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You are here: Home / Economics / Austerity Bombing / Wednesday Morning Open Thread: Silverplate Lining

Wednesday Morning Open Thread: Silverplate Lining

by Anne Laurie|  May 15, 20135:21 am| 51 Comments

This post is in: Austerity Bombing, Open Threads, Republican Stupidity, Our Failed Political Establishment

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gop cafe empty calories sargent
(Ben Sargent via GoComics.com)

Greg Sargent makes the glass-half-full argument:

… Liberals who are dreading the scandal-mania that is taking hold should note that it contains a potential upside: It could make a Grand Bargain that includes cuts to Medicare and Social Security benefits even less likely than it already is. That’s because when scandal grips Washington, a president actually needs his core supporters more than ever to ward it off, making it harder to do anything that will alienate them.

There is precedent for this. President Bill Clinton long entertained ambitions to dramatically reform Social Security, but those plans were shelved amid the Lewinsky crisis. While there is some argument over whether the crisis was the cause, it did make him more reluctant to alienate Democratic supporters…

To be sure, the current state of scandal mania in Washington is still light years away from the late 1990s. There’s no telling how serious the IRS and Associated Press stories will prove or whether they’ll ever be directly tied to Obama himself, while Clinton was directly on the hook for perjury and sexual conduct. But if the Obama scandal train continues down the track — as Paul Waldman argues persuasively that it will — it will likely make any Grand Bargain a virtual impossibility…

In Obama’s case, the dynamic is exacerbated by the current strain of GOP radicalism. While there was some bipartisan agreement behind cutting Social Security in the 1990s, the absolute refusal of today’s Republicans to entertain any new revenues from the rich already makes a Grand Bargain very unlikely, and the Obama hatred on the right — and the belief that he may go down — makes it even more so…

Indeed, some on the left are hoping that the current bout of scandal chatter drives home to Obama the true nature of today’s GOP and induces him to give up hope on any kind of deal. We’ve already seen that GOP extremism on taxes has prevented any Grand Bargain — in effect saving Obama from making entitlement cuts — and that could be borne out again if the scandal-mania continues….

In combination with the news that, per NYMag, “The CBO’s new budget projections (PDF, warning: dense) are out, and the upshot is that despite the frenzied warnings of impending Armageddon by Erskine Bowles, Alan Simpson, and the rest of the deficit-hawk brigade, the federal budget is actually in better shape than we thought”, perhaps the Repubs will allow themselves to be distracted from their austerity-bombing plans while they hunt through every West Wing closet in search of jackboots and nannycams?

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Next Post: The WIN THE MORNING Guys Pee Themselves, Just A Little »

Reader Interactions

51Comments

  1. 1.

    Joyce

    May 15, 2013 at 5:55 am

    Yet this story is not in the media. It was ignored even when Rick Perry ran for president. https://www.oag.state.tx.us/consumer/pensionplans_data.php

  2. 2.

    Cermet

    May 15, 2013 at 6:05 am

    Like the new layout/style of the blog very much – great work!

  3. 3.

    Keith G

    May 15, 2013 at 6:06 am

    All things being held relatively equal, the average humans want to identify with and like their leadership. This characteristic is more than likely an evolution-supported survival trait.

    It is well within Obama’s ability to reach beyond the beltway chatter and add to the emotional bank account he hold with the electorate. While this is not his preferred MO, if done with the right touch it does work. And this could pay double dividends as the GOP aggressively overplay their hand. As messy as this last week has been, there are real opportunities available as long as a bit of creativity is used.

  4. 4.

    NotMax

    May 15, 2013 at 6:08 am

    Maybe there just weren’t enough involved the last time it was tried at the Pentagon.

    But if we can get enough DFHs in unison, perhaps this time we can levitate D.C. out to sea.

  5. 5.

    raven

    May 15, 2013 at 6:25 am

    Mika “Arrogance in the White House”.

  6. 6.

    NotMax

    May 15, 2013 at 6:37 am

    @raven

    Weathervane wankery.

    Same vidiot savants who were wringing hands at the White House’s laid-backness and lack of “drama.”

    leadership/arrogance

    po-tay-to/po-tah-to

  7. 7.

    Valdivia

    May 15, 2013 at 6:39 am

    The Tiger Beat on the Potomac is out with the most noxious piece today saying Obama has Lost DC! Wow! Really? Sorry? didn’t the Village come out roaring against him right after inauguration in 2009? It is to laugh to see how the Village thinks of itself as the most important player in everything. But also–just to give you a taste of what the next few weeks will be like. The scandal mongering will be epic, no matter what the facts are.

  8. 8.

    Valdivia

    May 15, 2013 at 6:41 am

    @raven:

    Politico said they were petulant so I guess that was the memo eh?

  9. 9.

