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18 Jul 2011 00:56

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Politics: Consumer Financial Protection Bureau: Obama faces confirmation headaches

  • Until President Obama addresses our concerns by supporting a few reasonable structural changes, we will not confirm anyone to lead it. No accountability, no confirmation.
  • Sen. Richard Shelby • Offering an ultimatum about the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, particularly in regards to its leadership. Obama recently chose former Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray as his pick — a slight over noted financial industry critic Elizabeth Warren, but one that will nonetheless face a tough Senate  confirmation battle. The GOP wants to push a five-member commission structure for the organization, but while Obama may offer concessions to please Republicans, that particular idea is off the table. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

17 Jul 2011 19:45

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Politics: Sarah Palin’s “The Undefeated” loses its throne right away

  • $169M the amount Harry Potter’s final film made — the biggest single weekend gross ever, BTW, but one that was very front-loaded
  • $75k the amount Palin’s “The Undefeated” made this weekend in 10 theaters (roughly — see, the distributor didn’t report exact estimates)
  • .04% share of Palin’s box-office take to Harry Potter’s take, which is like comparing an ant to an elephant, but still pretty fun source
  • » A huge amount of spin here: ARC Entertainment threw out a press release today claiming that “The Undefeated” actually did quite well amid adversity.  “We expect word-of-mouth to keep ticket sales strong and we will definitely expand the film to a wider national audience,” said  Trevor Drinkwater, the distributor’s CEO. “With merely three weeks of preparation and a virtually non-existent traditional advertising spend, the film did exceptionally well.” The distributor also noted that the film did the kind of business a film would normally require millions in advertising for. Which, let’s put it simply, isn’t true. Two fairly low-budget films this weekend — Errol Morris’ “Tabloid” and the poorly-reviewed “Snow Flower and the Secret Fan” — still managed to have larger grosses than Palin’s film despite the fact that all three films showed in less than 30 theaters. And on top of that, the movie has gotten plenty of traditional media coverage in part due to its star. A dud is a dud. Sorry.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

17 Jul 2011 11:20

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Politics: Sarah Palin documentary not exactly off to the best start

  • ten number of theaters the Sarah Palin documentary, “The Undefeated,” opened in this weekend — mostly conservative test markets
  • three people were in a recent Orange County showing — including a fairly lonely reviewer for The Atlantic; the other two left after 20 minutes source
  • » A pretty bad test weekend: While some estimate that Palin’s film could make as much as $4 million over its entire run — good for a rally-the-troops conservative film — the weekend that they chose to test it is one where most filmgoers of all political persuasions are preoccupied with Harry Potter. But one thing to keep in mind — if she decides to run, the film could do a lot better. For what it’s worth, the other two girls in the theater with Atlantic editor Conor Friedersdorf probably thought “The Undefeated” was an action movie, so maybe she’ll get some business from confused moviegoers.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

17 Jul 2011 11:01

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Politics: Scott Walker: Yeah, we made mistakes on handling that union thing

  • The mistake I made early on is, I looked at it almost like the head of a small business: identify a problem, identify a solution and go out and do it. I don’t think we built enough of a political case, so we let … the national organizations come in and define the debate while we were busy just getting the job done.
  • Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker • Discussing, during the National Governor’s Association meeting in Salt Lake City, the whole anti-union saga that has engulfed his state for a good four or five months now. Walker has faced tons of criticism from the left over the law, which passed in a sneaky behind-the-back way at the end of a lengthy holdout by numerous Democrats in the state senate — and was later upheld in court after a proxy battle over a judge’s election favored Walker’s law. Many Republicans who voted for the measure face a recall vote in August, and Walker could face one of his own in 2012. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

15 Jul 2011 21:53

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Politics: Republicans Senator: “We’ve got nobody to blame but ourselves”

