Daily Kos

Open thread for night owls: Phone records seizure might spark something better than a shield law

rss@dailykos.com (Meteor Blades) — Wed, 22 May 2013 03:30:10 UTC

At The Nation, John Nichols writes 'Our Liberty Cannot Be Guarded but by the Freedom of the Press':

A genuine left-right coalition has developed over the past several days in response to the revelation that the Department of Justice seized Associated Press telephone records in its recent investigation of a CIA leak. And that coalition is likely to strengthen in light of the news that the DOJ investigated the reporting activities of Fox News’s chief Washington correspondent as a potential crime—“solicitation” of leaks. The latter development, in many senses more troubling than the former, calls into question whether basic protections for both reporters and whistleblowers are crumbling after more than a decade of Patriot Act abuses, Bush and Obama administration excesses and the politicization of debates about what were once accepted standards for protecting the public’s right to know and the privacy rights that underpin it.

John Nichols

In moments so rigorously partisan as these, many members of Congress will retreat to their corners, mounting attacks or making excuses. But there are some serious legislators, libertarian-leaning Republicans and progressive Democrats, who understand the urgency of the moment.

They get that the revelations about DOJ overreach reveal a threat not just to freedom of the press but to the most necessary of press functions: the work of revealing for citizens the details of what their government is doing in their name but without their informed consent. None of these members are foolish or casual in their approach; they understand that it is necessary for the government to protect against the leaking of information that could endanger people. But they also understand that it is possible to provide that protection within a constitutional context.

Perhaps most importantly, they get that the best way to protect the First Amendment guarantee of a free press is to protect the Fourth Amendment guarantee of privacy. Journalists do not need—and should not seek—an array of special protections to do their jobs. But journalists and their sources do need to know that information can be shared without the threat of unwarranted—and self-serving—government surveillance of necessary conversations.

It is with this in mind that four very different members of Congress (Michigan Republican Justin Amash, South Carolina Republican Mick Mulvaney, California Democrat Zoe Lofgren and Colorado Democrat Jared Polis) have proposed a precise and appropriate response to the overreach by the Department of Justice. While the White House and key members of the Senate are backing a Shield Law, which protects journalists from being required to reveal sources, the House members are going deeper—to protect not just journalists but all citizens from “unreasonable searches and seizures.” They seek a Telephone Records Protection Act, which requires court approval when the government demands telephone records from service providers.

Blast from the Past. At Daily Kos on this date in 2010—As it makes live feed available, BP admits oil flow worse than claimed:

So what might be motivating BP to concede their claim of 5,000 barrels per day was wrong? Perhaps the fact that they have finally posted a live feed of the oil gushing from the main leak.

In my experience watching the feed, it's had some technical hiccups, but I was able to watch about five minutes before the video screen went black. It's incredibly disturbing -- clouds of oil billowing from the site of the leak, at times appearing far, far worse than the initial video BP released.

The fact that BP now claims to be siphoning off 5,000 barrels per day but the flow of oil appears to be as bad as ever tells you just how massive this leak is. CBS was the first news organization to get its hands on the live feed and showed it to Purdue Professor of Mechanical Engineering Steven Werely. He estimates that nearly 100,000 barrels -- 4 million gallons or an Exxon Valdez every three days -- is still spewing from the leak.

Tweet of the Day:

Drudge's pal Alex Jones thinks a "weather weapon" may have been used in Oklahoma http://t.co/...
— @owillis via bitly

On today's Kagro in the Morning show, the day's news was dominated by Oklahoma. But Greg Dworkin's not just a pundit rounder-upper, he's an expert in disaster prep, too. Once again, disaster reminds us that teachers are often first responders, and that first responders are unionized, public employees. Also: more wacky gun news, and Utah's gun-toting teachers. Then, an update on the 3D printing issue, a story about "Colorado's deadliest neighborhood," and an investigation into the disciplinary records of Atlanta area school resource officers. Finally, a note from sfbaytransplant seeking clarification in reporting of the "unanimous confirmation" of the new Energy Secretary.

High Impact Posts. Top Comments.

Economics Daily Digest: Fixing the economy first, but not yet

rss@dailykos.com (Roosevelt Institute) — Tue, 21 May 2013 14:12:54 UTC

By Rachel Goldfarb, originally published on Next New Deal

Click here to receive the Daily Digest via e-mail.

What's the best way to pass a climate bill? Fix the economy first. (WaPo)

According to Brad Plumer, if we’re serious about climate change, we need to solve the jobs crisis first: There’s a connection between a senator’s “green score” from the League of Conservation Voters and the unemployment rate in his or her state.

As rich gain optimism, lawmakers lose economic urgency (WaPo)

Jim Tankersley reminds us that while the economy and jobs remain a top priority for most Americans, the House has only approved three bills that could be considered economic policy this year—and one of those was the 37th attempt to repeal the Affordable Care Act.

Camping Out for Five Days, in Hopes of a Union Job (NYT)

Most jobs created since the recession are low-wage, but Jessica Glazer’s story about more than 800 people camping out to apply for the training program at Local 3 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers shows how far people will go to escape that rut.

Sequestration Nation: Budget Cuts Endanger Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Victims (CAP)

Kwame Boadi lays out the effect of sequestration on one of our most vulnerable populations: domestic violence and sexual assault victims, who are losing services, beds in shelters, and more. These cuts could kill, but Congress has prioritized keeping flights on schedule.

Poverty Flees to the Suburbs (MoJo)

Josh Harkinson breaks down yesterday’s report from the Brookings Institution, showing that the suburban poor now outnumber the urban and rural poor. With most federal anti-poverty spending targeting urban communities, there’s a serious mismatch.

Senator Introduces Bill To Allow Holders Of Student Debt To Refinance (Think Progress)

Bryce Covert reports on Sen. Gillibrand’s proposal to force the Department of Education to automatically refinance federal student loans with interest rates above four percent to fixed four percent loans, which would save nearly 37 million borrowers billions in interest payments.

Ready to Testify on Financial Stability, Lew Is Likely To Be Grilled on IRS Scandal (National Journal)

Catherine Hollander notes that Treasury Secretary Jack Lew is scheduled to deliver the Financial Stability Oversight Council’s annual report this week, but Congress is less interested in the global financial system than it is in what’s going on at the local IRS office in Cincinnati.

The Unemployed Need Bold, Creative Moves from the Fed (The Fiscal Times)

Mark Thoma remembers when the Fed took risks and pushed the rules to their limits in orchestrating the bailout for big financial institutions. Why, he asks, aren’t they maintaining such boldness for the sake of the unemployed?

Woman finds her dog in the rubble during live TV interview

rss@dailykos.com (Jen Hayden) — Tue, 21 May 2013 14:25:51 UTC

You might want to get a tissue ready for this video. A woman finds her dog under the rubble during a live TV interview:

Game of Thrones Recap: Second Sons

rss@dailykos.com (Mark Sumner) — Wed, 22 May 2013 02:18:14 UTC

After several weeks in which the episode was diced into pieces so small they would pass through a soup strainer, this week's adventures in Westeros made fewer hops while delivering more meaty morsels.

We got some direct White Walker action, some Dany sans dragons negotiations, and a royal wedding. This isn't exactly Kate and William ... though, come to think of it, it did somewhat resemble Charles and Di.

Best of all, we get Game of Really Complicated Family Relationships, in which Sansa becomes Joffrey's aunt, mama Cersei becomes Joffrey's sister, and Margarey becomes her brother's daughter ... or is it Sansa's niece. In any case, it's fun to watch Diana Rigg puzzle through it.

Come on in if you've already watched or don't mind being spoiled.

Why did the IRS demand protest info from pro-life groups?

rss@dailykos.com (Adam B) — Tue, 21 May 2013 16:02:10 UTC

Conservatives have been up in arms about IRS inquires which allegedly were overly intrusive as to the contents of their protest activity.

There's actually a common-sense, well-established answer as to why these questions are being asked. Sherman, let's set the Wayback Machine to 1975, and take a look at IRS Revenue Ruling 75-384, in which the organization seeking tax-exempt status was described as follows:

Gabriel Gomez's bad private equity deal

rss@dailykos.com (Joan McCarter) — Tue, 21 May 2013 17:43:30 UTC

Gomez in his swiftboating days.

Republican Gabriel Gomez has a good enough gig as a private equity investor to be taking $280,000 tax scam deductibles, but maybe has had less success in making deals at his company, Advent International, than his personal wealth would suggest, according to Fortune's Dan Primack.

I figured it was worth a quick look at the only deal Gomez was credited with leading for Advent: Synventive Molding Solutions, a Peabody, Mass.-based provider of hot runner systems and components. [...]
For starters, a source close to the original 2005 transaction tells me that the deal was valued at around $160 million, including debt. A regulatory filing also suggests that around $59 million of equity was involved, but chances are that Advent's actual contribution was less.
By 2011, however, the deal was severely underwater and Synventive was having trouble meeting some of its debt obligations. So Advent swapped most of its equity with creditors, led by Littlejohn & Co. It remains unclear exactly what percentage ownership stake Advent retained, although I have confirmed that it did still have a piece.
The sale for $335 million to Barnes Group (B) came about one year after Littlejohn took over, with a source telling me that Advent received less in proceeds than it originally invested.

No wonder Gomez is running on his career as a Navy SEAL instead of as a businessman. Apparently, his bomber jacket is taking as prominent a role in his campaign as Scott Brown's barn coat and pickup truck. Still, questions remain for would-be backers as to whether this political newbie is worth the investment.

“We’re watching the race closely but are not committed to a course of action,” said Jonathan Collegio, a spokesman for American Crossroads, the “super PAC” founded by Karl Rove, President George W. Bush’s chief strategist.
“For a Senate race to be winnable for Republicans in Massachusetts, you need to have the trifecta of a great candidate, a weak opponent and a perfect environment that brings independents to the polls for Republicans,” Mr. Collegio said. While the first two elements may be in place, he said, it is not yet clear whether the controversies brewing in Washington, particularly involving the Internal Revenue Service, will develop into something that galvanizes voters.

Great candidate? That seems to be a bit of a question mark for at least Crossroads. It's not like they don't have plenty of money to throw around in this race. So there are clearly some questions about Gomez, and for good reason. He's completely mishandled his tax scam problem, absolutely refusing to answer questions about it. He came across as uninterested, uninformed, and dismissive in a high-profile interview on women's health issues and the War on Women, clearly a demographic that he can't afford to lose.

Gomez's service in the military is laudable, and a great point in his biography. But it's what it's he's done since, including stories like this one that reflect on his judgement, that could be keeping some big backers away. With a complete unknown like Gomez, who knows what other skeletons might be lurking?

Please contribute $3 to Ed Markey.

Rand Paul says Senate panel should apologize to Apple for bullying it over offshore tax shifting

rss@dailykos.com (Meteor Blades) — Tue, 21 May 2013 17:13:16 UTC

No tax gimmicks at Apple, says CEO Tim Cook.

Apple executives, including CEO Tim Cook, testified before a Senate panel this morning amid revelations Monday that the company has avoided tens of billions of dollars in taxes by setting up paper companies abroad.

The hearing of the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations started off with some flashes of anger. Republican Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky had some sharp words after chairman Democratic Sen. Carl Levin delivered his opening statement, saying: "Apple executives want to focus on the taxes it has paid, but the real issue is the billions that Apple has not paid."

Paul declared the subcommittee's objective seemed to be "to bully one of America's greatest success stories. [...] If anyone should be on trial here, it is Congress." He also said "I frankly think the committee should apologize to Apple." All through Paul's comments Levin could be seen becoming increasingly angry. He ultimately told Paul "you are free to apologize if you wish."

Upon release of the report about Apple's dodging taxes Monday, Levin said:

"Apple sought the Holy Grail of tax avoidance. It has created offshore entities holding tens of billions of dollars, while claiming to be tax resident nowhere. We intend to highlight that gimmick and other Apple offshore tax avoidance tactics so that American working families who pay their share of taxes understand how offshore tax loopholes raise their tax burden, add to the federal deficit and ought to be closed."

For the most part, senators seemed more into getting their names in the press than asking probing questions, not a habit confined to this particular subcommittee.

