The Hollywood Liberal

McDonnell as VP? VA Gov. Could Help, Hinder
Caitlin Huey-Burns, RCP
Ask Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell about his vice presidential ambitions and his answer is invariably, I have the best job in the world, one held by Patrick Henry and Thomas Jefferson.But that job ends in 2014, as Virginia law forbids its governors from serving two consecutive terms. And his record in that position — leading a key swing state with high approval ratings and a record of increasing jobs and decreasing deficits — makes him an attractive candidate. Plus, as chairman of the Republican Governors Association, McDonnell has become a national party figurehead.Some observers say…

Barack Obama: Drone Warrior
Charles Krauthammer, Washington Post
A very strange story, that 6,000-word front-page New York Times piece on how, every Tuesday, Barack Obama shuffles “baseball cards” with the pictures and bios of suspected terrorists from around the world and chooses who shall die by drone strike. He even reserves for himself the decision of whether to proceed when the probability of killing family members or bystanders is significant.

When Pelosi Says “Free,” Reach for Your Wallet
Deb Saunders, SF Chron
On Tuesday, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi explained to the Commonwealth Club the reason Washington passed Obamacare. Even if everyone in America “loved” his own health care plan, Pelosi argued, Congress had to pass President Barack Obama's Affordable Care Act because American health care was “unsustainable financially.”Yes, Pelosi actually believes Washington had to get involved in health care to reduce its cost.The Democratic leader then listed some of Obamacare's new benefits: “free” annual checkups and preventive care and the ability of adult…

End Tax Breaks for the Wealthy
Rep. Nancy Pelosi, USA Today
America's middle class — families, workers and small businesses — deserves economic stability and certainty. That is why Democrats have called on House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, to set an immediate vote on extension of the middle-income tax cuts. Our economic growth requires that we act now.Our nation's entrepreneurial spirit depends on a thriving middle class. These tax cuts strengthen the economy by putting money into the pockets of consumers and supporting small businesses, the engines of our recovery and job creation.

Mitt Clinches Nomination, Sharpens Attack on Obama
Erin McPike, RCP
Mitt Romney clinched the Republican presidential nomination Tuesday night with a primary win in Texas, putting an official end to the GOP race on the very same day he sharpened his general election message against President Obama.Just after 9 p.m. Eastern time, Romney offered this statement via his official Twitter account: “#1144. Thank You. Whatever challenges lie ahead, we will settle for nothing less than getting America back on the path to prosperity.”Despite surpassing the 1,144 delegate threshold, it was just a token evening for the presumptive nominee — lacking the drama of…

The Massachusetts Assault Is Coming
Steve Kornacki, Salon
Get ready to hear a lot about Massachusetts in the days and weeks ahead. It’s the next component of Mitt Romney’s resume that the Obama campaign plans to focus its attacks on, as ABC News reports:Team Obama will point to Romney’s rhetoric on job creation, size of government, education, deficits and taxes during the 2002 gubernatorial campaign and draw parallels with his presidential stump speeches of 2012. The goal is to illustrate that Romney has made the same promises before with unimpressive results, officials say. 

Why Obama’s Strategists Think He’ll Win
John Heilemann, NY Magazine
David Plouffe sits in his White House office, just a few steps from the Oval, staring at an oversize map of these United States. It’s late afternoon on May 9, two hours after Barack Obama’s declaration that his evolution on gay marriage has reached its terminus. The president is down the hall and on the phone, discussing his decision’s theological implications with several prominent African-American pastors—while Plouffe is being queried about its political dimensions by a querulous Caucasian reporter. The map at which Plouffe is gazing isn’t…

JPMorgan Outsmarted: The Hunch, the Pounce & Kill
Azam Ahmed, NYT
One beneficiary was Boaz Weinstein, a hedge fund manager who saw a price anomaly that signaled an opportunity. At a conference, he advised betting against it.It was last November, and Mr. Weinstein, a wunderkind of the New York hedge fund world, had spied something strange across the Atlantic. In an obscure corner of the financial markets, prices seemed out of whack. It didn’t make sense.

