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BERJAYA

Cain Wants Muslims To Take Loyalty Oath

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MA GOP Rep: Undocumented Immigrants Should Be Afraid To Report Rape

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Right Wing Dis-Engineering: Campaign Aides Flee Gingrich

Justice

Rand Paul Worried Legal Immigrant Students Will Attack Us

By Marie Diamond posted from ThinkProgress Justice on Jun 9, 2011 at 8:06 pm

BERJAYAThere’s nothing unusual about Republicans denouncing illegal immigration. But a GOP Senator attacking immigrants who come to this country legally to work and study is something new. According to the New York Times, that’s exactly what Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) did today during a Homeland Security Committee hearing. Sen. Paul specifically went after immigrant students, who he called our “would-be attackers”:

“We have 40,000 students coming to this country from all over the world,” he said. “Are they would-be attackers?”

Speaking at a Senate Homeland Security Committee hearing on border patrol corruption, Mr. Paul on Thursday questioned whether the government was adequately screening and then keeping tabs on those who enter the country with student visas or as refugees.[...]

But while Mr. Paul said he worried about legal immigrants, he was not concerned about the potential threat from American citizens.

“We’ve done so many things to think that we’re all terrorists, that universally we have to scrutinize everybody to the Nth degree instead of doing what I just think would be good police work,” Mr. Paul said, adding that it would be less expensive and less intrusive to privacy if the country looked at “the people who did attack us and who continue to attack us, and not really U.S. citizens.”

Paul’s latest attack on immigrants is only the latest example of the so-called libertarian’s disdain for civil liberties. Paul has advocated stripping many Americans of their constitutional right to citizenship, and he once suggested that the U.S. wouldn’t even need laws if all citizens were Christians. As ThinkProgress reported, he recently called for jailing people who attend “radical political speeches.”

The Senator’s selective focus on immigrants also betrays his own ignorance about the threats facing this country. At today’s hearing, Commissioner of Customs and Border Protection Alan D. Bersin cautioned Paul against dismissing the threat posed by homegrown terrorists. After all, Bersin pointed out, the man accused of trying to detonate a car bomb in Times Square last year was a U.S. citizen. Additionally, attacking refugees who flee persecution in their own countries and jump through countless legal hoops to receive asylum in the United States is a particularly baseless (not to mention heartless) concern.

Economy

Homecoming Without A Home: Chase Bank Will Foreclose On Returning Soldier’s Home In 10 Days

By Zaid Jilani posted from ThinkProgress Economy on Jun 9, 2011 at 7:05 pm

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Aaron and Tim Collette

As ThinkProgress Economics Editor Pat Garofalo noted today, millions of Americans are still living in fear of having their homes foreclosed on as the nation’s housing crisis continues unabated, and federal efforts to stem the flow of foreclosures have thus far been too little and too late.

One particularly shocking foreclosure story revolves around father and son Tim and Aaron Collette. In 2006, in more prosperous times, Tim Collette purchased a new home in his state of Oregon and was able to pay more than $100,000 in a down payment. But when the recession hit, his construction business suffered and he was soon unable to make mortgage payments through no fault of his own.

His mortgage servicer, Chase, refused to work with him to renegotiate the terms of his mortgage to adapt to the hard economic times. While this was occurring, his son Aaron was serving in Iraq. He is soon scheduled to come home for a brief period of leave, but Chase is taking away his family’s home. In ten days — the family has set up a countdown clock to the actual time — the bank is set to foreclose on house, essentially meaning that Aaron is going to be coming home to a home that doesn’t exist.

This afternoon, Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR) appeared on the floor of the Senate to relay the tale of the Collette family. He read a letter from Tim Collette and concluded that for this family and “countless others, it didn’t need to be this bad”:

MERKELEY: I’d like to share with you today a story, a story about Tim Collette and his son in my state of Oregon. [...] Mr. Collette says, my biggest problem now is my some comes from the military in August, and my home is being foreclosed on in 18 days. He’s been hit by an I.E.D., people shooting at him, and he just wanted to come home and sleep in his room, in his bed, and be safe for 15 days. And I told him I’d make that happen. I don’t know how yet. [...] And for Tim and countless others, it didn’t need to be this bad.

Watch it:

The Collette family is campaigning for legislation in Oregon that would give homeowners more leverage to negotiate with banks to modify their mortagages. If you want to help this father and his military son, you can go here to sign a petition by Economic Fairness Oregon to demand that Chase work with the family rather than foreclose on their home.

