Friday News Roundup - Hour 1
http://thedianerehmshow.org/shows/2011-05-13/friday-news-roundup-hour-1
House Republicans are questioning the need to raise the federal debt ceiling by August. CEOs of America's top oil companies went to Capitol Hill to defend their tax breaks. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and Texas Congressman Ron Paul announced bids for the 2012 GOP presidential nomination. Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney defended his role in the state's health care reform. And President Obama asked for a two year extension of of FBI Director Mueller’s term. A panel of journalists join Diane to discuss the week's top domestic stories.
Guests
David Corn
Washington bureau chief, "Mother Jones" magazine; author of several books, most recently, "Hubris: The Inside Story of Spin, Scandal, and the Selling of the Iraq War."
Jeanne Cummings
Politico's assistant managing editor in charge of Enterprise.
Michael Gerson
columnist for The Washington Post; author of "Heroic Conservatism: Why Republicans Need to Embrace American's Ideals."
Friday News Roundup Video
Earlier this week, Indiana became the first state to completely cut off funding to Planned Parenthood. Diane and the panelists discuss what the move might mean for the organization and whether similar laws might be passed in other states run by Republican governors. "It's clearly an agenda that's moving from state to state," Politico's Jeanne Cummings said:
Comments
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Obama single handed killed Osama with some minor almost insignificant help not worth mentioning from the navy seals, "gutsy" and now most think he is doing a great job on everything. Wow! the power of the courageous act of saying "OK".
I know most of the listeners of this show long for the socialist societies put forward by western Europe. As the saying goes the grass looks greener on the other side of the fence, at least it appears that way until your standing on top of it and looking down.
Thanks for your honesty Monte. Some may call you Charlie McCarthy who speaks only when manipulated, voice and actions. Perhaps your free will is being manipulated. Many famous people promote (ed) socialism. How many can you name, and why their position? Jesus Christ comes to mind.
Being humane to all humans is the most cost effective and efficient in the terms of resources and the freedom and enjoyment of living.
Any show with David Corn as a guest is worth listening to, because he doesn't let the right-wingers get away with their tired, old, failed propaganda lines - tax cuts for the wealthy bring properity, cuts for social programs are good, the Affordable Care Act (which they insultingly refer to as "ObamaCare") is bad, and on, and on...
If senators are against subsidies to oil companies, what is the point of venting it against oil executives? They should talk to their colleagues!
Please, the oil excutive hearing, the house trying to take back net neutrality... and on it goes, just a form of extortion for lobbying money for reelections. Threaten regulation, or taking away a tax break or subsidy, hold a hearing, then hold out their hands $$$$$$.
Monte,
It was a very courageous call by President Obama - he risked his Presidency and international embarrassment for the country. Don't you just hate it when President demonstrates his remarkable leadership skills? (I love it.) Taking care of OBL was just another mess President Obama had to clean-up for the previous occupant...
Think for a moment what Lincoln would say about what his party has become: shills and prostitutes to corporations with no more concern than to reap the greatest profits for themselves, irrespective of the cost to the fabric of the republic that permitted them to exist.
The GOP - "Tea" Party axis have kissed the ring of the sociopath Ayn Rand and are attempting to refashion this nation in her misanthropic image - something even Charles Dickens would find it hard to imagine, and be totally repulsed by. For, "Are there no prisons; are there no workhouses?" will pale in comparison to what we are doing to education in this country - the seed corn of our future (public money for "charter" and religious schools; teaching the garbage "science" of "creation science"), for another passage of Dickens' tale is an even more urgent warning:
"This boy is Ignorance. This girl is Want. Beware them both,
and all of their degree, but most of all beware this boy,
for on his brow I see that written which is Doom, unless the
writing be erased."
Indeed.
