Shelby drops some holds, but still holding Air Force hostage for pork

The White House reportedly didn't cave to his demands. (H/t Taegan) But as Emptywheel at FDL points out, Shelby is still holding the military hostage for his pork. Read the rest of this post...

Ben Nelson opposing Obama nominee to National Labor Relations Board

Remember how Obama's DNC gave $500,000 to Senator Ben Nelson via the Nebraska Democratic Party? That was in late December.

So, how's that's working out for them?:

In a move that will further irritate his Democratic critics, Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) announced on Monday evening that he would not just oppose but also help filibuster President Barack Obama's nominee to a key labor relations agency

In a statement from his office, the Nebraska Democrat announced that he would oppose cloture for Craig Becker's appointment to the National Labor Relations Board, all but assuring that confirmation won't take place.

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Reuters on our humongous snowball fight last Saturday

Reuters did a really cute video of our massive snowball fight we had not far away from where Joe and I live in DC. Their video is here, it's cute. As Joe noted earlier, we have yet another storm coming tomorrow, with a possible 10 to 20 inches, though it seems all the weathermen disagree:

As our previous update indicates, we're calling for 5-10" in D.C. and to the south and west, and 8-16" to the north and northeast for the upcoming storm. Our accumulation projections are less than the National Weather Service's (10-20"), Topper Shutt's (1 to 2 feet), Doug Hill's (12-16"), and Bob Ryan's (8-12"). The reason for this is that we see the possibility of a dry slot impacting southern half of the metro region. Having said that, we're going to analyze some data coming in between 9 and 11 p.m. tonight and will adjust our accumulation map in our 11 p.m. update as necessary.

And here are a few of my photos I took that day (you can also check out video I took of the snowball fight here):





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GOP demands Obama kill House and Senate bills and take reconciliation off the table, or they won't meet to talk about a health care compromise

From Roll Call (behind a pay firewall):

In a tersely worded letter to White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel on Monday, Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) and Minority Whip Eric Cantor (R-Va.) wrote that Republicans “would rightly be reluctant” to participate in the Feb. 25 bipartisan health care meeting if the White House refused to consider scrapping the current health care reform bills.

In their letter, Boehner and Cantor called on Obama to take reconciliation off the table as a “show good faith” to the GOP.

“Eliminating the possibility of reconciliation would represent an important show of good faith to Republicans and the American people,” the letter said.

UPDATE: The White House has responded. It sounds decently strong at first blush. But on a re-read, it's not totally clear what it means. It doesn't say that the President will stand by the House and Senate bills, just that he's supported them in the past. Yes, he has. What about now? It says the President wants real reform. That can be defined as anything. Also, it might have been smart for the White House to include something pointing out the fact that the GOP is now putting down pre-conditions to a meeting about which the White House put no pre-conditions. Read the rest of this post...

On the buffoonery of Senator Susan Collins

Steve Benen masterfully destroys the GOP Senator who has asserted herself as the leading critic of the Obama administration's handling of the Christmas Day bomber. That would be Susan Collins. She has been wrong consistently and pretty much lying, yet she keeps digging. It would be embarrassing for any member with an ounce of self-respect. But, Collins sold her soul to Mitch McConnell long ago:

When we cut through the nonsense and cheap talking points, what we're left with is Collins, after making a series of demonstrably false claims, complaining that the Justice Department didn't coordinate further with other agencies on how best to deal with Abdulmutallab. That's it. That's all that's left from the original argument.

But, again, this is foolish. For one thing, the Obama administration has applied the exact same procedures as Bush/Cheney, and Collins never expressed this outrage before. For another, as Attorney General Eric Holder explained last week, "No agency supported the use of law of war detention for Abdulmutallab, and no agency has since advised the Department of Justice that an alternative course of action should have been, or should now be, pursued."

What we're left with, then, is Susan Collins making a mistake by falsely criticizing the administration, and then digging deeper with a series of even more absurd false criticisms.

She should have quit while she was behind. As this story has dragged on, Collins has sounded less like a reasonable, moderate, influential senator and more like a rookie House member trying to impress Fox News producers.