Justice

Dawn Johnsen: My Nomination Was Blocked To Score ‘Political’ Points Against Obama On Terrorism

By Ian Millhiser posted from ThinkProgress Justice on Jun 9, 2011 at 6:15 pm

BERJAYAIn a must-read article about the broken confirmations process in the Senate, Dave Weigel quotes former Office of Legal Counsel nominee Dawn Johnsen explaining that conservative objections to her failed nomination had nothing to do with actual disagreements with her views:

“I’m not going to talk about any individual meetings with senators,” [Johnsen] says, “but the impression that I got was it wasn’t about me, that it wasn’t personal. It was political. And there were some senators who were very open about that. It wasn’t a difference in substantive views. The things I was attacked for saying about torture, for example—Lindsey Graham and John McCain have talked about that the same way.” (Neither publicly supported her nomination.) “You definitely need to look at how all the terrorism issues and nominees who dealt with terrorism issues were treated. The attempt was to describe President Obama’s approach as not sufficiently tough on terrorism, and make that a political issue.“

And Johnsen is hardly the only Obama nominee that became the focus of a smear campaign despite no legitimate objections to her fitness for public service. Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) accused failed judicial nominee Goodwin Liu of wanting to use the courts to turn America into “communist-run China,” and a law review article that became the centerpiece of the conservative claim that Liu was a judicial activist was in many ways a call for judicial restraint. Similarly, while no one on the right has provided a plausible explanation for why Peter Diamond’s nomination to the Fed board needed to be blocked, Sen. Richard Shelby’s (R-AL) claim that the Nobel Prize-winning economist was unqualified is obviously absurd.

Johnsen, Liu, and Diamond can at least say that their nominations were high-profile enough that people noticed the campaign of obstruction against them. The sad truth is that many nominees simply die a quiet death as senators delay their confirmation votes into oblivion. Indeed, this silent obstructionism caused Obama to have a lower percentage of his judicial nominees confirmed during his first two years in office than any other president in American history.

Weigel’s piece concludes with an uncharacteristically smart idea by Manuel Miranda, the disgraced former Senate staffer best known for hacking Democrats’ computer servers and stealing confidential documents. Miranda proposes allowing nominees at the rank of assistant secretary or lower to begin doing their job before they are confirmed by the Senate. Doing so would be a real step towards preventing the hollowing out of government we are currently witnessing.

 

Health

Texas Follows In Paul Ryan’s Footsteps: House Passes Measure To Block Grant Medicaid, Privatize Medicare

By Igor Volsky posted from ThinkProgress Health on Jun 9, 2011 at 5:30 pm

BERJAYAYesterday, Texas lawmakers in the state house passed a 142-page measure in special session that could drastically change how 6.6 million Texans benefiting from Medicare, Medicaid, and SCHIP programs receive their care. The bill — which includes two controversial amendments that have yet to be adopted by the state Senate — strongly mirror the reforms offered in Rep. Paul Ryan’s (R-WI) budget, but would have to be approved by the federal government:

– Convert Medicaid into a block grant: The state will apply for a waiver that would convert the existing Medicaid financing structure — under which the federal government reimburses Texas for a certain percentage of its Medicaid spending — into a capped block grant that would increase only for population and the general rate of inflation, not medical inflation.

– Privatize Medicare: Texas would enter a compact that would exempt the state from the federal eligibility and benefit rules in the Medicaid program and from all Medicare rules, allowing lawmakers to “possibly sweep Texas seniors on Medicare into private health insurance policies.”

State medical providers are already raising concerns, arguing “the proposals are too vague about what would happen to existing services and eligibility rules” and that it could lead the state to lower its rock-bottom reimbursement rates. The medical groups note that the proposals would bring less federal dollars into the state and prevent Texas from receiving more funds during economic downturns. “Only federal stimulus money balanced the Medicaid budget two years ago, and lawmakers this year have punted a $4.8 billion Medicaid IOU to 2013,” they say.

But Rep. Lois Kolkhorst (R), who sponsored the measures, promised that the state would be able to use “innovation” to stretch the more limited federal contribution. She did not provide any further details. A recent analysis of the effects of the GOP’s budget on the states from the Kaiser Family Foundation concluded that Texas could lose 38.4 percent of its federal dollars and may have to cut enrollment in Medicaid by up to 52 percent.

Last year, Gov. Rick Perry (R-TX) suggested that Texas may opt out of the Medicaid program entirely, but walked back the idea after a state report concluded that 2.6 million Texans would be left uninsured. Texas currently has the highest uninsurance rate in the nation.

