Prairie Weather

Why the GOP is doomed

Well, probably for a lot of reasons.  But one of the more obvious -- and the most important -- is that they continue to act on bad advice. Paul Krugman calls them "The Always-Wrong Club."

Floyd Norris reminds us of the 23-economist letter from 2010, warning of dire consequences — “currency debasement and inflation” — from quantitative easing. The signatories are kind of a who’s who of wrongness, ranging from Niall Ferguson to Amity Shlaes to John Taylor. And they were wrong again.

But that won’t diminish their reputations on the right, even a bit. How do I know that? Well, also on the list — presumably because they asked him to be there — is Kevin Hassett, co-author of Dow 36,000 and also a prominent denier of the existence of a housing bubble. Fool me once, fool me twice, fool me yet again — hey, never mind. ...Paul Krugman

Why do they -- why do we! -- act on bad advice?  Because it confirms what we're already thinking and doing.  For Republicans (well, not all of  them, but the most desperate) Keynes has to be wrong.  Democrats have to be wrong.  The existence of Republican gods depend on it.

What's interesting to speculate about is not what idiot Republican politicans are clinging to, but what Republican farmers, small business people, the people who invested heavily in gold, surgeons, tycoons, dads and college juniors are thinking.  Are they falling back on things like "oh well, Republicans are right about icky homosexuals and greedy maids pouring in over our southern border, so I'll still vote Republican"? 

___

Jonathan Bernstein points to another obvious problem:  no matter how important the issue is or how urgent, there are Republicans now whose top priority isn't the economy or the well-being of the American people or a secure future.  Their top priority is "no compromise," no matter the issue.

Look, says Bernstein,  at the fate of the farm bill.  Or look at tax reform.

... There’s[sic] only two major obstacles to getting a deal done during the current Congress. One is that Democrats have been insisting on more revenues; the other is that Democrats fear that any reform is going to be regressive, since many current tax exemptions disproportionately benefit the wealthy.

The thing is that this leads to an perfectly available compromise: Tax reform should be revenue-neutral but should be at least as progressive as the current code. That gives both sides a win. And there’s even a logic to it: Tax reform is hard enough, and so the less that needs to be done, the better. So don’t use tax reform to get the revenues that Democrats want, but also avoid the flattening that many Republicans want.

The problem? I strongly suspect that Republicans won’t go for it. For many of them, the whole point of tax reform is to lower the top rates; a commitment to a progressive code would make that hard, and maybe impossible. And, bottom line, compromise itself is problematic for all too many Republicans.

What it all comes down to is that a party which can’t even manage to get a farm bill passed — a historic flub — isn’t likely to get anything done unless there’s a deadline or unless party interests give Members of the House a strong incentive to get it done. ...Bernstein, WaPo

Not good enough, Mr. President

The Washington Post's lead article today describes the dismay of judges on the secret FISA court -- dismay at how their role is being questioned and criticized by the media and the public as overly secretive, authoritarian, and inappropriate in free country. 

U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly, the former chief judge of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, took the highly unusual step Friday of voicing open frustration at the account in the report and court’s inability to explain its decisions.

“In my view, that draft report contains major omissions, and some inaccuracies, regarding the actions I took as Presiding Judge of the FISC and my interactions with Executive Branch officials,” Kollar-Kotelly said in a statement to The Post. ...WaPo

This is hardly the first time Post reporters have looked at Kollar-Kotelly's rulings.  In 2006, the Reagan-appointed Colleen Kollar-Kotelly also suffered from press queries about her job, warnings that Bush/Cheney spying was clearly illegal.

Twice in the past four years, a top Justice Department lawyer warned the presiding judge of a secret surveillance court that information overheard in President Bush's eavesdropping program may have been improperly used to obtain wiretap warrants in the court, according to two sources with knowledge of those events.

The revelations infuriated U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly -- who, like her predecessor, Royce C. Lamberth, had expressed serious doubts about whether the warrantless monitoring of phone calls and e-mails ordered by Bush was legal. Both judges had insisted that no information obtained this way be used to gain warrants from their court, according to government sources, and both had been assured by administration officials it would never happen... WaPo

Kollar-Kotelly and another FISA judge had indeed shown some concern about the Bush administration's spying but did nothing, effectively, about it.

The two judges' discomfort with the NSA spying program was previously known. But this new account reveals the depth of their doubts about its legality and their behind-the-scenes efforts to protect the court from what they considered potentially tainted evidence. The new accounts also show the degree to which Baker, a top intelligence expert at Justice, shared their reservations and aided the judges.

Both judges expressed concern to senior officials that the president's program, if ever made public and challenged in court, ran a significant risk of being declared unconstitutional, according to sources familiar with their actions. Yet the judges believed they did not have the authority to rule on the president's power to order the eavesdropping, government sources said, and focused instead on protecting the integrity of the FISA process.