    Bill E Pilgrim

    May 15, 2013 at 6:44 am

    Hey, site upgrade. Looks good, did it take much effort?

    (ducks)

  10. 10.

    gene108

    May 15, 2013 at 6:44 am

    Got into a conversation with my boss about the latest scandal trifecta. He’s apparently gotten plugged into Fox News and was parroting their talking points.

    He said there was no similar use of the IRS to target liberal groups during Bush, Jr.’s rein of terror.

    Thanks to the work of the liberal blogosphere, I had counter facts to Fox News handy and on my finger tips.

    It’s just nice to have counter points available, because I remember a time, when right-wingers were throwing out teh crazy, like during the Whitewater days, and I kept thinking what they’re saying is bullshit, but I didn’t have anything handy to put shoot back with.

    The liberal blogoshpere is a tiny megaphone, compared to the right-wing media, but at least it gets some info out to fight back.

  11. 11.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    May 15, 2013 at 6:44 am

    @raven: @Valdivia: Lisa Myers said that Obama has lost his natural allies, the press. WTF!!! Valdivia, you’re right, that hadn’t been the case since about 12pm Jan. 20, 2009. Oh and Hoe says that leading dems are upset with the President. Come on Joe, name names.

    I had to turn that crap off, as I did with Tweety today, before I start chugging my Listerine.

  12. 12.

    Joseph Nobles

    May 15, 2013 at 6:45 am

    I just finished reading the IG report on the IRS quagmire. Short version: never attribute to malice what is adequately explained by incompetence.

  13. 13.

    geg6

    May 15, 2013 at 6:47 am

    @Valdivia:

    What’s really hilarious is that they actually think that they are DC. All my African American friends whose families have lived there for two centuries and who make up the vast majority of the population will be surprised to hear that. The Village is merely a small, entitled lazy subset of DC.

  14. 14.

    Bill E Pilgrim

    May 15, 2013 at 6:48 am

    Krugthulu has a long essay today in the NYRB that’s good for gift wrapping and sending to people who are less obsessed and could benefit from a good summary.

    http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2013/jun/06/how-case-austerity-has-crumbled/

  15. 15.

    Keith G

    May 15, 2013 at 6:50 am

    @Valdivia:

    Politico said they were petulant so I guess that was the memo eh?

    The good news is that is really doesn’t matter as long as nothing new is discovered except through administrative investigation. Get it all out asap and let the magic of short attention spans take over.

    And as I said earlier, get the Prez out of DC and into the hinterland talking about the budget and other things that matter to regular folks.

  16. 16.

    NotMax

    May 15, 2013 at 6:53 am

    @Valdivia

    Meme? Yup. How dare the White House respond to biased or half-baked sensationalist queries with measured responses instead of crumpling into abject submission.

  17. 17.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    May 15, 2013 at 6:54 am

    @Keith G: Not the budget, JOBS. What the village doesn’t get but the President has figured out is that anything that he signs on to will not pass. So he can’t get behind immigration or gun control or even a jobs bill to get it passed. But what he can do is take a page from St. Ronnie’s playbook and “go over the heads of Congress”.

  18. 18.

    Schlemizel

    May 15, 2013 at 6:54 am

    @Keith G:

    Except I think that the goopers have their guiding star again. There will now be a series of manufactured ‘scandals’, the investigations of which will lead to new & even more horrifying scandals. They will hound BHO like they did WJC because they have nothing else, it excites the base and it actually allowed them to steal the 2000 election.

    Soon this will be “the most scandal ridden administration in the history of America” and the media will play along because scandal sells.

  19. 19.

    Linda Featheringill

    May 15, 2013 at 6:56 am

    The site is interesting and attractive. But I’ll have to get used to it. If you guys are still working on it, I’ll postpone the great Adapt-Dammit-Adapt! push until later.

    signed,
    Luddite

  20. 20.

    Linda Featheringill

    May 15, 2013 at 7:00 am

    Greg Sargent:

    I hope he’s right. That would be good.

    This situation reminds me of LBJ’s comment to King: “Make me.”

    The Lefties haven’t succeeded in “making” Obama be liberal enough to give the country what it needs. Maybe the Right Wing can accomplish that. If they do, I’ll be grateful for their efforts. But I won’t admit to that emotion in print.

  21. 21.

    Baud

    May 15, 2013 at 7:05 am

    Great work on the site design. It’s got a springtime freshness to it.

    ETA: I’ve said this before, but in addition to forestalling a Grand Bargain, scandalmania, I believe, will also make it less likely that the GOP will intentionally crash the economy, because that would be a distraction to their new meme. So as long as these “scandals” continue to be meritless, they may be a net positive.

  22. 22.

