Tim Geithner thinks the business community should be thanking him — Why is the GOP ignoring Paul Ryan’s great ideas? —
JournoListers hate Keith Olbermann almost as much as we do — Rangel to finally have ethics hearing, doesn’t really give a hoot — Netroots nerds to activate Optimus Prime — California homeowners silence their inner children
— “Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner on Thursday waved off complaints by business leaders that President Obama’s health care and financial regulation laws are creating uncertainty and freezing job creation, arguing that the administration has actually provided ‘a lot of clarity’ for the private sector,” reports The Daily Caller’s Jon Ward. “Businesses always want their taxes lower and always want to live with low regulation,” Geithner told reporters, adding, “Every business in America today is in a much better position than they were, not just 18 months ago, but than I think many of them expected to be at this point.” Yes, yes, nine out of ten business people agree that being on one’s knees is preferable to being on one’s hands and knees.
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— “Ryan, the ranking Republican on the House Budget Committee, proposed his Roadmap for America’s Future nearly two years ago hoping to spark a debate on how to bring down the burgeoning government debt,” reports The Daily Caller’s Paul Conner, but no one in the GOP will read it, or drive with it, or talk about it. “Unfortunately when I jumped in the pool and asked others to jump in the pool, we haven’t had many folks swimming around,” Ryan told an audience at the Brookings Institution, where people kinda get off on the concept of a conservative who doesn’t just say “HELL NO!” to everything, or “Someone shot a gun up in the air and the bullet landed near my office, so make me in charge.” Ryan attributes the vacuum of support for his ideas–all of which are pretty sensible–to [drum-roll!] politics as usual! “It became clear to me that we were just going to continue to hit each other as two political parties, where if you step out with anything bold, anything different, anything remotely considered politically risky, you will be beat up and lose and nobody will follow you, and you will come for an impasse.” We are so sorry, Paul Ryan, that this has happened to you. We know a good counselor; his name is Captain Morgan and he is 80 proof.
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— Reading all these JournoList stories is like letting your dog eat out of the cat’s litterbox, in that at least one creature in your home is going to be violently ill. Nevertheless, the latest from Washington’s premier list-serve for childish progressives has the pundit babies debating whether or not Keith Olbermann is doing la causa more harm than good. “Olbermann has a terrible record of going out of his way to talk about young, attractive women he believes to be stupid in grotesquely dismissive and oversexualized terms,” wrote one j-lister. “We can certainly afford to smack down Keith Olbermann when he spouts misogynist garbage,” said another. Yet another said he was tired of watching Olbermann, and another said the silver-fox-cry-baby was as bad as FOX News’ Sean Hannity and Bill O’Reilly. To which Grist’s David Roberts wrote, “Even if all Olbermann and Maddow are doing is mirroring Hannity and O’Reilly from the other side (which is utterly preposterous, by the way), that’s a far better situation than before they came along. It’s empowering to hear that your views are legitimate, that they are part of the national conversation.” Go ahead, dear reader. I can sense that you want to take a shower before you read another thing. We’ll wait for you to return.
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— “A House ethics subcommittee announced Thursday that it found that Rep. Charles B. Rangel violated congressional ethics rules and that it will prepare for a trial, probably beginning in September,” reports the Washington Post. “Sources familiar with the case said that Rangel could have avoided this showdown by accepting the subcommittee’s findings. He was briefed on the allegations against him — as required by House rules — in recent weeks, and he rejected them.” When asked last night about the allegations by MSNBC’s Luke Russert, Rangel chided the reporter for being young and asking dumb questions, then laughed dismissively. Even though we may regret saying this, here’s to Russert getting the last word.
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— “Liberals could face major losses if they continue to ignore the Tea Party movement, a panel of progressive writers said Thursday during a discussion at NetrootsNation,” reports The Daily Caller’s Chris Moody. (NetrootsNation is like Burning Man for liberal virgins who have grown out of Cosplay and into Keynes.) “The thing that has me most concerned about the Tea Party movement is the overarching theme on our side of things that we should dismiss these people because they’re nuts,” said Adele Stan, the Washington bureau chief for Alternet. “We really do that at our peril.” David Neiwart of Crooks and Liars said he knows just what to do. “The answer to the Tea Party is to activate the truly populist wing of the progressive movement. That’s the only way we’re going to have a chance to overcome this very threatening and very powerful movement.” Quick, somebody call the Coffee Party! Haha. Can you hear the nerd speak? These people are dead serious, too!
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— “The number of Californians entering foreclosure slid dramatically in the second quarter to a three-year low as the fallout from the worst of the housing crisis continued to abate,” reports the LA Times. “Banks are pushing alternatives such as loan modification programs and short sales — in which a property is sold for less than the value of the mortgage — helping to reduce the number of people entering foreclosure. A modest recovery in home prices also means that fewer homeowners are likely to sink ‘underwater,’ a situation in which a property is worth less than its mortgage, considered to be a predictor of whether a homeowner will walk away.” Now if only Californians could learn to behave like adults even when things aren’t going their way! That would really be something.
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