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via Spinning Around
This is a Greek ad from 2008. Apparently it didn’t fly so well with some women’s bloggers. Like SA, I thought it was pretty clever as well.
Congress is patting itself on the back for something it didn’t even do. Surprise, surprise…
It’s not exactly right to say that congressional leaders cut a deal last night. Rather, they learned that they didn’t have to cut a deal. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) realized it could stretch its resources through the end of the week, which happens to be the end of the fiscal year (yeah, fiscal years end in September). Since Republicans and Democrats have already agreed to a baseline level of funding for the agency in the next fiscal year, there was no need to reach a deal on the funds this week. But let’s be clear about what happened here: It’s not that our legislators averted a crisis. It’s that the crisis averted itself.
via Wonkbook
The site, as you’ll see tomorrow, will also be undergoing a substantial redesign: It will be much more navigable, with more ways to sort content (say, by author or subject) and find new posts you might be interested in. It will be quicker to load, and easier to read. It will also include some features and tweaks that have long been on the wish list: the ability to easily print articles, for instance, or to keep them atop the page. There will also be more weekend content, including a regular collaboration with LongReads.com on a weekly roundup of the best long-form policy stories.
via The Washington Post.
This is awesome. Congrats Mark!
Some in the GOP want to sink the jobs bill even though they like it, report Marin Cogan and Jake Sherman: “House Republicans may pass bits and pieces of President Barack Obama’s jobs plan, but behind the scenes, some Republicans are becoming worried about giving Obama any victories — even on issues the GOP has supported in the past. And despite public declarations about finding common ground with Obama, some Republicans are privately grumbling that their leaders are being too accommodating with the president. ‘Obama is on the ropes; why do we appear ready to hand him a win?’ said one senior House Republican aide who requested anonymity to discuss the matter freely. ‘I just don’t want to co-own the economy by having to tout that we passed a jobs bill that won’t work or at least won’t do enough.’”
via Wonkbook: The question Obama’s jobs plan can’t answer – The Washington Post.
It’s a tough time to be a conservative intellectual.
From The Weekly Standard to The Wall Street Journal, on the pages of policy periodicals and opinion sections, the egghead right’s longing for a presidential candidate of ideas — first Mitch Daniels, then Paul Ryan — has been endless, intense and unrequited.
Profoundly dissatisfied with the current field, that dull ache may only grow more acute after Ryan’s decision Monday to take himself out of the running.
The problem, in shorthand: To many conservative elites, Rick Perry is a dope, Michele Bachmann is a joke and Mitt Romney is a fraud.
via politico.com
WHAT’S REALLY HAPPENING – Don’t believe anyone who tells you this is a replay of 2008. It’s not. Or at least it shouldn’t be. European sovereign debt problems are significant but unlike the huge credit and real-estate price bubble that burst in the U.S. in 2008 and infected the balance sheets of nearly every bank on earth and crushed consumers leading to a deep, prolonged recession. And the wild market swings of the last week have very little to do with the S&P downgrade, no matter how many lazy news stories keep making the erroneous connection.
The S&P report was a very negative headline but it is no longer having any real impact on a market that is trying to figure out how far the European crisis is going to spread, how much banks are exposed to potential sovereign losses and how slow global growth will be the rest of this year and next. If anyone was worried about U.S. credit-worthiness the 10-year Treasury would not be yielding 2.20 percent, which adjusted for inflation is LESS THAN ZERO.
No one is worried about Uncle Sam’s credit or the ability of the U.S. to deal with its long-term debt if it can get growth moving again. The U.S. could easily pass another big stimulus package without bothering the market at all. And at these rates (which amount to FREE MONEY) it would be a huge bargain (not that there is any chance it will happen).
During the process of finding a support level, the market is whipsawed by every rumor and data point and giant momentum swings feed on themselves, often with the help of pre-set computer algorithms and aggressive professional traders (AKA face-rippers). At some point (hopefully soon) a consensus will emerge on where equities should be priced and calm will return. Until then, if you are able, don’t pay much attention to the daily freak outs. Because the only thing that could make 2011 look more like 2008 is a lot more irrational fear.
via politico.com
REALITY CHECK– “Taxes key to Mitt’s ’04 pitch to S&P,” by Ben Smith: “Gov. Mitt Romney lobbied the credit ratings agency Standard & Poor’s in 2004 to raise his state’s credit rating in part because Massachusetts had raised taxes during an economic downturn two years earlier. The claim was part of a presentation to the ratings agency obtained by POLITICO under a state freedom of information law … ‘When I was governor, S&P rewarded Massachusetts with a credit rating upgrade for our sound fiscal management and the underlying strength of our economy,’ Romney boasted [after last week’s U.S. S&P downgrade]. … But Romney’s case to S&P [for Mass. in ’04]… bears a far closer resemblance to the right-of-center grand compromise rejected by House Republicans this year …
“Romney’s administration made the case to Standard & Poor’s that his state was creditworthy because of both spending cuts … and new revenues, including fees he imposed and tax ‘loopholes’ he closed. … Romney’s aides, asked about the presentation, pointed out that Romney, once he took office as governor in 2003, never signed a tax increase, but instead passed on most of the fruits of an economic boom to taxpayers in the form of tax cuts.” Story includes links to Romney’s 2004 deck, split in five parts http://bit.ly/qKIn0c
via politico.com
Dude flip-flops more than my Rainbows.
News organizations that break big stories will soon get a little more credit — and maybe even a little traffic — from The Associated Press. Beginning Aug. 1, whenever the AP picks up a local story from a member for rewriting and distribution, the text of AP’s story will include a link back to the original report.
via niemanlab.org
Reporting from Washington—As the debt ceiling debate enters its final stages, House Republicans face increasing political isolation in their opposition to sweeping budget reforms that President Obama has pushed for and polls show most Americans now prefer.
Republican resistance to compromise has turned a significant bloc of voters against them, according to several new polls, and has frustrated members of their own leadership as well as establishment GOP figures.
The fear among leading Republicans is that the party may lose an opportunity to lock in budget cuts that go beyond anything Democrats had previously been willing to consider. Five-term Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.) said he had never seen any spending reductions attached to a debt ceiling vote.
“It’s inconceivable,” Cole said. “Some of the members who haven’t been here don’t appreciate how much John Boehner has gotten for them.”
via latimes.com
If the House Republicans screw this up and we don’t get something passed, they are going to be the rallying point and reason for which Obama gets another term in office.
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