We begin today's roundup with
The New York Times editorial on the anniversary of the September 11th:
Soon after the horrific destruction of the World Trade Center towers 14 years ago, bumper stickers abounded in parallel with the nation’s grief. “Never Forget,” one proclaimed with great resolve. “We Will Always Remember,” promised another.
Now that they have faded from sight, their underlying message is being put to the test in Congress. The nation’s lawmakers have nothing less than a moral obligation to renew the health care and compensation programs for the thousands of 9/11 responders and volunteers severely stricken by their long labors at ground zero’s infernal pile of devastation.
These selfless workers were home-front casualties in what politicians presented as a war on terror. More than 33,000 responders and volunteers have developed illnesses from their time at the 9/11 sites, including Shanksville, Pa., and the Pentagon. Some 3,700 of them, including about 1,000 from the New York Fire Department, have developed cancers attributed to toxins that suffused ground zero.
The New Haven Register:
September 11, 2001, will always be remembered as the day 2,977 people lost their lives when four passenger airliners were hijacked and used as weapons in the deadliest act of terrorism in world history.
But it will also be remembered as a time that united Americans in intense anger and saddness. As grief swept across the nation, Americans of all nationalities bonded together in a strength of patriotism not seen since the days of World War II, as flags hung from front porches and candlelight vigils drew thousands.
Let’s remember that spirit and the bravery and heroism of ordinary citizens on that horrific day. Let’s be stewards of a better world as we honor those who lost their lives, and the children they left behind.
The St. Louis Post Dispatch:
We are a more fearful people today than we were before 9/11. Some of us fear Muslims. Some of us fear that terrorists are crossing our borders disguised as Mexican peasants. Some of us pander to those fears with a xenophobic nativism unworthy of a nation of immigrants.
We should get our security apparatus back in the box. We should stop quaking. We should strive to be worthy of the 2,977 victims of the 19 hijackers, and especially of the 411 police officers, firefighters and other first responders who gave their lives trying to help people they didn’t know. Remember them, and never forget.
More on the day's top stories below the fold.
Turning now to policy, Ari Berman at The Nation looks at the latest developments in restoring the Voting Rights Act:
Murkowski’s decision to support restoring the VRA stands in stark contrast to the hateful and inflammatory rhetoric espoused by Republican presidential candidates such as Donald Trump and reactionary efforts by the likes of Kim Davis to limit civil rights. [...]
“Senator Lisa Murkowski’s decision to co-sponsor the Voting Rights Advancement Act sends a clear signal to Congress that, as history shows, both parties can work together to restore the VRA,” said Wade Henderson, president of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights. “Alaska is one of the most diverse states in the nation and Alaskans know just how tenuous voting rights are without federal protection.”
At The Atlantic,
Bouree Lam dives into the Justice Department's new policy on white collar crime:
The memo states that firms are now required to turn over evidence of wrong-doing by their executives and employees for criminal investigations to be eligible for cooperation credit—which firms seek in order to avoid “serious consequences”, which sometimes mean lesser fines and penalties. Additionally, criminal and civil corporate investigations will focus on individuals from the beginning, in the hope that the resulting convictions will deter future wrongdoers, alter a corporate culture that won’t budge, and restore public confidence in the justice system.
But the trouble with policing financial fraud is that it isn’t always so easy to determine who was at fault. As the memo details, executives are usually insulated from misconduct as they’re not involved .
And now, to politics...with
Catherine Rampell's take on Jeb Bush's tax plan:
As others have pointed out, Jeb Bush’s tax plan axes taxes for pretty much everyone, but especially for really, really rich people.
Including, coincidentally, Jeb Bush.
The Republican presidential candidate would make out like a bandit under his own plan. According to my quick-and-dirty, back-of-the-envelope calculations based on Bush’s 2013 tax return, his liability for that year would have fallen by about $800,000, or about a quarter of what he paid Uncle Sam.
And
Eugene Robinson provides his smart take on the Republican primary and the Iran deal:
It’s nothing new for House Republicans to tilt at windmills; they’ve passed more than 50 bills repealing all or part of the Affordable Care Act, not one of which had the slightest effect. But this long-standing disagreement over legislative tactics is hardly the only schism dividing the GOP these days.
Now, thanks largely to front-runner Trump, there is also an increasingly sharp divide over economic policy. Plutocrats, free-traders and supply-siders are on the defensive — and rapidly losing ground.
On a final note,
The New York Times adds its perspective on the Syrian refugee crisis:
However great the crisis, it should not have come to this. It should not have come as a surprise: Four million Syrians fleeing the civil war in their country have long overwhelmed refugee camps in Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan, while boatloads of miserable people have been risking death to cross the Mediterranean for years. It was certainly within the ability of a rich and united Europe to manage. [... ] As Europe gets its act together, so should the United States. President Obama indicated Thursday that the United States would take in at least 10,000 Syrian refugees. But the White House also emphasized that the administration would not expedite the review process for refugees, which can take two years to complete. That paltry number sets a terrible example for other nations asked to step up to this urgent challenge.