Immigration Reform
Immigration reform is losing momentum. "The Democratic theory has long been to pass a bill they like in the Senate, expect a bill they don’t like from the House, and then use the conference committee to jam House Republicans on the premise that House Republicans know they can’t kill immigration reform. But now Senate Republicans are organizing to give Democrats a bill they don’t like in the Senate, a bill they absolutely hate in the House, and if this kills immigration reform, well, plenty of their members would be just fine with that. A month or two ago, I heard a lot of optimism from both sides on immigration reform. I’m hearing less lately, from either side." Ezra Klein and Evan Soltas at Wonkblog.
So, good luck getting a green card if this amendment passes. "Senate Minority Whip John Cornyn intends to introduce a sweeping amendment to the immigration bill ... The Texas Republican wants stricter border patrol provisional 'triggers' before registered immigrants are allowed to apply for green card status. His amendment would require 100 percent operational control of the Southern borders and that 90 percent of illegal border crossers be apprehended. It would also require 100 percent border surveillance, or situational awareness, of each one-mile segment of the Southern border and installment of a national E-Verify system before registered immigrants can pursue green cards." Burgess Everett at Politico.
Immigration, guns, and gay rights. "As the Senate prepares to consider immigration reform next week, two powerful issues dividing lawmakers could be resurrected on the floor: guns and gay rights ... Debate over amendments to restrict gun ownership for illegal immigrants and to provide foreign-born gay partners with U.S. citizenship would reopen old wounds that both parties would rather see closed — even if those measures ultimately fail. They could also cause problems for the bipartisan Gang of Eight that authored the bill, and has stuck together closely to defend the deal from amendments in committee that would have destroyed it." Seung Min Kim at Politico.
It's really all in the hands of the House GOP Caucus. "The core issue remains ... do House Republicans want to allow a comprehensive immigration reform bill to pass or don't they? ... And to be honest, it's a bit hard to see why the caucus would ... The absolute worst-case scenario is one in which a path to citzenship becomes law over the ... objections of GOP-elected officials ... So basically this comes down to ... House Republicans. Do they think a path to citizenship for unauthorized immigrants is a good idea? Do they think there's some other aspect of immigration reform that's so valuable they want to trade it for a path to citizenship they dislike? If the answers are 'no' and 'no,' then it's dead." Matthew Yglesias at Slate.
So it might not matter if the House has a bipartisan bill, as long as the GOP is on board for comprehensive reform. "The premise is that the purpose of the House process is to get a bill through the House ... Because once something makes it through the House it will go to conference with the Senate ... The Senate can force a product that’s more like its bill ... And once the process is that near to completion, House Republicans will be afraid to kill it ... This theory has some clear problems ... In the end, this really does come down to the House Republican leadership. If they want to pass this thing, there are ways to pass it. If they’re willing to accept failure, then that’s what they’ll get." Ezra Klein at Wonkblog.
Politics
Bradley Manning
The lessons of the Manning trial. "Manning’s leaks endangered a lot of people ... human rights activists whose inclusion in the cables endangered their families ... opposition political figures in oppressive regimes ... In Afghanistan, the Taliban publicly announced their intention to comb through Wikileaks to identify and murder any Afghans who worked with the U.S. ... Maybe that’s the real story here. Manning has been treated horribly by the U.S. government while in prison. The hackers who steal information for Wikileaks have gone to jail. But Wikileaks ... can create such disruption yet face so few consequences." Joshua Foust at Medium.
Elections
GOP backlash against Chris Christie with regards to the New Jersey special election misses the boat. "Republicans get the worst of both worlds — a short-term placeholder senator who will be replaced by a prominent Democrat with little chance of losing. And they’re angry about it ... For all their annoyance with Christie, the GOP should keep one thing in mind — he’s a conservative ... period. Christie opposes abortion, same-sex marriage, and equal pay legislation. He supports Paul Ryan’s budget, opposes minimum wage increases, and is an enthusiastic opponent of unions ... Ideologically, he lines up with the Bob McDonnells, Bobby Jindals, and Scott Walkers of the GOP." Jamelle Bouie at the Plum Line.
