US POLITICS SPRING 2011: Let's just call off this country.

lol, and they said the culture wars were over--nope, turns out the economic wars are over and the poors lost

The repubs are gonna say that they are in the majority, riders are on every bill, even budget bills and it's the Dems who are being partisan. They really are idiot swine.

Dems should convince all GOP staffers to strike tomorrow.

Cosign akm's reaction to the list of riders. From a UK perspective, sometimes the US political system seems designed to end up in a giant clusterfuck.

just got this email

A message from Wisconsin MoveOn volunteer and Regional Organizer Steve Hughes:

Dear fellow MoveOn member,

I'm writing to you from Wisconsin, ground zero in the fight between Republicans and the middle class, where we just had a HUGE win!

I'm literally breathless. I'm witnessing history. Incumbent candidates for the Wisconsin Supreme Court generally get re-elected in a landslide. But in the general election on Tuesday, progressive JoAnne Kloppenburg closed the gap and won by a razor thin margin against conservative justice David Prosser!

The result was extremely close, and there's still a recount to grapple with, but this is a HUGE change from the primary where she lost 25% to 55% to conservative Justice David Prosser before Walker's attacks on workers began. And it's proof that the grassroots army that formed to battle Governor Scott Walker is a force to be reckoned with.

Tuesday night, all of us volunteers sat around the Kloppenburg office, right next to the Wisconsin 14, and watched these historic returns come in together.

And I knew it was happening because thousands of us MoveOn members, along with our friends and allies, voted, volunteered, knocked doors, hit the phones, and got out the vote through our emails, posts and tweets. We're a part of this, but now we need to make sure what happened in Wisconsin doesn't stay in Wisconsin.

blah blah give us money

strange given i just saw tweets saying prosser just took a 90 vote lead

Haha -- I just read on The Corner that "several thousand" votes for Prosser were just uncovered. Who's right?

this is the kind of shit that just... like, can we move on from this kind of "reporting" please?

But as the presidential schedule stands now, Mr. Obama is to leave Washington on Friday morning for Indianapolis, where he will talk about energy independence, then return to the White House in the early afternoon.

That travel schedule would still allow Mr. Obama to oversee the final hours of negotiations if they continue Friday afternoon. The government’s authority to spend money runs out Friday just before midnight.

Politically, being gone could be dangerous for Mr. Obama if it creates the perception that he is taking the possibility of a government shutdown lightly.

well you just explained why he's leaving, and you also explained that it'll only be for a few hours. does anyone actually believe obama is taking this giant, headline-dominating budget showdown "lightly", like tra-la-la i'm just skipping town for a little cause hey no biggie? i mean, NO ONE thinks that, surely. you might get some crank contending that on a phone-in show but in what universe would that be a "dangerous" "perception" aside from whatever crackpot universe this reporter is lending credibility to by writing this piece in the first place? JUST STOP

lol voting for judges

xpost My favourite thing about political reporting is the pretence that perception - or rather "optics" - has nothing to do with the reporter or pundit talking about it, but is some kind of abstract natural phenomenon.

This is pretty sick by any standards, not that there isn't a lot of pretty egregious stuff in that list.

Prohibits funds to implement, administer or enforce the rule entitled “National Emission
Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants From the Portland Cement Manufacturing Industry and
Standards of Performance for Portland Cement Plants,” published by the Environmental
Protection Agency on September 9, 2010, which limits the levels of mercury in cement.

ah well that's alright then

I wonder who's district is a center of mohair farming:

Prohibits funds to provide nonrecourse marketing assistance loans to mohair farmers

This is petty as fuck

Prohibits funds to provide nonrecourse marketing assistance loans to mohair farmers.

Anything that happens in life has its exact parallel in The Godfather. Clemenza to Michael: "That's alright--this thing's gotta happen every five years or so--ten years--helps to get rid of the bad blood. Been ten years since the last one." And for Obama haters, there's Sonny to Tom: "Goddamn it! If I had a wartime consiglieri--a Sicilian--I wouldn't be in this shape! Pop had Genco--look what I got." (For "Sicilian," insert "real Democrat.")

