August 2 Won't Happen On August 2

The Times reports on the likely "real" deadline in the debt-ceiling talks and implicitly smacks The One:

U.S. May Have Way to Cover Bills After Deadline, for Week

By BINYAMIN APPELBAUM

WASHINGTON — It turns out the federal government is sitting on some extra cash.

Thanks to an inflow of tax payments and maneuvering by the Treasury Department, the government can probably continue to pay all of its bills for several days after Aug. 2, providing potentially critical breathing room for Congress to raise the debt ceiling, according to estimates by several Wall Street banks and a Washington research organization.

The consensus is that the government will not run short of money until Aug. 10, when it would be unable to cut millions of Social Security checks without borrowing more money.

President Obama has described Aug. 2 as a “hard deadline” for Congress to increase the maximum amount that the government is allowed to borrow.

“We have to do it by next Tuesday, Aug. 2, or else we won’t be able to pay all of our bills,” Mr. Obama told the nation in his speech on Monday night.

Jay Carney, the White House spokesman, restated that position on Tuesday.

“That’s not a guess. That’s not a political opinion,” Mr. Carney said. “It is the judgment of career analysts at the Treasury Department. We give up our borrowing authority without action by Congress. And the result of that risks default for the United States for the first time in our history.”

That description, however, conflates two distinct events.

As previously noted, the real deadline seems to be August 9 or 10.  As best I can tell with my searches,the Times has still not addressed Obama's fear-mongering about Social Security checks on August 2.  Have they, too, forgotten about the trust fund?  And don't Upper West Siders have moms and grannies, too?  Surely even reliable liberals are worried that granny might not get her check.

The Times treatment of the Social Security angle is almost puzzling.  Social Security is an iconic Democratic program with plenty of statutory funding room provided by the trust fund.  It would take a wilfull President and Treasury Secretary to fail to get those checks out, and I am sure that if this were a Republican President holding granny hostage, the Times would be screaming about his (her?) defiance of the Social Security legal framework and clear Congressional intent.

But since its Obama, holding granny hostage is nothing to mention.  What is it with Obama and grannies, anyway?

Comments

[centralcal]

Good morning. Going off topic just a wee bit. Tried to post this on the Cantor thread and typepad ate it :(

The Pool - another of the Powerline entries. Just loved the simplicity of this!

[centralcal]

Another of the entries is quite riveting and troubling, yet somehow encouraging - Young Cons at Darthmouth.

Go watch them both!

[Sue]

Is anyone listening? We will have to borrow money to pay granny. It is unsustainable. Our MSM is killing us slowly. Dumbing down America. One column at a time.

[Clarice]

Love the headline.
You don't suppose this adds to Obama's credibility problem, do you?

[centralcal]

Just keep spending, spending, spending. From Twitter this AM:

@DarrellIssa
Postal Appetizer: did you know folks are working behind-the-scenes on a $75 BILLION postal bailout (instead of fixing it)? not on our watch

The right hand tries to find ways to cut, the left hand throws money at everything (oh, not their own money - OPM).

[Captain Hate]

I posted yesterday that it was a false deadline although I'm surprised that the house of Pinch decided to mention it. Not sure what their motive is in doing so other than they're nervous regarding how this is playing out for Preznit Pantsload and his catamites in the Senate.

[Appalled]

Repeating myself, but I figure this will be the active thread on this now

=======================================

David Brooks was right. As things stand now, the GOP has a plan. Reid has something of a Plan. There are positions to negotiate. This will end up working. To really settle this crisis for good, the Republicans need a clean win in the 2012 elections. I, personally, don't think doing this whole debt limit thing again in seven months will really be helpful -- from a governance standpoint or for purposes of getting the GOP a clean win -- but Boehner may know more than me. (He has done quite well, given that a Democratic President holds a better hand in showdowns like this.)

We have proven, through the process, that the President had no plan, and hoped never really to present one. He has demonstrated himself to be a rotten negotiator and a poor legislative tactician. Sometimes, you have a President who you think to be quite wrong, but also good at the mechanics of his job. For Dems, I think they now realize Reagan ws in that category. Clinton was pretty good, too. Obama is not in their class.

[Danube of Thought]

Steyn offers a very sobering perspective on how trivial both sides' proposals are, and how even more trivial are the differences between them.

[Mikey]

Doesnt matter what Steyn believes, the important thing is to win this debt ceiling debate and defeat Obama. Nothing else matters.

Unfortunately, this great Tea Party movement which gave us Marco Rubio, Allen West and Ron Johnson blew 2 gimme Senate races in Delaware and Nevada. Unfortunately those forces of ideological purity may be the reason we blow it big time now.

As revolting as it may be to have had Mike Castle as US Senator from Delaware. There were 47 US Senators that supported cup cap and balance including Scott Brown and the Maine Girls

[narciso]

Steyn really does cut throught the 'Mutaran nebula':

With respect, Rich, your correspondent needs to get out of the House more. The $7 billion that he calls “a real, enforceable cut for FY2012″ represents what the government of the United States currently borrows every 37 hours.

