Obama's History-defying Decision to Seek Congressional Approval on Syria (Walter Shapiro) from Yahoo News
"... whatever Obama’s underlying motivations and however the Syrian vote plays out on Capitol Hill, the president’s decision to go to Congress represents an historic turning point. It may well be the most important presidential act on the Constitution and war-making powers since Harry Truman decided to sidestep Congress and not seek their backing to launch the Korean war."
Red Lines Matter (Roger Cohen) from the New York Times
"It is the credibility of the United States as a European and Asian and Middle Eastern power that underwrites global security. ... My initial response to Obama’s decision to seek congressional support and to the long delay involved was that it betrayed a by-now familiar hesitancy. I have reconsidered: This is a necessary post-9/11 rebalancing from the dangerous “unbound powers” of the presidency of which Obama has spoken, powers that opened the way to the compromising of America’s “basic values” to which he also alluded this year.""
McCain: Obama to Send New Arms to Syrian Rebels (Josh Rogin, Eli Lake) from the Daily Beast
"That’s what John McCain says the president promised to do if it means getting support for an attack on Syria. Josh Rogin and Eli Lake report on Obama's quickening war campaign."
Boehner’s Support For Striking Syria Upends Hill Politics from Talking Points Memo
"President Barack Obama’s push to retaliate militarily against Syria took a major step forward Tuesday after securing a forceful endorsement from House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH). Boehner’s remarks in favor of intervening to punish the regime’s alleged use of chemical weapons dramatically alter the politics in Congress as it gears up for the debate."
Syria Vote Sets Up Foreign Policy Clash Within the G.O.P. (Jonathan Martin) from the New York Times
"The Congressional vote will offer the best insight yet on which wing of the Republican Party — the traditional hawks, or a growing bloc of noninterventionists — has the advantage."
Does Obama Have the Right to Change His Mind on Syria? (Charlie Cook) from National Journal
"Are presidents allowed to second-guess themselves and change their minds if they conclude that a previous or tentative decision was made in error? Some might suggest that the country would have been better served had President Johnson acted on what we are now learning of his own increasing reservations about the wisdom of the Vietnam War. Should glands trump brains and judgment?"
Kohut: Obama Shines on World Stage (Andrew Kohut) from USA Today
"As President Obama heads to the G20 summit in St. Petersburg this week he remains the most popular world leader. Ordinary citizens in most countries, with some notable exceptions, say they have confidence in him to do the right thing in world affairs and many generally approve of his policies."
The Scared Worker (Robert J. Samuelson) from the Washington Post
"The weak job market has a semi-permanence unlike anything seen since World War II, and the effects on public opinion extend beyond the unemployed. “People’s expectations have been really ratcheted down for what they can expect for themselves and their children,” says EPI economist Lawrence Mishel. There’s a sense “that the economy just doesn’t produce good jobs anymore.” Possible job loss becomes more threatening because finding a new job is harder."
How Technology Wrecks the Middle Class (David Autor and David Dorn) from the New York Times
"... computerization is not reducing the quantity of jobs, but rather degrading the quality of jobs for a significant subset of workers. Demand for highly educated workers who excel in abstract tasks is robust, but the middle of the labor market, where the routine task-intensive jobs lie, is sagging. Workers without college education therefore concentrate in manual task-intensive jobs — like food services, cleaning and security — which are numerous but offer low wages, precarious job security and few
prospects for upward mobility. This bifurcation of job opportunities has contributed to the historic rise in income inequality. HOW can we help workers ride the wave of technological change rather than be swamped by it?"
A response to Autor and Dorn:
Why Unions Are Essential To Tackling The Technology Challenge To Good Jobs (Richard Kirsch) from National Memo
"If history is an example here as well, we should remember that
lower-skilled work does not have to come with low pay. The workers who stood on assembly lines in the 1930s did not have a college education or years of specialized training; they fought for the right to organize unions and demanded high enough wages to support their families."
A Comeback for Labor (E.J. Dionne Jr.) from the Washington Post
"At play here is “Stein’s Law,” named after the late conservative economist Herb Stein, who shrewdly declared: “If something cannot go on forever, it will stop.” The steadily declining share of our economy that goes to wages is one of those things."
Sallie Mae Lags In Student Debt Relief Amid Ongoing Federal Probes from the Huffington Post
"The White House and other federal policymakers have heralded the IBR program as a potential antidote to the risk of student-debt-fueled economic malaise. The program caps monthly payments on federal student loans relative to borrowers’ incomes and gives some debtors the
opportunity to have their remaining loans forgiven after years of steady payments."
SALOON HISTORY NUGGET!!
Exploring the Oldest Bar in America from the Huffington Post
"The oldest bar in America is actually just north of New York City in the small town of Tappan, New York, and it's called the Old '76 House (sometimes just '76 House). ... It doesn't look like much: a small, stone building sporting a number of chimneys and just down the street from the Reformed Church of Tappan, another old structure important in its own ways. But though modest looking, the place is incredibly rich in history."
ETIQUETTE NUGGET!!
New Rules for Entertaining in the 21st Century from Slate
"... people have all but given up entertaining their loved ones at home in favor of Saturday evenings spent lounging “in their sweat pants while juggling an iPad, a remote wand and the chopsticks that they use to share General Tso’s chicken eaten straight from the carton.” ... Entertaining can and should remain a vital and vivacious part of the human experience, and we plan to do our part to make it so with this series, a compendium of 20 posts that will appear over the next four weeks."
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