31 GOP Senators Oppose UN Children’s Rights Convention

Republican senators fear that by supporting the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, the United States gives up sovereignty and parents lose rights. So, they came up with their own resolution stating that the convention “undermines traditional principles” of U.S. law” and says it’s “contrary to principles of self-government and federalism.”  Thirty-one senators oppose even bringing the UN Convention up for a vote.

As Mother Jones reports, the legally-binding U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child was issued in 1989 to establish rights across country lines for citizens under the age of 18. The only members …

Time For A New Economic Team?

by Stuart Shapiro

I count myself as among the fans of Timothy Geithner.  The handling of the financial crisis in 2008-09 undoubtedly prevented a far worse economic crisis than the one we endured.  However David Rothkopf points out that it may be time to move on.

Move Tim Geithner out of Treasury and to the NEC. Move Larry Summers back to his old job. And if you can’t get him confirmed there, find something else for him. He’s too valuable an asset not to have a job at a time like this — but it needs to be the right …

Richard Viguerie: John McCain Owes His Victory To The Tea Party

Richard Viguerie, who pioneered the use of direct mail to help elect conservatives, says John McCain owes his victory to the tea party movement, because that is what pushed him to become a true conservative once again.

“The John McCain of 2009-10 was a McCain we had not seen since the mid-1990s. The Senator owes his victory to the pressure he received from conservatives and Tea Partiers.

“To receive that support, he had to give up his maverick positions that have sometimes given aid and comfort to the liberals. I’m sure Senator McCain knows very well that he would …

Rick Scott Spends $50 Million To Win Florida GOP Governor Nomination

Rick Scott bested Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum to get the Republican nomination for governor of Florida, and the price tag is only $50 million.

The former hospital executive, whose company paid the largest set of Medicare fines and penalties in history — $1.7 billion — also declared his net worth to be $219 million ($218,589,004 to be exact), according to his financial disclosure form.

With Meg Whitman spending $100 million to get the party’s nomination for governor in California and Linda McMahon’s $22 million price tag in Connecticut, we are getting the best candidates money can buy.…

OK Senator Jim Inhofe Calls John McCain A “Closet Liberal”

Republican food fight: GOP Senator Jim Inhofe says John McCain is “a closet liberal” who “gets elected because of one thing–earmarks” (via Political Wire).

Specifically, Inhofe was criticizing McCain’s opposition to earmarks, which Inhofe said are simply appropriations.

…

Speaking to a Tulsa Metro Chamber breakfast, Inhofe was also critical of the Obama Administration and the Troubled Asset Relief Program, passed in 2008 to rescue the financial sector.…

Funny How Bush Officials Don’t Remember Working With Imam Rauf

The Imam behind the lower Manhattan Islamic cultural center was used by the Bush43 State Department in the same way the Obama State Department is using him: to promote intercultural understanding. But you’d never know that by the denial being professed by former Bushies.  Key Bush adviser Karen Hughes set up tours for Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf.

At the request of Bush’s State Department, where Hughes worked on Muslim outreach in the midst of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, Rauf attended the 2006 U.S.-Islamic World Forum in Doha, Qatar and in 2007 went to Morocco. Rauf has traveled …

On Tuesday’s Radio Show…

• Political Analyst Larry Sabato of the University of Virginia’s Center for Politics joins Alan to analyze the results of today’s elections.

• Mary Tillman, whose son Pat left the NFL to join the Army Rangers after 9/11, speaks with Alan about her new book Boots on the Ground by Dusk: Searching for Answers in the Death of Pat Tillman. (The paperback is available exclusively here, and proceeds benefit The Pat Tillman Foundation.)

• Does the imam behind the Islamic center near Ground Zero really support terrorism? Alan debunks the distortions.…

GOP Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels: Government Will Likely Have To Raise Taxes

Ignoring the right-wing talking points, Mitch Daniels, the Indiana governor who is mentioned as a 2012 presidential contender, acknowledges that raising taxes may be the fiscally responsible thing to do.

“At some stage there could well be a tax increase,” he said. “If you believe our fiscal mess is republic-threatening, and if you have to take the third- or fourth-best approach, at the end of the day, I’d do it.”

It’s never noted in Republican circles that Ronald Reagan had to raise taxes after he cut them.

Reagan was actually willing (if not always happy) to compensate for gaps …

Political Posturing And Liberal Discontent

by Stuart Shapiro

Peter Daou has an appealing rationale for the problems with the Obama Administration and the Democratic Congress.

There is a simple formula for rightwing dominance of our national debate, even when Democrats are in charge: move the conversation as extreme right as possible, then compromise toward the far right. It’s negotiation 101. And it’s completely lost on Democrats.

It is appealing because it allows progressives to say and think that if only Obama and Pelosi and Reid took more liberal positions, then the policy outcomes would be further to the left.

Just because it is appealing, however, …

Shirley Sherrod Says “No Thank You” To Tom Vilsack

Former USDA official Shirley Sherrod has declined an offer from Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack to take another job with the department, but says she wants to see the work she started continue.

“I just don’t think at this point with all that has happened” that it is possible to continue working at the department. “It doesn’t mean I’m not interested in that work, because I am,” she said.

She said she needs to “take a break” from the events of the past few weeks, but looks forward to “some type of relationship with the department in the future.”

“We need …

Can Republicans Do Anything Besides Scare White People And Cut Taxes?

By Yashwanth Manjunath

Rachel Maddow’s opening segment last night, titled “Scaring White People For Fun And Profit,” accurately sums up Republican political strategy for the past several decades months. She did a terrific job tearing apart Republican propaganda on recent “issues” like Van Jones, ACORN, the New Black Panthers, Shirley Sherrod, and now the Ground Zero “Mosque.” It’s clear from those fake controversies that Republicans are indeed trying to scare white people into voting for them using wedge issues come November. It’s also clear what the American people can learn about Republican candidates running this fall based on their ads…