Buck Naked Politics

Quote of the Day: The Abdication of Harry Reid

Kos:

Bill Frist never had 60 votes. Bill Frist never cared. Republicans ran the Senate as if they owned the place, even when enjoying razor-thin majorities.

Yet when Democrats took the chamber, the first thing Harry Reid did was complain that he couldn't do anything because he didn't have 60 votes.

Then voters delivered 59 votes. And Harry Reid whined that he still couldn't do anything. In fact, nothing would ever get accomplished unless they had 60, and to do that, they had to bring turncoat Joe Lieberman back into the fold..You see, we were told, Joe Lieberman is with us on everything except the war! So we need him for 60, and when we have 60, everyone will get ponies! And if Lieberman strays, why, Evan Bayh said Senate Democrats could punish him!...

Good thing we never believed his bullshit, because neither Bayh, nor Reid, nor any of the ineffective corporatist Dems would ever let this sort of thing actually happen. Lieberman knows this, which is why he's once again making common cause with Republicans.

So once again, Reid is complaining that he doesn't have 60 votes, which is why they need to anoint Olympia Snowe as de facto President of the United States. Maybe SHE will get us to 60! But we all know Snowe has no intention of voting for real reform, and yet Reid (with White House backing) continue to let themselves get played. It's all a farce.

So much for 60....So that's that. The notion of "leading" is clearly a non-starter for Reid, according to his office. Well, glad Reid's office has admitted as such. Time for new leadership.  (More)

Sing it.

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IG for TARP Funds Says the Treasury Abdicated Its Responsibility for Oversight of AIG

bartleby the scrivener |  There.  He said it.  I feel a little better now.

"It was a failure of oversight by Treasury" that led to the spring's bonus fiasco, watchdog Neil Barofsky told the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee this morning, a failure for which he said Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner was ultimately responsible.

Treasury essentially abdicated its oversight duties of AIG's compensation structures to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, which was "a recipe for disastrous consequences," said Barofsky...Ultimately, Geithner did not learn about the bonuses until March 10, three days before they were paid out, despite running the Treasury Department since January and, before that, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, where officials knew about the payments last November. At that time, both parties agreed that there was no legal grounds to stop the payments, a correct determination, according to Barofsky. (ABC News)

Progressives Ponder Obama's Nobel Prize Win for Not Being George W. Bush; Others Enjoy Wingnut-Baiting Bonus

by Damozel | Neener neener! Ha ha ha! (as Big Tent Democrat is wont to say, speaking for me only). 

Many progressives are disturbed by the award.  Tas of Comments from Left Field calls it ridiculous.  .

If the “feeling” about Obama is the “game changer”, then why not award the Nobel Peace Prize to the entire American electorate?  After all, we’re the ones whose feelings have changed — as shown by us collectively doing as much as possible to remove Republicans from power in Washington and treat the world better....

This prize should only be awarded to those who, as can be shown empirically, brought more peace to the world.  To throw the prize at Obama — or anybody else — who simply causes the Nobel committee to “feel good” only cheapens the award.

Maria of Crooked Timber wrote the post to which Tas is reacting.

[T]his isn’t about domestic politics, or about what he’s done yet. President Obama has changed how the world feels about America. He’s lifted the planet’s mood. This guy is global Prozac.

Health Care Statistics in South Carolina (I'm Looking at You, Joe Wilson & Jim DeMint)

by Damozel |  If you crunch the numbers on "health-care statistics, such as teenage pregnancy rates, infant birth weight, premature births and infant mortality," guess which state comes at or near the tail end?  (Jason Linkins)  Since I'm South Carolinian by birth and upbringing, this really gets me down -- without really surprising me all that much.   For discussion, take a look below:

Astroturfin' USA: Widely Circulated "Ginormous Turnout" Photo Showing DC Mall Packed with Teabaggers Was from 1997?

 by Teh Nutroots |  This, to no one's surprise, from Politifact:

"[S]upporters of Saturday’s “tea party” protests...posted a photograph that showed a gargantuan crowd sprawling from Capitol Hill down the National Mall to the Washington Monument....

"Pete Piringer, public affairs officer for the D.C. Fire and Emergency Department, said the local government no longer provides official crowd estimates because they can become politicized. But the day of the rally, Piringer unofficially told one reporter that he thought between 60,000 and 75,000 people had shown up....

"[A]fter marching down Pennsylvania Avenue to the Capitol, the crowd “only filled the Capitol grounds, maybe up to Third Street,” he said.

"Yet the photograph so widely posted showed the crowd sprawling all the way to the Washington Monument, which is bordered by 15th and and 17th Streets.

"There’s another problem with the photograph: It doesn’t include the National Museum of the American Indian, a building located at the corner of Fourth Street and Independence Avenue that opened on Sept. 14, 2004. (Looking at the photograph, the building should be in the upper right hand corner of the National Mall, next to the Air and Space Museum.) That means the picture was taken before the museum opened exactly five years ago. So clearly the photo doesn’t show the “tea party” crowd from the Sept. 12 protest.

