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Friday's Mini-Report

Today's edition of quick hits:

* President Obama took the offensive against congressional Republicans on student loans this morning with these remarks.

Watch on YouTube

* Navy: "Three U.S. Naval Academy football players are under investigation for alleged sexual assault last year against a female midshipman, sources have confirmed to NBC News."

* Syria: "Secretary of State John Kerry on Friday strongly criticized Russia's pledge to send advanced antiaircraft weapons to Syria, saying that Russia's actions threatened to disrupt efforts to negotiate a political settlement of the Syrian conflict and posed an unacceptable risk to Israel."

* Sorry, conservatives, but austerity is a terrible failure: "Unemployment in the euro zone continued its relentless march higher in April, according to official data published Friday, hitting yet another record amid a prolonged recession and the absence of a coordinated response by policy makers."

* Curtis Morrison fesses up to secretly recording Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.).

* The Daily Caller not only has a bad habit of shoddy reporting; it also has a problem with offensive language in its tweets.

* Wisdom from Josh Marshall: "[A]s a group, the standards of most institutional right wing journalism are just so appallingly bad that their stories simply aren't credible.... [I]f you wonder why conservative scandal mongers can't have nice things, look at the conservative media."

* Rising interest rates are not necessarily a discouraging development.

* And Megyn Kelly didn't seem to care for Erick Erickson's misogyny, either.

Anything to add? Consider this an open thread.

House GOPer sees student loans as trivial 'distraction'

Student loan interest rates are reclaiming some of the political spotlight today in advance of a looming July 1 deadline, and Rep. Luke Messer (R-Ind.) talked to MSNBC earlier about the White House support for lower rates. The congressman's response struck me as illustrative of a larger point. For those who can't watch clips online, Messer said (awkward syntax and grammar in the orginal):

"The bottom line is, what you're saying is the president's an effective politician. He does a good job of distracting people from things that they ought to be focused on, and sometimes focusing them on things that while important, listen, none of us want to see student-loan rates spike, are only part of the larger problem.

"I think, as Republicans, we've got to do a better job of explaining how our ideas apply to young people. Sometimes it sounds like he's selling ice cream and we're selling spinach. But I think personal responsibility is pretty cool. There is nothing out of date about freedom, and we need to have the policies that get this budget back in line, stop the explosive growth of spending -- spending that will be paid for by this generation. And we've got to do a better job of explaining that."

The problem with this argument is that none of this makes a lick of sense. It's almost as if the congressman doesn't understand any of the relevant details at all.

First, Messer characterizes student loans as a "distraction" unworthy of the president's time. I can think of a few million families, each of which is poised to take a serious hit in the wallet, who would disagree.

Second, and more important, is the notion that Messer doesn't seem to like student loans themselves. He not only considers the fight over interest rates a "distraction," he also thinks "personal responsibility is pretty cool" -- which in this context, suggests a certain indifference to the needs of students who rely on assistance to pay tuition.

What's more, Messer justifies this hostility towards student loans -- an all-too-familiar position in today's GOP -- by pointing to the deficit and the "explosive growth of spending." But as a matter of policy, this is gibberish -- the deficit is already shrinking at a pace unseen in generations, and hurting students who are already struggling with college debts won't suddenly make the nation's fiscal standing significantly better. For that matter, there's been no "explosive growth" in government spending -- the very idea is simply ridiculous. It's not a matter of opinion; it's a matter of arithmetic.

So what do we have here? A Republican congressman who doesn't want a student-loan interest-rate hike and doesn't want young voters to turn against his party, but who'll nevertheless dismiss student loans as unimportant, prioritizing deficit reduction that's already happening and preventing explosive spending growth that's purely imaginary.

It remains a post-policy political party.

No political daylight for GOP in Virginia

For Virginia Democrats, the strategy for this year's statewide elections came into sharp focus after the Virginia Republicans' recent nominating convention. Step 1: explain to the commonwealth that the GOP slate is unusually radical, even by contemporary Republican standards. Step 2: make the case that there's no real difference between the various culture warriors who'll be on the same ballot.

To that end, E.W. Jackson, the unhinged candidate for lieutenant governor, did Virginia Democrats a pretty big favor today.

Watch on YouTube

For those who can't watch clips online, Jackson appeared on a radio show this morning and was asked about possible areas of disagreement between himself and gubernatorial hopeful Ken Cuccinelli (R).

