people to buy that insurance, in order to widen the market and cut costs.


Still, not a single Republican voted for it. After it passed, they rushed to court arguing that the law was unconstitutional -- because of the insurance mandate!


This point has gotten lost in most of the coverage. Think about it.


It is precisely the anti-government, business-friendly model -- designed as a compromise -- that conservatives are now using in order to destroy the health care act in court.


Meanwhile, those discarded proposals for government health care would never face this kind of legal limbo. They are based on rock-solid precedents:


The government already provides health care. Right now. To 25 percent of the nation.


Yet to this day, political commentators still talk about how President Obama was pragmatic on health care, while liberals were somehow unrealistic. Back on planet earth, it is the private sector compromise plan that's hanging by a thread in conservative courts. And it is the government health care plans, the ones favored by all those liberals, bloggers and policy wonks, that remain both popular and legally bulletproof.


No one knows what the Court will do. And Democrats made their choice to experiment with private sector solutions instead of building on the New Deal’s tested, popular government programs.


But what’s clear to me is that Democratic compromises made under the guise of practicality may turn out to be impractical and self-defeating.

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