A Mediocre Farm Bill

 

Published: June 24, 2012

The farm bill approved by the Senate last week makes significant changes in existing farm programs, some for the better. But it takes a disproportionate whack from environmental programs, needlessly trims food stamps and does not fundamentally alter the program’s bias toward relatively well-off growers of big crops like corn, wheat and soybeans.

The bill would cost $969 billion over 10 years, about $23 billion less than projected. Much of this comes from eliminating notorious subsidies like the direct payment program, which doled out $5 billion a year to farmers in good times and bad.

The Senate put some of that savings into a suite of generous crop insurance programs that will protect farmers against both natural disaster and market fluctuations. These programs will disproportionately benefit large farmers (the more you grow, the bigger the subsidy) who could afford to pay a bigger share of the premiums. An exasperated Senator John McCain said he was “hard-pressed to think of any other industry that operates with less risk at the expense of the American taxpayer.”

Despite the efforts of Senator Kirsten Gillibrand of New York to keep food stamp programs intact, they were cut by $4.5 billion over 10 years — a fraction of some $750 billion in total spending but harmful to many poor families. Conservation programs that encourage farmers to withdraw highly erodible land from production were slashed by 10 percent. These cuts would have been less painful if the Senate had spent less on crop insurance.

There are some improvements. The bill will expand block grants to states for research and promotion of fruits and vegetables. It will encourage the growth of farmers’ markets. It will consolidate several overlapping conservation programs to make them more efficient.

An important last-minute amendment from Senator Saxby Chambliss, Republican of Georgia, will compel farmers receiving insurance subsidies to take minimal steps to reduce erosion and protect wetlands. Support programs like direct payments have always required recipients to meet conservation standards, but insurance subsidy programs have not. Tying insurance to good stewardship practices is an important step.

When the House gets around to producing a bill, it is likely to be no less generous to big farmers and even stingier on food stamps and conservation. Any such cuts must be resisted.

Stop me before I aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Posted by Andrew on 8 June 2012, 9:19 am

Stephen Olivier points me to this horrible, horrible news article by Jonathan Haidt, “Why working-class people vote conservative”:

Across the world, blue-collar voters ally themselves with the political right . . . Why on Earth would a working-class person ever vote for a conservative candidate? This question has obsessed the American left since Ronald Reagan first captured the votes of so many union members, farmers, urban Catholics and other relatively powerless people – the so-called “Reagan Democrats”. . . .

Sorry, but no no no no no. Where to start?
Here’s the difference between upper-income and lower-income votes in presidential elections:

Ronald Reagan did about 20 percentage points better among voters in the upper third of income, compared to voters in the lower third. The relation between income and voting since 1980 is about the same as it was in the 1940s.
Oh yeah, Haidt said something about “across the world.” How bout this:123

