Government Executive - Authors - Elspeth Reeve

Analysis: Four Theories on John Boehner's Debt Limit Strategy

Elspeth Reeve, The Wire — Wed, 28 Aug 2013 08:00:00 -0400

House Speaker John Boehner has tried to convince conservatives to abandon their idea to use the threat of a government shutdown to force President Obama to defund Obamacare, telling them instead to wait and use the debt limit to force Obamacare concessions. Framing the spending negotiations this way pleases no one — conservatives want a shutdown fight, while Obama does not want to negotiate over the debt limit. This has left many people struggling to figure out what Boehner is trying to do.

"I've made it clear that we're not going to increase the debt limit without cuts and reforms that are greater than the increase in the debt limit," Boehner promised Republicans at an Idaho fundraiser on Monday night. "We’re going to have a whale of a fight." But on the same day, Treasury Secretary Jack Lew announced the debt ceiling would have to be raised by mid-October. That means the time between the fight Boehner doesn't want and the one he does is only about 15 days. The timing means "there is no difference between the strategies," The Washington Examiner's Conn Carroll writes. "Everything will be on the table as soon as the House gavels back into session Sept. 9."

In a conference call with House Republicans last week, Boehner said they would push Obama on the debt limit, but not the continuing resolution to fund the government. Some weren't pleased, The National Review's Jonathan Strong reports, and the call turned "ugly." Georgia Rep. Lynn Westmoreland, for example, "told Boehner to 'go back to the drawing board.'" But Boehner showed no sign he'd do that on Monday night, at a fundraiser for Idaho Rep. Mike Simpson, the Idaho Statesman reports. "There is no reason for the government to run out of money," Boehner said. But risking the debt limit is fine. On Tuesday, Boehner's spokesman told Roll Call that the House GOP would demand spending cuts equal to the amount the debt ceiling is raised.

Read the four theories at TheAtlanticWire.com.

(Image via Flickr user talkradionews)

]]>

GOP Wants Conservatives to Trade a Shutdown for an Even Bigger Crisis

Elspeth Reeve, The Wire — Thu, 22 Aug 2013 17:28:56 -0400

Republican leaders are trying to convince conservatives in Congress that instead of threatening to shut down the government unless President Obama agrees to defund Obamacare, they should refuse to raise the debt ceiling unless he agrees to delay the law. This is better, because to save his signature achievement, Obama would not be risking the annoyance of some closed national parks, but the headache of a global financial crisis.

The debt ceiling is a "good leverage point" to get some concessions on Obamacare, an aide to House Majority Leader Eric Cantor told Reuters, confirming earlier reporting from The National Review. The GOP would be doing one better than Rahm Emanuel, who famously said shortly after Obama's election in 2008, "You never want a serious crisis to go to waste." In order for Republicans to exploit a crisis, they'll have to make one. That is what failing to raise the debt limit would be.

Earlier this month, The Washington Examiner's Conn Carroll reported that House leadership "firmly believes that attaching anything 'new' to a continuing resolution is politically untenable, while passing a higher debt limit, without attaching anything new, is also politically impossible." Trading the threat of shutdown for the threat of not raising the debt limit is crazy, The Washington Post's Ezra Klein writes, because, "The former is an inconvenience. The latter is a global financial crisis."

Read more on The Atlantic Wire.

]]>

Ronald Reagan to Richard Nixon on Watergate: 'This Too Shall Pass'

Elspeth Reeve, The Wire — Thu, 22 Aug 2013 11:36:00 -0400

The Nixon Presidential Library released the last set of Nixon tapes on Wednesday, and they contain a call from Ronald Reagan to then-President Richard Nixon, assuring him that his Watergate speech was good, and that "This too shall pass." The call was made on April 30, 1973 and, of course, Watergate did not pass. It consumed Nixon's presidency.

The tapes promise to offer new, fascinating material for Nixon nerds: Topics covered includeVietnam, energy, Watergate, and a meeting with Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev. Scroll through the library's PDFs of topics covered, and you see things like "Republican Congressmen’s morale" and "President’s response - Comfort, discouragement" and "Ethnic."

Before the Reagan call, Nixon had given a speech announcing the resignation of his aides H.R. Haldeman and John Ehrlichman, who played key roles in the Watergate scandal. "My heart is with you and I know what this must have been," Reagan, then governor of California, told Nixon. "For what it's worth, I'm still beh-…" Reagan stopped himself short, then continued, "You can count on us, we're still behind you out here, and I want you to know you are in our prayers."