Not sure how all of this helps Collins' constituents in Maine. But, it does get her on t.v. And, she's desperate to be a player. We hear that it drives her craaaazzzyyy that Olympia gets all the attention. Read the rest of this post...

Meghan McCain takes on Teabaggers, Palin

You know, she's spot on.

Congressman Tancredo went on TV and he was the first opening speaker and he said, ‘People who could not even spell the word vote or say it in English put a committed socialist ideologue in the White House whose name is Barack Hussein Obama.’ And then he went on to say that people at the convention should have to pass literacy tests in order to be able to vote in this country, which is the same thing that happened in the 50’s to prevent African Americans from voting. It’s innate racism and I think it’s why young people are turned off by this movement. And I’m sorry, but revolutions start with young people, not with 65-year-old people talking about literacy tests and people who can’t say the word ‘vote’ in English.

You can watch what McCain had to say about Palin here. Read the rest of this post...

Beer good for your health?

At least some beers, apparently. Go figure.

The experts said beer was a major source of dietary silicon – roughly half of the silicon in beer can be readily absorbed by the body.

Charles Bamforth, lead author of the study, said: "Beers containing high levels of malted barley and hops are richest in silicon.

"Wheat contains less silicon than barley because it is the husk of the barley that is rich in this element.

"While most of the silicon remains in the husk during brewing, significant quantities of silicon nonetheless are extracted into wort and much of this survives into beer."

Read the rest of this post...

DC's got a Winter Storm Warning: Expecting another 10 - 20 inches

Oh boy. This city is already a mess. We haven't recovered from the blizzard. And, we're getting more via the National Weather Service:

.WINTER STORM WARNING IN EFFECT FROM NOON TUESDAY TO 7 PM EST WEDNESDAY...

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN STERLING VIRGINIA HAS ISSUED A WINTER STORM WARNING FOR...WHICH IS IN EFFECT FROM NOON TUESDAY TO 7 PM EST WEDNESDAY. THE WINTER STORM WATCH IS NO LONGER IN EFFECT.

* PRECIPITATION TYPE...SNOW.

* ACCUMULATIONS...10 TO 20 INCHES.

* TIMING...MID-AFTERNOON TUESDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY.

John just got some photos at the local grocery store. It's like the Soviet Union. Below would be the vegetable, and orange juice, sections.



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Rep. Murtha died today

Congressman John Murtha (D-PA), a powerful force in the U.S. House, died today:

A spokesman says Democratic Rep. John Murtha of Pennsylvania, a retired Marine Corps officer who became an outspoken critic of the Iraq war, has died. He was 77.

He had been suffering complications from gallbladder surgery.

In 1974, Murtha became the first combat veteran of the Vietnam War elected to Congress. He wielded considerable clout for two decades as a leader of the House subcommittee that oversees Pentagon spending. But frustration over the Iraq war led him to call for an immediate pullout of U.S. troops in 2005.

Read the rest of this post...

Krugman: 'Well, America is not yet lost. But the Senate is working on it.'

Paul Krugman has an excellent, yet disturbing, column on the gridlock in the U.S. Senate, which has frozen any kind of progress. The Republicans have lost all sight of working in the best interests of the nation. But, the Dems. have let them get away with it. It's actually scary:

And with the national G.O.P. having abdicated any responsibility for making things work, it’s only natural that individual senators should feel free to take the nation hostage until they get their pet projects funded.

The truth is that given the state of American politics, the way the Senate works is no longer consistent with a functioning government. Senators themselves should recognize this fact and push through changes in those rules, including eliminating or at least limiting the filibuster. This is something they could and should do, by majority vote, on the first day of the next Senate session.

Don’t hold your breath. As it is, Democrats don’t even seem able to score political points by highlighting their opponents’ obstructionism.

It should be a simple message (and it should have been the central message in Massachusetts): a vote for a Republican, no matter what you think of him as a person, is a vote for paralysis. But by now, we know how the Obama administration deals with those who would destroy it: it goes straight for the capillaries. Sure enough, Robert Gibbs, the White House press secretary, accused Mr. Shelby of “silliness.” Yep, that will really resonate with voters.

