In praise of Tom Coburn, our Smartest Republican of the Day

By Michael J.W. Stickings

I can't quite believe it, given what a crazy right-wing nutcase he is, but, well, credit where credit is due and all that.

Here, via Think Progress, is what the extremely conservative Oklahoma senator said yesterday about liberals and the budget deficit:

All of us are going to give a little something if we're going to get out of the hole we're in. Everybody's going to see something different... I think it's better for us to take the pain that we're going to have to take and make sure it's meted out in the proper order than take much more severe pain. When I talk to my colleagues on the other side, and some of my closest colleagues are the most liberal, I find them more intellectually honest oftentimes, the very people they want to help, unless we change these [government programs] now are the very people who are going to get hurt if we don't fix it.

I still don't agree with the vast majority of the positions he takes, but here he acknowledges that there is a need for compromise (and that Republicans must compromise), praises his liberal colleagues (i.e., Democrats) for being more honest than his own kind, and actually makes a case for reforming entitlement programs so as to help those who need those programs the most. How very refreshing.

And this wasn't a first. As Think Progress notes:

Coburn is absolutely a staunch conservative with whom we disagree on most budgetary issues, but to his credit, he has consistently said that new revenue needs to be a part of any realistic deficit reduction package, acknowledging what the vast majority of his Republican colleagues won't. He has said it's "pretty stupid and naive" for Republicans and anti-tax zealots like Grover Norquist to think that a budget deal won't include new revenue, accurately pointing out the depths to which government revenue has plunged in recent years.

How very... not Republican of him. 

Quote of the Day: Alan Simpson on Grover Norquist

By Michael J.W. Stickings

Will there be a budget deal? Not if Americans for Tax Reform's Grover Norquist has his way -- or, at least, there won't be a deal that includes tax increases (or even just letting the Bush tax cuts expire and returning to Clinton-era tax rates), though it's pretty clear that there's no way the budget problem will ever be addressed seriously without raising revenue (spending cuts alone won't cut it, particularly given how unpopular they are).

I haven't been a fan of President Obama's "deficit commission" -- it proposed some sensible reforms, such as ending various tax loopholes and subsidies, but its overall focus was on keeping government far too small, that is, on advancing a moderate Republican agenda without regard for progressive concerns -- but it's hard not to like, or at least to appreciate, the straight-talking (renegade Republican) Alan Simpson for occasionally telling it like it is:

If you are in thrall to Grover Norquist, this country hasn't got a prayer.

Okay, it's an old quote. He said that in February (though it was reported yesterday). But it still applies. And the problem, clearly, is that almost all Republicans are "in thrall" to Norquist.

Which means the country is in big, big trouble.

It's not alright, Jack

"We've lost sight in Washington of what Congress is for, of who Congress serves. It serves the people of the United States. Instead, we've found it serves Chinese sweatshop owners, Russian gangsters — Congress is now serving those interests. The thing is it has become accepted now, so part of our political culture now, that it's normal. Your average citizen doesn't have the voice you'd expect him to have because these voices are much louder and much better financed."
— J. Michael Waller, director, Institute of World Politics

By Edward Copeland 

It's slightly confusing that jailed former lobbyist Jack Abramoff has inspired two 2010 films about his escapades and that both have Casino Jack in the title. I've yet to see the fictional feature starring Kevin Spacey and directed by the late George Hickenlooper, but the documentary Casino Jack and the United States of Money by Alex Gibney, the great documentarian behind past gems such as the Oscar-winning Taxi to the Dark Side and Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room has made an excellent nonfiction version. On top of that, Gibney also directed or co-directed THREE other 2010 documentaries I've yet to see, Client 9: The Rise and Fall of Eliot Spitzer, Freakonomics and My Trip to Al-Qaeda. He also executive produced the phenomenal No End in Sight and was a consulting producer on the exquisite Who Killed the Electric Car? Busy man and from the films I've seen him make so far, a damn fine nonfiction filmmaker as well as a prolific one.

Even if you followed the tale of uberlobbyist Jack Abramoff closely, Gibney's film will keep you riveted as it tells the story of his life and various malfeasance through interviews with many of the associates who were involved in his schemes, either as victims or perpetrators. You also get handy reminders of what a true character the man really was, dating all the way back to his days as he took over the national college Republicans to spin them in a more conservative direction with friends such as Karl Rove and Grover Norquist.

It's also funny to remember his interest and obsessions with pop culture, such as when he grew tired of his secular Jewish rearing and decided to become orthodox based on, of all things, seeing the film version of Fiddler on the Roof. Then there is the obsession he and other college Republicans had with the movie Patton, repeating the famous speech George C. Scott delivers in the film, only replacing every German or Nazi reference with Democrat. Longing for spy games at heart, when an Angolan adventure goes awry, Abramoff even turned to movie producing, financing the Dolph Lundgren hoot Red Scorpion.

However, lobbying proved far more lucrative to Abramoff than show business ever could have been, ethics and laws be damned. It led to the the top our system of legalized bribery (and some instances of not-so-legalized bribery) as he peddled influence on Capitol Hill, mostly with Republicans though Democrats cashed in on his largess as well. The shocking parts are watching as he enlists Indian tribes as clients to promote gaming on one hand and charges them huge fees while on the other hand helps forces out to stop the Indian gaming movement if it interferes with specific clients. Rest assured though, Abramoff and his associates were making money on both sides of the equation.

Casino Jack and the United States of Money tells Abramoff's story in a sleek, informative way and it's still unbelievable that only member of Congress, Bob Ney, R-Ohio, went to jail for his involvement with the man, even if he did help shove Tom DeLay out the door. Gibney saves his suckerpunch for the epilogue though, when you realize that as bad as the system is and as horribly as Abramoff abused it, it turned out to be small potatoes compared to what the lobbyists for the titans of Wall Street have and continue to accomplish.

The result should really be more depressing than it is, but it's made too well and entertains too much for much sadness to seep in.

(Cross-posted at Edward Copeland on Film.)

Jane' friends

By Creature

I like Jane Hamsher. I get her emails. I've contributed money. But teaming up with Grover Norquist is a step too far. Now she's making it easier to point, laugh, and marginalize. I'm as angry as the next guy, but really, Jane, Grover? So not helpful.

Not all seniors have Alzheimers

By Creature

Today Republicans paint themselves the champions of Medicare. Wasn't it just yesterday that they were trying to drown it in a bathtub? Do they think seniors are stupid or just forgetful?

Obama: "John Kerry with a tan."

By Michael J.W. Stickings

(Whoops. I missed this one last week. It's another racist doozy from the GOP.)

Last week, anti-tax fanatic and fantasist Grover Norquist told the L.A. Times that Obama is "John Kerry with a tan." (h/t: The Stump)

(Yeah, and if only all those Negroes hadn't spent so much time out in the sun, maybe there wouldn't have been that whole slavery thing.)

Now, Grover had all sorts of nice things to say about Lousiana Governor (and possible veep pick) Bobby Jindal, he of East Indian descent. I suppose it's okay to be a wannabe Ronald Reagan with a tan.

For Grover, it seems, money is thicker than race.

**********

Over to you, Johnny McBush: Now that you're best buddies with Grover and the crazies at Americans for Tax Reform -- flippin' and floppin' on Bush's plutocratic tax cuts aside -- would you care to respond?

Not that you're responsible for everything your supporters say, of course -- but perhaps you'd like to distance yourself a bit from such bigotry?

Or is it just part of the usual GOP smear campaign to you?