No senator accused Apple, which employs tens of thousands of people and paid $6 billion in U.S. taxes in 2012, of breaking any laws. That's one of the problems with the tax code. What the company and dozens of other multinationals do is perfectly legal and the accounting practices are of the sort that causes glazing over among citizens who might otherwise be motivated to press for change.

At the crux of the government's report? Apple's offshore entity, Apple Operations International, is formally based in Ireland. But most of its business is conducted in the United States. From 2009 to 2001, the government report stated, even though AOI's made up 30 percent of Apple's worldwide net income, it paid no U.S. taxes. Please continue below the fold for more on this story.

Teachers as first responders, as protectors, and as heroes

rss@dailykos.com (Hunter) — Wed, 22 May 2013 00:00:20 UTC

Plaza Towers Elementary School

Too many times, our teachers are called upon to be heroes. And every time, they deliver:

[Rhonda Crosswhite], a sixth-grade teacher at the Plaza Towers Elementary School in Moore, Okla. — a building that took a powerful hit from the storm — covered six students with her body, lying on top of them in one of the school's bathroom stalls when the building, a she put it, "just started coming down."

Becky Jo Evans is a first grade teacher at Plaza Towers:

The walls started falling in on them, so she jumped on top of them, shielding them with her body. After the storm had passed, Evans pulled children from the destroyed building. But she still doesn't know how many of them survived.

At the same school:

"We had to pull a car off a teacher and she had three little kids underneath her," one first responder, in tears, told KFOR. "Good job, teach."

At Briarwood Elementary:

As students emerged from hiding, many were stunned by what they saw. Teachers carried the children away from the worst of the wreckage, comforting them until thankful parents took over.

If America's political leaders could spend a little less time trying to break their unions, cut their pay, and demean their very profession, perhaps they would see how integral to the fabric of the country our public teachers really are.

For more discussion, see catilinus' diary.

GOP's effort to drag down Obamacare in IRS scandal commences

rss@dailykos.com (Joan McCarter) — Tue, 21 May 2013 18:37:16 UTC

Dean Heller

It might take a while for Republicans to get the message that The Village is trying to send: watch out for overreach on the scandal thing. Case in point, Sen. Dean Heller (R-NV) who's combining Obamacare hatred with IRS scandal mongering into one effort. And he's using the Farm Bill, of all things.

Sen. Dean Heller, R-Nev., has already filed an amendment to block funding of the IRS for implementing the 2010 health care overhaul.
“I am deeply troubled that the IRS has been improperly targeting conservative groups. Public distrust in this agency is already at an all-time high, so providing the IRS with more power to enforce this flawed health care policy makes no sense,” Heller said in a statement. “For these reasons, I have offered the ‘IRS Accountability Act’ as an amendment to the Farm bill. Simply put, right now, we can’t trust the IRS to do its job.”

The tea party preaches the gospel that the "IRS is responsible for the implementation of health care," and that the IRS might "eventually have the power to deny us healthcare." For the record, yes, the IRS will be in charge of the 47 provisions of the law that relate to taxes: both new taxes and the tax credits to small businesses, individuals who qualify for subsidies, etc. Is the IRS going to take away your Obamacare (oh, the irony) because you're a tea partier? No.

Since their 2014 election plans all revolve around Obamacare, you can bet that this myth will be used just like "death panels" were in 2010. Will it work? Well, it'll keep the base in a froth.

Oklahoma tornado: Late updates

rss@dailykos.com (Hunter) — Tue, 21 May 2013 22:30:10 UTC

A rescue worker in front of the now-destroyed Moore Medical Center

Updates on the devastating tornado that struck Moore, Oklahoma, yesterday:

The National Weather Service has confirmed the tornado as an EF-5, the top designation of the Enhanced Fujita scale. A preliminary track of the tornado can be found here. Windspeeds were in excess of 200 mph; the track itself is 17 miles long and as wide as 1.3 miles.
The state medical examiner's office has lowered the number of confirmed fatalities from 51 to 24, reflecting apparent miscounts in the previous figures. Other outlets, citing the Oklahoma City medical examiner's office, have reported fatality counts of at least 91 people. Over two hundred are known to be injured, and "thousands" of Moore residents have been left homeless.
Former governor Frank Keating says that as many as 20,000 families could be displaced.
Facebook pages have been set up by volunteers seeking to return found photographs, documents and other scattered belongings to their owners—as well as lost pets.
Fire Chief Gary Bird says he is "98 percent sure" there are no more survivors or bodies to be recovered, but that searches will continue until each damaged building has been searched three times.
At the Children's Hospital at OU Medical Center, "a facility used to seeing one or two traumas a day all of a sudden had over 50."
NASA video of the storm's development via the GOES-13 satellite.
The National Guard and Air National Guard provided over 200 soldiers, many equipped with thermal imaging sensors and other rescue technology. FEMA has requested search and rescue teams from as far away as California.
Oklahoma City Thunder star Kevin Durant pledged $1 million for relief efforts; now the NBA and player's union have announced they will match that amount.
Video: Woman finds her dog (alive) in the rubble during live TV interview. More information on a dog seen in a previous picture: the Oklahoma County Sheriff's office reports the dog in this picture "was guarding its deceased owner. Taken to shelter; deputy plans on adopting."
How to help. How to apply for federal assistance through FEMA.
While attention is focused on the devastating Moore tornado, more storms and unstable weather continue throughout the region.

Twenty years

rss@dailykos.com (keefknight) — Tue, 21 May 2013 21:50:08 UTC

Jon Karl demands answers on why President Obama didn't retroactively stop IRS targeting

rss@dailykos.com (Jed Lewison) — Tue, 21 May 2013 21:30:08 UTC

ABC's Jonathan Karl moves past "fake but accurate"-gate and demands answers from White House Press Secretary Jay Carney about why President Obama didn't stop the IRS from targeting of conservative 501(c)(4) groups:

JON KARL: How was this allowed to go on for 18 months? I mean, there were public reports while this was still happening of groups complaining that they had been asked these outrageous questions --

Yeah, why didn't Obama stop the IRS targeting? As Jon Karl says, there were public reports about it while this was still happening, so clearly, Obama must have known about it and decided to cover it up in order to sway the election, right? As Jon says:

KARL: There were public reports that this stuff was going on almost a year before the presidential election.

And yet despite these "public report" from "almost a year before the presidential election" Obama did nothing. How deeply sinister! It's clear there was a cover-up!

But I'll admit that I'm confused about one thing. If there was a cover-up, why was the information about the targeting already public? And if the information about the scandal was already public, why didn't Jon Karl or ABC run a single report about it until this month? Were they in on the cover-up that wasn't a cover-up because it was public?

And just in case your head's already hurting from trying to connect Karl's nonsensical logic to facts, here's another head-splitter: If Obama was covering up this thing that was in the public record that ABC was refusing to cover, why is that when Republicans in Congress learned about the IRS's internal inquiry, they said nothing? Were they secretly on Obama's payroll?

These are tough questions, but let's give Karl one last chance to put Carney on the spot:

KARL: You're missing the point of my question. Public reports almost a year before the election. Is there any responsibility from the administration of saying, hey, IRS, we don't treat groups differently based on politics [instead of waiting] for the report after the election to make a comment?

Wait, suddenly it all makes sense to me. Jon Karl is part of Barack Obama's conspiracy to make Republicans look like dolts. First, he uses nonexistent email quotes to convince Republicans that a nonexistent Benghazi scandal is actually the biggest thing ever, only to have the air popped out of that balloon. Now he's trying to convince Republicans that the IRS scandal was already public knowledge in 2012, which totally explains why neither he nor ABC ever reported on it and why it was so easy for Obama to cover it up.

Now that I've figured out that Jon Karl is actually an Obama stooge, the one thing that's perfectly clear is that Karl is doing all this to distract attention from the real scandal: President Obama was actually born in Benghazi, and The State Department sent the CIA there to cover the tracks of the ATF agents who had erased evidence of Obama's real birth certificate.

Susan B. Anthony List's forced-birthers will fund fellow extremist Cuccinelli for Virginia governor

rss@dailykos.com (Meteor Blades) — Tue, 21 May 2013 19:11:38 UTC

Extremists will plug hard for Virginia's premier extremist.

The anti-abortion organization Susan B. Anthony List plans to use Virginia's statewide elections this year as a test-run for the nationwide congressional mid-terms in 2014. Months ago the organization pledged $1.5 million to the campaign of Republican Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli II in his contest for governor against Democrat Terry McAuliffe. But now, writes Ben Pershing, the organization is taking it one step further.

The SBA List says its “budget is comprehensive” and will include TV, radio and online ads, live phone banks and direct mail, among other elements, to develop an effective message that can be deployed to other states next year. In Virginia, the SBA List plan reads, “a longtime red state is shading purple, with liberal partisans claiming a shift in their direction.” [...]
But Ilyse Hogue, president of NARAL Pro-Choice America, said the SBA List “represent[s] extreme politics out of step with the consensus of Americans who believe that women and families know what’s best for them.

SBA President Marjorie Dannenfelser said in February: "Ken Cuccinelli's record of fighting exploitation of the most vulnerable is not just a position that he takes, it is clearly an extension of who he is."

Exactly.

Cuccinelli epitomizes the extremism that has intensified across states coast to coast in the past few years. He's a climate-change denier, favors anti-gay discrimination and backed Arizona’s draconian immigration law. So his extremism isn't just about abortion. But that plays a big role. Which is obviously why the SBA List is on board trying out its strategy for 2014 and, presumably, for the years beyond. Curtailing women's reproductive choice has made great strides at the state level, with forced-birther groups lobbying successfully to get a record number of new laws enacted in 2011 and 2012.

Cuccinelli is more than a mere ally in Virginia's anti-abortion efforts. As Katie J.M. Baker at Jezebel writes:

That's why he's the first attorney general in the country to file a lawsuit against the Affordable Care Act, supports letting employers decide whether a woman has access to affordable birth control, introduced an amendment to defund Planned Parenthood in Virginia, is opposed to safe and legal abortion even in cases of rape or incest, supported targeted regulations of abortion providers (TRAP) designed as a backdoor ban to eliminate access to safe and legal abortion in Virginia, and is a leading advocate for the "personhood" movement. Phew—a lady gets carpal tunnel syndrome just writing down all the anti-women endeavors he's backed, and that's not even a full list.

Cuccinelli's extremism may turn out to be a liability come election day. And although a victory by his Democratic foe would be far from a progressive prize, it would at least move Virginia away from naked right-wing attacks on reason and likely reduce the number of casualties from the relentless undermining of women's reproductive rights.

NRA goes to war against Dems in Colorado, we go to war against NRA

rss@dailykos.com (kos) — Tue, 21 May 2013 20:17:02 UTC

Wayne LaPierre's NRA trying to oust Democrats in Colorado.

Hosting two of the biggest gun massacres in recent years, Colorado decided to get serious about gun safety and passed several strong control measures last March.

Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper signed three gun control measures into law on Wednesday.
Hickenlooper signed the bills restricting the size of gun magazines, expanding background checks for firearms buyers and adding a fee for background checks for gun transfers. The bills become effective July 1.

The gun lobby vociferously opposed these measures, and they're now angling for revenge—recall efforts against several key legislative Democrats.

Three senators and one representative are targets by different groups across the state, but those organizing the recalls have an uphill battle. Under Colorado law, each recall petition needs to have 25 percent of all the votes cast in the previous election for the targeted lawmaker.
Senate President John Morse, who is term limited, is being challenged by two different groups, "I am surprised," he said by phone Sunday. "It's not really an affective, appropriate way to deal with political issues."

I actually have no problem with recalls. I have a problem with the NRA trying to recall legislators. They've historically used their electoral heft to control wavering legislators, making it difficult for them to do the right thing. But that is now changing, with the public increasingly favoring stronger safety measures and big money entering the pro-control side.

I promised that 2014 would be the year we go to war against the NRA. Well, that timeline was accelerated in February when we took out their primary candidates in IL-02. Now we go head-to-head against them in Colorado.

They're targeting state Senate President John Morse because he shepherded this legislation through his chamber. It's up to us to send a similar message: That the days of one-sided NRA politics are over. Wherever they engage, we engage.

Give $3 to John Morse today, to show the NRA that they can't bully legislators into voting against the American people.

As scandalgate fizzles, the village talks overreach

rss@dailykos.com (kos) — Tue, 21 May 2013 17:41:45 UTC

Still popular.

