memeorandum: Higher Taxes: The Solution to Obscene Wall Street Profits (Myglesias/Matthew Yglesias)

5:55 PM ET, April 22, 2010

Top Items:

Time:

BANKS: Deposits Guaranteed … Through the great banking houses of Manhattan last week ran wild-eyed alarm. Big bankers stared at one another in anger and astonishment. A bill just passed by both houses of Congress would rivet upon their institutions what they considered a monstrous system of guaranteeing bank deposits.

Discussion: Newsweek Blogs, Swampland, Ben Smith's Blog and TPM LiveWire

The White House:

Remarks by the President on Wall Street Reform Cooper Union, New York, New York — THE PRESIDENT: Thank you very much. Everybody, please have a seat. Thank you very much. Well, thank you. It is good to be back. (Applause.) It is good to be back in New York, it is good to be back in the Great Hall at Cooper Union.

Discussion: The Atlantic Online, Washington Wire, White House.gov Blog Feed, New York Times, Big Government, Washington Monthly, Gateway Pundit, The Foundry, No More Mister Nice Blog, Deal Journal, The New Republic and The Consumerist

Ezra Klein:

What would FDR do? — In 1936, Franklin Delano Roosevelt took the podium at Madison Square Garden to deliver a message to his critics. “We [have] had to struggle with the old enemies of peace,” he said. “Business and financial monopoly, speculation, reckless banking, class antagonism, sectionalism, war profiteering.

Discussion: New Deal 2.0 and Newsweek Blogs

Myglesias / Matthew Yglesias:

Higher Taxes: The Solution to Obscene Wall Street Profits — Ezra Klein uses some charts and graphs to demonstrate how profits and compensation have skyrocketed on Wall Street, and concludes: … I don't really understand this progressive passion for trying to micromanage the structure of the American economy.

Discussion: Ezra Klein

Peter Baker / New York Times:

Obama Issues Sharp Call for Reforms on Wall Street — WASHINGTON - President Obama is traveling to the shadow of Wall Street on Thursday to counter what he calls “the furious efforts of industry lobbyists” trying to weaken or kill new financial regulations that he says are needed to stave off a second Great Depression.

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Real Time Economics, Time, Online NewsHour, The Caucus, Townhall.com, Clusterstock, Beltway Confidential, Think Progress, Guardian, The Baseline Scenario and TPMDC

Rep. John Boehner / Investor's Business Daily:
President Obama's ‘TARP Forever’ Act

Discussion: The Note, Economix, Salon, Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, NY Daily News, Los Angeles Times, Newshoggers.com and The Reaction

Victor Zapanta / Think Progress:
VIDEO: The GOP's Solution To Everything — Let's ‘Start Over’

Discussion: Matthew Yglesias and Grasping Reality …

Dave Itzkoff / ArtsBeat:

‘South Park’ Episode Is Altered After Muslim Group's Warning — A message posted on SouthParkStudios.com, the Web site of Trey Parker and Matt Stone's production company. — 8:56 a.m. | Updated — An episode of “South Park” that continued a story line involving the Prophet Muhammad …

Discussion: Hot Air, NewsBusters.org, Tim Blair, Commentary, Left Coast Rebel, Big Hollywood, Mediaite, NY Daily News, PopEater and Gates of Vienna

Andrew Sullivan / The Daily Dish:

Puss-TV vs Non-Puss TV — If you try to access the latest episode of South Park online, you get the message above. — I know I'm a broken record, but the two-part 200th episode was about as close to genius - and hardcore fan-pandering - as you can get. Hennifer Lopez, Mr Hat …

Discussion: The Awl

Ann Althouse / Althouse:
Comedy Central cowers in the face of a murder threat/warning against …

Discussion: Instapundit, ArtsBeat, GayPatriot, Mediaite, The Other McCain and DaTechguy's Blog

BBC:
South Park warned on Muhammad

Discussion: The Confluence, Townhall.com and Questions and Observations

Frances Martel / Mediaite:

Mediaite Exclusive: Censored Portions of Blago Subpoena May Implicate Team Obama — Today in United States v. Rod Blagojevich: following up on his 2008 claims that then-Senator Barack Obama was one of a few people who could testify to his innocence, his defense team issued a motion today to subpoena the President to testify in court.

Discussion: TalkLeft, The Blago Blog, Hot Air and Confederate Yankee

WBBM-TV:

Blagojevich Defense Team Moves To Subpoena Obama — Defense Says Obama's Story Is Different From Likely Prosecution Witnesses — CHICAGO (CBS) ― The defense team for deposed Gov. Rod Blagojevich has moved to subpoena President Barack Obama to testify at Blagojevich's corruption trial.

Discussion: National Review

Reuters:

Exclusive: WellPoint routinely targets breast cancer patients — (Reuters) - One after another, shortly after a diagnosis of breast cancer, each of the women learned that her health insurance had been canceled. First there was Yenny Hsu, who lived and worked in Los Angeles.

Discussion: The Huffington Post, Firedoglake, The Consumerist, Obsidian Wings, Wonk Room, Shakesville, RHRealityCheck.org and Swampland

Mark Murray / msnbc.com:

Obama administration to appeal prayer ruling — From NBC's Pete Williams — The Justice Department says it intends to appeal a federal court ruling that found the National Day of Prayer to be a violation of the separation between church and state. — The ruling came in a lawsuit filed …

Discussion: The Blotter

Charles Babington / Associated Press:
Obama suggests value-added tax may be an option

CNN:
U.S. appeals ruling striking down National Day of Prayer

Discussion: The Political Carnival

Carrie Budoff Brown / The Politico:

Reid moves forward with reform vote — Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said Thursday that he will not wait for Democrats and Republicans to reach a bipartisan compromise on a Wall Street reform bill, pledging to move ahead with the first key test vote Monday.