Just plain wacky. "E.W. Jackson is the Republican candidate for Virginia lieutenant governor, and he's a pretty interesting guy with a lot of opinions ... As The National Review's Betsy Woodruff reports, Jackson warns that yoga can put you at risk for satanic possession ... Jackson is a pastor who has never held elected office. If Virginia Republicans are looking to reach out to moderate suburban voters after their southern state voted for Obama for a second time, Jackson isn't helping. He has compared Planned Parenthood to the KKK, he's said gays are 'frankly very sick people,' and that homosexuality 'poisons culture.'" Elspeth Reeve at the Atlantic Wire.
Energy and the Environment
Microwaves, Obama, and climate change. "Last week, the Department of Energy announced a little-noticed update to its energy-efficiency standards for microwaves, requiring newer models to use less power in stand-by mode. But there was a surprise buried in the fine print: The agency is now using a higher figure for the 'social cost of carbon' ... Instead of assuming that the harm caused by carbon-dioxide emissions comes to $22 per ton in 2013, regulators are now using a figure of about $36 per ton. That’s a big shift ... And that means U.S. government agencies could, in theory, justify even stricter regulations to curb greenhouse-gas emissions." Brad Plumer at Wonkblog.
Filibuster Fights
No end in sight to the DC Appeals Court struggle. "The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, widely seen as the nation's second most important federal bench, has three vacancies. President Obama yesterday introduced three non-controversial nominees to fill those vacancies. And were it not for the breakdowns of the American political process, none of this would be especially interesting. But here we are ... Just so we're clear, we've apparently reached the point at which a president nominating judges to fill existing vacancies is seen by Republicans as outrageous ... With each passing day, the 'nuclear option' becomes more viable." Steve Benen at Maddowblog.
Fiscal Fights
Deficit hawks should be infrastructure hawks. "The deficit is projected to fall faster over the next two years than at any time since World War II. Then it’s projected to rise for the rest of the decade. This, then, is the difference between spending the next two years investing in infrastructure and spending the next two years sharply reducing the deficit. Both of them need to be done eventually. Delaying either means saddling the future with debts we declined to pay off in the present. But this is a particularly good time to invest in infrastructure and a particularly bad time to cut deep into the deficit. And yet we’re ignoring infrastructure and rapidly reducing the deficit. We’ve got it backwards." Ezra Klein at Wonkblog.
GOP
The cause of the gridlock. "On the domestic front, the first six months of President Obama’s second term have been dominated by two issues: immigration reform and the budget ... In the House of Representatives, where majorities have near-absolute control ... there are no negotiations and there is no agenda. Instead, there is a fractured, squabbling Republican Party ... Indeed, there’s no guarantee that House conservatives will accept any deal to raise the debt limit or reform immigration laws ... This entire situation—and the gridlock its produced—highlights the core problem facing American politics. The Republican Party." Jamelle Bouie at the American Prospect.
Guns
The next gun battle - research. "A panel of experts ... gave the federal government an ambitious set of priorities ... for research on guns, ending ... a 17-year hiatus in the study of gun violence after Congress took away federal money ... in the 1990s. 'Basic information about gun possession, distribution, ownership, acquisition and storage is lacking,' ... 'Without good data, it is virtually impossible to answer fundamental questions' about gun violence or to evaluate programs intended to reduce that violence ... But it may prove contentious ... Gun advocates have opposed ... reporting requirements, warning that more detailed information begins to look ... like a national gun registry." Sabrina Tavernise in the New York Times.
Health
The latest in the ACA misinformation wars. "Columns keep citing a healthy 25-year-old man as ... a randomly chosen example of how the exchanges will work. Healthy non-smoking 25-year-old males have very different health profiles than the average person ... So, we have narrowed ... down to a very, very small group of victims ... But to hold up this tiny sub-category as implicitly representative of the entire health-insurance market is misleading to the extreme." Jonathan Chait at New York Magazine.
