January 08, 2007

1/8: All Quiet On The Blogging Front

If you're looking for netroots pressure for an immediate end to the Iraq war (or even a timetable for troop withdrawal) now that Dems control Congress, don't hold your breath. It might seem anathema to some, but if the Blogometer was going to pick one word to describe netroots attitudes towards congressional action on Iraq it would be "patient." DailyKos' founder Markos Moulitsas in particular is stressing how little Dems can do now, and instead focussing on how Dems can use GOP weakness on the war to assume complete control in '09.

IRAQ: Give Peace A Chance ... In '09

Reminding netroots readers "in many households, it's the mommy who gets the discipline done, while the daddy is really the softy," Taylor Marsh says Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) "has it right" when demanding justification from Pres. Bush before funding more troops for Iraq. MyDD's Matt Stoller also posts video of Pelosi from 1/7's Face the Nation and writes: "Pelosi is standing firmly with the public in rejecting escalation, and bringing up the specter of cutting off funds. There are going to be right-wing attacks on her, some coming from within the Democratic family. But this is the right thing to do. Stop Bush on Iraq."

Also at MyDD, Jonathan Singer links to a Center for American Progress memo explaining "Congress indeed does have the power to force the President's hand" on Iraq troop funding. The memo says Congress can "place an amendment on the supplemental funding bill that states that if the administration wants to increase the number of troops in Iraq above 150,000, it must provide a plan for their purpose and require an up or down vote on exceeding that number." Singer adds: "Accordingly, it is incumbent upon Democrats on Capitol Hill to exert what power they have to stop the President from making this move or at least force him to make his case in the committee rooms."

Noting "short of pulling funding -- which would get more people killed -- there's little that Congress can actually do," DailyKos' founder Markos Moulitsas takes a decidedly longer term view on how Dems can influence Iraq policy: "What Democrats in Congress will have to do (and already plan on doing) is use their bully pulpit to amplify the overwhelming public opposition to the war. ... But the bigger the mess Republicans make of the war, the bigger our victories in 2008. And if we make those big gains in Congress and the White House, ending this war will be tops on our 2009 agenda."

On the right, RedState's Moe Lane first documents that both Senate For. Rel. Chair Joe Biden (D-DE) and Speaker Pelosi disavowed "defunding existing troops in Iraq," and then emphasizes the differing views the Dems have on congressional power to influence Iraq war funding (Biden calling legislation capping troop numbers "constitutionally questionable" while Pelosi demands a "distinction" between current and additional troop funding): "Either Speaker Pelosi is correct, which means that Senator Biden is lecturing on Constitutional law from his nether regions; or else Senator Biden is correct, which means that Speaker Pelosi is committing her Party to a policy which it cannot, in point of fact, implement. Put another way: at least one of these two people is in over his or her head."

BIDEN: Articulater Wanted

Talking Points Memo's David Kurtz says Joe Biden was his "his reliably muddle-headed self" when saying on 1/7's Meet the Press "I think it is unconstitutional to say, "We're going to tell you you can go, but we're going to micromanage the war." Kurtz responds: "Giving Biden the benefit of the doubt, what I think he is trying to say is that it would be utterly unproductive for Democrats in Congress to get bogged down in the tactical minutia of our Iraq policy. I completely agree. To surge or not to surge is really not the issue. But it would be nice to see a Democratic presidential contender better able to articulate that notion."

GORE: Coming Soon To A PC Near You

Just back from Session 3 of Al Gore's Climate Project in Nashville, TN, The Huffington Post's Nick Seaver advises HuffPo reader to "do it." Seaver explains: "The trainees have committed to fan out across the country and give their personalized, updated version of the presentation to at least 10 audiences over the coming year, in the hope of reaching hundreds of thousands, maybe millions of people. ... Gore spent a day and a half taking us through an updated version of the lecture slide-by-slide, fielding questions and digging into background science and personal anecdotes. Other lecturers focused on attitudinal research around climate change (sobering), a discussion of solutions (inspiring) and a whole series of practice runs and exercises to help us give our presentations (invigorating - and, yes, a bit scary). ... Trainees came from all fifty states and beyond. ... And yes, a smattering of celebrities, including John Doerr and Cameron Diaz."