  • Maybe the debt ceiling was the wrong place to pick a fight, as it related to trying to get our country’s house in order…maybe that was the wrong place to do it.
  • GOP Senator Bob Corker • In a shockingly frank admission that the Republicans overplayed their obstructionist hand. The phrase “pick a fight” implies antagonism for antagonism’s sake which, if one reflects on the Republican party’s behavior over the last three years, would seem an appropriate implication. Another Senate Republican, Lindsey Graham, had a similar confession: “Our problem is we made a big deal about this for three months…we’ve got nobody to blame but ourselves.” Yes, indeed. These confessions bode well for the prospects of a deal passing the Senate, but the House remains another question entirely. source
Posted by Seth Millstein • 0 Comments • Permalink

15 Jul 2011 19:40

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Politics: Speaker Boehner, Rep. Ryan to House GOP: we must raise the debt limit

  • He said if we pass Aug. 2, it would be like ‘Star Wars.’ I don’t think the people who are railing against raising the debt ceiling fully understand that.
  • Rep. Scott DesJarlais • Relating Speaker John Boehner’s remarks on a potential failure to raise the debt limit, made during a closed-door meeting today. Boehner was joined in this message by Rep. Paul Ryan, always the House GOP’s top dog on economic affairs. Basically, it seems like the leadership laid out exactly how bad the economy would get if the debt limit isn’t raised, and surprisingly enough, it sounds like it paid off to some measure. Said Arkansas Rep. Steve Womack: “It illustrates to us that doing nothing is unacceptable. I think the conference understands this is a defining moment for us. It’s time to put the next election aside.” If this is indicative of any genuine attitude House GOP membership, this could be huge news. source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

14 Jul 2011 10:27

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Politics: Ron Paul learns the value of the high-gloss campaign ad

  • It’s interesting, really: If you’ve ever seen Ron Paul’s 2008 presidential campaign ads, you’ll know this is a complete change-up for him. These are Pawlenty-level image-editing values right over here. Will this help him move beyond his base and possibly turn into a 2012 tour de force? Who knows? But it certainly makes him seem more impressive than his 2008 ads ever did. It drives the point home better than anything else he’s ever done. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

13 Jul 2011 23:20

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Politics: GOP Senator sounds suspiciously socialistic

  • We give money away to a few people at the expense of the many.
  • GOP Senator Lindsay Graham • Pushing to close tax loopholes that benefit upper-income earners. While it seems obvious (to most) that we ought to close tax loopholes, Republicans in Congress have, for the most part, resolutely opposed any modification of the tax code that brings in additional revenue. To hear a prominent Republican say something like this is a faint glimmer of hope that maybe–and that’s a big maybe– Republicans will bend a bit on revenues; this could, in turn, translate into a deal to raise the debt-ceiling. Which would be nice. source
Posted by Seth Millstein • 0 Comments • Permalink

13 Jul 2011 22:34

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Politics: Talk about drawing a line in the sand

  • I’ve reached my limit. This may bring my presidency down, but I will not yield on this.
  • President Obama • Toward the end of a budget meeting with Republicans. It’s not clear what policy he won’t yield on, but from the texture of the debate thus far, we’re guessing it’s the inclusion of revenue increases in the deal to raise the debt-ceiling.source
Posted by Seth Millstein • 0 Comments • Permalink

13 Jul 2011 19:50

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Politics: Mitch McConnell talks motivation behind debt limit proposal

  • Look, he owns the economy. He’s been in office for three years. We refuse to let us entice us into co-ownership of a bad economy.
  • Senator Mitch McConnell • Basically validating our suspicions about his proposed debt limit fail-safe, where the job of raising the limit would be transferred from congress to President Obama. He also subtly acknowledges the core weakness the Republicans have had in the debt limit debate all along; they’ve pushed so hard to convince portions of their base that they’d be willing not to raise it, the public at large can see plainly which party even made such an economically horrifying idea possible. As such, the GOP is in a tough spot, knowing they have to raise the limit (because they’re not truly ignorant to what it would do to the economy, as shown by McConnell’s own words), but also knowing they’ve stoked elements of their base against the idea for months. We seriously doubt they can placate that base with the new plan. source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
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