Mythbusting the ‘rich don’t pay enough taxes’ lie
Taxing the rich at a high rate doesn’t increase government revenue.
American Thinker Blog
Gates: ‘Don’t ask, don’t tell’ still in effect
(CNN) – Despite President Barack Obama’s signing of a law repealing the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy, Defense Secretary Robert Gates sent a memo to troops warning them that it remains in effect until 60 days after the government certifies that the military is ready for implementation.
The Pentagon says it does not know how long the certification process may take.
We don’t need to fix partisanship to fix the Senate
Doug Mataconis looks at my graph on the filibuster and comments:
I hear this a lot, but I don’t really understand it.
For one thing, there is a good argument that eliminating the filibuster will make party-line voting less effective for the minority, and thus less common. Whether partisanship still lives in the hearts of minority senators doesn’t really worry me. Whether they decide to work with the majority on legislation or continually obstruct it in order to keep the country from being effectively governed does. If obstruction ceases to work, it’s not clear why they’d continue to pursue it as pretty much their only strategy. No one likes a perpetually feckless minority. (For a longer version of this case, head here.)
But the broader point is that we don’t know how to fix partisanship. It’s ebbed and flowed at different times in our polity, and manifested in our legislative institutions in different ways. As Gregory Koger emphasizes in his book on the filibuster, it was the House of Representatives, not the Senate, that first suffered from an overuse of filibuster-like practices, and they were eliminated when the body became unmanageable.
The good news is that we don’t need to fix partisanship, which is really nothing more than organized disagreement. All we need to do is ensure that our system can function amid it. There’s no great trick to that, as plenty of other countries, the House of Representatives, dinner tables where children want to eat dessert first, and “American Idol” all show. What is dangerous is to allow a system set up for a consensus-based political culture drift into highly polarized political culture. Rules can be changed to fit political realities, but political realities cannot usually be changed to fit rules.
Keith Ellison: Sure, Have Hearings On Radicalization — Just Don’t Target Muslims
The U.S. House’s first Muslim congressman is totally fine with Rep. Peter King’s planned hearings on radicalization — as long as they doesn’t focus on Muslims alone.
“It is legitimate to want to know what converts a [peaceful] citizen to somebody who would want to kill their fellow Americans,” Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN) told TPM in a phone interview Wednesday. “I think that’s a fair question, and I don’t think we know enough about it.”
Earlier this week, King (R-NY), the incoming chairman of the Homeland Security Committee, announced plans to hold hearings on the “radicalization” of American Muslims. King isn’t known as a moderate when it comes to Islamic relations — to put it delicately — and the announcement was met with condemnation and concern.
But Ellison said the hearings could be productive and teach lawmakers more about violent extremism — as long as they look at such extremism as a whole instead of focusing on Muslims.
“Because we don’t know anything about what makes someone a violent radical, we stop everyone in a jihab, everyone in a kufi, everyone in ‘Muslim garb,’” he said.
But what makes anyone turn radical? He used Faisal Shahzad, the would-be Times Square bomber and a Muslim American, as an example.
“If he was upset about U.S. policy in Pakistan and Somalia, why wouldn’t he get involved in a civil rights organization and do something about it? Why wouldn’t he join the Peace Corps, do something constructive? What made him turn into this dangerously violent person?” Ellison asked. “Is there a string? Is there a line? Is there a point of commonality?”
If the hearings can answer those questions, he said, they could help built a more “effective law enforcement.”
“Just a bash session about ‘Muslims are the problem’ is not helpful,” he added.
Ellison said he plans to try to keep the hearings balanced by suggesting witnesses, attending the hearings and, if he can, testifying himself.
“I’m going to participate, and I’m going to encourage other people to participate,” he said. He’s already shared his concerns with King who, he said, seemed receptive and open to suggestions.
Keith Ellison: Sure, Have Hearings On Radicalization — Just Don’t Target Muslims
The U.S. House’s first Muslim congressman is totally fine with Rep. Peter King’s planned hearings on radicalization — as long as they doesn’t focus on Muslims alone.
“It is legitimate to want to know what converts a [peaceful] citizen to somebody who would want to kill their fellow Americans,” Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN) told TPM in a phone interview Wednesday. “I think that’s a fair question, and I don’t think we know enough about it.”
