Morning News: Saturday morning cartoon edition

screencap from Felix Doubles for Darwin, 1924

Good morning all… Wonk here… it’s a little late, but I had one of those wars with wordpress that Dandy Tiger talks about…

Anyhow, I’m taking over the Saturday morning posts. BB will still be doing roundups, but she has been doing four of them a week for too long (impressive, isn’t it?), and she deserves a day off. So everybody please give BB a huge round of applause for all the amazing content she has churned out and no doubt will continue to churn out. Also, please try to be too sleepy or hungover to notice how cheesy my Saturday posts are compared to BB’s investigative reporting. 🙂

Betty Boop for President
Released on November 4, 1932.
FDR was elected on November 8.

A brief note before I get started with today’s links…. I’m a child of the eighties who grew up on PBS and network cartoons on the weekends. I thought it would be fun to add a few animation reels and other shorts to my roundups to bring back some of that Saturday morning nostalgia. Now on with the news… these are just some headlines that caught my eye this morning…

Bafumi, Erikson, and Wlezien predict a 50-seat loss for Democrats (link goes to Arianna’s tabloid), meaning the Boehner of our existence is likely to be the next Speaker of the House:

How many House seats will the Republicans gain in 2010? To answer this question, we have run 1,000 simulations of the 2010 House elections. The simulations are based on information from past elections going back to 1946. Our methodology replicates that for our ultimately successful forecast of the 2006 midterm. Two weeks before Election Day in 2006, we posted a prediction that the Democrats would gain 32 seats and recapture the House majority. The Democrats gained 30 seats in 2006. Our current forecast for 2010 shows that the Republicans are likely to regain the House majority.

Our preliminary 2010 forecast will appear (with other forecasts by political scientists) in the October issue of PS: Political Science. By our reckoning, the most likely scenario is a Republican majority in the neighborhood of 229 seats versus 206 for the Democrats for a 50-seat loss for the Democrats. Taking into account the uncertainty in our model, the Republicans have a 79% chance of winning the House.

There will be schadenfreude if that happens, yes, but Speaker Boehner? No light at the end of that tunnel.

Tried to warn you of the path you were headed on two years ago, Pelosi, but you called us cassandras “ungracious” for that.

Nate Silver is the source on this next link, and I don’t consider him the most reliable , but this appears to be the buzz on the Harry Reid side of things:

But other voters, especially those who might consider it their patriotic duty to vote, might wish for a more affirmative way to register their displeasure with their choices. In Nevada, they have exactly that option — the ability to cast a literal protest vote.

Since 1975, Nevadans have had the choice of voting for “None of These Candidates,” which appears as a ballot line along with the named candidates. The option has waxed and waned in popularity. But in 1976, None of These Candidates actually won the plurality of votes in the Republican primary for the U.S. House. (The election was awarded to the second-place finisher, Walden Earhart.) And in other cases, the ballot option has played a spoiler role: the 1.2 percent of voters who selected None of These Candidates in the 1996 Presidential race was larger than the margin separating Bill Clinton and Robert Dole. And in the election for U.S. Senate in 1998, the 8,125 votes for None of These Candidates easily outdistanced the 395-vote margin between Harry Reid and John Ensign, allowing Mr. Reid to be re-elected.

Mr. Reid may again be hoping to get an assist from the ballot option this year, which is unique among the 50 states. Indeed, there are those who think his entire campaign may be predicated upon it.

It also helps that his opponent is so bad even her voters wish they had a different candidate. Polling from the Las Vegas Review-Journal:

Two-thirds of voters who say they back Sharron Angle wish another Republican had won the nomination, according to a poll for the Las Vegas Review-Journal and 8NewsNow that shows deep dissatisfaction with both the Tea Party pick and U.S. Sen. Harry Reid.

Nearly eight of 10 voters who remain undecided or who don’t like Angle or Reid say they, too, would have preferred if the staunch conservative hadn’t won the June 8 primary over her more moderate foes. And 58 percent of such nonaligned voters say they wish Reid hadn’t won the Democratic nomination, suggesting a majority of Nevadans are unhappy with their choices.

That’s still largely good news for Reid and troubling for Angle. A year ago, the unpopular incumbent was thought to be on his way out. Instead, he’s locked in a dead heat with a vulnerable GOP opponent as he runs a scorched-earth campaign to portray her as too extreme.

It would have been so fun to watch Harry Reid get kicked out, but Sharron Angle is just too batshit even for Nevadan conservatives.

Olive Oyl for President, 1948
(Reworking of 1932’s Betty Boop for President)

Once again, tried to warn you, Pelosi. Pelosi did all the heavylifting muscling for that historic healthcare horror show and now Reid and Obama might just skate by while Pelosi is the one who stands the most immediate chance of getting hung out to dry. That is what you get for hitching your wagon to the Obama star, Pelosi.

