Rachel Maddow's Blog, page 3380
July 1, 2013
Monday's campaign round-up
Associated Press
Today's installment of campaign-related news items that won't necessarily generate a post of their own, but may be of interest to political observers:
* Maine's embattled Republican governor, Paul LePage, told reporters last week that he's decided not to run for Congress, despite suggestions to the contrary a few days prior. What's more, the far-right governor, elected in 2010 with just 38% of the vote in a three-way race, also said he may not seek re-election next year.
* The New York Times reported over the weekend on a new Republican effort intended to undermine Hillary Clinton: "Republican strategists and presidential hopefuls, in ways subtle and overt, are eager to focus a spotlight on Mrs. Clinton's age. The former secretary of state will be 69 by the next presidential election, a generation removed from most of the possible Republican candidates." This seems like a very bad idea.
* Rep. John Campbell (R) of California announced late last week that he will not seek re-election in 2014. Democrats hope to put the seat in play, but California's 45th is generally considered a safe Republican seat.
* Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) made his first trip to South Carolina on Friday, hoping to "build on the grassroots organization his father established in his two presidential runs."
* Former half-term Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin is threatening to help create a third party -- apparently called the "Freedom Party" -- if her radicalized Republican Party "continues to abandon its conservative principles."
* In Massachusetts, state Attorney General Martha Coakley's (D) 2010 U.S. Senate bid did not go well, but three years later, she's switching gears and looking to run for governor next year.
* In New York City, an NBC News/Marist Poll found former Rep. Anthony Weiner leading Christine Quinn by five, 25% to 20%, in a Democratic primary.
* And former Rep. Ben Quayle (R-Ariz.) was rumored to be interested in running again, but has since decided to skip the race against freshman Rep. Kyrsten Sinema (D).
Congress' anti-abortion bill adds to the deficit
Associated Press
Rep. Trent Franks (R-Ariz.)
This is certainly amusing on its own, but there's a larger significance beyond the story's point-and-laugh quality.
Nearly every single House Republican voted last week to increase government spending and push the nation further into debt -- all to limit abortion access for some women.
The official budget scorekeeper of Congress says the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act, which would ban abortions after 20 weeks, would increase Medicaid costs by as much as $400 million.
We're referring, of course, to Rep. Trent Franks' (R-Ariz.) legislation, the most sweeping abortion restrictions considered in Congress in a decade, which passed the House two weeks ago on a 228-196 vote. Nearly every Democrat voted against it; nearly every Republican voted for it.
At the time, the debate followed a fairly predictable trajectory -- opponents noted it was an unconstitutional bill that Congress' shouldn't waste time on, especially since it can't pass the Senate or earn the president's signature, while supporters said the Republican Party's right-wing base is a beast that must occasionally be fed with pointless legislation.
But the CBO score adds an amusing twist: Franks' bill, thanks to its impact on Medicaid expenditures, would make the deficit bigger if it became law.
It's the bigger picture that I care about, however. There's an amazing phenomenon that's unfolded in recent years, in which nearly every Republican on Capitol Hill says their principal goal is deficit reduction. They say it's absolutely necessary to help America's children and to prevent an imaginary debt crisis.
It doesn't matter if the deficit is already shrinking; it doesn't matter if these cuts would make unemployment worse; it doesn't matter if these austerity measures would undermine economic growth. There's a list of GOP priorities, and this has been at the very top throughout the Obama era.
But that's not the amazing part. Rather, what's been interesting has been watching these same Republican policymakers reject Democratic policies that reduce the deficit the GOP pretends to care so much about, while pushing Republican policies that make the deficit worse.
Congressional Democrats said, "If we approve the Affordable Care Act, we can reduce the deficit by hundreds of billions of dollars." And Republicans said no.
Congressional Democrats said, "If we approve comprehensive immigration reform, we can reduce the deficit by hundreds of billions of dollars." And Republicans are in the process of saying no.
Congressional Democrats said, "If we approve a cap-and-trade system and the Dream Act, we can reduce the deficit by tens of billions of dollars." And Republicans said no.
