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Sunday, June 13, 2010

Sharron Angle: Nevada Senate Candidate's Controversial Views Come Under Scrutiny

 After Sharron Angle claimed victory in Nevada's Republican primary race for Senate on Tuesday night, it didn't take long for buzz to start swirling about the Tea Party-backed candidate's unorthodox -- and often controversial -- political views.
Angle defeated primary opponents Sue Lowden and Danny Tarkanian, winning the right to take on Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid in November. And Reid's campaign appears to be relishing the opportunity to run against Angle, who has said she wants to "wipe out Social Security, shutter the Education Department and return to the days almost a century ago when the federal income tax was unconstitutional."
Here's a peek at those and some of Angle's other eyebrow-raising policy views:

Angle Proposes U.S. 'Deregulate' Big Oil

In light of the BP oil spill continuing to devastate the Gulf Coast, Angle recently suggested that an appropriate response to the massive disaster -- which she called an "accident" -- would be to "deregulate" the oil industry:


QUESTION: You have been in support of onshore drilling in the United States as well as offshore drilling, are you rethinking that policy with what is going on in Louisiana?

ANGLE: No. I think that what happened in Louisiana was an accident. They're cleaning it up. We need to go forward and talk about prevention and not about whether we keep it out all together. We know that lot of the problems that have been caused for us with foreign policy and even with our own gas prices here domestically going up is our dependence upon foreign oil.

We have oil reserves and petroleum reserves that we should tap into. And that's a policy that we really need to look at as a nation. How do we deregulate enough to invite our industries to come back into the United States and quit outsourcing their business?

Angle Pushed For Scientology-Based Saunas & Massages In Nevada Prisons

Talking Points Memo reports that Angle, when serving in the Nevada state legislature, endeavored to garner support for "a prison drug rehabilitation program that would involve prisoners quitting drugs cold turkey, with saunas and massages as part of treatment -- an idea promoted by the Church of Scientology. Angle also tried to organize a legislative trip to a jail in Mexico that uses this program, and the trip would have been paid for by an individual who is a Scientologist, according to the Sun."

Former Angle opponent Sue Lowden assailed the Tea Party-backed contender over the matter in an unforgettable campaign ad released prior to Nevada's primary election.

Angle Thinks It's Wrong For Both Parents To Hold Jobs Simultaneously
 Sam Stein: Angle suggested pretty clearly that it is unacceptable and wrong for both parents to actually hold jobs simultaneously.

"Right now, we say in a traditional home one parent stays home with the children and the other provides the financial support for that family," she said. "That is the acceptable and right thing to do. If we begin to expand that, not only do we dilute the resources that are available, we begin to dilute things like health care, retirement, all the things offered to families that help them be a family."

Angle Advocates Abortion-Causes-Breast-Cancer Myth

HuffPost's Sam Stein reports: There is, indeed, a veritable treasure trove of information from which Reid and his backers can pick. And as evidence, a Democratic source sends over a few Angle bits that have yet to gain national attention but which, nevertheless, seem likely to drive a wedge between the GOP candidate and the contingent of female voters who might be intrigued by her campaign.

The first is a 1999 Associated Press piece that noted Angle's proposal of a bill that "would have required doctors to inform women seeking abortions about a controversial theory linking an increased risk of breast cancer with abortion." Angle is devoutly pro-life. But the abortion-causes-breast cancer theory is myth (spread, in part, to discourage abortions).

Angle: A Proponent Of Modern-Day Prohibition?

Liberty Watch:
Angle's faith quickly surfaced, extinguishing her argument that she disapproves of medical marijuana primarily on the elementary premise that it's illegal. 'I would tell you that I have the same feelings about legalizing marijuana, not medical marijuana, but just legalizing marijuana,' Angle offered. 'I feel the same about legalizing alcohol. The effect on society is so great that I'm just not a real proponent of legalizing any drug or encouraging any drug abuse,' she continued. 'I'm elected by the people to protect, and I think that law should protect.'
Angle Embraces Group Warning Of 'Giant Concentration Camps'
 Talking Points Memo reports:
The peculiar ideology of Sharron Angle, the Republican nominee challenging Sen. Harry Reid in Nevada, is perhaps no better illustrated than by her embrace of the patriot group Oath Keepers, whose membership of uniformed soldiers and police take an oath to refuse orders they see as unconstitutional -- including enforcement of gun laws, violations of states' sovereignty, and "any order to blockade American cities, thus turning them into giant concentration camps."
Several months ago, Angle told TPM she was a member of the Oath Keepers and earlier this week her husband confirmed to the website that the GOP hopeful remains affiliated with the group:
On Monday, we decided to call Angle's campaign to confirm her relationship to the group. Angle's husband, Ted, picked up the phone.

