Last Call

Republicans have named all six of their House and Senate members to the "Super Committee"/Gang of 12/Catfood Commission 2/Giant Charlie Foxtrot thing, and the six of them are exactly who you expected the Tea Party to appoint.

Republicans named their six members Wednesday to a congressional deficit-reduction super committee, including a favorite of the conservative Tea Party movement and other no-new-taxes hardliners.

In a move that could deadlock the 12-member panel over taxes, but perhaps set the stage for changes later, Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell named Tea Party ally Patrick Toomey to the panel with Jon Kyl and Rob Portman.

The panel is known as the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction and was established to find $1.5 trillion in additional budget savings over 10 years, but markets have been looking for signs that it may be able to do more.

House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner, the top Republican in Congress, appointed Dave Camp, who chairs the tax-writing House Ways & Means Committee, along with conservative "young gun" Jeb Hensarling and Fred Upton.

For those of you keeping score, that's five bomb-throwing Tea Party jagoffs and Fred "We're going to make him pay for the CFL light bulb thing!" Upton, who will be made to throw bombs in order to save his place as House Commerce Committee chair.

Not a single one of these guys will accept a dime in taxes, revenue increases, tax expenditure reductions, or loophole closures.  They will, to a man, vote hard core Tea Party "our way or the highway".  The plan here is to force the trigger conditions and then blame the Democrats...or being really, really, amazingly nice to Sen. Max Baucus, and then blaming him when Republicans get exactly what they want:  massive Social Security and spending cuts.

This should be fun.  Not.

Walker-ing It Back, Part 2

Wisconsin Dems may have come up short in trying to retake the state senate through the recall process (and the fact they won two seats is amazing in and of itself) but if anything, the narrow loss has only made the recall next year of GOP Gov. Scott Walker all that much more important.

“If we can do all of this against entrenched Republicans on their own turf, imagine our success … when all of Wisconsin can have its voice heard on Gov. Walker’s extreme, divisive agenda,” Wisconsin state party chairman Mike Tate wrote in a memo to reporters Wednesday.

“The historic gains made tonight to restore balance and accountability to our state, and restore Wisconsin values, will continue when the entire state weighs in on the November 2012 elections — and with the recall of Scott Walker himself,” Tate said.

Standing before a cheering crowd of partisans on the Majestic Theatre stage late Tuesday — when it was still uncertain whether Democrats would flip control of the Senate — an animated Tate was even more defiant: “We will not stop, we will not rest, until we recall Scott Walker from the state of Wisconsin.”

In 2010, Walker carried both of the districts in which Democrats prevailed Tuesday — though in Senate District 32, where Democrat Jennifer Shilling easily unseated incumbent Dan Kapanke, Walker’s margin had been a single percentage point.

In the remaining four races, the first-term Republican governor notched between 54 and 58 percent. GOP incumbents matched or bested Walker’s performance in three of the four districts they defended.

Despite the Democratic losses, Madison-based Democratic pollster Nathan Henry calculates that the party achieved a 7 percent swing in its direction.

That's the real message Walker, Republicans, AND Dems need to take away:  in just nine months the GOP has cratered, even at the state level.  Scott Walker and other freshman GOP governors are largely responsible.

2012?  Republicans should be terrified.  No wonder they are pouring in the cash.  Walker's numbers in the state are miserable.  He knows he'd lose right now, so he's trying to end the idea of any more recalls.

"I've heard repeatedly from people who are just disgusted at all the ads, disgusted at all the money. They're tired of seemingly year-round campaigning, and whether it's a gubernatorial recall, any other recall, I don't think there's a whole lot of enthusiasm for having a whole 'nother wave of ads and money come into the state of Wisconsin."

I bet he's wrong.  I bet his job on it.

TARP 2: Eclectic Bugaboo Or Dow-ler Coaster Of Love

The major stock indices in New York gave up all of yesterday's big gains and then some today.

All 10 groups in the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index fell at least 2 percent. Bank of America Corp. and Citigroup Inc. dropped 11 percent, pacing losses in financial shares, as the costs to protect the government debt of Greece, Italy, Spain and France rose. Walt Disney Co. (DIS), the largest theme-park company, tumbled 9.1 percent on concerns that the slowing economy and consumer confidence may hurt its businesses.