In the wake of CNN's poll showing the GOP have reached historic unpopularity while the president and his party gained popularity, ABC/Washington Post confirms the trends.

The president’s approval rating, at 51 percent positive and 44 percent negative, has remained steady in the face of fresh disclosures about the IRS, the Benghazi attack and the Justice Department’s secret collection of telephone records of Associated Press journalists as part of a leak investigation.

A majority of poll respondents believe the IRS deliberately harassed tea party groups, and 55 percent say the administration is hiding facts about Benghazi (boosted by Republicans at 81 percent, along with 60 percent of independents).

These results are quite interesting—they support what I wrote yesterday, that people just don't care about these "scandals". In other words, the problem isn't that the public doesn't understand these issues. Apparently they do. They've heard the Republican arguments, they've considered them, majorities think the administration was wrong ... and they still don't care.

Why? Probably because none of these supposed scandals affect people directly, while the improving economy does. Perhaps the public is willing to give presidents some leeway as long as they get something in return. During the Bush years, it was a feeling of security. Now, it's a feeling of economic well-being.

But part of it could be the blatant overreach by Republicans. They're taking what Americans clearly see as minor breeches and trying to turn them into a death penalty case. And Beltway conventional wisdom has taken note. Here's Stu Rothenberg a week ago, arguing the "scandals" would hurt Dems in 2014:

Forget background checks and gun control, divisions within the GOP on immigration, and Republican intransigence on negotiating a budget deal with the president. The current triple play of Benghazi, the IRS and now the Justice Department’s seizure of journalists’ phone records has the potential to be a political game changer for 2014.

One week later:

Republicans failed to capitalize on President Bill Clinton’s inappropriate conduct by over-playing their hand and pushing impeachment. Not only did they fail to drive him from office, the GOP ended up losing a handful of House seats in the 1998 midterms instead of adding seats as initially expected.
Republicans allowed themselves to look as if they were primarily interested in scoring political points and overturning the results of the 1996 election, even if it meant paralyzing the government.

That same danger exists once again for the GOP.

And Charlie Cook:

One wonders how long Republicans are going to bark up this tree, perhaps the wrong tree, while they ignore their own party’s problems, which were shown to be profound in the most recent elections. Clearly none of these recent issues has had a real impact on voters yet. Republicans seem to be betting everything on them, just as they did in 1998—about which even Newt Gingrich (who was House speaker that year) commented recently to NPR, “I think we overreached in ’98.”

Let me stress the big takeaway from that ABC poll: The American people generally agree with the GOP's crazy claims that the Obama Administration is engaged in coverups in the IRS and Benghazi "scandals", but they don't care. Screaming louder, which is the GOP's modus operandi, won't exactly change that equation.

Rather, it seems to be rallying people to the president's side.

Midday open thread

rss@dailykos.com (Meteor Blades) — Tue, 21 May 2013 19:00:10 UTC

Today's comic by Matt Bors is IRS destroyers of freedom:
Andrew Sullivan just can't let go of IQ disparity by race:
Yes, “race” is a social construct when we define it as “white”, “black,” “Asian” or, even more ludicrously, “Hispanic.” But why then does the overwhelming data show IQ as varying in statistically significant amounts between these completely arbitrary racially constructed populations?
Tim F. suggests he stop embarrassing himself:

These concepts of ‘race’ are indeed social constructs. Sub-Saharan Africa has more genetic diversity than the rest of the world combined. ‘Hispanics’ can come from a lot of different places. If IQ tracks very well with a social construct and poorly with genetics, the default hypothesis ought to be that the collective IQ disparity is also a social construct. Sticking with a more complicated hypothesis makes you look less like the rational person in the room and more like a retrograde Tory clinging to the racialist baggage of the British Empire.
Utilities vs. distributed power:
The conflict between electric utilities and distributed energy — mainly rooftop solar panels — is heating up. It’s heating up so much that people are writing about electric utility regulation, the most tedious, inscrutable subject this side of corporate tax law. The popular scrutiny is long overdue. So buckle up. We’re getting into it. [...]
This is a pivotal issue, a trial run for many such struggles to come.

There’s a short-term problem and a long-term problem. The former is about how electricity rates are structured, specifically how utilities compensate (or don’t) customers who generate power with rooftop solar PV panels.
Scott Walker holds a yard sale:
We haven't looked in recently on the activities of Scott Walker, the twice-elected goggle-eyed homunculus hired by Koch Industries to manage their midwest subsidiary formerly known as the state of Wisconsin. It seems that he and his pet legislature has decided to put what's left of the state's public patrimony out on card tables in the driveway to see who pulls up the old minivan to haul it away.
Conor Friedersdorf on the chilling effect of seizing the AP phone records:
It is impossible to know how much damage the leak investigation has done. Are there government sources with knowledge of corruption or serious wrongdoing who've decided against speaking out, now that they see DOJ going after the phone records of reporters? What stories that advance the public interest will the Associated Press be unable to break as a consequence of this action? What important reforms won't be made? What issues won't be subject to democratic accountability? What illegal or immoral actions will officials get away with under cover of secrecy, especially given their well documented penchant for over-classifying information?
It didn't take long for official apologists to rescue this thug:
Guatemala’s highest court on Monday threw out the genocide conviction and prison sentence of the former dictator Gen. Efraín Ríos Montt.
The decision by Guatemala’s Constitutional Court was a dramatic legal victory for General Ríos Montt, 86, and a blow to human rights advocates who had called his conviction a sign that Guatemala’s courts would no longer allow impunity for the country’s powerful.
Nutella makers don't like World Nutella Day:
Lawyers for Ferrero, SpA (makers of the Nutella spread) have sent a legal threat to Sara Rosso, who founded and maintains the World Nutella Day site, where they promote Nutella through recipes, tweets, stories, and (obviously) an annual day devoted to the sugary gloop. Rosso has capitulated and will no longer promote their products for them.
Think the IRS Was Bad? Try the Spying on Occupy Activists:
With all the hullabaloo over the IRS’s special scrutiny of Tea Party groups, a far worse case of political meddling and governmental overreach has been going on: The spying on leftwing activists in the Occupy movement.
Thousands of documents obtained by DBA Press and the Center for Media and Democracy show how Homeland Security and local law enforcement were obsessed with the Occupy movement and other activists. They treated Occupy activists as potential terrorists. They infiltrated Occupy meetings. dThey tracked Occupy activists online.
Salt Lake is the city with highest rate of same-sex couples raising kids:
Unexpected as it may sound, a new study finds that the Utah capital and its outskirts have the nation's highest percentage of gay or lesbian couples raising children.
Among couples of the same sex in the Salt Lake City area, more than 1 in 4 are rearing children, the analysis of census data reveals.
Video will feature words of politicians, artists and others against stop-and-frisk laws:
n an effort to speak out against the continued harassment policy of people of color by police officers known in New York City as Stop and Frisk, Elon James White, Editor-in-chief at This Week in Blackness (TWiB!) has produced a new video project called the #10FriskCommandments Remix. Featuring Pittsburgh-based rapper Jasiri X and Florida-based artist and producer Willie Evans Jr., the track was released digitally and an open call for submissions was placed asking people to lend their virtual voices in speaking against Stop And Frisk.
The video features New York Times bestselling author Baratunde Thurston, New York Councilman Juamaane Williams, Daily Show Creator Lizz Winstead, New York State Senator Kevin Parker, and many more, all rapping the personal words of the artists featured on the song speaking of contentious interactions with police officers and personal dealings as people of color.
On today's Kagro in the Morning show, the day's news was dominated by Oklahoma. But Greg Dworkin's not just a pundit rounder-upper, he's an expert in disaster prep, too. Once again, disaster reminds us that teachers are often first responders, and that first responders are unionized, public employees. Also: more wacky gun news, and Utah's gun-toting teachers. Then, an update on the 3D printing issue, a story about "Colorado's deadliest neighborhood," and an investigation into the disciplinary records of Atlanta area school resource officers. Finally, a note from sfbaytransplant seeking clarification in reporting of the "unanimous confirmation" of the new Energy Secretary.

GOP aide on Benghazi theater: 'You’ve got to be on Mars to come up with some of this stuff'

rss@dailykos.com (Jed Lewison) — Tue, 21 May 2013 18:20:08 UTC

New bumper sticker: Democrats are from Earth, Republicans are from Mars

Couldn't have said it better myself:

“We have got to get past that and figure out what are we going to do going forward,” a GOP aide stressed. “Some of the accusations, I mean you wouldn’t believe some of this stuff. It’s just — I mean, you’ve got to be on Mars to come up with some of this stuff.”

Fortunately—at least from a political perspective—whoever said that is just about the only person in the Republican Party who realizes what a cluster** Benghazi has become for their party. Just ask Rep. Jason Chaffetz, who said yesterday that Benghazi might lead to Obama's impeachment—not because he's uncovered anything that Obama did in Benghazi was impeachable, but because Obama hasn't helped the committee find the nonexistent evidence that would justify his impeachment. And yeah, that's an idea from Mars.

Obama could give these striking low-wage workers the raise they need

rss@dailykos.com (Laura Clawson) — Tue, 21 May 2013 14:00:31 UTC

The latest round of low-wage workers to stage a one-day strike don't work for Walmart or McDonald's. They work for the federal government, kind of—for federal contractors in landmark Washington, DC, buildings like Union Station and the Smithsonian museums. A recent report from the think tank Demos found that there are more than 2 million people working for federal contractors at poverty-level wages. Today's strikers are asking President Obama to lift their wages, something he could do with an executive order. Their stories are like those of other low-wage workers, Josh Eidelson demonstrates:

“The truth is, I’m ready. I’m not scared,” janitor Vilma Martinez told The Nation in Spanish last night. “Fear fades away, especially in the face of the unfair treatment we get here.” Martinez, who’s worked at Union Station for the past 19 years, said that the federal contractor ICC Cleaning pays her $8.75 an hour. She said she’s supposed to get regular check-ups for a serious heart condition, but only sees a doctor when she goes back to El Salvador, because she’s uninsured. [...]
Martinez told The Nation that if she could talk to the president, “I would ask him to help us get a decent salary, and respect on the job, and health insurance, so we don’t have to go back to our countries to get treated.” “With the help of god, and the help of my co-workers,” said Martinez, “I’m hopeful that at the end of the day we’ll be triumphant.”

What's different is who's paying them. Our government shouldn't pay poverty wages. Sign our petition telling President Obama to sign the executive order that would give 2,000,000 federal workers a living wage.

10:06 AM PT: According to organizers, the strike has shut down about half the food court at the Ronald Reagan building and the McDonald's at the Air and Space Museum.

Washington police arrest 17 in Occupy Justice foreclosure protests. Actions continue today

rss@dailykos.com (Meteor Blades) — Tue, 21 May 2013 15:01:24 UTC

They knew some of them would be arrested Monday and 17 of them were. They were homeowners from across the nation demonstrating outside the Department of Justice offices in Washington, D.C., against the government's years-long failure to take legal action against banks. Some of the protesters were tazed. A coalition made of Occupy Wall Street, Occupy Homes, the Home Defenders League and the Campaign for a Fair Settlement, among others, the crux of demonstrators' message was that shielding the banks that are too big to fail is cowardly and unjust:

Five years after Wall Street crashed the economy, not one banker has been prosecuted for the reckless and fraudulent practices that cost millions of Americans their jobs, threw our cities and schools into crisis, and left families and communities ravaged by a foreclosure crisis and epidemic of underwater mortgages.

Nobody from DOJ came outside to talk with the protesters. Read below the fold for more on what sparked the protests:

Medicare and Medicaid spending projection cut by $900 billion

rss@dailykos.com (Joan McCarter) — Mon, 20 May 2013 22:33:21 UTC

Last week's CBO report popped a big hole in the Austerians' entitlement cuts balloon. The CBO cut its deficit projection for the next decade by $200 billion, with this year's deficit shrinking to $642 billion, the smallest shortfall since 2008. A relatively huge chunk of that decrease—$900 billion—is in Medicare and Medicaid spending, as CBPP illustrates with this chart.

The bottom line: Medicare and Medicaid are not in crisis. They don't demand immediate fixes. No more than they have since at least 1990 when projections of Medicare's looming insolvency have been wrong every single year.