More like the Republicans have adopted Michael's negotiating strategy from Part II: "Senator? You can have my answer now, if you like. My final offer is this: nothing. Not even the fee for the gaming license, which I would appreciate if you would put up personally."

I should never read Charles Krauthammer. His column on the Ryan plan focusses on the unnamed tax deductions and loopholes Ryan says a House committee will look at, and insists that the Ryan plan despite the larger tax cuts for the rich will end up as revenue-neutral. He's in trickle-down, voodoo economics fantasyland.

I'm with the Daily Howler guy on condemning the mainstream (including liberals like Ezra Klein) press for calling Ryan "courageous". Sometimes contrarian conservative Sullivan called Ryan that and embraced part of the plan too by the way. However, a day later the Heritage numbers and various other items in the plan have been debunked by economists. But I guess we're not gonna see any followups from these bloggers or David Brooks re brave Ryan.

Time to go to work and find out if I am essential!

BTW, when the backdoor budget debate results in "no deal, but progress," that "progress" part means the Dems are caving on some things, right? Just not abortion (the federal abortion budget being paramount here, and as pivotal as NPR, don't you know)?

However, a day later the Heritage numbers and various other items in the plan have been debunked by economists.

Not only that, but Heritage simply brazenly took some of the numbers (like the prediction of 2.8% unemployment by 2015) out of the PDF of their report and reposted it, with no notification that anything had been changed.

to be fair to Sully, his enthusiasm has diminished. He's been devoted to printing the derisive emails he's received all week.

http://money.cnn.com/2011/04/08/news/economy/shutdown_federal_budget/index.htm?hpt=C1

ha

You know, that irritates me. That judgment that keeping things going is the real and only truly important goal and that taking a stand instead of COMPROMISING makes people juvenile and unaware of the big picture.

My takeaway was that the conservative economists think the whole thing is juvenile because both parties are bickering over things that will little to no net impact rather than focusing on the big, difficult things (I also thought it was telling/funny that they seemed to be focusing largely on the Tea Party as targets of derision in the article)

Well, yes, which just shows you how much the social policy shit is window-dressing to anyone and everyone with real power or anything at stake besides re-election.

And the Concord Coalition guy irritates me because they want to gut Social Security and only cut the deficit through domestic spending cuts. I know I know, I'm supposed to laugh about the 3 stooges thing.

The point is more that when the creepy puppetmasters start openly insulting the puppets, it might be a sign that some shit is about to happen.

I seriously wish Norquist and his ilk would all get abducted by aliens. They're small-hearted, evil little rodents and their starve the beast mentality is what has got us into this pickle. Can we tax our way out of a deficit and sluggish economy? It's no easy task so instead we generally tend toward delusional and antiquated economic theories, play stupid culture politics, and ignore the very real peril our deficits present because no-one is smart enough or brave enough to talk about SS, Medicare and Medicaid. When we do become a second-tier power w/massive structural problems and political stalemate down the line, I will definitely blame the Right.

norquist is such a pig. he campaigned for W both times (iirc?), so in essence he helped midwife the beast he rials against. fuck this guy in his smug face

rails agaisnt

NYT:

"Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, the majority leader, told reporters in an exchange broadcast on CNN Friday morning that “this all deals with women’s health” and that other issues had been resolved."

All of the focus over the last 12 hours or so has been on the Planned Parenthood stuff. The EPA-gutting riders aren't mentioned anymore - presumably they are part of the "other issues" that have been "resolved".

"i've got a bad feeling about this"

other issues had been resolved. steamrollered by Republicans.

Goodbye EPA.

There's a chance that the EPA stuff was "resolved" by Reid giving in more on the cuts (dems are offering $38 billion now, up from $33 billion earlier this week)...maybe?

this whole thing is so absurd.