The Mind of Bradley Manning

Elspeth Reeve, The Wire — Thu, 15 Aug 2013 09:05:29 -0400

Bradley Manning said he was sorry for hurting the United States during his sentencing hearing at Fort Meade on Wednesday, saying, "I only wanted to help people, not hurt people." But hours of testimony presented earlier by his defense team showed that wasn't Manning's only reason for downloading thousands of classified documents and giving them to WikiLeaks. Manning, they said, felt isolated, and showed signs of mental instability, suffered from gender identity disorder, had a mild type of Asperger's, and showed symptoms of slight fetal alcohol syndrome. Capt. David Moulton, a Navy psychiatrist, said Manning was in a "post-adolescent idealistic phase," which is a line from Clueless.

The goal of the defense testimony, of course, is to evoke sympathy in the military judge, Col. Denise Lind, in order to get a lighter sentence. Some of the testimony seemed more likely to do the trick than others. Nevertheless, it offered a fascinating portrait of who Manning was before his leak. The defense suggested there were three things affecting his mental state that influenced his decision: that he was a naive idealistic kid, that he had biological mental disorders, that he was that he was transgender.

The last produced the most arresting evidence. In an April 24, 2010 email to his supervisor at the time, Master Sgt. Paul Adkins, Manning confessed he was transgender, and that he joined the Army, basically, to "get rid of it." He included this selfie, in which he's dressed as a female with long blonde hair. The subject line was "My Problem." The email said,

This is my problem. I’ve had signs of it for a very long time. It’s caused problems within my family. I thought a career in the military would get rid of it. It’s not something I seek out for attention, and I’ve been trying very, very hard to get rid of it by placing myself in situations where it would be impossible. But, it’s not going away; it’s haunting me more and more as I get older. Now, the consequences of it are dire, at a time when it’s causing me great pain it itself…

I don't know what to do anymore, and the only "help" that seems available is severe punishment and/or getting rid of me.

Adkins had written memos in December 2009, April 2010, and May 2010 about Manning's instability.

Read the full story at TheAtlanticWire.com.

]]>

Analysis: The Choreographed Fight Over a Government Shutdown

Elspeth Reeve, The Wire — Tue, 13 Aug 2013 14:28:17 -0400

Several Republicans, most prominently a few 2016 presidential candidates, are threatening to shutdown the federal government unless President Obama agrees to defund Obamacare. But Obama would never sign a bill to defund Obamacare. And Republicans know it. But they have to pretend they don't know it -- or that they just have a better way to do it -- for the sake of conservative activists who are in denial about it.

The choreographed defund-or-shutdown fight is happening both publicly and behind closed doors. "A shutdown? It’s not happening, it’s really not, but I guess you won’t hear people say that out loud, including me," a senior House Republican tells The National Review's Robert Costa. "No one, you see, wants to be 'out-toughed' on Obamacare. We’re out here talking about repeal everyday. But the speaker and everybody else here know that the Senate votes, unfortunately, will never be there to pass a continuing resolution to defund Obamacare." So House Speaker John Boehner and Majority Leader Eric Cantor are doing "a wink-wink kabuki dance of the highest order," Costa writes, to avoid alienating conservative lawmakers without giving them power over fiscal negotiations.

Before Congress left for August recess, Boehner told House Republicans in a closed-door meeting that "the best shot" to kill Obamacare was with votes attacking smaller parts of the bill like the individual mandate. A GOP leadership aide tells Costa that "no one seems to able to explain how we win a shutdown fight." They don't want to use the debt limit to try to force Obama to defund Obamacare, either.

Read more on The Atlantic Wire.

]]>

Liz Cheney Pledges to Stamp Out the Last Remnants of Compromise in Congress

Elspeth Reeve, The Wire — Thu, 18 Jul 2013 11:49:30 -0400

There is a faint hope that politicians will compromise on some things after several years of do-nothing Congresses, but Liz Cheney wants that to put an end to that right now. Cheney, daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney, is running for Senate in Wyoming against a fellow Republican, Sen. Mike Enzi, and her platform is that she wants to do more nothing. "In my view, obstructing President Obama's policies and his agenda isn't actually obstruction; it's patriotism," Cheney said at a press conference on Wednesday, the Associated Press reports. She also said, "We've got to stand and fight, and we have to defend what we believe in. We have to not be afraid of being called obstructionists."

Cheney's pro-obstruction platform comes just as The New York Times' Jonathan Weisman reports some real compromises are actually happening in Congress. The Senate passed a bipartisanimmigration bill last month. This week, senators reached a deal to end filibustering Obama's cabinet nominees. And the group No Labels, formed in 2010 (and subsequently mocked in a bipartisan fashion) will reveal a bunch of legislative proposals with bipartisan support. Eighty-one members of Congress are involved in the No Labels effort. South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham told the Times a bipartisan group is forming to stop the second year of the sequester. You remember the sequester, right? It was supposed to be so horrible it would force the parties to work together to compromise. It didn't work.

Read more at The Atlantic Wire.