    Schlemizel

    May 15, 2013 at 7:05 am

    @Linda Featheringill:

    I was promised a larger font in comments but its the opposite in Chrome! I may have to check into quadfocals B-{D

    I had no complains about the old layout and none about this one, if the new stuff brings an end to some of the ugly behavior of the site I’ll be happy. Now the ugly behavior of us commenter? Ah, probably no hope there!

  23. 23.

    kindness

    May 15, 2013 at 7:09 am

    All things considered I’d prefer not to be saved by raving Republicans thank you very much.

    What disappoints me most is that the MSM refuses to call bullshit on the Republicans because that would be ‘taking sides’. What they don’t understand is that we already see that by not calling bullshit, they have already taken a side and it isn’t mine.

  24. 24.

    Baud

    May 15, 2013 at 7:10 am

    @Keith G:

    I don’t think we agree often, but I agree with your comment. But it is tricky.

  25. 25.

    Valdivia

    May 15, 2013 at 7:10 am

    Sorry for not replying individually to each of you but Quincy (one of the young cats) is now playing engineer and disassembling the water fountain with his paw and I can see him as I type taking the plastic part out and about to take the filter out to take it for a little journey around the house!

    So quickly–I think Obama does need to get out there and talk about jobs and about how he fixed the deficit (CBO siad it was yesterday) as he promised so now we can move on to important things–like immigration, minimum wage etc. These scandals can’t fix the GOP problem that they cannot govern. Debt ceiling? still coming up. Immigration? Still coming up. Scandal mongering is nice and good for the press but soon enough something will happen that will have to be reported on and they will have to move on the fucking divas.

    ETA: grammar fix!

  26. 26.

    Kay

    May 15, 2013 at 7:11 am

    @Joseph Nobles:

    I haven’t seen any malice either.

    At some point conservatives and media are going to have to decide if the Tea Party are an actual political party, because if they ARE a political party they can’t use Tea Party on that petition or they SHOULD be flagged.

  27. 27.

    c u n d gulag

    May 15, 2013 at 7:12 am

    Wow!
    I went to bed with a 4, and woke up with a _____ (TBD…).

    But right now, looks like more than an 8.
    Let’s see what some more sunlight does for him/her.

  28. 28.

    NotMax

    May 15, 2013 at 7:13 am

    @Schlemizel

    if the new stuff brings an end to some of the ugly behavior of the site I’ll be happy.

    Have faith. Lots of new stuff for a WordPress update to break.

  29. 29.

    max

    May 15, 2013 at 7:16 am

    @Valdivia: The Tiger Beat on the Potomac is out with the most noxious piece today saying Obama has Lost DC! Wow! Really? Sorry? didn’t the Village come out roaring against him right after inauguration in 2009?

    Well, as I [have learned to] always say, if you’ve lost DC, you must be doin’ somethin’ right.

    President Bill Clinton long entertained ambitions to dramatically reform Social Security

    One could say here: ‘What is it with these guys and their going after Social Security?’ but I think I should be saying, ‘Who the fuck is pimping the more money for rich people thing to you and why the fuck don’t you tell them to go away?’

    max
    [‘Are they spying on Davos Man? Are they keeping all his communications for five years?’]

  30. 30.

    Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism

    May 15, 2013 at 7:16 am

    Moved to a larger screen. At least it’s not two words per line now. But whose idea was it to have a spider animation randomly wander across the site??!?

    Oh, wait, that’s a real spider.

    *crawls back to check the file comparison, praying that the DDOS let it finish this time*

  31. 31.

    Keith G

    May 15, 2013 at 7:21 am

    @BillinGlendaleCA: I guess I might have been clearer, but to me this budget debate and JOBS are in essence the same issue. Plus add in concerns about how the current budgetary reality is impacting education et al.

    @Schlemizel: That’s why this talented orator and writer needs to up his schmoozing cred out in the hustings. Let DC mind fuck itself while he (without overdoing it) gets out to commune with the ‘unwashed”. In a sense, he needs to start the 2014 campaign now, if he wants a final two years that aren’t a total fuckfest.

  32. 32.

    Keith G

    May 15, 2013 at 7:26 am

    @Baud: Eh…we agree on a lot, but there are a few things take up a lot of energy – if that makes sense.

  33. 33.

    Patrick

    May 15, 2013 at 7:28 am

    @BillinGlendaleCA:

    Lisa Meyers is about as incompetent as they come. Why doesn’t NBC let Michael Isikoff take over her role? I always change the channel when Meyers is on. She tends to make statements based on opinion, not fact. Isikoff, on the other hand is the opposite.

  34. 34.

    JGabriel

    May 15, 2013 at 7:33 am

    Greg Sargent:

    Indeed, some on the left are hoping that the current bout of scandal chatter drives home to Obama the true nature of today’s GOP …

    It may be naive, but I’m hoping it drives home to independents and “both sides do it” centrists the true nature of today’s GOP — a hateful of hollow.

    (Yeah, yeah, bad pun, whatever.)

