Monthly Archives: December 2010

(Community Matters) A very important part of our community is Wheatsville Coop. Congrats to my hubbie on his reelection to their board of directors.

Thank you for doing this, Babe

(Community Matters) what I’m being told: Senator Reid called for a vote, even though he was unable to reach an agreement with Senator Collins about an amendment process. Though she voted for DA/DT, she lambasted the decision to bring it to the floor (even though her demands would have caused debate to extend past the end of the lame-duck leaving no time for other legislation) and lost us the vote of her colleagues.

Repeal is not dead. Senator Lieberman has announced he will offer a stand alone. Senators Reid and Collins both support and are co-sponsors. As an amendment to the defense authorization bill, I believe DA/DT is no more, however.

President’s statement (note the last line) and other pieces linked below the fold

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(Community Matters) again from Andrew Sullivan’s blog

Domenico Montanaro counters Halperin’s goddawful column with, ya know, facts:

While some think President Obama’s “core” coalition “has been shattered,” here are some numbers from our latest NBC News-Wall Street Journal poll that looks at Obama’s approval among some of those “core” groups:

– Blacks: 90% approve/6% disapprove
– Democrats: 82/12
– Liberals: 79/16
– Latinos: 56/33
– Post grads: 56/41
– UPDATE: 18-29: 53/38
– UPDATE 2: NBC’s Ana Maria Arumi notes that in the 2010 midterm exit polls, voters 18-29 said they approved of the president’s job by a 62/38 margin, which is close to how they voted in 2008 — 66/32
– Women: 52/43
– 18-34: 49/43

As Republican pollster Bill McInturff, who conducts the NBC/WSJ poll with Democratic pollster Peter D. Hart, said after the poll, “It’s a reminder again … for a guy who took a shellacking [in the midterms], he’s got a pretty strong core pulse.”

(Community Matters) from David Kurtz via Andrew Sullivan

Collins has finally made her demands concrete and public. And they are not outrageous. At one point she wanted or was said to want two weeks of debate. Now she’s asking for a manageable 4 days. Would we have gotten here anyway? Maybe. Did Reid’s forcing the issue make the difference? Hard to say for sure, but probably.

This much is clear: the day started with DADT repeal looking completely dead and ends with a very plausible way forward to 60 votes in the Senate in this lame duck session. Not a done deal yet, but prospects for repeal are a whole lot better than they were 12 hours ago.

update: addt’l information rec’d suggesting Reid & Collins have not reached a deal and that Reid is tiring of being played. Pres Obama has been on the telephone rounding up support

(Community Matters) rural Kansas adopts LGBT nondiscrimination ordinance – from Joe Jarvis

(Community Matters) factoring payroll tax cuts and business tax credits into the wins of the compromise (continued unemployment insurance and middle class tax relief) is causing me to chill and read independent economists’ assessments.  The former two additions could be huge stimulus boosts to our anemic economy – exactly what we need to create some damn jobs.  As imprudent as extending the tax cuts for the wealthiest is . . .  still trying to understand this moving target

see this Economist blog posting

subsequent comments: Originally I found the compromise as distasteful as did other progressives. However, as economists and The Economist are now noting, the compromise includes several provisions which we’ve been wanting but have been unable to obtain otherwise (in addition to extension of middle class tax cuts and unemployment insurance) – additional, significant economic stimulus measures via a decrease in payroll taxes and an aggressive biz tax credit. They are expected to give our anemic economy a much needed boost, creating jobs for unemployed Americans.

It appears Pres Obama finally obtained what nobel-winning economist Paul Krugman has been calling for since 2009, more economic stimulus. Even the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times & the Economist think so. I’ve gone from a very loud opponent of the compromise to a cautious supporter

(Community Matters) So nice being back in KL. The view of Petronas Towers from our room

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(Community Matters) To be fair, there’s this:

The Economist: Did Barack Obama Lose a Political Battle But Win a War?

The initial reaction, in particular among liberal commentators, was that this was a political loss for Barack Obama, since he gave up more than the Republicans. I initially shared that view, but a colleague notes that this constitutes a loss only by narrow Beltway-based accounting. What will ultimately matter in 2012 is how the economy performs, not whose policies are responsible for that performance. If the economy is booming a year from now, Mr Obama may be seen to have lost the battle but won the war. In spite of their grumbling, the rest of the Democratic caucus may also benefit. As a correspondent notes, “This is a pro-incumbent kind of package. And Democrats have a lot more incumbents running in 2012 than Republicans do.”

(Community Matters) Disturbing data just received from my friend Ilyse Hogue at MoveOn.org

MoveOn commissioned a Survey USA poll last night of Democratic, specifically Obama, donors in 20 states before we knew the deal was being announced.

The poll shows that the President’s willingness to deal with the Republicans on the tax cuts will cost him politically. Here are some top lines:

• An overwhelming majority, 83% of former Obama contributors, oppose extending the Bush tax cuts for those making over $250,000 a year—70% of them strongly.
• More than 74% of former Obama contributors oppose the president’s making a deal with Republicans that would extend the Bush tax cuts for those making more than $250,000.
• More than half, 51% of former Obama contributors, say striking such a deal would make them less likely to contribute to the Obama re‐election campaign in 2012.
• Finally, 67% of former Obama contributors surveyed said they support extending tax cuts for those making less than $250,000 a year.

Here’s a link to the full polling memo: http://s3.moveon.org/pdfs/pollmemo_final_120710.pdf

(Community Matters) I’m gonna get over it but we’re making a colossal mistake. My hope now rests with Congressional Democrats to stop this lunacy. Over the last 10 years, Republicans have perfected saying one thing and doing another. They slashed taxes during a time of war and engaged in deceptive accounting by keeping war costs off budget turning surpluses into the largest deficit since WWII.

Now, we’re complicit, knowingly extending tax cuts for the wealthiest – projected to cost $700B over the next ten years. We know it is fiscal lunacy, but, we’re agreeing to it.

Isn’t it worth it worth a compromise to preserve tax cuts for the middle class? extend unemployment benefits? allow the Senate to move forward on the repeal of Don’t Ask/Don’t Tell and ratification of the START treaty?

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(Community Matters) My good friend Andy Tobias posted this today as a reminder to us all

Vodpod videos no longer available.

Andy’s posting below the jump:

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(Community Matters) Ram, Steven’s driver for our two weeks, snuck in a quick trip on our way back from the Titwangsa Range to Petrajaya where we’re staying the rest of our time in Malaysia. I’d been to the Batu Caves on my previous trip to Malaysia, but Steven hadn’t. They are the home of the Sri Subramaniar Swamy Temple, one of the most revered Hindu temples outside India. Even though Ram is Hindu, after he briefed us about a few of the gods represented inside, Steven discretely corrected his id of one of the gods (who knew ST already knew all about the Hindu gods?).

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The largest statute in the world of Lord Murugan (the god of war, also known as Subrahmanya) dominates the entrance and after 272 concrete steps you enter the 400 million years old caves laced with statues celebrating Lord Murugan’s victory over the demon Soorapadam as well as a sanctuary.