"Also worth noting are the cranes in front of the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History. According to Randall Kremer, the museum’s director of public affairs, “The last time cranes were in front was in the 1990s when the IMAX theater was being built.”" (emphasis added)

Politico: GOP Leaders Complain that the Party Is Becoming Defined by "Crackpots"; Meanwhile, Progressives Become Progressively Sicker of the Dems' Gutless Response

by Teh Nutroots | Politico's Andie Coller writes that a number of GOP leaders are increasingly worried that their party is being identified with its "fringe element" (so-called).  Here's a small sample culled from her many examples of GOPpers fretting over what's happening to their party. 

[S]ays Republican media consultant Mark McKinnon. “Unfortunately, right now the Democrats generally get defined by President Obama, and Republicans, who have no clear leadership, get defined by crackpots — and then they begin to define the Republican Party in the mind of the general public.”...

Here’s Orly Taitz, insisting that the commander in chief was born in Kenya. There’s a flock of town hall protesters, waving photos of the president in a Hitler moustache. Former GOP vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin warns darkly that Obama is planning “death panels” for senior citizens. Georgia Rep. Paul Broun equates the president’s plans with “Nazi” policies. Ohio Rep. Jean Schmidt — last heard calling John Murtha a “coward” — tells a birther: “I agree with you, but the courts don’t.”...

One veteran GOP official puts it bluntly: “The image of a bunch of white guys booing an African-American president is about as bad as it gets.” ( More at Politico)

Gee, ya think?

Laura Bush Defends Obama's Speech to Schoolkids

by teh nutroots|  I agree with Laura Bush.  People can keep their kids at home if they don't want to have the President of the United States suggest that they take advantage of the 100% free, taxpayer-funded education being provided to them by the government.  From CNN, via HuffPost:

Everything that's Wrong with the Media: Marc Ambinder on Why Progressives Are Always Wrong

by bartleby the scrivener | So. Tom Ridge confirms what progressives have long known to be true. Here's Marc "Divide the Baby in Half" Ambinder to confirm why you must never again rely on our "free press" to protect democracy.

Journalists, including myself, were very skeptical when anti-Bush liberals insisted that what Ridge now says is true, was true. We were wrong.  Our skepticism about the activists' conclusions was warranted because these folks based their assumption on gut hatred for President Bush, and not on any evaluation of the raw intelligence.  But journalists should have been even more skeptical about the administration's pronouncements. And yet -- we, too, weren't privy to the intelligence. (emphasis added)

Marcy Wheeler saw that one off in fine style.

Tom Ridge Says Bush Administration Used War on Terror as a Political Ploy

bartleby the scrivener | So the DFH "Lie-berals" were right all along, were we?  In fact, the Bush administration did use fear of terrorism to terrorize our gullible public into believing we needed Bush to keep us safe.  

"Tom Ridge, the first secretary of homeland security, asserts in a new book that he was pressured by top advisers to President George W. Bush to raise the national threat level just before the 2004 election in what he suspected was an effort to influence the vote." (NYT)

But that ain't all. 

Even More Advertisers Ditch Glenn Beck

by bartleby the scrivener | Stephen Colbert commented last week on Beck's loss of advertising revenue since his ill-advised musing that Obama -- who is half-white and whose administration is filled with white people -- is a "racist" with "a profound hatred of white people."  James Rucker of Color of Change reports that eight more major advertisers have now ceased to support Beck's show:

 "We've confirmed that eight more major advertisers have pulled their support from Glenn Beck's show:...Wal-Mart, Best Buy, CVS, Travelocity, Allergan (maker of Restasis), Ally Bank, Broadview Security, and Re-Bath.

Overall, twenty advertisers have now ended their support of Beck. We're going to keep the pressure on Beck's remaining advertisers this week, and we'll let you know how you can help.

I guess it is possible for wingnuttery to go too far.

The Daily Show: The Diplomacy of Hillary Clinton

She won't channel her husband, so don't even think of asking her his opinion of anything.  After all, who is Secretary of State, Hill or Bill?  Hmmm?  JS:  "Damn, random person in the Congo.  You just got served!"  You go, Ms. Crankypants! 

After the jump....

From TPMtv: Specter Presiding Over Health Care Reform Ventings at Pennsylvania Town Hall

by bartleby the scrivener |  Right-wingers. Always the irrational anger and the irrational fear. To have free health care like Britain, Canada, and other western nations = "turning into Soviet Russia" and "Maoist China."   The sad thing?  These people are the restrained ones who are sincerely afraid...afraid of health care.   Thank God for making me a Democrat.

"Angrytown, USA," Death Panels, Sarah Palin's Big Box of Crazy, and the Downside for the GOP of Angry Mob Politics

First, a word from Jon Stewart:

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Healther Skelter
www.thedailyshow.com
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Forty More Years in Afghanistan? Plus: The Military Compiles "Hit List" of Afghan Drug Lords with Ties to the Taliban

by bartleby the scrivener | So says Anthony Cordesman, senior advisor to Gen. Stanley McChrystal.(ToL) From the Times of London: 

"Mr Cordesman, of the Centre for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, said: “The insurgents may have lost virtually every tactical clash [against Nato troops], but they have expanded their areas of influence from a presence in some 30 of Afghanistan’s 364 districts in 2003 to one in some 160 districts by the end of 2008, while insurgent attacks increased by 60 per cent during October 2008 to April 2009 alone.