Politics

GOP Rep. Issa Thinks Republicans Always Resign After Ethics Scandals

By Alex Seitz-Wald on Jun 9, 2011 at 4:45 pm

BERJAYAComing from Democrats and Republicans alike, calls are mounting for Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-NY) to resign, but it seems that an increasing number of conservatives are trying to use his reprehensible behavior for partisan attacks. On his show yesterday, right-wing radio host Rush Limbaugh called Weiner “the face of Democrat family values — he is the epitome of the Democrat culture of corruption, the Democrat culture of erection.”

Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA), chairman of the ethics watchdog House Government Oversight Committee, took a different tack, telling conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt yesterday that Democrats will let Weiner off the hook because there’s “a different standard between Republicans and Democrats” when it comes to ethics scandals:

HEWITT: Yeah, so I’m going to come back to that in a segment where we can set it up. But I do have to ask you, Eric Cantor, the leader of the Republicans today, called on Anthony Weiner to quit, said I don’t condone his activity, and I think he should resign. What’s your opinion, Darrell Issa?

ISSA: Well, first of all, I agree with Eric, who’s my leader, and who’s a classmate of mine and a friend. But I think Eric’s missing one point. Anthony Weiner’s not a Republican. He won’t resign. There’s a different standard between Republicans and Democrats. Yes, if he were Chris Lee, well, actually, Chris Lee did less and resigned immediately. There is a different standard that Speaker Boehner and Leader Cantor hold us to. And we should hold ourselves to it, but if we don’t, in the case of Chris Lee, who didn’t, you’re gone. They’re not doing that on the other side. [...]

Out of 435 members and six delegates and commissioners, we are going to have human failures. The question is, will we hold ourselves to the standards Republicans are being held to, or the no standards the Democrats hold themselves to?

While Issa is correct is saying there seems to be a “different standard” between the parties when it comes to scandals, he need only look across the Capitol to the Senate to see that he has it backwards. Sen. David Vitter (R-LA) admitted in 2007 to patronizing the DC Madam prostitution ring — a crime “a degree or two more egregious” than Weiner’s, as former RNC Chairman Michael Steele said — yet Vitter remains in the Senate to this day. How did Republicans respond to Vitter’s transgression? With “a concerted push” to defend the embattled senator. “[T]he state GOP organized the release of a flurry of supportive statements,” the New Orleans Times Picayune reported at the time.

Issa could also look at the case of former Sen. John Ensign (R-NV), who remained in the Senate a full two years after admitting to having an extramarital affair with the wife of a staffer, whom he bribed with $96,000 in hush money and illegally helped acquire a lobbying job. Ensign only resigned last month because of the pending release of a damning Senate Ethics Committee investigation and the possibly that he could be kicked out of the chamber.

In neither case did GOP leaders call for the senators to step down. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) was satisfied with Ensign giving up his GOP leadership spot in 2009, saying, “He’s accepted responsibility for his actions and apologized to his family and constituents.” Sen. Jon Kyl (R-AZ), the Senate’s number two Republican, offered support for Ensign, calling him a good friend and saying he still had a role to play in the party. “He’s a very intelligent senator,” Kyl said. “John is a person of great faith. So I know this is a very, very difficult deal for he and his family.”

In contrast, House Democratic Leaders like Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Steve Israel (D-NY) have called for an ethics investigation, while Reps. Allyson Schwartz (D-PA), Joe Donnelly (D-IN), Mike Michaud (D-ME), and many more privately, have called for Weiner’s resignation.

RNC Chairman Reince Priebus refused to discuss the Vitter scandal earlier this week, despite being the most vocal leader calling for Weiner’s resignation. But even his predecessor Steele sees some “inconsistency” in the GOP grandstanding.

Security

Defense Secretary Nominee Leon Panetta Says The Huge Defense Budget Isn’t Causing Our Deficits

By Zaid Jilani posted from ThinkProgress Security on Jun 9, 2011 at 4:00 pm

Today, the Senate is holding hearings over the confirmation of former CIA chief Leon Panetta as the new Secretary of Defense. Panetta is being probed about a variety of issues, from his views on Libya to his stance on procurement.

