Daily Kos

Outgoing House Speaker John Boehner had an exit interview of sorts on Sunday's Face the Nation. All of Boehner's soul-searching since his visit with Pope Francis last week, supposedly the impetus behind his surprise resignation, hasn't turned him into a total truth-teller.

On Planned Parenthood:

The Senate is expected to pass a continuing resolution next week. The House will take up the Senate bill. We will also take up a select committee to investigate these horrific videos that we have seen from abortion clinics in several states that really raise questions about the use of federal funds and raise questions about aborted fetuses that are born alive.

Not true, of course, and not challenged by host John Dickerson, who maybe isn't aware that the videos have been thoroughly debunked. He just skips over that to allow Boehner downplay the fact that he's going to have the rely on Democrats if he wants to avoid an immediate government shutdown. "I'm sure it will" require Democratic votes, Boehner said. "But I expect my Democrat colleagues want to keep the government open as much as I do." The last vestige of sanity in the House dispensed with, Boehner moved onto to claim how much he has accomplished as speaker, including "protecting 99 percent of the American people from […] the first major entitlement reforms in 20 years." Yeah, right. But here's where it gets really absurd, where Boehner would have us believe that he wasn't somehow in charge of the House for the past stupid four years.

DICKERSON: Well, are [House hardliners] unrealistic about what can be done government? That's the dysfunction.

BOEHNER: Absolutely they're unrealistic.

But the Bible says, beware of false prophets. And there are people out there spreading noise about how much can get done. I mean, this whole idea that we were going to shut down the government to get rid of Obamacare in 2013, this plan never had chance.

But over the course of the August recess in 2013, and the course of September, lot of my Republican colleagues who knew it was a fool's errand really they were getting all this pressure from home to do this. And so we have got groups here in town, members of the House and Senate here in town who whip people into a frenzy believing they can accomplish things that they know, they know are never going to happen.

Are you talking about Cruz? asks Dickerson. Boehner refers him to his previous comments on the Texas senator, when he called him a "jackass." The jackass that apparently forced Boehner into 50-plus votes to repeal Obamacare and to refuse to work with Democrats in the House to avoid a shutdown in 2013 and to spend the lion's share of the past nearly five years passing poison pill legislation.

Clearly, the Pope couldn't deliver the miracle of John Boehner accepting responsibility for his shitty leadership.

Carly Fiorina isn't backing off of her lurid claims about the horrors to be seen on a mysterious anti-Planned Parenthood video that apparently no one but Fiorina has seen. Pressed by Chuck Todd on the issue Sunday:

“Not at all. That scene absolutely does exist, and that voice saying what I said they were saying — “We’re gonna keep it alive to harvest its brain — exists as well,” Fiorina said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”

But it's top secret and even though you keep talking about how important it is for people to see that this is going on, somehow she just can't show people anything but a fake video created by her campaign that still doesn't show what she claims. Steven Benen rounds up the growing list of times Fiorina has stuck by this story:

Fiorina made a very specific claim in the most recent GOP debate and that claim wasn’t true. Since then, she and her aides have repeated the lie, over and over again, pretending fiction is fact. ABC offered Fiorina a chance to clarify, but she refused, sticking to the falsehood. Then Fox News pressed the Republican to acknowledge reality, and Fiorina refused again.

Now add Chuck Todd to the pile, and it's clear: Fiorina thinks she has more to gain from having Republican primary voters see her as an anti-Planned Parenthood crusader than she has to lose from gaining a reputation as a liar. But the thing is, once you have a reputation as a liar—a reputation Fiorina could also get from her interesting descriptions of her time as Hewlett-Packard CEO—practically everything you say can be viewed with doubt, tainting an entire campaign. Which would be well-deserved in this case, so keep lying, Carly!

Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) is the likely choice to be the next speaker of the House, most insiders and plenty of Republicans say, following the stunning announcement from Speaker John Boehner on Friday that he's resigning the position and his seat on October 30. Even the so-called "Freedom Caucus" is expecting a McCarthy win.

Rep. Mick Mulvaney (R-S.C.), a founding member of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, acknowledged Sunday that current Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) is the favorite to replace John Boehner as speaker.

"I think it's fair to say that Kevin has the inside track for the position," Mulvaney said on Fox News Sunday.

Note, however, that the caucus issued a statement Sunday saying it hadn't officially decided on who to back. Rep. Daniel Webster (R-FL) announced that he's in the race and will be competing for the spot on "a principled, member-driven" platform, promising that every member will have a chance to get a bill or amendment to the floor. Because what the House really needs is more chaos. Even without real opposition, however, the hardliners are staking out their position that confrontation with President Obama and with Mitch McConnell in the Senate is all that matters. Mulvaney laid it out, saying that "important question" is "will they change for the better or will we simply replace Mr. Boehner with somebody else who will do the same thing."