]]>

The Perils of Being the Earnest Intern

Elspeth Reeve, The Wire — Thu, 18 Jul 2013 11:07:00 -0400

Byron Thomas was just another anonymous Senate intern until his co-workers started making fun of his earnest plea that they all show the American flag more respect and recite the Pledge of Allegiance every day. "Now I've only been here for 8 days but I can tell that something is wrong, (in my opinion)," Thomas, an intern for Sen. Tim Scott, wrote in an email to colleagues. "We have American flags in front of every room, but I’ve never seen anyone take the time to proudly say the Pledge of Allegiance." The email got forwarded around. Someone sent it to the Huffington Post. Gawker found his Facebook and Twitter accounts, plus an old interview in which he expresses his love of the Confederate flag. Now, Thomas is famous.

Now, I would love to say the pledge with the different offices before 9am (because that’s when I start work). All I want is for our generation to show that we’re united and that we’re going to stand together. We’ll always be One Nation, Under God. I hope you’ll see my words as kind and respectful because I’m truly not attacking anybody. I just truly care about this country and I want to work with everybody. Overwhelm People with Kindness and May God Bless the United States of America.

We can see where Thomas went astray. His email is the product of many conflicting pressures put on ambitious interns. How do you prove that you're a go-getter and love serving your country when you also have no power at all? Like, you might not yet be trusted to get the senator's coffee?

Americans Finally Have Access to American Propaganda

Elspeth Reeve, The Wire — Mon, 15 Jul 2013 11:35:00 -0400

A law went into effect this month that ends the ban on U.S. government-made propaganda from being broadcast to Americans. In a remarkably creative spin, the supporters of this law say that allowing Americans to see American propaganda is actually a victory for transparency.

As Foreign Policy's John Hudson explains, the Smith-Mundt Modernization Act of 2012 went into effect July 2, and allows government-made news like Voice of America, Radio Free Europe, and the Middle East Broadcasting Networks to reach Americans. These outlets "should be given the opportunity to take their rightful place in the graveyard of Cold War relics," Sen. William Fulbright said in the 1970s. Fulbright and his allies said U.S. taxpayers should not have to pay for propaganda directed at them. But now the government says that's actually unfair to taxpayers. Broadcasting Board of Governors spokeswoman Lynne Weil said it's actually best for taxpayers to be able to see the propaganda, so they can serve as a check on it. "Now Americans will be able to know more about what they are paying for with their tax dollars--greater transparency is a win-win for all involved," she said. Likewise, a former government official said: "Previously, the legislation had the effect of clouding and hiding this stuff…. Now we'll have a better sense: Gee some of this stuff is really good. Or gee some of this stuff is really bad. At least we'll know now."

To be clear, only State Department-made news, not Pentagon-made news, will be available to Americans. Who are the targets? One example, Foreign Policy explains, is the Somali community in St. Paul, Minnesota. In Somalia, there are three choices for news, a government source said: "word of mouth, Al-Shabaab or VOA Somalia." While that's not true in Minnesota, the government still wants to reach Somalis: "Those people can get Al-Shabaab, they can get Russia Today, but they couldn't get access to their taxpayer-funded news sources like VOA Somalia... It was silly."

]]>

How the IRS Made All Kinds of Groups' Lives Miserable

Elspeth Reeve, The Wire — Fri, 05 Jul 2013 12:12:27 -0400

We know the IRS acted inappropriately in flagging conservative groups for review when they were seeking non-profit status. But now Congressional Democrats charge that the IRS acted inappropriately in reporting how it acted inappropriately. Liberal groups also got extra scrutiny from the IRS on its Be On the Look Out lists. So did seemingly apolitical groups focused on open-source software. The Chi Eta Phi Sorority — a black nurses group that says it works for "social change" — has answered 73 questions from the IRS since it applied for tax-exempt status two years ago, The New York Times' Jonathan Weisman reports. Its application is still pending. Minnesota Break the Bonds, a pro-Palestinian group, got all the same questions conservative groups got — and those led to top IRS officials getting fired.

Congressional Democrats are asking IRS inspector general J. Russell George to explain why his report made it seem like only conservative groups were targeted, The Washington Post's Josh Hicks reports. In congressional testimony in June, George was asked whether progressive groups were targeted, and said reviews "in many instances were neutral, in that you couldn’t necessarily attribute it to one particular affiliation or another." Virginia Rep. Gerald Connolly, a Democrat, sent a letter to George saying the testimony was "at best incomplete, if not misleading." Connolly wants George back in Congress for more questioning. Michigan Rep. Sander Levin wrote a letter to George on June 26 saying, "There is increasing evidence that the May 14, 2013 audit was fundamentally flawed and that your handling of it has failed to meet the necessary test of objectivity and forthrightness."

Read more at The Atlantic Wire.

