The Jed Report

Current TV in same position as pre-Olbermann MSNBC

Fri, 11 Feb 2011 19:00:04 -0800

The exciting thing about Keith Olbermann's move to Current TV isn't just that he'll be coming back to prime time television, it's also that as the network's Chief News Officer he'll be guiding the growth of a truly independent network.

Although MSNBC PR flacks have sought to diminish the relevance of Current TV because it is available in fewer homes than MSNBC, Politico's Burgess Everett points out that Current TV today is in a similar position to MSNBC in 2003 before the launch of Countdown:

When only U.S. viewers are counted, 2003 MSNBC is quite comparable to 2011 Current, which has about 2 million more viewers than the pre-Olbermann MSNBC, which clocked in at about 58 million viewers, or 74 percent of the 78.4 million number touted by MSNBC in the L.A. Times article.

Olbermann's challenge isn't just to develop a hit new show, it's also to build Current TV into a programming powerhouse. With his creation of Countdown and nurturing of Rachel Maddow's career, he's already demonstrated that he's got the talent and skills to get the job done. It's going to be fun watching him do it.

Gibbs wonders if Mandate Mitt Romney will say "health care"

Fri, 11 Feb 2011 18:16:04 -0800

A fun comment from Robert Gibbs during his final turn at the White House podium on Friday afternoon:

It will be interesting to see if, throughout the next two years, the two words 'health care' come out of his [Mitt Romney's] mouth.

Or, as Jim Geraghty of National Review tweeted:

Look, as long as Obamacare isn't a big issue in the 2012 Republican presidential primary, Romney will be fine.

Mitt Romney, of course, signed Massachusetts' health care law into effect, including an individual health care mandate which he repeatedly defended -- until it became a part of President Obama's health care reform. Now, he's going so far as to scrubbing it from his campaign book, offering voters yet another reminder why even conservatives believe Romney is the most inauthentic politician in America.

Mitt Romney's (original) position on mandates are incredibly unpopular amongst Republicans, so it's not hard to see why he is trying to stay silent on health care. But it's impossible to see how he can get away with it.

UT-Sen: Hatch heckled by CPAC tea partiers

Fri, 11 Feb 2011 15:08:04 -0800

Apparently, teabaggers think Hatch's position on TARP sucks balls
:::

Orrin Hatch may have crashed the Tea Party Express Town Hall earlier this week and encouraged teahadists to "get armed and get out there" to save America, but if what happened to him Friday at CPAC is any indication, he's one of the ones they're out to get. Dave Weigel:

Hatch was on a sleepy panel about the possibility for a balanced budget amendment when a questioner threw the dynamite.

"When you talk about fiscal conservatism," he said, "how can we trust you, if you voted for TARP?"

Half the room exploded with cheers, pleasure at the audacity of the question. Hatch was stony-faced.

"Under the circumstances," said Hatch, "at the time, we were going down, and let me tell you..."

The crowd interrupted him with boos.

"Yes, you may disagree," said Hatch, "but you weren't sitting there, and you didn't have to make these decisions!"

Michael Shear's account in The New York Times includes a really bizarre apology from Hatch for the vote:

Speaking to the conservative activists, Mr. Hatch, a Republican in his sixth term, was booed as he tried to defend his vote for the TARP program that bailed out the banks — a bugaboo for conservatives.

Mr. Hatch said he voted for it to keep the country from slipping into a depression — and said he would do so again if he had to be the deciding vote — but acknowledged that he now felt sorry that he had voted for the bill.

“All I can say is, there aren’t many people who will say I’m sorry. I’m one who will,” Mr. Hatch said.

So...he's really sorry, but if he had to do it all over again, he'd do it the same way? No wonder Utah's other Senator, Republican Mike Lee, won't endorse him.

President Obama on Egypt: "It was the moral force of non-violence"

Fri, 11 Feb 2011 12:57:08 -0800

Saying that the voices of the people of Egypt had been heard and that their nation had been changed forever, President Obama saluted the Egyptians who secured their country's freedom as an inspiration to us all in a statement from the White House.

President Obama said that the protesters put the lie "to the idea that justice is best gained through violence," a clear reference to Al Qaeda and it's number two leader, Egyptian-born Ayman al-Zawahiri. Obama said that in Egypt, "it was the moral force of non-violence -- not terrorism and mindless killing" that is bringing democratic change.

Watch the full video of President Obama's statement below, starting at the 1:50 mark in the video:

Follow the latest developments from Egypt in the Tahrir mothership diary.