Romney Is an Unknown Quantity
Margaret Carlson, Bloomberg
What’s the matter with Massachusetts that would make Mitt Romney want to pretend he’d never been its governor?Yes, it presents some image problems for the conservative candidate Romney now wants to be. The last time a Massachusetts governor ran for president, it did not go well. Still, it’s what Romney has. Had he not been (to use his preferred term) “CEO” of the 15th-most populous state in the country, Romney would have a weak claim on the Oval Office.

Does Obama Really Believe His Own BS?
Mickey Kaus, The Daily Caller
Let your friends help you discover the best news, features and videos on TheDC. Publish what you read and maintain full control.Today’s NYT campaign notebook has Obama sluicing the controversial Nutting Marketwatch chart straight off the Internet into a campaign speech, in which he proclaims “Since I’ve been president, federal spending has risen at the lowest pace in nearly 60 years.” (The exact sequence seems to be Nutting’s keyboard to Web to Carney to Obama to the world.) Obama’s instantaneous embrace of…

Pants on Fire Romney
Eugene Robinson, Washington Post
There are those who tell the truth. There are those who distort the truth. And then there's Mitt Romney. Every political campaign exaggerates and dissembles. This practice may not be admirable — it's surely one reason so many Americans are disenchanted with politics — but it's something we've all come to expect. Candidates claim the right to make any boast or accusation as long as there's a kernel of veracity in there somewhere.

Bain Attacks Could Backfire on Obama
Michael Barone, Wash Examiner
The ham-handed Barack Obama campaign attack ads on Mitt Romney's former firm Bain Capital have drawn a lot of ire from other Democrats.And not just because they were sloppily fact-checked (the ads hit Romney for layoffs long after he left Bain) and because a leading Obama money bundler is a Bain executive himself.Chiming in with various degrees of disapproval were Newark, N.J., Mayor Cory Booker (“nauseating”), former Rep. Harold Ford, Obama car czar Steven Rattner, Sen. Mark Warner and former Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell.There are other signs of unease among Democratic elites….

Memorial Day

Guantanamo Lawyers Make Mockery of Court

When Government Privileges Trump Citizens
Steven Greenhut, Reason
Democrats and Republicans in the California Legislature have once again broadcast this troubling fact: They are far more concerned about the ever-expanding demands of a relatively small group of public sector union members than they are about the public welfare of the citizens of our state.On May 17, the state Assembly voted 68-0 to support the most despicable piece of legislation that’s come through the halls in a while, which is saying a lot given the foolhardy proposals routinely on display in Sacramento. (It still requires approval by the Senate and the governor.) 

Big-Spending Obama Frames Himself as Scrooge

Washington, DC: Cronies “R” Us
Andrew Ferguson, Weekly Standard
Hot Topics: Get alerts when there is a new article that might interest you.We were struck last week by a pair of instances of Republicans doing what Republicans do”"one encouraging, one not so much. On the encouraging side, we had Sen. Tom Coburn, who never fails to lift a faltering conservative heart. He gave an interview to a blogger for the Washington Post, though we won't hold that against him. In it he said many wise things, particularly about a scenario that like visions of sugarplums dances in many be-pillowed Republican heads.Steny Hoyer and Eric…

Why Bain Questions Matter
Eugene Robinson, Washington Post
WASHINGTON — Who are the dastardly enemies of free enterprise who decided to make an issue of Mitt Romney's tenure at the private-equity firm Bain Capital? Er, those would be his fellow Republicans.Listen to what Newt Gingrich said in January: “The Bain model is to go in at a very low price, borrow an immense amount of money, pay Bain an immense amount of money and leave. I'll let you decide if that's really good capitalism. I think that's exploitation.”Or what Rick Perry said that same month: “There is something inherently wrong when getting rich off…

Obama Edges Romney in 3 Key Battlegrounds
Mark Murray, NBC News
President Barack Obama holds a narrow advantage over presumptive Republican nominee Mitt Romney in three of the most pivotal presidential battleground states — Florida, Ohio and Virginia — according to new NBC-Marist polls.But in each of these states, Obama's share of the vote is below the 50 percent threshold usually considered safe haven for an incumbent president, and Romney has narrowed the margin in these three battlegrounds since earlier this year. 