The Moderate Voice, however, is worried that Gore is starting to act like Pres. Bush. TMV notes Gore is banning press from a 1/23 address to Augstana College in Sioux Falls, SD. TMV complains: "it's the same image that George W. Bush and his entourage have been transmitting for years now ... of a leader and group around him who are trying to clamp down on coverage of what he says to partisans when no one is around to either question it or report it. ... Perhaps Gore isn't thinking of running for President after all."

OBAMA: Still Not Winning Over Many Netrooters

MyDD's Matt Stoller is "confused" by Barack Obama's telling Newsweek's Howard Fineman, "To anticipate your question, is Congress going to be willing to exercise its control over the purse strings to affect White House policy? I am doubtful that that is something we are willing to do in the first year." Stoller's worries include:

• Obama validates the false frame that cutting off funding for escalation equals not supporting the troops that are there.
• Obama is answering a hypothetical in his statement that the Democrats probably won't do anything to stop Bush. In doing so, he makes that terrible scenario more likely, undercutting Pelosi and Murtha's move to fence off funding and stop the war.
• By speaking for the entire caucus and suggesting that Democrats won't put pressure on Bush, he is removing pressure from every Republican up for reelection in 2008. They are the ones who would have to validate a policy that has 11% public support, not Democrats.

GOP FIELD: Base Cleanser

Reacting to a Christian Science Monitor article on WH '08 Outside the Beltway reminds readers "Giuliani is my favorite" and adds: "I continue to think Gingrich the least plausible of the major candidates, despite being the most energizing speaker and innovative thinker in the field. ... McCain has the additional problem of being too old; he’d almost certainly be a one termer. ... Romney’s Mormonism, as I’ve noted previously, is highly problematic. ... Ultimately, I think 9/11 inoculates Giuliani from many of his problems with the base. To some degree, everything that happened before has been cleansed by the perception that he was a heroic leader in the aftermath."

RCP Blog's Tom Bevan picks up on Desert News reports on senior Romney finance "heavy-hitter" Jon Huntsman Sr. and remindsa readers: "Huntsman's son, the Governor of Utah, is backing John McCain."

The Corner's Kathryn Jean Lopez announces former FL Gov. Jeb Bush (R) will speak at the 1/26-28 National Review Institute Conservative Summit along with Romney, Gingrich, and former UN Ambassador John Bolton.

BROWNBACK: Uniquely Suited For Small Groups

RedState's Leon Wolf links to news Sam Brownback will be announcing his WH '08 bid 1/20 and comments: "The key to Brownback's success will be his early efforts in Iowa, a state whose caucus system is uniquely suited as an upset ground for a candidate like Brownback, who will be comptively short on money, but whose strength is communication to small groups."

MCCAIN:

John McCain visited Bill Bennett's radio show 1/5 and offered an explanation for his Vanity Fair profile comments on a border fence ("I think the fence is least effective. But I'll build the goddamned fence if they want it.") that many righty bloggers found offensive:

My view is that obviously, we have to secure the border first, but the fence isn’t the only part of the answer. ... In populated areas, fences are important. In unpopulated areas, rather than spending billions on building a fence, you can use UAV’s, you can use virtual fences, you can use sensors, you can use a whole lot of other high tech devices that will be far more effective than just building a wall across it. Now building walls, you have to then man those walls. ... So my point was, and again, it was taken out of context as was some of the other statements that I was quoted in, in the article, but look, I’m a big boy. Life isn’t fair, Kennedy said. But the fact is, I have said repeatedly, we must secure our borders first.

Townhall's Hugh Hewitt found McCain's fence story "wholly unpersuasive" but said McCain "shine[d] as usual on the war."

Right Wing News, however, is beginning to wonder just how much credit McCain should be getting from his war stance: "If you're taking a "courageous political stand" while obviously hoping that it benefits you politically, is it really a "courageous political stand?" ... With a guy like McCain, who's not a great respecter of the Constitution or conservative principles, but who does often seem to do things simply for the sake of getting favorable press, you can't be sure if he's acting from conviction or whether this is part of a very calculated decision to go against the grain for purely political purposes."

