JustOneMinute

Politicizing The Benghazi Intel

The Washington Beacon reports that the CIA was behind the politicization and sterilization of the Benghazi talking points. And why might they have wanted to do that? In addition to the obvious political reasons, the NY Times gives us a new one - the Obama Administration, presumably through the CIA, had given the wink to Qatar to arm Libyan rebels back during the undeclared 'kinetic action'. Some of those arms (surprise!) found their way to militant Islamists, although no one seems to know whether the specific group that attacked the Benghazi consulate was a beneficiary of US largesse.

Eggs, omelettes. Interesting to see the Times actually poking at this.

Know When To Fold 'Em

J Pod explains why the Republicans have no cards to play as we race towards the fiscal cliff.

OTOH, Minority Whip Steny Hoyer says that entitements should be on the table, which is something. And Obama told Bloomberg Television that he wanted higher rates on "the rich", but did not insist on the Clinton-era rates:

“We have the potential of getting a deal done,” Obama said in the Bloomberg interview. “We’re going to have to see the rates on the top 2 percent go up, and we’re not going to be able to get a deal without it.”

...

Even as he insisted on higher tax rates, Obama left room for compromise with Republicans in end-game talks.

He sidestepped a question about whether he would accept a measure that increased the top rate from 35 percent to 37 percent or 38 percent -- short of the 39.6 percent marginal rate when the current levels went into effect. Obama didn’t flatly rule out entitlement cuts, including changing the annual cost- of-living adjustment for Medicare, the government health-care program for the elderly and disabled.

Finally, and this is deep in the FWIW file, the stock market is surprisingly bouyant with the cdeath of the US economy less than for weeks away (DJIA 13,070; SPX 1414); even more baffling, the VIX volatility index (16.41%) is nowhere near the levels reached during earlier dramas such as the Greek/Italian/Spanish swoon of the summer of 2011.

Consequence-Free Tax Hikes

David Brooks and Jackie Calmes of the Times offer exampes of the unspoken pundit assumption thattax hikes do not have consequences. as they describe the fiscal cliff negotiations. David Brooks spiked my blood pressure first:

The Truly Grand Bargain

...

So Republicans have to realize that they are going to cave on tax rates. The only question is what they get in return. What they should demand is this: That the year 2013 will be spent putting together a pro-growth tax and entitlement reform package that will put this country on a sound financial footing through 2040.

Republicans should go to the White House and say they are willing to see top tax rates go up to 36 percent or 37 percent and they are willing to forgo a debt-ceiling fight for this year.

This is a big political concession, but it’s not much of an economic one. President Obama needs rate increases to show the liberals he has won a “victory,” but the fact is that raising revenue by raising rates is not that much worse for the economy than raising revenue by closing loopholes, which Republicans have already conceded.

Caving on rates is a matter of opinion (and I think he is right) but he does include the message that tax hikes, especially poorly designed ones, can harm the economy.

However, he ends up in conventional liberal la-lal-land when he talks about a Grand Bargain compromise with this message:

Republicans could say to the country: Hey, we don’t like raising tax rates. But we understand that when a nation is running a $16 trillion debt that is exploding year by year, everybody has to be willing to make compromises and sacrifices. We understand that the big thing holding the country back is that the political system doesn’t function. We want to tackle big things right now.

Raising taxes on "the rich" is not a mater of forcing them to sacrifice. A doctor nearing retirement may decide to "sacrifice" by seeing fewer patients and sparing himself the aggravation of ObamaCare; an entrepeneur may decide to "sacrifice" by relocating in some other country. If the net impact of raising taxes on "the rich" is to harm the growth of the economy then this is a cutting one's nose to spite one's face type of scarifice.

Well. At least Mr. Brooks displayed some familiarity with the issue. Jackie Calmes has a piece cheerleading for even higher taxes with this galling headline:

Democratic Group to Offer Tax Plan With Huge Payoff

Democratic luminaries with ties to the Obama and Clinton administrations, including two former Treasury secretaries and two former White House chiefs of staff, on Tuesday will enter the tax debate with an overhaul plan that would raise an additional $1.8 trillion in the first decade.

That is $200 billion more than President Obama has proposed and $1 trillion more than Republicans in Congress support....

Geez, and if they tried for $3 trillion in new revenue the payoff would be even huger, since raising taxes has no downside in CalmesWorld.

One more challenge to the old BP:

“This is from the team that brought you the last good economy,” said John D. Podesta, a former chief of staff for President Bill Clinton, in reference to the Clinton-era pedigrees of many of the plan’s sponsors. 

Wait, Newt Gingrich and Bob Dole are involved with this proposal too? I don't think so, yet their insistence on balanced budgets and tax cuts was surely part of the reason Clinton hid behind saving Social Security first rather than fulfilling liberal fantasies with new spending.

The Holidays Are Upon Us

Christmas is bearing down on us like an out-of-control sleigh. Matt Drudge is headlining the news that the Obamas have decorated the White House with a mere 54 Christmas trees. One for each state?

Sunday Morning

The NY Times tells us about Jacob Lew, Obama's new chief of staff and a major behind-the-scenes player in the fiscal cliff talks.

This detail struck me:

At 57, Mr. Lew may be the most unassuming power broker in Washington. He is deeply religious (an Orthodox Jew, he leaves work each Friday before sundown) and is so strait-laced that his colleagues feel compelled to apologize when they curse in front of him. He brings his own lunch (a cheese sandwich and an apple) and eats at his desk.

Odd contrast in offic style. Infamously potty mouthed Rahm Emmanuel, the former chief of staff, is now off in Chi-town. 

Saturday Afternoon

Here we go again.