Obama vs. Romney: A Debate Over Government
John Harwood, NY Times
The currency of political persuasion is emotion — and the way President Obama and Mitt Romney are spending it crystallizes their starkly contrasting appeals.An Obama campaign video shows the president’s national political director, Katherine Archuleta, tearfully crediting Mr. Obama with having saved her daughter’s life. She portrays the president as a hero of government whose health care law assures her daughter, a cancer survivor, insurance coverage forever. 

In Memoriam: Obama the Uniter
Matt Negrin, ABC News
The 2004 version of Barack Obama, who captured the nation with a dazzling speech about unity and went on to win the presidency on a message of hope, died on Monday. He was 8 years old.The cause of death appeared to be a bitter realization that he needed to win reelection in an increasingly partisan political environment, a cancer that he had been battling for months if not years.Obama's illness got the best of him late Monday, as he announced that his campaign for four more years in the White House would be based not on optimism, but rather the shady corporate record of his opponent,…

Does Portman Have the Edge in VP Sweepstakes?
Erin McPike, RCP
Rob Portman has been preparing for this for years.Although the Ohio senator offers the standard line that he doesn't expect to be picked as Mitt Romney's running mate, the trajectory of his career and his political conduct in Washington have made nearly everyone in politics almost certain that he'll be plucked for this year's Republican presidential ticket.Bob Paduchik, a veteran consultant who ran George W. Bush's re-election effort in Ohio as well as Portman's Senate campaign in 2010, bottom-lined it: "Rob Portman is uniquely qualified to do the job on…

Peace Process Harmed Israel’s Reputation
Jeff Jacoby, Boston Globe
‘What happened,” asks Michael Oren, “to Israel’s reputation?”The Israeli ambassador to the United States, a noted historian, combat veteran, and bestselling author, raised that question in a Wall Street Journal essay last week. Writing on the 64th anniversary of Israeli independence, Oren began by quoting from Life magazine’s salute to the Jewish state on its 25th birthday in 1973 — a 92-page special issue that honored modern Israel, an island of enlightened democratic courage flourishing against all odds amid a sea of Arab…

Why Deficit Hysteria Sells
Steve Kornacki, Salon
One of the themes I’ve been emphasizing is the role of context in the presidential race. President Obama’s reelection prospects depend on swing voters considering not just the current state of the economy, but also the factors that led us here and the economic vision that Mitt Romney would bring to the presidency. Romney’s hopes, on the other hand, depend on those same voters either ignoring or rationalizing away the context that Obama tries to introduce and simply voting him out because of their profound economic anxiety. 

In the Book of Romney, Bain Is Just Chapter One
Bob Shrum, The Week
The real Mitt Romney is finally running for president — but not in his own first television spot, a superficial checklist of issues which provides no insight into who he is or what makes him tick. It's the Obama commercial on Bain and the destruction of GST Steel that starkly reveals the real Romney as a vulture capitalist. And this is just the beginning of what we will hear about Bain, and of a narrative arc that will position Romney as the candidate of the few, by the few, and for the few.

Indiana’s Plan to Steal California Jobs
Jason Margolis, The Atlantic
Governor Mitch Daniels has a bold strategy to make his state the new destination for outbound sunbelt businesses. But making Indiana a tech magnet will take more than low taxes.Some Californians may have recently noticed an advertisement with a coffee mug and the word “Indiana” written in the milky latte foam. A crumpled napkin sits next to the mug with this scribbled on it: “Admit it, you find me fiscally attractive.” On another napkin it reads, “Indiana: low taxes, pro-business, fiscally responsible.”

Booker Looks Like Obama Used to 4 Years Ago
David Graham, Atlantic
In criticizing the president's attack on Mitt Romney's Bain Capital record, he gives an uncomfortable reminder of how voters saw Obama four years ago.This weekend, a young black politician — handsome, charismatic, and hipper than the average elected official — took the national spotlight and made a dramatic show of defying his party's old guard, complaining about the divisive, negative, business-as-usual attitude emanating from Washington. It could have been Barack Obama four years ago — but instead, Obama was the target of the attack.

