August 2010 archive

“Punting the Pundits” is an Open Thread. It is a selection of editorials and opinions from around the news medium and the internet blogs. The intent is to provide a forum for your reactions and opinions, not just to the opinions presented, but to what ever you find important.

The Sunday Talking Heads:

This Week with Christiane Amanpour:

This week Ms Amanpour’s guest are Banking Committee member Republican Senator Bob Corker, former New Jersey Governor and former Goldman Sachs Chairman and CEO Jon Corzine, member of the President’s Economic Recovery Advisory Board, Laura D’Andrea Tyson, and Martin Regalia of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. They will discuss the failing economy and how to get it back in track.

She will host a roundtable with ABC’s Cokie Roberts, political strategist Matthew Dowd, Chrystia Freeland of Reuters and David Ignatius  of the Washington Post will discuss the crisis in Pakistan, how Russia’s severe drought and wildfires are triggering a global food crisis, Iran’s nuclear program, the winners and the losers in this week’s primaries, and all the week’s politics.

Face the Nation with Bob Schieffer:

Mr. Scheiffer’s guest will be Tim Kaine, DNC Chairman, Gov. Ed Rendell, D-Pa., Ed Gillespie, Former RNC Chairman, Ed Rollins, Republican Strategist, Karen Tumulty, Washington Post and John Harris, Politico.

Chris Matthews:

Mr. Matthews will host discussions with Howard Fineman, Newsweek

Senior Washington Correspondent, Norah O’Donnell, MSNBC, Chief Washington Correspondent, Kelly O’Donnell, NBC News, Capitol Hill Correspondent and John Heilemann, New York Magazine, National Political Correspondent. The questions that they will discuss:

Will Barack Obama’s Luck in His Weak GOP Opposition Hold for 2012?

What Investigations Would Top the GOP’s List if it Won Control of the House This Fall?

State of the Union with Candy Crowley:

This Sunday on State of the Union, Ms. Crowley is joined by DCCC Chair, Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) and Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) to talk 2010 politics.

Her roundtable will discuss the state of the economy with Steven Pearlstein of the Washington Post and Jeanne Cummings of Politico.

Finally, she will talk about the “wacky weather” Climatologist Heidi Cullen and NASA scientist Tom Wagner.

Fareed Zakaris: GPS:

Mr. Zakariah will discus the troubled economy with Jeffrey Sachs, the man the NY Times has called “the most important Economist in the World”.

A panel of experts, including Mr. Sachs, will talk about climate and the flooding in Pakistan and Europe and the fires in Russia.

Also

What IS the state of Islam – in America and also around the world? What are its problems? What are the solutions to those problems? Fareed talks to a former Muslim and Muslim reformer.

And finally French criminals find themselves facing the short arm of the law.

This is your morning Open Thread. Pour a cup of your favorite morning beverage and review the past and comment on the future.

August 14 is the 226th day of the year (227th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 139 days remaining until the end of the year.

On this day in 1935, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Social Security Act into law.

On this day in 1935, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs into law the Social Security Act. Press photographers snapped pictures as FDR, flanked by ranking members of Congress, signed into law the historic act, which guaranteed an income for the unemployed and retirees. FDR commended Congress for what he considered to be a “patriotic” act.

U.S. Social Security is a social insurance program that is funded through dedicated payroll taxes called Federal Insurance Contributions Act (FICA). Tax deposits are formally entrusted to the Federal Old-Age and Survivors Insurance Trust Fund, the Federal Disability Insurance Trust Fund, the Federal Hospital Insurance Trust Fund, or the Federal Supplementary Medical Insurance Trust Fund.

The main part of the program is sometimes abbreviated OASDI (Old Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance) or RSDI (Retirement, Survivors, and Disability Insurance). When initially signed into law by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1935 as part of his New Deal, the term Social Security covered unemployment insurance as well. The term, in everyday speech, is used to refer only to the benefits for retirement, disability, survivorship, and death, which are the four main benefits provided by traditional private-sector pension plans. In 2004 the U.S. Social Security system paid out almost $500 billion in benefits.

By dollars paid, the U.S. Social Security program is the largest government program in the world and the single greatest expenditure in the federal budget, with 20.8% for social security, compared to 20.5% for discretionary defense and 20.1% for Medicare/Medicaid. Social Security is currently the largest social insurance program in the U.S., constituting 37% of government expenditure and 7% of the gross domestic product and is currently estimated to keep roughly 40% of all Americans age 65 or older out of poverty. The Social Security Administration is headquartered in Woodlawn, Maryland, just to the west of Baltimore.

Social Security privatization became a major political issue for more than three decades during the presidencies of Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, George H. W. Bush, Bill Clinton, and George W. Bush.

Social Security is under attack once again by The National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform. The commission was created by the executive order of President Barack Obama in January 2010 after Congress voted against the bill that would create it

No Boys.  Only the one crack at Keith and Rachel because it’s all Maricopa County and Joe Arpaio all the time on MSNBC during the weekend.