 
It varies. In most countries where we have the data, richer voters are more conservative, but it varies. So that’s interesting and worth studying. I’m not saying there’s nothing there, it’s just that Haidt’s whack-it-with-a-2×4 approach isn’t helping.
I agree with Haidt that economic policy is not the only driver of political preferences. I don’t agree with his claim that “blue-collar voters ally themselves with the political right.” And, yes, I realize that “blue collar” isn’t the same as “lower third of income”—but that’s part of the point! If someone is blue-collar and makes $100,000 a year, maybe it’s not such a surprise that he is voting for a party that supports upper-income tax cuts. Conversely, a non-blue-collar-worker making $30,000 might have a different perspective. Before getting into the psychologizing, Haidt would do well to get a better grip on the facts that he’s trying to explain.
This is one reason I’m such a big fan of descriptive research. Causal inference is fine, it’s great, it’s even in the title of this blog, but you’re gonna get into trouble if you try to come up with theories to explain purported facts that aren’t actually true.
How does this sort of thing get published?
Look, nobody’s perfect. I’m interested in psychology and have lots of friends who are psychology researchers, but if I tried to write something for the topic for a general audience, I’d probably make some mistakes. Similarly, it’s not Haidt’s job to be more knowledgeable than Tucker Carlson about U.S. politics. (From that standpoint, I’m more disturbed by the errors of David Runciman, who has political science in his job title but still has managed to botch his writings on American politics.) Perhaps Haidt read Thomas Frank’s book and it seemed convincing, he doesn’t keep up with scholarly debates on U.S. political science, so he didn’t know where to look.
B-b-b-but . . . Jonathan Haidt is not just some TV talking head. He teaches psychology at the University of Virginia! I’m sure he’s too busy to read up on the American politics literature, but doesn’t he have some colleagues across the quad whom he could talk with about this stuff?
I think it hasn’t helped Haidt to get this sort of uncritical press treatment. At some point it’s natural for him to start believing the hype and then just spouting off on whatever.
In any case, this sort of thing continues to bug me, that 4 years after our Red State Blue State book came out, that this sort of basic mistake could find its way into a major newspaper.
P.S. Commenter Alan T. makes a good point. Whatever misconceptions Haidt may have about voting patterns, his research on the psychology of variation in political attitudes might be valuable. I imagine it has some useful overlap with the work of John Jost. My irritation above is not intended to be a disparagement of Haidt’s research, only an expression of my frustration that he did not slow down and check the facts before changing gears and moving from research-mode to pundit-mode.
P.P.S. Haidt responds (and very politely, which I appreciate, considering the tone of the title and very first sentence of my post):

You are correct that I was too sweeping in my claim. Main error was not to specify that I was talking only about the white working class, and that I was talking especially about the last 8 years. It’s true that the poorer half of the population do generally vote Democratic. And you’re right that the claims about blue-collar Republicans were greatly overblown in What’s the Matter with Kansas. But if we look at whites only, in the last few elections, then there has been a shift, i believe. I was going by this article by Edsall.

In quick response:
1. I agree that, even as the general pattern of income and voting in America has remained roughly stable for most of the past seventy years, the social and geographic composition of the Democratic and Republican voting blocs have changed a lot. We have a graph of this in Red State Blue State (also I’ve blogged it once or twice) showing professionals moving toward the Democrats, business owners moving Republican, etc. It’s perfectly reasonable to focus on whites with less than college education, as long as we don’t confuse matters by conflating that with “working class” more generally. I have a similar problem with the term “blue collar” as it excludes many low-income working people; it’s a term with an emotional affect that I think can mislead.
2. Whether we’re talking about 30% of a group or 40% or 60%, it’s still interesting to learn about the motivations behind people’s vote choices. Most low-income Americans vote for Democrats and it’s worth understanding that preference; it’s also worth understanding the preferences of the Republican minority. If you’re particularly interested in conservative attitudes, I can see why you’d want to isolate various Republican-leaning white voters. You might want to write your next column on rich whites, as they are very strongly Republican in their voting.
P.P.P.S. Some cognitive psychology research suggests how all this confusion could’ve happened.

Lift the Veil on the Spending Cuts

Published: June 24, 2012 

The Pentagon’s powerful Republican friends in Congress are griping about a required $500 billion cut to the military budget over nine years beginning in January. It would “hollow our military,” said Speaker John Boehner. It’s a “national disgrace,” said Representative Howard McKeon, chairman of the Armed Services Committee.

• Pentagon Gets Attention, but Planned Spending Cuts Range Far and Wide (June 22, 2012)

• Read All Comments (209) »

The critics are right that taking an across-the-board cleaver to the Pentagon is bad policy, but that is because across-the-board cuts in general are bad policy. They never seem to mention that the cuts are matched by an equally devastating slash at domestic spending — $500 billion from education, law enforcement, environmental protection, and health and safety programs, among hundreds of others. Both are part of a $1.2 trillion sequester required by the law that ended last year’s debt-ceiling fight.

Democrats seem to be the only ones who care about the domestic side of the cuts, and now they are finally starting to counter the Republican insistence — fueled by heavy pressure and big campaign donations from military contractors — that the defense cuts are the only damaging aspect of the sequester.