McCain advisor Patrick Hynes of Ankle Biting Pundits posts video of McCain's 1/5 presentention calling for mor troops in Iraq at the American Enterprise Institute. Hynes can't resist a dig on MA Gov. Mitt Romney as long as he's on the subject: "Compare this with Mitt Romney’s position on the same issue, as expressed in his interview with Human Events: “I’m not going to weigh in.” Well, at least he has a single position on this issue."

ROMNEY: Come On And Take A Free Ride

Looking to quell social conservative doubts about Mitt Romney's past "more liberal social positions" Evangelicals for Mitt asked former state Rep. Steve Baldwin (R-CA), to articualte his concerns. Baldwin wrote: "He first came on my radar screen a few years ago when I found out that his Education Department sent gay activists to California to appear in hearings before a committee of the California Legislature, a body I used to serve in. ... Most of these programs were carried out under the auspices of the "Governor’s Commission on Gay and Lesbian Affairs" an agency Romney inherited and then doubled in size. ... Conservatives have been taken for a ride once too many times my friends. But not this time."

EFM responded: "Governor Romney inherited the commission--it had existed for 10 years before he became governor--and there is no indication that he knew about the full extent of its activities until much later in his administration. ... Finally--and this is important--the Governor actually abolished the commission last summer."

Unhappy with EFM explanation of events, Eyeon08 first attacks EFM's founders and then tracks Boston Globe coverage of the commission, concluding: "So Romney doubled the budget (flip), then tried to abolish it (flop), backtracked (flip), and abolished only after he lost because the legislature made something more powerful (flop)."

ROMNEY II: Nothing If Not Thorough

Townhall's Hugh Hewitt reports "less than four days after Mitt Romney's announcement of an exploratory committee, two "captains" in the Romney fund-raising network independently contacted me to ask me to contribute to the governor." Hewitt clarifies, "These "asks" are from people I have known for years, and not because of the book I am finishing," before concluding: "There is a dynamic in politics that always sees money follow momentum. Don't be surprised if the early money breaks to Romney as smart money likes to be with the eventual nominee early, and also to be part of the team from its first days."

Truth Caucus goes through Commonwealth PAC finance reports and discovers "John McCain isn’t the only 2008 candidate cutting checks to College Republican organizations. So is Mitt Romney!" IA State and Northern IA both got $1K but TC asks: "What, the University of Iowa CRs only get $750?"

Ankle Biting Pundits notes that Power Line exhibited some strange behavior over the weekend at one point featuring a post reading:

mitt romneyJmitt romneyemitt romneyrmitt romneyrmitt romneyymitt romney mitt romneyFmitt romneyomitt romneyrmitt romneydmitt romney’mitt romneysmitt romney mitt romneylmitt romneyamitt romneysmitt romneytmitt romney mitt romneylmitt romneyamitt romneyumitt romneygmitt romneyhmitt romney

Turns out Power Line's Paul Mirengoff was the "idiot hacker" responsible for the entry.

DEMS: Still Goo-Goo For Nancy

DailyKos' founder Markos Moulitsas calls Speaker Nancy Pelosi's (D-CA) chairman term limits implementation her "best move yet" adding: "This move, more than any other, suggests that Pelosi is serious about reforming the House and avoiding many of the pitfalls that created the corrupt environment that propelled House Republicans to their 1994 majorities."

Ezra Klein isn't sold on the idea and asks "goo-goos" to explain why moving experienced Congressman out of their areas of expertise is a good thing. Matt Yglesias responds: "I don't think such limits are optimal policy. They are, however, superior to the leading alternative -- strict seniority. The main impact of term limits is to enhance the power of the congressional leadership vis-a-vis committee chairs." Yglesias concludes empowering leadership over committee chairs is good sense it increases the chance "popular general-interest legislation" can get passed.

