Politics
Abortion
Battleground: Ohio. "With Ohio's state budget awaiting Gov. John Kasich's (R) signature over the weekend, many in the state hoped the Republican governor would have the courage to eliminate sweeping new restrictions on reproductive rights, added to the budget with minimal debate, before he signed it into law. That did not happen ... And the policies themselves are nothing short of breathtaking in their scope ... Kasich has a line-item veto power, and could have signed the budget without these new measures. But he chose instead to leave these provisions intact, signing the budget, shaking a few hands, and then quickly leaving the room before anyone could ask him any questions." Steve Benen at Maddowblog.
The abortion ban that was defeated in Texas already exists in a dozen states. Sarah Kliff + Interactive Graphic at Wonkblog.
Speaking of Texas, Wendy Davis probably won't pull off another victory. "This time, the story is likely to end differently. Equipped with more time, GOP majorities and renewed urgency, Republicans are poised to pass a measure to tighten abortion restrictions that state Sen. Wendy Davis (D) successfully blocked last week ... One major reason Republican plans to pass the measure ... in the previous session were foiled: Time was not on the GOP’s side. Gov. Rick Perry (R) added the abortion debate after the session was already underway. This time, he’s established it as a priority from the outset." Sean Sullivan at the Fix.
Abortion, the deficit, irony, and the broader point. "Nearly every single House Republican voted last week to increase government spending and push the nation further into debt -- all to limit abortion access for some women ... It's the bigger picture that I care about, however. There's an amazing phenomenon ... in which nearly every Republican on Capitol Hill says their principal goal is deficit reduction ... But that's not the amazing part. Rather ... these same Republican policymakers reject Democratic policies that reduce the deficit the GOP pretends to care so much about, while pushing Republican policies that make the deficit worse." Steve Benen at Maddowblog.
California
Same-sex marriage, center stage. "Same-sex marriages in California resumed Friday when a federal appeals court lifted a hold on a 2010 injunction, sparking jubilation among gays ... In a surprise action, a federal appeals court cleared the way, bypassing a normal waiting period and lifting a hold on a trial judge's order that declared Proposition 8 unconstitutional ... Gov. Jerry Brown told county clerks they could begin marrying same-sex couples immediately, launching plans for ceremonies up and down the state." Maura Dolan, Anthony York, and Maria La Ganga at the LA Times.
Score one for common sense. "A 40-year-old man was acquitted Monday of 13 misdemeanor vandalism charges that stemmed from protest messages written in chalk in front of three Bank of America branches in San Diego. Jeffrey David Olson’s attorney argued during the trial — which garnered national attention — that his client was engaging in a legal protest and was not maliciously defacing of property. Olson could have faced up to 13 years behind bars if convicted of all counts." Doug Mataconis at Outside the Beltway.
Congress
Worst Congress ever - objectively speaking. "The 112th Congress was among the least productive in American history, and its successor is already on track to beat that record ... When it comes to productivity, only 15 legislative items have become law under the current Congress. That’s fewer than the 23 items that became law at this same point in the 112th Congress, which passed a historically low number of bills that were signed into law." Doug Mataconis at Outside the Beltway.
The Economy
The latest hit to American workers. "A growing number of American workers are confronting a frustrating predicament on payday: to get their wages, they must first pay a fee ... In the overwhelming majority of cases, using the card involves a fee. And those fees can quickly add up ... These fees can take such a big bite out of paychecks that some employees end up making less than the minimum wage once the charges are taken into account, according to interviews with consumer lawyers, employees, and state and federal regulators." Jessica Silver-Greenberg and Stephanie Clifford at the New York Times.
And that's nothing compared to the war on the unemployed. "It’s quite a spectacle, but North Carolina isn’t alone: a number of other states have cut unemployment benefits ... And ... Congress has been allowing extended benefits introduced during the economic crisis to expire, even though long-term unemployment remains at historic highs. So what’s going on here? Is it just cruelty? Well, the G.O.P., which believes that 47 percent of Americans are 'takers' mooching off the job creators ... isn’t exactly overflowing with compassion. But the war on the unemployed isn’t motivated solely by cruelty; rather, it’s a case of meanspiritedness converging with bad economic analysis." Paul Krugman at the New York Times.