Senator John McCain, Republican of Arizona, who has been worked up about the Pentagon cuts, recently proposed legislation requiring a detailed accounting of which military programs would be affected, and the impact on national security. Senator Patty Murray, Democrat of Washington, proposed a countermeasure that would require an accounting of the entire sequester. The two measures were combined and passed by the Senate on Thursday as an amendment to the farm bill.

Ms. Murray’s amendment asks all the right questions of the White House budget office: What precise programs will be cut? How many jobs will be lost? What will be the effect on students of education cuts, as well as the impact of reductions on middle-class families, public safety and economic growth? (Mr. McCain asked similar questions about the defense cuts.) These matters were never discussed when the sequester was first imposed after the irresponsible threat by Republicans to send the government into default if spending wasn’t reduced.

At the moment, even lawmakers know only the broad categories of spending that will be affected, not the precise details. In testimony earlier this year, several cabinet secretaries mentioned a few of the specifics — at least 26,000 teachers would be laid off, nearly a million women and children would lose nutrition benefits, 300 national parks fully or partially closed, and large reductions made in food safety and federal aviation operations. The full list will be far longer, and the harm much greater.

Even though entitlement programs were largely protected, the sequester was the terrible result of reckless brinkmanship. It could reduce the nation’s economic output by half a percentage point in 2013 alone. Much of it can still be averted if Republicans would agree to a balanced, long-term deficit-reduction plan that includes higher taxes on the rich. The best way to achieve that goal — shocking both parties into action — is to let the public see the awful details of the alternative.

Marco Rubio calls for compromise on immigration reform

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) addresses the audience at the 29th annual National Assn. of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials conference in Lake Buena Vista, Fla. (Edward Linsmier / Getty Images / June 22, 2012)

By Kathleen Hennessey

June 24, 2012, 10:26 a.m.

WASHINGTON – Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, the rising GOP star who is trying to push his party toward the middle on immigration, demonstrated the hard truth about the middle ground. It’s uncomfortable.
In an interview on NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday, Rubio sought to convey the need for compromise on the hot-button issue, but in the end fell short of asserting a clear position.
Asked about the Arizona law that allows local officials to check citizenship status, Rubio seemed sympathetic to the plight of a state dealing with a border security issues. But he also said the federal government should take the “blame” for such laws.
The U.S. Supreme Court is expected to rule on the constitutionality of the law this week. Rubio said he believed the law should be upheld.
“What I’ve said repeatedly is I believe Arizona has a right to pass that bill. I understand why they did it. But I don’t think it’s a national model. I don’t think other states should follow suit,” Rubio, the son of Cuban immigrants, said. “For example, I don’t want to see a law like that in Florida.”
Rubio is seen as a potential leader on immigration issues by Republicans who want the party to do more to appeal to Latino voters. He has been talked about as a possible running mate for Mitt Romney, but he declined to discuss his interest in the vice presidential slot Sunday.
Asked about the crux of the immigration dilemma – what to do with the millions of immigrants already in the country. Rubio repeatedly declined to say whether he thought Congress should create a way for those immigrants to become citizens without going home first.
The Florida freshman argued that lawmakers first needed to tighten security and enforcement of current law to win back the confidence of Americans in the immigration system. He argued that some accommodations should be made for “the kids” – young immigrants brought to this country as children.
But, Rubio quickly noted, he does not support the Dream Act, the law initially written by Republicans and Democrats to address those immigrants. And he also criticized President Obama’s decision to suspend deportation of some young immigrants.
Rubio has discussed an alternative to the Dream Act. His proposal was never written into legislation. It would probably have faced significant opposition in the Senate from within his own party. He described that effort as on hold until after the election.
Host David Gregory pressed Rubio on how he would settle the debate.
“That’s the complexity of this issue. Immigration is not a black or white issue. It’s not a yes or no issue,” Rubio said. “It’s complicated.”

