USApp Managing Editor, Chris Gilson looks at the best in political blogging from around the Beltway

Gilson, Christopher

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blogs.lse.ac.ukhttp://blogs.lse.ac.uk/usappblog/2015/06/13/rubio-channels-jfk-obamas-trade-agenda-stalls-and-the-unending-iraq-war-us-national-blog-round-up-for-6-12-june/Rubio channels JFK, Obama’s trade agenda stalls, and theunending Iraq war: US national blog round up for 6 – 12 JuneUSApp Managing Editor, Chris Gilson looks at the best in political blogging from around the Beltway. Our round-up of state blogs will follow on Saturday afternoon. President Obama, the Democratic Party, and the GOP This month is crucial for President Obama, writes Wonkblog, who preview three of the White House’s mostimportant projects: the House’s expected vote on the president’s trade agenda, the Supreme Court’s decision onObamacare, and the deadline for an agreement with Iran over its nuclear program. Delving into the SupremeCourt and Obamacare, The Atlantic  wonders on Wednesday if the President is trying to sway the Court, after hemade comments that there is no reason why Obamacare’s federal exchanges should be overturned in the courts,and that the case should not have even been taken up.The Daily Signal this week examines what they say is the ‘real trouble’ with Obama’s rhetoric. They argue that thePresident is better suited to fighting abstractions such as climate change than more specific threats such as ISISin the Middle East.Hit & Run is critical of a planned change by the Obama administration to which American workers are eligible forovertime pay. They say that by increasing the current $23,660 threshold to $52,000, the government is aiming toboost incomes, but might actually end up lowering employment.  Still on the subject of jobs, Perrspectives writeson Monday that Obama has actually created six times more jobs than President George W. Bush did.Moving over to the Republican Party, Outside the Beltway looks at the slow trend that is seeing the GOP becomeless socially conservative. Elections and the road to 2016 Looking at the general GOP side of the presidential horse race, United Liberty says that if the party is to be beatformer Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton (the Democrats’ likely nominee), then it needs to nominate someonereasonable, avoid the temptation to go negative, and ‘radiate youthfulness and vigor’. Clinton already has theGOP’s field of candidates in a difficult spot – Americablog comments that they have tried and failed to respond toher call last week for 20 days of nationwide early voting and automatic voter registration. FiveThirtyEight,meanwhile, looks at what Fox News isn’t saying about its upcoming GOP debate, and what determines which tenGOP candidates will be participating. Looking at some of those candidates more closely:Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker won’t rule out another Iraq invasion (Crooks & Liars).Florida Senator Marco Rubio is channeling the rhetorical style of JFK ( National Journal)……even though he’s terrible with money (Get There).Former Senator, Rick Santorum had a *small* meeting in Iowa this week ( FreakOutNation).Former Florida Governor, Jeb Bush, kicked off a European tour this week ( The Atlantic)……while his ‘non-existent’ campaign has had a few hiccups ( Wonkblog)……and may be panicking after discovering he is not liked by voters (Hit & Run).Is New Jersey Governor, Chris Christie, stealing from former presidential candidate, John McCain’splaybook (National Journal)?Florida Senator Marco Rubio Credit: Gage Skidmore (Flickr, CC-BY-SA-2.0)Just at the GOP is looking at ways to beat Hillary Clinton, Political Animal  looks at how the Democrats can win in2016 – by staking out a variety ofprogressive issue positions that havebroad support, and embracing theseideas that makes Republican counterspin unresponsive. Looking at theDemocrats’ candidates more closely:This week Clinton endorsed thefight for higher minimum wagesand expressed solidarity forthose who are pushing for it torise to $15 nationally(Wonkblog).Clinton shouldn’t worry too muchabout running a nationally unifying campaign, and should not try and target undecided voters, despite whatsome are saying (Crooks & Liars).Americablog looks at why Clinton and her husband have been such magnets for scandals in recent years.Townhall reckons that Clinton has a plan to ‘stuff the ballot box’ in 2016 by giving felons and non-citizensalong with those who can’t prove their identities the vote.Moving on to someone who isn’t a Clinton, The Democratic Truth reports that Vermont Senator, BernieSanders has won 41 percent support in a straw poll of Wisconsin Democrats. Government, the Beltway and Congress’ agenda On Monday, The Atlantic  covers the story that the FBI has been able to create a ‘small air force’ of surveillanceplanes in recent years. The planes have been carrying out both video and cell phone surveillance. They say thatHouse members have been frustrated at the lack of transparency over the practices given that the president hasrecently signed a bill rolling back the bulk collection of phone records by the National Security Agency.In 2012, the U.S, territory of Puerto Rico held a referendum where 44 percent of voters supported statehood. TheHill’s Congress blog looks at the historic inability of Puerto Rico’s statehood movement to gain an absolutemajority.Credit: Adam Fagen (Flickr, CC-BY-NC-SA-2.0)This week saw an important decision from the Supreme Court – it held that Congress could not require the StateDepartment to designate ‘Israel’ as the place of birth for U.S. citizens born in Jerusalem. The Volokh Conspiracysays that the decision is a win for the executive branch as its view has trumped that of Congress.The 2016 campaign has already been fraught with accusations of campaign finance violations as undeclared butactive candidates coordinate closely with their SuperPACs. Americablog reports Wednesday that the Chair of theFederal Election Commission (FEC), Ann Ravel has filed a petition with the FEC to request that it enforcescampaign finance regulations.Moving on to the Senate, Daily Kos writes this week that Majority Leader, Mitch McConnell (R-KY) has refused aDemocratic request for a budget summit – which creates a fiscal standoff over the sequester spending limits setby the 2011 Budget Control Act.On Friday the House was due to vote on whether or not to give President Obama trade