"We support what the organization stands for," he told us. "Sharron does."
Angle Favors Abolishing Social Security
Angle calls Social Security 'a broken system without much to recommend it.' She hasn't offered a detailed plan but says seniors now collecting benefits would not be cut off. Workers over time would be shifted to private retirement accounts, an idea that is similar to what former President George W. Bush proposed six years ago only to see it flop. 'I really don't trust big government,' Angle told voters gathered at a private home, explaining her support for ending Social Security. 'When big government gets in control, we know those great ideas turn out to be something that hits us right in the wallet.' Tinkering with Social Security has long been politically perilous, and none of Angle's leading GOP rivals agree it should be phased out. Social Security faces a $5.3 trillion shortfall over the next 75 years and it's projected to run out of money by 2037.

Angle: No Fan Of The Department Of Education

Sharron Angle advocated for abolishing the Department of Education on her campaign website -- claiming the existence of the establishment is "unconstitutional." Though the page where Angle initially featured her position is no longer live, the Washington Post relays the original text from the Tea Party contender defining her view:
Angle believes the U.S. Education Department should be abolished, as she explains on her campaign Web site: "Sharron Angle believes that the Federal Department of Education should be eliminated. The Department of Education is unconstitutional and should not be involved in education, at any level."
Angle Favors Eliminating Department Of Energy, IRS Code
 In an "e-Interview" with Nevada News and Views, Angle had this to say when asked if there were any federal departments should would support eliminating:

QUESTION: Is there a Federal department/cabinet position you would support eliminating? Explain.

ANGLE: Yes. There are several Federal departments that are not covered by the Constitutional Federal enumerated powers clause and should be given back to the states per the Tenth amendment. Those cuts should include the Department of Education, Department of Energy, Environmental Protection Agency, IRS code, audit the FED leading to cuts, National Endowment of the Arts, Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, Planned Parenthood funding, funding of czars and more. I include these cuts in my economic policy for taking back our government. ]

Sharron Angle: Harry Reid Is A 'Whack Job' And 'We've Got To Fire Him'


The Huffington Post

First Posted: 06-11-10 10:48 AM   |   Updated: 06-11-10 11:05
AM

Fresh off her victory in Nevada's Republican Senate primary,
Sharron Angle took aim at her opponent, Senate Majority Harry
Reid.
In Angle's first post-primary interview with KXNT's Alan Stock, the
Tea Party-backed candidate blasted Reid as a "whack job candidate,"
before going on to explain, "That's why we've got to fire him."
Here's the exchange that went down between Angle and the conservative
talk radio host earlier this week:

"You've been called a 'niche candidate.' A quote, 'whack
job.' What are they talking about?" [Stock asked].

"Well, a whack job candidate is Harry Reid. That's why we've got to
fire him," Angle responded. "He's out of touch with the mainstream
America."
Angle also suggested that she's "more mainstream than the fellow that
said tourists stink" in an interview filled with jabs at her Democratic
opponent.
Ironically, Angle herself has been criticized as being too extreme in her views -- a
matter which has been a cause for concern for the GOP. Angle has been compared to Tea Party-backed contender and
Kentucky Republican Senate candidate Rand Paul.
Local Nevada station My News 3 points
out
that Angle is exercising caution in deciding where to
communicate her campaign's message and for now, her platform of choice
appears to be conservative talk radio.

When KLAS-TV caught up with Angle at her campaign
headquarters Wednesday, the local station had a much more difficult time
getting the GOP nominee to talk about her campaign:

When asked to outline her strategy, Angle refused to answer,
saying, "I've got to tell you guys this, you're so interested in that,
but these guys here are so interested in my job and my home."
Newly-Minted GOP Nominee Sharron Angle Calls Harry Reid A
'Whack Job, Marginal Candidate'


Who Is Alvin Greene?

Alvin Greene is no Sarah Palin

I wasn't planning on writing again about Alvin Greene, the Democratic nominee for Senate from South Carolina. But then I watched his interview with Keith Olbermann last night. Not since Sarah Palin have I been so mystified by a candidate for public office.





Like the movie "Showgirls," Greene's chat with Olbermann was so bad it was good. Downright hilarious, actually. Greene looked nice in his green (get it?) tie, but he also looked confused and deeply uncomfortable in his own skin. The shifty eyes and all that scratching. Those tics are the usual safe harbors for folks who know they are on thin ice and pray with every movement that they don't go under. Greene didn't crack. Yet he didn't say much of anything, either.

When Olbermann asked Greene if he had had campaign rallies, he said, "Nothing formal. Just informal rallies. Just informal meetings, rather." When asked if he went door to door, he said, "I just conducted a simple, old-fashioned campaign, you know, all across the state of South Carolina." And yet no one had ever heard of him until Tuesday night, when this latter-day Chauncey Gardner took 60 percent of the vote.
Compare the reticence of Greene to the loquaciousness of Palin. The former Alaska governor and 2008 Republican vice presidential nominee never met a run-on sentence or an odd metaphor she didn't like. Remember her resignation announcement last July? All that talk about full court press, passing the ball and how "only dead fish go with the flow." Talking Points Memo TV has a nifty compilation of "Sarah Palin's Greatest Hits." After watching it, I'll say this. Greene will never hold a candle to Palin. She has a worldview and something to say -- even if a lot of what she says is pablum.
By Jonathan Capehart  |  June 11, 2010; 12:43 PM ET


Mother Jones
Alvin Greene: Republican Plant or... North Korean Spy?
Conspiracy theories abound about South Carolina's political cipher.