ATF’s Fast and Furious scandal

A federal operation dubbed Fast and Furious allowed weapons from the U.S. to pass into the hands of suspected gun smugglers so the arms could be traced to the higher echelons of Mexican drug cartels. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, which ran the operation, has lost track of hundreds of firearms, many of which have been linked to crimes, including the fatal shooting of Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry in December 2010.

A U.S. Border Patrol agent arrives for a memorial service for slain comrade Brian Terry on Jan. 21, 2011, in Tucson. Terry was killed during a shootout the month before near the U.S.-Mexico Border. (John Moore / Getty Images)

 

Documents: ATF's 'Fast and Furious' paper trail

Emails, cables and reports on the Fast and Furious operation.

9:07 AM PDT, June 24, 2012

Issa: No evidence White House covered up 'Fast and Furious' fallout

WASHINGTON – House oversight committee chairman Darrell Issa said Sunday that he has no evidence the White House was involved in what could be a Justice Department "cover up” to contain fallout from the botched “Fast and Furious” operation.

June 24, 2012

Letters: Fast and Furious fallout

Re "Holder draws House panel's rebuke," and "Fast and Furious showdown," Editorial, June 21

5:22 PM PDT, June 20, 2012

What led to Fast and Furious rebuke of Holder?

WASHINGTON — The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee has voted to pursue a contempt of Congress charge against Atty. Gen. Eric H. Holder Jr. over his refusal to turn over documents related to the committee’s investigation of the Fast and Furious operation. Here is a look at the issues:

1:30 PM PDT, June 20, 2012

House panel recommends Holder be found in contempt of Congress

WASHINGTON -- The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform voted to find Atty. Gen. Eric H. Holder Jr. in contempt of Congress for failing to provide subpoenaed documents in the flawed Fast and Furious gun-tracking case, just hours after President Obama asserted executive privilege and backed the attorney general’s refusal to release the material.

5:46 PM PDT, June 20, 2012

Atty. Gen. Eric Holder draws House panel's rebuke over Fast and Furious

WASHINGTON — A House committee voted along party lines to find Eric H. Holder Jr. in contempt of Congress for failing to provide subpoenaed documents in the flawed Fast and Furious gun-tracking case, just hours after President Obama for the first time asserted executive privilege and backed the attorney general's refusal to release the material.

8:15 AM PDT, June 20, 2012

Obama asserts executive privilege

The Justice Dept says that President Barack Obama has asserted executive privilege to withhold documents a House committee is seeking in an investigation of a flawed gun-smuggling probe.

3:58 PM PDT, June 19, 2012

Negotiations break down between Holder, Issa over Fast and Furious

WASHINGTON — Last-minute talks to stave off a House committee vote finding Eric H. Holder Jr. in contempt of Congress broke down when the attorney general failed to provide subpoenaed documents to the panel in its ongoing investigation into the ATF’s flawed Fast and Furious gun-tracking.

3:14 PM PDT, June 11, 2012

Panel sets vote on whether Eric Holder is in contempt of Congress

WASHINGTON -- Top House Republicans, saying the Department of Justice is “out of excuses,” scheduled a committee vote to hold Atty. Gen. Eric H. Holder Jr. in contempt of Congress for refusing to provide subpoenaed documents in the ATF’s flawed Fast and Furious gun-tracking operation.

12:28 PM PDT, June 7, 2012

Eric Holder grilled over Fast and Furious in Congress

WASHINGTON -- One at a time, Rep. Darrell Issa held up a thick wiretap application form and slammed it on his dais in the elaborate House Judiciary Committee hearing room. Each time the Vista, Calif., Republican angrily read out loud the dates: May 15, 2010, April 19, 2010, May 7, 2010, May 17, 2010, June 2, 2010, and July 2, 2010. All of them, he said, “before Brian Terry was gunned down.”

June 1, 2012

Mexico left in the dark on Fast and Furious, ambassador says

WASHINGTON — The failed federal gun-tracking operation called Fast and Furious showed an "outstanding lack of understanding of how criminal organizations are operating on both sides of our common borders," the Mexican ambassador to the United States said.