]]>

Senate Confirms Penny Pritzker to Be Commerce Secretary, 97 to 1

Elspeth Reeve, The Wire — Wed, 26 Jun 2013 09:19:52 -0400

The Senate confirmed Penny Pritzker to be President Obama's Commerce Secretary on Tuesday by a vote of 97 to 1 — even though her nomination was supposed to be excitingly controversial. Instead, it was a rare moment of boring bipartisan cooperation.

Pritzker was an early supporter of Obama's, but her business and financial records made her the Democratic version of Mitt Romney. Pritzker is an heir to the Hyatt Hotel fortune, had faced disputes with unions over hotel working conditions, and had accounts in the Cayman Islands. She accidentally understated her income by $80 million.

But in her confirmation hearing, Republicans weren't interested in her finances or her famous family. Instead, Politico's Tarini Parti reported, the hearings were "drama free." President Obama, in a statement, praised the "bipartisan action" in Congress.

]]>

Will Syria Be Obama's Fourth War?

Elspeth Reeve, The Wire — Fri, 14 Jun 2013 12:31:57 -0400

Syria is being compared to a lot of things — Kosovo, Rwanda, Libya, Iraq — and the Obama administration is divided over which lessons should apply.

Here's what President Obama will do for Syrian rebels: give them small arms and ammunition. Here's what he's considering: a no-fly zone along the Jordanian border, and maybe anti-tank weapons. Here's what he won't do, for now: give them anti-aircraft weapons the rebel commanders have been asking for, or put American boots on the ground.

Former President Bill Clinton criticized Obama for not intervening in Syria's two-year-old conflict earlier this week, saying, "Sometimes it’s just best to get caught trying, as long as you don’t overcommit — like, as long as you don't make an improvident commitment," Clinton said, according to Politico's Maggie Haberman. Clinton cited his own experience with Bosnia and Kosovo. But Obama has other conflicts in mind, according to Politico — Iraq and Afghanistan. Avoiding overcommitment proved to be a problem in those wars.

Read the rest at TheAtlanticWire.com.

]]>

Mike Morrell Says He's Quitting CIA for His Family (Not Benghazi), for 'Real'

Elspeth Reeve, The Wire — Thu, 13 Jun 2013 10:27:44 -0400

Michael Morrell is retiring as deputy director of the CIA, and will be replaced by Avril Haines, the first woman to hold that job. Morrell spent 33 years at the CIA, and has served as acting CIA director twice, but says he wants to spend more time with his family. Morell's name has been in the news for removing the references to terrorismin the Benghazi talking points amid a series of emails between the White House, State Department, and CIA after the attacks last fall. (Morell's edits of the talking points can be seen here.) But Morrell says he really is leaving to get more time at home. Whenever someone involved in the rough and tumble of Washington decides to move on, there is speculation in various quarters about the 'real reason,'" Morell said in a statement. "But when I say that it is time for my family, nothing could be more real than that."

Haines is an ally of CIA chief John Brennan, The Washington Post's Karen DeYoung and Greg Miller report. She helped Brennan "rewrite the rules of the drone campaign that were recently announced by Obama," and "has no direct investment in any of the counter-terrorism programs that Brennan has indicated he will seek to rein in." Before her appointment, Haines was serving as State Department legal adviser. She was the first woman to hold that position too.

]]>

Military Commanders Retain Powers in Sexual Assault Cases

Elspeth Reeve, The Wire — Wed, 12 Jun 2013 10:44:18 -0400

Senate Armed Services Committee chair Carl Levin has killed a proposal that would have taken away military commanders' control in deciding whether to prosecute sexual assault cases and given it to an independent prosecutor. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand championed the reform as a way to increase reporting and prosecution of sexual assault in the military — noting that reporting of sexual assaults went up by 80 percent in Israel when its military adopted a similar rule. But in a Senate hearing earlier this month, several military commanders insisted that no major changes were necessary. Levin apparently agreed, eliminating the bipartisan proposal, which had 27 co-sponsors, from the Defense Authorization Act on Tuesday night, NBC News' Andrea Mitchell and Alastair Jamieson report. Levin will likely opt for a weaker proposal, from Sen. Claire McCaskill, that prevents commanders from overturning a court martial conviction.

In the Senate hearing, Air Force Col. Jeannie Leavitt testified that senators should "allow a commander to command by allowing them to enforce the standards they set." Marine Maj. Gen. Vaughn Ary said, "Whether it's an enemy on the battlefield or sexual assault in the barracks, good order and discipline is just as important." While they wanted the responsibility to set those standards, they would not take responsibility for a military culture that failed to meet those standards an estimated 26,000 times last year. Levin sided with military commanders' argument that if they just keep doing the same thing, something will change.