There seems to be some hullabaloo this morning about the NRA not endorsing Harry because of his vote to confirm Elena and Sonia:

The vote on Elena Kagan’s confirmation to the Court, along with the previous year’s confirmation vote on Sonia Sotomayor, are critical for the future of the Second Amendment. After careful consideration, the NRA-PVF announced today that it will not be endorsing Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid for re-election in the 2010 U.S. Senate race in Nevada.

I’m not a gun person, though I am a constitutional rights person. This really seems dumb to me.

Harry back in March:

As the Tea Party Express rolled into Searchlight on Saturday, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid wasn’t home. Instead, he spent his morning at the grand opening of the Clark County Shooting Park, firing a shotgun at one of the facility’s new ranges.

“Everyone has said this is the greatest park in the United States of America, but I say it’s the greatest gun park in the world,” Reid said.

Reid helped to secure land and $61 million for the 2,900-acre facility under the Southern Nevada Public Lands Management Act. He was joined at the ribbon-cutting ceremony Saturday by National Rifle Association of America Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre, Rep. Shelley Berkley, Rep. Dina Titus, state Sen. John Jay Lee and Clark County Commissioner Tom Collins.

But, because Harry voted to confirm two women with scary girl parts, I guess that invalidates all his macho man theatrics at the gun range? What the hell did Harry waste $61 million dollars worth of taxpayer money on then?

Another NRA power play in the headlines today, from US News “EPA surrenders to NRA”:

In a swift and unexpected decision, the Environmental Protection Agency today rejected a petition from environmental groups to ban the use of lead in bullets and shotgun shells, claiming it doesn’t have jurisdiction to weigh on the controversial Second Amendment issue.

[…]

The decision was a huge victory for the National Rifle Association which just seven days ago asked that the EPA reject the petition, suggesting that it was a back door attempt to limit hunting and impose gun control. It also was a politically savvy move to take gun control off the table as the Democrats ready for a very difficult midterm election.

I found this tidbit interesting from a NYT piece about the GOP switching places with the Democrats to take its turn drinking more from the corporate cash trough this time around:

At a black-tie dinner in April, a politically influential hedge fund manager named Paul Singer offered a blistering critique of the “terrible path” he said Washington politicians were charting on economic issues.

Mr. Singer, professorial and soft-spoken, used a gathering of business and government leaders at the conservative Manhattan Institute to lash out at “indiscriminate attacks by political leaders against anything that moves in the world of finance.” Government efforts to “take over and run” the economy through more regulations, he warned, threatened to ruin the United States’ standing as the world leader in finance.

Who are they kidding with this kabuki?

Speaking of kabuki, Crist the great Independent says he would have voted for Obamacare:

”But being an independent, I have the freedom to be an honest broker for the people of Florida without regard for political party, and the reality is this: despite its serious flaws, the health care bill does have some positive aspects.”

Fraggle Rock, “Let Me Be Your Song,”
from the episode “The Minstrels,” 1983

There’s so much bleak news out there. Here’s some good news. Jimmy Carter brings home an American (via Boston Herald):

A Boston man who returned home from captivity in North Korea with former President Jimmy Carter may have been an unwitting pawn in nuclear wrangling between the United States and the Stalinist dictatorship, an expert said.

Landing at Logan International Airport yesterday, Aijalon Gomes, 31, of Mattapan embraced Carter, who helped win his release, and then walked into the arms of his mother and more than a dozen other cheering family members.

“I’m just joyful and grateful that my son is home, and thank President Jimmy Carter for making sure that he was home safely,” Jacqueline McCarthy said earlier. “I thank God, I thank God, for everything everyone has done for us.”

This next one is from the LA Times. Church panel finds Rev. Jane Spahr guilty of officiating gay marriages but gives her props for ministering to gays and some on the panel hope it will force the church to address the issue (on first listen sounds kind of like Obama’s waffling to me):

Reporting from Napa, Calif. — A retired minister who officiated at more than a dozen same-sex marriages when such unions were legal in California was found guilty Friday of violating the Presbyterian constitution and her ordination vows for performing those ceremonies.

After a four-day church trial that was equal parts Scripture lesson and celebration of marriage, a panel of leaders from the Presbytery of the Redwoods voted 4 to 2 that the Rev. Jane Adams Spahr should be censured because she “persisted in a pattern or practice of disobedience.”

Well, that just reminds me of historian Laurel Thatcher Ulrich’s quote: “Well-behaved women seldom make history.“

Oh, and here’s another wonderful indicator of how Obama’s Summer of Recovery is coming along just swimmingly. Embattled Dem asks for Beavis the Treasury Secretary to resign (from CNN):

Rep. Tom Perriello, a Virginia Democrat, called for the resignation of Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner at a town hall meeting in Ruckersville, VA earlier this month, according to Perriello spokesperson Jessica Barba.