2:33 PM PDT, March 28, 2012

Family of slain agent 'sickened' feds didn't share information

Family members of slain U.S. Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry said they were  “sickened” by reports that federal law enforcement agencies on the Southwest border did not share information about their investigations, and believe Terry would be alive today had the ATF known that two top targets in their Fast and Furious case actually were FBIinformants.

8:39 AM PST, February 2, 2012

House GOP threatens to hold Holder in contempt over Fast and Furious

House Republicans investigating the Fast and Furious operation threatened Thursday to seek a contempt of Congress citation against Atty. Gen. Eric H. Holder Jr., saying his Department of Justice has refused to turn over key documents in the Department of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms gun-tracking investigation and that the Obama administration is trying to hide its involvement in the program that allowed hundreds of U.S. weapons to fall into the hands of Mexican drug cartels.

11:24 AM PST, December 8, 2011

Atty. Gen. Holder accuses critics of politicizing 'Fast and Furious' case

Atty. Gen. Eric H. Holder Jr., under fire for his Justice Department's Operation Fast and Furious, accused his Republican congressional critics of politicizing the failed gun-tracking program and warned that many of the more than 2,000 lost firearms will continue to show up on the southwest border "for years to come."

2:33 PM PST, November 9, 2011

Holder's 'Fast and Furious' testimony draws rebuke from victim's kin

The family of a slain border agent is blasting Atty. Gen. Eric H. Holder Jr. for his repeated claims of ignorance about the tactics used in the botched "Fast and Furious" gun-trafficking sting.

8:26 AM PST, November 8, 2011

Holder decries 'gotcha games' in Fast and Furious testimony

Atty. Gen. Eric Holder on Tuesday called a botched gun-tracking scheme hatched by officials with the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives on the Southwest border “flawed in its concept, and flawed in its execution” in testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee.

2:40 PM PDT, October 18, 2011

'Fast and Furious' provision clears Senate

In a stinging rebuke of the Obama administration and Attorney General Eric H. Holder, an amendment to prevent the Justice Department from conducting any future gun-tracking operations such as the failed "Fast and Furious" program in the future sailed unanimously through the Senate Tuesday.

6:01 PM PDT, October 12, 2011

Documents subpoenaed from Atty. Gen. Holder in 'Fast and Furious' probe

A leading House Republican investigating the ATF operation dubbed Fast and Furious subpoenaed documents from Atty. Gen. Eric H. Holder Jr. on Wednesday, escalating the confrontation over the botched gun-tracing program.

8:46 PM PDT, October 8, 2011

Fast and Furious weapons were found in Mexico cartel enforcer's home

High-powered assault weapons illegally purchased under the ATF's Fast and Furious program in Phoenix ended up in a home belonging to the purported top Sinaloa cartel enforcer in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, whose organization was terrorizing that city with the worst violence in the Mexican drug wars.

5:37 PM PDT, October 7, 2011

Atty. Gen. Holder strikes back at GOP critics

Atty. Gen. Eric H. Holder Jr. confronted a week of allegations that he had misled Congress about his knowledge of the failed Fast and Furious gun-tracking program, lashing out at his Republican critics and contending that he knew nothing about secret tactics to allow illegal arms sales on the Southwest border.

6:37 PM PDT, October 6, 2011

President Obama defends attorney general regarding ATF tactics

President Obama insists neither he nor Atty. Gen. Eric H. Holder Jr. knew federal ATF agents were permitting illegal gun purchases on the Southwest border, even as Republican lawmakers released new documents showing the attorney general was given general briefings on the Fast and Furious gun-tracking operation.

3:04 PM PDT, October 5, 2011

ATF officials reassigned in latest Fast and Furious fallout

Two top supervisors at ATF headquarters in Washington -- the deputy director and the assistant director for all field operations -- have been reassigned as the beleaguered agency attempts to remake itself amid the fallout from a failed gun-tracking operation along the Southwest border called Fast and Furious, according to two sources briefed on the changes.