The S&P 500 fell 4.4 percent to 1,120.75 at 4 p.m. in New York. The benchmark gauge jumped 4.7 percent yesterday as the Federal Reserve said it would keep borrowing costs at an all-time low and was prepared to use a range of tools to bolster the economy. The Dow declined 520.29 points, or 4.6 percent, to 10,719.48.

“The message is that the market is concerned about the financial industry,” Kevin Caron, market strategist in Florham Park, New Jersey, at Stifel Nicolaus & Co., said in a telephone interview. His firm has $115 billion in client assets. “The fact that Bank of America has said that they are comfortable with fundamentals is very positive. Still, the banks are exposed to a deteriorating economy. The European debt crisis has a whole set of issues. The concern is about a spillover effect of that.”

As you can guess, with Bank of America a dead man walking, the market is seriously expecting another financial windfall along the lines of TARP.  Good luck getting that passed with the Tea Party making governing the country impossible.

The Dow down 18% in 13 trading days?  Yeah, that's a bit of an issue.  Fluctuations like this in the major markets indicates things are fundamentally broken at the most basic level right now.  People keep saying how this isn't 2008 again, but brother, it sure feels like it.

I'm convinced the Fed will give us a TARP 2/QE 3 special, and do it soon.

Why Bon Keeps A Ball Bat

A Fullerton man convicted earlier this year for twice ejaculating into a female co-worker’s water bottle was ordered Monday to pay the woman more than $27,000 in restitution.

Orange County Superior Court Judge Walter Schwarm ordered Michael Kevin Lallana, 32, to pay $27,410.80 to the woman for loss of wages, therapy and medical expenses, including the money she paid to have the tainted water tested.

Twice.  I think that single word put this into a whole new light.  My first job out of high school was in an office in Kansas City.  Two weeks after I started a man was walked out and charges were pressed because he peed in the coffee pot.  I was so very grateful to be a Pepsi girl.  Five years later, I was slipped a hallucinogen by a nut who thought I was pretty.  I now pay great attention to seals and take every precaution possible.  There is no price tag on horror.  And seriously, ten minutes and a ball bat and I'd fix his wagon. 

This Week's WTH - First Amendment Edition

Sometimes I come across something that just leaves me blinking in disbelief.  The fact that this slid by at all is amazing to me.  What the hell was he thinking?

RENTON, Wash. -- The judge who signed a criminal cyber-stalking search warrant, seeking the name of an anonymous cartoon animator mocking the Renton police department, has apparently changed his mind.

King County Judge James Cayce, issued a "stay" of the search warrant Tuesday, pending full court hearing on the matter scheduled for August 19. The ruling is in response to a ‘motion to quash’ filed by a Seattle first amendment rights attorney.

The first article is short and sweet, but I am sad that it missed my radar on the first print.

Only KIRO Team 7 Investigative Reporter Chris Halsne holds a key document that really lays bare the city’s intent. The document was quietly filed in King County Superior Court last week. It’s a search warrant accusing an anonymous cartoon creator, going by the name of Mr. Fiddlesticks, of cyberstalking (RCW 9.61.260). The Renton Police Department and the local prosecutor got a judge to sign off as a way to uncover the name of whoever is behind the parodies. Halsne talked with three nationally respected legal experts who believe the use of the cyberstalking statute is likely stomping on the constitution. 

Without clearly defined laws and boundaries, this actually poses a risk.  A judge came to his senses this time, but I don't feel confident that we are safely removed from this type of invasion.  Cyberstalking?  While that is a very real problem, I don't think it usually comes wrapped in poor taste and jittery animation.  One stupid decision might open a door that we can never close again.  Right now there is a lot of wiggle room in how different companies and agencies store, share and publish information.  We control none of it.  That is a Very Bad Plan.

Numero Uno

How weird has the Dow been this week?  For a brief, shining moment Apple overtook ExxonMobil as the largest company on earth.

Apple Inc briefly edged past oil majorExxon Mobil to become the most valuable company in the United States after days of volatile stock market action.


The market value of Apple rose on Tuesday to $341.5 billion, just above Exxon's at $341.4 billion, even as the oil major rakes in more than four times Apple's annual revenue.

600 down, 400 up, things are getting ugly out there, folks.  Stay tuned.

The Badger Awakens, Part 13

It awoke yesterday, but Democrats came up just short, taking 2 of the 6 recall elections yesterday in Wisconsin when they needed 3 for control of the state Senate.

