Intel Panel: DOD Report Finds Snowden Leaks Helped Terrorists from The Hill
"Edward Snowden's leaks about National Security Agency programs have put U.S. troops at risk and prompted terrorists to change their tactics, according to a classified Pentagon report. House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Rogers (R-Mich.) and ranking member Rep. Dutch Ruppersberger (D-Mich.) said that the Pentagon report found a significant portion of the 1.7 million documents Snowden took were related to current U.S. military operations."
One of the reasons I have resisted getting on the Snowden-as-whistle-blower-hero bandwagon is for precisely this issue. Up until now, we have been privy to some of the NSA's methods -- but without any sense of what might have been gained from those methods or the justification for those methods. Many on the left have assumed and/or asserted that nothing was gained from the NSA's surveillance program. I have found it curious that so few lawmakers (those who were clearly in the know about the program's workings) have had any comment on it. They have been perfectly happy to let the Obama administration take the heat for the Snowden revelations, that in spite of the fact that (as far as I can see) Congress authorized virtually everything the NSA did and that a select group of lawmakers knew exactly what was going on. This story begins to suggest that Snowden's disclosures have had a cost on the national security side.
Stuck: Why Americans Stopped Moving to the Richest States (Derek Thompson) from the Atlantic
"The long road from "go west, young man" to "stay put, everyone." the problem isn't just that Americans aren't moving as much as they used to. It's that the allure of cheaper housing—famously celebrated by Horace Greeley, himself!—often leads families to cities with the worst social mobility. The instinct to "go west" might doom families to go nowhere, at all."
Thompson is usually not as obtuse as he is in this column. The "unmobility" described here is, in my view, a direct result of the recession. Moving to a new location where you do not have the normal social network that acts as the "safety net of last resort" is quite risky when unemployment is so pervasive or when you can't count on unemployment insurance or dependable health care. When you are struggling economically, where do you get child care? From your sister or niece, not a day care. Where do you get your car fixed? Your uncle's greasy garage, not the dealer. If you have to share your living space in order to pay the rent, you'd rather have some family member or friend share your space rather than some stranger off of Craig's List. These options are only available in communities where you are known and have deep long-term connections. Even in places where the job market is above average, unemployment is still too high, there are still too many people looking for too few jobs. This unmobility comes from people who are far more concerned about not falling further down economically. The prospects for actually moving up by moving somewhere else occurs for them as too risky. I think that, for the most part, they're right too.
Federal Deficit Drops by 40% from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
"The federal deficit for the first quarter of fiscal 2014, which began Oct. 1, dropped by almost 40 percent compared with the same period a year earlier, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office reported Thursday. The deficit has gone down so much that the federal government actually ran a surplus for December — a one-time occurrence that resulted from some special circumstances but still an indicator of the rapidly improving state of the government’s finances."
The War Over Poverty (Paul Krugman) from the New York Times
"On its 50th birthday, the movement to aid the poor has a lot of progress to celebrate."
To Understand GOP’s Poverty Challenge, Start with Republican Voters (Patrick Egan) from the Washington Post
"GOP leaders want to “own” the issue of fighting poverty. The challenge: Republican voters don’t think poverty is much of a priority."
Liberal Self-Identification Edges Up to New High in 2013 from Gallup
"Americans continue to be more likely to identify as conservatives (38%) than as liberals (23%). But the conservative advantage is down to 15 percentage points as liberal identification edged up to its highest level since Gallup began regularly measuring ideology in the current format in 1992."
Contrite Christie One Story Away from Oblivion (John Cassidy) from the New Yorker
"But in simultaneously putting the blame on a single staffer and saying he had no involvement whatsoever, he staked his career on the belief, hope, desperate gamble—call it what you want—that no new information will emerge to challenge his version of events. If Kelly, or anybody else, contradicts Christie and provides evidence to back up his or her story, the governor is toast."
Christie's Enemies - Democrats and Republicans - Ready to Pounce (Chuck Todd et al.,) from MSNBC
"Christie faces a serious problem that goes well beyond whether anyone contradicts the story and timeline he laid out on Thursday: He has enemies, both Democratic and Republican ones, who are sharpening their knives. "
Chris Christie’s Problem is that He’s Really, Truly a Bully (Ezra Klein) from the Washington Post
"Christie inhabits a rare space in American politics: He's a bully. He's followed around by an aide with a camcorder watching for moments in which Christie, mustering the might and prestige of his office, annihilates some citizen who dares question him. ... It's not an accident that Christie emerged in a period when the Republican Party is out of power. His videos make them feel powerful at a moment when they're weak."
U.S. Attorney Expected To Open Preliminary Inquiry In Chris Christie Bridge Scandal from Reuters
"The announcement came as the office of the U.S. attorney in New Jersey said it would launch an inquiry into claims that Christie's staff was behind the traffic jam after a local mayor declined to endorse Christie's re-election bid."
RUT ROH!!
New Jersey Residents File Lawsuit Against Chris Christie, Others Over Bridge Controversy from the Associated Press
"Six New Jersey residents have filed a federal lawsuit against Gov. Chris Christie, the state of New Jersey, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, and others over traffic jams in September. ... The plaintiffs want it certified as a class action."
This is interesting. Can Christie's aids take the fifth in a civil suit? If they do, what does that do to their defense in the civil case? It would seem to me that this would increase the pressure on these aides to settle out of court -- but could they really afford to do that if it is a class action suit? I will be surprised if these aides can sustain their silence, given the s#@t storm that is headed their way.
Christie's George Washington Bridge Nightmare (Rick Hampson) from USA Today
"It's hard to imagine what in the state of New Jersey Chris Christie's people could have done to more severely wound his presidential hopes than to take one of his constituents' biggest headaches -- traffic -- and needlessly and vindictively make it worse. ... The story on its face is bad enough. But it also feeds into the most negative perceptions of what the New York Daily News is calling "the bully boy governor,'' one famous for his quick temper and eagerness to put others in their place, on a boardwalk or a town meeting."
Former Christie Ally, Opponent Always Knew Governor 'Would Implode At Some Point' from Talking Points Memo
"A Republican who's been both an ally and an opponent to Chris Christie, Richard Merkt said he knew the New Jersey governor's acrimonious personality would ultimately be his undoing. He just didn't think Christie's downfall would come so soon."
Mitt Romney's Best Decision of 2012: Passing on Pufferfish Christie (Jed Lewison) from Daily Kos
"The list of questions Myers and her team had for Christie was extensive and troubling. More than once, Myers reported back that Trenton’s response was, in effect, Why do we need to give you that piece of information? Myers told her team, We have to assume if they’re not answering, it’s because the answer is bad. The vetters were stunned by the garish controversies lurking in the shadows of his record."
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