9:32 PM PDT, October 3, 2011

Emails show top Justice Department officials knew of ATF gun program

Senior Justice Department officials were aware that ATF agents allowed firearms to be "walked" into Mexico, according to a series of emails last year in which they discussed two undercover operations on the Southwest border, including the failed Fast and Furious program.

September 29, 2011

ATF Fast and Furious guns turned up in El Paso

A cache of assault weapons lost in the ATF's gun-trafficking surveillance operation in Phoenix turned up in El Paso, where it was being stored for shipment to Mexico, according to new internal agency emails and federal court records.

5:00 PM PDT, September 19, 2011

Mexico still waiting for answers on Fast and Furious gun program

Last fall's slaying of Mario Gonzalez, the brother of a Mexican state prosecutor, shocked people on both sides of the border. Sensational news reports revealed that cartel hit men had tortured Gonzalez, and forced him to make a videotaped "confession" that his high-powered sister was on the take.

9:14 PM PDT, September 11, 2011

Gun store owner had misgivings about ATF sting

In the fall of 2009, ATF agents installed a secret phone line and hidden cameras in a ceiling panel and wall at Andre Howard's Lone Wolf gun store. They gave him one basic instruction: Sell guns to every illegal purchaser who walks through the door.

12:47 PM PDT, September 9, 2011

Congress expands Fast and Furious probe to White House

Congressional investigators reviewing the failed gun-tracking program Operation Fast and Furious have formally asked the Obama administration to turn over copies of "all records" involving three key White House national security officials and the program, other ATF gun cases in Phoenix, and all communications between the White House and the ATF field office in Arizona.

3:49 PM PDT, September 8, 2011

Fast and Furious guns tied to second violent crime

In the second violent crime in this country connected with the ATF’s failed Fast and Furious program, two Arizona undercover police officers were allegedly assaulted last year when they attempted to stop two men in a stolen vehicle with two of the program's weapons in a confrontation south of Phoenix.

8:27 PM PDT, September 6, 2011

Republicans refuse to confirm leader for ATF despite its troubles

Congressional Republicans have been upset at the management at the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, which authorized a botched sting operation near the Mexican border that put guns in the hands of drug criminals.

September 2, 2011

White House received emails about Fast and Furious gun-trafficking operation

Newly obtained emails show that the White House was better informed about a failed gun-tracking operation on the border with Mexico than was previously known.

6:14 PM PDT, August 30, 2011

ATF chief removed over border gun scandal

Justice Department officials have removed the head of the beleaguered ATF and the U.S. attorney in Phoenix — an attempt to provide a fresh start for the agency whose employees had expressed a lack of confidence in their leadership since the Operation Fast and Furious gun-tracking scandal.

9:30 AM PDT, August 30, 2011

Kenneth Melson, who oversaw ATF's Fast and Furious, steps down

Kenneth E. Melson, who has faced heavy criticism in connection with the controversial Fast and Furious gun-trafficking investigation, announced Tuesday that he is stepping down as acting director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

8:09 PM PDT, August 17, 2011

ATF denies it promoted Fast and Furious supervisors

The federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives said Wednesday that three supervisors in its controversial Fast and Furious gun-trafficking investigation were transferred to lateral jobs, not promoted.

August 17, 2011

Firearms from ATF sting linked to 11 more violent crimes

Firearms from the ATF's Operation Fast and Furious weapons trafficking investigation turned up at the scenes of at least 11 violent crimes in the U.S., as well as at a Border Patrol agent's slaying in southern Arizona last year, the Justice Department has acknowledged to Congress.

August 16, 2011

ATF promotes supervisors in controversial gun operation

The ATF has promoted three key supervisors of a controversial sting operation that allowed firearms to be illegally trafficked across the U.S. border into Mexico.

August 6, 2011

Drug agency played role in ATF gun sting

The head of the Drug Enforcement Administration has acknowledged to congressional investigators that her agency provided a supporting role in the ill-fated Operation Fast and Furious run by their counterparts at the ATF.