Mitt Romney scrubs RomneyCare from his book

Fri, 11 Feb 2011 11:10:03 -0800

Matt Browner Hamlin at AMERICAblog:

Multiple Choice Mitt strikes again. Romney is putting out a paperback version of his book, No Apology, but has edited out references to the individual mandate contained in health care legislation he brought into law in Massachusetts.

Mitt's problem is obvious. In Massachusetts he signed into law the very same individual health care mandate that has become the centerpiece of the conservative case against health care reform. In 2007, 2008, and 2009, Mitt Romney defended the individual mandate and argued for its adoption at the federal level:

Now that the political winds have changed, he's trying to deny that he ever had anything to do with the individual mandate. He barely even mentioned reform during his speech at CPAC today. As Matt says:

Romney can say he isn't apologizing for the individual mandate, but when he turns around and edits his support for it out of his less than year-old book, it's really hard to take him seriously.

Yup. In fact, It's completely impossible to take his word seriously. He will literally say or do anything to advance his political career.

Steve King threatens government shutdown unless Obama abandons health care reform

Fri, 11 Feb 2011 09:40:05 -0800

TPM:

In a presentation at CPAC on Thursday, Rep. Steve King (R-IA) called on Republicans to hold the government hostage until President Obama abandons his dream of reforming the nation's health care system. ...

The reform law signed by Obama last year includes what King called "self-enacting appropriations" -- mandatory spending -- which means they'll kick in on their own unless Congress passes a law to stop them. King's plan: tell Obama that unless he agrees to kill that spending, the GOP will refuse to pass new legislation to fund the government, which runs out of money on March 4.

Without that legislation, the government would shut down. And, voilà: a government held for ransom.

So Steve King wants a hostage situation...give up on health care reform, or the government gets a bullet in the brain.

But his "brilliant" little plan has a not-so-tiny little problem...you see, the Republicans are already threatening a government shutdown over the budget.

That means Steve King wants to take something hostage that's already been taken hostage. And everybody in the hostage-taking business knows you can't take a hostage twice.

And even if you could, you certainly couldn't shoot it dead more than once!

Voilà!

Crowds rejoice as Mubarak steps aside

Fri, 11 Feb 2011 08:17:07 -0800

NYT:

CAIRO — President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt turned over all power to the military, and left the Egyptian capital for his resort home in Sharm el-Sheik, Vice President Omar Suleiman announced on state television on Friday.

The announcement, delivered during evening prayers in Cairo, set off a frenzy of celebration, with protesters shouting “Egypt is free!”

The Egyptian military issued a communiqué pledging to carry out a variety of constitutional reforms in a statement notable for its commanding tone. The military’s statement alluded to the delegation of power to Vice President Omar Suleiman and it suggested that the military would supervise implementation of the reforms.

Update: CNN's Saeed Ahmed tweets:

Tanks outside prez palace turn their barrels away from crowd. Cheer goes up. One soldier climbs out of tank, hangs #Egypt flag on turret

Update: Live video of the jubilant celebration in Tahrir Square from MSNBC:

Follow the latest developments from Egypt in the Tahrir mothership diary.

Republican floats possibility of government shutdown

Fri, 11 Feb 2011 07:46:40 -0800

CNN:

Republican says government shutdown possible, as House GOP work to bridge divisions

A top Republican on the House Appropriations Committee says that the fight to cut spending could lead to a government shut down.

"I know that that's not something leadership wants to do. Is it a possibility? Yes, it is a possibility, but we're going to do everything we can to make sure that doesn't happen," Rep. Mike Simpson, R-Idaho, told reporters off the House floor Thursday.

Simpson, who chairs a House Appropriations subcommittee, is the highest ranking Republican to go that far in suggesting a government shut down could happen.

Conservatives are forcing House GOP leaders to cut more spending this year than they had planned in order to live up to the Republican pledge to cut $100 billion in spending before the end of the year.

A government shutdown would be a disaster, not just just for the Republican Party but for the nation as well. These guys are playing with fire -- shutting down Social Security, shutting down Medicare, these aren't acceptable scenarios for the country, but that's exactly where these guys are heading.

Everybody knows that if House Republicans hand teahadists the keys to the castle, they will end up producing a spending bill that is DOA, forcing a shutdown. That's the game the teahadists want to play. So now is a real leadership moment for the House GOP. They know any the only kind of budget that teahadists will support is the kind of budget that will force a government shutdown.

To avoid that, they'll need to ditch the teahadists and work with House Democrats to pass a bipartisan budget that can pass the Senate and get President Obama's signature. Obviously, the chances of that happening are roughly zero. And that means in all likelihood House Republicans have settled on a path of government shutdown. And they know it.