Education
Congress dropped the ball again. "Borrowing costs for lower-income students shot up on Monday, jumping from 3.4% to 6.8% on subsidized Stafford loans from the federal government. For the average borrower, that means an additional $761 for every loan they take out through the program, according to Mark Kantrowitz, a financial aid expert and publisher of Edvisors Network. Neither party is thrilled about the outcome. But in contrast to last year’s student loan fight, when both presidential candidates took to the bully pulpit on the issue, there seems to be little sense of urgency coming from Congress or the White House, despite the absence of any clear resolution." Suzy Khimm at MSNBC.
Elections
If this is the strategy, 2016 should be a cake walk. "The 2016 election may be far off, but one theme is becoming clear: Republican strategists and presidential hopefuls, in ways subtle and overt, are eager to focus a spotlight on Mrs. Clinton’s age. The former secretary of state will be 69 by the next presidential election, a generation removed from most of the possible Republican candidates." Jonathan Martin at the New York Times.
Everything you might want to know about US Senate special elections. Eric Ostermeier at Smart Politics.
Mitch McConnell will probably get re-elected, but it's no guarantee. "Alison Lundergan Grimes, the Kentucky secretary of state and a Democrat ... will challenge Senator Mitch McConnell, a Republican, in 2014. Mr. McConnell, the Senate minority leader, is likely to win re-election. Kentucky is a solidly Republican state, and President Obama received less than 40 percent of the vote there in 2012 ... However, he is unlikely to sail to victory. Ms. Grimes was elected to statewide office in 2011 with 60 percent of the vote. She has deep ties to Democratic politics, both in Kentucky and nationwide ... The four partisan polls that have been conducted so far ... have shown a relatively tight race." Micah Cohen at FiveThirtyEight.
Georgia
Disgusting. "A local newspaper in Georgia recently published a column ostensibly about U.S. Middle East policy but which took a hard right turn into birtherism and racism, highlighting the Islamophobia problem at the local-level ... Allen has a solution to the U.S.’ conundrum in the Middle East. 'I think we should send all Muslims back to their native land and be extremely careful about which of them we allow to come back,' he writes. 'We should sell or give them small arms and explosive material. They would probably be content to blow each other up for at least a thousand or so more years and achieve martyrdom.'" Hayes Brown at Think Progress.
GOP
The opposition party. "What’s missing in the Republican Party is that willingness to compromise for anything, even if it benefits the particular interests of individual lawmakers or the interests of the party writ large. And this seems to stem from an attitude that emerged during the 1994 elections and has only grown since—the idea that conservatives aren’t just opposed to liberals but that they’re at war with liberalism. It’s why Republicans have dismantled key norms governing Congress and other institutions ... and have taken to opposing everything associated with the Democratic White House." Jamelle Bouie at the Plum Line.
Health
What a year of Obamacare looks like. Sarah Kliff at Wonkblog.
The next one will be another year of lawsuits. "Federal laws do not get birthday parties after surviving a years-long lawsuit; they simply get a ton more lawsuits. Dozens of legal challenges are still pending that challenge various components of the Affordable Care Act. They are largely at the district court level, meaning it will be a while until we know whether they succeed." Sarah Kliff at Wonkblog.
Childbirth in the US - higher costs for no benefits. "Plenty of ... pregnant women are getting sticker shock in the United States, where charges for delivery have about tripled since 1996, according to an analysis done ... by Truven Health Analytics. Childbirth in the United States is uniquely expensive ... The cumulative costs of approximately four million annual births is well over $50 billion. And though maternity care costs far less in other developed countries than it does in the United States, studies show that their citizens do not have less access to care or to high-tech care during pregnancy than Americans." Elisabeth Rosenthal at the New York Times.