July 27, 2011

FBI report at odds with ATF claim on weapons

The claim by senior ATF officials that none of the weapons lost in the botched Fast and Furious sting operation were used in the shooting of a Border Patrol agent is not supported by FBI ballistics tests, according to a copy of the FBI report on the shooting.

July 26, 2011

U.S. Embassy in Mexico not told of ATF guns sting

As weapons from the United States increasingly began showing up at homicide scenes in Mexico last summer, U.S. Embassy officials cabled Washington that authorities needed to focus on small-time operators supplying guns to the drug cartels.

3:41 PM PDT, July 21, 2011

ATF sought to downplay guns scandal, emails show

Two days after U.S. Border Patrol Agent Brian A. Terry was killed in December, the top ATF supervisors in Phoenix said in internal emails that weapons found at the scene in Arizona came from a failed agency sting operation.

July 19, 2011

Justice Department trying to shield officials in guns scandal, ATF chief says

The Justice Department is trying to protect its political appointees from the Fast and Furious scandal by concealing an internal "smoking gun" report and other documents that acknowledge the role top officials played in the program that allowed firearms to flow illegally into Mexico, according to the head of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

July 17, 2011

Gun-smuggling cartel figures possibly were paid FBI informants

Congressional investigators probing the controversial "Fast and Furious" anti-gun-trafficking operation on the border with Mexico believe at least six Mexican drug cartel figures involved in gun smuggling also were paid FBI informants, officials said Saturday.

July 17, 2011

Editorial

Gun control at the border

The Obama administration took a concrete step toward curbing the flow of semiautomatic weapons to Mexico last week when it adopted a new regulation mandating the reporting of multiple sales of long guns to federal authorities.

July 12, 2011

U.S. to require more gun-buyer information in border states

As a backlash mounts over the government's failed Fast and Furious gun-tracing operation, the Justice Department will begin requiring firearms dealers in California and other border states to alert officials anytime they sell more than two semiautomatic rifles to someone in a five-day period.

July 7, 2011

More U.S. agencies implicated in Mexico gun-trafficking probe

The embattled head of the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives has told congressional investigators that some Mexican drug cartel figures targeted by his agency in a gun-trafficking investigation were paid informants for the FBI and Drug Enforcement Administration.

July 1, 2011

Democrats seek crackdown on gun trafficking

Two congressional Democrats, fresh from a trip to Mexico City, plan to propose tighter restrictions on gun trafficking to combat illegal U.S. sales that they say may supply 80% of the arsenals of Mexican drug cartels.

June 27, 2011

Editorial

ATF and Congress under the gun

A congressional subcommittee has spent much of the last month investigating how a border security operation code named "Fast and Furious" allowed hundreds of guns to fall into the hands of criminals on both sides of the Mexican border.

June 24, 2011

Federal ATF chief said to resist pressure to step down

The acting director of the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives is strongly resisting pressure to step down because of growing controversy over the agency's surveillance program that allowed U.S. guns to flow unchecked into Mexico, according to several federal sources in Washington.

June 23, 2011

U.S. AK-47s linked to Mexican attorney's slaying

A congressional investigation into a controversial federal gun-running surveillance operation is moving to Mexico this week amid new reports that two AK-47s sold in Arizona during the operation were found at the scene of a shootout with the suspected killers of a well-known Mexican attorney.

June 21, 2011

ATF director to resign, agency sources say

The acting director of the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives is expected to step down because of a controversial gun-running investigation that allowed weapons to be sold to suspected agents of Mexican drug cartels, according to two sources inside the agency.

12:24 PM PDT, June 15, 2011

ATF chief regularly briefed on botched gun operation

A federal firearms investigation that allowed weapons from the U.S. to pass into the hands of Mexican smugglers was closely monitored by the very top leaders of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, according to internal emails released Wednesday by a congressional committee.

June 14, 2011

Report describes gun agents' 'state of panic'

Federal gun agents, concerned about weapons sales to Mexican drug suspects, begged to make arrests but were rebuffed, according to a congressional report on a controversial investigation.