]]>

Romney Wishes Hurricane Sandy Hadn't Happened Because It Hurt His Chances

Elspeth Reeve, The Wire — Fri, 07 Jun 2013 10:30:43 -0400

Mitt Romney has had seven months to think about why he lost the 2012 election, and now that he's coming out of his post-campaign dark period, you'd think he'd know exactly how to answer reporters' questions about what happened. But in a new interview with CNN's Gloria Borger, Romney showed he's still not a natural in dealing with the press. When asked if he had hard feelings about New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie praising President Obama after Hurricane Sandy, Romney said no. Instead? "I wish the hurricane hadn't happened when it did because it gave the president a chance to look presidential."

Romney, who is hosting a retreat with his wife on Thursday and Friday in Utah, appears to have convinced himself that he almost had it. "The election was close enough in the outcome with what 4 percent difference between the two campaigns that a number of things could have changed the outcome," he said. Romney implied the IRS scandal might have made a difference. He demanded to know where Obama was during the Benghazi attack. But by modern standards, the election wasn't that close. That 4 percent is 5 million votes, and Romney needed to flip four swing states.

Among the things Romney thinks might have actually changed the election appears to be his own comments. He repeatedly referenced his own "mistakes" in the CNN interview. He said he "regrets" his comment about 47 percent of Americans refusing to take responsibility for their lives. He said of Clint Eastwood's empty-chair moment, "Clint didn't hurt my campaign, I hurt my campaign a couple times." He said dealing with the press is hard. "Jokes, for instance, will get you in trouble," Romney said. "Any time you're trying to be funny."

]]>

Analysis: Obama's Trade Nominee's Cayman Bank Accounts

Elspeth Reeve, The Wire — Wed, 05 Jun 2013 09:08:33 -0400

Another Romneyesque figure has been spotted in President Obama's administration.

Michael Froman, nominated to be the U.S. trade representative, has about $500,000 in a Cayman Islands account, The New York Times' Jonathan Weisman reports. Froman, a former investment manager at Citigroup, also benefitted from the "carried interest" loophole that helped Mitt Romney stay so rich. It allows private equity and hedge fund managers to claim earnings as capital gains, which is taxed at 15 percent, instead of as regular income, which is taxed at a rate of up to 39.6 percent. Obama's nominee for Commerce Secretary, Penny Pritzker, whom the president nominated on the same day. is also a quite Romneyesque. Pritzker is the heir to a hotel fortune, the subject of union employees' wrath, and comes from a family that "were pioneers in using tax loopholes to shelter their holdings." Also, she is so rich she "inadvertently omitted" $80 million in income.

Republicans have noticed. Obama "railed against fat cats who avoid taxes offshore," Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley said, yet has nominated two people with lots of cash in the Caymans. Froman says he will sell off the Cayman account within 90 days of being confirmed as trade representative. "Mike Froman has paid every penny of his taxes and reported all of the income, gains and losses from the investment on his tax returns," a White House spokesman said. Funny, Mitt Romney said the same thing: "I've paid all the taxes required by law."

See the original story here.

]]>

Millennials Don't Hate Big Government, but They Do Hate the GOP Economic Fix

Elspeth Reeve, The Wire — Tue, 04 Jun 2013 09:15:48 -0400

The College National Republican Committee goes where the Republican National Committee wouldn't dare in its 2012 election autopsy -- they admit that it's not just the party's positions on gay marriage and abortion that repel young voters. It's the economic policy, too. The most eye-catching part of the College Republicans' analysis is that focus groups were "brutal," saying the GOP was "closed-minded, racist, rigid, old-fashioned." But Mitt Romney's presidential campaign didn't center on 1950s values or birtherism or banning gay marriage. The report points out that the GOP's core economic message is not all that popular either.

Sure, young people like the idea of reforming the tax code -- something some Republicans want to do. But young people want to reform the code so rich people pay more taxes, College Republicans found, "as they perceived that the wealthy were able to take advantage of loopholes to ensure they paid less in taxes than young (and not particularly wealthy) people do." What about the conservative case that cutting rich people's taxes help everyone? Young people don't buy it. "The challenge for Republicans is to connect lower (or simpler) taxes to economic growth, a link that is not currently strong in the minds of many young voters," the report says. A Spring 2012 Harvard Institute of Politics survey found that only 39 percent agreed that "cutting taxes is an effective way to increase economic growth."

And young voters don't get excited when candidates bash "big government." The report says "big government" is not much of a motivator, even though young voters support cutting spending. They don't believe that cutting government will grow jobs. And they don't want to shrink big government just for the sake of shrinking it. And young voters are picky about what gets shrunk:

Overwhelmingly, respondents in the focus groups thought the problem was not just that too much money was being spent, but rather that it was being spent on the wrong things. (The groups were clear that they felt education deserved more, not less, funding.) Indeed, a large number of respondents pointed to the defense budget as the place where cuts should start.

