John Nichols at The Nation writes Senator's Call Stirs Movement to Get Congress Focused on Economic Justice:
[Sen. Tammy Baldwin] correctly diagnosed an old disease: “The truth is, while you hear a lot about the wide distance between Democrats and Republicans, the widest and most important distance in our political system is between the content of the debate here in Washington and the concerns of working families in places like Wisconsin. That distance parallels the large and growing gaps between the rich and the poor…between rising costs and stagnant incomes…between our nation and our competitors when it comes to education and innovation. And it’s really hurting people.”
Paul Krugman at
The New York Times writes
The Geezers Are All Right:
To be fair, the reports of the Social Security and Medicare trustees released Friday do suggest that America’s retirement system needs some significant work. The ratio of Americans over 65 to those of working age will rise inexorably over the decades ahead, and this will translate into rising spending on Social Security and Medicare as a share of national income.
But the numbers aren’t nearly as overwhelming as you might have imagined, given the usual rhetoric. And if you look under the hood, the data suggest that we can, if we choose, maintain social insurance as we know it with only modest adjustments.
Eugene Robinson at the
Washington Post concludes that
The GOP is too juvenile to govern, although too venomous would be an apt substitute in that description:
Two months ago, Reid and the Democrats finally passed a budget. Since the House has already passed its version — the controversial plan authored by Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) — the next step should be for both chambers to appoint members of a conference committee that would iron out the differences. But Republicans won’t let this happen.
More punditry can be found below the fold.
Gary Younge at The Guardian writes Hypocrisy lies at the heart of the trial of Bradley Manning:
On Monday Bradley Manning, the young man who leaked those diplomatic cables, goes on trial in a military court in Maryland. He has pleaded guilty to 10 charges which would put him behind bars for 20 years. But that is not enough for the US military that has levelled 22 charges against him, including espionage and "aiding the enemy", which carries up to life in prison without parole. At the time Manning released the diplomatic cables and military reports he wrote: "I want people to see the truth … regardless of who they are. Because without information, you cannot make informed decisions as a public." He hoped by releasing the cables he would spark "worldwide discussion, debates, and reforms".
Meanwhile, the case against him indicates the degree to which the war on terror (a campaign that has been officially retired describing a legal, military and political edifice that remains firmly intact) privileges secrecy over not only transparency but humanity. This is exemplified in one of his leak's more explosive revelations – a video that soon went viral showing two Reuters employees, among others, being shot dead by a US Apache helicopter in Iraq. They were among a dozen or so people milling around near an area where US troops had been exposed to small arms fire. The soldiers, believing the camera to be a weapon, opened fire, leaving several dead and some wounded.
Kathleen Parker adds her two cents to the commentary over the Pew Center for Research's study on women breadwinners by writing at the
Washington Post—
The new F-word: Father:
[T]rends that diminish the importance of fathers from the family unit cannot—or should not—be celebrated. Contrary to the Hollywood version of single motherhood, a trend that began with Murphy Brown more than 20 years ago, single mothers are more likely to be younger, black or Hispanic, and less educated, according to Pew, and they have a median family income of $23,000. In those families where married women earn more than their husbands, the woman is more often white, older and college educated and the median household income is $80,000.
Jotaka Eaddy and Kemba Smith at
The Grio write
In Virginia, Delaware, positive steps on ending felony disenfranchisement :
These disenfranchised voters are our loved-ones, neighbors, coworkers, fellow citizens and taxpayers. A ring of bad choices, and a zero tolerance minimum sentence, sent an abused young woman to jail and into a voting rights battle that lasted 12 years. Another mistake 15 years ago, stopped a Florida mother and law graduate from taking the bar exam and voting in elections. For Dennis Gaddy in North Carolina, a bout of bad luck and poor financial decisions threw him into a quagmire of re-entry obstacles, including being blocked from the polls. The stories are limitless. [...]
But moves to restore voting rights in states like Delaware, Virginia, and Iowa are proof that the narrative is gradually changing.