promotion authority –which he would then use to push through the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement. Hit & Run says that onthe eve of the vote, the politics remain twisted, and that the House has approved the rules for debate, with eightDemocrats joining the Republicans in voting for the measure. While the House did pass the trade promotionmeasure, it rejected an associated Trade Adjustment Assistance bill which would provide assistance for workersdisplaced by trade, says The Daily Signal. Since both bills must be passed to match up with the Senate’s version,President Obama’s trade agenda is now in limbo.Foreign policy, defense and tradeFor anyone who is worried about the U.S. ability to project its military power across the world, Outside theBeltway has two maps – one which shows which countries have American military bases, and one which showswhere there are Chinese bases. Last week saw a massive hacking attack on the Office of PersonnelManagement, something that most officials suggest originated in China. The American Interest writes that theeffects of the hack could be ‘exponential’ with the personal details of government employees stationed overseaspotentially having been compromised.On Sunday, The Daily Signal has an assessment of the future of the U.S.-UK special relationship, given the UK’sincreasingly close, but fraught, relationship with the EU. They comment that because the U.S. is so friendly to theUK, the fate of the relationship rests with the UK.This week also saw the Obama administration decide to send up to 500 additional troops to Iraq to train localforces to fight against ISIS. Hit & Run says that given that Congress’ 2002 authorization for the use of militaryforce in Iraq has never been revoked, and that the U.S. didn’t pull out of the country entirely in 2011, the Iraq warnever really ended. American Thinker meanwhile looks at the ‘strategic fog’ that has plagued U.S. politicians andgenerals since the end of the Cold War. They say that the country’s slow slide into strategic confusion probablybegan with the end of universal conscription and the beginning of an all-volunteer military.Obamacare and health policy In the next few weeks, the Supreme Court will announce its decision in the King v. Burwell case, which revolveswhether or not the 2010 Affordable Care Act allows for tax credits for those who obtain health insurance fromfederal Obamacare exchanges. Red State writes Saturday that we should not cry for large health insurancecompanies if the Supreme Court rules against federal Obamacare subsidies. They say that health insurancecompanies have done very well out of Obamacare, and just as the government can give, it can also take away.On Wednesday, Crooks & Liars argues that the supreme irony of King v. Burwell is that not only will red states bethe hardest hit if the subsidies are thrown out, but that it is the blue states which have been picking up most of thetab for them. The Daily Signal, meanwhile says that new data for 34 states shows that if Congress eliminatedthree costly Obamacare regulations, then premiums could drop by hundreds for those who have never gottensubsidies under Obamacare. No matter what, Daily Kos says, a majority of Americans want the Supreme Court tosave the federal subsidies.Credit: Will O’Neill (Flickr, CC-BY-2.0)On Monday, Hit & Run looks at whether the ‘medical socialism’ of Obamacare is working. They say that manyhealth insurance companies who sell coverage through the exchanges are requesting premium increases for2016 of over 50 percent, with these likely to be a prelude to much larger increases in the future. Speaking of highcosts, The Atlantic  has a piece on hospitals that overcharge their patients by over 1,000 percent more than whatthe federal government thinks that the procedures should cost.The economy and societyWhy do people often lack trust in their government? Political Animal  explores the roots of mistrust in governmentthis week, something they say is especially a problem for Democrats. They say that a great deal of why peopledon’t trust government is down to the GOP’s strategy of sabotaging government’s reputation from the 1980sonward.This week the news was dominated by coverage of the police’s use of excessive force in breaking up a pool partyin McKinney, Texas, with a white officer using obscenities and force against young blacks. The Atlantic  uses thisas a springboard to discuss the racial history of U.S. swimming pools, which were frequently battlegrounds fordesegregation in the 1950s.The shale extraction revolution has led to plunging oil prices in the U.S. and elsewhere. Liberty Street Economicslooks at whether cheaper oil has been good or bad news for the U.S. economy. They conclude that lower priceshave had a modest stimulatory impact on the economy, but that these effects will have mostly dissipated by earlynext year. Staying on the oil industry, PoliticusUSA reveals on Tuesday that it benefits from more than $5 trillion insubsidies annually across the world. While low oil prices might be helping the economy, growth overall has beendisappointing, at least according to Roll Call. They say that relatively high taxes are forcing companies to movetheir economic activity offshore, which in turn affects growth and jobs. Not only is U.S. economic performancelacklustre, employees are getting less done, writes Wonkblog. They say that recent solid job growth may onlyreflect that employers are hiring more staff because their workers are less productive and more are needed.And finally… This week Republicans in the House of Representatives tried to gut the Migratory Bird Treaty Act which protectsbald eagles among other important birds, reports Crooks & Liars. In the first three months of the year, a record 1,336 Americans renounced their citizenship, a record high, saysThe Lonely Conservative. Wonkblog looks at the difference between twitter in the Beltway and twitter everywhere else.Featured image credit: The White HousePlease read our comments policy before commenting .Note:  This article gives the views of the author, and not the position of USApp– American Politics and Policy, norof the London School of Economics.Shortened URL for this post: http://bit.ly/1GzLqW4CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 2014 LSE USAPP

Rubio channels JFK, Obama’s trade agenda stalls, and theunending Iraq war: US national blog round up for 6 – 12 June

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