Republicans are denying this is about abortions so I dunno guys, don't draw so many conclusions

as digby pointed out last night:

It’s always possible that the Republicans will fold without any more cuts. But they are delirious kamikazees at this point — they’ve gotten everything they wanted so far and figure they might as well go the distance. But I would still put my money on a deal that spares the worst culture war stuff in exchange for some truly horrifying cuts. Sticking it to the poor is one thing the mainstream and the Tea Party can certainly agree on.

Last December, the Democrats gave us DADT repeal in exchange for the Bush tax cut and now they’re angling to give us Planned Parenthood in exchange for massive, immediate cuts in discretionary spending. At some point you have to wonder if everyone isn’t getting exactly what they want out of this deal — except, of course, those who are already clinging to the lowest rungs of society and working people.

david kurtz kinda floated that idea -- reid let the figure drop down to -38 from -33, and now gets to say "we're putting our food down here for planned parenthood!!"

5 billion is a lot of condoms... such is one-way negotiating i guess.

i'm a little bummed, if my nihilist side is honest. i always figured a shutdown would play out like it did in the 90s, and the chaos would be clarifying. but i don't depend on public services directly in my daily life, so that's a big gamble ask for with some other people's lives innit.

Haha -- I just read on The Corner that "several thousand" votes for Prosser were just uncovered. Who's right?

― Hey Look More Than Five Years Has Passed And You Have A C (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, April 7, 2011 4:57 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

it's several thousand (about 10,000 for prosser and 3,000 for kloppenburg).

http://uppitywis.org/blogarticle/rachel-maddow-waukesha-surprise

pretty shitty but them's the breaks.

why are we electing judges anyway? "accountable government" is some bullshit in so many ways /strauss

Well, if the republicans are saying this is not about abortion, I for one totally believe them. Because they have absolutely no reason to be sneaky or backdoor-y about such a touchy, controversial subject.

Just encountered for the first time the other day indication that the pro life folks consider the IUD and birth control bills, let alone the morning after pill, more or less tantamount to abortion because they prevent the implantation of a fertilized egg or something like that. I always knew that they were that unreasonable, but it was striking to see it laid out explicitly.

why did you think they were so opposed to teaching about safe sex...?

Because they were totally against all forms of birth control? Are pro life folks actually opposed to condoms and all birth control, en toto?

ratzinger.jpg

Don't tar "pro life folks" with the same brushes. I know plenty who openly admit to using birth control.

Are pro life folks actually opposed to condoms and all birth control, en toto?

Depends. Catholic doctine is against both abortion and birth control. Amongst Protestants, it varies from sect to sect.

Is it about women having sex and not "paying the price" for their non-reproductive sexy fun times? Because if so, your answer is "Yes."

lots of ppl use birth control and have abortions despite being ideologically opposed to both

oh wait nm - didnt realize you said "openly admit to"

But pro life people as a general group are not all sex=babies, right? Catholics, in theory, are anti-all birth control, hypcrites aside, but one can be pro life but also pro condoms, yes? Because my aforementioned example was specific to the IUD, pill and morning after pills, with a medical basis (however one may disagree), which implies barrier methods are OK.

Obv the bulk of Protestants use bc in their own lives, otherwise they'd all have 9 children and we would call them "Catholics." But that's only in their own middle-class marriages. Helping unmarried women and poor people have access to sex "without consequences" goes against their "I got where I am by making good decisions; if you make bad ones, I can't help you" Puritanical streak.

But more seriously, Josh, I believe there are people who have rationalized that they're not opposed to barrier methods but those OTHER, MORE EVIL kinds of b/c that prevent implantation must be stopped!! But imo this is just point-obscuring hair-splitting. Either you believe in the rights of the mother or you don't.

That's my thought. I just can't see how something with such obvious, undeniable public support should allow for so much legislative wiggle-room and hustling. Though we Americans are famous for not reading the fine print.

we Americans are famous for not reading the fine print

fixed