And that means that we're just as likely to have shutdown threats and debt ceiling hostage-taking with Boehner out, even if a stop-gap funding bill passes this week to keep government running until December 11.

"To get members to bust the budget caps, they have to threaten a Christmas-vacation shutdown for members of Congress," said Representative Thomas Massie, Republican of Kentucky and one of the rebels who pushed for Mr. Boehner's overthrow. "Heaven help the speaker who replaces John Boehner and goes along with that charade."

It's possible, just possible, that Boehner works with Democrats to ram through long-term funding, a debt-ceiling hike, a three-year transportation funding bill—all the things that are looming before the end of the year—in the month he has remaining at the helm. Given what we've seen from Boehner thus far, and the lack of a work ethic in the House, that doesn't seem too likely.

Shutting down the government in an effort to defund Planned Parenthood might be one of the least popular things Republicans could do:

American voters oppose 69 – 23 percent, including 56 – 36 percent among Republicans, shutting down the federal government in the dispute over funding Planned Parenthood, according to a Quinnipiac University National poll released today.

Twenty-three percent support is basically Dick Cheney's floor, the set of people who will support any damn thing Republicans do, probably including televised puppy sacrifice and openly abolishing Social Security.

Voters also don't want Planned Parenthood defunded, period, though opposition to that isn't as widespread—71 percent of Republicans do want to attack health care for low-income women, even if most of them aren't interested in shutting down the government over it. With 82 percent of Democrats and 56 percent of independents wanting Planned Parenthood to continue to receive government funding, there's 52 percent overall support for the organization's funding to 41 percent who want it defunded.

But neither these numbers nor Speaker John Boehner's resignation are likely to stop the shutdown talk.

Reposted from Daily Kos Labor by Laura Clawson

Jeb! Bush's tax plan would make inequality worse, and he thinks that's a-okay.

“The simple fact is 1 percent of people pay 40 percent of all the taxes,” Bush said on “Fox News Sunday.” “Of course, tax cuts for everybody is going to generate more for people that are paying a lot more. I mean that's just the way it is.”

Some simple facts: As of 2010, one percent of people owned 42 percent of the nation's financial wealth (that's excluding homes; including homes, they owned 35.4 percent of the nation's wealth). One percent of Americans get a 20 percent share of the income in this country, and that's been growing, as they've captured more than 86 percent of the income growth since 1979. That richest one percent got 54 percent of capital income—income coming directly from wealth.

So, yeah, it's "just the way it is" in today's America of skyrocketing economic inequality that when a President Bush hands out a tax cut, most of the benefit goes to very rich people, but that's not some immutable law of the universe. The United States once taxed rich people at much higher rates, and the economy was stronger for it, and inequality was (a lot) lower.

But that's not the United States Jeb! Bush wants to see. He wants to see himself getting a $3 million tax cut. That's just the way it is.

Reposted from Comics by Barbara Morrill

Click to embiggen!

Hey! If you missed the Kickstarter for my hardcover, two-volume compilation, 25 Years of Tomorrow, good news—you can still pre-order a set!

Reposted from Daily Kos Elections by Jeff Singer Leading Off:

• OH-08: So yeah, that happened—John Boehner's resigning. He's the first speaker of the House to depart mid-term since Newt Gingrich successfully stoked the book-buying "scandal" that forced out Democrat Jim Wright in 1989, and the first ever, we believe, to quit mid-term for no reason other than to work on his golf game. While about 85 percent of the commentary so far has been just "holy #*$%!," and most of the balance has focused on what will happen in the ranks of the House GOP leadership, there's a tiny sliver of folks interested in the electoral ramifications of Boehner's arrivederci maneuver. If you are, too, then you're one of us.

Unfortunately for special election fans, Boehner's congressional district—Ohio's 8th, tucked into the southwestern corner of the state along the border with Indiana, just north of Cincinnati—is safely Republican, having gone for Mitt Romney by a 62-36 margin in 2012. But that means we could see a competitive, perhaps even explosive, intra-GOP battle to succeed The Great Orange One. Indeed, according to Roll Call's Emily Cahn, that primary would likely coincide with next year's presidential primary, so turnout should be a lot higher than usual.