Micah Uetricht at
In These Times writes
10-Year Strike at Chicago’s Congress Hotel Ends in Defeat, But Leaves a Legacy:
The longest strike in America ended yesterday when the union representing workers at the Congress Hotel in Chicago tacitly admitted defeat at the hands of an owner whose iron resolve to break the strike seemed stronger than his desire to turn a profit.
Despite the defeat, the 10-year strike leaves a complicated legacy for Chicago’s labor movement. Its confrontational tactics have resonated throughout the city and struck fear into the hearts of bosses.
Larry Kudlow at
National Review uses his column to press once again for plutocrat-fattening flatter taxes when he writes
Tax Reform Is the IRS Fix :
If people want to give to political campaigns, fine. Give as much as you want to whomever. But post it on the Internet for all to see right away. No secret donors. No tax deductions. And no IRS interpretations.
I don't know how many other examples of tax-exempt craziness there are in the IRS code. The Journal itself says, "The tax code would be cleaner, and our politics fairer, if no one enjoyed any tax-exempt advantages." Right on. That's where the simplicity comes from.
The Los Angeles Times Editorial Board writes
An end-run with clean energy funds:
Approved by voters in November, Proposition 39 is expected to raise close to $1 billion a year by eliminating a tax break enjoyed by some multistate businesses. The money, however, comes with a significant string attached: For the first five years, half of it must be spent on projects that improve energy efficiency and reduce greenhouse emissions. Gov. Jerry Brown wants to direct next year's allotment exclusively to public schools and community colleges, which isn't a bad idea. But he's doing it in a way that violates the spirit, if not the letter, of the initiative. [...]
The Brown administration, however, wants to dole out all the fund's money in 2013 to public school districts and community colleges without regard to their needs or plans. Instead, the money would be distributed on a per-pupil basis, with a minimum grant of $15,000 per district. Nor would Brown require districts to spend more on energy efficiency, or create more jobs, than they'd planned to spend before Proposition 39 was passed.
David A. Graham at
Americans Oppose Affirmative Action for Race, If You Only Ask White Americans:
The story also drops this seemingly innocuous fact: "Polls show that while most Americans oppose racial or ethnic preferences in college admissions, they also think colleges should give extra help to the poor."
That's a deceptively complex statement. When you actually take a look at the polls, the truth is more like this: A majority of Americans oppose racial or ethnic preferences, but only because a majority of Americans are also white.
Joe Glenton at
The Independent writes
The idea that our forces would act as a break on American excesses was a pipe dream:
In the face of [U.K. Secretary of State for Defence] Phil Hammond’s lame
attempts at deflection, the revelation that up to 90 Afghans have been held in a secret, apparently extrajudicial prison in Camp Bastion, some of them for up to 14 months, tells us a number of things.
For a start it counters a theory which was once commonly held in UK military circles. At the start of the War on Terror, when it became clear that Tony Blair was determined to follow George W. Bush into disaster, there existed a secondary hope that the British military, with its experience in, for example, Northern Ireland, would act as a brake on American excesses.
This was a pipedream.
Erika Eichelberger at
Mother Jones writes
Sorry, There's Been No Economic Recovery for Poor and Minority Households:
There has been lots of cheery news about the economic recovery lately. A new report out Thursday from the Federal Reserve puts that in check. American households have rebuilt less than half of the wealth they lost during the recession, according to the study. And most of the wealth that has been recovered went to rich white people.
"A conclusion that the financial damage of the crisis and recession largely has been repaired is not justified," says the report. "Most families have recovered much less than the average amount."
James Turner at the
Los Angeles Times writes
The battle against global warming should not be about judging people's every choice.:
Maybe it's time for us to remove the guilt. Yes, I drive a car that runs on gasoline. I fly for work when necessary and occasionally for vacation. But doing these things is not the same as admitting they are inevitable. Five years ago I flew more; now I use Skype. Bike lanes have been newly painted in my neighborhood, so I cycle to the store. In a couple of years, electric cars might come into my price range. In the meantime, I refuse to feel guilty.
In the battle against climate change, we should not be waging guilt trips on one another. Rather, we should take the fight to those who use our sense of personal responsibility against us. Climate change is a problem, and we must fix it. But it's certainly not our fault.