What's disturbing is that the crew at the White House probably put some serious thought into how to respond to Shelby's crass action.

The GOPers aren't afraid. They're out-of-control. And, inviting them to the White House for a sit-down discussion about issues hasn't worked so far. Read the rest of this post...

Palin repeats falsehood that Alaska produces '20 percent of the U.S. domestic supply of energy' - in fact it's 2.9%

This is important because in the interview she's claiming that, prior to running for VP, her main expertise was energy policy. Yet, she's unaware of the date concerning her own state. She's off by a factor of 7. And she's made this mistake before, but refuses to correct it. From Media Matters:

CHRIS WALLACE (HOST): Would you say you're more knowledgeable about domestic and foreign affairs now than you were two years ago?

PALIN: Well, I would hope so. Yes, I am. Two years ago, my engagement was on the state of Alaska, largest, most diverse state in the union. 20 percent of the U.S. domestic supply of energy coming from our state, desiring to and working towards ramping up that domestic energy production. That was my focus and now of course my focus has been enlarged. So I sure as heck better be more astute on these current events, national issues than I was two years ago.

Read the rest of this post...

Largest gay rights group in NJ stops donating to Dem. Committees, asks members to do the same

"Is this a broadside at the Democratic Party?" asked Goldstein. "Of course, it is."

The largest gay rights group in New Jersey has just voted unanimously to stop giving contributions to all political parties (they only gave to Dem. committees), and they are urging their members to do the same. This is because of the Democrats' abandonment of their civil rights promises to the gay community.

Things are only going to get worse when, come this November, the community and our allies see that Don't Ask Don't Tell hasn't been repealed, even though the President promised in his State of the Union that it would be, and even though Barney said that it would be this spring.

I suspect we'll see other state gay rights groups follow NJ's lead, which is based on, whether intentionally or not, the Don't Ask, Don't Give campaign that Joe and I, and numerous of our Netroots allies, launched in November. And perhaps it's time that national gay rights group did the same, rather than simply serving as an appendage of the Democratic party instead of serving their own community. Read the rest of this post...

Special-needs mom Palin: 'I agree with Limbaugh' that liberals are 'retards'

Once again the Palin children get sacrificed on the altar of political expediency:

Palin, who slammed Emanuel last week for calling liberal activists "f---ing retards," declined to ask conservative talk radio host Rush Limbaugh to apologize for using the term "retards" on his nationally syndicated show, saying Limbaugh used the word as satire.

"I didn't hear Rush Limbaugh calling a group of people who he did not agree with f---ing retards and we did know that Rahm Emanuel, it's been reported, did say that. There's a big difference there," said Palin, whose youngest son Trig has Down Syndrome.

Palin made the comment after Wallace asked her about this Limbaugh quote: "Our politically correct society is acting like some giant insult's taken place by calling a bunch of people who are retards, retards. ... I mean these people, these liberal activists, are kooks."

"Should Rush Limbaugh apologize," Wallace asked.

Palin responded, "They are kooks so I agree with Rush Limbaugh."

Palin has a special needs child and initially has expressed concern about Limbaugh's word choice. But like every other Republican leader, Palin caved on her principles - and in this case, on her own child - once the GOP masses found out that she had criticized GOP leader Limbaugh. Read the rest of this post...

Wall Street shifts contributions to GOP

Looking at how strong the GOP has been recently in their defense of Wall Street over Main Street, this should not come as much of a surprise. That Wall Street is upset about the supposedly tough language out of the White House is amusing. Is Wall Street really surprised that people around the country and the world find them disgusting and arrogant? Really? They might be hard pressed to find many other examples of such extreme destruction and equally extreme payouts. Let the trend in contributions change but the Democrats will be fools not to drive home this point every single day of the week. Wall Street knows that the GOP will go easy on them but that might not be as attractive to voters.

Voter's remorse is in the future of the GOP if they continue to defend Wall Street. Go ahead and let the GOP defend this in public and see how much support they get.

The shift reflects the hard political edge to the industry’s campaign to thwart Mr. Obama’s proposals for tighter financial regulations.

