There’s Good News Out There. But You Have to Dig for It.

Posted by Marvin on February 17, 2012 at 10:12 am

(All references are from a single issue of the NY Times; Feb 16, 2012)

Should you need good news, scroll directly to the bottom.

Rational Americans understand that politics must involve the art of compromise. For too long obstructionists have prevented critical legislation from passing because of narrow, unbending, ideological dispositions despite logic and necessity. That people are angry about the recalcitrance of obstructionists is best measured by Congress’ ten percent approval rating (hard to fathom, it’s actually lower than BP’s approval rating at the height of the oil spill catastrophe).

In today’s paper alone are the following bits of news:

Don’t think that the Republican willingness to vote in favor of extending the payroll tax cut, unemployment benefits and the doc-fix points to a change in their willingness to negotiate. They broke stride because they were in a totally untenable position as the Obama vs. whoever campaign scares the bejeezus out of them. With recess looming, Americans’ elected representatives feared taking their positions home with them.

That is the headline–that Republicans did not demand pay-fors in return for their largesse. Actually there were reasonable compromises to cut the deal.
Federal employees will have to assume a bit more of their pension contribution (whether that’s reasonable depends on their overall salary and benefits package). But what will likely not receive due attention in the media is that the Republican’s great compromise did not include a small tax increase on the wealthy to cover some or all of the cost of the package. This is a principle that, to the righties’ minds, is non-negotiable.

So we have not heard the last of the fairness argument. 99:1 will remain the centerpiece of the campaign in a variety of forms. Just listen to the uber-conservatives lament even as Congress and Senate vote on payroll cut/jobless benefits next week.

That’s hardly the only nugget in today’s newspaper that grabbed my attention. Relief for many suffering Americans was promised in last week’s announcement regarding the mortgage fiasco. While, the outcome of compromise (a remarkable feat by this Congress), the deal leaves much to be desired. It is a move forward for lots of Americans, both current and behind in payments to their banks.

Perhaps the biggest piece, the result of New York’s Attorney General Eric Schneiderman and other AGs across the country, is that the really big banks remain responsible for the worst offenses. This morning’s news of foreclosure misdeeds in California are the tip of the iceberg. Foreclosure abuse in California has been labeled ‘pervasive’ and is likely representative of foreclosure proceedings throughout many states. About 84 percent of the files contained what appear to be clear violations of the law, and fully two-thirds had at least four violations or irregularities. . . If there were any lingering doubts about whether the problems with loan documents in disclosures are isolated, this study puts any such question to rest.

Can’t stop here. Former Gov. Blagojevich’ lawyer is asking for a change of prisons for her client. She wants him to surrender at an unknown location so he can do so with dignity! All of a sudden the man’s got dignity.

Then there’s the topic of tax rates. Romney’s effective tax rate was around 14%. Guess what Santorum’s effective rate has been? 14%. I’ll be taking my filing folder to our tax accountant tomorrow. Maybe he can get me a 14% rate, too.

No surprise here, but it made my skin crawl reading this: Ann Coulter, the Metta World Peace of ultra-right politics, told Romney, in return for my endorsement you owe me and you better be as right-wing a president as I’m telling everyone you’re going to be.

Where’s Spencer Tracy when we most need him? Really disconcerting is a piece about the Heartland Institute. At first I could not recall how that name resonated with me. It’s come back to me: that’s the conservative think tank that lied and cheated in support of Philip Morris questioning the science linking secondhand smoke to health risks and to lobby against government public health reforms. Their more recent mishagos questions scientific consensus on climate change. Their argument is that global warming is not occurring and–get this–that warming would be beneficial if it did occur. Now leaked documents reveal that the Institute will be pushing a plan to undermine the teaching of global warming in public schools. Think back. Bertram Cates is on trial for having introduced his students to Darwin’s concept that man is descended from the apes. We need more Henry Drummonds today.

We are reminded of Congress’ approval of the STOCK Act banning members of Congress from insider trading. Ethics reform, shmethics reform. While a strong representation of Congress favors registering those who snoop around the halls of Congress to gather insider tidbits, enter Eric Cantor. He had problems with the law so he has used his leadership position to dilute it.

Think Cantor’s a creep? Then consider Utah Senator Mike Lee. He has committed himself to blocking every one of President Obama’s nominees-payback for what was, in his opinion, Obama’s illegal recess appointments. When Harry Reid finally got enough votes to move on a judicial appointment, Rand Paul threw a wrench into the works because he was upset about our country’s foreign aid to Egypt. I’m looking for a connection here.

Drumroll, please: Now for today’s good news: