Monday Open Thread [4.7.14]

Monday Open Thread [4.7.14]

7 Comments
I missed this on Friday because I was busy with work, but the US Attorney in New Jersey has convened a grand jury to investigate Governor Christie's involvement.
"The convening of the grand jury is evidence that the U.S. Attorney's investigation has progressed beyond an inquiry and moved to the criminal phase." Newark Star Ledger: "Legal experts say the hearing of grand-jury testimony is an important development that means U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman has accumulated enough evidence to move past a preliminary inquiry into the controversial lane closings and into a grand jury investigation of them."
Indeed. If there wasn't something there, there would be no grand jury investigation. Another question: why did Chris Christie's administration trash Bridgett Kelly in their "independent" report? She seems to be a key player in all of this, and could sink Christie if there really is something there there. It seems stupid to antagonize her. Well, the trashing of Kelly and the convening of the Grand Jury tells me that Kelly has flipped and is providing state's evidence. So now Christie et al are trashing her credibility.
Wednesday Open Thread [4.2.14]

Wednesday Open Thread [4.2.14]

Andrew Sullivan:
Last fall, I argued that Obama’s presidency, already historic in significant ways, would become as influential as Reagan’s if two things happened: if the ACA stuck and American entered an era of near-universal healthcare; and if the negotiations with Iran led to an end of sanctions and a controlled Iranian nuclear capability. Both would be generational game-changers – one in domestic policy, the other in foreign affairs. [...] So where are we? Too soon to tell on Iran. But after a clear, self-inflicted disaster – the website’s debut – we’ve seen a classic Obama pattern. The fail is replaced by a dogged, persistent, relentless attempt at repair. I’d argue that the competence behind the repair of the site and the revival of the ACA’s fortunes has been as striking as the original incompetence. And we do not and should not judge a president by his mistakes; the critical judgment is in how he responds to those mistakes. As Dick Cheney might put it, the results speak for themselves[.] Now look at the economic forecast: the IMF is predicting growth of 2.8 percent this year and 3 percent in 2015, easily the best performance among Western economies. We may see further declines in unemployment. This does not seem to me to be compatible with declining support for Obama and his record. In fact, I’d be surprised – barring, of course, any number of game-changing events – if Obama’s approval ratings were not ticking up by the summer. We’ve been here so many times before with this president – when he seems temporarily becalmed, inert, unable or unwilling to seize every moment. But over the long run, you see the virtues of persistence, relentlessness and pragmatic advance. The hopes he once inspired may be dimmed or dashed right now; but in the cold light of day, they shouldn’t be. Like the slow, excruciating accumulation of delegates in the epic 2008 primary campaign, Obama never puts it away until he puts it away. But it’s coming. And more and more people are beginning to see it.
In December 1986, it seemed reasonably possible that Reagan, then beset by the Iran Contra scandal with polls in the low 40s, might be impeached. And yet, he is generally remembered among the general population fondly and having a successful Presidency. Sullivan has always made the comparison of Obama to Reagan as far as how their respective Presidencies played out. And I think he is right. In the end, Obama will be remembered as fondly as Reagan is or was.
While a wealthy rapist walks, nobody thinks of the real victims – the AG office lawyers

While a wealthy rapist walks, nobody thinks of the real victims – the AG office lawyers

87 Comments
The Delaware Bar association and others will tell you - the AG office lawyers are the true victims in the "du pont heir will not fare will in prison" case. They are hamstrung when trying to convict wealthy people because the wealthy people can hire lawyers. (Lawyers from the very best firms that the AG office lawyers may hope to join in a year or so.) They also have to contend with the fact that they have a boss that leaves the trickiest decisions most fraught with huge downsides entirely to them. How can we expect the AG office lawyers to prosecute a case they may lose? Obviously we can't. The AG office lawyers in this case were facing a lose/lose situation. Either they prosecute the rich guy and likely lose because they are utterly outclassed by the defense lawyers and the child rapist goes free, our they cut a ludicrously lenient deal that allows the child rapist to go free. Obviously in that situation, you cut a deal.
Tuesday Open Thread [4.1.14]

Tuesday Open Thread [4.1.14]