April 15, 2011

U.S. urged dealer to continue gun sales despite concerns, inquiry finds

The Arizona gun dealer repeatedly raised red flags about weapons ending up in the hands of Mexican drug cartels as part of Project Gunrunner, but his concerns were brushed aside, congressional investigators say.

April 9, 2011

Key figure in ATF's Gunrunner operation cooperating in congressional inquiry

George Gillett Jr. is expected to reveal crucial information about how a federal operation allowed weapons from the U.S. to pass into the hands of Mexican drug gangs.

March 10, 2011

Mexico lawmakers demand answers about guns smuggled under ATF's watch

A legislator says at least 150 Mexicans have been killed or wounded by guns trafficked by smugglers being tracked by U.S. agents from the ATF. The charges may exacerbate already rocky U.S.-Mexico relations.

March 8, 2011

U.S. agents short-staffed and under the gun in Mexico

A lack of resources, a policy against arming agents and staffers who don't speak Spanish hamper U.S. agents trying to stem the flow of weapons to drug cartels, say current and ex-staff members.

March 4, 2011

Border effort let guns into criminal hands

U.S. probe aimed at tracing arms to drug cartels lost track of hundreds, including two linked to agent's death.

March 3, 2011

U.S. gun-tracing operation let firearms into criminal hands

A federal operation aimed at tracing weapons to Mexican drug cartels lost track of hundreds, including two guns found at the scene of a Border Patrol agent's killing in Arizona.

February 2, 2011

Guns tracked by firearms bureau found at firefight scene

Two AK-47s bought in Arizona were used in a firefight that left a Border Patrol agent dead last month. The discovery comes amid a growing congressional investigation into the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

On gay marriage, Cheney shows heart. Why not courage too?

Mary Cheney, right, and Heather Poe at the 2004 GOP convention. The couple were married Friday in Washington, D.C. (Damon Winter / Los Angeles Times)

By Paul Whitefield

June 22, 2012, 1:02 p.m

.

The Wizard gave Dick Cheney a new heart in March.

If only he’d gotten courage as part of the deal.

On Friday, Cheney’s daughter, Mary, married her longtime partner, Heather Poe. The couple have two children.

And how did the staunchly conservative Lynne and Dick Cheney, bastions of the Republican right, react?

"Mary and Heather have been in a committed relationship for many years, and we are delighted that they were able to take advantage of the opportunity to have that relationship recognized," the Cheney family said in a statement. "Mary and Heather and their children are very important and much-loved members of our family, and we wish them every happiness."

Which is nice, isn’t it?

It’s also more than a little hypocritical, of course, considering that Dick Cheney once supported an effort by the George W. Bush administration to impose a constitutional ban on same-sex marriages.

Then again, as vice president, he said he believed that the question of legalizing same-sex marriage should be left to the states.

And after leaving office, he had this to say in 2009 on the subject:
"I think people ought to be free to enter into any kind of union they wish. Any kind of arrangement they wish. The question of whether or not there ought to be a federal statute to protect this, I don't support."

It appears, strangely enough, that Cheney may be “evolving” on this issue, just like President Obama, who recently came out in support of same-sex marriage.
Of course, Obama caught immediate flak from Republicans for his change of heart. Had Cheney been running for office, I’m sure he would have joined in the criticism. That, after all, is politics. You might not like it, but you can understand.
What I question, though, is Cheney’s courage.

Saying that same-sex marriage should be left to the states is simply trying to have your cake, by supporting the daughter you love, and eating it too, by trying to reconcile what you really believe with the tenets of a hard-right Republican Party.

Does Cheney truly want his daughter’s marriage recognized in Washington, D.C.,  but not in, say, Virginia, where the couple reside, or in Wyoming, which he represented in Congress? Because that’s what you get if you let the states decide. Nor would the state be able to give married same-sex couples the federal benefits that heterosexual married couples receive.

No, I don’t think Cheney prefers those scenarios. I think he would prefer that his daughter, her spouse and their children have the same rights as all married couples.

Too bad he doesn’t have the courage to say so.