"We are in fundamental agreement. I've heard that this ticket is probably more homogeneous than almost any ticket ever in the history of Virginia. So there's no stark disagreement between us."

You can almost hear Virginia Democrats smiling.

Look, Wilson is just a bizarre political personality -- you've all seen the axe-melon video, right? -- who's so extreme, he's causing some Republican officials to "panic." Cuccinelli has said he supports his party-chosen running mate, but he refuses to comment publicly on anything Wilson has ever said or done. It's easy to imagine the underlying strategy: Cuccinelli doesn't want to be dragged down if Virginia's mainstream voters consider Wilson too ridiculous to vote for.

And then along comes Wilson to declare that he and Cuccinelli are just two peas in a right-wing pod.

Virginia voters can expect to hear this quote quite a bit between now and Election Day.

James Comey, actual Republican

Getty Images

President Obama very likely hopes that choosing James Comey, a Republican and former top official in the Bush/Cheney Justice Department, to lead the FBI will give him some bipartisan credibility on the Hill. But it's also easy to imagine the pushback from the right: sure Comey is a Republican, but is he really a Republican?

After all, Comey rose to national prominence when he balked at the legality of the Bush/Cheney warrantless wiretap program, which the GOP widely supported. He also endorsed marriage equality, announced his support for trying terrorist suspects in America's criminal-justice system, and backed Eric Holder's Attorney General nomination in 2009.

So is Comey some sort of center-left RINO? It's a subjective question, but my colleague Michael Yarvitz flagged this report from David Steinbach that highlighted a relevant detail about Comey's political contributions.

...Comey's own donations to federal candidates over the last several years also went to Republicans.

In fact, the apparent nominee-to-be has contributed to Obama's opponents in each of the past two elections. In August 2008, Comey sent $2,300 to the GOP presidential nominee, Sen. John McCain (Ariz.). A few years later, Comey did his part to try to prevent Obama's re-election, maxing out to Republican Mitt Romney with $5,000 in donations.

In other words, President Obama has chosen as his FBI director a Republican donor who opened his wallet and donated generously to beat President Obama.

Comey has a sterling reputation, and has credibility as an official who doesn't let politics trump the law, but his status as a member of the Republican Party shouldn't be in doubt.

Will this matter on Capitol Hill? Almost certainly yes.

Roll Call reported overnight that congressional Republicans effectively see Comey as "about the best pick the Republicans are likely to get out of the Obama White House, and he will face an easier time than if the administration had gone with an Obama insider."

Makan Delrahim, former Republican staff director and chief counsel of the Senate Judiciary Committee when Orrin G. Hatch, R-Utah, was chairman, called the pick "a brilliant move" that would help tamp down partisan attacks against Obama.

Comey "provides the president with political cover with regard to highly sensitive national security issues, which are critical in today's world," he said.

Even I'm not naive enough to believe Comey will "help tamp down partisan attacks against Obama," but comments like these at least suggest confirmation shouldn't be too challenging.

An honorable search

This week, the nonprofit organization The International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery (TIGHAR) released a sonar image of what could be Amelia Earhart's long-lost Electra airplane. The image was taken off the coast of a rather remote island in the western Pacific Ocean called Nikumaroro.

TIGHAR executive director Ric Gillespie says they will need to raise $3 million to find out for sure, and they will not be able to get back to the island until next year. 

Last year, then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced her support for TIGHAR and the quest to find Amelia Earhart's plane.

This was the reason TIGHAR was so jazzed about the project:

It is a photograph taken by naval officer Eric Bevington in October 1937, three months after Earhart and co-pilot Fred Noonan disappeared over the central Pacific Ocean. It depicts the SS Norwich City, which had been shipwrecked on a coral reef since 1929 off the coast of Nikumaroro (then called Gardner Island.) Parts of the shipwreck are still there! 

You can read more about the photograph's origins here (pdf) and here. TIGHAR investigators were initially interested in the wreck and anything Bevington might have noticed in the area of Gardner Island all those years ago. It was only in processing copies of Bevington's shipwreck photos after their meeting that they realized the photos might also contain a huge clue about Earhart's disappearance.

The big clue is not the shipwreck, it is that object circled in red, which researchers called "Nessie" and then the "Bevington Object." The theory is that the Bevington Object was actually the landing gear of Earhart's plane:

[MORE AFTER THE JUMP]

 

Birds-eye view: The red arrow shows where the possible Electra wreckage is, in conjunction with the locations of the 1937 Bevington Object and the SS Norwich City.