Wisconsin Democrats have fallen just narrowly short of an ambitious goal - the attempt to pick up three state Senate seats through recall elections and take a majority in the chamber. As of early Wednesday morning, with six incumbent Republicans on the ballot, Democrats have defeated two -- but narrowly missed out in two others.

Democrats defeated Republican state Sen. Dan Kapanke, who represented the most Dem-leaning seat of any Republican in the chamber, by a 55%-45% margin. They also won a 51%-49% victory over state Sen. Randy Hopper, whose campaign was also damaged by a messy divorce, and allegations by his estranged wife that he "now lives mostly in Madison" after having an affair.

This would get Democrats from their previous 19-14 minority, following the 2010 Republican wave, to a 17-16 margin. In two more safe Republican districts, incumbents Robert Cowles and Sheila Harsdorf won by margins of 60%-40% and 58%-42%, respectively.

But in the two remaining toss-ups, Democrats have lost close calls. State Sen. Luther Olsen won by a margin of 52%-48%. At time of writing the Associated Press had yet to officially call the District 8 race for incumbent state Sen. Alberta Darling, but other accounts indicated she would emerge the winner.

Also next week are two recalls targeting incumbent Democrats Robert Wirch and Jim Holperin. However, both Wirch and Holperin have significantly out-fundraised their challengers, and are at least favored to hold on -- but in this polarized environment, anything is possible.

Despite heavy turnout, Republicans in red parts of the state turned out as well to defend the policies of a Governor with an approval rating in the mid-30's.  It was a gamble but the Dems did come up short.  Republicans are jubilant this morning, and the reason they kept 4 of the seats yesterday was money, money, money.

Republican money groups poured cash into the state in order to save Republicans in Wisconsin, and it worked this time.  The Club for Growth, Republican legislative boiler room ALEC, the American Federation for Children (run by the sister of Blackwater founder Eric Prince), and the Koch Brothers front group Americans for Prosperity all poured a total of millions into the race, and they bought themselves a number of key wins, none more key than GOP state senator Alberta Darling defending her seat.

And surprise, surprise, Darling's district includes Waukesha County, the same county where in April's state Supreme Court race, county clerk Kathy Nickolaus "found" thousands of votes in favor of conservative Judge David Prosser to give him the win in the recount election.  Needless to say, Alberta Darling eked out a solid victory again based almost solely on big numbers in Waukesha County.

So Republicans did what they had to do to win.  I'm hoping Democrats will still go after Gov. Scott Walker next year, but you can bet that the right will be ready to save Walker's ass again and will be doing everything they can to buy another election, now that it's legal to do so...and have no problems with a bit of shady action on the side just to make sure they win.

Your Obama Second Term GOP Preview

Texas Republican Rep. Michael Burgess gives away the worst kept secret in Washington on upcoming GOP strategy on dealing with President Obama.  Talking to Tea Party folks back home in the Lone Star State, the question of the debt ceiling came up (not to mention the Congressman's numerous votes to raise the debt ceiling under Bush.)  But then things got interesting.

Then Burgess fielded a suggestion that the House move to impeach Obama. "It needs to happen, and I agree with you it would tie things up," he reportedly said. "No question about that."

The U.S. Constitution, in Article II, Section 4, requires a conviction on "Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors" before an office-holder can be impeached. President Obama faces no such charges.

Asked to clarify, "Burgess said he wasn't sure whether the proper charges to bring up articles of impeachment against Obama were there, but he didn't rule out pursuing such a course," reporter Aman Batheja concluded.

To repeat, a sitting member of Congress believes the President should be impeached, but can't give an actual legal or Constitutional reason as to why.  Not a single one.  But he should be just because.  Well, given the GOP's history on dealing with Obama, I think Burgess has a reason, but it's not polite to mention it in public.

Here's a hint, it has to do with President Obama's party, or more likely the most obvious of  his presidential firsts.

Just sayin'.

StupidiNews!

• A fourth night of rioting in the UK has spread from London to northern cities like Manchester and Liverpool as the country scrambles to maintain order.
• Senate majority leader Harry Reid has named Democrats John Kerry, Patty Murray, and Max Baucus to the "Super Committee" that will tackle the debt this year.
• President Obama marked the final journey for the 30 US troops killed in a helicopter crash after being attacked in Afghanistan last week.
• Germany's second-largest bank Commerzbank AG saw 2Q profits plunge 93% in the wake of the Greek debt crisis spreading to the rest of Europe.
• Apple has won a major copyright injunction against the Samsung Galaxy, keeping the tablet out of Europe.