Just two years after Mr. Obama helped his party pull in record Wall Street contributions — $89 million from the securities and investment business, according to the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics — some of his biggest supporters, like Mr. Dimon, have become the industry’s chief lobbyists against his regulatory agenda.

Republicans are rushing to capitalize on what they call Wall Street’s “buyer’s remorse” with the Democrats. And industry executives and lobbyists are warning Democrats that if Mr. Obama keeps attacking Wall Street “fat cats,” they may fight back by withholding their cash.

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WH security official: 'I'm tiring of politicians using national security issues such as terrorism as a political football'

One of the best moments from the Sunday shows was the slam at Republicans for playing politics with terrorism and national security:

Deputy national security adviser John Brennan complained Sunday that politicians, many of them Republicans, were unfairly criticizing the administration for partisan purposes and second-guessing the case with a "500-mile screwdriver" that reaches from Washington to the scene of the abortive attack in Detroit.

"Quite frankly, I'm tiring of politicians using national security issues such as terrorism as a political football," Brennan said. "They are going out there. They're unknowing of the facts. And they're making charges and allegations that are not anchored in reality."

Unfortunately, that's what Republicans do. Remember Dick Cheney outed an undercover CIA spy for political reasons. And, never forget, the war in Iraq was based on Weapons of Mass Destruction, a charge that was not anchored in reality.

Brennan personally briefed top Republicans about the arrest of Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, telling them he was in FBI custody, on Christmas day. (In America, being in FBI custody means law enforcement is involved.) Senators Mitch McConnell and Kit Bond, along with House GOP leader John Boehner and Rep. Pete Hoekstra, were notified personally by Brennan. There weren't any complaints then. Nope. Instead, Hoekstra turned around and did a political fundraising mailing on the bombing within days.

Everything is a "political football" these days for the GOP. Read the rest of this post...

Monday Morning Open Thread

Good morning.

The federal government is cloaed today, which means most organizations in DC will be, too. Just about every entity related to government and politics follows the federal schedule. However, this is 2010 and it's not like people have to be in an office to do work.

The city is still a mess -- and we're getting another storm tomorrow. I know this is causing hardship for many people who don't have power and can't get around. But, being a native Mainer, I've been having fun. I've been able to cross-country ski all over town. And, Petey, like most dogs we've encountered, is loving it.

The President has a low-key schedule today. Yesterday, shortly before the Super Bowl, the White House announced it was holding a bipartisan summit on health care, which will take place on February 25th. This summit will apparently give the Hill Republicans a chance to showcase their ideas for "reform." As John noted, "It's hard to understand any method to the madness." The obsession with process over results within Team Obama is maddening.

Later this week, the U.S. House will vote to end the anti-trust exemption enjoyed by the insurance industry. The Senate, which is owned, in part, by the insurance industry, will probably never vote on that provision.

What's going on out there? Read the rest of this post...

Troubled lender hires troubled CEO

Sounds like a marriage made in heaven. He's very highly respected, you know. That's what the "insider" people are saying in the press so it has to be right. Hopefully he owns plenty of debt and can figure out that now may not be the time for a million dollar office decoration plan.

Former Merrill Lynch CEO John Thain, who brokered the investment bank's controversial sale to Bank of America, is taking over as chairman and CEO of CIT Group as the commercial lender continues to restructure its business following a brief stay in bankruptcy protection last year.

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Cut tax breaks from polluters?

That might be one way to make them green. At least until their lobbyists get involved and open a few new breaks. The Guardian:

Ministers could save £12bn of public spending over four years by clamping down on tax breaks and support for polluting oil exploration, cement, aluminium and transport, according to a report from green campaigners this week.

With all three major parties committed to cutting the projected £178bn budget deficit, and to a low-carbon economy, a report by the high-level Green Alliance thinktank argues that many spending cuts could achieve both ends. Perhaps the most controversial suggestion is to halve the £10bn national and regional roads spending budget.

Other proposals include ending the zero value-added tax (VAT) rate for aviation and shipping, and reducing tax breaks on oil and gas exploration and the Climate Change Levy for big energy users such as cement and aluminium companies, saving more than £5bn.

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