Perriello’s move is emblematic of how–with the economy the biggest issue with voters–Perriello felt it necessary to distance himself from Obama economic policies.

The Fierce Urgency of Let’s Throw Something Out there and See if it Will Stick. Obama WH is scrambling to look like they are Taking Action:

Washington (CNN) – Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan revealed to CNN Friday that the Obama administration plans next week to unveil two new initiatives to deal with the crumbling housing market, and he left the door open to also reviving the expired $8,000 tax credit for first-time home buyers that had been propping up the industry.

“We’re going to be rolling out an FHA refinancing effort to help borrowers who are under water in their homes get above water,” Donovan said in an exclusive interview taped for CNN’s “State of the Union with Candy Crowley” on Sunday. “And second, we’re launching an emergency homeowners’ loan program for unemployed borrowers to be able to stay in their homes.”

The swift action being pushed by President Obama’s housing chief come in response to awful news in the housing industry this week, starting with Tuesday’s revelation that existing home sales hit their lowest level in over a decade, declining by over 27 percent during the month.

Swift action? Hillary had comprehensive plans back in 2008.

Here in my neck of the woods, our voting machines set on fire… I kid you not… from the Houston Chronicle:

A fire that destroyed nearly all Harris County’s electronic voting machines Friday has election officials scrambling to re-equip the county for an election in which early voting starts in just 51 days.

Like I wasn’t feeling disenfranchised enough!

Kat may have already covered this, but here’s how Louisianans are feeling about the Gulf Oil Kill, this is from Public Policy Polling:

The oil spill in the Gulf may be mostly out of the headlines now but Louisiana voters aren’t getting any less mad at Barack Obama about his handling of it. Only 32% give Obama good marks for his actions in the aftermath of the spill, while 61% disapprove.

Louisianans are feeling more and more that George W. Bush’s leadership on Katrina was better than Obama’s on the spill. 54% think Bush did the superior job of helping the state through a crisis to 33% who pick Obama. That 21 point margin represents a widening since PPP asked the same question in June and found Bush ahead by a 15 point margin. Bush beats Obama 87-2 on that score with Republicans and 42-30 with independents, while Obama has just a 65-24 advantage with Democrats.

Speaking of Bush, he’s baaaaack (from WSJ):

After remaining mostly out of view and silent on policy debates since leaving office, George W. Bush is about to promote his memoir, to be published a week after the Nov. 2 elections. Peter Wallsten has details.

Mr. Bush is re-emerging to promote his memoir, to be published a week after the Nov. 2 elections.

Thanks to Obama, Pelosi, and Reid for rehabilitating Bush. He’ll probably come back and tell us Iraq was a fantastic success. And, what will Obama do? He’s already patting himself on the back for ending the war, though 50,000 troops will remain there.

Here’s your Park 51 soundbyte for the day:

(Reuters) – The Muslim center planned near the site of the World Trade Center attack could qualify for tax-free financing, a spokesman for City Comptroller John Liu said on Friday, and Liu is willing to consider approving the public subsidy.

Felix Doubles for Darwin, 1924

Stem cell research update. I saw this in the SF Chronicle and thought it was a pretty good summary of where things stand at the end of this week for the most part:

Talk about judicial activism. U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth just ruled that the federal government can’t fund any stem cell research because it destroys embryos. He voided not just President Obama’s stem cell policy, but former President George W. Bush‘s policy, too.

Lamberth relied on a reading of the Dickey-Wicker Amendment, which forbids federal funding of “research in which a human embryo or embryos are destroyed.” The anti-abortion community is ecstatic, but the ruling goes far further than even Bush’s policies on stem cells. Bush approved federal funding of research on stem cell lines that existed by August 2001. It’s unlikely that even this policy would be allowed under Lamberth’s reasoning.

The Obama administration is already planning an appeal, as it should. Congress could, and should, easily clarify things by simply passing a stem cell funding bill. That would eliminate the need to go through the courts, and the bill would be unlikely to encounter a presidential veto this time around.

In the meantime, the scientific community is frustrated and confused. The California Institute for Regenerative Medicine will be able to press on with its embryonic stem cell research, thanks to the wisdom of California’s voters. But it means the institute’s scientists won’t be able to collaborate with those whose funding was dependent on federal grants.

Congress should move quickly to ensure that this potentially valuable research can continue.

The only thing I would slightly differ on is that Congress just needs to repeal Dickey-Wicker amendment, which is as screwy as its name sounds.

I’m trying to stay away from the story about the Glenn Beckistan mockery of the MLK speech day, but Bob Herbert had this amusing line at the end of his op-ed on the topic today:

My sincere advice to Beck, Palin and their followers is chill, baby, chill.

Ok, well on that note I hope your Saturday is going well and be sure to share what you’re reading in the comments!