The dumbest new 'constitutional amendment.' "Sen. Marco Rubio ... introduced a constitutional amendment aimed at invalidating the individual mandate to buy health insurance under Obamacare. The text of the 'Right To Refuse' amendment ... 'Congress shall make no law that imposes a tax on a failure to purchase goods or services.' There is, of course, no chance whatsoever that this Amendment would get the required 2/3 vote in the House and Senate ... Instead, it’s a reflection of the fact that Rubio has been taking significant hits from the right over ... immigration ... This, quite obviously, is an effort ... to rekindle his relationship with the right ... in anticipation of a potential 2016 Presidential run." Doug Mataconis at Outside the Beltway.
And the most reasonable 'Obamacare' lawsuit to date. This one actually wants to expand the law, not restrict or repeal it. "Employer health plans routinely cover pregnancy costs for workers and their spouses — but not necessarily their daughters. According to a handful of new complaints filed with the federal government, that’s sex discrimination, and the Affordable Care Act doesn’t allow it. If these complaints are successful, they could expand the benefits that health insurance plans must cover under the Affordable Care Act ... It’s particularly important to address this issue now, since the health-care overhaul allows adult children to stay on their parents’ health plans until they reach age 26." Michelle Andrews at Wonkblog.
LGBT Rights
A majority of older Americans now approve of same-sex couples. About time. "Polls have consistently shown that older Americans are less likely to morally approve of homosexuality and subsequently support LGBT equality at lower rates. A new Gallup poll, however, shows that for the first time in that poll’s history, a majority of Americans over the age of 55 morally accept 'gay or lesbian relations': That support has nearly doubled since 2001, when only 26 percent of older adults morally approved of homosexuality." Zack Ford at Think Progress.
The NSA
The NSA and Verizon. "The National Security Agency has been demanding that Verizon produce calling records of all phone calls made in the United States. The leaked legal order requires Verizon to produce, 'on an ongoing daily basis,' records of calls 'between the United States and abroad' as well as 'wholly within the United States, including local calls.' The data sought by the NSA includes 'originating and terminating telephone numbers,' and the time and duration of each call. The order does not request the contents of the calls." Timothy Lee at Wonkblog.
Nine points on the Verizon revelations. Joshua Foust.
Nominations
Susan Rice to replace Tom Donilon. "President Obama announced on Wednesday afternoon that Susan E. Rice, the American ambassador to the United Nations, would replace Tom Donilon ... as national security adviser ... The appointment ... puts Ms. Rice, 48, an outspoken diplomat and a close political ally, at the heart of the administration’s foreign-policy apparatus. It is also a defiant gesture to Republicans who harshly criticized Ms. Rice for presenting an erroneous account of the deadly attacks on the American mission in Benghazi, Libya. The post of national security adviser, while powerful, does not require Senate confirmation." Mark Landler in the New York Times.
In some respects, she'll have more influence than she would have as Secretary of State. "Obama will announce that Rice will replace national security adviser Tom Donilon. The job may not have been Rice's first choice, but it is the more powerful one. At the White House, where the national security adviser works, Rice will command no budgets and run no agency. But she will be responsible for something more central to US foreign and national-security policies: co-ordinating the interaction between the various cabinet agencies to forge an unified agenda – and acting as the chief proxy on foreign policy for the president of the United States." Spencer Ackerman at the Guardian.
Patents
Obama moves to crack down on 'patent trolls.' "The Obama administration is cracking down on ... patent trolls, shell companies that exist merely for the purpose of asserting that they should be paid because they hold patents that are being infringed by some software or electronic process. The companies exploded onto the technology scene in the last two years, accounting for more than half of the 4,000 patent infringement lawsuits filed in the United States last year, according to several studies, up from 45 percent the year before and from less than 30 percent in every prior year." Edward Wyatt in the New York Times.
Judges could do their part. "In our judicial system, trolls have an important strategic advantage over their adversaries: they don’t make anything. So in a patent lawsuit, they have far fewer documents to produce, fewer witnesses and a much smaller legal bill than a company that does make and sell something ... With huge advantages in cost and risk, trolls can afford to file patent-infringement lawsuits that have just a slim chance of success ... Lost in the debate, however, is that judges already have the authority to curtail these practices: they can make trolls pay for abusive litigation." Randall Rader, Colleen Chien, and David Hricik in the New York Times.