Americans and healthy eating, or lack thereof. "Such is the puzzle of the food industry: American consumers, even otherwise healthy ones, keep choosing caloric indulgences rather than healthy foods at fast-food restaurants. Public health officials have been pushing fast-food restaurants to offer more nutritious foods to help combat excess weight in the United States, where more than one-third of American adults are obese. And restaurants have obliged by adding healthy menu items. But it’s the sugary, fatty items that are flying — or waddling — out the door." Stephanie Clifford at the New York Times.
Immigration
Immigration reform could pass the House, but not because House Republicans want to win over Latino voters in their districts. "All of which is to say, there are, in practice, two reasons an immigration bill with a path to citizenship might pass the House. The first is that enough House Republicans think it’s good policy. The second is that enough House Republicans think it’s good politics. What’s not going to push the bill through the House is House Republicans believing it needs to pass for them to keep their seats and their majority in the next election. If anything, that math might be slightly against immigration reform." Ezra Klein and Evan Soltas at Wonkblog.
And it won't be easy. "Most Republicans represent solidly conservative districts where they are unlikely to face a serious Democratic challenge. For them, the clear political incentive is to stand firmly in opposition to the Senate bill. House Democrats generally represent reliably liberal districts, many with significant Hispanic populations. For them, supporting the immigration bill, with its path to citizenship, is also a clear choice politically. With few House members of either party feeling pressure to make any concessions, the politics of the House go a long way toward explaining why the prospects for the legislation are uncertain as it moves to the House from the Senate." Janet Hook at the Wall Street Journal.
A Republican case for immigration reform. "No Republican would vote for legislation that stifled economic growth, promoted illegal immigration, added to the welfare rolls, and failed to ensure a secure border. Yet they essentially will do just that if they fail to pass comprehensive immigration reform—and leave in place a system that does all of those things." Jeb Bush and Clint Bolick at the Wall Street Journal.
LGBT Rights
Get ready for a new wave of same-sex marriage fights in the states. "Gay rights activists are pushing ahead with a well-financed, coordinated campaign that aims to legalize same-sex marriage in about a dozen key states within three years. But they face fierce resistance from conservative groups and their allies in state legislatures and Congress who hope to stymie any momentum ... This pitched political battle ... will help determine how broadly same-sex marriage is adopted ... It is also likely to play a major role in state and national elections in the near-term, as activists on both sides fight to win over the Republican voters and elected officials who are key to deciding the fight." Juliet Eilperin and Ruth Tam at the Washington Post.
Rachel Maddow and David Gregory smack down the GOP's last arguments against gay marriage. Video.
New York
New York City set a new record low for homicides. "The number of homicides on record in New York City has dropped significantly during the first half of the year — to 154 from 202 in the same period last year — surprising even police officials who have long been accustomed to trumpeting declining crime rates in the city. In the first 178 days of 2013, the city averaged less than a murder a day, the first time the police can recall that happening for any sustained period ... The recent decrease in violence is all the more striking because last year the department recorded the fewest homicides since it began a reliable method of compiling crime statistics half a century ago." Joseph Goldstein at the New York Times.
North Carolina
North Carolina's government is pushing the state far to the right. Here's a recap of what Republicans are currently fighting for. David Graham at the Atlantic.
Unemployment policy is by far the worst. "The state's government has just sharply cut aid to the unemployed ... They didn't just reduce the duration of benefits; they also reduced the average weekly benefit, making the state ineligible for about $700 million in federal aid to the long-term unemployed ... This isn't just cruel; it's counter-productive. Unemployment benefits ... are an excellent ... form of stimulus ... What we're left with is a state with high unemployment ... desperate jobless people who'll have no real safety net ... and state businesses with fewer customers. It's a recipe for ... miserable economic conditions, made possible when voters elected far-right candidates to run the entire state." Steve Benen at Maddowblog.
NSA
Obama hasn't violated the Fourth Amendment. That would be George W. Bush. "There is a crucial difference between the Obama administration’s phone call data-mining program, which is constitutional under current law, and the Bush administration’s NSA surveillance program, which was clearly unconstitutional. Unlike the Obama program, which is limited to obtaining information about phone calls made and received from telephone companies, the Bush program authorized the government to wiretap private phone conversations. From a constitutional perspective, the difference is critical." Geoffrey Stone at the Daily Beast.
