dangerousmeta!, the original new mexican miscellany, offering eclectic linkage since 1999.

NY Times: The Bush Tax-Cut Failure.

“Even Mr. Hubbard now seems unwilling to defend the tax cuts he shepherded into law. Earlier this year, he was asked by The New York Times what he thought about the repeal of many of the Bush-era tax cuts on Jan. 1. He said many of those tax cuts were no longer relevant to our tax and economic problems.” Reagan’s didn’t work; Bush’s didn’t work. Can we put this toy back in the toybox now, and get on with actual economic tools?

The Atlantic: The U.S. Infrastructure Failure Is Still Totally Inexcusable.

“Our expensive transportation and utility challenges absolutely aren’t going away, but our window of opportunity to cheaply fix them absolutely will.” Been railing at this since Reagan was in office.

The Nation: Global War on Terror, R.I.P.

“reading between the lines, I’d say that the president put into words his clearly felt belief that the military and the CIA aren’t the right tool to use against a terrorism threat that can be dealt with, as before 9/11, by intelligence and law enforcement.” What? Common sense? I may faint.

Salon: Mississippi could begin prosecuting women for miscarriages.

Ol’ Miss wants to play God.

CNet: Tesla repays government loan early, a boost for electric cars.

“In what could be viewed as a shot in the arm for U.S.-made electric cars, Tesla Motors has repaid a government loan nine years early.”

The New Yorker: How Far Did PBS Go to Avoid Offending a Sponsor?

Woof. When one has to beg for public dollars, pushing a shiv into your largest donors comes hard.

Guardian.UK: Marines shield Obama from the Washington rain – but not from criticism.

Just out of curiousity, I’m going to have to see how long I could hold up an umbrella in that position. Looks like a deltoid/bicep burner. Props to the Marines. Ignore the catcalls.

WaPo: The scandals are falling apart.

But the evidenceless allegations against the President will resound in the echoing brains of conservative-ideology audiences. “Where there’s smoke, there’s fire.”

TG’s Political Wire: Republican Claims on Benghazi Prove False.

So, who was the Republican who altered the quotes? An investigation should take place, shouldn’t it, since this is the season of freewheeling substanceless investigations?

CJR: Peggy Noonan loses it on the IRS story.

Oy vey.

Economist: Barack Obama and the presidency — W’s apprentice.

“Increasingly, however, the exigencies of office seem to be trumping the legal qualms of the campaign trail—something Mr Obama’s supporters will regret when a future Republican president perfects the dodges he is pioneering.”

FT: US deficit falls faster than expected.

“The better picture has also shifted the deadline by which the US needs to raise its borrowing limit to avoid a default on its debt from August until October or even November, the CBO said.” Oh joy, more time for Benghazi and the IRS.

CJR: Untangling Obamacare — What’s behind the rate increases?

What does a 100% increase sound like to you? Subsidies will soften the blow … I remain maximally skeptical.

CSM: Did the IRS illegally target the Tea Party? Seven questions answered.

Some needed background.

TomDispatch: David Vine, ‘Baseworld Profiteering.’

Private contractors are the big winners.

TNDP.org: U.S. House Republican Majority Votes to Axe 40-Hour Work Week.

A den of vipers and thieves. I’ve got some tar … anyone got a supply of feathers and a railroad tie?

Tibet Post: China destroys the ancient Buddhist symbols of Lhasa City in Tibet.

“Ignoring both religious freedom and the outcry of the Tibetan people, the Chinese authorities have begun demolishing the ancient capital of Lhasa, including one of the most important Buddhist sites of the city, Tibet’s holiest Jokhang Temple.”

The Nation: Congressman Seek Constitutional Guarantee of the Right to Vote.

“Every citizen of the United States, who is of legal voting age, shall have the fundamental right to vote in any public election held in the jurisdiction in which the citizen resides.”

Guardian.UK: Cornel West—‘They say I’m un-American.’

I find his most vociferous critics have never, ever heard him speak.

emptywheel: The Blame Game Begins.

“What’s new, apparently, is an attempt to blame all this — and with it, our imminent failure in Afghanistan — exclusively on the CIA.” We’ve been talking about this for a long time now … the unsustainability. For anyone within the Beltway to declare ‘quelle surprise’ is disingenuous.

FT: Protests mount on use of BP Gulf spill funds.

Give money to the states, see them pad the pork barrels.

BillMoyers.com: Gun Violence Since Newtown.

“Number of people killed by guns in the first 98 days post-Newtown: 2,244.”

FT: The cost of hand-to-mouth living.

“If you were to ask wealthy Americans to visualise the future, they might well describe it as a carefully calibrated road along which they expect to travel. But if you ask poorer Americans, who are scrambling from pay check to pay check, they are more likely to perceive the future as a chaotic series of short-term cycles.”

Guardian.UK: No Patriot Act II—Americans choose civil liberties over security laws.

“The latest CNN/Time/ORC poll finds that 49% of Americans are not willing to give up civil liberties in order curb terrorism, while only 40% are. In fact, 61% of Americans are more fearful that the government will overreact to the Boston bombing, compared to 31% who are worried that the government won’t act strongly enough.” Avoid the terrible recrudescence of fear & panic. The first time did enough damage.

WaPo: Biden ponders a 2016 bid, but a promotion to the top job seems to be a long shot.

Only if Christie makes a serious play. You’d need another garrulous individual, but one with a reasoned sharpness. IMHO.