Read more on The Atlantic Wire.

]]>

Will Darrell Issa Finally Find His Benghazi Smoking Gun?

Elspeth Reeve, The Wire — Wed, 29 May 2013 08:57:04 -0400

House Oversight Committee chair Darrell Issa has made up his mind about what happened within the Obama administration as it crafted talking points about Benghazi last September. He just can't quite prove it. So on Tuesday, Issa subpoenaed all the Benghazi talking points-related emails from 10 State Department aides, because the emails are "critical to our effort to understand how and why officials at the State Department, the White House, and other agencies revised" them.

The email that Republicans originally thought was a Benghazi smoking gun turned out not to be one. Earlier this month, they released to ABC News' Jonathan Karlwhat seemed like emails from White House advisor Ben Rhodes saying the talking points needed to "reflect all agency equities, including those of the State Department." It turned out to be a summary of the email, which changed its meaning. Rhodes actually said the talking points needed to be resolved "in a way that respects all of the relevant equities, particularly the investigation." That means Issa needs more Benghazi material to work with. He already has his conclusion: "Publicly available information about the talking points creates the appearance that Administration officials were interested in sparing the State Department from political criticism in the wake of the attacks," Issa wrote in his letter to Secretary of State John Kerry on Tuesday. Issa made this conclusion at least a month ago, when he signed a House report saying the same thing: "to protect the State Department, the Administration deliberately removed references to al-Qaeda-linked groups and previous attacks in Benghazi in the talking points used by Ambassador Rice."

Read more at The Atlantic Wire.

]]>

Analysis: A Global War on Terror by Another Name Doesn't Tell Us How to Succeed

Elspeth Reeve, The Wire — Thu, 23 May 2013 16:12:48 -0400

President Obama rejected the Bush-era term Global War on Terrorism in a major speech justifying and announcing changes to his counterterrorism policies at the National Defense University on Thursday. "Beyond Afghanistan, we must define our effort not as a boundless 'global war on terror' — but rather as a series of persistent, targeted efforts to dismantle specific networks of violent extremists that threaten America," Obama said. Never mind that the Obama administration stopped using the term in early 2009. When justifying his use of drone strikes in countries we're not at war with in a war against "networks" with a not-yet-clear end, it helps for Obama to use the rhetoric George W. Bush as a foil. At least he's not as bad as that guy, right?

In a background briefing on Obama's speech, senior administration officials explained the policies Obama would lay out in terms of their opposition to President Bush's. They said Obama "rejects the notion of a 'Global War on Terrorism.'" It's an "amorphous thing," an official said, and besides, terrorism is just a tactic. "We are defining this more narrowly than a Global War on Terror," and Obama doesn't want "a war footing in perpetuity." As for the methods used, drone strikes are "preferable" to large-scale military action like in the Iraq war, they said. Obama implicitly drew that contrast, too. Drone strikes are the best course of action when "where a terrorist compound cannot be breached without triggering a firefight... or when putting U.S. boots on the ground may trigger a major international crisis." Yes, sometimes civilians die in drone strikes, he said. "For me, and those in my chain of command, these deaths will haunt us as long as we live, just as we are haunted by the civilian casualties that have occurred through conventional fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq."

Read more at The Atlantic Wire.

]]>

How Petraeus Turned the CIA into the Good Guys in Benghazi

Elspeth Reeve, The Wire — Wed, 22 May 2013 10:00:00 -0400

How did the CIA become the hero in the Benghazi talking point controversy? The Republican theory of the case is that the CIA provided mostly correct talking points (with one big flaw — it blamed spontaneous protests), which the State Department and the White House then edited into misleading mush to protect President Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. But, of course, the CIA is part of the Obama administration, too, and run by Obama appointees — why hasn't it enjoyed as much scrutiny as everyone else involved?

One reason is the political skills of David Petraeus, then-director of the CIA. The Benghazi talking points came into existence because Rep. Dutch Ruppersberger asked for guidelines for the newer members of the House intelligence committee, so they wouldn't accidentally reveal classified information in interviews with the press, The Washington Post's Scott Wilson and Karen DeYoung report. "A close reading of recently released government e-mails that were sent during the editing process, and interviews with senior officials from several government agencies, reveal Petraeus's early role and ambitions in going well beyond the committee's request, apparently to produce a set of talking points favorable to his image and his agency." As has been widely noted, Petraeus was unenthusiastic about the final talking points, writing:

"No mention of the cable to Cairo, either? Frankly, I’d just as soon not use this, then... [National Security Council] call, to be sure; however, this is certainly not what Vice Chairman Ruppersberger was hoping to get for unclas use."

But Ruppersberger tells the Post, "I'm not sure what he meant. I had no expectations."