Rev. Wright & the “Vetting” Obsession
Paul Waldman, American Prospect
When the Washington Post story about Mitt Romney's high school years (including an incident in which the former Massachusetts governor forcibly cut the hair of a student whose commitment to conformism was insufficiently vigorous) came out, leading Republicans were fairly quiet about it. Whether the incident happened or not, they said, it tells us virtually nothing about the man Romney is today and the issues at stake in this election. That's a perfectly reasonable argument, but it isn't the one you would have heard from many of the foot soldiers in the Republican base. Among…

A Choice of Capitalisms
E.J. Dionne, Washington Post
WASHINGTON — In this election, we're not having an argument that pits capitalism against socialism. We are trying to decide what kind of capitalism we want. It is a debate as American as Alexander Hamilton, Andrew Jackson, and Henry Clay — which is to say that we have always done this. In light of the rise of inequality and the financial mess we just went through, it's a discussion we very much need to have now.The back-and-forth about Bain Capital, Mitt Romney's old company, is part of something larger. So is the inquest into the implications of multibillion-dollar trading…

Private Equity and Change
David Brooks, New York Times
Forty years ago, corporate America was bloated, sluggish and losing ground to competitors in Japan and beyond. But then something astonishing happened. Financiers, private equity firms and bare-knuckled corporate executives initiated a series of reforms and transformations. 

John Boehner’s Debt Sword–at the Ready
Dana Milbank, Washington Post
John Boehner thinks it’s kind of funny. “It struck me as somewhat comical,” he told reporters Thursday morning, “that, you know, people are looking to me like I’m the guy carrying a sword around town, I’m going to bludgeon someone.”Well, Mr. Speaker, maybe that’s because your rapier keeps setting off the metal detectors.The bludgeon Boehner wields is his threat to revive the default standoff of last summer, a showdown that shattered consumer confidence and helped stall the economic recovery.

Rahm Emanuel: In Your Face
Cate Plys, Northwestern Magazine
No wonder you can date pictures of Rahm Emanuel by the darkening circles around his eyes, the way botanists count tree rings. Most people settle for half-circles under their eyes. The famously competitive Emanuel goes the full 360 degrees. Chicago’s new mayor never stops, and sleep is seemingly optional.A look at Emanuel’s daily schedule, courtesy of a Chicago Reader investigation, shows why the mayor is in a hurry. The down-to-the-minute itineraries typically track him from breakfast meetings through dinner receptions. In three months the phrase “lunch with a…

Eternally Shifting Sands of Obama’s Biography
Mark Steyn, OC Register
“Barack Obama, the first African-American president of the Harvard Law Review, was born in Kenya and raised in Indonesia and Hawaii.”So the lunatic theory that Barack Obama doesn't meet the minimum eligibility requirements to be president of the United States was first advanced by Barack Obama's official representative. Where did she get that wacky idea from? “This was nothing more than a fact-checking error by me,” says Obama's literary agent, Miriam Goderich, a “fact” that went so un-“checked” that it stayed up on her agency's…

Mitt Romney Fails to See America
Colbert King, Washington Post
After a third reading of Mitt Romney’s Liberty University commencement speech, I still fail to see how my Post colleague Michael Gerson could have described it as “more than good.”Romney’s address struck me as standard fare for a college graduation. He hit all the familiar notes: gratitude to school and a nod to parents for sacrifices made; celebration of the virtues of hard work, devotion to principles, individualism, service, family. There was even a little shameless politicking, with Romney telling the audience “what the next four years…

Scott Walker Hangs Tough in Wisconsin
Stephen Hayes, Weekly Standard
Geeta Jensen had some exciting news: Governor Scott Walker was visiting Jensen Metal Products to announce the addition of 39 new jobs, part of a company-wide expansion accelerated by tax credits his administration had offered to encourage hiring.“It is an honor to have the governor of the state of Wisconsin visit us in this, our 90th anniversary year,” she said in introducing Walker, her slight Indian accent marking her words. “When Jungbert Jensen immigrated to Wisconsin from Copenhagen, Denmark, around 1911, and started making rain gutters and milk pails out of…