Visual source: Newseum
Paul Krugman pounds on the austerity-mongers again:
Just to take one recent example, when Mitch Daniels, the governor of Indiana, delivered the Republican reply to the State of the Union address, he insisted that “we’re only a short distance behind Greece, Spain and other European countries now facing economic catastrophe.” By the way, apparently nobody told him that Spain had low government debt and a budget surplus on the eve of the crisis; it’s in trouble thanks to private-sector, not public-sector, excess.
But what Greek experience actually shows is that while running deficits in good times can get you in trouble — which is indeed the story for Greece, although not for Spain — trying to eliminate deficits once you’re already in trouble is a recipe for depression.
E.J. Dionne irked a lot of his readers when he wrote in opposition to the Obama administration's first stance requiring religiously affiliated organizations to provide health insurance for their employees that includes contraception. But after the administration compromised on the matter, Dionne is wondering if the response from conservatives in the Catholic hierarchy isn't an indication they want to turn the Roman Catholic Church "into the Tea Party at prayer."
The Los Angeles Times:
To the evident discomfort of the White House and President Obama's reelection campaign, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa has called for the Democratic Party's 2012 platform to include an endorsement of same-sex marriage. Instead of resenting — or fearing — the mayor's proposal, Obama should embrace it and end once and for all the exasperating "evolution" of his views on the subject.
Veteran labor journalist
David Moberg laments the deal American Airlines negotiated with its workforce on pensions:
While some airlines, like United and US Air, used bankruptcy to end pension plans, Northwest, Delta and Continental either froze or preserved intact all or most of their plans. And despite complaints about their high costs, PBGC says many American competitors have higher pension costs. Delta pays into its funds 2/3 more per employee than American. Many of the other bankruptcies and pension terminations occurred when the whole industry was in trouble. Now American is the only major airline losing money.
Workers and their pensions are not the problem, [Transport Workers Union President Jim] Little says. Since 2003 TWU workers have surrendered 30 percent of their pay—about $600 million, adding to a grand total of "billions of dollars" in concessions from all union workers since 2001, Little says. Bad management is the problem: "They didn't modernize their fleet, missed merger opportunities, got stuck with higher fuel costs, lost money year after year--and rewarded themselves with hundreds of millions in executive bonuses," he wrote.
Kathleen Pender wonders why all but 23 House Democrats, including Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, got "suckered" into backing HR3606, which would sharply cut investor protections for capital formation by some small and medium-sized businesses.
David Frum:
The most famous study of America, written by Alexis de Tocqueville in the 1830s, depicted a society shaped and dominated by its middle class, everywhere outside the slaveholding south. He saw a society where wealth existed, but where it passed from hand to hand, with no family remaining rich for very long -- and with new leaders constantly emerging from the ranks of the poor.
Americans still quote de Tocqueville for insight. But increasingly, those insights describe the country's past, not its present and future.
Kevin Drum reiterates the economic slippage of America's middle class over the past three decades, with a chart.
Ilsye Hogue gets it right in her column saying Bill Maher got it wrong:
In response to Rush's ranting, no one has called for our government censorship. People have merely vocalized their desire not to be associated with companies that associate with Rush. Those associations risk reflecting on our values, which--in this case—so drastically diverge from his that we care enough to change our choices over it. There are no issues of law or free speech here. This is simply the marketplace doing its thing, shaping both our commerce and our culture by reflecting shared agreement on conduct and conscience.
By conflating this economic feedback loop with Rush's right to free speech, Bill Maher played into a right-wing canard, misinterpreted the protections guaranteed by the First Amendment, and did himself and his viewers a disservice. In order to uphold the First Amendment, which is very important, it helps to know what it means.
Peggy Noonan has a chat with House Speaker John Boehner in which not much is revealed:
The prize is winning the White House and the Senate. "They all understand there's big limits on what we can do only having one house. And while we've been able to stop all the real craziness of what's going on, trying to peel this back ... is gonna be difficult." By "this," he means the size, cost and power of the federal government. "It took the other side 80 years to build this monstrosity ... and our guys want to get rid of it tomorrow." Congress, he says, doesn't work that way. The Founders designed it not to work that way.
As is so often the case,
Cal Thomas proves just how profoundly he doesn't get it:
Limbaugh should invite Sandra Fluke to lunch and get to know her as a person, not a label. At the very least, he would send an important message that civility and strong political speech do not have to be contradictory.
Who knows, he might even persuade her to become a conservative.