And patent trolls aren't the only problem. "The vast patent portfolios of incumbent technology companies such as Microsoft acts as a tax on innovation. The most innovative start-ups are increasingly being forced to make payments to their more established competitors, whether or not the latter continue innovating. That actually discourages innovation, the opposite of the effect the patent system is supposed to have. Legislation that focuses on defanging patent trolls won’t do anything to stop non-troll firms from abusing the patent system." Timothy Lee at Wonkblog.
Scandals
The party of scandalmania. "A good indication of House Republicans’ mind-set came last week, when Rep. John Boehner’s spokesman wrote on the House speaker’s official blog that a speech by Obama on student loans was an attempt 'to change the subject from its growing list of scandals.' It’s telling that the GOP leadership would view a student loan event as a distraction from scandals but wouldn’t see the obsession with scandals as a distraction from pocketbook issues." Dana Milbank in the Washington Post.
The IRS screwed up, but they were looking at some of the right groups. "The conservative groups testifying about overzealous IRS scrutiny ... can’t get around a simple fact: All have been involved in ... political activity that’s ripe for red flags. Simple searches on Google, Facebook, Twitter and other news engines point to ... what the IRS looks for when deciding who gets an exemption ... The group leaders attended rallies to stop Obama administration priorities and ripped into the president’s work on health care and missile defense. They spoke openly about defeating President Barack Obama in the 2012 election. They pushed for winners in state and local election races." Darren Samuelson and Lauren French at Politico.
The IRS screwed up, but they were looking at some of the right groups. "The conservative groups testifying about overzealous IRS scrutiny ... can’t get around a simple fact: All have been involved in ... political activity that’s ripe for red flags. Simple searches on Google, Facebook, Twitter and other news engines point to ... what the IRS looks for when deciding who gets an exemption ... The group leaders attended rallies to stop Obama administration priorities and ripped into the president’s work on health care and missile defense. They spoke openly about defeating President Barack Obama in the 2012 election. They pushed for winners in state and local election races." Darren Samuelson and Lauren French at Politico.
Jon Stewart on the IRS. Video.
The States
Drug-testing welfare recipients is still a stupid idea. "A surprising number of states are pondering one extremely bad idea: suspicionless, population-based screening of welfare recipients for illicit drug use. Such proposals periodically reappear, despite an almost complete lack of evidence that they accomplish very much ... However one runs the numbers, illicit drug use disorders are not common among welfare recipients. Other physical and mental health problems are far more prevalent. Yet these less-moralized concerns receive much less attention from legislators or the general public." Harold Pollack at the Washington Post.
Tax Reform
A handy translation guide. "Every time a conservative says the tax code should be 'flatter,' what he or she is saying is that either 1) rich people should pay less; 2) poor people should pay more; or 3) both. They often toss out the word 'flatter' as though flatness were some self-evidently virtuous concept ... In fact, it's often twinned with fairness, as in 'the tax code should be flatter and fairer.' But every time a Republican says he wants a flatter tax code, the proper follow-up is, 'Do you think the wealthy should pay less, the poor should pay more, or both?' ... They should be forced to clarify just what it is they're proposing." Paul Waldman at the American Prospect.
Virginia
International
Africa
Water wars on the Nile. "Egypt will demand Ethiopia stop building a dam on one of the main tributaries of the Nile ... ramping up a confrontation over the project that Egypt fears will affect its main source of water. Ethiopia set off alarm bells in Cairo last week when it began diverting a stretch of the river to make way for the $4.7 billion hydroelectric plant. Countries that share the river have argued over the use of its waters for decades - and analysts have repeatedly warned that the disputes could eventually boil over into war." Reuters.
Media crackdown in Burundi. "Burundi's President Pierre Nkurunziza has approved a new media law which critics have condemned as an attack on press freedom. The law forbids reporting on matters which could undermine national security, public order or the economy." BBC.
