Posts by Faiz Shakir

Faiz Shakir is the Research Director at the Center for American Progress and serves as Editor of ThinkProgress.org and The Progress Report.

Bill Kristol Thinks America Should Reward Torturers
Posted by Faiz Shakir, Think Progress on November 30, 2008 at 9:11 AM.

In his new Weekly Standard column, right-wing pundit Bill Kristol lays out a to-do list for President Bush before he leaves office. He urges Bush to deliver speeches "reminding Americans of our successes fighting the war on terror." Kristol dreams, "Over time, Bush might even get deserved credit for effective conduct of the war on terror."

After urging Bush to fight the incoming administration's desire to close Guantanamo, Kristol concludes with this:

One last thing: Bush should consider pardoning-and should at least be vociferously praising-everyone who served in good faith in the war on terror, but whose deeds may now be susceptible to demagogic or politically inspired prosecution by some seeking to score political points. The lawyers can work out if such general or specific preemptive pardons are possible; it may be that the best Bush can or should do is to warn publicly against any such harassment or prosecution. But the idea is this: The CIA agents who waterboarded Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, and the NSA officials who listened in on phone calls from Pakistan, should not have to worry about legal bills or public defamation. In fact, Bush might want to give some of these public servants the Medal of Freedom at the same time he bestows the honor on Generals Petraeus and Odierno. They deserve it.

In the Bush era, the Medal of Freedom has come to absurdly represent a reward for those who carried out policy failures at the urging of the Bush administration. By this standard, the implementers of torture and warrantless wiretapping certainly qualify for such a medal.

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Report: Fox Bosses Despise and Loathe Bill O'Reilly
Posted by Faiz Shakir, Think Progress on November 29, 2008 at 9:31 AM.

In a forthcoming biography of Rupert Murdoch entitled "The Man Who Owns The News," author Michael Wolff reports that the Fox News bosses have no fondness for Bill O'Reilly but are willing to tolerate him for his ratings:

"It is not just Murdoch (and everybody else at News Corp.'s highest levels) who absolutely despises Bill O'Reilly, the bullying, mean-spirited, and hugely successful evening commentator," Wolff wrote, "but [Fox News chief executive] Roger Ailes himself who loathes him. Success, however, has cemented everyone to each other."

"The embarrassment can no longer be missed," Wolff wrote, in another section of the book. "He mumbles even more than usual when called on to justify it. He barely pretends to hide the way he feels about Bill O'Reilly. And while it is not that he would give Fox up--because the money is the money; success trumps all--in the larger sense of who he is, he seems to want to hedge his bets."

Obama to Address Economy ... Bush to Pardon Turkey
Posted by Faiz Shakir, Think Progress on November 26, 2008 at 7:58 AM.

This MSNBC chryon tells the story:

Yglesias extrapolates: "The president-elect working hard while the president is hardly working. Of course, given what we've seen from the Bush administration it's probably just as well that he stick to pardoning turkeys and leave the policy response to Obama's team. If only he'd thought of this strategy when he first moved in to the White House."

The Secret to Rachel Maddow's Success
Posted by Faiz Shakir, Think Progress on November 24, 2008 at 8:10 AM.

Newsweek reports that, since Rachel Maddow's show debuted on Sept. 8, "she has more than doubled the ratings of her predecessor, Dan Abrams, with 1.9 million average total viewers, and she's beaten CNN's Larry King 27 out of 44 nights among viewers 25 to 54." MSNBC executives say the key to her success is her hard work:

For Maddow, the job never really stops. She regularly works 16-hour days, only eating once she has finished. She often has just one large meal at 2 a.m., purchased from street vendors. [Executive producer Bill] Wolff says she "simply wants to be excellent." Phil Griffin, the head of MSNBC, attributes her success to a certain "magic," and to her application: "She comes in every day and studies for eight hours. I think one of the biggest mistakes that people make when they come in to television and cable news, which is a really intense, competitive area, is to not work hard. This is not for the soft of heart. It’s intense."

Dick Cheney, Alberto Gonzales Indicted By Grand Jury
Posted by Faiz Shakir, Think Progress on November 18, 2008 at 4:41 PM.

A South Texas grand jury has returned multi-count indictments against Vice President Dick Cheney and former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales on charges related to the alleged abuse of prisoners in Willacy County's federal detention centers: 

The indictment accuses Cheney and Gonzales of engaging in organized criminal activity. It criticizes Cheney's investment in the Vanguard Group, which holds interests in the private prison companies running the federal detention centers. It accuses Cheney of a conflict of interest and "at least misdemeanor assaults" on detainees by working through the prison companies.