Last Call

Still wondering why Republicans think they "won" the debt ceiling crisis, especially given their new dismal numbers.

TPM has been reporting for weeks about the effect of the debt debate on individual political leaders and the subsequently low ratings of Congress. But new data from a CNN poll shows that there's been a difference in the minds of many Americans: the Democratic Party is getting a split on approval/disapproval at 47 - 47, but the Republican Party disapproval rating is all the way up to 59%, against a 33% approval.

The GOP approval rating has been going down in the CNN poll since their 2010 victories: in the October 27-30 version, the Republican Party had a small plurality in approval, at 44 - 43. But since last fall's election they've seen a steady downward trend in the survey, to the current low, which is the highest disapproval rating in the CNN poll in the last twenty years.

Democrats, breaking even.  Republicans, negative 26 on the favorability ratings.  The crosstabs on the poll are even more dismal for the GOP.  Tea Party has 31% favorable, 51% unfavorable numbers. Only 45% of registered voters say their particular Congressman deserves to be re-elected, less than this time last year by six points and ten points lower than October 2008, and 15 points lower than October 2006.

If I'm a Republican in the House, I'd be pissing in my boots right now.  These are horrifying numbers for incumbents in Congress.

We'll see how they hold up, but this finally may be one of those crazy ass elections where everyone gets thrown out, or as much as that's possible given the 85% re-election rate of incumbents.

Suddenly Ben Effin' Nelson Doesn't Seem So Horrible

I may scream a lot about Nebraska Blue Dog Dem Sen. Ben Nelson, but the man favored to be Nelson's GOP opponent in 2012 is a truly repugnant individual.

In a video captured by the liberal group, American Bridge 21st Century, Bruning makes the comparison as part of an elaborate metaphor originally focused on environmental regulations. He describes a requirement that workers at a construction project gather up endangered beetles by luring them into a bucket with a dead rat in order to release them elsewhere. But the plan is thwarted when hungry raccoons then eat them straight out of the rat-infested bucket. Which, according to Bruning, is a perfect image to illustrate how welfare recipients receive their benefits.

"The raccoons figured out the beetles are in the bucket," Bruning said. "And its like grapes in a jar. The raccoons - they're not stupid, they're gonna do the easy way if we make it easy for them. Just like welfare recipients all across America. If we don't send them to work, they're gonna take the easy route."

See, welfare recipients are "scavenging racoons".  Forget the dog whistle politics, we're deep into "overt loud racism delivered with a giant billboard campaign" this year, and your wussy liberal sensibilities be damned, the white guy in Nebraska has an election to win.

London Bridge Is Falling Down

As the deadly London riots continue, Susie Madrak at C&L makes a startling point about the London riots: last year as the David Cameron government announced brutal austerity measures, the government assured critics that the cuts would have no negative impact on the country's ability to handle events like last summer's austerity protests.  Unfortunately, the opposite has been true this week.

In September of last year, the British Home Secretary Theresa May refused to accept claims by the British police that austerity cuts would affect their ability to contain civil unrest (h/t George Monbiot).

A look at an article from the Guardian reveals May's belief that British people simply did not riot:

The British public don't simply resort to violent unrest in the face of challenging economic circumstances. We must have a rational and reasonable debate about policing. Your association has a long and proud history of constructive and sensible contributions to policing policy-making – long may it continue.

May was speaking after the announcement of deep austerity cuts, that police officials predicted would lead to 40,000 police staff job cuts. May refused to accept this and told the police superintendents' annual conference:

I will work hard to ensure a fair deal for policing but there will, most definitely, need to be savings made. It is ridiculous to suggest that there are not savings that can be made in policing.

Tens of thousands of police staff cuts in a country of 62 million.  Multiply those numbers by five to get the American equivalent:  what if 200,000 police personnel were laid off last year in the US?   Don't you think that would be a major public safety issue?

There are roughly 800,000 federal, state, and local police officers in the US.  Think about what laying off 25% of all the country's cops would do for the crime rate.  The London riots are heartbreaking, but that's where we are.  What's more, Britons are screaming for a better, more robust police response.

Maybe you should have thought about that before making massive austerity cuts.  Just saying.