Glenn Greenwald is the new Ralph Nader. "President Obama scaled back some of the Bush administration’s anti-terror policies — torture, warrantless wiretapping — but kept in place others. One could make the case that he did not change enough, but that is not a Greenwald sort of argument. He insists that Obama is worse than Bush. Obama’s health-care reform was not just a step along the way to Greenwald’s ideal, it was a monstrous sellout that probably did no good at all ... This way of looking at the world naturally places one in conflict with most liberals, who are willing to distinguish between gradations of success or failure." Jonathan Chait at New York Magazine.
How is this news? Seriously. This is not news. "US intelligence services are spying on the European Union mission in New York and its embassy in Washington, according to the latest top secret US National Security Agency documents leaked by the whistleblower Edward Snowden." Ewen MacAskill and Julian Borger at the Guardian.
Pennsylvania
This is just so classy. "An openly gay member of the Pennsylvania legislature was barred earlier this week from speaking on the floor about the Supreme Court’s decision in the DOMA case, with one member saying that his comments would have violated 'God’s law'." Doug Mataconis at Outside the Beltway.
SCOTUSwatch
The lessons of this SCOTUS term. "Overall, while the number of important cases was above average, this term was par for the Roberts Court course: relentlessly pro-business, and largely conservative on civil rights and civil liberties issues with a few salutary exceptions. And while the recognition of the basic rights of gays and lesbians was laudable, the rights of too many others were left behind." Scott Lemieux at the American Prospect.
Don't be deceived - it's still a conservative court. "The Supreme Court’s landmark gay rights rulings left liberals on cloud nine, but a cursory look at the Supreme Court’s most recent term should bring them down to Earth. The high court’s conservative majority ... has managed to work its will on controversial cases involving civil rights, corporate accountability, and criminal justice ... The Supreme Court has eviscerated a key portion of the Voting Rights Act, made it more difficult for workers to sue for racial discrimination on the job, strengthened corporate protections against legal liability, and made ritual invocation a necessary part of claiming one’s Fifth Amendment rights." Adam Serwer at MSNBC.
The Court isn't supposed to be political - but everyone must thank Democrats for the DOMA ruling. "The real reason that Windsor, and the country, won was that Democrats won—in the eighties, when the Senate turned down Bork, and in 2008, when Barack Obama defeated John McCain. To an extent that the public and, especially, the Justices themselves rarely acknowledge, the Supreme Court is a political body. It reflects, above all, the values and the priorities of the Presidents who nominate the Justices and the senators who confirm them (or refuse to do so)." Jeffrey Toobin at the New Yorker.
How the Supreme Court made it harder to prepare for climate change. "The case Koontz v. St. Johns River Water Management District ... was ... surprising. The 5-4 ruling ... scolded government for being overzealous in imposing requirements as conditions for permits to build ... This all comes back to climate change ... There will be increased flooding, volatile weather, and sea level rise ... This is the great planning challenge of our time – and it’s expensive. So private developers should be expected to contribute to the cause ... With Koontz, lawyers now have a perfect opportunity to say ... that such a requirement is out of proportion with the modest scope of an individual development." Anthony Flint at the Atlantic Cities.
The States
New fiscal year, new laws on the books. Michelle Price at the Associated Press.
Voting Rights
12 voter suppression tactics that may be returning. Emily Badger at the Atlantic Cities.
One way to amend the Voting Rights Act. "There have always been two ways that areas could be put under the obligation to pre-clear their voting changes ... The second route was through Section 3 ... In response to a court finding of a specific constitutional violation of voting rights, Section 3 gives courts the power to order a jurisdiction to start pre-clearing its voting changes for a period of time ... Why do I call this an 'easy' change ... It does not require ... crafting a new coverage formula ... And I don’t see any constitutional obstacles ... Because Section 3 responds flexibly to actual recent violations, perhaps there is a path forward through this route." Richard Pildes at Election Law Blog.
