“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.
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New York Times Editorial Board: The Hear-Nothing Gun Crowd
Sometimes in American politics it seems as if we are all talking past each other, that whatever one side says about an issue like, say, taxes zooms right past the other side. The current fight over gun control is not one of those moments. It is a howling storm of misrepresentation, sadly almost entirely from one side. This week’s developments fit the pattern.
On Tuesday in the East Room of the White House, President Obama formally announced that he would be taking a series of executive actions — all of them within his powers as president. It was an important step, since he sometimes seems alone in Washington in his willingness to take on the issue of guns. But none of his actions are aimed at taking weapons away from law-abiding citizens, and none will have that effect. In fact, there has been no bill in real contention in Congress for many years that would reduce the number of guns currently in circulation, or disarm any law-abiding Americans.
Katrina vanden Heuvel: The ‘four freedoms’ under assault
In her syndicated newspaper column on Jan. 6, 1941, Eleanor Roosevelt wrote , “America is not a pile of goods, more luxury, more comforts, a better telephone system, a greater number of cars. America is a dream of greater justice and opportunity for the average man and, if we can not obtain it, all our other achievements amount to nothing.”
That afternoon, President Franklin Roosevelt delivered his annual State of the Union address and elaborated on what America is and is not. He spoke powerfully about the fundamental values at the heart of American democracy, which he portrayed as a potent antidote to the tyranny overtaking Europe. He envisioned a world with “four essential human freedoms” at its core: freedom of speech and expression, freedom of worship, freedom from want, and freedom from fear. And he proclaimed that such a world could be “attainable in our own time and generation.” [..]
In 1941, Roosevelt spoke with clarity about the serious threats to America “from without.” Today, we are facing a different kind of danger – but one that also demands our attention – from within. On the 75th anniversary of Roosevelt’s four freedoms speech, may people fight to defend the core freedoms that have animated our nation at its best. In 2016, we are not just choosing a president. We are choosing what kind of country we want to be.
Rep. Chris Van Hollen: A Shameful GOP Milestone as Tea Party Ideology Trumps Women’s Health
Today, Republicans in Congress plan to make history. Not for growing the economy or helping the middle class — but for sending a bill to President Obama that will defund women’s health care and hurt millions of Americans.
Defunding Planned Parenthood has been a Republican rallying cry for years. But with both the House and Senate passing the budget reconciliation bill, it will be the first time they send legislation to President Obama’s desk that denies lifesaving health options for millions of women. This is all a part of their dangerous effort to repeal the Affordable Care Act, which would take health coverage away from 22 million Americans after 2017 and cause economic hardship for millions of families already struggling to get ahead.
As a statement of principle, defunding Planned Parenthood and dismantling the Affordable Care Act is a crass ideological pitch to the most extreme wing of the Tea Party. As a legislative “accomplishment,” it is an embarrassing and destructive precedent that will mark another low point of this Republican Congress.
Bob Greenstein:Paul Ryan’s Plan to Merge Safety Net Programs Could Increase Poverty, Not Reduce It
When various Republican presidential candidates present their views on addressing poverty at a January 9 forum in South Carolina, some may seek to align themselves with House Speaker Paul Ryan’s proposal to combine funding for numerous safety net programs into what would essentially be a mega-block grant to states. Ryan laid out such a proposal — his “Opportunity Grant” proposal — in July 2014. Last month, he reiterated his call to merge many safety net programs.
His proposal raises serious questions, however. Our analysis suggests Paul Ryan’s “Opportunity Grant” proposal carries substantial risk of increasing poverty, rather than reducing it, for the following reasons:
Althea Butler: The right to bear arms should never trump the right to assemble or worship
President Barack Obama cried during his announcement of new executive actions designed to curb gun violence in the United States, by restricting the access to firearms of those who present a clear danger to themselves or others and improving access to mental health services for those in need. Recounting the children shot to death at Sandy Hook Elementary school, he brushed at the tears rolling down his cheeks, and said, “First graders. Every time I think about those kids, it gets me mad. And by the way, it happens on the streets of Chicago every day.”
While the president’s tears are not surprising, given his grief and frustration over gun violence in America, he moved to dry them quickly. There is no time for tears – not in America, where gun violence is rampant, mass shootings occur with regularity and those opposing him are gearing up for a fight.
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