AMC has M*A*S*H x 2, the movie with all the minor characters who got cut from the TV Series like the Painless Pole (without whom the ‘Suicide is Painless‘ theme song doesn’t make much sense) and Spearchucker Jones and Duke (who’s absence, since he’s the second lead while Trapper John McIntyre only makes his appearance halfway through, is pretty puzzling).  Only Gary Burghoff is the same.

Yes, I did read all 3 novels by Rchard Hooker.  Why do you ask?

• ESPN– Little League Baseball, Southeast Region Final
• Oxygen– Monster-in-Law which, although it has J-Lo, also has Jane Fonda
• SciFi– Eureka’s Warehouse 13 crossover episode (imaginatively titled Crossing Over).
  
  Oh, and premiers of that and Haven.
• TBS– Diary of a Mad Black Woman (why Tyler Perry is famous)
• Turner Classic– The Boy with Green Hair, The Set-Up (Robert Ryan night)
• Discovery– Odd Couple survival night
• TLC– Say Yes to the Dress marathon
• TNT– A Few Good Men
• Toon– Ben 10 and Generator Rex premiers, Clone Wars bounty hunter episodes

Son, we live in a world that has walls, and those walls have to be guarded by men with guns. Whose gonna do it? You? You, Lt. Weinburg? I have a greater responsibility than you could possibly fathom. You weep for Santiago, and you curse the marines. You have that luxury. You have the luxury of not knowing what I know. That Santiago’s death, while tragic, probably saved lives. And my existence, while grotesque and incomprehensible to you, saves lives. You don’t want the truth because deep down in places you don’t talk about at parties, you want me on that wall, you need me on that wall. We use words like honor, code, loyalty. We use these words as the backbone of a life spent defending something. You use them as a punchline. I have neither the time nor the inclination to explain myself to a man who rises and sleeps under the blanket of the very freedom that I provide, and then questions the manner in which I provide it. I would rather you just said thank you, and went on your way, Otherwise, I suggest you pick up a weapon, and stand a post. Either way, I don’t give a damn what you think you are entitled to.

Later-

Alton has all you’d ever want to know about pressure-cooking broth.  Toon has new Children’s Hospital (new link), Dr. Quymn, Medicine Woman (memorable), and Look Around You does Sports (Darts and Fencing become ‘Dencing’, though I can perhaps think of another fusion).

• FX– Bedazzled
• Oxygen– Shall We Dance? (more J-Lo, but also Richard Gere and Susan Sarandon)
• TBS– The Truman Show (prescient and disturbing)
• TNT– The Fugitive
• USA– Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest
• Disney– Summer Belongs To You

There will come a time when you have a chance to do the right thing.

I love those moments. I like to wave at them as they pass by.

Evening Edition is an Open Thread

40 Top Story Final.

1 BP to pay 50 mln dlr fine for deadly 2005 Texas blast

by Mira Oberman, AFP

Fri Aug 13, 5:21 am ET

Crossposted at Daily Kos and Docudharma

NOTE: Please Read This

There are another dozen or so editorial cartoons posted here in the comments section.  Check them out.

If you thought that Rep. Michele Bachmann and Sarah Palin were off the wall and out of the ball park with inane ideas, catch this interview with GOP Congressman Louis Gohmert (R-TX) by Anderson Cooper (full transcript below):

In March of 2009, a working mother with two toddlers, Samantha Burton, was 25 weeks pregnant and showing signs of miscarrying. When she told her doctor that it would be impossible for her to comply with his order of complete best rest for as long as 15 weeks and that she would seek a second opinion. When she tried to leave the Tallahassee where she had gone voluntarily, the hospital went to court, obtaining a court oder forcing her to remain in the hospital and submit to anything to preserve the life and health of unborn child.

The Florida ACLU intervened on her behalf to strike down the court order that rendered her powerless to make her own medical decisions. The a three judge panel rules that the order set a dangerous precedent and over turned the order but not before MS. Burton was forced to undergo a C-Section and gave birth to a still born. Ms. Burton and the ACLU decided to pursue the case to protect other women from the abuse of a woman’s right to make medical decisions about her health care.

Yesterday, Florida District Court of Appeal ruled that the rights of a pregnant woman were violated when she was forced to remain hospitalized against her will after disagreeing with a hospital’s recommended treatment.

As Marcy Wheeler said at FDL

So if you’re a pregnant woman, you now have the radical right to choose your own doctor and have a say in your treatmetn, even if a judge thinks he knows better. Radical!!

Kind of crazy, all this rights-upholding going on. It might just lead you to believe we were in the United States or something.

“Punting the Pundits” is an Open Thread. It is a selection of editorials and opinions from around the news medium and the internet blogs. The intent is to provide a forum for your reactions and opinions, not just to the opinions presented, but to what ever you find important.

Dean Baker: Fun With Paul Ryan and the Washington Post

The Washington Post really really hates Social Security. They hate Medicare almost as much. Therefore they are willing to give its critics space to say almost anything against the program (the real cause of September 11th) no matter how much they have to twist reality to make their case.