International
Global
The rise of the global middle class - and the rising tide of revolution. "Over the past decade, Turkey and Brazil have been widely celebrated as star economic performers ... Yet, over the past three months, both countries have been paralyzed by massive demonstrations expressing deep discontent with their governments' performance ... The theme that connects recent events ... is the rise of a new global middle class. Everywhere it has emerged, a modern middle class causes political ferment, but only rarely has it been able, on its own, to bring about lasting political change. Nothing we have seen lately in the streets of Istanbul or Rio de Janeiro suggests that these cases will be an exception." Francis Fukuyama at the Wall Street Journal.
Africa
Polio eradication, meet Somalia. "A big worry among people trying to wipe out polio is that the virus will regain a foothold, somewhere to launch a comeback — someplace, perhaps, like Somalia. Polio has paralyzed 25 kids in Somalia and another six in a Kenyan refugee camp since early May ... Before this outbreak, Somalia hadn't had a polio case in more than five years. There were only 223 polio cases around the world in 2012, the lowest ever recorded. Even in the remaining three endemic countries — Afghanistan, Pakistan and Nigeria — polio was only showing up isolated in a few remote areas. This outbreak in Somalia could threaten that progress." Jason Beaubien at NPR.
Europe
Eurozone unemployment is at an all-time high. "Unemployment across the 17 European Union countries that use the euro hit an all-time high in May, official data showed Monday. Eurostat, the EU's statistics office, said the eurozone's unemployment rate rose 0.1 percentage point in May to 12.2 percent. April's unemployment rate was initially estimated to be 12.2 percent, but it was revised down to 12.1 percent thanks to new data ... Across the eurozone, there were 19.34 million people unemployed." Pan Pylas at the Associated Press.
Middle East
Saudi Arabia is ground zero for the latest pandemic. "This fall, millions of devout Muslims will descend upon Mecca, Medina, and Saudi Arabia's holy sites in one of the largest annual migrations in human history ... It's the very proximity that has health officials so worried ... Having a large group of people together in a single, fairly confined space threatens to turn the holiest site in Islam into a massive petri dish. The disease is still mysterious ... But we do know that MERS is deadly, with a mortality rate of about 55 percent." Laurie Garrett and Maxine Builder at Foreign Policy.
South America
Guyana is the first country to ratify the ATT. "The National Assembly ... unanimously approved a motion which will enable Guyana’s ratification of the Arms Trade Treaty, making it the first country in the world to ratify the treaty. This is the first legally binding multilateral treaty adopted by the United Nations (UN) General Assembly to regulate the international trade in conventional arms. It became open for signatures on June 3, 2013 and Guyana was one of its first signatories." Nadine Sanchara at the Guyana Chronicle.
Science
The science of memes. "More and more of the things that set the internet on fire are of that species of charmingly moronic pairing of text and image that allows even the post-literate to feel like they have partaken of a shared cultural moment. And now, scientists are beginning to understand how the curiously addictive visual tropes known as 'memes' are born, why they die, and whether or not it's possible to predict which will 'go viral' and be harvested by the night-soil merchants up at meme warehouses like Cheezburger." Christopher Mims at the Atlantic.
Golf playing, trash talking robots have arrived. Video.
Miscellaneous
Film critics, kids, and Pixar movies. "While many critics see the quality of Pixar movies falling off, children see Pixar movies as better than ever ... What explains the difference? Critics often judge whether the movies are also good for adults, but not a single child we spoke to expressed any concern for whether their parents enjoyed the movie. And kids love sequels, apparently, rating both Monsters University and Cars 2 much higher than the critics did ... There was one other thing that turned off younger reviewers: Again and again, movies ranging from Monsters, Inc. to A Bug’s Life were deemed 'too scary.'" Forrest Wickman at Slate.
Five facts about professional artists in the United States. Katherine Boyle at Wonkblog.
The five Olympic sports with the worst doping problems. Peter Sullivan at Foreign Policy.
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