At one point during the hearing today, Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) asked Panetta if he agrees with the view of outgoing Secretary of Defense Robert Gates that the defense budget is not a serious factor in the U.S. budget deficit. Panetta responded that he agreed with this view and said the department’s budget is not the cause of the deficits that we’re incurring today:

CORNYN: It’s important to me and it’s important to you to make financial management reform one of your priorities. I would just ask you the straight up question do you agree with Secretary Gates when he said that the defense budget no matter how large it may be is not the cause of the fiscal woes?

PANETTA: I agree with that. It is by no means the cause of the huge deficits we are incurring today.

Watch it:

While it’s true that the defense budget alone is not the only cause of our deficits — the Bush tax cuts, recession, and wars are all larger short-term deficit-drivers — it’s also true that defense spending currently makes up a lion’s share of our discretionary spending, as this chart from the National Priorities Project depicting FY2010 spending shows:

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U.S. defense spending dwarfs over one hundred countries’ GDPs, and 2009 spending is over $500 billion more than what China reportedly budgets, the world’s next highest military spender. Defense spending has accounted for 65 percent of the discretionary spending increase since 2001, making it a key factor in the growth of the U.S. budget deficit since then. Any serious effort at reducing the U.S. budget deficit must recognize that the Department of Defense is a huge part of the problem. (HT: @deviatar)

Politics

Despite Once Calling Lack Of Transparency At Public Events An ‘Outrage,’ GOP Rep. Bans Cameras From Town Hall

By Tanya Somanader and Scott Keyes on Jun 9, 2011 at 3:15 pm

BERJAYAIn 2009, Ohio Republican Rep. Steve Chabot took time to list several Democratic “outrages” on his blog, prompting readers to choose which was the worst. One of the political cardinal sins: A lack of transparency. Pointing to President Obama’s campaign promise of transparency, Chabot railed against Obama for closing off the public from attending an event and proceeded to mock the administration’s reasoning for the move:

Candidate Obama, and then newly-elected-President Obama promised that his Administration would be “the most transparent ever.” Then, a few days ago, they held a workshop on “government openness” – and you guessed it, it was closed to the public! That’s hardly the image of openness and transparency the Obama Administration wants to project. Realizing how bad they looked, they scrambled for an excuse and came up with “we needed to make sure there would be room for all the government employees attending.” Right.

But now it’s 2011. Thus, it seems Chabot’s principles are two years past their expiration date. Last night, Chabot hosted a town hall event in Cincinnati, Ohio that was open to the public. However, any reporters and constituents attending the event were greeted by this transparent sign of non-transparency. Via Americans United for Change:

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Unless Chabot decided to leak sensitive intelligence information to his constituents, it is hard to see how a camera could pose any kind of security risk at an event that is already open to the public. However, Chabot’s reversal on transparency is hardly surprising given the severe backlash House Republicans are facing over support for their plan to end Medicare. Indeed, several House Republicans have banned recording devices to prevent broadcast of the blowback.

One of the key promises House Republicans made in the 2010 campaign was “to make Congress more transparent.” Given Chabot’s particular “outrage” over broken campaign promises, this is hardly the image of openness and transparency he likely wants to project.

NEWS FLASH

Newt Gingrich’s Senior Campaign Staff Resigns En Masse | According to an AP report: “Gingrich press spokesman Rick Tyler told The Associated Press that he’s resigned along with campaign manager Rob Johnson, senior strategists and aides in key early primary states.” Gingrich tells reporter “I have nothing to say.” The departing staffers cited “differences over the direction of the campaign.” Newt told them he was staying the race.

Politics

Massachusetts Republican: Undocumented Immigrant Rape Victims ‘Should Be Afraid To Come Forward’

By Marie Diamond on Jun 9, 2011 at 2:00 pm

BERJAYAMassachusetts GOP state Rep. Ryan Fattman has such contempt for illegal immigrants that he believes undocumented women who are raped should be afraid to go to the police. Yesterday, the Worcester Telegram & Gazette reported on Fattman’s incendiary comments, which he made while defending a controversial federal immigration program that many say will damage the relationship between law enforcement and immigrant communities. Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick (D) has refused to join the program out of concern that immigrants who are victims of violent crimes will be afraid to report them and seek help:

Mr. Fattman dismissed concerns of some law enforcement officials — cited by the governor — who said using local police to enforce immigration laws could discourage reporting of crime by victims who are illegal immigrants.

Asked if he would be concerned that a woman without legal immigration status was raped and beaten as she walked down the street might be afraid to report the crime to police, Mr. Fattman said he was not worried about those implications.