Benefit cuts to these programs just don't need to happen, not as part of a grand bargain, not as part of a debt ceiling deal, not as a part of any policy-making.

Coburn already demanding offsets for tornado relief

rss@dailykos.com (Joan McCarter) — Tue, 21 May 2013 15:12:02 UTC

Sen. Tom Coburn, ghoul

The dust in Moore, Oklahoma had barely settled, the search and rescue operations still active, on Monday evening when Sen. Tom Coburn declared that his own state will only get aid if money is taken from someone else.

CQ Roll Call reporter Jennifer Scholtes wrote for CQ.com Monday evening that Coburn said he would “absolutely” demand offsets for any federal aid that Congress provides.
Coburn added, Scholtes wrote, that it is too early to guess at a damage toll but that he knows for certain he will fight to make sure disaster funding that the federal government contributes is paid for. It’s a position he has taken repeatedly during his career when Congress debates emergency funding for disaster aid.

At least he's consistent. He was one of 36 senators to vote against Sandy relief, and both he and his Oklahoma colleague, Jim Inhofe, supported an amendment that would have slashed the $60 billion Sandy relief to just $23 billion. Coburn said Sandy relief was "wasteful spending," and his buddy Inhofe called it a "slush fund." He's changing his tune on disaster relief, though, now that it's his state.

Sen. Inhofe to @JansingCo: his labeling of Hurricane Sandy bill as a "slush fund" is "totally different" than Okla tornado relief.
— @kasie via Twitter for iPhone

Inhofe apparently won't go along with Coburn on this one, and he's not the only one. The sheer scope of the destruction Monday appears to have shaken some sense into House Republicans. Speaker John Boehner told reporters: "We’ll work with the administration to make sure they have the resources they need." Appropriations Chair Hal Rogers added:

Approps Chair Rogers on OK disaster $: "don't think disasters of this type should be offset. We have an obilgation to help these people"
— @deirdrewalshcnn via TweetDeck

On this one, Coburn might be on his own, and might not be able to get 39 other Republicans on his side to block a disaster relief bill in the Senate. It's too early to know what the need is going to be in Oklahoma, but the pricetag for tornado-ravaged Joplin, Missouri two years ago was more than $200 million.

Rand Paul outraged, but not entirely sure why

rss@dailykos.com (Hunter) — Mon, 20 May 2013 22:25:35 UTC

I know this much about what I'm talking about.

The Republican Party needs to pour themselves a stiff drink and contemplate how it came to be that Rand Paul, unaccomplished scion of a man the old party hands tried their level best to ignore, became one of the big party names and a leader of whatever-the-hell-passes-for-a-movement-these-days.

CNN:

Sen. Rand Paul claimed Sunday there was a "written policy" floating around the agency that said IRS officials were "targeting people who were opposed to the president."
"And when that comes forward, we need to know who wrote the policy and who approved the policy," the Republican senator from Kentucky said on CNN's "State of the Union."

Except that he apparently pulled this particular memo from deep inside his own colon, because he doesn't actually know if the "written policy" he's talking about really even exists:

Pressed for more precise details about the memo he was referring to, Paul said he hasn't seen such a policy statement but has heard about it.
"Well, we keep hearing the reports and we have several specifically worded items saying who was being targeted. In fact, one of the bullet points says those who are critical of the president. So I don't know if that comes from a policy, but that's what's being reported in the press and reported orally," he told CNN's chief political correspondent Candy Crowley. "I haven't seen a policy statement, but I think we need to see that."

Unless Paul is privy to a Magic Memo that the rest of us haven't seen (and he says he himself hasn't seen, thus complicating things further), he seems to be misrepresenting things at best: What bullet point we do know of was to focus on nonprofit applications critical of the government, not the president—and again, the apparent goal was to filter out primarily political groups in an application process that was supposed to specifically disqualify, by law, political groups. The "scandal" part of the "scandal" would be that certain groups were targeted by name, e.g. "Tea Party", which would focus on one certain narrow part of the political spectrum. That apparently political groups were targeted for extra scrutiny when seeking nonprofit status, however, is exactly what was supposed to happen—or what was supposed to happen if we still had any pretense that our election law wasn't caught somewhere between ineptitude and outright crookedness.

Part of the problem Republicans have in their efforts to tar the administration with various scandals is that they're such shameless fabricators they can't even hold together their own narratives. By the time they've gone through their various iterations of the old "telephone" game, nobody can quite figure out what they're going on about, much less how much of it is real and how much of it is people like Darrell Issa and Rand Paul and Peggy Noonan just making things up.

Lindsey Graham: DOJ snooping on Fox in leak investigation may boost GOP support for media shield law

rss@dailykos.com (Jed Lewison) — Tue, 21 May 2013 14:30:18 UTC

Here's proof that not all flip-flopping is bad: Sen. Lindsey Graham, who opposed a media shield law in 2008, now says we need one—and says that his fellow Republicans change their mind too, now that Fox is a target:

Sen. Lindsey Graham is hopeful revelations that the government spied on Fox News reporter James Rosen will finally draw Republicans into the fight with the Obama administration over it’s targeting of journalists as part of the White House’s war against leaks, the South Carolina Republican told BuzzFeed Monday.
The Department of Justice has targeted at least two news organizations — Fox and the Associated Press — as part of Obama’s crackdown on executive branch leaks. Although Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and some Democrats have expressed outrage so far, Senate Republicans have been timid in their response.

“Maybe now that Fox is involved, more [Republicans] will pay attention, but it didn’t make a difference to me,” Graham said.

Ironically, President Obama was a co-sponsor of the media shield law that Graham opposed. Despite the fact that his Justice Department has now snooped on both the AP and Fox, he still supports such a law, though in 2009, he opposed an effort to revive the bill that he'd cosponsored one year earlier. That puts him in a position of saying that there needs to be a media shield law to protect reporters from his administration, which seems sort of ridiculous—but also seems accurate.

Of course, with both Graham and Obama calling for a media shield law, you know there has to be a catch—and there is. Both men support a national security exception. Depending how broadly that exception is written, it could easily render a media shield law moot in virtually every case where it might be applicable.

Even if the law isn't worthless, there's still the question of whether it can get enough Republican support to pass. Despite Graham's optimism, there's scant evidence that Republicans are ready to make the leap. For example:

“As a former newspaper man, I’m totally outraged,” said Kansas Sen. Pat Roberts of the DOJ’s affidavit against Rosen. “We don’t need a shield law, the 1st amendment is the shield law.”

Actually, there does need to be a law. A judge approved the warrant on Rosen; the AP phone records subpoena was legal. You can say that the administration shouldn't have exercised its power, but the fact is that it already has. Unless there's a way to retroactively challenge what happened in court (and there might be—I'm not a lawyer), the options are to change the law or just hope that the executive branch restrains itself.

The only other Republican senator to release a statement was Marco Rubio, but his statement completely sidestepped the issue of a media shield and instead suggested that the administration was engaged in a witch hunt against political enemies. The facts, though, don't bear that out. Fox may be critical of Obama, but the Fox and AP leak investigations were actually demanded by Republicans as well as the administration.

Of all the so-called "scandals," this is the one case where it's clear there's something that needs to be fixed. Democrats, Republicans, and the White House need to decide whether they want to continue using fear to justify eroding civil liberties or whether it's time to start putting freedom first again.

IRS destroyers of freedom

rss@dailykos.com (Matt Bors) — Tue, 21 May 2013 13:50:08 UTC

click to enlarge for extra scrutiny

Search and rescue continues after Oklahoma tornado amid conflicting fatality reports

rss@dailykos.com (Laura Clawson) — Tue, 21 May 2013 13:30:09 UTC

The search for survivors of Monday's massive tornado continues in Oklahoma, with crews searching destroyed buildings and vehicles:

The official death toll stood at 51 Tuesday morning, but it was sure to rise. A coroner's office official said some 40 bodies have yet to be processed by medical examiners—roughly half of them children. More bodies could be hidden under the vast debris field, authorities warned.
Hundreds of people were injured.

While most major news sources continue to report 51 dead, there are conflicting reports, however. According to Reuters:

Officials in Oklahoma City said on Tuesday that 24 bodies were recovered after a devastating tornado tore through Moore, Okla., a sharp decline from the 51 deaths they previously reported.
"We have got good news. The number right now is 24," said Amy Elliott, chief administrative officer at the Oklahoma City Medical Examiner's Office. The prior figure of 51 dead may have included some double-reported casualties, Elliott said.

Here's hoping.

President Obama has declared a major disaster; he will speak about Oklahoma at 10 am Eastern.

6:35 AM PT: The AP follows Reuters:

BREAKING: Medical examiner's office revises death toll from Oklahoma tornado to at least 24.
— @AP via SocialFlow

Daily Kos Elections Morning Digest: Meet the Virginia GOP's new LG nominee, E.W. Jackson

rss@dailykos.com (David Nir) — Tue, 21 May 2013 12:00:13 UTC

Want the scoop on hot races around the country? Get the digest emailed to you each weekday morning. Sign up here.

Leading Off:

• VA-LG, VA-AG: Oh yeah. This one's gonna be fun. Over the weekend, Virginia Republicans nominated hyperconservative Christian minister E.W. Jackson as their candidate for lieutenant governor, in a move almost perfectly designed to alienate moderate voters who might otherwise cast ballots for the GOP. (Jackson led in every round of voting and won on the fourth ballot at the party's convention.) Let's just say that Jackson loves hateful rhetoric and has never, ever thought to restrain himself when speaking publicly. Right Wing Watch has been all over it. Here's a small sample:

• Referred to gays and lesbians as "perverted," "degenerate," "spiritually darkened" and "frankly very sick people psychologically, mentally and emotionally."
• Said regarding homosexuality: "it poisons culture, it destroys families, it destroys societies; it brings the judgment of God unlike very few things that we can think of."

• Argued that gays seek to "sexualize [children] at the earliest possible age" and use "totalitarian" tactics.

• Argued that "liberalism and their ideas have done more to kill black folks whom they claim so much to love than the Ku Klux Klan, lynching and slavery and Jim Crow ever did, now that's a fact."

• Maintained that Obama "seems to have a lot of sympathy for even radical Islam" and argued that Obama "certainly does have a lot of affection and favor for Islam, that seems to be his priority…Christianity, I don't really think about that with him, I really don't, that's a joke."

• Compared Democratic leaders to "slave masters" who make sure that black people who disagree with them are "punished."

In fact, RWW has an entire "E.W. Jackson" tag that's filled with pages and pages of instant oppo material dating back several years. But the best may be this absolutely gonzo web video in which Jackson, handed an axe painted to resemble the American flag, slices open a watermelon adorned with the words "Federal Budget," Gallagher-style. It was something Jackson put together last year, when he finished in fourth place in Virginia's GOP Senate primary, with just 5 percent of the vote. Basically, Republicans tapped a crazy Some Dude with a penchant for incendiary lunacy as the no. 2 on their statewide ticket. Freakin' awesome.

Meanwhile, in the attorney general's contest, state Sen. Mark Obenshain narrowly defeated state Delegate Robert Bell, after gubernatorial nominee Ken Cuccinelli (who was unopposed) endorsed Obenshain. Obenshain, by the way, once introduced a bill that would have required women who miscarry "without medical attendance" to report the event to the police, or potentially face a year in prison. Obenshain later withdrew the legislation, and on Monday claimed it was never his intent to burden women who experience miscarriages in this way.

And because they weren't through giving gifts to the Democrats, Republican delegates decided they'd had so much fun that they'd hold another convention next year! That means freshman Sen. Mark Warner's opponent will get selected by the same group of people who just graced us with the likes of Cuccinelli, Jackson, and Obenshain. As Ice Cube might say, it was a good day.

Daily Kos Radio is LIVE at 9am ET!

rss@dailykos.com (David Waldman) — Tue, 21 May 2013 12:30:09 UTC

Daily Kos Radio's Kagro in the Morning show podcasts are now available through iTunes.

Is it Memorial Day weekend yet?

Once again we find ourselves faced with a tough week to get through, with Oklahomans recovering from a monumental "natural" disaster.

We'll do our best to get through it, and keep an eye on everything else in the world, too if possible.

We're LIVE at 9 a.m. ET with Kagro in the Morning, thanks to NetrootsRadio.com.

Listen LIVE here:The Daily Kos Radio Player

Can't see the Flash player? Click here to download the stream directly.