If the CBO’s scoring is correct — that it reduces the 2012 deficit by just $1 billion — then the ”cut” represents what the United States borrows every five hours and 20 minutes. In other words, in the time it takes to photocopy and distribute Boehner’s “plan,” the savings have all been borrowed back.

[Danube of Thought]

Pretty much agree, Appalled. If the GOP ends up losing the PR war to this fool there is no hope. And all eyes have to remain on the prize, which is 2012.

[Jane]

Centralcal,

So far the pool one is my favorite.

[Clarice]

Insty cites to a National Journal piece that says O is bleeding support in the battlefield states and it is increasingly looking like he'll get a primary challenge. Wouldn't that be nice?

As for the Norwegian slaughter, do not miss Ledeen's article in PJM today.

[Captain Hate]

Unfortunately, this great Tea Party movement which gave us Marco Rubio, Allen West and Ron Johnson blew 2 gimme Senate races in Delaware and Nevada. Unfortunately those forces of ideological purity may be the reason we blow it big time now.

I'm really sick of this stuck record. Delaware's seat was where a certified retard held the seat until Axelrod thought he'd be a good idea as a VP. The Delaware voters shouldn't be held up as exemplars of making wise choices.

Everybody knew that taking the Senate was an uphill climb. Having John Cornyn stepping on his johnson while heading the effort was probably a worse choice than Michael Steele. Add in Rove's inability to keep his simple yap shut and not torpedo Republican women and you don't exactly have a formula for winning.

And they still made historical gains.

[MarkO]

Purity in politics is also a lie. I'm hoping this seeming discord is merely a show piece so that the GOP can say it was able to "compromise" and "move to the middle" to be able to present this bill to the idiots in the Senate and to the putative President of whatever.

In that thought, however, I may be assigning far too much credit.

[Barack Obama]

appalled;

My experiment in comity, as you have seen, is a ;pretty disgusting failure.

I am a poor negotiator, and I have no plan. My hosts have been more than helpful in reaching an accord. Their honest and forthright
attempts at dialogue have gone unappreciated by me and I, now realize I am completely at fault for the impasse.

Mea Culpa

[Danube of Thought]

the important thing is to win this debt ceiling debate and defeat Obama

The latter is vitally important. The former doesn't really matter at all. Nothing meaningful will be done unless the GOP has the WH and both houses of congress in January, 2013. Any short-term concession that advances that goal is highly desirable; any short-term victory that retards it is crazy.

[Barack Obama]

(Reuters) - Americans overwhelmingly are concerned about the U.S. debt crisis and a majority backs the type of compromise pushed by President Barack Obama, a Reuters/Ipsos poll found on Tuesday.

ttp://www.reuters.com/article/2011/07/26/us-usa-debt-ipsos-idUSTRE76P5Q220110726

[Barack Obama]

sorry. that was Ben, not Barack

[narciso]

Everything is a lie, or at least a spec script from Wiseguy, from the Oversight report on Fast and Furious:

• There was little to no information sharing from the Phoenix Field Division, ATF Headquarters and the Justice Department to their colleagues in Mexico City. Every time Mexico City officials asked about the mysterious investigation, their U.S. based ATF counterparts in Phoenix and Washington, D.C. continued to say they were "working on it" and "everything was under control."

• Lanny Breuer, the Assistant Attorney General for the Criminal Division at the Justice Department, was clearly aware of Operation Fast and Furious and touted the case during a visit to Mexico.

• ATF officials in Mexico City were incredulous that their agency would knowingly allow guns to fall into the hands of Mexican drug cartels, and they were incensed when they finally began to learn the full scope of Operation Fast and Furious and the investigative techniques used.

[Mikey]

Christine Odonell had no shot. Someone better in Nevada, maybe Tarkanian beats Harry Reid, we also could have won Colorado.

In 2001, we turned a Cannae into Sicily because of ideological purity. It took Rome a decade to recover while most of the German troops escaped to fight another in Italy and that campaign was extremely difficult. Not controlling the Senate or even having 49 seats instead of 47 makes everything going forward really difficult until Obama is defeated.

We are all on the same team, and we all have the same passion to turn the Senate and get the White House in 2012.

However we have to pull the oars in the same direction.

[Melinda Romanoff]

DoT-

I don't think running the table is going to happen, no matter how much I crave that happening. Remember this is a siege. It won't happen in one fell swoop. Can you imagine Reid and Durbin discussing cuts at all, 6 months ago?

The terms of discussion and negotiation may have permanently changed. This is a big step and the damage they are doing to themselves is palpable, but not yet permanent. That will come in 2012.

Just my view from where I sit.

[Appalled]

Mr. President:

To change the tone in Washington, and at JoM, you have to accept that the language of politics will continue and is unceasing. Someone will always dislike what you have to say, and be impolite about it. Sometimes, you yourself will yield to an impolitic impulse. But recognize that the people on the other side are just as decent and hardworking as you are, and their insights are likely in short supply on your side of the fence, and may actually be more valuable to you, than the kindly sentiment you hear from one of your acolytes.

The offense that is being taken to you has a lot to do with a condescending tone, or failure to realize that, whatever the conversation is at a point in time, always having your face on the TV monopolizing the conversation is disruptive to natural political discourse.