By Suzy Khimm | Fri Jun. 11, 2010 4:00 AM PDT

Is Alvin Greene a Communist plant from North Korea? That’s at least what one casual observer believes, according to an email I received on Wednesday drawing attention to Greene's previous military service on the Korean peninsula. "All US Servicemen there are controlled by the 'crazy' people!" read the message. "It's a communist plot, soiled with the Greene plant!" This may sound loopy—but it's not that much more far-fetched than some of the theories flying around regarding Greene's improbable victory [1] in South Carolina's Democratic Senate primary on Tuesday night.

There are at least two key mysteries that state officials are trying to unravel. How did the unemployed Greene come up with the $10,400 filing fee required to run for office? And why did 100,000 voters cast a ballot for a total unknown who had no website, no party support and no visible campaign? Some are convinced that shadowy forces are pulling the strings. But hard proof of any foul play or outside manipulation remains elusive. And others who have met with Greene have come away convinced that he is the beneficiary—or victim—of circumstance.

Greene is also facing felony obscenity charges [2] brought against him in November. Former state Democratic Party chair Dick Harpootlian points out that he's being represented in this matter by a public defender—meaning he would have had to state that he didn’t have the funds to pay for his own defense. Yet four months later, Greene had somehow come up with the election filing fee, which he told me he paid out of his own savings. “He represented himself as indigent, at the same time that he’s paid a $10,400 charge for Senate,” said Harpootlian, a former prosecutor in Richland County, where Greene is being tried. The discrepancy raises two questions, Harpootlian said. Did Greene get the funds from an undisclosed source? Or did he misrepresent his financial status to the state during his arraignment in order to receive a free lawyer?

Harpootlian himself is quite familiar with his state’s history of dirty political tricks. More than a decade ago, he successfully prosecuted Rod Shealy, a Republican operative, for paying the filing fee for an unemployed black fisherman to run in a congressional race against Shealy’s sister. But there’s no obvious motive for such a ploy in the Democratic Senate primary, as incumbent Republican Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC) is heavily favored to win re-election.

Possible shenanigans aside, nobody has yet figured out how Greene, who does not seem to have done any campaigning, managed to win 59 percent of the vote. Democratic Majority Whip James Clyburn has claimed that Greene must be "somebody’s plant" and said he'd received reports of a whisper campaign to vote for the first name on the ballot. "I'm told in a lot of rural communities, people were told, just vote for the first name on the ballot…that’s the kind of instructions that went out to people," Clyburn said in a conference call Thursday. He added that robocalling or a direct mail campaign may have been carried out covertly. But no one has come forward with any proof of such a scheme, and Clyburn said he had no idea who might be behind one.

Clyburn suggested that the Greene campaign could be part of a larger conspiracy [3] that included his own primary competitor, Gregory Brown, who ran unsuccessfully against him in the 6th congressional district. Clyburn alleges that Brown, like Greene, had failed to file his campaign spending reports with the Federal Election Commission, as required by law for expenses over $5,000. He estimates that Brown had spent than $500,000 on his campaign to unseat him, including broadcast television advertisements and signs—raising the question as to where the money was coming from. "There was something going on in South Carolina that was untoward," Clyburn said Thursday, on a conference call. "We can see our entire electoral process destroyed if we don’t do something about it."

But in the absence of any convincing evidence or motivation, other state Democrats are becoming increasingly skeptical of such theories—and increasingly concerned that Greene is not fully cognizant of his own situation. He seems completely overwhelmed by the flood of attention, not all of it positive: on top of the conspiracy theorists, the mother of Greene's felony accuser has vowed to wreak havoc [2] upon his campaign, as she told Mother Jones this week. Democrat state Rep. Bakari Sellers, who met with Greene on Thursday, said that he didn't believe the unlikely candidate was a plant. “I think he just kind of doesn't know what he's getting into," Sellers told Talking Points Memo. TPM continues [4]:

Todd Rutherford, another Democratic state representative who met with Greene today alongside Sellers, told TPMmuckraker, "Before I got to my third question, I could tell that something was awry," adding, "I don't know whether everything is OK."

Rutherford, an attorney, said that if Greene were his client, he would move for a mental evaluation. "If there's a joke he doesn't get the joke. If someone paid him to do this, they certainly exploited someone who is vulnerable. It's not even funny, it's just sad."

On election night, I was among the first reporters to speak with [1] Greene after his victory was announced. His verbal tics and strange affect were immediately apparent: he frequently repeats and interrupts himself, speaks haltingly, and sometimes descends into incoherent rambling [1], as subsequent video [5] and audio interviews have made all the more obvious. In his interview with Keith Olbermann on Thursday, he had great difficulty answering the most basic of questions, seeming to take cues from his attorney off camera [6]. There are still plenty of questions about his decision to run for Senate—perhaps less about any shadowy operatives than his own state of mind.