Or if you prefer, why not download the Stitcher app on your favorite mobile device, and search for the Netroots Radio live stream? And hey, when you do, be sure to sign up with the promo code DAILYKOS, and earn Daily Kos Radio $1 in the Stitcher affiliate program!

Please do remember to "favorite" us while you're at Stitcher. We're bouncing up and down in the rankings these days, and the more of you who help us, the more listeners out there who'll find us on the Stitcher network.

Miss the last show? You can catch it here:

Need more info on how to listen? Find it below the fold.

Cheers and Jeers: Tuesday

rss@dailykos.com (Bill in Portland Maine) — Tue, 21 May 2013 12:18:10 UTC

Click for Red Cross Statement on the Moore tornado
People who wish to make a donation to support the Red Cross response can visit redcross.org, dial 1-800-REDCROSS or text REDCROSS to 90999 to make a $10 donation.

From the GREAT STATE OF MAINE…

In Like A Bully, Out Like A Baby

What kind of classless jerk shoves a hair-on-fire letter in front of a state budget committee at 5 O'clock on a Friday afternoon, prompting the committee to hold an emergency meeting on a Sunday to fix a problem that turns out to have not been much of a problem at all?

Maine state Sen. Dawn Hill (D)
took on our governor's big
mouth Sunday---and won.

If you guessed Maine Tea Party Republican Governor Paul LePage, give yourself a jar of delicious Maine blueberry jam. Yes, the big jerk acted like a big jerk again. But then he got a taste of his own medicine, threw a tantrum, and gave our weary state a good laugh at his expense.

The emergency meeting itself was in response to the governor's warning about funding for a program here called MaineCare. In reality, LePage was trying to force the legislature to pass a budget on his timetable (i.e. NOW!) by crying wolf. But during the meeting, LePage's own finance commissioner shrugged off the problem, calling its solution "not rocket science, nor is it impossible." As they were wrapping things up after doing some routine bipartisan exploratory surgery on MaineCare, a hulking red-faced brute in the room grabbed an open microphone to demand time to bully and badger them in person. It was Governor LePage.

That's when the committee chairwoman, Senator Dawn Hill, did something remarkable: she looked the Governor straight in the eye and told him to go to one of Maine's lovely beaches and pound sand:

When Hill told him that she didn’t want to inject politics into the meeting, he said, “Are you saying that the governor of the state of Maine is not welcome to address the Appropriations Committee?”
“Governor, quite frankly I’m not saying that, but we hadn’t expected you, and what we had to accomplish today was accomplished,” said Hill, adding that LePage was welcome to speak with anyone on the committee at another time. “It’s best to end it on a high note, and I think that’s where we were.”

During his outburst (which, from the sound of it, embarrassed the Republicans on the committee as much as it amused the Democrats), LePage blurted out, "There's no politics! I'm a pragmatic person! I don’t play politics!" This from the guy who chose as one of his first acts as governor ripping down a mural commemorating the labor movement from a government building and stashing it in an undisclosed location for political reasons.

Now folks are speculating about how LePage will retaliate for Sunday's public shaming. Through the grapevine I'm hearing chatter about tying certain shoelaces together and leaving bags of flaming poo on certain doorsteps. To be continued, I'm sure……………

Cheers and Jeers starts below the fold... [Swoosh!!] RIGHTNOW! [Gong!!]

Abbreviated pundit roundup: Tornado tragedy, GOP overreach and more

rss@dailykos.com (Georgia Logothetis) — Tue, 21 May 2013 11:39:43 UTC

We begin with an editorial from The Oklahoman on yesterday's deadly tornado, a tornado that has claimed the lives of at least 91 people, including some 20 schoolchildren. It's a powerful, poignant take on the tragedy:

How awesome and furious was this fresh show of celestial fury, in a different century yet seemingly in the same place. That more lives weren't lost on that Monday and this one is a tribute to the preparedness that Oklahomans have built into their thinking.
Now come the sad stories, the heartrending deaths of young and old, the miracles and the survivals, as the black funnel wraps itself in grief. Now come the recovery, the selfless deeds, the sacrificial giving and the comforting words. This is a time when patience is the supreme virtue and thoughtfulness second to none. Homes will be rebuilt and families brought back together, but it will take years to restore normalcy. Talk of closure and healing is premature.

The hurts are impaled on our consciousness. The wrath of weather on full display reminds us that there are forces that do not answer to man. We are at their mercy and all we can do is ask for mercy.

AP Photographer Sue Ogrocki describes the scene at the school destroyed by the tornado:

Crews lifted one boy from under the wall and were about to pass him along the human chain, but his dad was there. As the boy called out for him, they were reunited.
In the 30 minutes I was outside the destroyed school, I photographed about a dozen children pulled from under the rubble.

I focused my lens each one of them. Some looked dazed. Some cried. Others seemed terrified.

But they were alive.

I know students are among those who died in the tornado, but for a moment, there was hope in the devastation.

Meanwhile, Senator Tom Coburn is getting absolutely slammed on his Facebook page for claiming that disaster relief should be offset with budget cuts. John Aravosis over at AMERICABlog adds his take:

Yes, Coburn is taking his own constituents hostage as budget-cutting human shields.[...] I suppose one could try to argue that Coburn’s cold-hearted ideological consistency in the face of 24 dead children is refreshing. But I’d call it heartless. And it’s systematic of the larger problem the Republican party is having at the national level. They just don’t like people. And it’s starting to show.

More on the day's top stories below the fold.

Open thread for night owls: OFA gets some pushback over Keystone XL

rss@dailykos.com (Meteor Blades) — Tue, 21 May 2013 03:30:11 UTC

Jon Queally reports Organizing For Action, say critics, cannot address climate change and remain silent on tar sands pipeline:

Organizing for Action, the so-called "grassroots arm" of the Obama administration, was designed to harness the youthful and hopeful energy of its members, and bring the political energy generated during the previous presidential campaigns to help support the current White House agenda.

In the last week, however, the group itself has become a target for progressive activists who are fed up with the president's refusal to take a firm position against tar sands development in Canada and the growing threat of climate change.

Specifically, OFA has drawn ire for refusing to take a stance against the Keystone XL pipeline which remains under review by Obama's State Department. Even as its members reportedly want Obama to reject the project, OFA has followed the White House's lead by refusing to discuss the matter until the State Dept. review is complete.

“If you’re going to be a grass roots, you have to actually listen to the grass roots,” said Daniel Kessler, spokesman for 350.org, in an interview with Politico on Monday.

“I think they’re going to have to respond to calls to address these issues,” he added. “You cannot expect to have the passion of the people if you’re not satisfying what their demands are.”

Politico's reporting explores how groups like Bold Nebraska and CREDO Action have voiced regret that OFA refuses to engage in an issue that so many have clearly been galvanized by:

They’re pointing to talking points OFA has handed out to supporters and people who attend its events in which the group says that “if people believe that Keystone XL is the primary fight to be engaged in, there are many groups who have taken a position, and we are happy to make suggestions about who volunteers might work with on that or other issues.”
Jane Kleeb of Bold Nebraska said OFA can’t avoid Keystone forever. […]

Last week, Buzzfeed obtained a "climate change fact sheet" put out by OFA to its regional leaders and members. In part, the circulated talking points come with a warning: “Volunteers from Credo Action or other organizations may attend your planning session and want to demand that we work on the Keystone XL pipeline."

As Buzzfeed noted, CREDO Mobile had called on its 3 million members to attend OFA planning sessions “to make sure stopping Keystone XL is part of the conversation.” In that story, Buzzfeed also interviewed 350.org's Kessler who said the memo talking points showed a “real anxiety within OFA — and maybe at the White House — that their supporters want a rejection and that in some way they need to be held in check.” […]
Ryan Grim and Lucia Graves report:

Climate activists were initially heartened by OFA's decision to tackle their issue, which has remained in the background in Washington since Congress failed to pass cap-and-trade legislation in 2009. But the organization's failures to address Keystone, an issue that's been at the core of the environmental advocacy movement for years now, signals an identity crisis for OFA as it seeks to emphasize its grassroots credentials.
"OFA can't keep ignoring the pipeline in the room," said Jamie Henn, a spokesman for the climate advocacy group 350.org. "Environmentalists, young people, and progressives have made it very clear that Keystone XL is their top climate priority for the president, because it's a decision that he gets to make all by himself. OFA working on climate without advocating against Keystone XL would be like the president campaigning for LGBT rights without taking a position on gay marriage."

Blast from the Past. At Daily Kos on this date in 2004—Ahmed Chalabi Gets a Night-time Visit:

If it were not for all awfulness in the news coming out of Iraq, it would be almost impossible to suppress some glee at the fork-tongued Ahmed Chalabi’s current predicament. With a host of enemies in his homeland, and Bush allegedly telling King Abdullah he could “piss” on him, Chalabi now has to contend with armed searches of his house in the dead of the night.

As a result of the raid, Chalabi says he has cut off relations with the U.S.-guided Coalition Provisional Aurhority. "I am America's best friend in Iraq;” Chalabi said, and “if the CPA finds it necessary to direct an armed attack against my home, you can see the state of relations between the CPA and the Iraqi people."

Uh-huh. And I have a bridge over the Euphrates I’d like to sell you.

Tweet of the Day:

I love sleeping. It's like death without the commitment.
— @GrumpyAssCat via HootSuite

On today's Kagro in the Morning show, Greg Dworkin confirmed that the political world froze in place in the middle of last week, so we looked elsewhere for news not involving unfounded comparisons to Watergate. After a brief detour into the Umbrellacaust, we reviewed more context on the IRS, from Garance Franke-Ruta's (and yes, I know I mispronounced archetype!), David Cay Johnston, and Stephanie Mencimer. Off on a tangent, Keenan Steiner's unexpected story of a retired detective who somehow became the biggest campaign donor in the US. Back to guns, the tragic story at Hofstra U., and a fascinating look at the concealed carrying teachers of Utah.

High Impact Posts. Top Comments.

Economics Daily Digest: Why the internet moves at the speed of indifference

rss@dailykos.com (Roosevelt Institute) — Mon, 20 May 2013 13:56:41 UTC

By Tim Price, originally published on Next New Deal

Click here to receive the Daily Digest via e-mail.

Telecom's Big Players Hold Back the Future (NYT)

David Carr profiles Roosevelt Institute Fellow Susan Crawford and explores her crusade against the telecom monopolies that offer high fees instead of high speeds. Every time you wait for a video to buffer, you're experiencing the magic of the market at work.

Sheila Bair: Dodd-Frank really did end taxpayer bailouts (WaPo)

Roosevelt Institute Fellow Mike Konczal talks to the former director of the FDIC about why skeptics are wrong to doubt the agency's commitment to winding down failed banks and why it's important to raise leverage requirements so it doesn't have to prove it.

Obama Urged to Make Economy a Bigger, Bolder Topic (AP)

Jim Kuhnhenn reports that with the CBO projecting a lower deficit and the GOP scrounging for scandals in the couch cushions, Obama advisers and critics are asking the president to change the conversation by laying out a real second-term economic agenda.

The 1 Percent Are Only Half the Problem (NYT)

Timothy Noah argues that while runaway wealth at the top contributes to rising inequality in the U.S., there's also the growing educational divide and resulting skills-based gap. But if the left and right discuss both problems, they risk an agreement breaking out.

Boom or Bubble? (New Yorker)

James Surowiecki has good news (1) and bad news (2) for analysts who think stock prices are overinflated because GDP isn't keeping up with corporate profits: (1) corporate profits are only barely connected to the real American economy these days, and (2) see (1).

Global Capital and the Nation State (Robert Reich)

Reich notes that big corporations are hiding their money from tax collectors while extorting sweetheart deals from national and local governments, but right-wing nationalist parties are convincing more and more voters that cooperation is the new exploitation.

Food Stamps Get Licked by Cuts (Prospect)

Monica Potts writes that the House and Senate farm bills would make food stamp funding less generous and kick millions off the rolls even as more Americans are going hungry. In other words, let them eat cake, just as long as they're paying for it out of pocket.

This Week in Poverty: Fighting Poverty Through Wall Street Accountability (The Nation)

Organizer and activist Stephen Lerner tells Greg Kaufmann that one of the challenges in fighting poverty is that there are so many different root causes, but one advantage of focusing on Wall Street is that behind most of these big problems there's a big bank.