Gonzales is accused of using his position while in office to stop an investigation into abuses at the federal detention centers.

GOP Remains Indecisive About Ted Stevens
Posted by Faiz Shakir, Think Progress on November 18, 2008 at 9:58 AM.

In their GOP conference meeting today, Senate Republicans punted “on the thorniest question -- whether to formally expel Sen. Ted Stevens from their ranks.” Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC) had planned to offer a resolution that read:

Resolved that Sen. Ted Stevens not be invited to future Republican Conferences, and that committee assignments shall not be assigned him by the Republican Conference.

“After talking with many of my colleagues, it’s clear there are sufficient votes to pass the resolution regarding Senator Stevens,” DeMint said in a statement released shortly after the 9:30 conference meeting began. But the GOP delayed the vote on Stevens today, pending the resolution of the Alaska recount.

Bailout Tally: $3.8 Trillion and Counting
Posted by Faiz Shakir, Think Progress on November 17, 2008 at 12:10 PM.

CNBC is keeping tabs on the amount that the federal government has been forced to spend to bail out corporate America. The total? 'Three-point eight trillion dollars. That’s $3,800,000.000.000. More than what was spent on WW II, if adjusted for inflation, based on our computations from a variety of estimates and sources.' Check out CNBC’s line-by-line breakdown of where the taxpayer funds are going.

Michael Moore Takes on the Economy
Posted by Faiz Shakir, Think Progress on November 14, 2008 at 5:14 AM.

The Hollywood Reporter reveals that Michael Moore's new documentary will focus on the global financial crisis and the U.S. economy. Moore is "feverishly shooting," and it is expected to come out as early as this spring. "The untitled movie will contain an end-of-the-empire tone, say those familiar with the project." Craig Minassian, an entertainment consultant, said, "If Moore offers a prescription for how to improve things, he may indeed find an audience that at this moment is eager for change," but cautioned "it's going to be hard for him. What this election shows is what's right with America, and sometimes what Michael Moore does is highlight what's wrong with America."

John Edwards Breaks His Silence
Posted by Faiz Shakir, Think Progress on November 11, 2008 at 12:34 PM.

Former Democratic presidential nominee John Edwards "will break almost three months of public silence when he speaks at 7 p.m. today" at the Indiana University Auditorium. Edwards will deliver a speech, give his reaction to the election, and answer students' questions. "The Union Boards' decision to bring Edwards to speak -- which cost $35,000 -- has garnered criticism on whether it is appropriate to pay someone to speak who recently admitted his extramarital affair." (HT: On Politics)

Update: The San Francisco Chronicle reports that Edwards will also be debating Karl Rove at a "mortgage bankers convention" hosted by the Commercial Financial Association. The Chronicle notes Edwards was once a consultant for the New York hedge fund Fortress Investment Group.

Obama and Bush to Meet Today
Posted by Faiz Shakir, Think Progress on November 10, 2008 at 4:28 AM.

President-elect Barack Obama and President George W. Bush will meet face-to-face today at 2 pm in the White House to discuss the upcoming transition. Atrios highlights a previous encounter between the two men:

"Obama!" Bush exclaimed, according to Obama's account of the meeting in his second memoir, "The Audacity of Hope." "Come here and meet Laura. Laura, you remember Obama. We saw him on TV during election night. Beautiful family. And that wife of yours -- that's one impressive lady."

The two men shook hands and then, according to Obama, Bush turned to an aide, "who squirted a big dollop of hand sanitizer in the president's hand."

Bush then offered some to Obama, who recalled: "Not wanting to seem unhygienic, I took a squirt."

Poor Bush: 'There Is a Real Sadness There' in the White House
Posted by Faiz Shakir, Think Progress on November 2, 2008 at 8:02 AM.

The Washington Post reports today that loyal Bushies are engaging in upbeat talk to mask "disappointment and frustration among many White House staffers," who see their boss as "a good and steadfast man who has gotten a bad rap":

"Everybody kind of wanted to spend the last 100-plus days doing some legacy things, and the financial crisis has thrown a wrench into that," said one prominent Republican who regularly talks with senior White House officials.

"You have a combination of no legacy stuff, a horrible economic mess and the likelihood that Obama is going to win," this person added. "There is a real sadness there."

