Hanging out on the Embarcadero.
Here now the news...
Meet the most dangerous man in America: Paul Ryan. Both the New York Times and Jonathan Chait's extensive article at New York Magazine take a good look at who really runs the agenda for the Republican Party The quote from Grover Norquist says it all: "Grover Norquist, the Republican strategist who heads Americans for Tax Reform, said in an interview that he did not expect Mr. Romney to lead as president. He just wants him to sign the bills that put Mr. Ryan’s vision into practice." A vote for Mitt Romney is a vote for Tea Party extremism, because these people have no intention of letting him do anything else.
"Let’s just say it: The Republicans are the problem." The must-read editorial of the year. "We have been studying Washington politics and Congress for more than 40 years, and never have we seen them this dysfunctional. In our past writings, we have criticized both parties when we believed it was warranted. Today, however, we have no choice but to acknowledge that the core of the problem lies with the Republican Party." Weeping tears of joy that someone finally is telling it like it is.
Who are you, and what have you done with the United States Senate? From Roll Call: "While President Barack Obama has railed on the trail against a “do-nothing” Congress and House Republicans have struggled to unite around major legislation, the Senate has recently passed sweeping bills on a bipartisan basis. From a two-year transportation bill to U.S. Postal Service reform to the Violence Against Women Act, the Senate has flipped convention on its head by becoming the chamber that works."
Austerity in the states has hurt the recovery. Duh.
Krugman, on college education and the future of America: "What should we do to help America’s young? Basically, the opposite of what Mr. Romney and his friends want. We should be expanding student aid, not slashing it. And we should reverse the de facto austerity policies that are holding back the U.S. economy — the unprecedented cutbacks at the state and local level, which have been hitting education especially hard."
Stephen King lets it rip in The Daily Beast on taxes and the rich: "Tough shit for you guys, because I’m not tired of talking about it. I’ve known rich people, and why not, since I’m one of them? The majority would rather douse their dicks with lighter fluid, strike a match, and dance around singing “Disco Inferno” than pay one more cent in taxes to Uncle Sugar."
Obama’s energy team is on the march: "President Obama's top energy and environmental officials are casting their work as a core piece of White House efforts to boost the economy while using rough-and-tumble language to parry Republican attacks. Four speeches over four days by Interior Secretary Ken Salazar and EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson’s signal a political all-hands-on-deck approach to defending the White House’s economic record ahead of the 2012 elections."
That's all for now, gotta run, run, run...