The "debris field" most likely consists of man-made debris not related to the SS Norwich City, but maybe related to the Bevington Object.  

The "anomaly" is the purported Electra wreckage:

Amelia Earhart was a trailblazer. She literally trailblazed the Atlantic Ocean as the first woman to fly solo across it. And she helped pave the way for the feminist movement in other ways. She laid down the law in her prenuptial agreement, emphasized that marriage was a "partnership" with "dual control" and she spoke out in favor of women's equality in the workplace. 

Her legacy is just as important, if not more important, than the story of her disappearance - which remains a mystery. 

TIGHAR may have found Amelia Earhart's plane. Or they may have just found more debris from ships long gone. Only time, money and more research will tell. But Secretary Hillary Clinton probably put it best in March 2012:

“Even if you do not find what you seek, there is great honor and possibility in the search itself ... so, like our lost heroine, you will all carry our hopes.”

 

A curious definition of 'reasonable'

Associated Press

Gina McCarthy, nominated to lead the EPA

Gina McCarthy's nomination to lead the EPA probably won't reach the Senate floor until July, and maybe between now and then, her Republican critics can up with better excuses to oppose her nomination than this.

Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) said he still couldn't support President Obama's nominee to head the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) because she is "stonewalling."

"The job of EPA administrator has the potential to impact the life of every American in both positive and negative ways -- and so I believe she has to be as forthcoming as possible in answering questions," Sessions said Thursday. "To date, she has not provided responsive answers to many of the requests submitted by our ranking member, Sen. [David] Vitter (R-La.), or many of my questions."

The Alabama Republican added that he and his GOP colleagues have made "reasonable requests."

I suppose what is and isn't "reasonable" is a subjective matter, but by any fair standard, Sessions' complaint is hard to take seriously.

As we discussed several weeks ago, BuzzFeed ran an interesting report on the number of questions Senate Republicans have asked McCarthy as part of her confirmation process. How ridiculous has it been? Combine all of the questions submitted for the record by Senate Republicans for the three previous EPA directors. Then double that number. Then double that number again. It still doesn't come close to the 1,079 questions the Senate GOP has submitted to Gina McCarthy.

Sen. David Vitter (R-La.) alone has asked 411 written questions, with 242 subparts. McCarthy answered all of them.

"Reasonable requests?" I don't think so.

In the meantime, an anti-EPA think tank called the Competitive Enterprise Institute has filed a lawsuit related to McCarthy's nomination. Apparently, during her confirmation hearing, McCarthy sent some text messages, and the Competitive Enterprise Institute is going to court, demanding to know what she said to whom. Why? Because maybe the nominee said something the right can use against her.

Don't be too surprised if the McCarthy pushback helps Senate Democrats make the case for the nuclear option this summer.

Health care law helps extend Medicare's fiscal health

Associated Press

Despite many years of bipartisan support, Medicare has become a contentious partisan issue in recent years -- Republicans have fought to eliminate the program and replace it with a voucher system in which seniors would get coupons they'd use to buy private insurance, while Democrats have pursued far more modest fiscal reforms. Both agree, however, on one thing: Medicare faces long-term fiscal challenges that will eventually need a remedy.

The obvious question, of course, is how soon that solution will be necessary. Last year, Medicare's trustees said fiscal troubles would begin for the program in 2024. This morning, the trustees pushed that deadline back by two years.

The Medicare Hospital Insurance fund will exhaust its assets in 2026, two years later than projected last year and the assets in the Social Security funds will be depleted in 2033, the same date the trustees predicted in last year's report.

The trustees explained that the pushing back of the trust funds exhaustion date for Medicare's hospital insurance program is due partly to lower projected spending in the future for skilled nursing facilities and other services.

In an encouraging note for President Obama, the trustees said recent data suggest that certain parts of the Affordable Care Act will reduce growth in medical care costs "by more than was previously projected."

With congressional Republicans loath to even consider compromises or bipartisan reforms, Medicare's extended solvency is certainly good news. Indeed, the White House can take a fair amount of credit for this -- the Affordable Care Act has slowed Medicare spending and improved savings throughout the system.

Indeed, one of the great ironies of last year's political campaigns was Republican arguments about the need to "put back" the funds Obamacare "cut" from Medicare. Whether GOP candidates realized this or not, what they were talking about was undoing cost savings -- their plan was to make Medicare more insolvent sooner.

