Huffington Post: “State troopers are confiscating tampons, maxi pads and other potential projectiles from those who are entering the Texas capitol to watch the debate and vote on a controversial anti-abortion bill. Guns, however, which are typically permitted in the state capitol, are still being allowed.”
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Firing Of Woman For Being Too Attractive Was Legal
Iowa Supreme Court justices found that a male dentist did not discriminate against a female employee “when he fired her out of fear that her good looks might prompt him into an extramarital affair,” the Des Moines Register reports.
Associated Press: “Coming to the same conclusion as it did in December, the all-male court found that bosses can fire employees they see as threats to their marriages, even if the subordinates have not engaged in flirtatious or other inappropriate behavior. The court said such firings do not count as illegal sex discrimination because they are motivated by feelings, not gender.”
Spitzer Paid $800 a Day
Gothamist runs an anonymous piece from a staffer for Eliot Spitzer’s campaign who says he was paid $800 per day to collect signatures to get the former governor on the ballot for New York City Comptroller.
Two Different Comeback Strategies
Capital New York notes that Eliot Spitzer “seems happy to indulge his status as a national celebrity, in a way that Anthony Weiner, by comparison, hasn’t seen fit to do. Weiner, for all the press coverage he’s generated, has yet to sit for a single national television interview since he entered the race in May.”
McGreevey Takes Appointment in Jersey City
“In a bombshell announcement, Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop said today that former Gov. Jim McGreevey (D) will take the helm of a city commission dedicated to job creation and training,” the Jersey Journal reports.
“McGreevey, who served for two years as governor before resigning in disgrace in 2004, will also create and implement a re-integration program for ex-offenders being released from state prison and county jails.”
Quote of the Day
“I go out in the crowd all of the time. Frankly, yesterday I went out and talked to several of them and they were not very respectful. They did not represent the majority of those who call themselves moral by cussing me out. But that’s the way things go some times.”
— North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory (R), quoted by the Wilson Times, on the “Moral Monday” protests at the state capitol every week.
Should Democrats End the Filibuster?
Megan McArdle: “As I understand it, there is about a 0% chance that Democrats will
retake the House in 2014, which means that Republicans already have
quite an efficient veto over any legislation they might like to pass.
Meanwhile, there’s about a 70% chance that Republicans will control the
White House, the House, and the Senate come January 2017. Without the
filibuster in place, Republicans could do a lot of damage to programs
that Democrats like. That seems an expensive risk to run in order to
get some presidential nominees through, however mad you are about GOP
obstructionism.”
The Five Republican Parties
Norm Ornstein: “American history has many examples of a party going off the rails and taking a long time to recover. It was true of the Democrats in the 1890s and again in the 1960s and early ’70s. One rough rule of thumb is that a party has to lose three presidential elections in a row to make it clear that the problem is not just individual presidential candidates and their failures but something deeper, enough to motivate a party to move to expand beyond its ideological base and capture the center. But if that happens in 2016 — if Democrats make it three wins in a row — I am not sure it will be enough for the GOP.”
“That is because I see at least five Republican parties out there, with a lot of overlap, but with enough distinct differences that the task is harder than usual. There is a House party, a Senate party, and a presidential party, of course. But there is also a Southern party and a non-Southern one. The two driving forces dominating today’s GOP are the House party and the Southern one — and they will not be moved or shaped by another presidential loss. If anything, they might double down on their worldviews and strategies.”
The State Where Republicans Need Hispanics
Nate Cohn: “Opponents of immigration reform are right about one thing: Hispanics aren’t enough for Republicans to win back the White House. But that doesn’t mean that the GOP can sacrifice Hispanics without big consequences for their chances. That’s already happened in New Mexico and Nevada, where the Hispanic vote has flipped two states from red to blue. The GOP’s route to the presidency has survived the loss of those two small states–they’re worth just 11 electoral votes. But it’s a whole different story if Florida suffers the same fate as Nevada, as it very well might if Republicans can’t improve among Hispanics.”
