In case you were wondering, President Obama does, in fact, plan to nominate someone to replace Antonin Scalia on the U.S. Supreme Court. He also pointedly refused to say he would nominate someone "moderate" just to "to ensure the process runs smoothly." Early scuttlebutt was that he would nominate D.C. District Court Judge Sri Srinivasan, who would be too pro-corporate for my taste, but would also present the Senate with a dilemma in rejecting a man for the Supreme Court they already approved by a 97-0 vote for the District Court. (And when Republicans say "he's only been at the D.C. Court for two years," Democrats could respond, "oh, you mean like John Roberts and Clarence Thomas?")
Robert Reich announces "The Death of the Republican Party," as well as its replacement by "warring tribes." It's worth a read, but "Libertarians," "market fundamentalists," "Wall Street titans," and "billionaires" actually do have a significant amount in common, and recall that we've been hearing about the "Death of the Republican Party" for many years now; as long as the banksters favor them, the party ain't going nowhere. It'll just become more reactionary, and there's no guarantee -- again, as long as the banksters favor them -- that the American people will turn on them en masse.
The Ford Motor Company severs ties with that right-wing bill mill, the American Legislative Exchange Council (or ALEC). It may have something to do with ALEC's reactionary position on climate change, a position that Ford, as an automobile manufacturer, would at least want to appear progressive about, which means Ford may not actually want to be progressive about climate change. Still, the move denies ALEC real cash money, and don't think that doesn't hurt.
Nine U.S. Senators ask the Department of Education to cut off Title IV funding to any for-profit college that uses forced arbitration clauses with its students. And the Dept. of Ed can do this without running to Super Great and Awesome Real American President Mitch McConnell or Boy Wonder Paul Ryan for permission, not because AMURIKAN CAESAR!!!! but because Congress delegated this authority to the Executive branch long ago. But the wheels of the Executive branch do seem to grind slowly -- how many weeks has it been now since hearing that President Obama was "seriously considering" campaign finance disclosure for federal contractors? And how many years since we started telling him to do it?
Finally, Thomas Piketty, author of the unexpectedly best-selling Capital in the 21st Century, says that with the success of Sen. Bernie Sanders in the Democratic nomination race, "in many respects, we are witnessing the end of the politico-ideological cycle opened by the victory of Ronald Reagan at the 1980 elections." I have dared to hope the same, and I hope Mr. Piketty is right -- but it sure does seem that Our Glorious Elites fight like cornered animals, and it has seemed that way to me for over a dozen years.
Comments