In fairness, it's worth emphasizing that trustees' reports often vary with the economy, and healthier economic times leads to healthier reports for the social-insurance programs. With that in mind, the administration can't point to the Affordable Care Act as the sole reason for Medicare's improved fiscal conditions.

But the health care reform law has helped Medicare's financial footing. Those pushing to gut or repeal the law are putting the solvency of the program at greater risk.

Friday's campaign round-up

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:

* Arkansas Sen. Mark Pryor (D) released this new television ad overnight, responding to criticism from Mayors Against Illegal Guns. Note how the vulnerable, red-state incumbent tries to put some distance between himself and President Obama.

Watch on YouTube

* With Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) retiring, her Democratic opponent, Jim Graves, has decided to quit, too.

* In Massachusetts' U.S. Senate special election, Republican candidate Gabriel Gomez has been asked for weeks for his position on the anti-contraception Blunt Amendment, and again yesterday, he refused to state an opinion.

* Sen. Kay Hagan (D-N.C.) is generally considered one of the key Republican targets in 2014, but Republicans have struggled to recruit a top-tier challenger. That changed yesterday when North Carolina state House Speaker Thom Tillis (R) said he intends to run.

* Colorado Republicans will have quite a gubernatorial primary next year: former Rep. Tom Tancredo, best known for hating immigrants, and Secretary of State Scott Gessler, best known for supporting voter-suppression techniques, will vie for their party's nomination.

* In Georgia, state Democratic Party Chairman Mike Berlon, plagued by legal problems, is resigning from his post so to as avoid being a distraction in advance of next year's elections.

* Former Rep. Marjorie Margolies (D-Pa.) lost her seat after one term in 1994, after she voted for President Clinton's economic plan. Two decades later, she's on the comeback trail, poised to run in Pennsylvania's 13th district.

* And in Illinois, Republicans finally have a gubernatorial candidate, with state Treasurer Dan Rutherford (R) kicking off his campaign this weekend.

Ahead on the 5/30 Maddow show

Tonight's guests include:

Michael Rezendes, investigative reporter for the Boston Globe
Steve Kornacki, host of MSNBC’s weekend morning show “Up with Steve Kornacki” and senior writer for Salon.com

Tonight's show will be a little magical. Here's executive producer Bill Wolff to tell you why:

Thursday's Mini-Report

Today's edition of quick hits:

* The deadly violence in Iraq continues to escalate, with nearly 40 people killed in attacks over the last two days.

* Ricin threat: "A threatening letter was mailed to President Obama that is similar to two letters containing poisonous ricin sent to Mayor Bloomberg and his anti-gun group, officials confirmed Thursday. The letter, first reported by NBC 4 New York, is being tested for ricin. It was received Wednesday at an off-site facility, and did not reach the White House, according to the Secret Service."

* I don't see how this ends well: "President Bashar al-Assad of Syria displayed a new defiance in a television interview broadcast on Thursday, warning Israel and suggesting that he had secured plenty of weapons from Russia as his opponents falter politically and Hezbollah fighters infuse force into his military campaign."

* DOJ: "A growing number of news organizations invited to meet this week with Attorney General Eric Holder to discuss the Justice Department's guidelines governing security leak investigations that involve reporters are refusing the invitation citing the meetings' off-the-record status."

* Toronto: "Mayor Rob Ford held a brief press conference Thursday afternoon to address two staffers who resigned from his office in the wake of multiple reports he was filmed smoking crack. Ford characterized the staffers' departures as a result of them finding other unspecified jobs.... Ford ignored multiple questions reporters shouted about the alleged crack video at the press conference."

* Affordable Care Act: "More than 100 insurance plans have asked to sell their products through ObamaCare's new insurance exchanges -- a development the White House touted Thursday as evidence people will have a range of plans to choose from once the healthcare law is fully implemented."

* A change of plans for Adam Kokesh: "The activist who threatened to lead an armed march on Washington July 4 has canceled the event but is urging people to converge on the 50 state capitals to protest gun regulations, according to a recent appearance on an Internet talk-show."

* A long way to go: "American households have rebuilt less than half of the wealth lost during the recession, according to a new analysis from the Federal Reserve, hampering the country's economic recovery."

* Greeley will be missed: "Andrew M. Greeley, a Roman Catholic priest and a prolific writer whose outpouring of sociological research, contemporary theology, controversial novels and no-holds-barred newspaper columns regularly challenged reigning assumptions about American Catholicism, was found dead on his Thursday at his home in Chicago. He was 85."

Anything to add? Consider this an open thread.