We wish you well, Mr. President. You seem to be a good father to your daughters, and decent to your wife. But a gracious retirement might be the wisest course. You can always run again in 2016...

[narciso]

Refresh my memory, but wasn't that Duke and Duke Top Man, Jeffords, defecting to Conquistador Coffee, which Trent Lott, hadsaid he's the best we can get in Vermont.

Blumenthal, Coons, Mancin, six of one, half dozen of the other, They are all Reid's hounds

[Ben Frankline]

You wisely skirted the point, appalled.

[Melinda Romanoff]

Appalled-

I wasn't expecting that. Thanks.

[Ben Franklin]

DeLong;

Is There Serious Money to Be Made by Shorting Long Treasuries? Probably Not...

Suppose that Treasury short rates stay at 0 for X years, and then "normalize". When they normalize, they take three years to climb back to 5%, and then they stick at 5% until the 10-Yr bond matures. Then:

If X=3 then you have lost money unless the current 10-Yr rate < 2.75%
If X=2 then you have lost money unless the current 10-Yr rate < 3.25%
If X=1 then you have lost money unless the current 10-Yr rate < 3.75%
The upshot? This: Shorting long Treasuries is a bet that (a) short-term rates will exceed 5% on average by a healthy margin once they normalize, or a bet that (b) they will start normalizing very soon now, or a bet that they will overshoots on the way down. And in the meanwhile, until rates "normalize", your trade is showing losses and your investors are seeking better performance elsewhere...

[Melinda Romanoff]

BF-

Heh.

[Ben Franklin]

Newt Sent me a Hallmark email;

Ain't that special ?!?
America
by Newt Gingrich
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NEWT'S LIBRARY

ORDER TODAY!

This week in the newsletter, I want try something different.
I'd like to start a dialogue about where we are going as a country, and I'd like to hear from you.
Watching the political elites in Washington and Europe this summer fail to deal effectively with current threats has convinced me that we are drifting toward three separate but mutually reinforcing catastrophes that will require our best effort to reverse.
The three threats I worry about are:
The continuing decline of our manufacturing economy and the growing likelihood that we will soon live in the shadow of a stronger, more modern China. Our national security will then depend on Chinese tolerance rather than American strength.

The concerted effort to fundamentally alter American Civilization. This includes a judicial elite driving God out of public life and an educational elite that refuses to teach American history. It includes a domestic bureaucracy which seeks to control a free people, a foreign policy elite which seeks to subordinate American sovereignty to international organizations, and a news media which cynically ridicules serious efforts to discuss historic crises. (See my book A Nation Like No Other and our documentary A City Upon a Hill for more details.)

The results of the intellectual dishonesty of American and European elites when faced with radical Islamists who are dedicated to destroying our civilization and seeking weapons capable of killing huge numbers of civilians. (See our documentary America at Risk for more details.)

[Ben Franklin]

Newt just flat nails it, don't he?

[Danube of Thought]

Mel, what do you mean by running the table? Debt talks, or 2012?

[DebinNC]

Read somewhere Reid plans to take whatever Boehner sends over and "amend" it by replacing it entirely with the Reid plan which CBO contends will "save" even more than Boehner's. The Boehner-now-Reid plan will be returned to the House for a vote. What then? I don't see a "win" for Rs anywhere, although being blamed for a default would be worse.

[Danube of Thought]

Problem is, Appalled, he does not believe that Republicans are decent and does not accept that they are acting in what they believe to be the nation's best interest. His every utterance suggests that he genuinely hates them.

And he's sure as hell not going to start listening to anybody at this point in his life. Never has, never will.

[Ben Franklin]

http://consortiumnews.com/2011/07/26/the-blue-eyes-of-terror/

"Brievik has taken Islamphobia to a new level of violence and killing hoping to spark an uprising in Europe. He quotes from American websites that view all Muslims as jihadists, and even the tract of the Unabomber.

The “Made in USA” stamp is all over this despicable act.

We can see how easily hate mongers abandon argument for agitation and vow death for all perceived enemies.

We can also see how quickly major media outlets jumped to the assumption that the perpetrators were Muslims, Al Qaeda killers or worse. All the “terror” experts did what was done before after the Oklahoma City bombings — blame the “other.”

Fox News led the rush to judgment with predictable Muslim bashing.

CNN’s Ton Lister was not far behind, speculating early on, “You’ve only got to look at the target — prime minister’s office, the headquarters of the major newspaper group next door. Why would that be relevant? Because the Norwegian newspapers republished the cartoons of Prophet Mohammad that caused such offense in the Muslim world. … That is an issue that still rankles amongst Islamist militants the world over.”

Hmmm….

A resort to violence escalates when underlying prejudice is legitimated and is recycled. Recently members of Congress condemned a “Ground Zero Mosque” that was neither a mosque nor at Ground Zero. Demagogues whipped up anti-Islamic passions and promulgated stereotyping.

Protests against the protesters went largely unreported. Today, one-time pizza company executive, Herman Cain, a Republican presidential candidate, spews disdain of all Muslims.

Anwaar Hussain, a Pakistani by birth and blogger by vocation, offers a perspective worth contemplating. May I quote him at length?