Maybe Rick Santorum shouldn't have talked about conservative stool at CPAC

Thu, 10 Feb 2011 19:00:05 -0800

Rick Santorum at CPAC on Thursday, waxing poetic about the conservative stool:

We hear a lot and we've heard a lot about the three-legged stool of Ronald Reagan. I believe in that. ... The third leg of the stool is an important leg of the stool that I think is often overlooked. And certainly there are some who believe that third leg of the stool is an option one. One that there needs to be some sort of a truce about. I don't know about you, but you start sawing away at the third leg of a three-legged stool, you're not going to very stable for very long. And it's not just the third leg of the stool, ladies and gentlement. The moral issues, the cultural issues, the social issues: they're the fabric that the stool is made from.

As HuffPost Hill points out, given how Dan Savage redefined Rick Santorum's last name, maybe he's not the guy who should be spending all that time talking about the conservative stool...if you know what I mean.

ME-Sen: Snowe removal: Tea Party Express targets Olympia Snowe

Thu, 10 Feb 2011 17:38:05 -0800

Roll Call:

The Tea Party Express, which raised and spent millions of dollars to knock off moderate Republicans in Alaska, Colorado and Delaware in the 2010 election cycle, is now going after Olympia Snowe in Maine.

The conservative group, arguably the most organized and best funded campaign tool in the tea party movement, announced Thursday afternoon that it plans to fight the moderate Republican’s 2012 re-election effort. Snowe enjoys tremendous popularity across the political spectrum in her home state, but she has irritated Maine’s small and disjointed tea party movement for her willingness to work with Democrats.

Pine Tree State conservatives have already dubbed “Snowe removal” a top priority for 2012, when Maine’s senior Senator will seek her fourth term. But they have struggled to rally around a single challenger.

In September, PPP polled Maine Republicans and found Snowe was in trouble:

Moderate Republicans love Snowe. They give her a 70% approval rating and a strong majority say they'd vote to nominate her for another term. But those folks make up only 30% of the GOP electorate in Maine. It's now dominated by conservatives and they're particularly negative toward her, giving her just a 26% approval rating and saying by a 78-15 margin they'd like to trade her out for someone to the right.

When PPP first did this poll on Snowe in November many argued that there was no viable conservative who could challenge her in the primary. The success of the highly flawed Christine O'Donnell in Delaware may say something about whether insurgent Republicans actually need to be particularly good candidates on paper to get some momentum. But we did find that Snowe trails even a named Republican challenger, 2006 Gubernatorial nominee Chandler Woodcock, by a 38-33 margin in a hypothetical contest.

Ultimately Snowe's issues come down to ideology. 64% of folks within her own party think she's too liberal. Unless the Tea Party fervor really dies down between now and 2012 she sure doesn't look likely to win nomination for another term as a Republican.

If the teahadists are successful in ousting Snowe, Maine, which President Obama carried by a 57-40 margin, would suddenly become a prime pickup opportunity for Dems.

Republican congressman: GOP needs to "put up or shut up" on health care reform

Thu, 10 Feb 2011 15:15:24 -0800

Behold the plight of Republicans elected in district's carried by President Obama:

In another sign that the politics of repeal are far from a slam dunk for many Republicans, a House GOPer went way off the national Republican Party's message on the health law, dismissing the House vote for repeal as merely "ceremonial" and saying it was time for the GOP to "put up or shut up" on their promise to "repeal and replace."

The complaints were delivered by newly elected Rep. Richard Hannah (R-NY), whose district was carried by President Obama in 2008 with 51% of the vote. Hannah said:

They've complained for two years about this health care bill. They've offered alternatives, but they're not alternatives that are in many ways viable. Well, now they have to put up the goods. They have to say "here's what we're presenting, here's why it will work." ... Let the Republican party put up or shut up.

Tell you what, Congressman Hannah. I'll gladly donate $10 to your reelection campaign if the Republicans actually pass a plan that would achieve universal health care while bending down the Medicare cost curve. I'll donate $20 if it's better than the plan that President Obama signed into law. And if neither of those things happen (and we know they won't), I'll donate $30 if you run an ad saying the GOP should "shut up" on health care reform.

Donald Trump warms up CPAC crowd with birther dogwhistle

Thu, 10 Feb 2011 14:32:03 -0800

You gotta' give Donald Trump credit, because he knows how conservatives get their jollies: by pretending that President Obama isn't a real American.

Our current president came out of nowhere. Came out of nowhere. In fact, I’ll go a step further: the people that went to school with him, they don’t even know him. They never saw him. They don’t know who he is. It’s crazy. [Wild applause.]