It was an odd position for the presiding judges of the FISA court ...WaPo

Here we are, seven years later, raising the same questions with the same judge.  Is that fair?

In the comment section of today's report in the Post, the response from at least one reader is clear and unforgiving.

Even if this court turned down every request from NSA, the principle of a secret court which issues secret opinions is incompatible with even the broadest understanding of what democracy (or republic) means. ..."TMX"

Gradually Americans are learning what "national security" really means when applied by a bought-'n'-paid-for government whose components depend financially on a private sector that, in turn, has come to depend on huge profits from illicit data collection, manipulation of voters, and foreign wars.

___

None of this is helps the US government in its relationship with the rest of the world.

The president of the European parliament has called for "full clarification" from the US over claims it bugged EU offices in America and accessed computer networks.

Martin Schulz said it would have a "severe impact" on relations between the EU and the US if revelations by German magazine Der Spiegel are true.

Der Spiegel reported that the US had bugged offices and gained access to EU internal computer networks, according to secret documents – the latest in a series of exposures of alleged US spy programmes.

It quoted from a "top secret" US National Security Agency (NSA) document from September 2010 that Der Spiegel said former NSA contractor Edward Snowden had taken with him, and which the magazine's journalists had seen in part.

Der Spiegel said the document outlines how the NSA bugged offices and spied on EU internal computer networks in Washington and at the United Nations, listening to conversations and phone calls and gaining access to documents and emails. It said the document explicitly called the EU a target. ...The Guardian

The punishment for Edward Snowden's grit is bound to be unpretty.

Allowing them to die -- over and over again

That's just part of the story of  our abandonment of allies in Iraq.  The whole horrible story can be found here.  It includes the Bush administration's efforts to throw Iraqis under the bus, Iraqis who had helped our military and intelligence and who were now being savagely killed for having helped Americans.  Worse, the story doesn't get any better when Obama comes into office, in spite of his promises. 

It tells how our bureaucracy doesn't work when Congress and/or the Executive don't want it to work.  It's a story about  cruel assassinations in Iraq but it's really a story about Americans as the assassins standing off-screen, not lifting a finger.  Watch  for the next chapter in the same story... in Afghanistan.  And if you still think this isn't something we do, not really,  then go watch the films of what took place on rooftop of the American embassy in  Saigon all those years ago.

Attempts to stop a woman from speaking in the Texas legislature

Wendy Davis, the Fort Worth, Texas, state senator tells an interviewer from Public Radio about her ordeal -- the childish, petulant attempts to stop her from speaking -- in the Texas legislature.  Really worth a listen to what it's like for a woman to go up against white male politicians in a red state -- guys playing dirty! -- and win.

___

NB:  Monday, July 1,  Governor Perry and Texas Republicans will try again to get their bill passed.  MoveOn is one of the organizations helping to coordinate another rally at the Capitol building in Austin.  They will be updating us on exactly when to be there as the news comes in.  Anyone who is able to do it should go to downtown Austin with laptop, tablet, phone, whatever, and be ready to join the rally.  Updates at MoveOn.

"Or we fuck-a yo mudda": GOP tries strong-arm tactics to abolish Obamacare

Senate Republican leaders have sent letters warning six professional sports leagues not to provide the Obama administration any assistance in promoting Obamacare.

The letters, dated June 27, warn the chiefs of the National Football League, Major League Baseball, National Basketball Association, National Hockey League, Professional Golf Association and NASCAR that partnering with the administration to publicize the benefits of the health care law would damage their reputations.

“Given the divisiveness and persistent unpopularity of this bill, it is difficult to understand why an organization like yours would risk damaging its inclusive and apolitical brand by lending its name to its promotion,” wrote Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and Minority Whip John Cornyn (R-TX). ...TalkingPointsMemo

Tea party violence. Again.

A group of Tea Party members caused fear that a Colorado town’s 4th of July parade won’t be safe to attend because they’ll be carrying weapons.

The town of Westcliffe normally has a lively 4th of July parade every year and is described as the busiest day for businesses. This year, however, citizens were afraid of what will happen with as many as 300 people marching with guns slung on their shoulders.

The Southern Colorado Patriots’ Club sent a out a flier advertising the parade and instructing members to bring unloaded rifles, “especially the evil black ones.”

The Custer County Chamber of Commerce, the event’s sponsor, cancelled the parade after fearful citizens circulated a petition to stop the club. Donna Hood, president of the chamber, abstained from the vote to cancel the parade but told the Denver Post that the controversy has “polarized this community in a week.”

According to the Post, members have carried concealed weapons in the past, but this year want to be more dramatic after two gun control laws passed the legislature that will take effect on Monday. ...Think Progress