The wrong party is angry and the wrong party is complacent
Why Obama’s Scandals Won’t Lead to Reform
By Ezra Klein - Bloomberg, May 22, 2013
Put aside the politics, and the question of who-knew-what-when. There are two policy problems highlighted by the controversies at the Internal Revenue Service and the Department of Justice. The first is the growth of 501(c)(4) groups into vehicles for anonymous and unlimited political spending. The second is the Barack Obama administration’s overzealous prosecution of leaks.
Unfortunately, for those who would like to see these policy problems resolved, the wrong party is angry about them and the wrong party is complacent.
Republicans support unlimited, anonymous political spending by 501(c)(4) groups. Likewise, they support vigorous prosecution of national security leaks. But trumping such policy beliefs, for the moment, is an overriding political imperative: Republicans want a scandal to take down the White House, or at least to damage Obama’s standing.
Democrats, by contrast, loathe the growth of partisan 501(c)(4) groups. They’re also more skeptical of claims that national security concerns override the news media’s right to report. But rather than use the IRS scandal as an opportunity to reform the rules for political groups, or to propose legislation to protect journalists from the Justice Department’s overreach, there’s a real chance Democrats might rally around the White House and try to move past these scandals as quickly as possible.
(More here.)
By Ezra Klein - Bloomberg, May 22, 2013
Put aside the politics, and the question of who-knew-what-when. There are two policy problems highlighted by the controversies at the Internal Revenue Service and the Department of Justice. The first is the growth of 501(c)(4) groups into vehicles for anonymous and unlimited political spending. The second is the Barack Obama administration’s overzealous prosecution of leaks.
Unfortunately, for those who would like to see these policy problems resolved, the wrong party is angry about them and the wrong party is complacent.
Republicans support unlimited, anonymous political spending by 501(c)(4) groups. Likewise, they support vigorous prosecution of national security leaks. But trumping such policy beliefs, for the moment, is an overriding political imperative: Republicans want a scandal to take down the White House, or at least to damage Obama’s standing.
Democrats, by contrast, loathe the growth of partisan 501(c)(4) groups. They’re also more skeptical of claims that national security concerns override the news media’s right to report. But rather than use the IRS scandal as an opportunity to reform the rules for political groups, or to propose legislation to protect journalists from the Justice Department’s overreach, there’s a real chance Democrats might rally around the White House and try to move past these scandals as quickly as possible.
(More here.)
Powered by Blogger
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home