Now, GOP lawmakers certainly had their own reasons to oppose all of these ideas -- including the ones they came up with -- that had nothing to do with the government's fiscal challenges. But therein lies the point: for all the talk about deficit reduction being their top priority, when confronted with bills that actually reduce the deficit, Republicans seem oddly disinterested.
Instead, they like bills like Trent Franks', which actually make the deficit bigger, not smaller.
GOP wants ACA to be DOA with NFL
Associated Press
With implementation of the Affordable Care Act proceeding apace, the Obama administration has already talked about how best to reach the public, letting Americans know about benefits available to eligible families. The point of a public-relations campaign is obvious: not only will it benefit families who could use the help, but the more people participate, the more effective the law.
Republican leaders are well aware of this, and have begun pushing back aggressively, last week urging the commissioners of the National Football League and other major sports leagues not to help the U.S. government get the word out in any way.
"Given the divisiveness and persistent unpopularity of the bill, it is difficult to understand why an organization like yours would risk damaging its inclusive and apolitical brand by lending its name to a promotion," wrote Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky and Minority Whip John Cornyn of Texas in the letters, which were dated Thursday. [...]
In the letters to the NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL, PGA and NASCAR, the two senators also ask the leagues to notify them if anyone in the Obama administration exerts undue pressure to get them to support any pro-health care law marketing efforts.
Given what we've seen in recent years, the letters to the sports leagues certainly don't come as a surprise. Indeed, they're not happening in a vacuum, either -- Trivis Waldron noted on Friday that some conservative activists are threatening to turn their backs on the NFL if professional football partners with the U.S. government on this. The Weekly Standard, for example, said it would be "yet another reminder that football is best watched on Saturdays."
There's also the not-so-subtle irony of Mitch McConnell whining incessantly for several weeks about a "culture of intimidation," while he quietly presses the NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL, PGA, and NASCAR not to cooperate with federal officials -- because he says so.
But let's also not overlook the policy significance of this.
The reason the Senate minority leadership sent these letters is because they desperately hope to sabotage the post-reform health care system. As McConnell and Cornyn see it, if sports leagues help the government get the word out about, and Americans take advantage of the benefits they're entitled to, then the Affordable Care Act will succeed.
And success for "Obamacare" isn't something GOP officials are prepared to tolerate, so they're using their public offices to pressure the private sector to help undermine the law's efficacy.
As Jonathan Bernstein explained the other day, "It's possible that the ACA will collapse. But if it does, it's unlikely it will be the result of inherent problems with the legislation. If Obamacare fails, it's going to be because the Republican Party's all-out war on it -- a war that doesn't seem to have any concern at all for health-care consumers or the economy -- succeeds. Whether that's a good thing for health care? Well, that doesn't seem to be part of the equation."
Quite right. If Republicans can successfully sabotage the law, they win -- even if you and your family lose. We're watching one of those unusual dynamics in which federal officials actively and deliberately try to undermine other federal officials in the hopes of sabotaging federal law.
And no one seems to find this scandalous, or even surprising.
Finally, note that the Republican efforts may already be succeeding.
The National Football League is used to big, bruising battles. But on Friday, it announced that it was likely staying out of one of the roughest fights in Washington: the war over Obamacare. [...]
Asked about the congressional letter, NFL spokesman Greg Aiello said the league had not made any commitment to the administration.
"We have responded to the letters we received from members of Congress to inform them we currently have no plans to engage in this area and have had no substantive contact with the administration about [the health-care law's] implementation," he said in an e-mail.
The NFL's decision is the latest blow to the administration over the health-care law, which faces enormous hurdles as key portions go into effect in the coming months.
When the federal government is divided against itself, implementing federal law is certainly more difficult than it should be.
'I'm not an expert on moose sex...'
Moose, single, seeks same for friendship, possibly more
"...or moose anything, but I think the understanding is that if they can preserve the corridor with things like this … then I think there’s a good chance the Nova Scotia population will be replenished.”
— Derek Burney, former Canadian ambassador to the United States and chief of staff to Brian Mulroney when he was prime minister.
CBC reports that Mr. Burney and his wife Joan recently donated 316 hectares of their own private land along the boundary of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick to be used as a mating area for our hairy, antlered friends, a scheme they are calling the Moose Sex Project. (Any punk band out there searching for just the right name? You're welcome.)