“Condolences, Norway. Our hearts ache for you in this time of incredible sadness and shock. As more than 90 of your families bury their dead, we stand with you in solemn sorrow.

“And welcome to the world of right wing zombies.

“These are words written by the citizen of a country that continues to reel from the onslaught of these androids. We understand your grief and your disbelief.

“But please understand that these human low-lifes go by many different names i.e. fundamentalists, jihadists, radicals, extremists etc. – yet they all claim to get their instructions straight from their god.

“Afterward, they go out to slaughter some children in the name of that god. We are sorry that you had to taste firsthand what we’ve been living through for the past twenty years. We were taken there, we have seen it all, we are still there.

“From the Oslo carnage, three facts emerge as usual.

“Firstly, these cowards always turn on their own first, attacking the most defenseless of the society for starters. It may be called the terror stage.

“Secondly, the victims always refuse to believe that killer/s could be one/s of their own. In Pakistan, for a long time people said, ‘these killers can’t be Muslims.’ And in Norway now when the killer is even confirmed as a blond, blue-eyed, indigenous Norwegian white right-wing extremist, their very own Anders Breivik Bin Laden, people are saying, ‘he can’t be a Christian.’"

[narciso]

I got that from Sargent, Deb, it's one of his demotivators pieces.

[Melinda Romanoff]

Debt.

Deb-

That was yesterday's "scheme", amend, pass, and swap language wholly.

[Melinda Romanoff]

And I believe 2012, Congressionally, is a done deal, barring the shooting of feet.

[Captain Hate]

Pinch must have a contest to see which of his in-house retards can come up with the most hysterical parody of an op-ed. Here's what Flathead weighs in with:

Alas, that is the Tea Party. It is so lacking in any aspiration for American greatness, so dominated by the narrowest visions for our country and so ignorant of the fact that it was not tax cuts that made America great but our unique public-private partnerships across the generations. If sane Republicans do not stand up to this Hezbollah faction in their midst, the Tea Party will take the G.O.P. on a suicide mission.

[narciso]

It's a Bialystok effort underwritten by a Mexican oligarch, who was 'unexpectedly' bailed out by Bobby Rubin, some years ago.

[Extraneus]

Christine Odonell had no shot.

She won the primary. After that, there were only two choices: support her or don't. That she continued to be attacked by Republicans like Rove and Krauthammer, which certainly didn't help her chances, leads one to question their motives.

Support whoever you want in the primaries. Hopefully, your candidate will win. But cutting the winner off at the knees, just because your candidate lost, really deserves some sort of retribution.

[Ben Franklin]

This guy is way off. Everyone knows Barack is the only liar in the room..........

http://correntewire.com/the_presidents_address_on_the_debt_ceiling_an_exercise_in_fantasy

Many people have been, deservedly, very quick to jump on John Boehner for the lies he told in answering the President's Address; but they have been a lot less anxious to lay out the lies or at least falsehoods told or implied by the President, himself. I don't intend to excuse the Speaker's lies or the Speaker, by showing that the President doesn't have clean hands. I don't intend to say that lying is alright because everybody does it. All I want to do is show that the President was feeding us fantasy too, because I believe, strongly, that we won't solve our national problems if we don't firmly reject fantasy, whoever may be its author. So, let's look at some quotations from the President's speech, and see where the fantasy is.

[Danube of Thought]

barring the shooting of feet.

And that's the issue presented right now: they seem to be taking aim at the instep, all over a substantively trivial matter. If Boehner could get 26 Republicans to go along with it, at this point he might as well say, "OK, we don't want to be party to a default, and it's clear neither the president nor his party wants to any real cutting, so we'll accede to their wishes and we'll have a vitally important campaign next year about whose views should prevail."

[DebinNC]

That was yesterday's "scheme", amend, pass, and swap language wholly

I pray Boehner and McConnell aren't as "demotivated" and demoralized as I am.

[MarkO]

Ah, Gentle Ben. What would actually happen in the country if the white, Christian population began to resort to self help? As it is, they pay for everything, they are accused of everything, they fiercely protect the rights of those who hate them, and they are seemingly supine.

But, they hold nearly all the real power in this country. The groups that don't need special privileges and waivers are the ones really to fear. Were they, as you suggest, crazy and murderous, they would likely seek out the anarchists among us.

The lack of respect for honesty, morality, the truth among other joys the Obama Administration has brought, could lead to self help.

Murderers are not limited by relilgion, but only one religion requires it.

[Ben Franklin]

Wall Street falls for 3rd day on debt ceiling worries

Angela Moon
Reuters US Online Report Business News

Jul 27, 2011 10:40 EDT

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks dropped for a third straight day on Wednesday, with the Nasdaq off 2 percent, as a political deadlock over the debt ceiling and a decline in durable goods orders kept investors away from risky assets.

The S&P 500 <.SPX> has lost about 2 percent this week on worries of a possible U.S. debt downgrade.

Corporate earnings have been coming in relatively weak in recent days, compared to the beginning of the earnings season, also weighing on the market.

