Month: January 2012

Green Jobs and Tax Increases on the Rich are Popular

by David Atkins
David Roberts has a good post on Grist today with a reminder of the obvious: green jobs and tax increases on the remain popular planks. Her analysis uses data from a Democracy Corps dial test focus group to reinforce what should already be self-evident:

Overall, there was a striking degree of unanimity, quite in contrast to the polarization in Washington. Reactions to the speech split along party lines on only a few issues. The most interesting split came during the section of the speech on energy:

This section received the highest sustained ratings of the speech from Democrats and independents, but it was also one of the few polarizing sections as Republicans reacted negatively to the President’s call for more support of clean energy (independents, like Democrats, responded very favorably). Overall, Obama gained 22 points on the issue, one of his biggest gains on the evening, as these voters endorsed his appeal to end subsidies for oil companies and instead focus those resources on expanding clean energy in America.

It seems the Republican attempt to drag clean energy into the culture war has reached only the conservative base. Independents outside the Fox-Limbaugh loop still favor it.

In other words, this is a powerful wedge issue that favors Democrats.

With the Wall Street Journal editorial page beating its chest, Politico making sweet, sweet love to the Solyndra non-scandal, and the Chamber of Commerce dumping money into attack ads, Democrats have gotten unduly spooked. They’ve started believing John Boehner’s trash talk, that energy is a wedge to divide unions from greens.

It’s an empty threat. The fact is, overwhelming majorities of Americans — across party, age, and regional lines — support clean, modern energy. A poll conducted by ORC International in November found that 77 percent of Americans, including 65 percent of Republicans, believe that “the U.S. needs to be a clean energy technology leader and it should invest in the research and domestic manufacturing of wind, solar, and energy efficiency technologies.” Last February, a Gallup poll offered a list of actions Congress might take. The most popular option, with an incredible 83 percent support, was “an energy bill that provides incentives for using solar and other alternative energy resources.”

And the data is clear on taxing the wealthy as well:

On to the second significant finding: Americans want to tax the rich.

These swing voters, even the Republicans, responded enthusiastically to [Obama’s] call for a “Buffett Rule” that would require the wealthiest Americans to pay their fair share. As one participant put it, “I agree with his tax reform — the 1 percent should shoulder more of the burden than the other 99 percent. He [Obama] talked about being all for one, one for all — that really resonated for me.” These dial focus groups make it very clear that defending further tax cuts for those at the top of the economic spectrum puts Republicans in Congress and on the Presidential campaign trail well outside of the American mainstream.

(See also this Sept. 2011 Gallup poll or this Oct. 2011 Bloomberg poll or this Oct. 2011 CBS News poll or many others).

What this shows is that the Occupy movement has won. Americans across party lines increasingly see things in terms of the 1 percent and the 99 percent. A Pew survey earlier this month found that “conflict between rich and poor now eclipses racial strain and friction between immigrants and the native-born as the greatest source of tension in American society.” Two-thirds of Americans now see “strong conflicts” between the rich and poor. Even Mitt Romney is using Occupy’s language.

These issues — clean energy and taxing the rich — are not unconnected. Properly done, clean energy is a populist issue. Big Oil perfectly symbolizes the 1 percent, and Americans are ready to redirect public resources away from oil and toward a wide network of home-grown cleantech innovators.

There won’t be any excuse for blue doggy Dems and their Washington consultants to run away from these issues. The time for using the cop-out of stupidity or cowardice is well nigh at an end. The data is so strikingly clear at this point, that any Democrat who fails to highlight these issues has to be declared either corrupt or so incompetent that they don’t deserve to hold office.

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The real Jesus’ General goes back to West Point

by digby

This is cracked:

Boykin is worse than that. He’s certifiably nuts:

I stumbled across this video of Perkins, Joyner, Boykin and Frank Turek discussing the importance of Christians getting deeply involved in politics.

Perkins explains the absolute necessity of getting Christians into all levels of government while Boykin compared Christians today to the Spartan army and quoted King Leonidas by declaring “molon labe” [“come and get them”] when he and his army were told to lay down their weapons.

Likewise, Boykin declared “molon labe,” stating that he will not be silenced and challenged those in Washington who are out to take his liberties, rob his grandchildren, and destroy America to just try to take them from him.

Finally, Joyner announced that Christians have more than enough people to take control, but they need to bind together and, as such, would soon be unveiling coalition called “300”.

You’re telling me that this freakshow is the only Christian ex-general they could find to do this? Really? But then again it’s hard to see how he could do more harm by making this speech than he undoubtedly did in his final years in the Army:

From April 1998 to February 2000, he served as the Commanding General, U.S. Army Special Forces Command (Airborne) at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. From March 2000-2003, he was the Commanding General, United States Army John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center, Fort Bragg, N.C. In June 2003, he was appointed Deputy Undersecretary of Defense for Intelligence under Dr. Stephen Cambone, Undersecretary of Defense for Intelligence.

You’d think after all this time they’d have finally realized that they had a certified lunatic in their ranks, but apparently not.