The recent floods and the debate about health care cause me to reflect on what kind of government we want to have and what kind of people we want to be. If people choose to build in flood plains and not have insurance or not to have health insurance, and our legislators support that as "no government interference," then let's have no more hand-wringing about devastation and loss. We will become a "reap what you sow" people. If we don't see ourselves as that hard, then we need to guide people, and institutions, to put aside short term gain and plan for future contingencies. We always seem to want it both ways in this current society and it won't work.
Planned Parenthood funding cuts - The most common argument I hear is that people who object to abortions don't want their tax money used to support them. Well, I'm an atheist, and I object to religions being tax-exempt. If a house of worship is on fire, they call the fire dept that my tax dollars go to support, but they pay nothing for the services.
Obamas decision in regard to OBL was hardly courageous. There was a better than 50% chance that he was in Abbotabad, he had to to do it. He made the only logical choice. Logic and courage not same thing.
Now we find different stories coming out about what happened. It seems as if the Obama has been less than forthcoming in the facts asociated with the event. I wonder what they are hiding.
That's the republicans - they love oil companies and despise women.
Added - Unless they're using them as sexual objects (Ensign)
I don't understand why 50% of the population (women) are not up in arms about the defunding of Planned Parenthood. I guess religion is so powerful that it makes people vote against their own interest.
If there's a video of this hour I want to see if Michael Gerson has a handle attached to him. He's got to be the biggest tool this side of Tony Blankley.
The act by the Navy Seals were not insignificant but you are. Any citizen who reveals to the opposing forces the name of the state in which these seals live is nothing more than a glory seeking fool!
Al Qaeda killed 80+ just today, I thought Obama had brought world peace by killing OBL.
We need to cut spending! Taxing the productive among us in order to fund government bureaucracies makes no sense.
Oil is a global commodity. If you tax exploration so much that it is uneconomic, then the exploration (and its economic benefits) moves elsewhere.
You don't have to be religious to have an issue with killing people.
monte, You need to get real. No one is saying that Obama is or should take all the credit as you are saying. Your opinions are not based on rational analysis, but on irrational/emotional thought. I am a Republican and I detest the all too prevalent irrational base of my Party. We don't need that kind of behavior in the Party, or on its same side, if we are to lead into the next generations.
It is as if our country is going back in time. Why must we keep reminding people we are not a "Christian" country, we are a democratic country. Jews, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, Atheism, etc...
Taking away a woman's right to choose what to do with her body brings to mind bloody knitting needles and wire hangers, and shady going's on by shady characters in back allies.
If American Corporations were so incredibly patriotic, then perhaps they might think about cutting outrageous executive salaries, and bringing jobs home from China, Japan, Afghanistan, on ad nauseam.
Big money is not going to take care of the poor and those in need. The only way to a better future is education. We need to fund schools, pay teachers higher salaries, and give men and women time off to raise their children for the first 3-4 years so that their teachers do not become disciplinarians.
We need to stop funding the war machine, and corporate welfare and other countries, and take care of the third world areas here in the United States.
Three Cheers for Mr. Obama. I truly believe one of the biggest problem with Fox News type Republicans is the big white elephant in the room, RACISM.
Sincerely, Judith Olson
Here's my (not quite) "modest proposal". The Republi-Cons and TeaBaggers are busy being thugs, bullies, and extortionists. The only way to deal with that is to stand up to them and fight back. As Sean Connery said in The Untouchables, if they bring a knife to the fight, you bring a gun.
So, in that spirit, here is what I think the Senate should do: Boehner wants cuts, give him cuts. Eliminate all military spending, including veterans benefits, health care, and pensions. Eliminate all programs Republi-Cons love (goodbye faith based initiatives, for example). For all other spending, find and target money in Republ-Con districts, and "zero it out". Do the same (as far as possible) for States with two Republi-Con Senators.
THEN ADJOURN.