"We started off the earnings season with a bang, but the ones that we've been getting in the past few days, mostly industrial ones, have been on the light side, and often pointing to an economic slowdown. That's triggering an early morning selloff," said Jack DeGan, chief investment officer at Harbor Advisory Corp in Portsmouth, New Hampshire.

The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> slid 127.11 points, or 1.02 percent, at 12,374.19. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.SPX> was down 18.79 points, or 1.41 percent, at 1,313.15. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.IXIC> tumbled 57.29 points, or 2.02 percent, at 2,782.67.

U.S. industrial conglomerate Emerson Electric Co said its order growth moderated in the three months to June, and warned that U.S. and European economies have "clearly slowed" in the past two months. The stock fell 7.1 percent to $50.22.

Juniper Networks Inc tumbled 20.4 percent to $24.80 after the company warned late Tuesday its second-quarter results would miss expectations, citing weak sales to telecommunications providers.

The PHLX semiconductor index <.SOX> fell 3.6 percent, its worst drop since February 2.

But Amazon.com Inc was up 5 percent at $224.73 a day after the online retailer reported a surge in quarterly revenue.

A Republican plan to cut the U.S. deficit met stiff opposition, reducing the chances of a late compromise to avoid a default.

Further pressuring the market, new orders for long-lasting U.S. manufactured goods fell unexpectedly in June, and a gauge of business spending plans slipped..

[Jim Miller]

Tom - Obama appears to get along pretty well with his mother-in-law.

But maybe that's because she knows her place. As far as I can tell, she is, basically, a high-level servant in the White House.

[Appalled]

Ben:

You might want to take this proverb that you wrote back in 1735 to heart:

"Bad Commentators spoil the best of books,
So God sends meat (they say) the devil Cooks."

[Melinda Romanoff]

DoT-

I don't see it as being quite so stark a choice. I wonder when the self-preservation vote will creep into the picture. We'll see how it plays out, but I am more optimistic now than I was a week ago, as PL will attest.

[BB Key]

Jim Miller, that is because she is on the payroll.....

[Ben Franklin]

MarkO;

Don't get me started on the religion of Ishmael. It had an inauspicious beginning, and the spine continued it's bent thereafter.

[narciso]

This has a way, of 'bollixing the narrative':

In a recently unearthed 2009 interview, CNN host Piers Morgan appears to acknowledge to a BBC radio host that he ran stories based on phone hacking while he was a tabloid editor in Britain.

Morgan edited Rupert Murdoch's News of the World from 1994-1995, before jumping to Murdoch's main tabloid rival, the Daily Mirror, in 1995. He edited the Mirror until 2004, when he was forced out over a faked photo scandal involving the British military

[Ben Franklin]

Appalled;

You have taken the counsel well. You are a 'good' commentator.

[Ben Franklin]

See? why links? Irrelevant.

[Danube of Thought]

My point is, I don't think the choice between the two competing plans (assuming one knows what the Dem plan is) is stark at all--I think the difference between them is peanuts. I wouldn't risk a thing on this debate if it hurt the chances for 2012.

[Rick Ballard]

"If the CBO’s scoring is correct "

Narciso,

The CBO scores by the rules by which it is guided. The WH (and Reid) were not pleased by the CBO decision to score Boehner's proposal using the March rather than January baseline because they knew it meant that the CBO scoring of Reid's proposal would result in a number which was probably insufficient to carry the debt ceiling through the '12 election.

A comparison of the two proposals using Table 1 illustrates the risible nature of the differences. Under Boehner's plan, discretionary spending rises from $1,043 trillion to $1,234 trillion for a cumulative total of $11,260 trillion while under Reid's plan we have the truly spectacular difference of spending rising from $1,045 trillion to $1,228 trillion for a cumulative total of $11,262 trillion. Surely everyone can see the tremendous difference of 0.000177619893428064% between the two proposals.

It may well be that no one is lying wrt the proposals but I believe that truth comprises 0.000177619893428064% of what has been generated to date. I appreciate Ehlmendorf shoving a stick in the spokes of both parties. He has an interesting sense of humor.

[narciso]

Oh, if you put it that way, that is significant, sarc,

The previous, was a Huff Po link, although I am sure there are other references. I've made
my problems with FireFox quite plain.

[Danube of Thought]

Rick B--QED.

[Ben Franklin]

This is for 'out to lunch' who says 'burn it down'. Didn't hear anyone call him on it, 'cept little Ol' Ben.

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/

Rejecting the GOP’s ‘Hezbollah faction’

I found a lot to disagree with in Thomas Friedman’s column today, but his criticism of the Republican Party’s base rings true.

[T]he Tea Party … is so lacking in any aspiration for American greatness, so dominated by the narrowest visions for our country and so ignorant of the fact that it was not tax cuts that made America great but our unique public-private partnerships across the generations. If sane Republicans do not stand up to this Hezbollah faction in their midst, the Tea Party will take the G.O.P. on a suicide mission.

This strikes me as fair, and it got me thinking about a question a friend of mine asked me the other day: where are the “sane Republicans” willing to “stand up to this Hezbollah faction in their midst”? Where are Bob Dole and John Warner? Why can’t John Danforth and Colin Powell express their disapproval for what their party is doing? Maybe some of Reagan’s old guard, like Ken Duberstein, could speak up?