Today, Republican Representative Paul Ryan stepped up to the plate. The Post felt the need to give him an oped column after Paul Krugman cruelly subjected Mr. Ryan’s “Roadmap for America’s Future” to a serious analysis last week. This violated the long accepted practice in elite Washington circles of not holding proponents of Social Security and Medicare cuts/privatization accountable for the things they say. It is therefore understandable the Post would quickly give a coveted oped slot to Mr. Ryan to make amends for such a grevious breach of protocol.

The rest of us may not have the power to invent the facts that would be needed to push our policies, but that doesn’t mean we can’t have fun.

snip

Ryan concludes by telling readers that his proposal is “my sincere attempt to break the political paralysis on entitlement reform, to show that this challenge can be met – mathematically and politically – and to challenge those who disagree with my proposal to offer their own.”

In the forgiving spirit of Friday the 13th, I will not count the reference to sincerity as an inaccuracy. The 20 inaccuracies and 4 references to raiding Medicare can speak for themselves. Of course to the seniors who would be unable to afford decent health care if Mr. Ryan’s plan became law, his sincerity won’t make any difference.

But, I am happy to offer my own test of Mr. Ryan’s sincerity. How about giving Medicare beneficiaries the option to buy into the more efficient health care systems in Europe, Japan, and Canada. The beneficiaries and the taxpayers will split the savings. This leaves the current system intact for those who like it, while offering seniors who opt to go elsewhere for their health care the opportunity to pocket tens of thousands of dollars while saving taxpayers money as well. What’s wrong with giving people a choice, Mr. Ryan?

The ACLU has issued a report on national security, Establishing a New Normal. It is an 18 month review that examines Pres. Obama’s record on national security and civil liberties. The report finds that while the President has some steps to curb torture, the CIA secret prisons and the release of the Bush administrations torture memos, according to Anthony D. Romero, Executive Director of the ACLU:

“President Obama began his presidency with a bang, signing executive orders that placed the power of the presidency behind the restoration of the rule of law and gave meaning to the president’s stated view that America must lead with its values. “Unfortunately, since that time, the administration has displayed a decidedly mixed record resulting, on a range of issues, in the very real danger that the Obama administration will institutionalize some of the most troublesome policies of the previous administration – in essence, creating a troubling ‘new normal.’ We strongly urge the president to shift course and renew his commitment to the fundamental values that are the very foundation of our nation’s strength and security.”

While the Press Secretary, Robert Gibbs, was attacking the Left and Liberals for comparing President Obama’s polices to George W. Bush’s, the reality is we and the “professional left” aren’t wrong. This isn’t going to go away just because the Obama loyalists want us to shut up and vote.

This is a 30 minute video from Democracy Now. The last part is an interview with Jameel Jaffer, Deputy Legal Director of the ACLU. Take the time to watch.

This is your morning Open Thread. Pour a cup of your favorite morning beverage and review the past and comment on the future.

August 13 is the 225th day of the year (226th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 140 days remaining until the end of the year.

On this day in 1521, the Aztec capital, Tenochtitlan falls to Cortes:

After a three-month siege, Spanish forces under Hernan Cortes capture Tenochtitlan, the capital of the Aztec empire. Cortes’ men leveled the city and captured Cuauhtemoc, the Aztec emperor.

Tenochtitlan was founded in 1325 A.D. by a wandering tribe of hunters and gatherers on islands in Lake Texcoco, near the present site of Mexico City. In only one century, this civilization grew into the Aztec empire, largely because of its advanced system of agriculture. The empire came to dominate central Mexico and by the ascendance of Montezuma II in 1502 had reached its greatest extent, extending as far south as perhaps modern-day Nicaragua. At the time, the empire was held together primarily by Aztec military strength, and Montezuma II set about establishing a bureaucracy, creating provinces that would pay tribute to the imperial capital of Tenochtitlan. The conquered peoples resented the Aztec demands for tribute and victims for the religious sacrifices, but the Aztec military kept rebellion at bay.

After the conquest

Cortes subsequently directed the systematic destruction and leveling of the city and its rebuilding, despite opposition, with a central area designated for Spanish use (the traza). The outer Indian section, now dubbed San Juan Tenochtitlan, continued to be governed by the previous indigenous elite and was divided into the same subdivisions as before.

Ruins

Some of the remaining ruins of Tenochtitlan’s main temple, the Templo Mayor, were uncovered during the construction of a metro line in the 1970s. A small portion has been excavated and is now open to visitors. Mexico City’s Zócalo, the Plaza de la Constitución, is located at the location of Tenochtitlan’s original central plaza and market, and many of the original calzadas still correspond to modern streets in the city. The Aztec sun stone was located in the ruins. This stone is 4 meters in diameter and weighs over 20 tonnes. It was once located half way up the great pyramid. This sculpture was made around 1470 CE under the rule of King Axayacatl, the predecessor of Tizoc, and is said to tell the Aztec history and prophecy for the future.