Earlier this week, King (R-NY), the incoming chairman of the Homeland Security Committee, announced plans to hold hearings on the “radicalization” of American Muslims. King isn’t known as a moderate when it comes to Islamic relations — to put it delicately — and the announcement was met with condemnation and concern.
But Ellison said the hearings could be productive and teach lawmakers more about violent extremism — as long as they look at such extremism as a whole instead of focusing on Muslims.
“Because we don’t know anything about what makes someone a violent radical, we stop everyone in a jihab, everyone in a kufi, everyone in ‘Muslim garb,’” he said.
But what makes anyone turn radical? He used Faisal Shahzad, the would-be Times Square bomber and a Muslim American, as an example.
“If he was upset about U.S. policy in Pakistan and Somalia, why wouldn’t he get involved in a civil rights organization and do something about it? Why wouldn’t he join the Peace Corps, do something constructive? What made him turn into this dangerously violent person?” Ellison asked. “Is there a string? Is there a line? Is there a point of commonality?”
If the hearings can answer those questions, he said, they could help built a more “effective law enforcement.”
“Just a bash session about ‘Muslims are the problem’ is not helpful,” he added.
Ellison said he plans to try to keep the hearings balanced by suggesting witnesses, attending the hearings and, if he can, testifying himself.
“I’m going to participate, and I’m going to encourage other people to participate,” he said. He’s already shared his concerns with King who, he said, seemed receptive and open to suggestions.
EBW at Wampum is awesome: Don’t use wikileaks.info
It’s wonderful that the blogosphere has a heavy-duty Internet tech person. Go read, and don’t let the stuff that looks like code scare you.
New faces in Phoenix don’t affect Heat’s game plan – Sun-Sentinel
Washington Post |
New faces in Phoenix don't affect Heat's game plan
Sun-Sentinel The Phoenix Suns' roster may have changed, but the Miami Heat's approach remains the same. When the teams square off Thursday, the Suns will have the recently acquired Marcin Gortat and Mickael Pietrus on the floor, … Heat-Suns Preview Vince Carter Avoids Surgery, Remains Sidelined Indefinitely In one bold move, Suns embark on post-Stoudemire remake |
Obama signs repeal of ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’
Washington (CNN) -President Obama has signed the repeal of “don’t ask, don’t tell,” a policy that banned service members from serving openly in the U.S. military, into law.
The president signed the bill repealing the 17-year ban in front an jubilant crowd of supporters at the Department of Interior. Vice President Joe Biden, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-California, and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nevada, were among those in attendance.
FULL STORY
Obama on ‘Don’t Ask’
From the Advocate’s Kerry Eleveld, an Obama interview and an iconic "Don’t Ask" anecdote:
I visited Afghanistan just a few weeks ago. And while I was doing the rope line, a young woman in uniform was shaking my hand—it was a big crowd—she hugged me and she whispered in my ear, “Get ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ done.” And I said to her, “I promise you I will.” And for me to be able to deliver that Christmas present to her and so many others is incredibly gratifying.
Obama also signaled that he’s moving (back) toward publicly supporting same-sex marriage:
The sentiment I expressed then is still where I am—which is, like a lot of people, I’m wrestling with this. My attitudes are evolving on this. I have always firmly believed in having a robust civil union that provides the rights and benefits under the law that marriage does. I’ve wrestled with the fact that marriage traditionally has had a different connotation. But I also have a lot of very close friends who are married gay or lesbian couples.
And squaring that circle is something that I have not done yet, but I’m continually asking myself this question and I do think that—I will make this observation, that I notice there is a big generational difference. When you talk to people who are in their 20s, they don’t understand what the holdup is on this, regardless of their own sexual orientation. And obviously when you talk to older folks, then there’s greater resistance.
This is a bit hard to credit as a personal, rather than purely political, calculation — since he supported same-sex marriage publicly in the 1990s.
Obama to sign repeal of ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’
(CNN) – President Obama will sign the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell Repeal Act of 2010 into law Wednesday, ending a policy enacted in 1993 that banned openly gay and lesbian soldiers from military service.
The changes won’t be immediate, possibly taking several months to implement, the White House has said.
