In the context of this negotiation, I would say that this is the last card you play, the one you play when everything else hasn’t worked. The President tried giving the Republicans almost everything they claim to want, he tried accommodation, I’m not sure he’s tried this level of fear.

$23 billion in Social Security checks need to go out August 3rd. The current estimate of tax receipts coming in that day is around $12 billion. It’s just a math problem. If the President is unwilling to take steps like coin seigniorage or the Constitutional option, if the debt limit really is a limit with no extraordinary measures left, $12 billion is not enough to pay out those checks.

The major sale of sale of bonds would displace other bonds that the United States might want to sell in the financial market. This would lead to higher interest rates on U.S. debt. Therefore Mr. Peterson is contributing to our deficit problem.
That may seem more than a little silly to readers, which it is. Yet, this is the same way in which Kessler says that Social Security will be creating a fiscal burden.

McConnell and the GOP will not enrage their Fortune 100 masters by forcing a default, and they know they’d take the lion’s share of the political blame from the voters if such a thing happened. They also won’t agree to increase taxes on rich people, because that’s all they care about. So, the only move for them is to raise the debt ceiling in a clean bill and move on.

The Obama Administration seems fairly proud of their current performance and think they are politically winning the debate over the debt ceiling right now by appearing to be more reasonable and the “only adult in the room.”

These poll numbers though make it seem like far too little has been done to explain to regular people what is actually going on in the debate and what is at stake

The Obama Administration knows that they’re going to be cutting spending at some level over the next year, damaging economic performance coming into an election year. If it doesn’t happen on the debt limit deal, it’ll happen in the 2012 budget. So they’re looking elsewhere for how to use the power of the office to improve the economy and by association their political position in 2012. And they’ve hit on the point that the housing market is a giant lead weight on the economy.

In Social Security’s 76 year history, it has always been dealt with independent of the general budget, through the normal legislative process. Rather than enact major changes in haste and, we believe, repent at leisure after the damage has been done, we urge policymakers to focus on Social Security after the debt limit has been raised, in its own legislative vehicle, through the normal legislative process with full hearings and open debate. Let’s go with the old-fashioned way, rather than some new, untested third way.

While we’ll be really sorry to see them go, we’re delighted that the Emptywheel folks are going to be entering a new and exciting era as they start their own blog. Marcy has built a loyal following for her excellent work covering civil liberties issues over the years, and she totally deserves every bit of [...]

The House Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime & Terrorism, chaired by GOP Representative James Sensenbrunner, is holding a hearing on the “Protecting Children from Internet Pornographers Act” at 10 am ET. The bill might seem like something that would be free from debate, as we all should agree children do not deserve to be subjected to pornography. But, the legislation includes a “data retention” requirement that should fuel debate over rights to privacy

It might seem like a small thing, that extra two years before Medicare eligibility, but the fact is it would hurt millions by costing them and their employers much more in health care premiums.

• Shorter Obama: I want to cut more than Republicans.
• Boehner really isn’t the Speaker — it’s Cantor.
• This is totally unrelated to Al Gore’s weight.
• Mamma mia.
• The Israelis have lost their collective minds.