Mad Men: The Crash (6.8)

rss@dailykos.com (Adam B) — Tue, 21 May 2013 00:39:44 UTC

Don Draper meets a new friend. (Courtesy AMCtv)

Friends, I've seen some messed-up stuff on television in the past week: a Scandal finale with a jaw-dropper of a last line; leeches employed on Game of Thrones in surprising ways; Prince reinterpreting "Let's Go Crazy" as a Hendrix-era jam; a stunner of a Phillies comeback.

All of that, I can explain. Last night's Mad Men, not so much. Whether this all-drug Mad Men represented a giant Vietnam metaphor or a post-RFK fugue, or something else, it didn't quite work for me. Zoller Seitz:

More so than any Mad Men episode I can recall, it doesn’t quite feel like a Mad Men episode, but a bunch of half-formed ideas for a Mad Men episode; I bet if you totaled them up you’d have six-hundred-and-sixty-six ideas, pace Stan, inadvertently name-checking the number of the Beast. Some of the ideas are great, others stunningly bad; still others don’t quite feel like ideas, even if you squint. It feels like the TV-drama version of one of those papers that every halfway-smart student writes when they’re exhausted and can’t come up with an idea, and decides to write about their inability to come up with an idea instead, and hope they’ll be so clever that they’ll get an A anyway. That might be the whole point of this episode, but is it a point worth spending an episode to make? “If this strategy is successful, it’s way bigger than a car! It’s everything!” Don barks, playing the role of Brilliant Idea Man while Peggy stares at him blankly, as tired of his b.s. as we are.

The episode constituted a weird cheat: by writing out Joan and Pete from the episode for no real reason, the show eliminated the two characters who, had they been there, never would have put up with this nonsense. Frankly, I've had enough with the flashbacks to Li'l Dick Whitman and the whorehouse, and enough with Mad Men's racial problem:

Remember when Roger and Joan got mugged and the mugger was black? Or when Dawn Chambers helped someone clock out early? Or Carla the maid gets fired by Betty, meaning that Don had to take Megan on vacation as a nanny? Or “the biggest, blackest prostitute you’ve ever seen” from two weeks ago?... Grandma Ida bugged the holy hell out of me not simply because she’s a black criminal—although a rich-looking white woman burglar would have been way creepier. It bugs me because her appearance underscores that the portrait of this world is incomplete. So why make her black at all? Why tease us with skin color, as if this great simmering issue will finally be addressed, only to retreat again? Why is this great and lingering theme in American culture not addressed as fully as the show addresses, say, capitalism, or gender?

I appreciated the audacity of this episode. I'd rather that shows experiment, dare, and fail than stick within a formulaic rut. But if the question is whether I enjoyed this episode, or feel confident about where this is going? Nope, sorry, this did not work for me—though I did appreciate Ken Cosgrove's dancing.

Oklahoma tornado: Late updates

rss@dailykos.com (Hunter) — Tue, 21 May 2013 02:00:18 UTC

via @OkCountySheriff

A massive and devastating tornado hit Moore, Oklahoma today, sweeping through a suburban area of schools, shopping centers, and thousands of homes south of Oklahoma City. The tornado was either a powerful EF-4 or EF-5, with wind speeds of 200mph or more. Reporters tracking the storm describe it as at least a mile wide and on the ground for at least 11 miles; the "debris ball" of the tornado was at points over two miles wide. Rescue efforts are ongoing. Late updates:

Several schools were in the direct path of the tornado; at least two, Briarwood and Plaza Towers Elementary, suffered catastrophic damage. Rescue efforts tonight are focused on Plaza Towers, which was completely destroyed. At least seven children are confirmed dead; local stations are reporting that more fatalities are expected in the collapsed building, and may "more than two dozen". A late KFOR report, however, suggests that some of the missing students may have been found safe at another location.
The state medical examiner's office has at this point confirmed 51 deaths. The number, however, is expected to rise. AP reports at least 120 patients have been treated in local hospitals, 70 of them children.
Moore Medical Center took a direct hit, but all staff and doctors have been accounted for. All students at Briarwood Elementary are now reported to be accounted for, though with some injuries.
Southeastern Oklahoma City residents are asked to stop using water, as the water treatment plant was damaged in the tornado and is now offline.
The National Guard has been mobilized. President Obama spoke with Gov. Mary Fallin today, pledging "all available assistance."
Moore, OK was the site of a horrific tornado in May, 1999, a storm that killed more than forty and damaged thousands of homes. This tornado took a very similar track through much of the town, but in both fatalities and damage, today's events have eclipsed even that storm.
Aerial footage of the storm (time lapse.) Another view. Before and after pictures of one neighborhood.
The Red Cross has opened a shelter and reunification site at St. Andrews Church, SW 199 & S. May. You can donate to Red Cross relief efforts here.

Destroyed homes in Moore, Oklahoma

Report: Hillary Clinton was pushing the administration to close Gitmo

rss@dailykos.com (Laurence Lewis) — Mon, 20 May 2013 17:17:47 UTC

Hillary Clinton

If she decides to run for president in 2016, Hillary Clinton is going to have to create some separation on some issues from the policies of both her husband and her former boss, and we will see that process unfold in the coming years. Hopefully for the better. Hopefully on principle. This could be an example.

A recent article on President Obama's attempts to close Guantánamo Bay describes the president as wanting to close the prison, and frustrated at his inability thus far to work the politics of doing so. And then there's this:

One recent plea, two sources told Newsweek, came from Hillary Clinton, who, just before she left office in January 2013, sent a two-page confidential memo to Obama about Guantánamo. Clinton had, during her years in the administration, occasionally jumped into the fray to push her colleagues to do more on the issue. One of those occasions was at a White House meeting of Obama’s national-security principals in August 2010. “We are throwing the president’s commitment to close Guantánamo into the trash bin,” she chastised White House aides, according to three participants in the meeting. “We are doing him a disservice by not working harder on this.”
But at the end of the day, Clinton had little leverage to get the White House to act. Now, in one of her last moves as secretary of State, she was making a final effort to prod her boss to do more. Her memo was replete with practical suggestions for moving ahead on Gitmo. Chief among them: Obama needed to appoint a high-level official to be in charge of the effort, someone who had clout and proximity to the Oval Office. Further, Clinton argued that Obama could start transferring the 86 detainees who’d already been cleared for release. (Congress has imposed onerous restrictions on the administration’s ability to transfer Gitmo detainees—including a stipulation that the secretary of Defense certify that detainees sent to other countries would not engage in acts of terrorism. In her memo, Clinton pointed out that the administration could use “national-security waivers” to circumvent the restriction.)

The Clinton missive perturbed White House aides, who viewed it as an attempt to put them on the spot, according to a senior administration official. It’s unclear how Obama himself reacted to the memo; there’s no evidence that it spurred him to action. (The White House declined to comment for this story.) But whether or not the memo played a role in changing the president’s thinking, the mere fact that Clinton felt the need to write it was noteworthy, because it suggested the degree to which Guantánamo, four years into the Obama presidency, remained an irritant for her—and for many other high-level administration officials as well.

But emptywheel notes:

I thought to myself as I read this, “but Clinton’s departure is precisely when the Administration moved backwards on this front, by reassigning Daniel Fried, who had been in charge of resettling detainees.” Fried’s reassignment was reported January 29. That was technically while Hillary was still at State — Kerry took over on February 1.
Still, whoever transferred Fried, she must have written that memo (which pissed off Obama’s minders) at almost precisely the moment State eliminated the person most focused on working towards Gitmo closure.

Which causes emptywheel to wonder about the timing: With Clinton pushing and providing strategies, why reassign the person most motivated and best positioned to carry her ideas through? In public statements, the president continues to say the right thing:

"I've asked my team to review everything that's currently being done in Guantanamo, everything that we can do administratively, and I'm going to re-engage with Congress to try to make the case that this is not something that's in the best interests of the American people."
He said the facility is expensive, inefficient, "a recruitment tool for terrorists" and hurts America's international standing, and he took Congress to task for blocking its closure.

Obama conceded that it may be a difficult case to make to the American people that the detainees should be transferred out so the facility can be shuttered, because, "I think for a lot of Americans, the notion is out of sight, out of mind, and it's easy to demagogue the issue. That's what happened the first time this came up.

So, perhaps there is a good explanation for the reassignment of Fried. Hopefully, we will learn more. Because Gitmo remains an abomination, and everything legally possible should be done by the administration to get it closed, as soon as is possible. Ideally, it will be closed before the next presidential campaign really begins. But as we look ahead to 2016, it's good to know that the leading potential Democratic presidential candidate not only was privately urging the administration to get the job done, but she also was brainstorming how to do it.

Hotel union protesting Hyatt heir's nomination as commerce secretary

rss@dailykos.com (Laura Clawson) — Mon, 20 May 2013 20:14:28 UTC

Lorena and Martha Reyes were fired from their jobs as Hyatt housekeepers after they objected to pictures with their heads pasted on bikini-clad bodies.

President Obama's nomination of Hyatt heir Penny Pritzker as commerce secretary is drawing protest from UNITE HERE, the hotel and restaurant workers union. The union has been leading a boycott of Hyatt, but hadn't immediately opposed Pritzker's nomination; however, according to the New York Daily News, D Taylor, the union's president, said that:

His opposition was spurred by his just learning that the Senate Commerce Committee was moving up its confirmation hearing for Pritzker.
The union had been led to understand that hearing would take place perhaps well after the Memorial Day weekend. But the surprise decision to move up the hearing forced the union's hand.

UNITE HERE is staging a protest in Chicago Monday afternoon. The union's quick move will push other unions, and the AFL-CIO, to consider their positions. Hyatt's poor labor practices—including replacing longtime housekeepers in Boston and Cambridge with low-wage temps—are of particular relevance to hotel workers; as activist Hyatt housekeeper Cathy Youngblood said, "Under Pritzker’s direction, Hyatt has led the hotel industry in a race to the bottom by aggressively subcontracting out career hotel jobs to minimum wage temps. This is not the model that will lead our country to a bright economic future."

But even beyond Hyatt's array of labor issues, there's a lot for unions, and progressives more generally, to dislike about Pritzker. As a member of the Chicago school board and as a donor, she's pushed anti-teacher education policies. She was on the board of a bank that did a big business in subprime mortgages and then collapsed. And her family makes enough use of offshore accounts that Iowa Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley, of all people, kind of has a point when he says "It isn’t just about her or the offshore stuff, it’s about the fact that the president made a big deal out of Romney’s offshore accounts." The president was right to make a big deal out of Mitt Romney's offshore accounts. But the problem with Pritzker is not because Grassley and other Republicans are looking for excuses. Rather, it's precisely because the president was right about the problems with Romney's offshore accounts that his nomination of Pritzker should raise eyebrows among his supporters.

Is there any government agency that ISN'T investigating Michele Bachmann?

rss@dailykos.com (Laura Clawson) — Mon, 20 May 2013 17:54:52 UTC

Michele Bachmann may find it hard to explain away all the investigations she's under.

Add the FBI to the list of agencies investigating alleged unethical or illegal actions by Michele Bachmann's presidential campaign. The Office of Congressional Ethics, the Federal Elections Commission, and an Iowa state Senate ethics committee were already on the case, looking into questionable payments to an Iowa state senator, the theft of a home-schooling group's email list, using money from her PAC to fund her presidential campaign, and more. The FBI's involvement:

[...] raises the possibility that there were potential criminal violations. In addition to the alleged theft of the home-school list, the FBI is said to be looking into the campaign's demand that certain former employees, whose pay was withheld at the end of the campaign, sign non-disclosure agreements before receiving their compensation.

Bachmann won only narrowly in 2012, despite her district's strong performance for Mitt Romney. Now, Public Policy Polling finds her trailing Democratic challenger Jim Graves by two points in a poll commissioned by Graves; Bachmann's favorables were also in negative territory. And that poll was done when Bachmann was only ("only") under investigation by the FEC, the Office of Congressional Ethics, and the Iowa state Senate. Sure, being under FBI investigation may make some conspiracy theorists see her as a victim of government oppression, but let's face it, those are the people who will still be supporting Bachmann if she ends up in jail as a result of these investigations. Swing voters may be less enthralled by having a representative whose ethical problems they can't even keep track of.