Let Harry Mitchell and the Senate Whip personally carry the bill to Boehner, and tell him he has three choices: 1) swallow and pass it; 2) don't raise the credit limit, and let our economy (and the world's) collapse; or 3) agree to act like a sane adult, agree to include tax increases along with budget cuts, and stop ideological grandstanding (cuts to public broadcasting and Planned Parenthood, and leave all social issues "off the table" until these budget matters are resolved), and then the Senate will come back and meet the House half-way.
But if all we're going to get is more of this "my way or the highway" behavior from the House, then let the economy fall!
P.S. - And how is it the Republi-Cons have all this time to deal with social issues, and extorting cuts, but (according to Mitch McConnell) they don't "have the time" to deal with reform of corporate taxes - something there is supposedly bi-partisan support for!
Dear monte, writing on May 13, 2011 @ 8:07 am :
It gets you, doesn't it, that under Obama it truly is "Mission Accomplished! I don't recall you being so hesitant to give Bush credit for our "victories" in Iraq and Afghanistan when he was in charge. (And, of course, Republi-Cons like you never blamed him for failing to prevent 9/11!)
Of course, had this mission failed you would never stop blaming Obama (Republi-Cons still attack Jimmy Carter every chance they get).
And enough with this "socialist" nonsense. You clearly don't know the meaning of the word, so (like a good parrot) you follow the Republi-Cons in using it as a general epithet.
A Socialist believes that all property, all means of production, should be held in common. Tell me, when has Obama advocated that? Even the new health care law uses the private health insurance system. A true Socialist would have demanded, and accepted, nothing less than a completely government run "single-payor" program, and probably would have nationalized the entire medical system too (drafting doctors and nurses into a national "health army" for example). Clearly, Obama has neither advocated or done anything remotely like that!
(Oh, and what about that "socialist" Ryan? He wants to use our tax dollars to provide vouchers to pay for people's insurance. Isn't that a form of the dreaded "wealth redistribution" Republi-Cons despise?)
There is a difference between advocating social programs and being a Socialist. For example, public schools, payed for by taxes, were started before the U.S. even existed! The Northwest Ordinance (1787) declared that "schools and the means of education shall forever be encouraged". And state universities (publicly funded, of course) began as far back as 1785 (University of Georgia), and 1789 (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill). And let's not forget the University of Virginia (1819), founded through the efforts of Thomas Jefferson, and one of the three things he was proudest of and thus put on his grave marker (the other two were the Declaration of Independence, and the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom). Does this prove the Founders were a bunch of Socialists?
There's an old joke that asks: if Stalin were against the bubonic plague, would you be for it? In your case I'd guess the answer is yes!
Ciao, for now.
David Corn reminds listeners that his magazine, Mother Jones, "put out a list of some of (Gingrich's) more intemperate remarks over 30 years of public life." Of course expecting Mother Jones to put out a list of inane remarks by Democrats would be folly, but surely Corn's own remarks about conservatives over the last several decades rival Gingrich's for "nastiness."
Diane has a selective memory. Big surprise. Here is what then Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi said iin 2006 about OBL's "irrelevance:"
"Even if Osama bin Laden is caught tomorrow, it is five years too late. He has done more damage the longer he has been out there. But, in fact, the damage that he has done . . . is done. And even to capture him now I don’t think makes us any safer."
This is what Pelosi said May 3, 2011;
"The death of Osama bin Laden marks the most significant development in our fight against al-Qaida. . . . I salute President Obama, his national security team, Director Panetta, our men and women in the intelligence community and military, and other nations who supported this effort for their leadership in achieving this major accomplishment. . . .
Translation:
When Bush was POTUS it didn't matter if we caught him or not....but now that Obama is POTUS it is a major accomplishment
Etaoin Shrdlu wrote:
"Gee, cicero, do you think it might have anything to do with the fact that the very next speaker (Mr. Hirsh) gently disagreed with Scheuer, or that the comment was really off-topic "
No. But Diane's silence does speak volumes.
