Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Screw the Judean People’s Front. Splitters.

Saul Alinsky is my co-pilot

Too inconsequential to be sued

Naturally gregarious and alpha

No one could have predicted…

Peak wingnut was a lie.

Proof that we need a blogger ethics panel.

Reality always wins in the end.

Not all heroes wear capes.

How has Obama failed you today?

I showered with Rahm and all I got was this shitty blog.

This blog is Obama’s Katrina.

Yes we did.

Also, too.

What fresh hell is this?

An army of rabid, anonymous commenters

‘Forty-two’ said Deep Thought, with infinite majesty and calm.

This is a big f—–g deal.

Just a few bad apples.

All your base are belong to Tunch.

Shock troops for the Unitarian Jihad.

Shocking, but not surprising.

Militantly superior in their own minds…

Lighten up, Francis.

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Dolt 45

Open Thread: “Presidential” — Meaning “Theatrical”

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Three quick summaries, just to have it on the record that not every DC observer fell for the ol’ roogie-roo last night. (Count on Chris ‘Mad Bitcher’ Cillizza as a easy mark, though.)

Open Thread: “Presidential” — Meaning “Theatrical”Post + Comments (137)

Interest rates, good policy and good politics

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Brad Delong raises an interesting point on short term interest rates set by the Federal Reserve:

I see nothing in the data to suggest that 2% will be reached if the Federal Reserve does not reverse its tightening cycle as ill-judged.

That is all.

Jared Bernstein: Inflation?! We ain’t got no stinkin’ inflation!: “The core PCE deflator rose at an annual rate of only 1.2 percent in 2016Q4…

The betting market is slightly favoring an interest rate hike soon. The Republican Party economists or at least their donor class have been arguing for significantly higher interest rates and harder money. The data so far does not support a need for higher interest rates as there still is no inflation to worry about.

So what should Democrats and liberals do or not do? All else being equal, higher short term rates means a slower economy as investment gets to be slightly more expensive, housing gets slightly more expensive and debt carrying costs increases which means discretionary spending decreases for a given income and debt level. The impact of higher interest rates has a long lag of at least a year or more.

Midterm elections are effectively a vote on the incumbent party. A better economy, all else being equal, means a better vote margin for the incumbent President’s party. It is in the best interest of the Democratic Party to have a shitty economy in 2018. So should Democratic wonks rally against premature interest rate hikes or say it is a dumb idea and then let it be?

Interest rates, good policy and good politicsPost + Comments (23)

Attorney-General Jefferson Beauregard Sessions Can Do Many Dirty Jobs At Once

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The Depraved Leprechaun, busy with the tasks Lord Smallgloves hired him for…

And he’s gonna use the Nixon Administration’s favorite shortcut to guarantee a full supply of “dangerous repeat offenders”…

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Late Night Open Thread: “Class Tells When There Is No Class”

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The Notorious RBG had the best idea — she didn’t bother to show up.

What’s going on that does not involve the Dolt-in-Chieftests?

Late Night Open Thread: “Class Tells When There Is No Class”Post + Comments (26)

Tuesday Evening Open Thread: “What Are the Republicans Afraid Of?”

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Excellent question, Madame Pelosi!

She says the Democrats will be “per our traditional standards, courteous” tonight… but she’s wearing suffragette white and purple, and so will many of the other female Democratic legislators.

Out of curiosity, how many of you are gonna hate-watch the President-Asterisk’s speech this evening?

Tuesday Evening Open Thread: “What Are the Republicans Afraid Of?”Post + Comments (128)

Prospective Commerce Secretary Wilber Ross’ Russian Ties, and Trump’s

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The Guardian has all the grimy granular details here.

Thanks to the GOP, Mr. Ross was confirmed regardless of his many conflicts.

Speaking of Repubs with questionable ties to shady Russian financiers, and their defenders…

Per CNN, “House intel committee agrees to scope of Trump-Russia probe” [warning: autoplay]:

… “We have a document that we’ve signed and we’ll be giving out obviously, some announcement at some point,” House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes told CNN when asked if the members had agreed on the terms of their investigation.

Nunes, a California Republican, added that members have already been briefed on the transcripts of calls between former national security adviser Michael Flynn and the Russian ambassador and are proceeding deliberately on the investigation…

Nunes also brushed off calls by Democrats and at least one Republican, Rep. Darrell Issa, for an independent investigation into Russia’s influence and hit back against allegations that he coordinated a response to previous reports with the White House.

“They can say whatever they want, but at the end of the day, I hold the gavel, they’re in the minority and we’re going to do what we want to do. We have the votes and we’ve been elected to do that. If that ever changes, then obviously that would be different,” Nunes told CNN. “At this point, I’m not going to give up jurisdiction of this committee that for a long time that has been trusted with the nation’s top secrets. We are not going to give up that jurisdiction to anyone else as long as I’m here.”

Tensions escalated Monday between Nunes and the top Democrat working on the Russia investigation, Rep. Adam Schiff, after Nunes said he had seen no evidence yet of Russian officials communicating with Trump campaign aides and Schiff said it was too early to tell.