Who Is Alvin Greene?

| Tue Jun. 8, 2010 7:59 PM PDT
An unemployed 32-year-old black Army veteran with no campaign funds, no signs, and no website shocked South Carolina on Tuesday night by winning the Democratic Senate primary to oppose Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC). Alvin Greene, who currently lives in his family's home, defeated Vic Rawl, a former judge and state legislator who had a $186,000 campaign warchest and had already planned his next fundraising event. Despite the odds, Greene, who has been unemployed for the past nine months, said that he wasn't surprised by his victory. "I wasn’t surprised, but not really. I mean, just a little, but not much. I knew I was on top of my campaign, and just stayed on top of everything, I just—I wasn't surprised that much, just a little. I knew that I worked hard and did," Greene said in an interview.
Greene insists that he paid the $10,400 filing fee and all other campaign expenses from his own personal funds. "It was 100 percent out of my pocket. I’m self-managed. It’s hard work, and just getting my message to supporters. I funded my campaign 100 percent out of my pocket and self-managed," said Greene, who sounded anxious and unprepared to speak to the public. But despite his lack of election funds, Greene claims to have criss-crossed the state during his campaign—though he declined to specify any of the towns or places he visited or say how much money he spent while on the road.
"It wasn’t much, I mean, just, it was—it wasn’t much. Not much, I mean, it wasn’t much," he said, when asked how much of his own money he spent in the primary. Greene frequently spoke in rapid-fire, fragmentary sentences, repeating certain phrases or interrupting himself multiple times during the same sentence while he searched for the right words. But he was emphatic about certain aspects of his candidacy, insisting that details about his campaign organization, for instance, weren't relevant. "I'm not concentrating on how I was elected—it's history. I’m the Democratic nominee—we need to get talking about America back to work, what's going on, in America."
The oddity of Greene’s candidacy has already prompted speculation from local media about whether he might be a Republican plant. But Greene denies that Republicans or anyone else had approached him about running. "No, no—no one approached me. This is my decision," he said. A 13-year military veteran, he says he had originally gotten the idea in 2008 when he was serving in Korea. "I just saw the country was in bad shape two years ago…the country was declining," he says. "I wanted to make sure we continue to go up on the right track." But when asked whether there was a specific person or circumstance that precipitated his decision to jump into politics, Greene simply replied: "nothing in particular...it's just, uh, nothing in particular." South Carolina Democratic Party Chairwoman Carol Fowler speculated that Greene won because his name appeared first on the ballot, and voters unfamiliar with both candidates chose alphabetically.

Greene has yet to speak to any Democratic officials, either. After filing to run, his campaign went dark. According to this report, he didn’t show up to the South Carolina Democratic Party convention in April and didn't file any of the required paperwork for candidates with the state or Federal Election Commission. When I spoke to him, the state’s Democrats had yet to contact him after his victory was announced.
Greene insists that he's planning to work with state and national officials to ramp up his campaign and raise money "as soon as I can." And he plans on putting his unemployment at the center of his campaign. "I’m currently one of the many unemployed in the state and this country. South Carolina has more unemployed now than at any other time," Greene says. "My campaign slogan: Let's get South Carolina back to work." He adds that he would like to see "one Korea under a democracy."
Sen. DeMint, a Tea Party darling and leader of the GOP's far-right flank, wasn't expecting a competitive challenge this election cycle. But conservative activists are already thrilled to see the Democrats' hand-picked candidate go down in flames. “Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha,” tweeted Tea Party activist and Redstate blogger Erick Erickson after finding out about Greene’s victory.
Greene offered no volleys against DeMint, and he seemed to have more questions than attack lines when it came to the Tea Party. "What's the Tea Party’s position on wars in the Middle East? …I want to know the Tea Party's position on the wars in the Middle East?" he asked. But Greene says that he's excited about the prospect of taking on DeMint in the public arena: "I'm looking forward to the debate this September." DeMint and his supporters are no doubt looking forward to it too.
Update:  Via the AP, Greene is facing a felony charge for allegedly showing obscene photos to a University of South Carolina student. The mother of Greene's accuser has launched a crusade against him, vowing to become the candidate's "worst nightmare."
Update: Greene was also kicked out of the Army and the Air Force. And the increasingly bizarre circumstances surrounding his campaign have prompted some Democrats to accuse him of being a plant—and others to question his mental health.
Suzy Khimm is a reporter in the Washington bureau of Mother Jones. E-mail her with tips and ideas at skhimm(at)motherjones(dot)com. For more of her stories, click here. Follow her on Twitter here.