Take That, You Hypocrites

Perhaps the only time Republic, MO will be international news:

To hell with the censors!" said Kurt Vonnegut. "Give me knowledge or give me death!" Now the late author's memorial library is acting on his words, giving 150 copies of his seminal novel Slaughterhouse-Five away for free to students at the Missouri school that banned it late last month.

The Kurt Vonnegut Memorial Library is asking interested pupils at Republic High School in Missouri to drop it an email requesting a free copy of Slaughterhouse-Five after an anonymous donor provided it with 150 copies of the book. "We think it's important for everyone to have their First Amendment rights. We're not telling you to like the book ... we just want you to read it and decide for yourself," said Julia Whitehead, the library's executive director, in a note on its website entitled "stop the madness".

Last month the school's board voted to ban Slaughterhouse-Five and Sarah Ockler's young adult novel Twenty Boy Summer from its curriculum and library following a Missouri professor's complaints about their content. In a column for the local paper, Wesley Scroggins wrote that Slaughterhouse-Five "contains so much profane language, it would make a sailor blush with shame. The 'f word' is plastered on almost every other page. The content ranges from naked men and women in cages together so that others can watch them having sex to God telling people that they better not mess with his loser, bum of a son, named Jesus Christ."

I am still at a loss as to why some people feel the need to "protect" others from what they find offensive. Kids see far worse on prime time television.  This gives a chance for parents or teachers to have a discussion about what the kids have read and their take on it.  It's a chance to encourage reading, thought and considering new opinions.  I am not a fan,  but I believe everyone has the right to choose for themselves.  Meanwhile, I did learn a lot about his particular writing style and his prose is creative and worth looking at for its own sake.  I suppose that is threatening to some folks.  After all, when I read Of Mice And Men it broke my heart, but I came away with a new understanding of how far we've come as a society that we can better house and protect the mentally challenged.  I guess people like Prof Scroggins just see a retard and a bum.

Why The Browser Wars Matter

There has been a lot of mention of browsers lately.  A rumor came out that Internet Explorer users weren't as bright as people who used other browsers.  Firefox has cleaned up their bloat in response to user complaints.  Google Chrome has brought out a series of improvements that makes full use of their integration potential.  Internet Explorer has finally responded to feedback and brought IE up to snuff.

But why is it such a big deal?

The transfer to cloud computing is the reason.  Eventually our devices will have little onboard memory and the focus will be purely on moving data.  Our files, our work, our hobbies and notes will be stored with multiple cloud service providers, from Google Docs to Dropbox.  Your web browser is the gateway to all cloud functions, and industry leaders know that is more important than proprietary programs.  This is the beginning of a shift in how we use computers, and the leaders are struggling to keep (or improve) their ranking.  Developers will flock to the winner and runner-up, all others may not survive the long run.

For what it's worth, I'm betting on Chrome and Firefox, but we'll see.

What Ifs And Told You Sos

And of course we get the inevitable round of "President Hillary Clinton would have won this fight!" nonsense from the Daily Beast.

At a New York political event last week, Republican and Democratic office-holders were all bemoaning President Obama’s handling of the debt-ceiling crisis when someone said, “Hillary would have been a better president.”

“Every single person nodded, including the Republicans,” reported one observer.

At a luncheon in the members’ dining room at the Metropolitan Museum of Art on Saturday, a 64-year-old African-American from the Bronx was complaining about Obama’s ineffectiveness in dealing with the implacable hostility of congressional Republicans when an 80-year-old lawyer chimed in about the president’s unwillingness to stand up to his opponents. “I want to see blood on the floor,” she said grimly.

A 61-year-old white woman at the table nodded. “He never understood about the ‘vast right-wing conspiracy,’” she said.

Looking as if she were about to cry, an 83-year-old Obama supporter shook her head. “I’m so disappointed in him,” she said. “It’s true: Hillary is tougher.”

Yes, President Obama cannot possibly begin to fathom the vast right wing conspiracy that regularly target him, his wife, his daughters, and everything he does in a bold effort to destroy the country on his watch.  He can't possibly understand or deal with being called a socialist Kenyan Muslim terrorist plant for several years, he certainly can't win an election in front of the Mighty Wurlitzer and he sure as hell can't handle this right wing-style racial name calling when it came from...Hillary Clinton or her supporters.

And yet he's been handling it quite well, thank you.  But you'd never notice that because if he just got angry, everything would be solved.  Magically.

America's racial history is full of great outcomes for black men who "got angry", don't you know.