MIke's Blog Round Up

post from Crooks and Liars on 02 July 2012 08:00:00 AM. © Crooks and Liars

Tengrain here! Our Monday melange is full of merriment? Don't forget to tip your waiter on the way out!

First Draft gives us an object-lesson on the age-old US v. THEM construct.

Rooted Cosmopolitan sees the NRA shoot our best intentions.

Scholars and Rogues makes Texas walk the plank.

Bonus Track: Accounting Degree gives us illustrative proof that the rich are unlike the rest of us: they are shady.

Round-up by Tengrain of Mock, Paper, Scissors who also blogs at Dependable Renegade. Send tips to: mbru@crooksandliars.com

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Lakeside Diner

post from Firedoglake on 02 July 2012 07:45:32 AM. © Firedoglake

A variety of links to articles/interviews/speeches on current issues that may be of interest.[...]

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Abbreviated pundit round-up: For two years, we've
heard Europe's leaders will rescue it. When

post from Daily Kos on 02 July 2012 07:30:05 AM. © Daily Kos

newspaper headline collage ^{Visual source: Newseum}

Paul Krugman keeps reading analysts who say the collapse of the euro would be a disaster and European leaders won't let it happen:

Part of the problem is the fact that German politicians have spent the past two years telling voters something that isn?t true?namely, that the crisis is all the fault of irresponsible governments in Southern Europe. Here in Spain?which is now the epicenter of the crisis?the government actually had low debt and budget surpluses on the eve of crisis; if the country is now in crisis, that?s the result of a vast housing bubble that banks all across Europe, very much including the Germans, helped to inflate. But now the false narrative stands in the way of any workable solution.

E.J. Dionne Jr.:

As Democrats, mostly from Washington and New York, debated the efficacy of attacks on Romney?s role in Bain, an entirely different conversation was being driven in the swing states, courtesy of ads broadcast by the Obama campaign and especially by Priorities USA Action, the pro-Obama super PAC. The ads portray highly sympathetic workers who lost their jobs and companies that collapsed even as Bain?s principals made substantial profits. [...]
The Bain ads have done double-duty, specifically undermining Romney but also serving as a parable for how aspects of the current financial system hurt workers and local communities.

Washington Post Editorial Board:

The United States holds the highest number of prisoners in solitary confinement of any democratic nation. An estimated 25,000 people are kept in federal and state supermax prisons in 44 states, and as many as 80,000 may be kept in some other sort of segregated facility. [...]
If prisoners endure, they?re often incapable of functioning in the general population, their social development stunted by their time locked away. The goal of any correctional system should be the exact opposite. Given that solitary confinement costs, on average, three times as much per inmate as regular prison, there?s no justification for the practice in most cases.

Thomas Vinciguerra takes a look-see at who did and did not keep their some promise to leave the country if certain candidates or policies managed to gain ascendancy. Including this fella:

?I?ll just tell you this, if this passes and it?s five years from now and all that stuff gets implemented?I am leaving the country. I?ll go to Costa Rica.?
?Rush Limbaugh on President Obama?s health care law, 2010

The way coach ticket to San José, Costa Rica, from your neck of the woods, Rush, is $381. If you will promise never to return, I am certain donors of the necessary cash can be found, just in case you're a little short.

Doyle MacManus says the future of the Affordable Care Act almost completely depends on who wins in November.

Wilbur J. Cohen, the scholar and federal bureaucrat who helped write both the Social Security Act of 1935 and the Medicare law of 1965, often said: "Social policy is 1% inspiration and 99% implementation." The only way Obama's healthcare law will survive to become a durable part of the nation's social fabric will be through its full implementation beginning in 2014?if it survives the warfare of the next two years.
If the law doesn't work, it will get reexamined. If costs grow faster than promised, if new patients swamp the healthcare system, if revenues prove inadequate, if employers flee ? all dangers that critics have warned about?the law will be imperiled.

Bill McKibben:

Global warming is underway. Are we waiting for someone to hold up a sign that says "Here's climate change"? [...]
Against the backdrop of the burning Rockies, it's pretty clear this is not an engineering problem. Engineers, in fact, have performed admirably. One day last month, Germany generated more than half its electricity from solar panels. We've got the technical chops to solve our troubles.
No, this is a greed problem. In the last five years, Exxon has made more money than any company in history. For the moment, Exxon and other's desire to keep minting money ? and our politicians' desire for a share of that cash ? has conspired to keep our government, and most others, from doing anything to head off the crisis.

Mary Elizabeth Williams:

Let me fix this for you, headline writers. When you?re dealing with a story that involves rape or harassment or abuse or molestation or child porn or anything that falls under the rubric of criminal behavior, you should call those things rape and harassment and abuse and molestation and child pornography. You know what you shouldn?t call them? Sexy sexy sex scandals, that?s what.

David Moberg says this is the week organizationally to wish Wal-Mart and Unhappy 50th Birthday.