In addition to helping an endangered species thrive and multiply, these spacious new trysting grounds will go a long way toward squelching any possible human-moose marriage attempts, which should come as comforting news to Rand Paul (even if he swears he was joking. )
June 29, 2013
This Week in God
First up from the God Machine this week is a look at the reactions from the religious right movement to this week's Supreme Court ruling striking down the Defense of Marriage Act. As one might imagine, the movement's leaders were less than pleased.
Watch on YouTubeTV preacher Pat Robertson, for example, said on his nationally televised program that he wonders whether Justice Anthony Kennedy has "some clerks who happen to be gays." In Robertson's mind, this is a sensible question -- since it's not possible that Kennedy, who wrote the DOMA ruling, based his decision on equal protection and due process, there just has to be something else. And blaming some rascally gay clerk, who may or may not exist, for somehow influencing the justice, makes more sense than the alternatives.
Also note in the clip that Robertson asks right-wing lawyer Jay Sekulow, who heads Robertson's legal group, about the sexual orientation of federal district court Judge Vaughn Walker, who first ruled on the constitutionality of Prop. 8, as if Walker's personal life is relevant (it's not).
Robertson's conspiracy theory, of course, was really just the tip of an unhinged iceberg, Right Wing Watch rounded up all kinds of religious right reactions to developments at the Supreme Court -- some of which were almost amusing in their over-the-top vitriol. My personal favorite was the obscure far-right group that compared the ruling to Pearl Harbor.
Salon's Alex Halperin also had a good collection of reactions from social conservatives, including an inconsolable Mike Huckabee.
Also from the God Machine this week:
* The Roman Catholic Church ran into a different kind of controversy this week, with these unexpected developments at the Holy See: "A Vatican official already under investigation for money laundering was arrested after police say they caught him and two other men plotting a scheme that would bring in 20 million euros (about $26 million) in cash into Italy from Switzerland on a jet" (thanks to reader R.P. for the tip).
* The British government this week banned anti-Islam activist Pam Geller from attending a right-wing rally in the U.K. Home Secretary Theresa May personally decided to exclude Geller under the country's "Unacceptable Behavior policy."
* And Time magazine's Joe Klein published a piece this week on military veterans using public service to reduce the effects of posttraumatic stress, but in the article, the political columnist took a gratuitous shot at secularists: "[F]unny how you don't see organized groups of secular humanists giving out hot meals." When evidence to the contrary proved overwhelming, Klein published a follow-up piece, but did not apologize or correct his factual error.
June 28, 2013
Links for the 6/29 TRMS
Citations for Friday's show are listed after the jump.
Court: At Least 25 Days Before Calif. Gay Marriage
The stay in the above matter is dissolved effective immediately. (pdf)
Kamala Harris - @KamalaHarris - On my way to S.F. City Hall. Let the wedding bells ring! #Prop8
Statement by Secretary Hagel on DOMA Ruling
military DOMA amicus brief (pdf)
Audio: United States v. Windsor
Kasich: No comment on abortion vetoes
Is the Ohio House pulling a Mourdock?
2 OHIO FOOTBALL PLAYERS CONVICTED OF RAPING GIRL
Ohio's new anti-abortion rules draw protests at Statehouse
Ohio abortion-rights group protests restrictions
How the "birth control-ultrasound budget" works
Budget requires ultrasound before birth control
McCrory hits on guns, abortion, tax reform during visit
Bentley signs controversial bill regulating abortion clinics
Judge to Rule on Ala. Abortion Law Today
Federal judge blocks part of Alabama's new abortion clinic law
Federal judge blocks part of new Ala. abortion law
Gov. Perry calls special session to start Monday on abortion, transportation and justice
Ahead on the 6/28 Maddow show
Tonight's guests:
Kamala Harris, Attorney General of California
Clifford Alexander, Secretary of the United States Army under President Carter and chairman of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission under President Johnson
Mayor Antonio R. Villaraigosa, L.A. mayor, marrying Prop 8 plaintiffs Paul Katami & Jeff Zarrillo live on the show
Gavin Newsom, lieutenant governor, California
And here's executive producer Bill Wolff what what has turned out to be yet another amazing Friday night.
