AP says Obama caved to GOP on smog rules

How much would you like to wager that the administration gets zero election credit for killing these rules? What they will get, and what they're already getting (as shown in the AP story below, is a growing perception that President Obama is a weak leader.  From AP:

Obama yields on smog rule in face of GOP demands

In a dramatic reversal, President Barack Obama on Friday scrubbed a clean-air regulation that aimed to reduce health-threatening smog, yielding to bitterly protesting businesses and congressional Republicans who complained the rule would kill jobs in America's ailing economy.

Withdrawal of the proposed regulation marked the latest in a string of retreats by the president in the face of GOP opposition, and it drew quick criticism from liberals. Environmentalists, a key Obama constituency, accused him of caving to corporate polluters, and the American Lung Association threatened to restart the legal action it had begun against rules proposed by President George W. Bush.

And the enviros are surprised? The only way your agenda is going to get some respect from this White House is if you handcuff yourself to the White House fence and then interrupt the President's fundraisers, repeatedly. Otherwise, if you're not willing to play hardball, you might as well just close up shop along with every other MIA progressive cause in town. Read the rest of this post...

Obama has close ties to CEOs whose firms dodge taxes

In the context of news that the Obama ozone cave-in decision was Citizens United–related, we find this, from Zach Carter & Jordon Howard at the Huff Post (my emphasis):

As the nation struggles with a stagnant economy, President Barack Obama has preached overhauling the U.S. tax code to spur economic growth. But as he gears up for what looks to be a tough reelection campaign, the president has surrounded himself with the current loophole-riddled system's prime offenders: corporate executives whose companies have profited off of those loopholes while reaping millions for themselves.

Institute for Policy Studies, a liberal think tank, named in a new report 25 major American corporations whose CEOs were paid more last year than their firm's total U.S. income tax bill. Of those business elites, 10 have substantive ties to Obama -- including some who have official economic policy advisory positions in his administration -- according to a HuffPost analysis of the report.

All told, these 10 CEOs with Obama connections brought in over $158 million for themselves last year. Their companies' federal tax bill, however, was a combined net benefit of $5.4 billion -- meaning the federal government actually owed these companies billions of dollars. Eight of the 10 firms not only did not pay taxes; they received large refunds. The 10 companies scored combined U.S. profits of $26.8 billion.

There's more in the article; it's a fascinating read. (Zach Carter, by the way, is one of the intrepid reporters behind this stunning revelation.)

A note on branding: Guys, branding isn't just something you do; it's something that's done to you by your actions. You are branded by your deeds. There's only so much a mega-dollar ad campaign can do to offset constant billionaire-friendly behavior.

Just wanted to say that.

GP Read the rest of this post...

Krugman on Obama’s ozone cave: It’s bad economics too

The world of environmentalists has flown into an uproar about Obama's recent decision to overrule the recommendations of his own EPA's scientists and not strengthen ozone standards (because, you know, jobs).

But be re-assured, we're told wasn't a political decision; it was a campaign calculation. Dave Roberts at grist.org:

Senate staffer contacted me to let me know that smog decision not about votes, but about terror of post-Citizens United money. Feel better?

So, a bid for money, not a bid for votes. There's a word for that, isn't there?

In the meantime, Paul Krugman has harsh things to say about the economics of the decision (my emphasis):

And now you can see why tighter ozone regulation would actually have created jobs: it would have forced firms to spend on upgrading or replacing equipment, helping to boost demand. Yes, it would have cost money — but that’s the point! And with corporations sitting on lots of idle cash, the money spent would not, to any significant extent, come at the expense of other investment.

More broadly, if you’re going to do environmental investments — things that are worth doing even in flush times — it’s hard to think of a better time to do them than when the resources needed to make those investments would otherwise have been idle.

So, a lousy decision all around. Are you surprised?

Read the bolded sentence again; if you listen too much to the mainstream "conventional wisdom" megaphone, this is counter-intuitive. On the other hand, to the uncluttered mind, it makes perfect sense. Demand (i.e., spending) is exactly the antidote to a demand-driven recession (well, duh).

About the politics of the decision, Krugman is equally harsh. He thinks the crack Obama political machine "just keep[s] reinforcing the perception of mush from the wimp, of a president who doesn’t stand for anything."

Mush from the wimp — that could take hold.

I think this "Obama is weak" meme, with which I disagree, is becoming conventional wisdom. Good; maybe calling him unmanly will embarrass him into playing strong for the team he's pretending to be on — for a change.

GP Read the rest of this post...

Romney now pandering to the Teabaggers

The Atlantic:

As Romney makes his pitch, he's probably saying the right things, cleverly seeking an entry point in the movement's self-proclaimed broad-tentedness. What's up for debate, as some activists reject his entreaties out of hand, is whether or not Romney has the bona fides on that one, core issue.

Romney isn't doing as badly among tea partiers as one might expect. In a 2012 field stacked with tea-party options, Texas Gov. Rick Perry (the perceived cause of Romney's tea-party wooing) is the overwhelming favorite of self-identified tea partiers: He collected 35 percent of the tea-party vote in a Gallup poll last week. But surprisingly Romney ranked second with 17 percent, ahead of Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.), one of the movement's seeming avatars, who collected 14 percent.

If tea partiers are as open minded as Romney says they are, and wants them to be, he may just hold onto that 17 percent without ceding it to Perry, Bachmann or Herman Cain. If not, things probably won't go so well for him as he takes to the tea-party stage.

Read the rest of this post...

iPhone 5 prototype goes missing... maybe

From Reuters:

"The two Apple (security) employees met with the resident and then went into the house to look for the lost item. The Apple employees did not find the lost item and left the house," the police statement said.

It did not say why police accompanied Apple security or the circumstances under which Apple employees "went into the house to look for the lost item". Police did not respond to a request for further comment.

SF Weekly quoted a 22-year-old man who described himself as the resident of the searched house as saying the group identified themselves as police and that none had said they were working for Apple. They had traced the phone to the house using satellite positioning software on the device but did not find anything in the house, he said he was told.

If someone stole the phone, then I get it. Still, this does sound a bit heavy-handed.  Then again, it's a big deal for Apple, understandably. Read the rest of this post...

Berlusconi calls Italy a 'sh*tty country'

The Guardian:

In a sign of his frustration at the investigations into his alleged crimes and misdemeanours, Silvio Berlusconi vowed in July to leave Italy, which he described as a "sh*tty country" that "sickened" him.

The Italian prime minister's astonishing remarks are contained in the transcript of a telephone conversation secretly recorded by police investigating claims he was being blackmailed about his sex life.

Wow. Could this really be the end of Burlusconi at long last? He is already facing a charge of sleeping with an under-age prostitute. Like most Europeans, Italians tend to regard the obsequious displays of patriotism made by US politicians as transparently insincere. That does not mean that they won't find Burlusconi's words highly offensive. Read the rest of this post...