An interview with Alvin Greene about Alvin Greene and his campaign



KKK prank Alvin Greene gives a painful telephone interview here, and whoa man, now you know what makes South Carolina Republicans laugh. [YouTube via Wonkette operative "Rev. Peter Lemonjello"]

PubliuSC June 10, 2010 — I had the opportunity to interview Mr. Alvin Greene, the newly chosen Democratic nominee for United States Senate from South Carolina.
Mr. Greene did not seem to have an adequate grasp of current affairs. In fact, he did not seem to have a grasp at all. He provided me with vague answers when he responded with something that was not the rehearsed spiel about his time in the military and how long he's been thinking of running which he gave more often than not.
When I asked him how he managed to raise $10,400 in between the time he filed as an indigent and qualified for a public defender in November/December when charged with a felony and the time he filed as a Democratic contender, he began to avoid the question and eventually hung up. He claims to have thought about running for two years, yet he didn't have the $10,400 filing fee when he qualified as an indigent. Though he thought about it for two years, he didn't have the money in November/December. This, along with the fact that more votes were cast for Greene as a candidate than were cast in the Senate primary, throws more than just a little suspicion on his integrity as a candidate. I have no doubt. I believe that he is a plant.


Ed Shultz interviewing Juan Walsh of Salon.com about Alvin Greene and his win in SC Preimary

BP Spills Coffee

This is what happens when BP spills coffee.


UCBComedy June 09, 2010 — This is what happens when BP spills coffee. More comedy videos: http://www.UCBComedy.com Like UCB: http://www.facebook.com/pages/UCBcome... Follow UCB: http://www.twitter.com/UCBcomedy


Director: Peter Schultz & Brandon Bassham; Writers: Gavin Speiller, Eric Scott, Erik Tanouye, & John Frusciante; Editor: Peter Schultz, Starring: Eric Scott, Nat Freedberg, Kevin Cragg, Gavin Speiller, Kate McKinnon, John Frusciante, Zhubin Parang, Devlyn Corrigan, Erik Tanouye, Rob Lathan; Producer: Todd Bieber

Why is Tony Hayward still on the job?

By Eugene Robinson
Friday, June 4, 2010; A19 
How is it possible that BP chief executive Tony Hayward hasn't been fired? At this point, how can anyone believe a word the man says? If he told me my mother loves me, I'd want a second source.
Hayward has apologized for his one lapse of candor -- the now-famous whine last Sunday that "I'd like my life back." It must be a nice life indeed: According to Forbes, Hayward's total compensation from BP in 2009 was about $4.6 million. The Louisiana fishermen who've been put out of work by the oil spill are accustomed to getting by on considerably less. In a Facebook posting, Hayward said that his callous words "don't represent how I feel about this tragedy, and certainly don't represent the hearts of the people of BP."
Within hours, though, Hayward's foot was firmly lodged in his mouth yet again. The effort to contain the oil and keep it away from the Gulf Coast has been "very successful," he told the Financial Times. "Considering how big this has been, very little has got away from us." This sunny assessment came as television networks broadcast images of oil-soaked Louisiana marshes, where hazmat-suited workers -- who said they were under orders from BP not to talk to the media, on pain of getting fired -- were trying to sop up the mess with what looked like rags, as if this were a gargantuan kitchen mishap. Meanwhile, mousse-like clumps of "weathered" oil were being washed onto beaches in Alabama, and authorities in Florida were watching the approach of a menacing, oily sheen. Scientists have not even begun to assess the potential long-term effects of the oil spill on human health, marine life and coastal ecology. Carol Browner, the president's chief adviser on energy and the environment, said that the Deepwater Horizon incident is already the worst environmental disaster in United States history.
Give yourself another pat on the back, Tony.
Adm. Thad Allen, who is directing the response effort, is a nice guy -- in terms of his public handling of BP, too nice. On Thursday, as BP proceeded with its latest attempt to cap the flow, Allen praised the company for providing several different camera views of the action on the sea floor. But for weeks, BP refused to make public any television images of the oil leak, and relented only under pressure from U.S. officials.
Hayward's statements about the effort to plug the well have been consistently unreliable, and it hardly matters whether he's being deliberately misleading or just overly optimistic. The giant containment dome was going to work; it didn't. The second, much smaller containment dome would do the job; it was never even deployed. The "top kill" procedure was surely going to stop the flow, and early indications, according to Hayward, showed that it was succeeding. Yet oil industry veterans such as T. Boone Pickens said the top kill was a long shot at best, and they were right.
And as for those giant underwater oil plumes that scientists and journalists keep discovering? Hayward denies they exist. His position is that of a philanderer caught in the act by an irate spouse: "Who are you going to believe, me or your lying eyes?" Since the explosion and fire on the Deepwater Horizon rig six weeks ago, BP's stock has lost more than a third of its value. Two ratings firms, Fitch and Moody's, have downgraded the company's long-term debt, and estimates of what it will cost BP to stop the leak and clean up its mess range from $3 billion to $30 billion. All this happened on Hayward's watch.
Somebody, please, give the man his life back.
But once that's done, let's turn our ire on the real villains. This exercise will require a mirror.
An accident such as the Deepwater Horizon blowout was bound to happen sooner or later. There are nearly 4,000 oil rigs off the Gulf Coast, and those pumping most of the crude are in deep waters -- where, as we now know, state-of-the-art safety procedures are inadequate. President Obama's moratorium on deep-water drilling will last only long enough for some sort of technological band-aid to be devised. Then we'll crank up the drills once again.
We know that our dependence on oil is ultimately ruinous, yet we refuse to take measures -- a meaningful carbon tax, for example -- to ease it. Long after Tony Hayward answers for his sins, we'll be paying for our own.
eugenerobinson@washpost.com

