Bruce Bartlett:

Republicans are adamant that taxes on the ultra-wealthy must not rise to the level they were at during the Clinton administration, as President Obama favors, lest economic devastation result. But they have a problem – the 1990s were the most prosperous era in recent history. This requires Republicans to try to rewrite the economic history of that decade.

Yes, they would. But has that ever stopped a Republican? FTR: "Bruce Bartlett held senior policy roles in the Reagan and George H.W. Bush administrations and served on the staffs of Representatives Jack Kemp and Ron Paul."

I'll be on Daily Kos Radio with Jesse LaGreca this morning. Listen here.

Open Thread.

Jared Loughner is expected to plead guilty Tuesday to charges resulting from his 2011 Tuscon shooting spree, in which former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords and others were injured, and federal Judge John Roll and and others were killed. (Charges detailed here, the Superseding Indictment is here.) The unofficial reports, which have not been confirmed by the prosecution, defense or court, but are now being confirmed by every major media outlet (New York Times here), state that Loughner will plead guilty in exchange for a life sentence. I would expect the agreement to be a global one, that includes a representation that the state of Arizona will either not prosecute Loughner in state court, or at least, that it won't seek the death penalty.

Whether Loughner will make it through a guilty plea advisement remains to be seen. If the deal goes through, and I doubt his defense lawyers would sign on if they didn't think he could make it through the hearing, this will be another huge accomplishment for defense lawyer Judy Clarke, already a true master at how to save a life. More...]

Michael Phelps wins his 18th gold medal.

Happy 51st birthday to President Obama.

This is an open thread, all topics welcome.

New details were released yesterday by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) about the application process for President Obama's new program deferring deportation for undocumented young residents for up to two years.

The cost for a work permit will be $465.00. Lawyers aren't needed. The applications will be available August 15.

Here is the press release. [More...]

Finally! The track and field starts at the Olympics! 100 meter dash on Sunday. Got Tyson Gay at a nice price.

Also, too, the suspended badminton players were treated unfairly, as I explain on Daily Kos Radio.

Open Thread.

Out and about today and this evening, I hope nothing important happened.

Here's another open thread, all topics welcome.

I'll be on Daily Kos Radio this morning with Jesse LaGreca. You can listen here.

Open Thread.

The Drew Peterson trial is off to a rocky start. Prosecutorial errors may cause a mistrial. More here. This is one of those cases, like Casey Anthony, I have zero interest in and haven't followed. Nor have I figured out why anyone else is following it.

A new report on James Holmes and his psychiatrist: "Sources" (who don't sound like law enforcement) say his doctor notified members of a special assessment team at CU that he was potentially dangerous a few weeks before the Aurora shootings, but he dropped out before the team could evaluate. No one notified police. It's not clear why she was concerned -- whether it just his statements or he disclosed he might take violent action. I put no stock in the "threat assessment expert's" generic opinion.

This is an open thread, all topics welcome.

Judge Kenneth Lester has denied George Zimmerman's motion that he recuse himself from the case.

In an order entered today, Judge Lester stated Zimmerman's motion was "legally insufficient." He did not explain why. The rule on judicial disqualifications is here.

Details of Zimmerman's motion to recuse are here. As I opined then:

Put yourself in Zimmerman's shoes: The issue is how he feels, and whether his feelings are reasonable. Would you, if you were George Zimmerman, fear not getting a fair trial before Judge Lester?

I believe Zimmerman can request a writ of prohibition preventing the case from going forward while the appeals court reviews the issue.

Gore Vidal has died. He was 86 and had been ill with pneumonia.

Here's Gore Vidal's Vanity Fair article on Timothy McVeigh and his take on 911 and the Patriot Act.

For a bibliography and site with links to the full text of many of his essays, check out the Gore Vidal Pages. Some Vidal quotes are here.

R.I.P. Mr. Vidal.

Michael Phelps has won his 19th Olympic medal setting the Olympic record for the most medals.

NBC continues to confound viewers-- now the LA Times reports it's live feed of Phelps' race wasn't even live -- it broadcast the results on the live feed before the race was over.

With about 50 meters left in the race, the network sent out an app notification with the outcome. I was still watching Phelps swim, supposedly "live," after a notification on my iPad had already told me the race's result.

I haven't even been able to get NBC's live feeds on my laptop even though I'm a Comcast/Xfinity subscriber at the requisite level. I get directed to NBC and never get past the screen that says "who is your cable provider?" This has been happening for four days now.

Why is one network allowed to buy the exclusive rights in the first place? Whatever happened to competition?