Europe
Britain agreed to a compensation deal for Kenyan torture victims. "Britain has agreed on a multi-million dollar compensation settlement for thousands of Kenyans tortured by colonial forces ... Negotiations began after a London court ruled in October that three elderly Kenyans, who suffered castration, rape and beatings while in detention during a crackdown by British forces and their Kenyan allies in the 1950s, could sue Britain. The torture took place during the so-called Kenyan 'Emergency' of 1952-60, when fighters from the Mau Mau movement attacked British targets, causing panic among white settlers and alarming the government in London." Richard Lough at Reuters.
Middle East
There's this election in Iran. And it's important. "Many commentators have dismissed the upcoming Iranian presidential election, reasoning that the Supreme Leader makes all the important political decisions anyway -- above all, those relating to the nuclear program. But the presidential election does seem to matter to Ali Khamenei -- which is precisely why it should matter to observers in the West. The election should be understood as a forum that signals the Supreme Leader’s political intentions, including those concerning the nuclear issue." Dennis Ross at Foreign Affairs.
Sanctions are decimating Iran's oil exports. "Western sanctions drove Iran's crude exports to the lowest in decades in May, according to industry sources and tanker-tracking data, even before Washington toughens measures aimed at squeezing oil sales further. Crude shipments dropped to 700,000 barrels per day (bpd) last month ... about a third of Iran's oil exports before the current round of sanctions ... And Washington is now seeking to cut shipments to less than 500,000 bpd through tighter sanctions." Alex Lawler and Nidhi Verma at Reuters.
More evidence of chemical weapons use in Syria. "Samples taken from Syria and tested in France have confirmed that sarin gas has been used there multiple times, France's foreign minister said ... France 'now is certain that sarin gas was used in Syria multiple times and in a localized way.' ... Earlier Tuesday, a U.N. report on Syria said there are 'reasonable grounds' to believe that limited quantities of toxic chemicals have been used as weapons in at least four attacks in Syria's civil war." USA Today.
US, Germany, and Italy committed to a training role in Afghanistan extending past the 2014 withdrawal deadline. "The United States has agreed to lead a training mission in Afghanistan after 2014 that will include troops from Germany and Italy and will operate under a new NATO mandate, officials announced Wednesday." Ernesto Londono in the Washington Post.
Economics
Public goods and passionate minorities. "An indifferent majority can outvote a passionate minority ... If they care a lot, and the majority cares a little, it seems reasonable that minority interests should prevail ... Recently ... an economist at the University of Chicago ... developed an ingenious new mechanism ... Quadratic Vote Buying ... Why does QVB work? It forces voters to pay for the impact of their votes on other people, in the same way that a tax forces factories to take into account the effects of pollution on others. In economic terms, the voter chooses a number of votes that equalizes the marginal benefit for her ... and the marginal cost for those who vote the other way." Eric Posner at Slate.
Science
Taxonomy, meet knowledge gaps. Knowledge gaps, taxonomy. "Only about two million of the estimated 10 to 12 million living species have been identified ... And in an era where the rate of species extinction may exceed species discovery ... millions of species may not survive the 21st century. So it’s important—urgent, even—to establish a baseline of species to give us the necessary facts to monitor these changes as they happen. Without a major taxonomic initiative ... 'We are literally flying blind into a storm and hoping for a safe landing.'" Sarah Sloat at Pacific Standard Magazine.
A hole in the Sun. "Coronal holes are areas on the sun's corona that are darker, lower-density, and (relatively) colder than the rest of the plasma on the surface of our nearest star. They're the source of the kind of solar wind gusts that carry solar particles out to our magnetosphere and beyond, causing auroras ... When coronal holes are captured in extreme ultraviolet light images, they reveal themselves as dark spots that appear, to human eyes, to be plasma voids ... Last week ... one of those coronal holes rotated toward Earth ... And the Solar Dynamics Observatory's Atmospheric Imaging Assembly, fortunately, got a shot of the thing." Megan Garber + Video at the Atlantic.
Miscellaneous
22 maps of linguistic differences across America. Business Insider.
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