[Melinda Romanoff]

Rick-

I would add that over half of the Reid plan's "cuts" would be produced from a "BiPartisan Commission" dedicated to that task (hot air generator) and the bulk of the rest is ending all war spending within 10 years.

Also known as "nothing given up here. Move along.".

[Danube of Thought]

OT, but Governor Moonbeam--who gave us Rose "The Fidrych" Bird the first time around--has just nominated the radical Goodwin Liu to the state Supreme Court. Zero judicial experience; nomination to the 9th Circuit failed.

[Porchlight]

As revolting as it may be to have had Mike Castle as US Senator from Delaware. There were 47 US Senators that supported cup cap and balance including Scott Brown and the Maine Girls

You can't assume that level of support in your counterfactual, because you don't know how the establishment vs. conservative battle in the Senate GOP would have played out.

Mike "Strange New Respect" Castle, Brown & the Maine Twins could easily have been no votes just as the last three have been in RINO Annals Past.

In addition, without the wave of Tea Party energy and activism that screwed up "gimme" (I dispute that premise, but will leave it for now) races in DE and NV, many GOP Senators would have lost or never won their seats.

[Captain Hate]

Rose "The Fidrych" Bird

LOL

Where are Bob Dole and John Warner? Why can’t John Danforth and Colin Powell express their disapproval for what their party is doing? Maybe some of Reagan’s old guard, like Ken Duberstein, could speak up?

TOP MEN!!!!

[Ben Franklin]

U.S. counterterrorism officials are increasingly convinced that the killing of Osama bin Laden and the toll of seven years of CIA drone strikes have pushed al Qaeda to the brink of collapse.

The assessment reflects a widespread view at the CIA and other agencies that a relatively small number of additional blows could effectively extinguish the Pakistan-based organization that carried out the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks — an outcome that was seen as a distant prospect for much of the past decade.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/al-qaeda-could-collapse-us-officials-say/2011/07/21/gIQAFu2pbI_story.html?hpid=z2

The Hunt:
Inside the search for Osama bin Laden
U.S. officials said that al-Qaeda might yet rally and that even its demise would not end the terrorist threat, which is increasingly driven by radicalized individuals as well as aggressive affiliates. Indeed, officials said that al -Qaeda’s offshoot in Yemen is now seen as a greater counterterrorism challenge than the organization’s traditional base.

President Obama has steadily expanded the clandestine U.S. campaign against that Yemen group, most recently by approving the construction of a secret Persian Gulf airstrip for armed CIA drones. But recent setbacks, including a botched U.S. military airstrike on American-born radical cleric Anwar al-Aulaqi, underscore the difficulties that remain.

[Dave (in MA)]

Is Moonbeam going to primary the failed malaise candidate again? Hillary could play the role of Kennedy and the Cigar Shover could help counsel her to avoid any Roger Mudd moments.

[Melinda Romanoff]

Dave-

She won't. Gunwalker paint has splashed her svelte muumuu.

[Ben Franklin]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/alarming-dead-zone-grows-in-the-chesapeake/2011/07/20/gIQABRmKXI_story.html

A lack of regulation redistributes wealth from fisherman to farmers and homeowners.

A giant underwater “dead zone” in the Chesapeake Bay is growing at an alarming rate because of unusually high nutrient pollution levels this year, according to Virginia and Maryland officials. They said the expanding area of oxygen-starved water is on track to become the bay’s largest ever. [...]
That’s bad news for biologists who monitor the bay and horrible news for oysters and fish. Dead zones suck out oxygen from deep waters and kill any marine life that can’t get out of the way.
The article goes on to note that the EPA is attempting to do something about this sorry situation by mandating a “pollution diet” for the five states in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed. This is being fought tooth-and-nail, however, by those responsible for much of the pollution:
[T]he plan is being challenged by two powerful lobbies and other groups that are seeking a court order to block it. The American Farm Bureau Federation argued that costly conservation requirements could drive farmers in the Chesapeake Bay watershed out of business, and that states — not the EPA — should determine pollution limits.
The group’s lawsuit in a federal district court in Harrisburg, Pa., asks a judge to stop the plan from going forward. The National Association of Home Builders recently joined the suit.

[Janet]

A little local picture - we've got 2 Dems fighting in a primary. The new guy says he will fight...Fight I Say...for abortion & gay marriage. The old established party lady says she has always been progressive & that she is a cancer survivor.
It is a joke to behold.
I don't know how anyone could vote democrat.

[Jane]

They are now saying Boehner has the votes.

[peter]

funniest line I heard today at a comment at Hot Air, h/t Maggie's farm
"David Brooks likes the crease of Obama's diaper."

[Ben Franklin]

The threat to the Egyptian revolution

http://www.spectator.co.uk/coffeehouse/7126988/the-threat-to-the-egyptian-revolution.thtml

DANIEL KORSKI 1:05pm.

The Egyptian revolution may be in for its greatest challenge yet. Last weekend saw clashes between different groups of protesters, as one group sought to march on the Supreme Military Council. Now Salafists have promised to occupy Tahrir Square on Friday, seeking to turf out the broad-based group of revolutionaries that have occupied the square for a number of weeks. Many people fear a bloodbath.