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In your shoes, you know he’ll lose?

by digby

I guess this is supposed to be tough, but is it really? It’s a purely process argument saying that he isn’t electable. Maybe it’ll work. But if they really want to stop him, they should try this one:

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Ring fencing

by digby

Dday has an important new post explaining that while there is still ample reason to be skeptical of the new financial fraud task force, there is a possibility that New York AG Eric Schneiderman may not have blindly walked into a trap or sold out — apparently, there is room in the agreement for him to push the investigation in a positive direction. And according to dday’s sources, Schneidermann has promised to ostentatiously walk out if it turns out that the administration is trying to “ring-fence” him. (Read his whole post for the full run down of how this could play out.)

Schneidermann has generally been known to be a rare savvy, but principled, politician so it’s at least possible that he will be able to navigate these waters successfully. It’s an election year, this is a volatile issue in some very important states, and Schneiderman signaling that he will be happy to walk away if that’s what it takes is a very big threat.

Look, it is hard for me to believe this notion that Schneiderman, after everything, was angling for big wet kiss from the administration. None of that tracks with dday’s reporting which says that the deal wasn’t coming together at all as recently as last week-end and once Iowa AG Tom Miller publicly pulled the deal it was all over for the moment. The politics suggest to me that while the administration may indeed be trying to “ring-fence” Schneidermann, the real purpose is the glaringly obvious: to cover for their failure to settle this. (Isn’t the truism in DC that when you can’t get something done, form a commission?)The power in that scenario lies exactly where it did before the task force was announced — with the state AGs, who as far as I can tell are more empowered not less. (See Kamala Harris’statement below.) I’m willing to suspend judgment for a while to see if that means Schneidermann is actually a corrupt chameleon who’s taken progressives for a wild ride through his entire career in order to sell himself to the highest bidder or whether he believes he can affect this from his perch on the task force.

I don’t see this as a sky is falling sort of thing just yet. There are very good reasons to be skeptical and you’d have to be a fool to buy into the premise at face value. But there are worse things than temporarily tabling a bad deal. And there actually are politicians in the world whose self-serving ambitions are dependent upon being perceived as crusaders rather than players. Everything I know of Schneiderman suggests that the former is the path he’s chosen.

I guess, for me, it comes down to this: I don’t think the administration is nearly as slick as people think and I don’t believe that in an election year like this one they will go out of their way to make enemies of their political allies. Everything suggests that they are trying to make at least a rhetorical pivot to a populist(ish) campaign to face the out-of-touch fop*, Mitt Romney. It is what it appears to be: plastering lipstick on this pig of a negotiation and pretending they have a path to a cheap settlement in order to keep both the banks and the people on the hook through the election. They are not working with a strong hand.

And because of that, what dday says here is very true:

I…can see some path where this task force is not harmful and, in an absolute best case, helpful in bringing accountability and justice. The key for Schneiderman is to maintain his independence. A lot of people walk into Washington thinking they can outsmart people and work on their own terms. It doesn’t always work out. The grassroots will be a powerful spur in this. They need to not spike the ball in the end zone and continue to do what they have been doing, forcing the White House into uncomfortable positions and blowing up an insufficient settlement.

I suppose people may differ on how to do help Schneiderman maintain his independence. My feeling is that he should be given the benefit of the doubt at this point. Some people believe that the only thing that ever motivates human beings is pain, delivered constantly and without mercy, so maybe he’s better “spurred” by being called a whore and a sell-out and abandoned by his progressive allies. We all have to follow our own instincts on that.

But regardless of where you fall on that point, dday’s admonition to keep pushing is absolutely correct. Even if activists eventually vote for the president, they can cause huge headaches for the campaign in an election year, particularly in individual states. This is when they have maximum leverage and they should use it.

*h/t to greg sargent
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Kudos to CA Attorney General Kamala Harris

by David Atkins

With New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman likely being disempowered to stop the MERS whitewash, it’s up to other Attorneys General to stand firm. Fortunately, California’s Attorney General Kamala Harris appears to be doing just that:

Calif. Atty. Gen. Kamala D. Harris’ office has called a proposed $25-billion settlement with the nation’s mortgage industry “inadequate.”

“We’ve reviewed the details of the latest settlement proposal from the banks, and we believe it is inadequate for California,” Shum Preston, a spokesman for Harris, said in a statement. “Our state has been clear about what any multistate settlement must contain: transparency, relief going to the most distressed homeowners and meaningful enforcement that ensures accountability. At this point, this deal does not suffice for California.”

Many analysts consider California’s participation to be key to a strong deal. Harris walked away from talks with the banks last year, saying not enough was being offered by the financial institutions for California homeowners.

Since then, certain terms have been added to lure the Golden State back to the table, and Harris has opened separate inquiries into the mortgage business.

State attorneys general have received drafts of a $25-billion settlement with the nation’s biggest banks that would overhaul foreclosure and mortgage servicing practices. No deal has been officially reached among the states, federal agencies and the nation’s five largest mortgage servicers: Bank of America Corp., JPMorgan Chase & Co., Wells Fargo & Co.,Citigroup Inc. and Ally Financial Inc. Individual states must decide whether they will join a settlement or pursue independent lawsuits and investigations.

