News Nuggets 1275

DAYLEE PICTURE!! A Kinkajou in Panama.  From National Geographic.

UP-FRONT FAST FOOD NUGGET!!
A Fast-Food Joint Thrives, Even by Paying $12 an Hour (Daniel Gross) from the Daily Beast
"At Detroit’s Moo Cluck Moo, the healthy burgers and chicken menu come with another twist: a living wage for employees. Daniel Gross reports on their ethical bottom line."

UP-FRONT POLITICAL COMMENTARY!!
Why Republicans Miss The Realists (Ross Douthat) from the New York Times 
"...  the eclipse of foreign-policy realism within the G.O.P. there’s a shortage of potential advisers and influencers who represent any kind of middle way between crusading interventionism and Paul-style
libertarianism. And if that debate does end up splitting the party in 2016, it could be a case study in why the Eisenhower/Nixon/H.W. Bush realists were so useful to the Cold War-era G.O.P., and why the party misses them today."
Douthat's comment on foreign policy could be applied to many other areas of the executive branch, defense policy, domestic spending, and especially economic policy.  The basic point is that the longer the GOP remains absent from the West Wing (a good thing in my view) the fewer Republican specialists with WITH REAL WORLD EXPERIENCE there will be for GOP congressmen and Presidents to draw upon (ultimately not a good thing).  It is my own view that you could already see this problem infecting W's administration both with their domestic economic policies and the reconstruction of Iraq.  In the first instance, economic policies were driven by ideological considerations poorly informed by recent experience or history while in Iraq we saw free market ideologues play Masters of the Universe with the rebuilding there, leading to catastrophic squandering of lives and resources that has ultimately left a very unstable authoritarian government whose existence is now of greatest benefit to Iran.  For the GOP now, the real-world experience gap is even bigger.  It's no accident that most of the "sane" voices of the GOP are very senior congressmen (like McCain) while most of the younger types are notable most for their lack of understanding of any key issues whatsoever.  What we've seen instead, through careful choreography and only communicating through conservative media sources, is the rise of a generation of conservative lawmakers who seem to think that, when it comes to coming up with genuine solutions to real problems foreign or domestic, you can basically fake it. In the eighteenth century, Russia's Catherine the Great was treated to a series of "Potemkin Villages" designed by her advisors to create the illusion of prosperity.  In the 21st century, Americans are treated to a "Potemkin Party," where one party's efforts are focused almost exclusively on creating the illusion of expertise, compassion, and any genuine interest in problem-solving.  For my part, I am optimistic that the American public is actually seeing this and that the GOP's efforts to maintain power through this strategy are already collapsing.

How Fractured is the GOP? (Charles Krauthammer) from the Washington Post 
"GOP insurgents are threatening to shut down the government on Oct. 1 if the stopgap funding bill contains money for Obamacare. This is nuts. The president will never sign a bill defunding the singular achievement of his presidency. Especially when he has control of the Senate. Especially when, though a narrow 51 percent majority of Americans disapproves of Obamacare, only 36 percent favors repeal. President Obama so knows he’ll win any shutdown showdown that he’s practically goading the Republicans into trying."

The Party of (Nutty) Ideas (Eugene Robinson) from the Washington Post 
"It’s not your imagination. The Republican Party really does seem to have taken leave of its senses. ... the GOP is drifting past “party of no” territory into an uncharted realm where the object seems to be to make the nation ungovernable. Unable to control his unruly majority, Boehner has essentially given up ..."

The Collapse of the House Republican Majority (Matthew Yglesias) from Slate
"There won't be an "Obama Revolution" if the Republicans get rolled, but there just might be bipartisan deals to replace sequestration and reform the immigration system. The Republican majority, in other words, may be nearly immune to electoral defeat thanks to favorable district
boundaries—but it's not immune to its own dysfunction."

This Is Why The IRS Investigation Is ‘Phony’ (Jason Sattler) from the National Memo
"Using “be on the lookout” lists and focusing on groups based on their names was foolish and needed to be stopped. But Issa and Republicans over-promised from the beginning and have made “IRS persecution” a cornerstone of organizing and fundraising. Now, as this video from Democrats on the House Oversight Committee shows, they have nothing to show for it, ..."

The GOP Calls Its Own Fiscal Bluff (Andrew Sullivan) from The Dish 
"... when they actually have to contemplate real cuts in programs that might affect their own constituents, they balk. They are a slogan, not a party. And in the end, you do actually have to leave the Fox News studios and actually do the minimal amount to keep the government actually
functioning. When they get there, they fall apart."

House Republicans and the Limits of Crazy (Jonathan Chait) from New York Magazine
"... this defeat was different. The bill concerned the funding of housing and transportation programs, though its failure represented more than just a programmatic setback, or even a setback for the Republican economic strategy writ large, but the potential ruin of its entire posture toward Obama. Since taking control of the House two and a half years ago, Republicans have fomented a series of crises that seemed to have no end in sight, explicitly refusing to negotiate with Obama and implicitly denying his legitimacy as president. The crumbling of that wall is far from certain, but yesterday a wide crack opened up."

With a THUD, Congress Kicks Another Can Down the Road from Roll Call 
"They quickly concluded that presiding over the second high-profile defeat in a month of a bill of their side’s own making (the farm bill being the other) would further amplify their reputation as a majority leadership with steadily eroding control over its own troops — and thereby over the one slice of the government the public has elected them to run. But abandoning the bill was also a tacit concession that the House GOP high command’s strategy for the fall fiscal fight has fallen apart."

House Falls Apart When The GOP Actually Tries To Implement The Ryan Budget (Jason Sattler) from the National Memo
"Boehner assured reporters that his caucus’ strategy was not falling apart, but he did call for a short-term continuing resolution to prevent a government shutdown."

Thank Republicans for Gay Marriage in Minnesota from Time Magazine  
"A GOP effort to ban same-sex marriage led to a gay rights milestone."

How To Turn a Red State Blue (Michael Tomasky) from the Daily Beast 
"Her name is Alison Lundergan Grimes, and a new poll has her ahead of Mitch McConnell in the race for his Senate seat. Kentucky might not be so red after all, writes Michael Tomasky."

Five Things You’re Getting Wrong About Weight and Weight Loss from Time Magazine
"There are several misconceptions people have about weight, losing it and what’s healthy. Here’s the low-down on some myths we’re better off busting."