“My thought is that if someone is here illegally, they should be afraid to come forward,” Mr. Fattman said. “If you do it the right way, you don’t have to be concerned about these things,” he said referring to obtaining legal immigration status.

Instead of helping rape victims, the new federal program would have police turn them directly over to the federal government to be deported. Fattman believes that’s exactly what should happen:

Mr. Fattman acknowledged that people could be deported after an arrest even if they are not convicted of a crime, under the program in use in more than 30 states.

While citizens have the right to be viewed as innocent until found guilty in court, he said, “I don’t think that principle extends to illegal immigrants.” He said he had no concerns about racial profiling by police.

According to Fattman, deporting undocumented immigrants who have not committed a crime is more important than deterring violent crime or helping rape victims. “Innocent until proven guilty” isn’t the only principle he doesn’t think should apply to illegal immigrants — apparently basic human decency is only a luxury American citizens should enjoy. Fattman is such a radical that he believes American-born children of illegal immigrants should be deported with their parents, which would be in direct violation of the 14th Amendment.

(HT: Right Wing Watch)

NEWS FLASH

Hate Group Touts That Drudge Report ‘Resembles’ Their Website | Last week, conservative mega-aggregator the Drudge Report caught flack for posting “a slew of run-of-the-mill summer crime stories that happen to involve black people and suggestively weav[ing] them into a nationwide race riot.” Drudge posted 10 separate headlines — including a massive, above-the-logo one — about this supposed violent “urban” crime wave. Meanwhile, crime is at a 40-year low. But it wasn’t just the left that noticed. This week, the white nationalist hate group the Council of Conservative Citizens (CCC) gleefully reported that the “Drudge Report currently resembles CofCC.org.” What is the CCC? A group that opposes interracial marriage, describes black people as “a retrograde species of humanity,” and networks with racist skinheads. “Kudos to Drudge for making friends in low places,” the Southern Poverty Law Center quips.

Security

NRA Refuses To Comment On Al Qaeda Video Urging Supporters To Exploit Lax U.S. Gun Laws

By Ben Armbruster posted from ThinkProgress Security on Jun 9, 2011 at 12:50 pm

BERJAYAIn a long meandering YouTube video released last week, American-born al Qaeda spokesman Adam Yahiye Gadahn urged the terrorist group’s followers to exploit lax gun laws in the United States — particularly the private sale gun show loophole — to obtain weapons to murder Americans. But as Rachel Maddow noted this week, there’s a bit more to the story:

MADDOW: Even harder to believe than that, I submit is the fact that if you have been put on the terrorist watch list by the United States of America, you may not be able to board a commercial flight in this country — after all, you’re on the terrorist watch list. But you can legally still buy guns.

It’s also important to point out, as Media Matters’ Chris Brown noted, that because of this private sale loophole, “terrorists that are currently prohibited from purchasing guns can buy guns at gun shows from private sellers because the sellers don’t have to run background checks.”

The National Rifle Association opposes closing this so-called “terror gap,” and it also opposes eliminating the private sale gun show loophole. In fact, one day before al Qaeda released the Gadahn video, the NRA urged its supporters to contact state lawmakers in Delaware to defeat state legislation that would ban private sales at gun shows in Delaware. The NRA claimed that “the true intent of this legislation is to move towards an ultimate ban on all private sales — even those between family and friends – regardless of where they occur.”

So given that the NRA came out forcefully against this bill in Delaware, ThinkProgress asked the powerful gun lobby to comment on Gadahn’s video. Yet the NRA appears reluctant to say anything.

On Tuesday, ThinkProgress called the NRA’s press office to get a statement and an NRA official said someone there would respond. After receiving no response, we called the same office again on Wednesday and received the same reply.

ThinkProgress then emailed NRA spokesperson Rachel Parsons. Parsons said she was in a meeting and would respond later. Five hours later, we emailed Parsons again to see if she would comment on the Gadahn video. We are still waiting for a response.

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Climate Progress

After Exxon Finds A Month’s Worth Of Oil In Gulf, GOP Rep. Claims It Proves We Have ‘Abundant’ Oil Reserves

By Joe Romm posted from Climate Progress on Jun 9, 2011 at 12:15 pm

BERJAYAOn Wednesday, Exxon Mobil said it discovered 700 million barrels of oil equivalent at a deepwater well 250 miles off the coast of New Orleans.