FULL STORY
Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, Don’t Pay Attention To The Poison Pill
Republicans tried to block DADT with a sneaky amendment in the defense authorization bill, but when they got caught, Mitch McConnell pulled the poison pill and disavowed any knowledge of the move.
Just hours before President Obama planned to sign on Wednesday the repeal of the military’s 17-year ban on gays serving openly in the armed forces, Republicans tried one last legislative maneuver to block the change.
Republicans in the Senate filed an amendment to a sweeping defense authorization bill that would have required the four military service chiefs to be part of the certification process called for in the bill that repeals the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy.
That would have put Marine Corps chief General James Amos, a vocal opponent of the repeal, in line to delay or potentially prevent its implementation. The amendment was filed late Tuesday to the defense measure, which could be voted on in the Senate on Wednesday.
But Don Stewart, a spokesman for Senator Mitch McConnell, the Senate minority leader from Kentucky, said late Tuesday night that an objection from a senator had been registered to the last-minute amendment and that it would not be included as part of the defense authorization bill.
Mr. Stewart made the remarks after advocates of repeal scrambled late Tuesday night to assess the potential impact of the amendment and to prevent its inclusion in the otherwise uncontroversial military spending bill. A senior Democratic aide in the Senate said “this would be a poison pill for DADT repeal.”
And of course, nobody’s owning up to this amendment and McConnell is playing dumb. It was only stopped because it was caught in time last night, but it could have gone to the floor today otherwise and it’s possible there could have been the votes for it.
Pretty sneaky even for Republicans, back door bigotry. Caught red handed, even McConnell had to pull the amendment.
But remember, Republicans negotiate and operate in good faith, and we should trust them.
Pelosi leads celebration of ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ repeal
Washington (CNN) – House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Tuesday led jubilant legislators and soldiers discharged under the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy in singing “God Bless America” to celebrate the upcoming repeal of the controversial law.
President Barack Obama will sign the repeal bill on Wednesday, and Pelosi did her part at the ceremony attended by hundreds of supporters of the repeal by signing the measure passed by Congress to send it to the White House.
Agent: Don’t believe Tiger Woods injury story – USA Today
Stuff.co.nz |
Agent: Don't believe Tiger Woods injury story
USA Today The buzz concerning Tiger Woods and an Achilles tendon injury is picking up steam in the blogosphere. Woods is fine, IMG agent Mark Steinberg told USA TODAY in a phone call from Florida. "There's a rumor that Tiger tore his tendon while skiing. … Calipari had no contact with Dominican officials Tiger Woods Has Scheduled Cortisone Shot in Sore Right Ankle, Agent Says Woods has cortisone shot in right ankle |
Ham? Don’t Mention It!
(John)
It sounds like parody, but this story from Spain is evidently true:
The parents of a Muslim boy who attends a secondary school in La Línea, Cádiz province, have reported their son’s teacher for an incident in the boy’s geography class which the child said caused him offence as a Muslim.
The teacher, José Reyes Fernández, with more than 20 years in the profession, was explaining to the class how the cold climate in Trevélez, Granada province, aided in the curing of the village’s most famous local product, jamón serrano. The boy told his teacher that hearing the word ‘ham’ in class was offensive to him because of his religion and asked his geography teacher to stop referring to the product which caused him offence.
El Mundo newspaper reports that the boy’s parents then reported the teacher to both the National Police and to the courts. They placed a denuncia against the teacher for psychological ill-treatment in the context of xenophobia and racism.
One assumes that the boy and his parents had help from the Spanish equivalent of CAIR in pushing his “xenophobia” complaint. It is a great illustration of the effort to create a little bubble of walking sharia around each Muslim that we also see in the U.S.
How Reid Assured Repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”
Greg Sargent takes a step back to look at how Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) shepherded the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” through the Senate.
“Recall what happened before the vote on the defense authorization bill containing DADT repeal was blocked by the GOP. Reid made a whole range of concessions to GOP moderates, bringing them to the brink of casting a Yes vote… Scheduling that first vote allowed moderates the room to register their procedural objections with a No vote. As Reid knew, he could then schedule a second, stand-alone vote, giving the moderates a bit more time and maneuvering room (and another round of meetings with military leaders) to come around to the Yes camp.”
Taegan Goddard’s Political Wire