Greg Mitchell:

We?re a long way from the ?Red Scare? of old, but we have seen, in increasing numbers in recent years, GOP politicians and rightwing pundits and radio hosts decrying the alleged anti-Americanism of many on the left, including liberal centrists like President Obama. So it might be useful here to look back at how ?McCarthyism? got its name?a reminder for some, perhaps a revelation to younger people who may know what it means but unsure of the history.

Cyndi Lauper:

[W]hen statistics show that as many as 40% of the nation?s homeless youth are gay or transgender, compared to 3-5% of the overall youth population, we have to acknowledge that we?re facing a crisis. The disparity suggests that gay and transgender youth stand a much higher chance of becoming homeless because of abuse, neglect and familial rejection due to sexual orientation or gender identity that drive them to the streets.

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IRS Still Working To Finalize Questionnaire For
501(c)4 Groups

post from TPMMuckraker on 02 July 2012 07:01:08 AM. © TPMMuckraker

Is the IRS starting to look into political groups set up as 501(c)4s?

A Wall Street Journal article last week reported that the agency was "taking initial steps to examine whether Crossroads GPS, a pro-Republican group affiliated with Karl Rove, and similar political entities are violating their tax-exempt status by spending too much on partisan activities." But the IRS told TPM that the plan has been around for a while.

In an article published Wednesday, the Journal reported:

Holly Paz, a senior official in the IRS's tax-exempt division, said Friday that the agency was working on a questionnaire to send to some of the largest of the groups. Sending such a questionnaire is considered to be the first step in an IRS investigation.
The voluntary questionnaires will ask the organizations about their activities and compliance, said Ms. Paz, the IRS's director of tax-exempt rulings and agreements, speaking at a conference of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants.

Contacted by TPM last week, IRS spokesman Dean Patterson said in an emailed statement that Paz's comments at the conference "are the same as what we've had on our web site and in our Exempt Organization work plan since February." He pointed us to a passage on "501(c)(4), (5) and (6) self-declarers" in the agency's 2012 Exempt Organization work plan that reads, in part:

"In FY 2012, EO will send a comprehensive questionnaire to organizations based on Form 990 filings to assess compliance in this area."

According to Patterson, the questionnaire is not yet ready to send out.

"We have not announced when the questionnaire will be sent, and we have not announced any specific details about this beyond what's in the work plan. Other details have not been finalized, such as who will receive the questionnaire or the size of the groups receiving the questionnaire," he said in the statement. "We anticipate asking groups a range of questions on topics including executive compensation, member services, political activity and a number of other issues."

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HCDP Executive Committee Dinner Planning --
Volunteers Needed

post from The Politics of Jamie Sanderson on 02 July 2012 07:00:55 AM. © The Politics of Jamie Sanderson

THE HORRY COUNTY DEMOCRATIC PARTY
is pleased to announce the keynote speaker for the 2012
Executive Committee Dinner is
MICHAEL A. NUTTER
Mayor of Philadelphia & 70th President US Conference of Mayors
Friday, September 7, 2012
Six O'clock in the Evening--Reception with the Keynote Speaker
Seven O'clock in the Evening--Dinner
Your help is needed to plan this important post national convention celebration. Our first planning meeting will be held on Tuesday, July 10 at 4pm at the HCDP Headquarters in Conway. If you can help, please call the HCDP office at 488-HCDP or Nancy Anderson at 347-2306.

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dinner.html

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Barclays scandal takes down Chairman, CEO remains
for now

post from US Politics | AMERICAblog News on 02 July 2012 07:00:13 AM. © US Politics | AMERICAblog News

The latest banking scandal (manipulating Libor rates by Barclays) has now claimed its first senior director, though most want more. Compared to previous banking scandals, the call for those at the top to go has been swift and strong. (Let's remember that Jamie Dimon is not only still running JPMorgan, but he still remains on the board of the New York Federal Reserve.)At Barclays, the CEO Bob...

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Saturday Open Thread

post from My Left Wing - Front Page on 02 July 2012 07:00:00 AM. © My Left Wing - Front Page

The music is in the air.
Take as much as you want.

Edward Elgar

Born June 2, 1857
Since it's graduation season--the familiar passage starts at 1:56.

video details and more

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Monday Open Thread

You can kill a man
but you can't kill an idea.

Medgar Evers

Born July 2, 1925

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Monday Morning News Roundup

Lots of people continue to fret over the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act. In my opinion, David Brooks sums up the frustration of conservatives in a column he wrote a couple of days ago. Basically he thought the affordable care act should be repealed and then replaced with a bunch of laws that are

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Muse in the Morning

Muse in the MorningFudge I know you have talent. What sometimes is forgotten is that being practical is a talent. I have a paucity for that sort of talent in many situations, though it turns out that I'm a pretty darn good cook. :-)Let your talent[...]

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