The Wall Street Journal immediately trumpeted, “Exxon Unveils Big Finds in Gulf.”  House Natural Resources Committee Chair Doc Hastings (R-WA), whose top industry contributor is Big Oil, dashed out a release saying the find is “a perfect example” of how “America can become less dependent on dangerous sources of foreign energy if we safely and responsibly develop the resources we know we have here at home.”

Setting aside that big ‘if’, while 700 million barrels is enough to ruin the Gulf if we get another blowout, it represents only 9 days of global oil consumption — and roughly one month’s worth of U.S. consumption.

The discovery doesn’t prove we have ‘abundant’ oil reserves, as Hastings claims.  It proves the exact opposite, that ‘Drill, Baby, Drill’ can’t solve our problems.  Steve Greenlee, president of Exxon Mobil’s exploration business, unintentionally admitted that when he said, “This is one of the largest discoveries in the Gulf of Mexico in the last decade.”

There just isn’t enough oil in the Gulf to make a dent in our addiction.  A 2009 report by the U.S. Energy Information Administration, “Impact of Limitations on Access to Oil and Natural Gas Resources in the Federal Outer Continental Shelf” analyzed the difference between full offshore drilling and restriction to offshore drilling.

The EIA found that there is no impact on U.S. gasoline prices whatsoever in 2020.  Gasoline prices would be a mere three cents a gallon lower in 2030. So much for Drill, Baby, Drill.

The fact is that that oil prices have been soaring in spite of the fact that U.S. domestic oil production has also been soaring, “to its highest level in almost a decade,” as EIA’s own data shows:

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Politics

‘Michigan Message To Mitt’: GOP Rep. McCotter Slams Romney For Not Supporting Auto Rescue

By Tanya Somanader on Jun 9, 2011 at 11:30 am

BERJAYAGOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney is in the state of his birth this week — and receiving an icy reception. Michigan is home to General Motors and Chrysler, two U.S. companies for which the 2009 auto rescue “was seen as a matter of life or death by both parties.” Romney, however, opted for death when the Motor City native penned a op-ed entitled “Let Detroit Go Bankrupt” and slammed the rescue as “tragic.” This supposed tragedy, however, allowed Chrysler and GM to restructure and repay over $60 billion in taxpayer loans and add about 50,000 jobs nationwide.

As is his nature, Romney quickly switched positions in light of the rescue’s success and actually claimed last month that he “had the idea first.” However, Michiganders are not buying it. Rep. John Dingell (D) said yesterday that he hopes Romney “has answers for Michigan’s working families he abandoned two years ago” and “threw them under the bus.” Former Democratic Gov. Jennifer Granholm offered a pithier take in her own op-ed titled, “Let Mitt Romney Go Bankrupt.” Now, even Michigan Republican Rep. Thaddeus McCotter is wiping his hands of Romney. McCotter, who “supported the government intervention for General Motors and Chrysler,” sent “a Michigan message to Mitt” on his auto failure:

“Motor City hospitality dictates a Michigan message to Mitt that our struggling families, entrepreneurs and workers think Mr. Romney and Mr. Obama are not rivals, they’re running mates,” McCotter, who is considering his own run for the White House, said in a statement.

Watch video of his remarks:

Of course, President Obama actually delivered the auto rescue McCotter asked for. Conversely, auto industry officials say Romney’s rejection of that rescue “would have led to liquidation and the loss of more than one million jobs nationwide.” McCotter’s argument that Obama and Romney are similar when it comes to their health care plans and beliefs that global warming is a real problem, however, is much more accurate.

Whatever his current positions may be, it’s clear that Romney’s failure to back the auto rescue when it was most needed and his general “anti-auto sentiments” may prompt Michiganders to kick him to the curb. As Michigan Democratic Party Chairman Mark Brewer noted, “I don’t think we’ve seen a less inviting homecoming since LeBron (James) went back to Cleveland.”

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NEWS FLASH

Republican Presidential Candidates Unpopular In Home States | A newly released poll from Public Policy Polling shows only 1 of the 9 potential GOP Presidential candidates has a favorable rating in their home state: former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson (R-NM). Other candidates, such as Tim Pawlenty (R-MN), Mitt Romney (R-MA), Sarah Palin (R-AK), and Michelle Bachman (R-MN) are disliked by a majority of voters in the states they governed or represented.