13 Comments
Salon: "Here's a riddle for anyone who thinks the politics of Obamacare are straightforward, and toxic for Democrats. How is it possible, in defiance of public rebuke, widespread misinformation and other headwinds, that insurance enrollment is surging in just about every state in the country?" Is it because, when people tried it, they liked it, and told their friends? Is it possible that when they tried it, they realized that everything they heard from the Republicans were lies? For the first time since ABC News and Washington Post started polling on public support for Obamacare, the law is viewed positively. 49 percent support. 48 percent oppose. The shift proves the argument that Democrats and liberals have made: that when the benefits of the law prove all Republicans liars, people will support and approve of the law. Sally Kohn at CNN lists the benefits of the law, a law that benefits all Americans.
“Delaware Judge enshrines unequal outcomes for child rapists based on wealth” continues to be a national story

“Delaware Judge enshrines unequal outcomes for child rapists based on wealth” continues to be a national story

14 Comments
Of course, this type of unequal justice has been the norm forever. However, the egregiousness of the crime has finally pulled back the curtain. The son of the Vice President of the United States is involved, and a Delaware judge laid it all out in plain language - the rich get special treatment. The botched prosecution by the AG's office and Jurden's resulting sentence wasn't simply bad, it was so bad that it amounts to an attack on the courts. It spits on the idea that poor people can get a fair shake in our legal system. Resignations and firings must ensue. They will not ensue. Nobody will be fired and everyone will go back to pretending that justice is blind in a few months (weeks?...days?). The courts will survive this, but they will be diminished in authority and legitimacy. We will have taken one step closer to the ledge. This is one step away from the ideals expounded on in the Declaration of Independence and one step toward another run of the mill plutocracy. In the end we will be another footnote. A historical curiosity that showed a possible other path to the world for a few brief centuries, then got tired of the rigorous effort required to maintain equality and justice.

Monday Open Thread [3.31.14]

8 Comments
Obamacare looks to be working and is on target, with 6.7 million previously uninsured people signed up for private insurance plans as of today's deadline.
Americans are signing up for the Affordable Care Act. And they appear to be doing so in really big numbers. As of the latest official update, last week, more than 6 million people had selected a private insurance plan through one of Obamacare’s new state marketplaces. But that was before a weekend of huge traffic to healthcare.gov and state-run websites, record call volume to telephone help centers, and queues outside outreach offices in California and even Texas. Charles Gaba, the Michigan-based analyst who runs the website ACASignups.net, now projects that 6.72 million people will sign up for private insurance by the time open enrollment ends.
In fact, Gaba now projects that we will officially hit the 7 million mark, as the law and the Congressional Budget Office originally projected. Indeed, the law itself has now covered between 13.1 and 16.8 million previously uninsured people in total, through Medicaid Expansion, the Private Insurance Exchanges (both state exchanges and Healthcare.gov), and allowing those under 26 years of age to remain covered under their parent's policies.
Multimillionaire du Pont family heir was spared jail for raping his three-year-old daughter because judge decided he would ‘not fare well’ behind bars

Multimillionaire du Pont family heir was spared jail for raping his three-year-old daughter because judge decided he would ‘not fare well’ behind bars

57 Comments
The headline above is from the UK's Dail Mail The News Journal's own headline (Judge said du Pont heir 'will not fare well' in prison) also does a good job laying out the brutal facts of the case. The wealthy literally have a different set of rules. They have judges like Jurden and an entire criminal justice system devoted to keeping the screws on the middle and lower classes while ensuring that the well connected 1-per-centers don't need to feel the slightest discomfort regardless of the egregiousness of their crimes.
Are “attracted” voters really worth more than “chased” voters?

Are “attracted” voters really worth more than “chased” voters?

11 Comments
The thesis at the heart of all my recent posts has been that "attracted" voters are inherently more valuable to a campaign than "chased" voters. I look at recent history and see the lackluster performance of Democrats during midterm elections, and mentally discount a chased voter to some fraction of a voter while I mentally add a premium to attracted voters. So, let's say each voter that the DNC manages to frighten into thinking about voting is worth .95 eventual votes and every teabag that is inspired by the teabag nonsense is worth 1.05 future votes. On election day a vote is a vote, but over the course of a campaign the marginal difference between the chased and the attracted must add up. Right? ...