Peggy Noonan jumps the shark

rss@dailykos.com (Hunter) — Mon, 20 May 2013 19:40:11 UTC

Help her.

It seems more and more people are noticing that Peggy Noonan is losing her mind. Or rather, that she's making it a bit too obvious to shrug off anymore. The whole purpose of the Sunday shows, after all, is to showcase Important People who have lost their minds, an endless spring break of the soul in which a few dozen highly paid alcohol abusers all tell us to hold their gin and tonics and to watch this, America—then they do a nice swan dive from a third floor balcony into the shallowest end of the idea pool. Thwap.

The dog whistle quote came via NBC’s “Meet the Press” Sunday from Peggy Noonan, who can no longer be taken seriously as a writer or pundit. When host David Gregory pressed her on the lack of evidence for her claims that the IRS scandal was worse than Watergate, Noonan insisted that the president “was giving a dog whistle to people who could launch this thing.” The former Reagan-Bush speechwriter vividly summed up, in her thousand points of crazy style, where the IRS “scandal” went over the last few days: Obama didn’t need to order the tax agency to harass Tea Party groups (and his critics don’t need proof that he did so): his criticizing the group during the 2012 campaign, as well as blasting the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision, represented an implicit order to do so.

(Noonan, who we must presume as entirely blotted all of pre-2008 Republican history from her mind, also said "this IRS thing is something I've never seen in my lifetime," which is known Washington-wide as a phrase that signals a need to call the number on the speaker's medical alert bracelet.)

To be fair to Noonan, she's not entirely off the farm on this one (or, rather, the whole farm is tagging along with her; the fences are in a bit of a state of disrepair, these days.) The "dog whistle" bit seems to be the new purported explanation for why something that apparently didn't involve Obama in fact deeply involves Obama, and is worse than Watergate precisely because it didn't involve Obama, or some such. Obama is so evil that he doesn't even have to tell his subordinates to target his enemies, they just do it on based on evil osmosis. Nixon specifically ordered the IRS to go after his opponents. Obama didn't, you see, and that makes the Obama administration … worse. If you can understand that, you are either a Republican political strategist or under the influence of a drug you don't have a prescription for.

So now we've finally reached the point where they're saying it outright: For a Democratic president, campaigning on his own behalf is toeing the line of impeachable offense. Merely criticizing his opponents is scandal enough; there doesn't need to be anything more than that. The Noonans of the world are willing to work themselves into a rabid lather over things like Death Panels, and whether the president maybe secretly wanted Americans to die in Benghazi because something-something-pineapple, but a Democrat pointing out that a certain Supreme Court decision is a catastrophudge, now that's over the line of propriety. Noonan floated through Iran-Contra like it was a mosquito buzzing in the nation's ear, but a president lavishing insufficient praise on his clumsily self-rebranded "Tea Party" opponents, now that we will not abide. (Did the president even address the Tea Party much, during his campaign? If he didn't make a speech calling them conspiracy-humping rednecks with rampant literacy problems, he wasn't hard on them.)

They're not even trying anymore. The pundit circuit is just a Roman orgy, at this point, there for the glittering self-pleasure of the thing. The same new pseudo-conservative wisdom that went from saying "government is bad" to actively Not Goddamn Governing has now decided that, eff it all, there's just no point in supervising the discourse at all, anymore, not when you get paid the same either way, and get to attend the same social functions, either way, and when you can get ten times the praise for saying something stupid than you can saying something smart. Worse than Watergate because Obama didn't do it? Screw it, go with it, now let's go get drunk.

GOP scandal-mongering making Obama more popular, GOP most unpopular in CNN polling history

rss@dailykos.com (kos) — Mon, 20 May 2013 21:16:16 UTC

Nice try, wingnuts, but America still likes the guy.

The media and Republicans may be screeching about President Barack Obama's scandals, but the American people are seeing through the bullshit.

CNN reported on Sunday that 53% of people questioned in the survey said they approve of the job the president is doing, with 45% saying they disapprove. The president's approval rating was at 51% in CNN's previous poll, from early April. The two point rise was well within the survey's sampling error.
The new numbers indicate that Obama remains popular, with 79% of Americans saying the president is likable.

But it's not just Obama. The Democratic Party went from a 46-48 favorable-unfavorable rating a month ago, to 52-43 in this latest poll. That's a net gain of 11 points.

As for impeachment-screeching Republicans? They're DOWN a net eight points from 38-54 a month ago, to 35-59 this week.

It turns out that:

* The American people just don't think that it's the worst scandal since Watergate that Obama called the Benghazi consulate attack an "act of terror" as opposed to a "terrorist attack".

* The American people just don't care that the IRS spent extra time looking at the applications of political groups—none of which had their applications rejected, mind you. (Well, except for that one liberal group.)

* The American people can't be bothered to care that some reporters were spied on, after the GOP spent the last decade pushing for increased wiretapping powers in the name of "national security". This is exactly what Republicans wanted. No one believes they're really that outraged about it now.

So after the president's supposed worst week ever, with Republicans jumping in glee at the scandals, we find that the president's popularity has inched up, the Democratic Party's popularity is significantly up, and Republicans, at 59 percent unfavorable, are at their highest unpopularity level since CNN started polling the question in 1992.

Way to go, sherlocks.

Open thread: Venomous edition

rss@dailykos.com (Barbara Morrill) — Mon, 20 May 2013 22:15:09 UTC

Massive tornado hits Oklahoma

rss@dailykos.com (Jen Hayden) — Mon, 20 May 2013 21:41:49 UTC

A mile-wide tornado struck southwest Oklahoma City and Moore, Oklahoma, this afternoon:

The massive tornado first touched down in Newcastle and churned toward Interstate 44 and S.W. 149th Street. It ripped down Santa Fe and hit Briarwood Elementary School, destroying the building. Parents ran to the school, trying to make sure their children were all right. Firefighters and police are also on scene, trying to rescue trapped students and staff.
The tornado left behind incredible destruction. It wiped out entire neighborhoods, leaving behind piles of debris.

Emergency crews are busy searching through debris and helping survivors out of their leveled homes. Meanwhile, the tornado is still moving through eastern Oklahoma. News9 in Oklahoma City has a live feed and they are actively following the tornado. As of 4:30 CT, the tornado is on the ground, headed directly towards Meeker, Oklahoma.

Sadly, this isn't the first time Moore, Oklahoma, has been hit by a tornado. It was devastated by one of the most destructive tornadoes ever recorded on May 3, 1999:

On May 3, 1999, an unusual confluence of atmospheric conditions in Oklahoma spawned dozens of tornadoes that swept across the state in an hours-long parade of destruction. Thousands of homes were damaged or destroyed, and 19 counties became disaster areas.
The worst toll was in human lives: 44 dead, including three children. Hundreds more were injured.

To learn more about the storm or follow the live discussion, weatherdude has an informative liveblog here.

McCain stumps for Gomez, reverts to 2004

rss@dailykos.com (Joan McCarter) — Mon, 20 May 2013 18:24:38 UTC

Gomez the swiftboater.

The fevered obsession in the GOP with 9/11 fearmongering still hasn't died, apparently. Sen. John McCain relived the bad old days of GOP fear-mongering in Massachusetts Monday, campaigning with Senate candidate Gabriel Gomez (the guy who tried to swiftboat Obama for the bin Laden killing). It's a sign of Gomez's slipping approval numbers that he's resorting to old, tired ~~campaigners~~ attacks and fear-mongering against Ed Markey.

At a VFW hall in Dorchester with the 2008 GOP presidential nominee standing by his side, Gomez attacked Markey for voting against a 2004 resolution expressing sympathy to the victims of the 9/11 terrorist attacks and a similar 2006 measure.
“One thing that I just can’t understand is how my opponent, Congressman Markey, has voted more than once against a very basic Congressional resolution, to simply honor the victims of 9/11,” Gomez said.

There was a very good reason Markey, and 15 other members, didn't vote for that resolution. It's because it was election-year politicking that didn't just honor the victims of 9/11; it perpetuated the lie that Iraq was involved in the attacks and was the justification for that war. Here's, in part, what the resolution said:

Whereas three years after September 11, 2001, the United States is fighting a Global War on Terrorism to protect America and her friends and allies;
Whereas since the United States was attacked, it has led an international military coalition in the destruction of two terrorist regimes in Afghanistan and Iraq while using diplomacy and sanctions in cooperation with Great Britain and the international community to lead a third terrorist regime in Libya away from its weapons of mass destruction; [...]

Markey voted against this 2004 resolution because it was politicizing the 9/11 attacks and falsely justifying Bush's war in the lead up to the 2004 election. He voted against this resolution because it perpetuated the biggest and most destructive lie of the Bush administration. Markey also repeatedly voted against reauthorization of the PATRIOT Act because, as a Markey spokeperson said, he did not support "giving permanent, overly broad powers to investigate private records without consistent oversight and public debate." Gomez and McCain attacked him for those votes, as well.

Gomez is attacking Markey for standing up for the truth. Far from refusing to honor the victims of 9/11, Markey was refusing to participate in the crass politicization of their deaths. It's pretty clear from this stunt from Gomez and McCain which is the candidate with principles.

Please contribute $3 to Ed Markey.

The GOP's IRS struggle

rss@dailykos.com (Jed Lewison) — Mon, 20 May 2013 20:45:09 UTC

GOP aides tell me the struggle will be to take this IRS thing from being about TP victims to being about an administration's corruption
— @robertcostaNRO via web

Who needs facts when you have conclusions? Sure, having reality on your side might be nice, but if you live in the bubble, you don't need facts to spin the bubble—and you don't care about what happens outside the bubble.

White House learned of IRS inquiry last month; Issa informed in mid-2012

rss@dailykos.com (Jed Lewison) — Mon, 20 May 2013 20:00:14 UTC

Say it ain't so, Joe!

In more news from Scandalnavia, the place from whence all Obama scandals come:

The chief White House lawyer, Kathryn Ruemmler, learned last month that a Treasury inspector general had concluded an audit of the Internal Revenue Service’s targeting of conservative groups, weeks before the matter became public, according to a senior White House official.

Whoa! She learned about it weeks beforehand! If that's not a scandal, then what is? I mean, during those weeks, the administration easily could have ... wait. Hold on, what exactly could it have done? I mean, the stuff that was being investigated started in 2010 and ended in 2012. So time was not of the essence. And the White House couldn't very well have released the IG report any earlier ... because it wasn't yet complete. So, this seems like another Scandalnavian nothingburger.

But if you disagree and think this is a huge deal, then consider this fact:

The Treasury Department Inspector General for Tax Administration sent a letter to Congressman Darrell Issa and Congressman Jim Jordan on July 12, 2012 informing them they would be auditing the IRS in response to their concerns that certain groups might be receiving extra scrutiny. The letter came in response to a June 28th letter of that year from Congressman Issa and requests for an investigation.
The letter states that after meeting with the staff of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, which Issa chairs, the IG Office of Audit began work on the issue. The IG offered in the letter to provide a status update to the staff of the committee throughout the investigation as well as provide copies of interim and final reports.

So to all those Republicans who say that Obama was obviously covering up the IRS scandal in 2012 in order to steal the election from Mitt Romney, the rightful heir to the presidency, I have just one question: what do Darrell Issa and Jim Jordan have against Willard?

Midday open thread

rss@dailykos.com (Barbara Morrill) — Mon, 20 May 2013 19:15:08 UTC

Today's comic from Tom Tomorrow is A bedtime story:
What you missed on Sunday Kos ...
- Big-thinking Cato Institute: 400ppm haz got what plants crave, by Hunter
- The next biggest scandal ever, until the next one, by Hunter
- Republican outreach report card: graded "F" for Fail, by Denise Oliver Velez
- Climate change isn't AN issue, it's THE issue, by Laurence Lewis
- Welcome to the Darrell Issa Hall of Shame, by Jon Perr
- The Hard Lessons of the Post Partisan Unity Schtick, by Armando
- The most vulnerable House members in 2014, in two charts, by David Jarman
- An array of present day activities to an ancient life in the canopy, by DarkSyde
Condolences to family and friends:

Lincoln Gabriel Diaz-Balart, son and namesake of a former congressman and nephew of a current U.S. representative, died Sunday at the age of 29.
The family has asked for privacy and time to grieve. [...]