Discussion: The Hill, The Note, The Page, TPMDC, ourfuture.org/blogs_chrono/*, Washington Monthly and Gateway Pundit

Washington Post:
Reid says Senate will consider financial overhaul bill Monday

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Newsweek Blogs and The Caucus

Reuters:

The tea party's exaggerated importance — 2009 was the year when many journalists concluded they were slow to recognize the anti-government, anti-Obama rage that gave birth to the tea party movement. — 2010 is the year when news organizations have decided to prove they get it. — And get it.

Discussion: The Atlantic Online, Boston Globe, Right Now, Taylor Marsh, Mediaite, Left Coast Rebel, Ben Smith's Blog, Newshoggers.com, LewRockwell.com Blog and Washington Wire

Christina Kauffman / YD Home:
Gingrich draws crowd to York speech

Discussion: Think Progress and Alan Colmes' Liberaland

Greg Sargent / The Plum Line:

Michael Steele Acknowledges GOP Had “Southern Strategy” For Decades — A lot of people are pointing to a new set of remarks Michael Steele made about the Republican Party and race, in which Steele acknowledged that the GOP hasn't given African Americans a reason to support the party.

Discussion: GayPatriot, JOSHUAPUNDIT, Right Now, Wonkette, Washington Monthly, Liveshots and Bob Cesca's Awesome Blog!

Ralph Z. Hallow / Washington Times:
Internal RNC probe finds financial controls in disarray

Discussion: The Fix, Moonbattery, Washington Monthly, Ben Smith's Blog and Right Now

George F. Will / Press Association:

Bringing Thunder-ous change to New Jersey — The bridge spanning the Delaware River connects New Jersey's capital with this town where the nation's most interesting governor occasionally eats lunch at Cafe Antonio. It also connects New Jersey's government with reality.

Discussion: AmSpecBlog, Left Coast Rebel and Betsy's Page

Jennifer Rubin / Commentary:
Christie Targets Public-Employee Unions

Discussion: Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion

Thomas Fitzgerald / Philly.com:

In Pa. House race, identity politics with a twist — It's happened so often that it's now a cultural cliche: the gay politician pretending to be straight. In most parts of the nation, homosexuality or bisexuality is a clear electoral liability. — Not in Center City's 182d state House district.

Discussion: The Daily Dish, Moonbattery and Seattle Times

CNN:

Poll: Obama gets thumbs down on Israel — One third of Americans approve of how President Obama is handling the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians, according to a new poll. — Washington (CNN) - Only a third of Americans approve of the way President Obama's handling …

Discussion: Time and Israel Matzav

Yitzhak Benhorin / Ynetnews:
Obama to US Jews: peace cannot be imposed

Discussion: Laura Rozen's Blog, Wall Street Journal, Ben Smith's Blog, JOSHUAPUNDIT and Israel Matzav

Marist Poll:

4/22: Making Change with the 50 Dollar Bill — A Republican congressman from North Carolina has proposed legislation that would replace the image of President Ulysses S. Grant on the fifty dollar bill with that of President Ronald Reagan. Do Americans want this change to occur?

Discussion: Texas on the Potomac, Open Left and The Swamp

Jonathan Chait / The New Republic:

Conservative Radio Silence On Financial Regulation — Yesterday I commented on the miraculous nature of the sudden revival of financial reform. One other key element in this upsurge is the intellectual disarray on the right. Conservatives do not know what to say or think about this.

Discussion: The Daily Dish and A plain blog about politics

kff.org:

Kaiser Health Tracking Poll — April 2010 — The first Kaiser Health Tracking Poll fielded since the passage of health reform last month finds that 8 in 10 Americans know that President Obama signed the legislation into law. But 55 percent say they are confused about the law and more than half …

Discussion: The Fix, Daily Kos and USA Today

Heather / Crooks and Liars:

Anderson Cooper Asks Birther Arizona Rep. Cecil Ash Why He's Perpetuating Internet Rumors — Anderson Cooper does a pretty good job with calling out wingnut birther Arizona State Representative Cecil Ash for his decision to support a bill that would make Arizona the first official birther state (edited to make it safe for work):

Discussion: Rising Hegemon, Gotomario.com and AlterNet Blogs

Tim Shipman / Daily Mail:

'I've gone from being Churchill to a Nazi in a week': Clegg defends attack on Britain's ‘delusions of grandeur’ over WWII — A rattled Nick Clegg today sought to defend himself over his claim that the British people have a ‘more insidious cross to bear’ than Germany over World War II.

Discussion: Guardian, The Daily Dish, Telegraph, Weekly Standard, thetorydiary, Swampland, Iain Dale's Diary, MyDD and THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS

Fox News:

Rove's Take: Races to Watch in November, Finance Regulation Reform and Tea Party Power — This is a rush transcript from “On the Record,” April 21, 2010. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated. — GRETA VAN SUSTEREN, FOX NEWS HOST: Tonight: Get this. Karl Rove is a roadie?

Discussion: Washington Monthly and No More Mister Nice Blog

Yves Smith / naked capitalism:

Blankfein: Suit Against Goldman Will “Hurt America” — An interesting disconnect exists between Goldman's public posture on the SEC's suit against it over its Abacus 2007 AC1 deal and its private remarks. The firm has maintained that the charges are baseless and politically motivated …

Discussion: Clusterstock, Corrente, Law Blog, Think Progress and Pacific Views