– Sean Savett

By Guest Blogger on Jun 9, 2011 at 11:12 am

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Economy

Paul Ryan Calls For The U.S. To Default On Its Obligations

By Pat Garofalo posted from ThinkProgress Economy on Jun 9, 2011 at 10:40 am

BERJAYAHouse Republicans have been playing games with the nation’s debt ceiling for months, threatening to not raise it — and thus invite all of the adverse economic consequences that would follow — unless they receive various concessions from the Obama administration and Congressional Democrats, including cuts to Social Security or new constitutional amendments. But at the same time, the Republican leadership has been saying that failure to raise the debt ceiling would be, in the words of House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH), “irresponsible.”

But as Aug. 2 approaches, which is the date on which Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner estimates the U.S. will begin to default on some obligations, the Republicans have acted more reckless when it comes to the debt ceiling. Case in point, House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-WI) has outright called for the U.S. to go over the cliff and miss payments to creditors:

If a bondholder misses a payment for a day or two or three or four — what is more important is you are putting the government in a materially better position to better pay its bills going forward.

Several Republicans — including Sen. Pat Toomey (R-PA) and Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX) — have said default would not necessarily be bad thing. Others, like Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA), have said that failing to raise the debt ceiling would bring on a “crisis,” but that such a crisis could be beneficial. But as The State pointed out, Ryan is “is the highest ranking Republican thus far to express support for a possible U.S. default.”

Ryan has changed his tune regarding the debt ceiling significantly over the last several months. Back in January, Ryan admitted that failing to raise the debt ceiling was “unworkable.” “Yes, you can’t not raise the debt ceiling. Default is the unworkable solution,” he said during an appearance at the National Press Club. Earlier this month, he began to take a more radical line, saying that the ceiling wouldn’t be raised without concessions from Democrats. “It won’t happen, I’m serious about this,” he said. Now it seems he’s gone full-in with the fringe of his party in actually inviting a default.

Yesterday, the credit rating agency Fitch warned that even a short-term default that resulted in some missed payments — exactly what Ryan is advocating — would do real damage to the U.S. creditworthiness. “If the Treasury missed a payment on its debts, even for a short period, Fitch would lower the nation’s credit rating — adding that it would be ‘unlikely’ the government could return to AAA after such a default,” The Hill reported.

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Politics

After Calling Social Security A ‘Pyramid Scheme’ Twice, Rep. Joe Heck Claims He Wants To Protect It

By Zaid Jilani on Jun 9, 2011 at 9:50 am

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Rep. Joe Heck (R-NV) can't make up his mind on what he thinks about Social Security.

As ThinkProgress reported last week, Rep. Joe Heck (R-NV) faced an angry crowd of constituents last month after telling them at a town hall meeting that Social Security is a “pyramid scheme” that “isn’t working.” The congressman doubled down this week, once again referring to the program as a “pyramid scheme” during an appearance on a local radio show, telling a caller he was “exactly right” to call it that. Then Wednesday morning, on a seperate radio show, he called his aforementioned comments a “poor choice of words.”

At a town hall last night, Heck refused to address his previous comments and only claimed that he actually wants to defend the program:

U.S. Rep. Joe Heck vowed Wednesday to preserve Social Security but refused to explain why he called the federal program a “pyramid scheme” that does not work. [...] “At this point I am not going to comment on that question,” Heck told a reporter who probed him about the pyramid scheme gaffe. When another reporter asked him about the comment after the meeting, he ignored the question and walked out of the room, avoiding the crowd of constituents gathered to greet him. [...] At Wednesday’s town hall, he said he would protect the program, adding, “For future generations there may need to be changes for long-term sustainability.”

Responding to Heck’s rapidly changing positions, Americans United for Change’s Jeremy Funk said, “It’s a good thing Congressman Heck decided to keep his government health care benefits despite opposing health reform. He may need to be treated for whiplash soon, with all the flip-flopping going on here.”

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Politics

Morning Briefing: June 9, 2011

By ThinkProgress on Jun 9, 2011 at 9:00 am

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A new CBS News poll finds that 64 percent of Americans want to see troop levels in Afghanistan reduced, a 16-point jump from when the poll was last taken in May. Only 22 percent of respondents wanted to keep troop levels the same.

The Obama administration is ramping up a secret campaign of airstrikes in Yemen, the New York Times reports this morning. The violent conflict in Yemen has left the U.S.-allied government struggling to maintain control. To keep militants from seizing power, the U.S. is waging a covert war with armed drones and fighter jets.

GOP front-runner Mitt Romney is in hot water with conservatives for his position on climate change. At a town hall last Friday, Romney stuck to his original position that the world is getting warmer and humans are contributing to it. Radio host Rush Limbaugh responded by saying, “Bye-bye nomination.”