Marriage equality returns to California UPDATED
David Stevenson at KTVU
Following Wednesday's Supreme Court rulings, it was clear marriage equality would return to California, but it was far less clear when. As of yesterday, reports suggest it would take at least 25 days, though Gov. Jerry Brown (D) issued instructions to counties to "begin issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples in California as soon as the 9th Circuit confirms the stay is lifted."
That stay was lifted this afternoon.
The U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday cleared the way for gay marriages to resume in California.
The court lifted its stay on an injunction which ordered state officials to stop enforcing Proposition 8. With the court's action, counties can now begin issuing same-sex marriage licenses.
The 9th Circuit's order is online here (pdf). It reads, in its entirety, "The stay in the above matter is dissolved effective immediately." That's it; that's the whole thing.
And as a consequence, same-sex couples can married in the nation's largest state right now, and many are already doing so as I type.
The above photo shows Kris Perry and Sandy Stier, the defendants in the Prop. 8 case, as they prepared to get married by California Attorney General Kamala Harris (D). It was posted by David Stevenson at the Bay Area's KTVU.
California is the 13th state in the nation to now have equal marriage rights for all.
ADDING: Video catches California Attorney General Kamala Harris ordering the resumption of same sex marriages.
ADDING: It was to our great delight that we learned that two of the named Prop 8 plaintiffs, Paul Katami and Jeff Zarrillo, were to be married during the hour of our show. Here is their wedding, officiated by Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.
The other brand new Texas-sized Super Star
State Sen. Wendy Davis (D-TX) isn't the only star to shoot out of Texas this week.
As Rachel mentioned Wednesday night, we could not have told the story of Sen. Davis' filibuster and the throngs of supporters who flooded the capitol to support her were it not for the Texas Tribune. The Texas Tribune, a non-profit organization, live streamed the entire filibuster gavel-to-gavel, a gift from the TV gods so we could bring the story to you with actual video! The Texas Tribune is the reason we and the entire country had our eyeballs glued to computer screens as activists and protesters shouted down Republicans trying to kill the filibuster on a technicality. The Tribune was crucial. And their audience is letting them know it with a wave of new donations.
If you'd like to show your appreciation for the hard working folks at the Texas Tribune, the link for donations is here.
Friday's Mini-Report
Today's edition of quick hits:
* President Obama's African trip continues, with South Africa up next.
* Contraception: "The Obama administration issued a final rule on Friday requiring many employers and health insurance plans to provide free coverage of contraceptives for women, a policy that has touched off a furious legal and political battle likely to rage for another year."
* Retired Marine Gen. James Cartwright: "Legal sources tell NBC News that the former second ranking officer in the U.S. military is now the target of a Justice Department investigation into a politically sensitive leak of classified information about a covert U.S. cyber attack on Iran's nuclear program."
* Ricin: "Federal prosecutors on Friday announced charges against a Texas woman who authorities believe sent letters containing the poison ricin to President Barack Obama, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and the director of Mayors Against Illegal Guns."
* As Congress leaves town, the fate of the farm bill remains entirely unclear.
* On a related note, Congress is actually in recess -- no pro-forma sessions -- though it's unclear if the White House has any recess appointments in mind.
* In the IRS controversy, the Inspector General is changing his story, and it's congressional Democrats who are asking the questions.
* On a related note: "A Republican-led panel said Friday that the IRS official at the center of an alleged targeting controversy waived her Fifth Amendment rights when she declined to answer lawmakers' questions in an appearance before the committee last month."
* Good call: "A federal judge in Michigan has blocked a state ban preventing public officials from offering domestic partnership benefits, finding that the law is unconstitutional under the Equal Protection clause of the Constitution."
* A terrific piece on the climate crisis from Jonathan Cohn: "What the Weather Channel knows -- and John Boehner doesn't."
* Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell (R) really doesn't want to talk about his lovely-but-scandal-plagued Rolex.
* And finally, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) should have known better than to mess with Norm Ornstein.
Anything to add? Consider this an open thread.