Wonkbook: by Ezta Klein


 Murkowski defeated; BP to White House; Deflation concerns

saworldcup.jpg
Senator Lisa Murkowski's resolution seeking to strip the EPA of its power to regulate carbon failed 47-53 in the Senate, with six Democrats defecting to back the proposal. But though Murkowski might have lost the vote, it looks like she won the war: It's hard to see a strong climate bill getting 60 votes in a Senate where her bill got 47. And Reid had to make a lot of tough promises in order to beat the Murkowski bill back -- including giving a vote to Jay Rockefeller's bill to delay EPA action for two years.
Meanwhile, the Obama administration has asked that BP executives meet with them in DC, the European debt crisis is sparking deflation worries in the US., and FinReg's first day of conference committee got off to a rocky start.
Happy World-Cup-starts-today-day! Welcome to Wonkbook.
Top Stories
Sen. Lisa Murkowski's effort to strip the EPA of power over greenhouse gas emissions failed: http://bit.ly/9xS5zh
But at what cost, asks Brad Plumer: According to Greenwire, Harry Reid had to cut a few deals to prevent even more conservative Dems from voting for the resolution. One thing he promised was a vote (sometime down the road) on a bill by Jay Rockefeller that would delay all EPA regulations on industrial polluters for at least two years.
Obama and Coast Guard commandant Thad Allen have called BP executives to DC, reports Anne Kornblut: "In a letter to Carl-Henric Svanberg, the chairman of BP's board, Coast Guard Adm. Thad W. Allen requested the presence of 'you and any appropriate officials' from the company at the White House on Wednesday. Allen is overseeing the Obama administration's response to the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. He added that Obama would attend 'a portion of this meeting.'"
The crisis in Europe is causing concerns about deflation in the US, reports John Hilsenrath: "Officials fret about deflation because it is hard to stop. Interest rates are already near zero in the U.S. and elsewhere, so policy makers can't use the traditional tool of rate cuts to spur growth and stop deflation.…In one sign of rising alertness to the threat, yields on 10-year Treasury bonds-which fall when inflation worries recede and rise when inflation worries increase-have dropped from nearly 4% in early April to about 3.3%. Though yields firmed a bit Thursday, big bond houses like Pacific Investment Management Co. have been moving into the safe-haven instrument."
Table of Contents: How big is the oil spill again? (and other energy news); businesses are hoarding record amounts of cash (and other economic news); portions of the stimulus package may be cut to pay for an emergency education funding bill (and other domestic policy news); a Congressional Oversight Panel report slams the AIG bailout (and other FinReg news).
Energy
Scientific estimates of the size of the oil spill range from 12,500 barrels a day to 50,000: http://bit.ly/bGYQ0B
BP says it will speed up payments to those harmed by the oil spill, report Joe Stephens and Mary Pat Flaherty: "In a news conference at the Department of Homeland Security on Thursday, federal officials said BP acknowledged that its system of waiting until company books are closed for each month before paying claims 'will not work.' Officials said the firm promised a 'more expedited claims process' that takes into account the ability of businesses to pay expenses for an upcoming month and that shrimpers earn much of their income in May and June. There is no way to verify BP's announcement that it has paid more than 19,000 claims, totaling more than $53 million."
A Marine Corps technologist wants to use the military's most powerful non-nuclear bomb to plug the oil leak: http://bit.ly/de2zvT
Kate Sheppard reports on Kevin Costner's testimony to Congress on oil spill cleanup: "Costner seems to have developed somewhat of an obsession with oil spill clean up. He got interested in the subject in 1995, and although he says he was inspired by the Exxon Valdez spill, some have pointed out that the interest also arose right around the time he released the post-apocalypse epic Waterworld. Since then, he's spent $24 million funding Ocean Therapy Solutions, a company that has created a centrifuge device that separates oil from water."
Sen. Lamar Alexander lists 10 energy policies he could accept:http://bit.ly/9RhTzO
Liberals should rethink their energy messaging, writes Matt Yglesias: "The drive to embrace drilling itself reflects the problematic nature of arguments about 'energy independence' or 'energy security.' Pollsters and messaging gurus tasked with thinking about climate change have long noted that the public displays a limited enthusiasm for environmental arguments and a great deal of enthusiasm for nationalism. This has resulted in an upsurge in efforts to define the climate crisis as a national-security problem. There's some truth to this idea, but it's also open to misuse of various forms. 
"Trying to secure support for a clean-energy agenda by playing to anti-Iran sentiment, for example, practically invites the counterargument that we should be drilling more oil and mining more coal at home. The Gulf disaster reminds us that homegrown dirty energy is no better than dirty energy imported from abroad. Indeed, in many ways it's worse."
Neo-cabaret interlude: Amanda Palmer does "Leeds United".
Economy
Businesses are hoarding cash at record levels, reports Justin Lahart: "U.S. companies are holding more cash in the bank than at any point on record, underscoring persistent worries about financial markets and about the sustainability of the economic recovery. The Federal Reserve reported Thursday that nonfinancial companies had socked away $1.84 trillion in cash and other liquid assets as of the end of March, up 26% from a year earlier and the largest-ever increase in records going back to 1952. Cash made up about 7% of all company assets, including factories and financial investments, the highest level since 1963."
We're facing a long-term unemployment crisis, reports Annie Lowrey: "The joblessness crisis — in the average duration of unemployment, if not the absolute unemployment rate — is unprecedented in the postwar United States. Of the 15 million unemployed in America, over 7 million have been out of work for more than six months, nearly 5 million for a year and over 1 million for two years — the worst statistics since the government started keeping count in 1948. The proportion of the unemployed out of work for more than six months has doubled in the past year, to more than 46 percent. The jobseekers-to-jobs ratio, which tells how hard positions are to get, remains around 5.6 to 1."
Harry Reid wants to extend the first-time homeowners' tax credit that expired at the end of April, reports Dina ElBoghdady: "Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) co-authored a proposal that would allow those eligible for the tax credit to close on a home by Sept. 30 to give lenders more time to process a crush of applications."