Napolitano Will Resign as Homeland Security Secretary
Janet Napolitano will resign as the head of the Department of Homeland Security to become the next president of the University of California, “in an unusual choice that brings a national-level politician to a
position usually held by an academic,” the Los Angeles Times reports.
Her
appointment also means the 10-campus system will be headed by a woman
for the first time in its 145-year history.
Interesting speculation: If President Obama appoints Sen. Tom Carper (D-DE), chairman of the Senate Homeland Security Committee, to replace Napolitano, it would open a U.S. Senate seat for Delaware Attorney General Beau Biden (D).
Snowden Struggling to Find Way to Latin America
Edward Snowden said that he “would seek political asylum in Russia until he could find a way to travel to one of several Latin American countries that have offered him safe harbor,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“The request marks a sharp turnaround for Mr. Snowden, who had retracted a request for asylum in Russia earlier this month after President Vladimir Putin said it would only be considered if the former government contractor stopped leaks deemed harmful to U.S. interests.”
Summers Wants to be Fed Chairman
Coming to Do Good, Staying to Do Well
Walter Shapiro read Mark Leibovich’s This Town and concludes “the sad-eyed truth that, ultimately, everyone sells out.”
He notes former Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott’s honest explanation, “Washington is where the money is. That’s generally what keeps people here.”
The GOP’s Compassion Problem
First Read: “The party really seems to be struggling with that compassion thing. Take passing the farm bill WITHOUT the food stamp program. Or the scant attention to the plight of the undocumented immigrants — and their families — who are currently living in the shadows of this country. Compassion is a powerful thing in politics; remember, George W. Bush won a presidential election (in 2000) on that theme. Republicans are going to need to figure out how to add a compassionate element to their austerity push.”
“Of course, conservatives would argue the one place they show the most compassion (on the issue of abortion) doesn’t get the attention it deserves. Then again, on abortion, there is another side that believes there is a lack of compassion for women on this issue. Point is, the GOP has a perception problem on this front — something the Republican National Committee noted, and they’ve done little to fix it.”
Most Blame Republicans for Gridlock
A new Quinnipiac poll finds 51% of Americans say Republicans are responsible for gridlock in Washington, D.C while 35% percent say President Obama “lacks the skills to convince leaders of Congress to work together.”
Asked another way, 53% say Obama is doing “too little” to compromise with congressional Republicans, but 68% of voters say congressional Republicans are doing “too little.”
Said pollster Peter Brown: “Voters think the Democrats and Obama aren’t playing nice, but they think the Republicans are worse.”
GOP on the Verge of Committing Political Suicide
David Brooks: “It’s beginning to look as though we’re not going to get an immigration reform law this year. House Republicans are moving in a direction that will probably be unacceptable to the Senate majority and the White House. Conservative commentators like my friends Bill Kristol and Rich Lowry are arguing that the status quo is better than the comprehensive approach passed by the Senate. The whole effort is in peril.”
“This could be a tragedy for the country and political suicide for Republicans, especially because the conservative arguments against the comprehensive approach are not compelling.”
Alaska Republicans Hear Nothing from Palin
Even though Sarah Palin said she is considering a U.S. Senate — resulting in a lot of national buzz — “party leadership in Alaska hasn’t heard a peep from her,” Alaska Public Media reports. “Republican Party Chair Peter Goldberg says that there’s been no communication between him and Palin. Ever.”
Said Goldberg: “I would think she would want to at least speak briefly to the new head of the Alaska Republican Party. But no, never met the lady. Never spoken to her. I have seen her once.”
Spitzer Submits Signatures to Get on Ballot
Just four days after he launched his campaign, Eliot Spitzer (D) said that “over 27,000 signatures” were submitted to the Board of Elections just ahead of a midnight deadline to get on the ballot for New York City comptroller, the AP reports.
Spitzer needs 3,750 valid petition signatures to get on the Democratic primary ballot for September.