The military, meanwhile, is benefitting from a fracturing of the revolution. Some even see an explicit (if short-term) agreement between the military and the Muslim Brotherhood and the Salafists which will allow the military to push against the liberal Tahrir Square activists. If the Salafists put 100,000 on the square the military can claim an equivalence between the two sets of protesting groups and be seen to rule fairly. Essam El-Erian, Vice-Secretary General of the Muslim Brotherhood and a key member of the brethren's new party (pictured above), denies a formal pact but talks about a "common vision" between the military and the Brotherhood.

[Melinda Romanoff]

peter-

That's a keeper.

[Ben Franklin]

"I don't know how anyone could vote democrat."

They are shameless. They would even accept you.

[Thomas Collins]

So is it fair for me to conclude, BFF, that you approve of classifying those who believe our current monetary and fiscal policies are incontinent as akin to Hezbollah? Is this the type of rhetoric that you think leads to reasoned discourse (I recall your call for reasoned discourse in another thread).

By the way, BFF, with respect to public/private partnerships, don't you think that is a Friedman talking point to avoid confronting whether our levels of expenditure are taking us inexorably toward a Euro Social State model. For example, providing federal land to homesteaders is a governmental program involving both the feds and private folks that relied on regular folks' own initiative. The building of infrastructure such as roadways and canals, and the maintenance of same, are undercut by wasteful governmental spending on pie in the sky green energy projects. Don't you think that progs who criticize Tea Party rhetoric should first clean up their own discourse?

[Melinda Romanoff]

Durbin talking. So he must be lying.

[Thomas Collins]

BFF, I look forward to your linking to the briefs filed on both sides of the environmental case you noted above (they probably haven't been filed yet, but I hope you will follow up). After all, reasoned discourse requires a careful look at all aspects of an issue.

[Ben Franklin]

http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/07/27/the-guilty-parties/

There’s actually a simple way to resolve the debt ceiling crisis: non-crazy Republican leaders could support something like the Reid plan — which is, let’s be clear, a huge victory for the right and defeat for progressives — and pass it with limited GOP support and overwhelming Democratic support. Situation resolved.

This would, however, probably be the end of these Republicans’ political careers. And the answer is, so?

If you believe that default will quite possibly be a catastrophe — and leading Republicans probably do believe that — their unwillingness to take the action I’ve just described means that they are risking America’s future rather than pay a price in their personal political careers. That’s cowardice on an epic scale, even if it’s the kind of behavior we take for granted nowadays.

[Ben Franklin]

"are undercut by wasteful governmental spending on pie in the sky green energy projects"

Do you really expect a discussion when your undocumented preamble stinks up the discussion?

I,( choke) chose to discard unnecessarily inflammatory pieces from my posts to facilitate the discussion in the past days. See how that worked? Yet, here you are stinking up the rhetoric........

[Melinda Romanoff]

Hey! That was Schumer's talking point!

How amazing!!

[Belarus Bytes]

I hope BF can explain to a simple guy like me why Krugman's comments could not be written as:

There’s actually a simple way to resolve the debt ceiling crisis: non-crazy Democratic leaders could support something like the Cut, Cap, Balanced Budget plan — which is, let’s be clear, a huge victory for the right and defeat for progressives — and pass it with limited Dem support and overwhelming Republican support. Situation resolved.

This would, however, probably be the end of these Democrats’ political careers. And the answer is, so?

If you believe that default will quite possibly be a catastrophe — and leading Democrats probably do believe that — their unwillingness to take the action I’ve just described means that they are risking America’s future rather than pay a price in their personal political careers. That’s cowardice on an epic scale, even if it’s the kind of behavior we take for granted nowadays.

Sorry, don't know that HTML stuff.

[Ben Franklin]

BB;

See my comment above as Barack Obama. That was a shot at the locals who are full of effusive rhetoric about having civil discussions, but only as a disingenuous strategy. I did a one-eighty and they did
about 15 degrees of separation.

That's the idea of compromise to the Right....

[Rick Ballard]

Mel,

There are a couple of interesting nuggets contained in the CBO analysis of both proposals. Both Boehner and Reid allow adjustments (read 'propose increases') in funding for 'Program Integrity Initiatives' (read fraud enforcement) pertaining to Social Security and Medicare/Medicaid/CHIP. Reid tosses in Unemployment fraud and tax fraud as well.

The CBO doesn't "officially" score the proposals but it does provide a "Non-Scorable Effect on on Direct Spending Outlays" section which suggests a very decent return on the anti-fraud effort.

Reid also includes proceeds from the conduct of spectrum auctions plus whacking farm subsidies.

The compromise will be interesting. I believe that Boehner could squeeze Reid for quite a bit more up front in exchange for pushing the limit beyond the '12 elections but I think he hangs out with too many pseudo-Keynesians to do so.

[narciso]

Obama takes out his first opponent in '95, by
disqualifying the ballot signatures, that's SOP in Chicago, but not the hallmark of an ethical candidate. Axelrod 'nudges' the paoers to force the courts to unseal the divorce records of his two strongest opponents, Ryan and Hull. He's willing to
'throw his grandmother under the bus' for
a rhetorical argument. Nixon was a choir boy compared to Obama.

