If Only He Had Tried Harder!

The BULLY PULPIT Tautology - Lawyers, Guns & Money : Lawyers, Guns & Money

The post linked above explains, yet again, that the idea that you can fairly blame Obama for the gun legislation failure is not based on any defensible or realistic theory of Presidential power. It disposes of, rather effectively, the "LBJ coulda done it!" myth that pervades many critiques of the President from the Left. If one does not understand the institutional reality of Congress, one might wish to refrain from magical thinking about the Bully Pulpit.

I find this lesson instructive not only as a matter of understanding how Washington actually works, but also as a tangible explanation of why going out to vote for the Dem candidate for President every 4 years is going to get the Left exactly nowhere. If we want a more liberal government, we're going to have to start with City Counsel, County Board of Supervisors, and other local level institutions. That's how the Right took over, and that's the only way I can see that they can be defeated.

Harry Ried, Your Brave Leader In The Seante

Filibuster reform, R.I.P. So much for democracy. And BOTH California Senators are with Harry, or so it has been reported. Thanks, ladies. :-\

THIS

Just read the whole thing.

Reproductive Choice: The Right AND Electorally Wise Thing To Support

Pro-choice is a winner, or so argues this post.

Why Don't They Just Get Jobs?

[via Crooked Timber]

This article is stunning.

Using a different definition of distress, Luke Shaefer of the University of Michigan and Kathryn Edin of Harvard examined the share of households with children in a given month living on less than $2 per person per day. It has nearly doubled since 1996, to almost 4 percent. Even when counting food stamps as cash, they found one of every 50 children live in such a household.

From the original post: "The result is striking because of the $2 figure, which is derived, not from a US poverty line, but from the World Bank Poverty line for developing countries. These children aren’t just poor by American standards - they would be considered poor in sub-Saharan Africa."

If we, as a nation, are to be judged not by the success of the wealthiest, but by the suffering of the poorest, I submit we are a failure.

It is hard to tell which of Clinton's policy choices was the worst (NAFTA, repeal of Glass-Steagal, the much-vaunted surplus), but "ending welfare as we know it" has got to be among the most cruel and short-sighted. And "liberals" idolize that asshole.

Yet Another Teachers Strike Post

Hey, it matters a lot to me. For some insight into the shameless dishonesty of David Brooks, and more significantly, the breath-taking douche-baggery of Rahm Emanuel, I give you Charles Pierce, who you should be reading every day.

More On The Chicago Teachers Strike

The rightward shift of the Democrats scares me much more than the rightward shift of the G.O.P. Embracing right-wing framing and arguments about education is one of the more disturbing trends within that shift. Read here.

Lesser Of Two Evils

Maybe now isn't the time to potentially dampen enthusiasm for Obama*, given the alternative. However, his continuance and expansion of Government power from the Bush administration is really awful. The NDAA is what passes for the "Left" in today's America? At least one judge still believes in some restraints on Federal power. I wouldn't bet on it lasting, though.

Unions And Progressive Values

Busy today, lazy link post.

This is spot-friggin-on.

Just To Piss Off Some Liberals

The Onion pretty much nails it.

"Beyond Austerity"

A very good analysis of why we are where we are economically, and why austerity is exactly the wrong thing to do about it.

Michael Moore Sux

What a piece of work that guy is.

WINAD, Explained

Just read this. And next time someone says the Dems are the party of the Left, try not to die laughing.

The Other Evil Is Really, Really Evil

Over at Balloon Juice, John Cole had this to say:

Why I'm Not A Democrat

I have a tag "WINAD." That's the post's title as an acronym. And the following quote is perfectly illustrative of WINAD:

There’s only one political party in the entire world that is so inept, cowardly and bungling that it could manage to simultaneously lick the boots of Wall Street bankers and then get blamed by the voters for being flaming revolutionary socialists.

[source]
Much has be written about how awful the Democratic Party is. And I agree with almost all of it. Sadly, the G.O.P. has gone off the rails on the crazy train, so I'm stuck voting Dem or throwing my vote away on a third party. I am grateful I live in a state the G.O.P. cannot win in 2012.

Shhh, You Aren't Supposed To Say That Out Loud

[via Balloon Juice]

Anyone paying attention knows Big Money buys votes, and sees itself as above the law, the democratic process, above anything that interferes with maximum personal financial gain. However, such brazen statements are hard to come by [bold by Balloon Juice]:

Some on Wall Street viewed the protesters with disdain, and a degree of caution, as hundreds marched through the financial district on Friday. Others say they feel their pain, but are befuddled about what they are supposed to do to ease it. A few even feel personally attacked, and say the Occupy Wall Street protesters who have been in Zuccotti Park for weeks are just bitter about their own economic fate and looking for an easy target. If anything, they say, people should show some gratitude.
“Who do you think pays the taxes?” said one longtime money manager. “Financial services are one of the last things we do in this country and do it well. Let’s embrace it. If you want to keep having jobs outsourced, keep attacking financial services. This is just disgruntled people.”
He added that he was disappointed that members of Congress from New York, especially Senator Charles E. Schumer and Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, had not come out swinging for an industry that donates heavily to their campaigns. “They need to understand who their constituency is,” he said.

Econ For OWS [UPDATED]

[UPDATE: Another billyblog post on OWS]
The OWS movement has been criticized for lacking a clear agenda. It seems there are some elements who see fiat currency and/or Central Banking as "the enemy." This post from billyblog offers some insight into the failings of the system, and some arguments as to why a fiat currency is the best way to achieve the goals that at least some OWS supporters have. The post contains one chart that I have seen circulating around facebook, but it also has this one that puts the lie to "regulation is the problem":