Many Kentucky Voters Misinformed About Obama's Faith
Posted by Faiz Shakir, Think Progress on October 27, 2008 at 6:02 AM.

A poll of likely Kentucky voters finds that, "despite heavy national media attention about Obama's faith, more than half of likely Republican voters -- 54 percent -- and one of every four Democrats in the state do not know that the Democratic presidential nominee is a Christian." The poll indicated that "14 percent of likely Kentucky voters -- 28 percent of Republicans, 4 percent of Democrats and 11 percent of independents -- think Obama adheres to the Muslim faith." Mahmoud Shalash, imam of the Islamic Center of Lexington, argued that the poll numbers are the result of a deliberate fear-mongering campaign:

"I am concerned that some people are spreading this rumor for political purposes, trying to exploit the anti-Islamic sentiment in this country that ties Muslims with terrorists," Shalash said. "I don't blame the ignorant bigots as much as the educated people who try to perpetrate this."

'Joe the Plumber' Comes Clean: 'I Would Be Receiving Obama’s Tax Cuts'
Posted by Faiz Shakir, Think Progress on October 17, 2008 at 6:42 AM.

As ThinkProgress and many others noted yesterday, the premise of Joe "the Plumber" Wurzelbacher's complaints about Barack Obama's tax plan was ill-informed. Contrary to Wurzelbacher's claims, "neither his personal taxes nor those of the business where he works are likely to rise if Mr. Obama's tax plan were to go into effect."

As CBS News reported, even "Joe The Plumber" acknowledges this fact now:

So today, Joe, who said he makes much less than $250,000, reluctantly admitted Obama would lower his taxes.

"I would, if you believe him, I would be receiving his tax cuts," Wurzelbacher said.

Watch it:

Bloomberg reports that "one other problem in making Wurzelbacher a symbol of the overtaxed" is that - even if he did earn an adjusted gross income of $280,000 -- "he would pay just $773 more in taxes under Obama's plan than McCain's." That amount would hardly deal a crippling blow to his potential small business.

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Fact Checking 'Joe the Plumber'
Posted by Faiz Shakir, Think Progress on October 16, 2008 at 7:56 AM.

During a campaign stop in Ohio this week, Ohio plumbing business owner Joe Wurzelbacher questioned Barack Obama about his plan to increase taxes for the top five percent of income earners. Noting that he was planning to purchase a company that "makes" between $250,000 and $280,000, Wurzelbacher wondered what impact Obama's tax plan would have on him.

Last night, "Joe the Plumber" was first invoked by John McCain to attack Obama's tax plan. He was referenced 23 times by the candidates. After the debate, Wurzelbacher applauded McCain: "He's got it right as far as I go." But Joe is ill-informed.

Jake Tapper reports that it's not even clear if the figures Wurzelbacher cited take expenses into account. If his net profit is below $250,000, "Joe the Plumber" would be eligible for an Obama tax cut. Dean Baker explains that, under Obama's plan, the tax on income above $250,000 would increase by 3 percentage points from 33 percent to 36 percent -- which means that, if his net profits are above $250,000, Wurzelbacher could expect to see his tax bill rise by between $0-$900.

Wurzelbacher told the CBS Morning News that he feels like he's being "used by the Republican Party as a pawn to make their point."

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McCain Unveils New Economic Stimulus Proposal: Tax Cut For Millionaires
Posted by Faiz Shakir, Think Progress on October 14, 2008 at 10:27 AM.

On Saturday night, the McCain campaign told Politico.com that it was planning to unveil "new economic plans" that included temporary tax cuts on capital gains. Politico incorrectly noted that this proposal, which benefits the wealthy, would be "aimed directly at the middle class."

On Sunday morning, Sen. Lindsey Graham said McCain was planning "a very comprehensive approach to jump-start the economy, by allowing capital to be formed easier in America by lowering taxes."

But by Sunday night, the McCain campaign - in a sign of "internal confusion" -- was telling the New York Times that they "would not have any more proposals this week."

On Monday, Barack Obama announced "a new economic rescue plan Monday geared toward middle-class voters." McCain didn't announce anything, which "caused some head scratching."

And now, on Tuesday, McCain is unveiling his new proposals, going back to the well of tax cuts for the rich. McCain will announce plans to "cut the capital gains tax on stock profits in half, from 15 percent now on stocks held a year or longer to 7.5 percent -- a $10 billion proposal." The Wonk Room's James Kvaal noted the impact of cutting capital gains:

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