Obama has named General Electric CEO Jeffrey Immelt to essentially replace Paul Volcker and chair his new Council on Jobs and Competitiveness. The commenters at The Hill think this indicates that the president is a fascist. General Electric owns MSNBC, so this is all a big conspiracy.
I think people like Atrios (and me) mentioned a hundred dozen times that the mandate would be unpopular, especially without a public option. It’s no surprise to us that the Republicans are focused on that issue like a laser.
Texas Gov. Rick Perry says there is an emergency in his state. He must sign a Voter ID law within the next 60 days. Otherwise, minorities might have a fair share of the vote, and we can’t have that. So, what elections are happening in Texas in 60 days?
TBogg also chimed in on Michelle Obama’s killing spree.
The Republicans elected a bunch of real losers to govern different states around the country. Floridians will live to regret their choice. So will Mainers, Ohioans, Pennsylvanians, and so on.
Some people are crazy.
Between Minneapolis, Charlotte, Cleveland, and St. Louis, where do you think the Democrats should hold their convention in 2012?
What’s on your mind?
Charlotte. North Carolina is heavily populated by Latinos, and that area is part of the research triangle with young professionals. Good place to GOTV.
It’s not part of the Triangle. That’s Raleigh (N.C. State), Durham (Duke), and Chapel Hill (UNC).
My bad, I just assumed it was part of it because a lot of young people are moving there. Nonetheless, what I said is still important because the young educated professionals are there regardless.
It’s also the largest NC city, I believe.
Largest city. As of 2010 Census, it is the second largest urban area. Slightly.
Charlotte. It is a state-level election year and the Democratic governor is up for re-election as are the council-of-state, all of which are Democrats except for the Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary of Labor. In 2010, the legislature flipped to both houses Republican for the first time since Reconstruction. Might get some focus on strengthening the Democratic party structures in the South, starting with North Carolina. Charlotte has a Democratic mayor for the first time since Sue Myrick defeated Harvey Gantt in the 1980s. Wake County is in a shambles with the election of a re-segregating school board.
This would be a strategic time for intervention.
It’s time to flip the demographic argument that more population in Southern states automatically means more GOP control.
Isn’t North Carolina murder in early August?
Some years, but Charlotte’s milder than the Triangle and much milder than DC at the same time of the year. For August average high is 88 and average low is 68. The record high was 104; the record low was 50. The Daily Averages give a more detailed picture. August can get some early hurricanes on the coast (200 miles away). Altogether less oppressive than Chicago.
Actually I am thinking of the humidity. The humidity is what makes you want to blow your brains out when it’s hot.
Boo:
Did you know that Bobo is going to be speaking at CFR in March(Yes .. the Philly branch)? Do you have any idea what these things are like? Can you ask questions? Would it be a good idea for Philly bloggers to go?
Council of Foreign Relations?
Yes. Bobo is appearing at the Philly branch in March. I saw an ad for it yesterday in the dead tree edition of the Inky.
I’ve never attended one of those. Maybe you can find video and that will tell you what format they typically use.
The convention? Livingston, Montana. Just a short hop to the vast wonders of Yellowstone National Park. Scatter ’em around in every hotel and motel for 100 miles, with optional yurts-on-the-meadows. Big-sky country.
Actually, Denver was kinda like that. It was just about that scattered. And all of these mid-sized cities will have their resources stretched to accommodate a convention as large as the DNC.
Or we could just set up teepees along the Little Bighorn.
Gov. Scott pulled no punches when asked about his consumption of Florida media. When asked if he read Florida newspapers, Scott responded with a blunt “no.”
How does the state’s 45th governor know what’s going on? He said he relies on staffers to share clippings and he reads papers in other states “to see what they are doing.”
Hmmm….let’s see….why does sound so familiar??? Get into the wayback machine with me and let’s transport ourselves back to October 2003.
And we all know that worked out just perfectly.
You’re right BooMan. Florida is fucked.
Since Eric Schmidt’s announced departure from Google I’ve been hoping the next announcement would be that his name would crop up in the list to replace Larry Summers.
Charlotte
I vote Minneapolis, just because I want to see my local newspaper print something nice about the Democratic party.
They’re fighting a losing battle, despite our local D. Congressman, our two D.Senators and our D. President. The desperate attempt to create a different reality is something to see.
Do elections really have consequences? Hard to tell around here.
Good job, BooMan. Your mention of GE drew an ad.
Immelt is a very strange choice to replace Volcker. And a very political choice. It sure looks like corporate America now has its hooks deep into Obama’s future. Campaign extortion, one might call it. He’s got to find enough big money to counterbalance a “Shock and Awe” campaign from the Koch Bothers, who have very deep pockets (no one knows how deep because they are privately held).
As far as economic policy, I hope that Immelt can sell the White House policy to corporate leaders instead of selling the corporate leaders’ policy to the White House. If he does the former, we might see some economic progress because the corporations have essentially “gone Galt” on the employment front.
If this indeed means a tilt to China economically, who is going to accuse the Republicans of selling out the country to China (which they essentially have)? This provides Democratic cover. Start brushing up on your Mandarin. You might need it to get a good job in the US in the next decade.
It is a bold move for Obama only if it transforms the country and the world in a more helpful direction for the folks who voted for Obama in 2008. And if it allows Obama to be re-elected in 2012. Otherwise US workers are going to be in deep dung.
Well look at it this way, it’s not like anyone listened to Volker so maybe Immelt will be a non-entity instead of a poisonous viper.
Small hope.
“Floridians will live to regret their choice. So will Mainers, Ohioans, Pennsylvanians, and so on.”
You left out the real star of this sorry show: The new teabagger governor of WI lost almost a $billion from the feds for high-speed rail, and derailment of the project will cost somewhere between 5000 and 13,000 jobs for the state according to various estimates. Between the WI and OH idiots, high-speed rail in the Midwest suddenly became much harder to accomplish. Gov. Walker makes the notorious Tommy Thomson look like FDR.
My WI relatives say there’s a frantic effort to find a way to recall or impeach Walker, but apparently there are no credible mechanisms for doing so. So they’ll have to pay the price for not getting out the sane and intelligent voters. Too bad. Hate to see my favorite state swirling down the toilet.
Frantic effort? By whom? Bipartisan? Legislators? Dem Activists?
Probably not much more than some Madison Dems, plus folks who were counting on those rail jobs and money. But there doesn’t seem to be any structure for doing a recall, so it’s all moot.
Wisconsin does have a recall process. In recent years two state senators have been successfully recalled (one for corruption, one because he cast the deciding vote to fund the construction of Miller Park in Milwaukee).
To recall any state official, you need to get as many signatures as 25% of the people who voted for that office in the previous election. So, perhaps not very feasible. But the option exists.
I am convinced Scott Walker is going to destroy the state. Which is sad, since I live in Wisconsin, and I really think it’s been a good state.
I wonder if anyone ever thought of having the convention in NOLA?
How do they chose the cities anyway?
Cleveland. Obama didn’t carry Missouri last time, and won’t carry it this time. If the Dems are fighting for Minnesota, they’ve already lost. North Carolina is nice to have, but not necessary. Ohio is crucial.