    .

  35. 35.

    JGabriel

    May 15, 2013 at 7:39 am

    Joseph Nobles:

    Short version: never attribute to malice what is adequately explained by incompetence.

    I have doubts about the utility of that expression. For instance, when it comes to the GOP, I often find that an adequate explanation of their actions requires both malice and incompetence.

    .

  36. 36.

    Linda Featheringill

    May 15, 2013 at 7:41 am

    @Schlemizel:

    Font size:

    Control and plus sign for larger. Control and minus sign for smaller.

  37. 37.

    Schlemizel

    May 15, 2013 at 7:50 am

    @Linda Featheringill:

    BUT THEN I WOULD LOSE ALL THE BEAUTIFUL ADS!

    p.s. the dead baby anti-abortion ads are back, I click on them so that they have to sent money to Cole. Hopefully their stats will show a lot of hits from here & they will focus more ads to a place where it will not get them a penny

  38. 38.

    Baud

    May 15, 2013 at 8:01 am

    @Keith G:

    Makes sense.

  39. 39.

    bemused

    May 15, 2013 at 8:09 am

    @gene108:

    So, did your boss believe you or Fox?

  40. 40.

    mai naem

    May 15, 2013 at 8:12 am

    I listen to a show on XMPOTUS and I usually like listening to the host because she’s entertaining. My guess is that she’s right of center but definitely not a whackjob but on Friday her voice almost had a gleeful tone to it. Just,wow, we got 2 count ’em two big fat scandals. This was after listening to Michael Steele who was filling in for Smerconish who was busy fucking the Benghazee Chicken Special. I just switched channels.

  41. 41.

    Chris

    May 15, 2013 at 8:19 am

    @Valdivia:

    The Tiger Beat on the Potomac is out with the most noxious piece today saying Obama has Lost DC!

    That should do wonders for his popularity ratings.

  42. 42.

    Steeplejack (tablet)

    May 15, 2013 at 8:39 am

    @gene108:

    So what was your boss’s reaction to your leftsplainin’?

  43. 43.

    gene108

    May 15, 2013 at 8:56 am

    @bemused:

    Don’t know yet. Sent him a link, but haven’t talked to him again on it.

    His view on politicians is directly proportional to his economic well being.

    Clinton’s his fave because the economy boomed. Obama not so much, because things are/were tough.

    His wife’s an auditor for the IRS, so part of me thinks he knows it’s cooked up, but since he doesn’t like Obama he’s going for it.

  44. 44.

    Mino

    May 15, 2013 at 9:35 am

    The Tea Party has done us a service. Just think what their paymasters could have gotten if they had decided to work with Obama.

    And on another note, NC is joining Texas in making it illegal to buy a car without going through a dealership. So if you want a Tesla, you have to buy it online. There is some question if NC will register it in-state, though. http://politicalirony.com/2013/05/15/do-republicans-hate-free-markets/

  45. 45.

    MomSense

    May 15, 2013 at 9:51 am

    @Valdivia:

    Didn’t the President just win reelection by running against DC? Seems like DC lost the country.

  46. 46.

    Tone In DC

    May 15, 2013 at 9:54 am

    @Mino:

    Electric cars… are PROFITABLE. You’d think these idiots would be in favor of that.

    Those laws are just ridiculous. This shit is more bass ackwards than G00pers ranting about Michelle Obama trying to get kids to eat healthy. “How dare that uppity CLANG try to get kids to eat healthy food!! That’s unconstitutional!!”

  47. 47.

    Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism

    May 15, 2013 at 10:11 am

    @Tone In DC: Not for the dealerships. Tesla is selling direct to consumers. The NC Lege wants to make selling direct illegal.

  48. 48.

    Jockey Full of Malbec

    May 15, 2013 at 10:13 am

    @gene108:

    The liberal blogoshpere is a tiny megaphone, compared to the right-wing media, but at least it gets some info out to fight back.

    Rightwing media has been top-down for almost two decades now: The left had the beginnings of its very own version of this, but the right has finally figured out what buttons to push to clog up those channels with either on-cue outrage (eg Maddow, Stewart), or wordy, defensive-sounding ‘leftsplainin’ (eg Chris Hayes, Ezra Klein– who have been impressively cool-headed, but don’t resonate with the people who need resonating right about now).

    We’re back to the point where the left (and center now, frankly) can only defend its interests with the sort of reality-based ground game you describe.

  49. 49.

    Jockey Full of Malbec

    May 15, 2013 at 10:14 am

    @Mino:
    I don’t understand how the NC law could be Constitutional.

    IANAL, but doesn’t it interfere with interstate commerce?

  50. 50.

    Dolly Llama

    May 15, 2013 at 8:07 pm

    Test comment on the new site. Please ignore. (As if you wouldn’t anyway.)

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