The May deficit is $135.93 billion: http://bit.ly/bcDYR6
The US trade deficit is expanding, including the deficit with China, report Ian Talley and Tom Barkley: "The Commerce Department said the U.S. deficit in international trade of goods and services increased 0.6% to $40.29 billion from a revised $40.05 billion the month before. Exports fell by $813 million, while higher oil prices helped to drive imports up by $1.61 billion.…The U.S. trade deficit with China expanded to $19.31 billion in April from $16.90 billion in March, adding to a trend that some economists worry could revive the international trade imbalances that many see as a major contributor to the recent financial crisis."
Tim Geithner says negotiations with China have produced no promises on currency policy: http://bit.ly/aYrzEs
Foreign governments are turning away from fiscal stimulus,reports Neil Irwin: "The specifics -- and extent -- of the pullback vary around the world. In Germany, Chancellor Angela Merkel this week proposed 80 billion euros in spending cuts and new fees meant to reduce the budget deficit. Top British officials began laying out plans for massive budget cuts of their own this week. Japan's new prime minister, Naoto Kan, said this week that one of his top priorities will be reducing a budget shortfall; he appointed a deficit hawk as finance minister."
Steve Pearlstein argues the US is finally paying for years of living beyond its means: "Now the bill for that is finally coming due -- all the clever and seemingly painless ways for postponing that day of reckoning have pretty much been played out. The only question now is what form that payment is going to take. Will it be an extended period of subpar growth and high unemployment, inflation that erodes the purchasing power of our income and the value of our assets, a deflationary spiral that grinds down wages and salaries and increases our debt burden -- or, as I suspect, some combination of all three?"
David Brooks argues large budget cuts can lead to an economic recovery: "Alberto Alesina of Harvard has surveyed the history of debt reduction. He’s found that, in many cases, large and decisive deficit reduction policies were followed by increases in growth, not recessions. Countries that reduced debt viewed the future with more confidence. The political leaders who ordered the painful cuts were often returned to office. As Alesina put it in a recent paper, 'in several episodes, spending cuts adopted to reduce deficits have been associated with economic expansions rather than recessions.'"
Great moments in political interviews interlude: SC Senate candidate Alvin Greene talks to the press.
Domestic Policy
House appropriations chair David Obey wants to take funds from the stimulus package to pay for an emergency education funding bill, reports David Rogers: "Crossing a line they had hoped to avoid, Democrats are actively discussing cuts from White House priorities in last year’s Recovery Act in order to come up with $10 billion to avert threatened layoffs of public school teachers next fall."
More and more federal money is going to for-profit colleges and universities: http://bit.ly/cTDyVU
The NRA and AFL-CIO will likely get changes made to a campaign finance disclosure bill, reports Dan Eggen: "House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer (Md.) told reporters Wednesday that "there are a number of very legitimate concerns" raised by nonprofit groups about the legislation but said that he was confident Van Hollen would be able to work out the differences and that the House could consider the legislation as soon as next week."
Jon Kyl and Jeff Sessions are attacking Elena Kagan's memos as a Supreme Court clerk, reports Taylor Rushing: "Sessions said the memos demonstrate that Kagan is 'a developing lawyer who has a political bent to their legal work, pretty significantly so. … Her background is heavily in political legal advocacy more than the meat-and-potatoes discipline of serious legal work.'…'The problem with these bench memos is that they reveal, time and time again, an effort to reach a certain result in the case,' Kyl said."
At least one state government is seizing the federal money going to close the Medicare donut hole: http://politi.co/b3ZnZE
Jersey punk interlude: Stream the new Gaslight Anthem album.
FinReg
The Congressional Oversight Panel has a report attacking the AIG bailout, reports Simmi Aujla: "Federal Reserve and Treasury officials should have tried much harder to save AIG without using taxpayer money, said Elizabeth Warren, a Harvard Law School bankruptcy professor and chairwoman of the panel."
FinReg conference committee started yesterday; here's where the House and Senate bills diverge: http://bit.ly/bJleAz
Richard Shelby says FinReg conference committee is off to a "rocky star", reports Carrie Budoff Brown: "Shelby and his Republican colleagues criticized Democrats for releasing a revised version of the base bill only hours before the conference committee was set to meet. They said the last-minute changes belied Democratic pledges to make the committee’s work fully transparent."
Wall Street and Louisville: http://nyti.ms/amerpB
The SEC has approved new restrictions meant to prevent another "flash crash", reports Zachary Goldfarb: "The nation's financial markets on Friday will start pausing trading in any stock in the Standard and Poor's 500-stock index if it declines more than 10 percent in any five-minute period.…The SEC is also looking at banning "stub" quotes that allow market-makers -- firms that agree to buy and sell shares to ensure that investors can make trades -- to technically stay active in the market as is required by some exchanges."
Breakdowns in coordination plague SEC regional offices:http://bit.ly/9eOTnK
FinReg will include mortgage restrictions, reports Damian Paletta: "The mortgage section would require lenders to make sure borrowers have the ability to repay home loans. It puts limits on lenders’ ability to offer loans without documentation from borrowers, and has rules regarding the way loans can be refinanced."
Simon Johnson argues it's up to Obama to fight for the Merkley-Levin amendment: "The president announced the Volcker rule to great acclaim in late January, but unfortunately the detailed follow-up by his own team was lackluster at best. Senators Merkley and Levin stepped into the political and legislative gap, pushing hard for at least some version of the Volcker principles to be adopted in Senator Christopher Dodd’s bill. They were turned back at every stage but have remained doggedly on message. Ultimately, this comes down to President Obama. Is he willing to put his political capital seriously into play?"
When-men-were-men interlude: Vintage men's magazine covers.
Closing credits: Wonkbook compiled with the help of Dylan Matthews and Mike Shepard. Photo credit: Gero Breloer-AP.
By Ezra Klein  |  June 11, 2010; 6:44 AM ET