The GOP bench is deep here and while Boehner's announcement caught everyone off guard, it didn't take long for his would-be successors to start making plans. Butler County Sheriff Richard Jones has shown the most excitement so far, and he's probably the Republican that Boehner would least like to see take over this district. Jones flirted with challenging Boehner in the 2010 primary and he hasn't become any more friendly to the establishment since then: Jones bragged to the National Journal that "[m]ost of the time I spend fighting with the establishment and my record proves that." Jones is also well-known for his hardline stances on immigration, and he once put up signs outside the county jail saying "Illegal Aliens Here." About half of the district is in Butler County, so Jones would have a good base of support if he gets in. The sheriff said on Friday that he expects to decide within the next two weeks.

But Jones is far from the only Republican making noises about running here. Head below the fold to find out who else is eyeing this seat.

There's still time to catch the tail end of Hopping Mad with Will McLeod and Arliss Bunny on Netroots Radio this morning. They started at 8 AM ET, but if you're not already listening, tune in for their discussion of the canonization of Junipero Serra, by Pope Francis!

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David Waldman, with Greg Dworkin has plenty to talk about today - The Pope, Polls, Politics and - BREAKING: John Boehner does a terrible job doing his terrible job, and leaves...  Why is he leaving? Who will take his place?  What will happen now and in the future? What about the Democrats? Anyhow, back to Donald Trump. Are we at peak Trump? Is a second tier of less-loser candidates forming? Well, how about Rubio, then? Anti-Muslim activist quits Oath Keepers when they refuse to help him arrest US Senator, and reveals it only costs $40 to join Oath Keepers! A Mayor in Maine wants to publicly shame welfare recipients. A county in Texas screened job applicants to hire only Baptists. Think it can't happen where you are? David looks into what it takes to get into the local political clubs.

Thanks again to Scott Anderson for the show summary!

Need more info on how to listen? Find it below the fold.

From the GREAT STATE OF MAINE…

Fresh off the mimeograph machine:

This Week's RNC Motivational Action List
Sept. 28 - Oct. 4

Monday Take all the time you need to reflect on all the positive and worthwhile things you learned over the weekend from the Values Voters Summit. Spend the remaining 23 hours, 59 minutes and 55 seconds reviewing your Obama impeachment list.

Tuesday Clear your head of "stinkin' thinkin'" by picturing a happy, placid scene of illegals being shipped back to Mexico in boxcars via the main entrance through the Great Wall of Trump.

Wednesday With that nip of fall in the air, today is a good day to write a letter to your local newspaper warning about the dangers of global cooling. Go ahead and make up your own facts---they'll print it anyway. This evening: tell your Seething At Hillary class instructor to kick it up a notch!

Thursday Butt-dial John Boehner and let one rip. Then scratch a pesky itch with your open-carry Glock, but don’t bother checking to see if it's unloaded because you're a responsible Republican gun owner so how could it not be?

Friday Don't take no for an answer, give no for an answer. Then practice mansplaining lady parts in front of a mirror so you'll be ready to win hearts and hoo-hahs at upcoming Thanksgiving and Christmas gatherings.

Weekend Join the March On Washington Against President Obama's Treasonous Act of Being President. But first have your Democrat neighbor spellcheck your signs.

All Week: Don’t bake a single thing for the gays.

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Have a great week! God Bless America and Money and Bombs!
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Cheers and Jeers starts below the fold... [Swoosh!!] RIGHTNOW! [Gong!!]

A must read from Norm Ornstein:

Trying to show that Republicans could govern responsibly, without another government shutdown or debt-ceiling showdown, he faced a nearly unprecedented motion from his own ranks to vacate the speakership, with a strong chance that he would be ousted from the post unless Democrats—at a price—bailed him out. That would have left him in a weakened and embattled state for a miserable 15 months remaining in the 114th Congress. The day after the high point of his tenure—the appearance of the Pope at his side for a joint session of Congress—he decided it was no longer worth it.

There is a bigger backstory. Since 1994, when Newt Gingrich led his party tribe from 40 years of wandering in the desert of the minority to the promised land of House majority, Republicans have become more stridently anti-government and anti-Washington. They have also, when in the majority, become less interested in trying to find policy solutions across party lines. Their desire to act like a parliamentary majority, maintaining rigid discipline and working only internally, became known as the “Hastert Rule” under Gingrich’s successor.

Perfect party discipline continued when Republicans, in the minority, faced Barack Obama in his first two years—unity that translated into reflexive opposition to everything Obama wanted to do. It was part of a broader strategy to delegitimize Obama and Democrats; to cultivate anger and unhappiness as Gingrich had done in 1994 in the midterm elections in 2010; and to seize back majority status, undo the Obama program, and cut government dramatically.