Etaoin Shrdlu wrote:
"Just because someone doesn't act as your mouthpiece or sock puppet isn't proof of "bias" on their part. But your mindless and automatic condemnation of Ms. Rehm definitely shows your bias!"
Are you Diane's PR manager and publicist? If not, you should apply for the job. I have provided examples where Rehm has made comments that were rooted in fiction not fact. You were indifferent to these problems as well. Rehm has guests on that extol the virtues of Palestinians, while making Israel the Boogeyman of the Middle East.
Here is another instance where pro-Palestinian/anti-Israel propaganda permeates The Diane Rehm Show where the host and guests allow this drivel to go unchallenged throughout the show.
http://thedianerehmshow.org/shows/2011-04-07/israeli-palestinian-conflic...
BTW: As long as NPR hosts act as your sock puppet you are in argyle heaven.
Marvin Wagner wrote:
"Many famous people promote (ed) socialism. How many can you name, and why their position? Jesus Christ comes to mind".
Really, Marvin? Really? Show me chapter and verse. Your statement is patently false. Jesus did not "promote socialism".
Wanna know why? Read on.
"Being humane to all humans is the most cost effective and efficient in the terms of resources and the freedom and enjoyment of living".
Maybe, though I wouldn't concede that out of hand. But Jesus NEVER TAUGHT that the state should do it. You are responsible to God for your individual behavior. That's what the Bible teaches.
Social progressives like yourself do not distinguish between individuals and the state. But, in fact there are responsibilities that the state has and responsibilities that individuals have and they are different. Jesus taught us about the responsibilities of the individual. That's what Christianity is about.
Now ... if you've got the guts, I'd love to hear a reply.
cicero,
I see that strudel is back. This guy, who claims to be a lawyer, is a complete ... well, you know. His last post makes it clear that he does not even understand the concept of a republic. State and local governments can provide public education if they choose. In the purview of the Federal government, it's unconstitutional. Duh.
Like many other commenters, I so enjoy David Corn and have sorely missed hearing him on the News Round Up. Welcome back, David !
Diane, it is beyond me how you can have Ron Paul and Michael Gerson on in the same week and pretend that both are conservatives. Ron Paul follows the Constitutional and sticks to principles. Gerson is a big-government neocon partisan shill, with zero credibility. Instead of Gerson, please bring on people more in line with Ron Paul to represent conservatives - Thomas Woods, Peter Schiff, Nick Gillespie (Reason Magazine), Judge Andrew Napolitano, Jim Rogers to name names.
As to my point, it never fails to amaze me how in discussions of tax policy, EVERYONE on this so-called "diverse" panel talks about "subsidies" to oil companies, when in reality the "subsidies" are merely allowing the oil companies to keep the income earned through voluntary exchange with their customers. It seems that the prevailing mentality is that the federal government owns our the product of our labor and generously allows us to keep a pittance. I reject this notion entirely; I am not a slave. There shouldn't be any special treatment for any constituency in the tax code, but let's get real about the situation and adjust our word-choice accordingly. The Federal government is a pit of wasteful spending. We need less spending (starting with the military) AND less taxes.
I forgot to mention how much I enjoyed Jeanne Cummings. I don't remember her from past shows, but heartily appreciated her balanced views based upon factual approaches. And, it was so nice to hear a female journalist who was strong in her analysis. Say it like it is, Jeanne.
Monique wrote:
I forgot to mention how much I enjoyed Jeanne Cummings. I ... heartily appreciated her balanced views based upon factual approaches.
Well, Monique, at least you didn't credit David Corn with "balanced views"! But hey, I like it when he's on too. He is hilllllllarious. I end up chuckling for the rest of the day because some of the stuff he says!
Etaoin:
In case you do not remember the debate, Obama vs McCain. US corporations have some of the highest tax rates in the world. Candiate Obama agreed and said during that 3rd debate that corp taxes should be lower. It hurts our competiveness.