The proposed $25-billion settlement would cover only mortgages held by the banks privately and exclude those from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

Hopefully Ms. Harris will continue withstand Administration pressure to cover up massive fraud on the part of the banks.

Please take a moment to thank her for her courage. When politicians do the right thing, they deserve our support.

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Woof!

By tristero

Man, that Ricky Santorum is barking up the wrong tree.:

I would say any type of sexual activity has absolutely no place in the military

I think it will probably come as a huge surprise to all those 18 year-olds in our armed forces to learn that a man who, incredibly, is considered by a many Republicans a very serious contender for the job of Leader of the Whole World believes that they took a vow of celibacy when they signed up to defend their country.

Good luck with that.

Zombies are eating election officials brains

by digby

Not that this will stop the wingnuts from their crusade but it should. Turns out that the South Carolina zombies weren’t zombies after all:

A top state election official disputes a recent claim that more than 950 people who voted in recent elections could actually be dead. Of the six names her office was allowed to examine, all were eligible to vote.

But to hear some Republican officials tell it, you’d think that on Election Day in South Carolina, graveyards all across the state empty out and hordes of zombie voters lurch to the polls.

But dead people can’t vote. They’re dead.

This apparently needs some clarification, because during testimony at a Jan. 11 House hearing, S.C. Department of Motor Vehicles director Kevin Shwedo estimated that 950-plus dead people had voted since – well, since being dead.

So alarmed was Shwedo – who Gov. Nikki Haley appointed to the DMV post last January and who registered to vote here the following month at age 54 – sent the data to state law enforcement.

The reliability of that data, however, came into question today during another hearing on the issue where State Election Commission director Marci Andino testified that some of the voters the DMV data said were dead are very much alive – and were eligible to cast a ballot.

But you know this will be a rural legend throughout Real America. They are just determined to believe that a bunch of people are trying to steal elections. Because that’s what they’re trying to do.

In this case they seem to be more than a little bit confused. It was a Republican primary. I know these people think these Democratic zombies are stupid but do they think they’re so stupid that they would commit fraud to vote for Obama in an uncontested election? Or is it that they want to elect … Romney? Hard to figure either way.

Let’s just say that this one doesn’t make a lot of sense.

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Blood for oil? You’ve got to be kidding.

by digby

Something’s fishy in Tripoli? Daniel J. Graeber of Oilprice.com:

Way back in early 2011, members of the U.N. Security Council had no problem getting a resolution through that authorized military force in Libya ostensibly to protect civilians from attacks by forces loyal to strongman Moammar Gadhafi. The year before, lawmakers on both sides of the Atlantic were bickering over who did what and why in terms of the cancer-stricken Lockerbie bomber. This Scottish decision to release him, depending on which U.S. lawmaker you spoke with, was tied to a BP deal to drill for oil in Libya. Despite fractures in the new interim government in Tripoli and reports of renewed protests, a decision by the Italian government to quietly discuss trade relations suggests something isn’t quite right in the way Western allies pick their fights.

Read on.

If it’s questions are answered in the most obvious way it will end up being one of the quickest debunking of a casus belli in modern history. Not that anyone’s too surprised, I’m sure.

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Pedal to the metal is the new normal

by David Atkins

It’s remarkable that this is treated as humdrum news these days:

The Federal Reserve said Wednesday that it was likely to leave short-term interest rates at rock-bottom levels at least through late 2014, pushing out its easy-monetary policy even further into the future than previously indicated.

In a statement at the end of its two-day meeting, policymakers at the central bank acknowledged the recent improvements in the economy but said that they expected “economic growth over coming quarters to be modest” and the unemployment rate, currently 8.5%, to decline “only gradually.”

The decision was what many analysts had expected.

Since August, the Fed had said it was likely to keep the federal funds rate, which broadly influences rates on loans for businesses and consumers, at near zero “at least through mid-2013.” Financial markets, however, most recently have been betting that the shift won’t happen until early 2014.

People tend to forget that a zero federal funds rate is supposed to be an emergency measure. Low interest rates help people afford to buy houses and other investments, but they hurt traditional savers. People who speculate on homes and stocks do better, while people on wage income with CDs and savings accounts get screwed, further incentivizing the bubble economy. It’s a pedal to the metal approach to keep asset values as inflated as possible while doing nothing about wages. But beyond even more “quantitative easing”, there’s no farther for the Fed to go on this front even to reinflate assets.

We’ve been at “pedal to the metal” for years, and we’re apparently going to stay there with no end in sight.

That’s not to say that a zero interest rate environment isn’t necessary during a major recession. It probably is. But a zero-interest rate environment for years and years on end during a largely jobless recovery is more proof that the economy is broken. There’s an argument to be had over whether the governmental and financial elites in this area are greedy, incompetent or both. But the notion that they deserve unquestioned respect as arcane priests of economic wisdom is ludicrous.

They’re essentially throwing every asset-inflating policy against the wall to see what sticks, and praying something works.

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We often say in these parts that conservatives don’t have a sense of humor. But that’s wrong. It’s just that it’s the kind of cruel stupid humor most of us get past before we’re out of high school.

Just eat some tacos, it’ll be fine.

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