[Melinda Romanoff]

narciso-

Obama is an "honest" Chicago politician.

FYI.

[bgates]

We wish you well, Mr. President

I hope he doesn't get assassinated, and I'd never help arm anyone who might intend to do so.

That's not much, but from what I understand of Gunwalker, it's more than he could say about me.

[matt]

if one steps back to consider some of the blockheads already sitting in the Senate; Lott, Reid, Boxer, Schumer, Franken, Graham, Sanders, Leahey, and Murray, in particular, how would Anglin and O'Donnell have been any worse? Batshit crazy still means they would vote pretty much along party lines.

Regarding the Tea Party, one should note that concerns about jobs and the national debt outweigh just about everything else by a large margin in most polls.The spectacle we see before us is of a Democratic Party that has offered nothing, and I mean nothing, to help right the boat while their propagandists cast more aspersions at the Tea Party.

Their normal is multiculti, gay marriage, we can spend as much as we please and all get tattoos and play video games. The problem is that reality is a cold hard bitch and is going to crush this bullshit at some point.

Aesop's fable of the ant and the grasshopper is going to be writ large one of these days.

[bgates]

Where are Bob Dole and John Warner?

Maybe they lost a duel with Zell Miller.

[glasater]

This came over the transom via a FB friend:

[Belarus Bytes]

BF,

I have found reading this and other blogs, that comments are colored by the reader's perceptions, regardless of whether those perceptions are true or not. For example, my guess is that DOT would probably write something like:

See my comment above. That was a shot at those who are full of effusive rhetoric about having civil discussions, but only as a disingenuous strategy. I did a one-eighty, made a heartfelt apology and they did what?

That's the idea of compromise to the Left....

My personal opinion is that, like it or not, this is a rightwardly leaning blog with rightwardly leaning commenters. As such your rightwing bashing comments (deserving or not) go over about as well as gay slurs would in a gay bar. The same points can be made (and more effectively IMHO) without the incessant jabbing of the stick at the hornet's nest.

[Janet]

That is excellent, glasater! LOL!!

[centralcal]

heh, glasater. That is shaping up to be his "legacy." Total devastation, total incompetence.

[Extraneus]

Interesting factoid some Congressman or aide sent to Rush in an email:

If spending were frozen at today's levels, the CBO would score it as a $9.5 trillion cut over 10 years.

This is due to the fact that the scoring assumes a rate of growth in spending as its baseline.

As it happens, this assumed spending growth dwarfs any of the plans being proposed. In other words, there aren't any cuts, in any of the plans being proposed, only reductions in the rate of spending growth.

Either the gov't gains 100 lbs in ten years, or it gains 99 lbs. That's the debate.

We're doomed.

[centralcal]

I heard that too, Extraneus. Fascinating. I came in late, however; how did the email from the Congressman begin? Apparently, the spending freeze info was the close or perhaps a P.S. to the email.

[Porchlight]

Ext,

Don't worry, Mitt Romney will save the day.

[Extraneus]

I didn't hear it all either, Porch.

Btw, I'm betting that Rick and maybe others have explained that $9.5T assumption, but it was put very simply in that email to Rush.

[Extraneus]

Ooops, cc of course.

[JM Hanes]

BF:

"This strikes me as fair,"

Now that's a shocker. Why aren't “sane Republicans” up in arms? Alas, poor Freidman, the self-evident answer just doesn't suit his Hezbollah narrative.

[Melinda Romanoff]

Insty poll on who should primary JEF.

List includes Bwarney, just sayin'...

[Jim,MtnViewCA,USA]

On Social Security checks, see LUN.
Key point made by the writer (other than that P. Obama has no clue what he is talking about), is the following--
"...reaching the debt ceiling will not affect the ability of the Social Security Administration to pay its obligations.

The Social Security trust fund holds about $2.4 trillion in U.S. Treasury bonds, which its trustees are legally entitled to redeem whenever Social Security is running a current account deficit. Thus, if we reach the debt ceiling ... this is what will happen. The Social Security trust fund will go to Treasury and cash in some of its securities, using the proceeds to send checks to recipients. Each dollar of debt that is redeemed will lower the outstanding public debt by a dollar. That enables the Treasury to borrow another dollar, without violating the debt ceiling. The debt ceiling is not a prohibition on borrowing new money; it is a prohibition on increasing the total level of public indebtedness. If Social Security cashes in some of its bonds, the Treasury can borrow that same amount of money from someone else."

[Captain Hate]

Alas, poor Freidman, the self-evident answer just doesn't suit his Hezbollah narrative.

Flathead's pining to exist in a China style setting, far from the messes of democracy, have him a bit confused on how people react.

[JM Hanes]

Belarus Bytes:

"I hope BF can explain to a simple guy like me why Krugman's comments could not be written as...."

He knows perfectly well that they could, and if his anonymity hadn't been breached, you'd be seeing hornet's nest jabbing on steroids.

I would steer away from guessing what DoT thinks, but welcome to fray!