Sarah Palin’s chief of staff fired back at Rep. Michele Bachmann’s (R-MN) strategist Ed Rollins for “fueling a contrived narrative” and saying Bachmann would “be so much more substantive.” Palin’s staffer Michael Glassner said Rollins is a “beltway political strategist” with “a long, long track record of taking high profile jobs and promptly sticking his foot in his mouth.”

A new FCC report warns that “there is a shortage of in-depth local journalism needed to hold government agencies, schools and businesses accountable.” Despite the recent explosion of online news sources, there has not been a corresponding increase in reporting, particularly in needed quality local reporting, the report concludes.

The AFL-CIO is calling on President Obama to make a recess appointment of Elizabeth Warren as the head of the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. In an email to supporters, AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka said that despite Republican opposition, this is “a historic opportunity” to appoint “a true champion for working families.”

“Lobbyists, lawyers and senior executives for the for-profit school industry” converged in huge numbers on the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) just days before the Obama administration released watered-down rules for the sector. In just nine days, there were 16 meetings between for-profit representatives and the administration.

And finally: The FBI twice investigated Sargent Shriver for alleged ties to communists. The agency first investigated a trip the Kennedy family in-law and Peace Corps founder made to Germany when he was 18, then looked into allegations that he had employed a Russian spy. He was cleared both times, according to files released following his death in January.

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LGBT

Santorum Would Support Constitutional Amendment Outlawing Gay Marriage If Elected President

By Igor Volsky posted from ThinkProgress LGBT on Jun 8, 2011 at 10:00 pm

During an appearance on CNN this evening, GOP presidential candidate and former Sen. Rick Santorum (R-PA) hinted that he would push for a federal constitutional amendment outlawing same-sex marriage if he were elected president, arguing that gay or lesbian relationships could destabilize the culture, rob children “of the potential of having a mom and a dad,” and undermine religious liberties:

SANTORUM: Once people realize the consequence to society of changing this definition, it’s not that we’re against anybody. People can live the life they want to live. They can do whatever they want to do in the privacy of their home with respect to that activity. Now you’re talking about changing the laws of the country. and it could have a profound impact on society, on faith, on education. Once people realize that, they say, you know what, we respect people’s life to live the life they want to lead but don’t change how with that definition.

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Santorum did not talk about what impact a federal ban would have on the same-sex couples and families currently residing in the five states (plus the District of Columbia) that extend gay and lesbian people all of the rights and obligations of marriage.

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Health

Santorum Calls Abortion Exceptions To Protect Health Of The Mother ‘Phony’

By Marie Diamond posted from ThinkProgress Health on Jun 8, 2011 at 8:15 pm

ThinkProgress filed this report from West Des Moines, Iowa.

BERJAYALongshot GOP presidential hopeful and former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum stomped for votes in Iowa on Tuesday, trumpeting his “culture wars” message. A longtime anti-abortion activist, Santorum is selling himself as the leading social conservative in a crowded field. Yesterday in West Des Moines, he made an appearance at a “crisis pregnancy center” called Informed Choices that tries to talk women out of having abortions. Santorum said that he “separates [himself] from the rest of the pack” and criticized the other candidates for simply “checking the box” on anti-abortion issues.

When discussing his track record as a champion of the partial birth abortion ban, Santorum dismissed exceptions other senators wanted to carve out to protect the life and health of mothers, calling such exceptions “phony”:

SANTORUM: When I was leading the charge on partial birth abortion, several members came forward and said, “Why don’t we just ban all abortions?” Tom Daschle was one of them, if you remember. And Susan Collins, and others. They wanted a health exception, which of course is a phony exception which would make the ban ineffective.

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Santorum’s complete lack of empathy for women who find themselves with life-threatening pregnancies is repugnant, but not altogether surprising. When the Senate took up the ban in the ’90s, the debate was focused not on banning an abortion method, but rather on what exceptions would be allowed under the new law. Senators led by Santorum “refused to allow an exception even to protect the woman from serious harm to her health,” while President Clinton refused to sign the bill without one.

Although there are any number of serious medical emergencies that might require a woman to terminate a pregnancy in her third trimester to protect her own health, Santorum and his allies “said that ‘health’ is nothing but a loophole for women who would abort a pregnancy to fit into a prom dress.” Back then, Santorum decried “the selfishness, the individual self-centeredness” of legislators who were concerned about the health of pregnant women. Judging by his latest remarks, he’s still holding a grudge.

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