Meanwhile, Firedoglake's Jane Hamsher argues Rep. Henry Waxman's (D-CA) chairmanship of Gov't Reform Cmt. should end "the whole "tax and spend Democrats" meme" by exposing "the GOP running the government like a bunch of drunken sailors on shore leave."

Also from CA, Calitics posts a photo of "about 1200 souls" forming "IMPEACH!" on Ocean Beach in San Francisco 1/6. "San Francisco values I suppose." Calitics quips.

GOP: GWOT Still Number One

Responding to Bill Bennett's 15 point "Proposed 2008 Platform" (including: 1. Global War Against Islamic Terror--call the war right and fight it right; 2. Publicly commit to regime change in Iran; 5. Explore new and alternative sources of energy; reward hybrid technology...) Right Wing News names his top 21 agenda items with a top five of:

• 1) Aggressively fight the war on terrorism which includes stopping Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons by any means necessary.
• 2) A Balanced Budget Amendment with an out for national security spending if need-be. ... A sunshine rule for earmarks.
• 3) Get Tough On Illegal Immigration: Secure the border, ban all illegal immigrants from becoming citizens or guest workers, impose gargantuan fines on businesses that knowingly hire illegal aliens.
• 4) Taxes: Make the tax cuts permanent, flatten the tax cut, oppose taxes on the internet, work to end the death tax. Require a 2/3rds majority to raise taxes.
• 5) Health Care: Tort reform, which will reduce not only costs paid out in lawsuits, but the cost of "defensive medicine." Streamlining the regulations that make bringing a new drug to market so slow and expensive. Health care savings accounts. Allowing health insurance companies from anywhere in America to compete for business in any state.

CA 10: Testing Tauscher

Caliticsblogswarm looks back at the netroots eventual defeat in OH-02 and concludes the race demonstrates exactly why bloggers should challenge Rep. Ellen Tauscher (D-CA) in '08: "So we fought and learned a great deal. Not only did we fight, but we played the expectations game so effectively that our loss dominated the national media as a win. ... But nationally, many of the tactics refined during the Ohio 2005 Special Election were used successfully across the country during the 2006 general election. I would suggest that we think of the inevitable primary in California's 10th district along the same lines. ... The netroots may win or may lose, but because of the support the local blogs will receive from national supporters, we will be able to test and pioneer new tactics that Democrats everywhere can re-deploy against Republicans in the general election."

Anticipating an upcoming fight, blogswarm later links to a 12/21 story on Tauscher's support for an "increase the "end strength" size of both the Army and the Marines" and describes the legislation as "the necessary mechanics" for Pres. Bush's escalation of troops in Iraq. After commenters point to a official Tauscher statement not supporting "any more troops for the President's failed policy" blogswarm asks: "But what will she do if her bill becomes the vehicle the neocons use to enable escalation?"

THOUGHT OF THE DAY: Doesn't DC Have A Smoking Ban Now?

The Corner's Andrew Stuttaford links to Scottish blogger Mr. Eugenides thoughts on smoking bans:

A study by the International Epidemiological Association has found that the smoking ban in Scotland has, as predicted by the Scottish Licensed Trade Association and consistently denied by the Executive, led to a fall in both revenues and customers in Scottish pubs...Before the ban was brought in, ministers flatly denied that the ban would hit trade; indeed, they argued that the ban would actually benefit business, as the smoke-free atmosphere would draw in people who had previously avoided them. Now that the licensed trade's gloomy predictions are beginning to be backed up with hard facts, the politicos are changing tack; OK, so it is hurting business after all, they admit - but we don't give a s**t.

LEST WE FORGET: But It Does Look Kinda Cool

Dilbert blog is particularly unimpressed with GM's new electric concept car, the Chevrolet Volt. Scott Adams cuts through GM's fluff and summarizes:

Someday GM hopes to figure out how to make a big honkin' car battery, and figure out how to do it economically, and hope the whole project ends up saving more energy than it consumes, or failing in that, hope no one asks how much energy it takes to build the cars. It's called a "concept car" because that sounds better than "something we pulled out of our a** and hope to someday shove up yours."

Posted by Conn Carroll at January 8, 2007 12:13 PM