Visual source: Newseum
NY Times:
In a stunning rebuke to House Republican leaders, the House on Wednesday defeated a routine bill to finance the government through mid-November, leaving unclear how the House and Senate will come to terms on a measure that also provides aid to victims of floods, hurricanes, wildfires and tornadoes...
ut Representative Bill Pascrell Jr., Democrat of New Jersey, denounced the Republicans’ determination to offset some of the cost. “This is an absolute disgrace,” Mr. Pascrell said. “We are all Americans. We need to help our brothers and sisters who are hurting right now.”
Linda Greenhouse:
Judicial opinions on the constitutionality of the new health care law are pouring out of the federal courts. With the general expectation that the Supreme Court will have to resolve what is now a clear conflict between two federal courts of appeals, the individual lower-court decisions have pretty much ceased to make news. By the time the Supreme Court rules, if and when it does, a decision earlier this month by the federal appeals court in Richmond, Va., throwing out Virginia’s challenge to the statute without reaching the ultimate constitutional question, will be all but forgotten.
That would be unfortunate, because in its relatively brief 33 pages, this opinion from a unanimous three-judge panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, sitting in the heart of the old Confederacy, offers a powerful reminder of a fact that a dismaying number of folks appear lately to have forgotten: the Civil War is over.
NY Times/Room For Debate:
So far, Mr. Obama has declined the invitation to craft more race-specific policies but has opted instead for broader public policies on the theory that a rising tide will lift all boats. In his recent book, "The Persistence of the Color Line: Racial Politics and the Obama Presidency," Prof. Randall Kennedy of Harvard Law School termed this approach the politics of "transracial universalism."
Is Professor Kennedy right that the Obama administration is pursuing a politics of "transracial universalism"? This politics of transracial universalism seem to be perfectly in sync with the Supreme Court's approach to race. Is the era of race-consciousness over in both law and politics? Guy-Uriel Charles, a professor of law at Duke University, organized this discussion of the issue.
EJ Dionne:
Have you noticed that one of the Obama administration’s most successful programs is also its most “socialist” initiative?
Okay, the bailout of General Motors and Chrysler was not socialist in the classic sense: The government was not looking to hold on to the companies over the long run. Their turnaround was accomplished in significant part by tough, capitalist management steps.
But, yes, this was socialism — or, perhaps, “state capitalism” — because the government temporarily took substantial ownership in the companies when no one in the private sector was willing to put up enough capital to prevent them from going under. Today, the companies are thriving.
Stephen Dworkin:
So it may seem strange to many Americans, especially those who have suffered from formaldehyde exposure, that it took the HHS over 20 years to reclassify formaldehyde as a “known” rather than a “probable” carcinogen, eleven of which were spent on a lengthy and much-delayed update to EPA assessments of the chemical’s health effects. Strange that it has taken even longer for the EPA to finally begin regulating greenhouse gas emissions, and even that has hit several snags. Strange, that is, until one factors in how the implementation of environmental programs, even ones that have been put in place by law, is often at the mercy of individual members of the U.S. Senate.
Dueling views on Perry from the right and the hard right:
Jennifer Rubin:
My colleague Marc Thiessen doesn’t like the source of much of the data on Texas Gov. Rick Perry’s system of patronage. He claims that Texans for Public Justice is a “secretive, left-wing, Soros-funded organization,”and their reports should be ignored....
I understand all too well the inclination among conservatives to shelter Perry from criticism. But only Perry can put these and many other issues to bed. A savvy Republican operative (who previously was enthusiastic about Perry and is now undecided) said it best to me this afternoon. “If he gets better and explains all this he’ll be the nominee. And if not, he won’t be.” Yup.
What??? Perry isn't the steamroller/juggernaut political force we are supposed to wake up sweating about?? He's every bit as politically loathsome as he appears, but his march to the WH is far from certain.
Marc Thiessen:
There may or may not be something to the “crony capitalism” charges against Rick Perry. No doubt we will find out more as the presidential campaign unfolds. But conservatives should pause before taking the word of a secretive, left-wing, Soros-funded organization that has spent the last 15 years attacking conservative politicians who work to rein in trial lawyers and institute pro-business reforms.
Conservatives are not who will elect the next President. This entire concentration on "conservatives only" is exactly what's wrong with the right. Democrats are for everyone, including non-Democrats (hence many of our spirited discussions), Republicans are for conservatives only.