U.S. Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart is a sitting Republican representative. His brother, Lincoln Diaz-Balart retired from congress after the 2010 elections.
A crisis being ignored while Washington chases pseudo scandals:

Up to one in five American youngsters — about 7 million to 12 million, by one estimate — experience a mental health disorder each year, according to a new report billed as the first comprehensive look at the mental health status of children in the country.
And the rate is increasing, said the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which produced the study, released last week.
Have you ever wondered what an internet troll was like in person?
What are the odds?

Romenesko reader and Alexandria Times executive editor Derrick Perkins writes: “Check out the last name of the gentleman who wrote a great, entertaining piece on the local bug-phobic population. It’s great on so many levels, enough so that I’m wondering if it was arranged.”
After Perkins sent his email, I saw that @phogan tweeted: “The reporter who wrote this great article on insect phobias is darrylfears. I assume he covers the phobias beat?” Fears’ reaction? “With a name like mine, you get that all the time, Jim. Since grade school.”
If you're in the line of fire, take precautions and be careful:

A vast area of the central U.S. was warned to prepare for storms on Monday, after tornadoes killed one and injured 21 in Oklahoma and also hit Iowa and Kansas.
“After over 300 reports of severe weather on Sunday, another round of dangerous severe weather is expected Monday with the greatest threat once again in the southern Plains targeting Oklahoma and parts of Kansas, Missouri and Arkansas,” the National Weather Service said. “However, severe weather is possible much further north towards Chicago and Madison as well."
On today's Kagro in the Morning show, Greg Dworkin confirmed that the political world froze in place in the middle of last week, so we looked elsewhere for news not involving unfounded comparisons to Watergate. After a brief detour into the Umbrellacaust, we reviewed more context on the IRS, from Garance Franke-Ruta's (and yes, I know I mispronounced archetype!), David Cay Johnston, and Stephanie Mencimer. Off on a tangent, Keenan Steiner's unexpected story of a retired detective who somehow became the biggest campaign donor in the US. Back to guns, the tragic story at Hofstra U., and a fascinating look at the concealed carrying teachers of Utah.

House set to vote Wednesday on whether to snatch Keystone XL approval from president's hands

rss@dailykos.com (Meteor Blades) — Mon, 20 May 2013 17:02:11 UTC

There's a process for approving projects like the Keystone XL pipeline that would carry petroleum from the tar sand deposits of Alberta to the refineries of the Texas Gulf Coast. That process is set by the National Environmental Protection Act that requires approval of an environmental impact statement, which includes a response to any public comments delivered to agency in charge. In this case, that is the State Department.

Because the pipeline would cross international boundaries, the process also requires a presidential permit under George's Bush's 2004 Executive Order 13337, which is an amendment to the 1968 Executive Order 11423, which states "... the proper conduct of the foreign relations of the United States requires that executive permission be obtained for the construction and maintenance at the borders of the United States of facilities connecting the United States with a foreign country." The president must determine that any such project serves the national interest.

Not good enough for certain members of Congress, mostly Republicans, but including some Democrats. They want an immediate decision on the pipeline. To get it, they seek to short-circuit NEPA and the presidential permit process by taking authority over the pipeline's approval out of the president's hands. On Wednesday, they will vote on HR 3, the Northern Route Approval Act. The bill:

Declares that a Presidential permit shall not be required for the pipeline described in the application filed on May 4, 2012, by TransCanada Keystone Pipeline, L.P. to the Department of State for the Keystone XL pipeline, including the Nebraska reroute evaluated in the Final Evaluation Report issued by the Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality in January 2013 and approved by the Nebraska governor.
Deems the final environmental impact statement issued by the Secretary of State on August 26, 2011, coupled with such Final Evaluation Report, to satisfy all requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 and of the National Historic Preservation Act. [...]

Directs the Secretary of the Army to issue permits pursuant the Rivers and Harbors Appropriations Act of 1899 for the construction, operation, and maintenance of the Keystone XL pipeline. [...]

Prohibits the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from prohibiting or restricting an activity or use of an area that is authorized under this Act.

The bill likely will pass the House. And unlike many other bills originating there, this one has at least a chance of gaining support in the Senate. In March, the Senate voted in favor of the pipeline 62-to-37 in a symbolic, non-binding resolution. Seventeen of those votes were Democrats. But the president has repeatedly made it clear that he will never agree to a law that takes away his authority to approve or reject the pipeline. Below the fold, you can read about why the decision on the pipeline is likely many months away.

Falling in love with another girl lands Florida teen in criminal jeopardy

rss@dailykos.com (Joan McCarter) — Mon, 20 May 2013 17:48:30 UTC

Florida teen Kaitlyn Hunt, 18, is seeing her young life turned upside down and her future jeopardized simply because she fell in love. Unfortunately for her, she fell in love with a younger girl who has vindictive bigots for parents.

Hunt was a highly respected student at Florida’s Sebastian River High School with good grades and participation in cheerleading, basketball and chorus. She was even voted “most school spirit.”
All of that changed when she started dating a fellow student, a girl she met on the basketball team, at the beginning of the school year.

She was kicked off the basketball team because of the potential for "drama" her presence created. She's been vilified by fellow students, called “criminal,” “rapist” and “child abuser.” She was expelled from school. And far worse. She's facing a lifetime label of "sex-offender," because the other girl's parents brought criminal charges against her despite the fact that the relationship was consensual. What's more, according to Hunt's parents, Hunt was 17 when the relationship began, but the other girl's parents waited until after she turned 18 to go to police.

Unbelievably, prosecutors have decided to press the criminal charge. Now Hunt is faced with two choices, either of which could ruin her life: an outrageous plea deal or taking a chance in her conservative community on a jury trial. The deal she's being offered is to plead guilty and be sentenced to two years of house arrest, being allowed only to go to work or school. A judge would then determine if she would have to register as a sex offender. Her alternative is to face jury trial in her conservative community, where she could face a 15-year prison sentence and be required to register as a sex offender for the rest of her life.

Because she and another girl fell in love with each other.

Please sign our petition asking the state attorney to drop this prosecution.

GOP congressman comes up with new theory for impeaching Obama

rss@dailykos.com (Jed Lewison) — Mon, 20 May 2013 17:05:09 UTC

A new reason to impeach President Barack Obama (my emphasis):

Representative Jason Chaffetz, a Utah Republican, says President Barack Obama may face impeachment over his administration’s response to the Benghazi attack.
“They purposefully and willfully misled the American people, and that’s unacceptable,” Chaffetz tells me. “It’s part of a pattern of deception.” [...]

“This is an administration embroiled in a scandal that they created,” he says. “It’s a cover-up. I’m not saying impeachment is the end game, but it’s a possibility, especially if they keep doing little to help us learn more.”

In other words, if Obama doesn't do more to help House Republicans figure out why they should impeach him, then House Republicans might not have any other option than to impeach him. In case you were wondering why it always seems like Groundhog Day with these guys, there's your answer.

Gillibrand offers bill to lower student loan interest for millions

rss@dailykos.com (Laura Clawson) — Mon, 20 May 2013 16:06:31 UTC

Most people with student loan debt are struggling with higher interest rates than mortgages and many other loans carry. And in most cases, refinancing isn't an option for student loan debt. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand is seeking to change that, with a bill that would allow government-backed student loans to be lowered to a fixed rate of 4 percent, reducing the rates on an estimated 90 percent of federal student loans:

The Center for American Progress, a left-leaning policy and advocacy group, estimates that Gillibrand’s proposal in its first year would save borrowers about $14.5 billion off their student loan payments, boosting U.S. economic activity by $21.7 billion.

Gillibrand isn't the only Democrat looking for ways to ease the $1 trillion student debt burden; Sen. Elizabeth Warren has proposed giving students the same interest rates as big banks, among several other proposals. These proposals inevitably meet with "how are we going to pay for it?" objections from Republicans, and reporting on them goes along with that, presenting lowered student loan interest rates as a cost to taxpayers. That's because right now, student loan interest—paid by working- and middle-class people, people who couldn't afford to just write a check for the full cost of college tuition—is a significant revenue source:

Washington’s increased interest in student loan issues comes as the Education Department is forecast to generate a $51 billion profit this year from lending to college students and their families, a figure higher than the 2012 earnings of Exxon Mobil, the nation’s most profitable company, and roughly equal to the combined net income of the four largest U.S. banks by assets.

Reducing the interest rates on government-backed student loans is effectively a tax cut, in other words, but since it's a tax cut on the wrong kind of people (non-wealthy, non-corporate people), it's a tax cut Republicans don't like. So efforts to lower the student loan interest rate are always met by cries of "but how will we pay for it," as if tens of millions of recent graduates and their families weren't already paying for it. With interest rates again slated to double to 6.8 percent on July 1, something needs to be done to help students and recent graduates build their lives as adults without massive debts hanging over them, constraining the choices they can make about jobs, about taking risks, about starting families.

Republicans and business push to expand guest worker programs

rss@dailykos.com (Laura Clawson) — Mon, 20 May 2013 14:46:16 UTC

Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT)

Guest worker visas are resurfacing as one of the most contentious parts of immigration reform negotiations. Despite the compromise deal between the Chamber of Commerce and the AFL-CIO that went into the bipartisan Senate proposal, there are a number of Republican efforts to increase numbers of guest worker visas or weaken oversight of the programs.

The Senate bill increases the number of H1B visas for higher-skilled workers from 85,000 to 135,000, but pairs that increase with a requirement that companies actually try to find workers in the U.S. before recruiting abroad. It also includes a 15,000-worker cap on construction visas. Republican senators are planning to offer amendments weakening the limits on both of those. Texas Sen. John Cornyn will try to lift the construction-worker cap, while Utah's Orrin Hatch is focused on H1B visas:

One of Hatch’s amendments would require employers to show a U.S. worker wasn’t available only when a foreign employee is initially hired, not with each visa extension. Another would allow individuals who intend to immigrate to the U.S. to be counted as U.S. workers under certain circumstances.

Because to Republicans, regardless of what unemployment looks like in the United States, companies should still always be able to shop around for the cheapest worker available in the entire world. If you're not sold on the degree to which expanding guest worker programs is a problem for workers who are in the U.S. to stay, consider this juxtaposition: Republicans want fewer immigrants with the opportunity to become citizens, and more guest workers. That's not random coincidence.

Meanwhile, despite these and dozens of other Republican efforts to weaken or outright kill immigration reform in the Senate, somehow it's Democratic Sen. Patrick Leahy's amendment to bring marriage equality to immigration, allowing U.S. citizens to sponsor their same-sex spouses, that keeps being labeled a deal-breaker.

Republicans do have a couple unions on their side in opposing immigration reform, though. While the AFL-CIO and SEIU have been pushing hard for meaningful reform with a path to citizenship, the unions that represent immigration and customs workers are vocally opposed to the Senate bill.

CNN poll: Republicans only ones wrapped up in scandal

rss@dailykos.com (Jed Lewison) — Mon, 20 May 2013 15:10:09 UTC

Something about Democratic presidents drives Republicans nuts

President Obama's net approval rating in CNN's latest poll has gone from -3 in March (47 percent approve, 50 percent disapprove) to to +8 in May (53 percent approve, 45 percent disapprove), a gain of 11 points.

Yeah, you read that right. According to CNN, President Obama is now more popular now than he was two months ago. People think he's doing a better job.

So much for a presidency in disarray. In the aftermath of the GOP holding hearings with "Benghazi whistleblowers," the release of Benghazi talking points emails, the IRS scandal, and the AP phone records subpoena ... Obama isn't just unshaken, he's stronger than he was two months ago.

For Republicans, this wasn't the plan. Americans weren't supposed to be shrugging this stuff off—they were supposed to be lapping it up. Obama was supposed to be on the ropes, maybe even pondering resignation. Instead, outside the GOP bubble, it's a big "meh."

But there is some "good" news for Republicans. Greg Sargent looked at the numbers and reports the GOP base is still solidly in the bubble:

In the case of the IRS and Benghazi stories, the lurid and nefarious view of Obama’s involvement in them being peddled by the right is held only by Republicans — big majorities of them — while most moderates and independents, i.e. the middle of the country, believe the White House’s arguments.

So, congratulations Republicans. You still have your base. They still hate Obama. And now you've convinced them there's not one, not two, but three reasons to impeach him. Good luck with that.