Monday Open Thread [7.7.14]

9 Comments
Think Progress has the take down of Governor Perry and his lies about immigration by ABC's Martha Raddatz. Indeed, during this current refugee crisis on the border and how it informs the immigration debate, every single conservative and every single Republican must answer this question: if our border is so insecure, then how is it that we have captured all these children and teens trying to cross it? If the border was as insecure as Republicans describe, we would not know about all these kids because they would stream across the border undetected.
My Anger With Stalling Immigration Reform

My Anger With Stalling Immigration Reform

3 Comments
We’ll start with the simple popularity of immigration reform. This issue is the epitome of how entirely feeble America’s Congress is right now. By broad margins, Americans support the idea of immigration reform, easier pathways to citizenship, stronger border enforcement, and more. Unfortunately, because it’s an issue that people usually believe doesn’t affect them, why vote for candidates who have anything to do with it? Jobs, healthcare, the budget deficit, education, and security all rank higher than the only issue congress ACTUALLY has a semi-bipartisan proposal for. Congrats America.

Late Night Video — John Oliver Fixes the Flaw in Climate Change Journalism

3 Comments
Climate change is always reported as two opposing views -- one side who *believes* and the other side that *does not believe*. Treating a science topic (it isn't a *belief* topic) as though it was a political topic is one of the worst journalistic offences we are subject to, and we are subject to quite a few of them throughout the day. John Oliver takes note that this topic is always addressed as one for and one against, as though there was an equal amount of scientific evidence that climate change does not happen. He brilliantly works at a fairer debate -- one that weights the conversation towards the evidence -- hilarious:
Thursday Open Thread [7.3.14]

Thursday Open Thread [7.3.14]

8 Comments
The U.S. economy added 288,000 jobs in June, surprising some economists who only expected 215k. The economy has now added more than 200,000 jobs a month for five straight months, the best stretch since January 2000. The unemployment rate also dropped to 6.1%, the lowest it's been since September 2008.
Also encouraging: Job gains for April and May were revised up by a total 29,000. April's increase was revised to 304,000 from 282,000 and May's to 224,000 from 217,000. April's total marks the first time monthly job gains topped 300,000 since January 2012. Payroll additions have averaged 272,000 the past three months and 231,000 for the year, vs. 194,000 in 2013. Bob Baur, chief global economist of Principal Global Investors, says accelerating job growth is feeding into a virtuous cycle, in which stronger payroll gains lead to higher consumer spending and further employment advances.
The Hobby Lobby Ruling Is A Slippery Slope That Will Affect More Than Contraceptives

The Hobby Lobby Ruling Is A Slippery Slope That Will Affect More Than Contraceptives

63 Comments
If you haven't read Justice Ginsburg's dissent in the Hobby Lobby case you really should.  She makes excellent points - points that demonstrate how this ruling will extend beyond contraceptives.
In a decision of startling breadth, the Court holds that commercial enterprises, including corporations, along with partnerships and sole proprietorships, can opt out of any law (saving only tax laws) they judge incompatible with their sincerely held religious beliefs.
She's correct, of course.  No matter how the majority opinion tried to limit this ruling to controlling women (and Alito didn't even bother to explain why this ruling was limited) it opens the door to every company's "sincerely held religious beliefs".  How could it not?

Why Isn’t John Carney Supporting H.R.1852, the Email Privacy Act?

3 Comments
Since the Supremes pretty clearly told law enforcement that they needed to get a warrant to search your cell phone, there has been renewed attention on H.R.1852, the Email Privacy Act. Introduced by Representative Kevin Yoder [R-KS-3] in May 2013, this law would revise the 1986 Electronic Communications Privacy Act, requiring subpoenas to search emails, no matter how long they had been stored (they can now look at email stored for more then 180 days without a warrant) and allowing ISPs to communicate to the targets that their emails were requested by law enforcement. As of this writing (6.29.2014), John Carney has not joined the 220 Representatives (138 R, 82 D -- BIPARTISANSHIP!) who are looking to refine the due process around law enforcement looking at your emails.

The case for Chip Flowers

48 Comments
There is no case for voting for Chip Flowers. However, I think there can be a case for voting against Sean Barney. For all his merits (and his merits are many) he is still a Carper man through and through. Do we really need anther mobbed up Carper guy on a glide path to the promised land of corporate back-scratch-a-palooza? I probably will not run against Carney. I don't have the guts or the time. If I don't run, I will not have any way to register my disgust with the corporatist Democrats who run Delaware. The one vanishingly small gesture I can make is to vote against Tom Carper's pick for treasurer.