Gibbs: Obama hasn't talked to Hayward because BP board calls the shots



Updated 5:46 p.m.
By Michael D. Shear
When President Obama was asked by NBC's Matt Lauer why he had not yet called the CEO of BP about the Gulf oil spill, he said he assumed CEO's just told presidents things they wanted to hear.
On Wednesday, White House press secretary Robert Gibbs had another answer.
Gibbs said Obama hasn't called CEO Tony Hayward because -- according to what Gibbs called the "executive structure of corporate governance" -- the CEO alone isn't the final word on company decisions, which are made by the board of directors.
"Look, the CEO is elected by the board. Anything that the CEO wants to do has to be approved by the board," Gibbs said.
Later, he added: "I'm telling you, based on the corporate governance structure, in order to implement what -- whatever you get from BP the CEO has to get clearance from the board to do. That's -- that's the corporate governance structure is -- is laid out."
So did that mean that Obama had picked up the phone to talk to some of these powerful board members?
No.
Gibbs said repeatedly that the government is in contact with officials at the company. And he pointed several times to a meeting demanded by Coast Guard Admiral Thad Allen Wednesday to discuss the claims payment procedures with BP officials.
But pressed on the question of direct contact between Obama and Hayward, Gibbs repeatedly returned to the idea that it was the board -- not the CEO -- that would be calling the shots.
"Again, again, the CEO plays a role, but the way their board is devised, the chairman of the board and the board OK what happens," Gibbs said.
There are eight non-executive members of the BP board (not counting Hayward and the five other company executives who sit on the board.) Asked whether Obama had made efforts to talk to them, Gibbs said he had not. He said the government is "in constant communication with and pushing BP to do what is necessary."
Obama has met with CEOs from a wide range of companies repeatedly during his year-and-a-half in office. In fact, when the president became angry about banks giving big bonuses to their executives after taking bailout funds, he scolded them in person during a meeting at the White House.
And just last month, it was the West Wing which was bragging that Obama had bluntly chided Exxon Mobile CEO Rex Tillerson at a May 3 dinner, telling him that he expected the entire petroleum industry to dedicate its resources to the spill cleanup.
In his comments Wednesday, Gibbs declined to say whether Obama is planning to meet with Hayward when the CEO testifies before Congress next week, saying that "if I've got any scheduling updates, I'll let you know."
He also indicated that he didn't see much value in such a face-to-face meeting.
"Well, again, we are -- we're in -- we're in contact with BP about what they need to do," Gibbs said.
By Michael D. Shear  |  June 9, 2010; 5:13 PM ET