Afternoon News: The Brave and the Wimpy

THE BRAVE

Hunted man Julian Assange has agreed to talk to UK Police who now have a warrant for his arrest, sent to them from Sweden. Meanwhile, the Swiss bank that holds Wikileaks fund has frozen their account. It looks like Assange could be in police custody soon. Will that trigger the release of the documents that have not yet been revealed to the public?

From The New York Times:

The legal noose tightened around Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks, after his lawyers said Monday that an Interpol notice and European arrest warrant would oblige the British police to arrest him for questioning on accusations of sexual offenses from Sweden.

The BBC, and a message on the WikiLeaks Twitter feed, reported that new warrants had been issued and that his arrest might be imminent.

Mark Stephens, a lawyer for Mr. Assange, told NBC News that a place and time were being negotiated for Mr. Assange to meet with Scotland Yard.

From the BBC:

The Swiss post office’s bank, PostFinance, has frozen the accounts of Wikileaks founder Julian Assange.

The whistle-blowing website says the freeze includes a defence fund and personal assets worth 31,000 euros.

Regarding the arrest warrant,

Sources have told the BBC that the European Arrest Warrant for Mr Assange arrived on Monday afternoon.

Swedish prosecutors want to question Mr Assange in connection with allegations of rape, sexual molestation and unlawful coercion, which he denies.

He is believed to be in hiding somewhere in south-east England. Once the police have located him, he would be expected to appear at a magistrate’s court within 24 hours, pending extradition to Sweden, says the BBC’s security correspondent Frank Gardner.

Mr Assange’s UK lawyer, Mark Stephens, told the BBC: “We are in the process of making arrangements to meet with the police by consent in order to facilitate the taking of the question and answer that is needed.”

On the secret cache of documents that Assange is using for insurance in case anything happens to him, The Daily Mail writes:

The founder of WikiLeaks today revealed he has sent out 100,000 encrypted copies of secret diplomatic cables so they will definitely be released whatever happens to him.

Julian Assange, breaking his silence in an online question and answer session, acknowledged there had been death threats against him and his colleagues because of the damaging leaks.

He told for the first time of the insurance policy he had put in place to ensure that his whistleblowing website will not be silenced, whatever drastic steps may be taken by his enemies.

Mr Assange also hailed the young American soldier suspected of leaking the classified U.S. cables as an ‘unparalleled hero’.

I know not everyone agrees with me, but I believe this release of documents is a good thing. It could lead to changes in policy and perhaps the closing of Gitmo. Frankly, as long as Daniel Ellsberg is supportive of Assange and Bradley Manning, I will be too.

THE WIMPY

You probably read the Shrill One this morning. Man, he is getting angrier and angrier. He’s really worked up about those Bush tax cuts and our wimpy President.

…while raising taxes when unemployment is high is a bad thing, there are worse things. And a cold, hard look at the consequences of giving in to the G.O.P. now suggests that saying no, and letting the Bush tax cuts expire on schedule, is the lesser of two evils.

Bear in mind that Republicans want to make those tax cuts permanent. They might agree to a two- or three-year extension — but only because they believe that this would set up the conditions for a permanent extension later. And they may well be right: if tax-cut blackmail works now, why shouldn’t it work again later?

America, however, cannot afford to make those cuts permanent. We’re talking about almost $4 trillion in lost revenue just over the next decade; over the next 75 years, the revenue loss would be more than three times the entire projected Social Security shortfall. So giving in to Republican demands would mean risking a major fiscal crisis — a crisis that could be resolved only by making savage cuts in federal spending.

And we’re not talking about government programs nobody cares about: the only way to cut spending enough to pay for the Bush tax cuts in the long run would be to dismantle large parts of Social Security and Medicare.

Krugman’s verdict on Obama’s “leadership”:

As long as Republicans believe that Mr. Obama will do anything to avoid short-term pain, they’ll have every incentive to keep taking hostages. If the president will endanger America’s fiscal future to avoid a tax increase, what will he give to avoid a government shutdown? [….]

Yes, letting taxes go up would be politically risky. But giving in would be risky, too — especially for a president whom voters are starting to write off as a man too timid to take a stand. Now is the time for him to prove them wrong.

Sorry, Paul, it’s not gonna happen. Obama just sold us down the river.

The Daily Caller: Obama and GOP reach deal on two-year extension of Bush tax cuts for all incomes

The deal will extend the current tax levels for two more years, preventing taxes from going up on any income levels, despite the wishes of many liberal Democrats — including Obama — that individuals making more than $200,000 a year and families with more than $250,000 a year in income see their rates go up.

In exchange, Republicans have agreed to extend unemployment insurance benefits for an additional 13 months.

Obama presented the proposal to Democratic congressional leaders at the White House Monday afternoon, seeking to obtain their approval for the deal.

This is way beyond disgusting This is criminal!

Other details include a temporary two percent reduction in payroll taxes to replace Obama’s “Making Work Pay” tax credit from the 2009 stimulus bill, and a compromise on the estate tax, which will be set for two years at 35 percent, with a $5 million exemption amount.

The tax rate for capital gains and dividends will be maintained at 15 percent.

The estate tax solution comes from Sen. Blanche Lincoln, Arkansas Democrat, and Sen. Jon Kyl, Arizona Republican.

This is bullsh&t!!

Stephen Stromberg at Wapo: Obama, Republicans’ ominous deal on Bush tax cuts

For weeks, observers have preemptively hailed the sort of deal the White House and congressional Republicans seem to be striking on extending the Bush tax cuts. Republicans, it seems, will acquiesce on maintaining enhanced federal unemployment benefits if Democrats extend all of the Bush tax cuts for two years. Expect a few satisfied sighs from Washington once the bargain is struck. Advocates of bipartisanship will express pleasure. Conservatives should be happy, since they clearly got the better end of the deal. Even liberals are saying this is a “bitter but significant victory.”

Stromberg, like Matt Bai, thinks this is a good thing.

But what happens when the demands of policy require pain? If Congress addresses long-term spending in coming years, which pretty much requires reform of Social Security, Medicare and taxes, ideological and/or political considerations will push each side to see the stakes as incalculable. Will a spirit of bipartisanship really develop when Congress is deciding what to cut, instead of simply how to allocate hypothetical money? Perhaps there’s some reason for optimism. Eleven of 18 members of the president’s debt commission voted for some painful spending and tax policies last week. But as far as compromises go, this one, lubricated with cash, is ominous in its resemblance to how Washington has approached dealmaking for so long.

Beware folks: the privileged young “creative classers” in the media and lots of the progbloggers are not our friends. They are going to do their very best to take away what is left of the safety net. They don’t give a damn about the rest of us. Let me remind you of what Krugman wrote today:

America, however, cannot afford to make those cuts permanent. We’re talking about almost $4 trillion in lost revenue just over the next decade; over the next 75 years, the revenue loss would be more than three times the entire projected Social Security shortfall. So giving in to Republican demands would mean risking a major fiscal crisis — a crisis that could be resolved only by making savage cuts in federal spending.

And we’re not talking about government programs nobody cares about: the only way to cut spending enough to pay for the Bush tax cuts in the long run would be to dismantle large parts of Social Security and Medicare.

The battle is joined. We have to find some way to dump Obama. In fact, IMNSHO, he should resign if this deal gets approved by Congress.