"“Nato must change its strategy and tactics after years in which member countries, particularly the United States, failed to react to the seriousness of the emerging insurgency,” he added." (Times of London)

WaPo has more on the expected "long-term, costly effort." At Newshoggers, Steve Hynd asks:  "Can everyone say "mission creep?'"  Michael Cohen agrees. "If McChrystal is listening to...Cordesman - and if the President is listening to McChrystal -- we are going to be in Afghanistan for not years, but potentially decades."  That's right.  As Cohen points out, Sir David Richards, the incoming head of the British army, is predicting 40 MORE YEARS in Afghanistan.

Deal: Obama & Big Pharma

From Ryan Grimm at HuffPost:

"White House spokesman Reid Cherlin confirmed that despite Thursday's uncertainty the deal outlined in the New York Times still stands."  (Ryan Grimm, HuffPost; emphasis added)

So I guess that's that.  The New York Times reports

Rumors of Palin Divorce; Palin "Camp" Issues Swift Denial

by Teh Nutroots | The top gossip for today, courtesy of The Alaska Report, is that Todd and Sarah Palin are to divorce.  Akmuckraker at The Mudflats has the story of the story.  Palin's spokespeople who, after all, have access to first-hand information, deny the rumor. 

For what it's worth, the report -- which seems to have originated with this blogger -- is as follows:

A National Enquirer story exposing previous affairs on both sides led to a deterioration of their marriage and the stress from that led to Palin's resignation as governor of Alaska last week.

The Palins were noticeably not speaking to each other for most of last Sunday's resignation speech in Fairbanks. Sarah ditched Todd (MSNBC) right after the speech and left without him. Sarah removed her wedding ring a couple of weeks ago.

Sarah has recently purchased land in Montana and is considering moving the family there. Sarah Palin is originally from Idaho. (The Alaska Report)

I don't actually give a damn either way, but it's the story of the day, and I didn't want to be left out.

Racists Call Obama a Racist; Ratchet Up the Race-Based Criticisms

by bartleby the scrivener | TPM has a compilationof ratcheted-up racist rhetoric now found acceptable to Obama's opponents.  Interesting.  Media Matters has prepared a compilation. 

Annnnd...the Health Care Infighting Wags On, Spreads to the Senate; Waters Warns Blue Dogs of Political Repercussions

by bartleby the scrivener | A bipartisan group of senators, led by Max Baucus, is all set to exclude "a government-run insurance option from the committee’s draft legislation that could be marked up next week."  (The Hill)  For some reason, Baucus et al. are more worried about attracting Republican support than coming together with their fellow Dems to give US taxpayers the cheaper health care we urgently need.  Why is that, hmmmm?  Why is that?

The Washington Post points out that the final product of this bipartisan cabal will shed many of Obama's priorities and make hash of many of his promises. (WaPo) 

Krugman on Blue Dogs: Why Obama Can't Throw Them a Bone

by Bartleby the Scrivener | Deb's taken a couple of runs at the specious arguments of the "Blue Dog Democrats" in whose money-greased palms the fate of health care reform (and maybe of the Obama administration) currently rests.  Can Obama appease their concerns?  Paul Krugman thinks not.

[H]e can’t — because the Blue Dogs aren’t making sense....

So what are the objections of the Blue Dogs?

Well, they talk a lot about fiscal responsibility, which basically boils down to worrying about the cost of those subsidies. And it’s tempting to stop right there, and cry foul. After all, where were those concerns about fiscal responsibility back in 2001, when most conservative Democrats voted enthusiastically for that year’s big Bush tax cut — a tax cut that added $1.35 trillion to the deficit?

But it’s actually much worse than that — because even as they complain about the plan’s cost, the Blue Dogs are making demands that would greatly increase that cost.

Obama Increasingly "Bush Lite"? Secrecy & Signing Statements

by Bartleby the Scrivener | So much for these promises too:   it worked for W, and the Obama administration isn't about to let go of the privileges claimed by the Bush administration.

Invoking an argument used by President George W. Bush, the Obama administration has turned down a request from a watchdog group for a list of health industry executives who have visited the White House to discuss the massive healthcare overhaul.

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington sent a letter to the Secret Service asking about visits from 18 executives representing health insurers, drug makers, doctors and other players in the debate. The group wants the material in order to gauge the influence of those executives in crafting a new healthcare policy....The Secret Service sent a reply stating that documents revealing the frequency of such visits were considered presidential records exempt from public disclosure laws. The agency also said it was advised by the Justice Department that the Secret Service was within its rights to withhold the information because of the "presidential communications privilege." (More at L.A. Times)

Even more worrying is the administration's claim that Obama can ignore legislation by Congress if he thinks it "oversteps the Constitution."  (Breitbart.com)