From Matthew Yglesias. His point is that the deficit can only be tackled with a combination of spending cuts and tax increases. But, as he points out - "Republicans simply refuse to acknowledge that revenue as a share of GDP needs to go higher than it was at the end of the Bush years." He says that if Republicans won't agree to any revenue increases, "that’s their prerogative, but willingness to compromise on revenue is the sine qua non of a bipartisan deal. Absent that willingness, there neither can nor will be a bipartisan deal."
So on to the question. "When will the Republicans produce a budget proposal? We’ve seen the White House proposal. Do Republicans have an alternative proposal that makes the deficit lower consistent with their position on taxes? If they do, I’d like to see them write it down on paper so we can talk about it."
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Guiding Principles of the Day
Although I'm a few days late on this one. From Kevin Drum:
Modern conservatives have a few simple guiding principles. Keep taxes on rich people low. Let corporations do whatever they want. Toe the Christian right line on social issues and the NRA line on gun issues. Support military action overseas if a Republican president proposes it. Oppose spending on poor people.
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Maybe we should have a Republican President
'Cause then the Republicans wouldn't be pretending they're worried about spending in general when what they really care about is spending on issues Democrats care about. Then maybe they'd actually see that cutting spending right now will lead to continued problems with the economy and higher unemployment.
Nah, a Republican President would still be terrible.
Nah, a Republican President would still be terrible.
Support for the President
I'm probably one of the biggest supporters of the President that you'll run across, especially considering the fact that I'm in the military surrounded by a lot of pretty conservative types.
Still, I note with interest this piece from the Economist's Lexington columnist. He asks, "Wheres the courage?" with regard to President Obama and then cites:
"It's much easier to think of examples where he appears not to have had the courage of his convictions.
Guantánamo is still open, despite his promise to close it. He reinforced the troops in Afghanistan, but set a date to start withdrawing, a careful bit of bet-hedging. He pushed for peace in Palestine, but seems to have retreated at the first sign of gun smoke from Capitol Hill. He established a bipartisan commission on the deficit, but failed to pick up and run with its recommendations. He said he would let the Bush-era tax cuts expire for the rich, but backed down after the mid-term elections. His support for gay rights has been a study in caution, as has his position on gun control."
Let me say where I agree and disagree with his points. I've long advocated that the Democrats should play hardball politics just like (or even harder) than the Republicans. Instead of shying away from conflict, they should seek it out. Take the battle onto the Republicans turf. Fight them there, so we don't have to fight them here...(oops, one too many military metaphors). So, as much as I agree with the sentiment when it comes to Democrats in general, I generally disagree with regard to the President. Would I want the President to be a little more combative? Yes. But which do I want more - more combativeness or a Democratic president from 2012-2016? I think the answer's obvious. Now maybe that's a false choice. Why can't we have a more combative President and also get him reelected in 2012? It's certainly possible, but I think the President's a pretty good politician. In the current political climate, I think big gestures = big risks. A more cautious President is more likely to get reelected in 2012. He's going slowly, but he's also going in the direction that I prefer. I'd rather have 4 more years of slow in my direction, rather than having the country go in reverse after next year.
Still, I note with interest this piece from the Economist's Lexington columnist. He asks, "Wheres the courage?" with regard to President Obama and then cites:
"It's much easier to think of examples where he appears not to have had the courage of his convictions.
Guantánamo is still open, despite his promise to close it. He reinforced the troops in Afghanistan, but set a date to start withdrawing, a careful bit of bet-hedging. He pushed for peace in Palestine, but seems to have retreated at the first sign of gun smoke from Capitol Hill. He established a bipartisan commission on the deficit, but failed to pick up and run with its recommendations. He said he would let the Bush-era tax cuts expire for the rich, but backed down after the mid-term elections. His support for gay rights has been a study in caution, as has his position on gun control."
Let me say where I agree and disagree with his points. I've long advocated that the Democrats should play hardball politics just like (or even harder) than the Republicans. Instead of shying away from conflict, they should seek it out. Take the battle onto the Republicans turf. Fight them there, so we don't have to fight them here...(oops, one too many military metaphors). So, as much as I agree with the sentiment when it comes to Democrats in general, I generally disagree with regard to the President. Would I want the President to be a little more combative? Yes. But which do I want more - more combativeness or a Democratic president from 2012-2016? I think the answer's obvious. Now maybe that's a false choice. Why can't we have a more combative President and also get him reelected in 2012? It's certainly possible, but I think the President's a pretty good politician. In the current political climate, I think big gestures = big risks. A more cautious President is more likely to get reelected in 2012. He's going slowly, but he's also going in the direction that I prefer. I'd rather have 4 more years of slow in my direction, rather than having the country go in reverse after next year.
Bradley Manning
I've been seeing a lot from folks up in arms over the treatment of Bradley Manning. Here's a piece by Kevin Drum and here's one from the Economist's DIA blog. These commentators tend to be center left to center on the ideological spectrum. There are some others even farther left who have been even more strident in their criticism of what's going on with Manning. And if the situation is actually as it is described by these critics, I would probably join them in their condemnation. But let me offer some context from what I know about situations like this (although I have no personal or first hand knowledge of the Manning case).
