Fools Errand?

TPM Reader JH thinks the new gun control push is a fool’s errand and a political mistake …

I think the Dems are making a big mistake with gun control right now. Going into this legislative session, they had a plan to get past the fiscal cliff then move on to immigration. In doing so, they would not only move the focus from fiscal matters (where the GOP’s sole desire seems to be disruption of any momentum of recovery), but also nail down the most important voting demographic.

Musings From The Bench

Seems only fitting that when Justice Clarence Thomas finally broke his seven-year silence in Supreme Court oral arguments today reporters in attendance were not sure what he actually said.

GOP Rep: Impeach Obama over Guns

As the constitution says, 2nd term Democratic presidents need to be impeached. And not Rep. Steve Stockman (R-TX) says Congress will need to impeach President Obama if he issues an executive order on guns.

The Disneyland of Gun Paranoia

In a reductio ad absurdum of gun and ‘patriot’ paranoia, a group of right-wing patriots are planning a ‘fortress’ planned community in Idaho, done up with the full list of defensive walls, turrets and plenty of defensive positions to use when the feds finally come to confiscate your guns.

The best part is the map of the planned gun/fortress community. In addition to the defensive perimeter it also has “Interior Defensive Walls & Towers” so that if the Obama forces make a successful incursion into one part of the town patriots can still defend the parts of the town that remain free. Sort of like bulkheads in a ship.

Live Chat w/ Ken Baer

With Jack Lew’s confirmation hearings for Treasury Secretary coming up soon, this afternoon at 4 PM we’re holding a Live Chat at TPMPrime with Ken Baer, Lew’s former colleague at OMB. Questions about Jack Lew? Questions about the White House budgeting process or working in the Obama White House? Get your questions in now.

No Ace In The Hole

The weekend’s most important development wasn’t that the Treasury Department deep-sixed the platinum coin per se, but that the White House more-or-less declared it won’t resort to any debt limit work around if Republicans refuse to increase it before borrowing authority lapses.

Between the official statement, a long conversation with a senior White House official, and President Obama’s press conference this morning, I take this to be more than just an attempt to clarify the stakes and dial up the pressure on Republicans to raise the debt limit drama free. There really is no “Plan B” if we breach the debt limit, other than that the government will shirk 40 percent of its obligations and Republicans will feel enormous pressure to raise it before the economic fallout becomes too catastrophic.

But as troubling as it is to take a flier on House Republicans’ willingness and ability to raise the debt limit before the deadline, platinum coin advocates and advocates of other debt limit workarounds should recognize that this is how the standoff would have had to unfold even if there were a Plan B.

“We Are Not a Deadbeat Nation”

Obama: “We are not a deadbeat nation.”

Watch Obama Presser Live

President Obama’s White House news conference about to begin. Watch.

The Bind They’re In

This video from this morning’s Chris Jansing show gives a pretty good sense of where the current debate is on the debt ceiling. Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) basically saying the GOP is looking at the most thoughtful, deliberate ways of defaulting on the national debt or shutting down the federal government.

Labor’s Big Shift On Immigration Reform

Labor unions are a major advocate for the current immigration reform efforts but, as Benjy Sarlin reports, it was not always that way.

Monday Facepalm

It’s increasingly looking like a government shutdown is the GOP’s fallback position on the debt ceiling fight. If a government default is too risky politically and economically, then a government shutdown still get Republicans a genuine primal scream moment, with arguably less severe consequences to the economy. As for the political consequences of a shutdown, Republicans seem more focused on the internal party politics involved than the larger body politic. Here’s how one adviser put it to Politico:

House Speaker John Boehner “may need a shutdown just to get it out of their system,” said a top GOP leadership adviser. “We might need to do that for member-management purposes – so they have an endgame and can show their constituents they’re fighting.”

Official Statement

You’ve likely seen the news that Internet activist and programmer Aaron Swartz committed suicide last night. His family has released the following statement. After the jump …