Read more on The Atlantic Wire.

]]>

Huma Abedin Had an Incredibly Sweet Deal at the State Department

Elspeth Reeve, The Wire — Fri, 17 May 2013 17:44:34 -0400

Huma Abedin remained Hillary Clinton's deputy chief of staff when she came back from maternity leave in June 2012, even though she worked part-time from her home in New York and was allowed to start a side gig as a consultant. Abedin was paid $135,000 by the State Department in 2012 as a "special government employee," Politico reports. As The New York Times' Raymond Hernandez explains, Abedin was not legally obligated to declare her income from consulting because she had become a part-time State Department worker, even though in official documents she continued to be described with her old title.

Abedin's work shows that being a part of the Clinton family circle has its benefits. In 2012, she was a consultant to the William Jefferson Clinton Foundation and worked for Teneo, a consulting firm founded by a former adviser to Bill Clinton which had clients including Coca-Cola and MF Global. Abedin was Hillary Clinton's aide as she moved into her version of private life -- which means a six-person "transition office" in headquartered in Washington.

Abedin's husband Anthony Weiner is openly considering running for New York mayor in an attempt to comeback from his Twitter sex picture scandal. As part of his maybe-candidacy, Weiner released the couple's 2012 tax returns, which showed they made more than $490,000 in 2012. Weiner worked as a consultant, too. He did not say how much money Abedin made from consulting work. Weiner and Abedin were spotted sitting side by side while shooting what looked like a campaign ad in Brooklyn on Thursday. Curiously, the Clintons are reportedly not at all excited about Weiner's return to campaigning.

]]>

Third Military Man in Charge of Stopping Harassment Arrested for Doing Just That

Elspeth Reeve — Fri, 17 May 2013 09:26:03 -0400

The U.S. military has now had three men in charge of programs to limit harassment or violence against women accused of similar crimes revolving around harassment and violence against women in the same month. It's only May 16th.

Army Lt. Col. Darin Haas, who ran Fort Campbell's sexual harassment program, turned himself in Wednesday on "charges of violating an order of protection and stalking," the Associated Press reports. Haas is no longer in charge of the program.

On Monday, a sergeant first class serving as coordinator for Fort Hood's sexual assault prevention program was suspended after being accused of "abusive sexual contact." And just 11 days ago, Air Force Lt. Col. Jeffrey Krusinski was arrested and charged with sexual battery in Arlington, Virginia. He was in charge of the Air Force's Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Office and was also removed from that post.

Read more on The Atlantic Wire.

]]>

Air Force Sexual Assault Prevention Chief Arrested for Sexual Assault

Elspeth Reeve, The Wire — Tue, 07 May 2013 08:27:41 -0400

The Air Force officer in charge of the Air Force's Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Office has been charged with sexual battery. Lt. Col. Jeffrey Krusinski was arrested on Sunday for allegedly grabbing a woman's breasts and butt in a parking lot in Arlington, Virginia. According to police, the woman fought Krusinski. Judging by a photo of his face, she beat him up.

The 41-year-old was drunk, police say. He was removed from the sexual assault prevention office, NBC News reports. Despite his role, Krusinski didn't have much of a presence on the office's website. There are lots of videos and press releases and tipsheets about what to do in case of a sexual assault, but his name is scarce. Krusinski does not appear in a "Striking Against Sexual Assault Bowling Event" video, for example. Last month, the Air Force observed Sexual Assault Awareness month.

Read more at the Atlantic Wire

]]>

Big, Dumb Government: Why the GOP Is Winning the Sequester

Elspeth Reeve, The Wire — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 10:20:00 -0400

Why hasn't the American public risen up in fury at Republicans over the sequester's annoyances and inconveniences, as President Obama had clearly hoped? Because the annoying things about the sequester perfectly play into decades worth of Republican talking points about government being dumb and wasteful and run by people who lack basic common sense. As Dick Armey, the House Majority Leader who helped pass Newt Gingrich's Contract with America and then lead FreedomWorks, the organization that planted the seeds of the Tea Party, liked to say, "The market is rational, the government is dumb." Over the last several decades, the big fight in Washington has been between people who think government can help the economy and those who think it can only hinder it. In his State of the Union, Obama called on the government to make "investments" in infrastructure, education, and science. "Get government out of the way, and this economy will come roaring back," Mike Pence said on the House floor in 2010.

As we've been told many times, the sequester was designed to be dumb. Though it requires differing cuts in various spending categories, the sequester only reduces spending by a mere 2.2 percent of the budget this year — just $85 billion — but mandates that the cuts come from nearly every government program. The government will not shut down during the sequester, but it will makes thousands upon thousands of small cuts to meet the sequester's requirements. Some of these are painful. For instance, we've hear a lot about the FAA flight controllers being furloughed (part of the time) which lead to flight delays. ABC News ran through some of the other inane decisions: states are sending out smaller unemployment benefit checks, Meals on Wheels programs are delivering fewer meals to the elderly, the FDA will conduct 2,100 fewer food inspections, the U.S. Geological Survey is shutting down some of its streamgate stations which it uses to predict floods.