First, we bureaucrats in the military (and that's what I am after all) are very diligent in following the rules. In a situation like this, I can see how that puts the government at a disadvantage over a civilian defense counsel. Where the defense counsel in this case can be generally speaking the truth, but also maybe leaving some information out in hopes of swaying public opinion toward their client, due to the Privacy Act, the government is limited in what it can say in response. For instance, if there were a legitimate reason to restrict Manning or leave him without items of clothing for periods of time due to health or safety or suicide reasons, the government could probably feel like they couldn't say the actual "why" for what they're doing because to do so without a waiver from Manning would be a violation of the Privacy Act. So the government representatives in this case could be fighting this fight with one hand tied behind their backs. In this case, I suspect there is more to the story and the government representatives are just not able to tell us everything that's going on.
Another thing to consider is that, in the court-martial system, the allegations that the defense are making can be remedied at trial by a military judge. If the prison officials are doing what they're being accused of without good justification, then the defense is going to have a field day in motion practice at trial. If there is some indication that Manning is being treated this way in order to get him to talk, the statements are going to get thrown out, just as they would in Federal court. Similarly, there is a significant amount of case law in military law that will allow the defense to ask for additional credit against the final sentence based on violations of the rules on pretrial confinement. It's a moot point for a sentence of LWOP, but say Manning is sentenced to 10 years. All of the time he has spent in pretrial confinement counts against that time. Say Manning ends up spending 1 year in pretrial confinement before the case is completed. If the defense accusations are true, it wouldn't be unheard of to ask for and receive 2 for 1 or 3 for 1 credit. That means Manning would actually receive 2 or 3 years credit for his pretrial confinement against his 10 year sentence - a significant amount considering the first chance at parole comes at about the 1/3 of the sentence in the military system.
All that being said, I suspect I'm closer to the position of the defenders of Manning than the position of those who thinks he committed treason. Still, there's a lot we don't know yet. I'm curious to see what comes next.
First, we bureaucrats in the military (and that's what I am after all) are very diligent in following the rules. In a situation like this, I can see how that puts the government at a disadvantage over a civilian defense counsel. Where the defense counsel in this case can be generally speaking the truth, but also maybe leaving some information out in hopes of swaying public opinion toward their client, due to the Privacy Act, the government is limited in what it can say in response. For instance, if there were a legitimate reason to restrict Manning or leave him without items of clothing for periods of time due to health or safety or suicide reasons, the government could probably feel like they couldn't say the actual "why" for what they're doing because to do so without a waiver from Manning would be a violation of the Privacy Act. So the government representatives in this case could be fighting this fight with one hand tied behind their backs. In this case, I suspect there is more to the story and the government representatives are just not able to tell us everything that's going on.
Another thing to consider is that, in the court-martial system, the allegations that the defense are making can be remedied at trial by a military judge. If the prison officials are doing what they're being accused of without good justification, then the defense is going to have a field day in motion practice at trial. If there is some indication that Manning is being treated this way in order to get him to talk, the statements are going to get thrown out, just as they would in Federal court. Similarly, there is a significant amount of case law in military law that will allow the defense to ask for additional credit against the final sentence based on violations of the rules on pretrial confinement. It's a moot point for a sentence of LWOP, but say Manning is sentenced to 10 years. All of the time he has spent in pretrial confinement counts against that time. Say Manning ends up spending 1 year in pretrial confinement before the case is completed. If the defense accusations are true, it wouldn't be unheard of to ask for and receive 2 for 1 or 3 for 1 credit. That means Manning would actually receive 2 or 3 years credit for his pretrial confinement against his 10 year sentence - a significant amount considering the first chance at parole comes at about the 1/3 of the sentence in the military system.
All that being said, I suspect I'm closer to the position of the defenders of Manning than the position of those who thinks he committed treason. Still, there's a lot we don't know yet. I'm curious to see what comes next.
Monday, March 14, 2011
Good Point
Matthew Yglesias makes a good point. Conservative ideology includes the bedrock principle that "public sector undertaking is necessarily going to end up as poorly run as the worst DMV line in America." Except, of course, where conservative ideology likes something even more than government bashing. Yglesias cites (in light of the tragedy in Japan) conservatives' very certainty that government regulation can do the trick in keeping nuclear power plants safe. He also cites management of nuclear weapons and invasions of medium-sized foreign countries.
Thursday, March 10, 2011
Tax Subsidies for Oil Companies
In the context of the world that Republicans live, I get why they might be against eliminating tax subsidies for oil companies. Eliminate them and oil companies will pay more taxes. More taxes = bad in the GOP world. But really the way to look at this is when you compare oil companies to all other companies. There's a corporate tax rate and it ought to apply to all companies (with the same amount of revenue) equally. Except oil companies get tax breaks to make their taxes less for some reason, than say Walmart. So why is it that Republicans allow such disparate treatment? Oh yeah, they've got to protect their political donations.
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