With no track record — and, I will tell you, he’s got nothing to criticize. He’s a wonderful guy, he’s a name man, but there was no record. Nothing to criticize. He didn’t go in wars. He didn’t go in battles. He didn’t beat this one, that one, have enemies all over the place. Nobody knew who the hell he was. He’s now our president! He’s our president! [laughter]

Trump, who got a standing ovation at the end of his speech, told the audience he had what it takes to win the GOP nomination as a conservative, but that he wouldn't make a decision until June.

New jobless claims hit 30 month low

Thu, 10 Feb 2011 13:50:04 -0800

Reuters:

New U.S. claims for unemployment benefits dropped to a 2-1/2 year-year low last week, offering assurance that the labor market was strengthening despite January's poor jobs numbers.

Initial claims for state unemployment benefits fell 36,000 to a seasonally adjusted 383,000, the lowest since early July 2008, the Labor Department said on Thursday.

Economists polled by Reuters had forecast claims slipping to 410,000. The prior week's figure was revised up to 419,000, from the previously reported 415,000.

According to Reuters, the rolling 4-week average is now at 415,500, a drop of 16,000. Overall, 9.4 million Americans are receiving assistance from unemployment programs.

Mubarak vows to hang onto power, protesters furious

Thu, 10 Feb 2011 13:18:11 -0800

ABC:

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak said he has delegated many powers to his newly minted vice president Omar Suleiman, but enraged crowds gathered in Tahrir Square hoping to hear the embattled president say he was stepping down.

Hundreds of thousands of people in Tahrir Square didn't wait until Mubarak finished his speech before they began angrily chanting, "Leave, leave, leave."

Mubarak's defiant speech -- in which he reiterates several times that he won't let foreign powers intervene in Egypt's affairs -- is expected to be widely denounced by the thousands of protesters gathered in Cairo and across the country.

Although Mubarak claimed he was transferring authority for the transition to Suleiman, nobody seems to believe it.

Update: NBC is reporting the protesters plan to march to the Presidential palace, but CNN is showing video that they say shows protesters walking towards state television.

Keep track of the latest developments in Egypt in the Tahrir mothership diary.

House GOPers bow to tea party pressure on budget

Thu, 10 Feb 2011 12:46:05 -0800

After failing to impress their teahadist wing with an itemized list of $23.3 billion in spending cuts, House Republican leadership is now promising to cut President Obama's FY11 budget request by $100 billion.

In another victory for tea-party rebels in Congress, House Appropriations Committee Chairman Harold Rogers today scrapped his original plan for spending cuts and announed that he will seek to cut $100 billion from what President Obama had requested for this year.

“My Committee has been working diligently to go line-by-line in every agency budget to find and cut unnecessary spending to reduce our deficit and help our economy thrive,” Roger said in a statement.

“After meeting with my subcommittee Chairs, we have determined that the CR can and will reach a total of $100 billion in cuts compared to the President’s request immediately - fully meeting the goal outlined in the Republican ‘Pledge to America’ in one fell swoop. Our intent is to make deep but manageable cuts in nearly every area of government, leaving no stone unturned and allowing no agency or program to be held sacred. I have instructed my committee to include these deeper cuts, and we are continuing to work to complete this critical legislation.”

Republicans had initially proposed cutting Obama's request by $58 billion, arguing that their campaign promise of a $100 billion cut should be pro-rated because by the time a budget is approved, there will only by seven months left in the fiscal year. This outraged the House's teahadist contingent who went into rebellion.

While $100 billion may sound like a lot, because it is a cut from President Obama's request, it would would represent a reduction of just $74 billion from current spending levels and would leave the deficit essentially unchanged at $1.43 trillion compared with the current projection of $1.5 trillion. It would, however, have a devastating impact on those programs that are cut and the people that depend on them. It would also threaten economic recovery, not only gutting programs that target job creation but also forcing layoffs that would further contract the economy.

Assuming House Republican leadership manages to get their teahadist-approved budget through the House, they are going to find that it's dead on arrival in the Senate and White House. And unless they can figure out a way to get teahadists to agree to a budget that can pass the Senate and get President Obama's signature, Republicans are going to need to either fund the government with another continuing resolution or they are going to trigger a shutdown.

So in bowing to teahadist pressure Republicans are only granting themselves a momentary respite from the political firestorm. They may be quelling the rebellion from the right, but they are dramatically increasing the likelihood of a government shutdown. If they can't stand the heat from angry teahadists, just wait until they start getting blowback from senior citizens whose Social Security checks won't get printed or from doctors and nurses whose fees won't receive Medicare reimbursement.