The cuts are widespread and painful for those affected, but they are also not nearly as dramatic as the factoids produced by a complete government shutdown. (Sad schoolchildren can't go to national parks! Travelers can't get passports!) In the past shutdowns have played relatively well for Democrats who get to remind people of the good things government does and Republicans look mean for depriving us of those things. The sequester is instead forcing government to make dumb choices that only reinforce the idea that the government can't make common-sense choices.

Read more at The Atlantic Wire.

Image via Orhan Cam/Shutterstock.com

]]>

After a Bombing in Boston, All Quiet In Washington

Elspeth Reeve, The Wire — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 19:09:33 -0400

President Obama addressed a nation uneasy from a day of viewing photos of bloody Americans and did not tell them much. "We still do not know who did this or why. And people shouldn't jump to conclusions before we have all the facts," he said on Monday evening. "But make no mistake, we will get to the bottom of this, and we will find out who did this, we'll find out why they did this." Unlike CNN, which was defending their coverage moments before the President spoke, Obama did not use the word "terror" to describe the attacks.

Obama was not alone. Most of Washington, where tragedy seems to be habitually followed by political posturing, did the same. Political officials were quiet after the bombings, with no elected officials rushing to politicize the tragedy, unlike some pundits. The House and Senate hadmoments of silence. Official statements were mostly perfunctory expressions of sympathy -- Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said he was "shocked and saddened," House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said her prayers were with the victims and first responders. That was true across the country, from Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer to Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel. "Praying for the victims of the Boston Marathon tragedy and their families #PrayforBoston," House Speaker John Boehner said. The offices of both Obama and Boehner released photos of the men somberly getting the news by phone.

Read more at The Atlantic Wire.

]]>

Quiz: Which Budget Is Right for You?

Elspeth Reeve and Philip Bump, The Wire — Thu, 11 Apr 2013 10:03:50 -0400

Whose budget should you support based on naked self-interest: Paul Ryan's? The president's? A political group you've never heard of? The Atlantic Wire has created this handy quiz to help you decide whose budget is best for your actual life.

We took a look at the various plans under consideration, presented below from most to least conservative:

After a through-ish review, we parsed out how each plan might affect Mr. or Ms. Regular American. But let's have an example. We put all 330 million Americans' names in a hat and pulled one out at random: Willard Romney of Massachusetts. Here's how the president's budget plan, out Wednesday to some wrangling about chained CPIs, would affect him.

Obama proposal: The Buffet Rule. The name refers to the idea that billionaire investor Warren Buffett shouldn't pay a lower tax rate than his secretary. It would ensure people who make $1 million a year pay a tax rate of at least 30 percent.

Would this affect Willard Romney? Yes. Romney paid a 14 percent rate on income of $13.7 million in 2011. He could have paid even less, but he did not take all of his charitable deductions.

Obama proposal: Closing the carried interest loophole. This loophole allows financial managers to claim a large chunk of their income is not income but capital gains, so that it's not taxed at the top income tax rate of 39.6 percent, but the lower capital gains tax rate of 15 percent rate.

Would this affect Willard Romney? Yes. Romney paid a 14 percent tax rate in part because about half of his income came from capital gains.

Obama proposal: Closing a loophole that "lets wealthy individuals circumvent contribution limits and a cumulate millions in tax-preferred retirement accounts," a White House press release explains. IRAs would be capped at $3 million.

Would this affect Willard Romney? Yes. In the 15 years Romney worked at Bain Capital, he grew his IRA to between $21 million and $102 million. You're allowed to contribute $6,000 a year to your IRA. Talking Points Memo's Brian Beutler reports this is a new provision in Obama's budget, and it's "intended to close the loophole that allowed Romney to amass" such a huge IRA.

Obama proposal: Higher cigarette taxes.

Would this affect Willard Romney? No. Mitt Romney doesn't smoke.

Obama proposal: Changing the way the cost of living increases for Social Security benefits are calculated. Obama's plan calls for chained CPI, meaning smaller increases. By some estimates, this change would cost the average worker who retires at 65, by 75 it would cost him $650 a year, and by 85 it would cost him $1,130.

Would this affect Willard Romney? Yes. This would affect everyone who's paid into Social Security.

So if this anonymous Willard Romney were to support a budget, which might be right for him? He might consider Paul Ryan's.

What about you? Which budget meets your highly specific needs? Take the quiz below and find out which of the various budget plans you should be rooting for.

Take the quiz at TheAtlanicWire.com.

]]>