Tuesday Open Thread [4.7.15]
According to NPR, President Obama scoffed at Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker’s (R) suggestion that he would, on Day 1, revoke any nuclear agreement with Iran if he is elected president. Said Obama: “It would be a foolish approach to take and perhaps Mr. Walker — after he’s taken some time to bone up on foreign policy — will feel the same way.”
LOL. Talk about some shade being thrown by the President. I will love if he actively stays involved in the GOP primary. It will drive them literally insane, and benefit Hillary all the more.
While the poll numbers out of Ohio yesterday by Quinnipiac looked great, with the Democratic former Governor Ted Strickland trouncing incumbent Republican Senator Rob Portman by 10 points, today’s polls out of Pennsylvania and Florida are less enthusiastic.
PENNSYLVANIA–SENATOR–Quinnipiac: Sen. Pat Toomey (R) 48, Joe Sestak (D) 35.
“Toomey’s job approval rating stood at 49 – 24, and 44 percent of voters see him favorably, compared to 23 percent who view him unfavorably. Sestak’s favorability was at 24-14, but 61 percent didn’t know enough about him to form an opinion.”
FLORIDA–SENATOR–Quinnipiac: Jeff Atwater (R) 38, Rep. Patrick Murphy (D) 34; Atwater (R) 42, Rep. Alan Grayson (D) 32.
Jay Bookman takes on critics of the Iran nuke deal:
[I]f Iran is caught cheating, we and our allies would enjoy considerable international support for doing whatever is deemed necessary as a response.
The opposite is not true. If we are the ones who walk away from a deal, or if we take military action against Iran without fully exploring every other option, any hope of a negotiated resolution would vanish. And that’s just fine with certain folks.
In other words, as another columnist that I cited said over the weekend, if you really want to bomb Iran, you have to take the deal.
Dana Milbank says there is no denying that Climate-change deniers are in retreat. Yeah, not so sure about that.
What began as a subtle shift away from the claim that man-made global warming is not a threat to the planet has lately turned into a stampede. The latest attempt to deny denial comes from the conservative American Legislative Exchange Council, a powerful group that pushes for states to pass laws that are often drafted by industry. As my Post colleagues Tom Hamburger, Joby Warrick and Chris Mooney report, ALEC is not only insisting that it doesn’t deny climate change — it’s threatening to sue those who suggest otherwise. […] To be sure, this is a tactical retreat, and you shouldn’t expect conservative groups to start lining up in favor of a carbon tax. Rather, they’re resorting to more defensible arguments that don’t make them sound like flat-earthers. My Post colleagues quoted energy lobbyist Scott Segal saying that “the science issue just isn’t as salient as it once was.” Instead, Segal talks about the cost and viability of proposed regulations.
It’s likely no coincidence that the shift is occurring as the Obama administration approaches a June target to finalize rules on power-plant emissions. Those who oppose regulation are wise to abandon a position that holds little public appeal; a healthy majority of Americans accept that global warming is real, and a New York Times poll earlier this year found that even half of Republicans support government action to address it.
Ironically, conservatives wish they had their own Harry Reid.