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It’s now or never, come hold me tight

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Following up on Dave’s post, here’s how one of Paul Ryan’s errand boys (sent by grocery clerks to collect a bill) puts it:

“You’re a Republican, you’ve been running to repeal Obamacare, they put a repeal bill in front of you,” Doug Badger, a longtime Republican leadership health policy adviser, told the Journal. “Are you going to be the Republican senator who prevents Obamacare repeal from being sent to a Republican president who is willing to sign it?”

I’m sure some see this how Vincent Vega did. This is a moral test of one’s self; whether or not you can maintain loyalty. Because being loyal is very important.

But…if they think they’ll lose their seat over this bullshit, they won’t go along with it. Today’s a good day to double down on the phone calls, faxes, letters, and in-person encounters with members of Congress.

It’s now or never, come hold me tightPost + Comments (16)

Schadenfreude Open Thread: Did Somebody Call for A Plumber, Sean?

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No matter how much you hate your job, at least you’re not working in Sean Spicer’s office…

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Open Thread: Donald Trump, FAKE! President; Real Traitor?

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Even the not-very-political USA Today!…

Open Thread: Donald Trump, FAKE! President; Real Traitor?Post + Comments (212)

Early Morning Open Thread: Snippy Sean & the WH Press Corpse, A Tale for Tiny Hands Tots

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Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain!…

Early Morning Open Thread: Snippy Sean & the WH Press Corpse, A Tale for Tiny <del>Hands</del> TotsPost + Comments (31)

Nightmare Open Thread: Overgrown Toddlers with Weapons of Mass Destruction

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A-B-C! One spoilt princeling with Chemical weapons, trumped by another with Atomic fantasies…

Thanks for breaking the world, Repubs!

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Open Thread: GOP Attempting to Buff Away the KGB Fingerprints

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The Washington Post has a new subhed: Democracy Dies in Darkness. The GOP would dearly love to make it so:

House Republicans next week plan to derail a Democratic resolution that would have forced disclosure of President Donald Trump’s potential ties with Russia and any possible business conflicts of interest, according to multiple House sources.

Seeking to avoid a full House vote on the so-called “resolution of inquiry” — a roll call that would be particularly embarrassing and divisive for the right — Republicans will send proposal by Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.) to the House Judiciary Committee for a panel vote on Tuesday, two Democratic sources said. The GOP-controlled committee is expected to kill the resolution…

The markup has yet to be noticed by the panel. But the Tuesday vote will come just a few hours before Trump will give his first address to Congress. Indeed, Democrats are fuming that Republicans are trying to bury the panel vote by scheduling it on a busy news day.

Resolutions of inquiry are rare in Congress and privileged, meaning lawmakers can circumvent leadership and force action on the floor if they’re ignored for 14 legislative days.

The resolutions can force presidents and agencies to give Congress private records. Nadler’s, for example, demands that Attorney General Jeff Sessions hand over to the Hill “any document, record, memo, correspondence or other communication” pertaining to “criminal or counterintelligence investigations” related to Trump, White House staff or his business…

The mark-up will likely prove awkward for Judiciary Committee Republicans who will have to block the resolution. Judiciary member and Oversight Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) just last week, for instance, faced sharp questions from constituents who accused him of steering the Oversight panel’s agenda to protect Trump…

Well, since #JasonintheHouse already whined that town hall protests in his district were meant to “bully and intimidate” him, here’s hoping he’s ready for a whole new onslaught…

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Open Thread: Liberals, Never Satisfied!

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The GOP motto: If you can’t eat it, fight it, or market it, what good could it possible be?
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Open Thread: Liberals, Never Satisfied!Post + Comments (67)

Post-Midnight Open Thread: Russophilic Nesting Dolts

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Adam will no doubt keep explaining these spy-vs-spy shenanigans far more cogently, but I couldn’t resist the chance to re-up the last video clip here…

… The Times reported that the meeting was called to discuss a peace plan being pushed by a Ukrainian lawmaker, Andrey Artemenko, who is associated with a former Ukrainian leader backed by Russian president Vladimir Putin and advised by Paul Manafort, Trump’s former campaign chairman.

Manafort is the subject of an FBI inquiry over his Ukraine dealings, and the FBI is also investigating whether any Trump associates colluded with the Russian campaign to interfere in the U.S. presidential election.

In an interview with NBC News Monday, Michael Cohen confirmed that Felix Sater, a former Trump associate with a criminal past, asked him to come to a meeting in New York last month, and brought along Artemenko.

“I acknowledge that the brief meeting took place, but emphatically deny discussing this topic or delivering any documents to the White House and/or General Flynn,” Cohen said. “I didn’t see Gen. Flynn while I was at the White House, and I didn’t spend two seconds talking about this, not even one second.”

The Times told NBC News that it stood by its story, saying Cohen told the newspaper he did take a sealed envelope to Flynn’s office….

NICE JOB, REPUBLICANS!

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Late Night Open Thread: Precious, Fragile Snowflakes

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Late Night Open Thread: Precious, Fragile SnowflakesPost + Comments (142)