The strategy was led by a group of younger House members who called themselves the “Young Guns”—Eric Cantor, Kevin McCarthy, and Paul Ryan.

McCarthy is likely next Speaker. And outside of Ornstein and Mann, who has called out the GOP for the radicals that they are?

More politics and policy below the fold.

Margaret Klein Salomon writes The Emergency Climate Movement:

We are living in a state of planetary emergency. To have a chance of averting the collapse of civilization and the destruction of the natural world, we must mobilize our society on the scale of World War II to achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions [1] at wartime speed. The fact that we have already heated the world to such dangerous levels and show little sign of stopping, is evidence of widespread institutional failure. We cannot expect anyone else to save us. We must organize to save ourselves. [...]

The Climate Mobilization (TCM), a one-year old group that I founded and direct, has been a central part of this hopeful shift away from carbon gradualism—slowly reducing emissions while effectively maintaining business as usual. Philip Sutton, a member of TCM’s advisory board, puts this shift in perspective in his excellent paper, Striking Targets:

“Over those last 27 years, while all the research, activism and negotiation has been going on, the climate has actually become dangerous. So, the key goal now must be to provide, at the 11th hour, real protection for the vulnerable people, species and ecosystems of the world. The principal struggle must shift, from the clash between no action and some action, to the crucial struggle between those who want to constrain reform to levels that are not too disruptive and those who want action that will provide highly effective and timely protection.”

In other words, isolated actions such as the Obama Administration’s Clean Power Plan, putting a price on carbon or even policies aiming for net zero emissions by 2050, are no longer sufficient. Perhaps if we had implemented these measures 30 years ago, they would have been adequate to maintain a safe climate. But that time has passed. Only emergency action—a mobilization of our entire economy and society—will protect us now. We must stop emissions in years, not decades. It is time to align our demands and language with the truth.

In June, Reverend Lennox Yearwood, Jr. and Tom Weis, leaders in the climate movement and members of TCM’s advisory board, echoed TCM’s call for zero emissions by 2025 by writing in “America’s Zero Emissions Imperative“:

“Some will no doubt call this bold national goal unrealistic, but they would underestimate the innovative genius and social conscience of the American people. America has a long and proud history of overcoming seemingly insurmountable odds (consider World War II, Apollo program and Abolitionist movement). What is unrealistic is thinking we can put off for decades action that is desperately needed now to ensure our survival as a species.” [...]

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Blast from the Past. At Daily Kos on this date in 2007—An Incomplete Argument:

The Argument[: Billionaires, Bloggers, and the Battle to Remake Democratic Politics, by Matt Bai] is an entertaining, often insightful, and in some instances highly illuminating examination of the state of the outsider in Democratic politics today. Particularly interesting for me, since this was all new to my eyes, is his examination of the Democracy Alliance, and where all that money is, and isn't going. But this blogger is going to focus on the part she knows best. And, regarding the blogs, I found Matt's book frustratingly incomplete in two critical areas regarding the blogosphere: its narrow focus on the activist component of the blogs, leaving out the wonkosphere, and that most critical element that gave rise to the blogosphere and drove its massive and meteoric success--the failure of traditional media in our political discourse.

But let's start with the central premise of Matt's book: the Democrats lack "the big idea," and as far as the blogosphere is concerned, are more concerned with strategies and tactics--with winning--than with developing a philosophy for governing. From my perspective that's an incomplete premise to begin with, and Matt's evidence to support it is too narrow.

Just about every lefty blogger I know came to online activism because of their core belief in a traditionally liberal governing philosophy. [...]

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The Week's High Impact Posts • High Impact Posts • Top Comments

Cancer is not most people’s favorite subject to discuss, but it’s an important one for the reality-based community to face: Sooner or later, it knocks off about one-third of all Americans using a morbidly fascinating pathology. It is the No. 2 leading cause of death in the U.S. (only heart disease ranks higher). But of the top three or four, cancer may be the scariest to contemplate or endure. While great strides have been made in treating it, there is no universal cure on the horizon and, due to cancer's complex, diverse nature, there may never be.

For now, the best bet is early detection. That's why ideas such as this one could save a ton of lives:

Hillary Rodham Clinton proposed Wednesday to guarantee Americans three doctor visits annually that would not count against a patient’s insurance plan “deductible,” the threshold amount patients must pay out of pocket before some insurance plans kick in.

Cancer is so pervasive that odds are you know someone who has it, and that person may or may not have even told you yet. No doubt there are people reading this post right now who have it, and they're encouraged to chime in about their own battles. Keep reading for a brief recap of how screwed up our national priorities are when it comes to gauging real threats, like cancer.