Michael Tomasky's Blog, page 65

The next tax war | Michael Tomasky

So I have been empaneled on a jury, for a trial that's expected to take all week. I'll try at least to write a post every morning to give you all something to chew on. But I can tell you now that there will be no quiz Friday. I won't have time. Get a jump on the following Friday's quiz, if you want, by reading a little bit of this.

Okay, now. Today's subject is the Bush tax cuts. Barack Obama has said since 2007 that he'd let the Bush cuts expire for single earners above $200,000 and...

Foxman's irrational exuberance | Michael Tomasky

Today I have jury duty, so posting may be light. Hopefully it's only for today, although of course I'm happy to serve the people of Montgomery County in their pursuit of justice.

I did want to flag this abominable remark made over the weekend by Abe Foxman, the head of the Jewish Anti-Defamation League. The ADL is a historically basically liberal outfit devoted to the fight against bigotry. As it represents a group of people who comprise barely 2% of the US population, it has stood quite...

Newt and Camus | Michael Tomasky

Remember how I mentioned a few days ago that Newt Gingrich is always making seemingly hifalutin historical allusions that fool people into thinking he's deep?

Well, take a guess at the title of a talk he gave at the American Enterprise Institute yesterday. Ready? No? Okay. It was America at Risk: Camus, National Security and Afghanistan. I kid you not.

Joshua Keating of Foreign Policy was intrigued but came away disappointed:

The only reference to Camus in the entire hour-long speech was one...

More GOP hijinx | Michael Tomasky

If Obama's for it, the GOP is against it. We know that. But now, it extends even to tax cuts.

Yesterday, while Republicans in the House were voting against healthcare funding for people with 9-11 related illnesses, Republicans in the Senate were up to something arguably even more novel:

All 41 Senate Republicans yesterday filibustered a jobs package comprised largely of tax cuts.

You read that right. Republicans filibustered tax cuts.

By the GOP's own admission, the underlying legislation has...

Anthony Weiner: more like that, please | Michael Tomasky

Last night the House of Representatives was debating a bill to spend about $7 billion on healthcare monitoring for rescue workers and residents involved in 9-11 health fallout in lower Manhattan. The Democrats brought it to the floor under a rule requiring a two-thirds majority, because that same rule also prevents the addition of "mischief" amendments from the minority, which the Republicans were planning on adding, evidently excluding undocumented immigrants, thus forcing a tough vote that ...

Friday quiz: eggheads part one | Michael Tomasky

Now, we segue into a natural successor to last week's subject of notable historians, but don't grumble, because this ought to be a little easier for most of you. This week we move to intellectuals of the 20th century. This is such a vast subject that I think we'll have two quizzes, this Friday and next, on British and American intellectuals. I'll start with the Brits as a good-will gesture toward my hosts, but we're going to throw in a couple of questions on the French, too, just for...

The deficit and the dead-end future | Michael Tomasky

As we've discussed, Obama has appointed an 18-member bipartisan deficit commission that will offer some recommendations in December. As you should know, the basic tensions are these: more short-term stimulus versus deficit reduction; sanctity of Social Security and Medicare versus cuts thereto; budget cuts versus tax increases. These are massive questions that really go directly to the heart of governance and political philosophy. One's answers to these questions reflect what kind of society ...

Rand Paul hits a hazard | Michael Tomasky

This Details magazine profile of Rand Paul is getting some play, and for good reason: reporter Jonathan Miles plums new depths of Paulian ignorance or at least insouciance about how the world as we know it came to be.

The piece opens with this little vignette of gobsmackery:

Rand Paul and I are trying to remember why Harlan, Kentucky, might be famous. That's where Paul is driving me, on a coiling back road through the low green mountains of the state's southeastern corner, in his big black GMC...

The spill is gone? | Michael Tomasky

Time magazine's Michael Grunwald, a fine environmental reporter who knows the region well, writes that it's turning out that the damage from the BP spill may not be as great as (nearly) everyone feared:

Yes, the spill killed birds — but so far, less than 1% of the birds killed by the Exxon Valdez. Yes, we've heard horror stories about oiled dolphins — but, so far, wildlife response teams have collected only three visibly oiled carcasses of any mammals. Yes, the spill prompted harsh...

What if Byron Williams had been a teetotaler? | Michael Tomasky

This one had escaped my notice until today. A California man was arrested last week for drunk driving. He was on his way to San Francisco to kill liberals and spark a revolution.

He was headed to the offices of the Tides Foundation, a progressive nonprofit that hardly anyone has ever heard of - except for viewers of Glenn Beck's show, since he's the only guy who ever mentions Tides. More from Media Matters:

On July 18, Byron Williams, an ex-felon with a history of violent criminal behavior...