Wiretap: A Republican speaks out on climate change

 
From the heart of the Republican establishment comes a warning: Something must be done, and done now, on climate change. The warning comes via the op-ed page of the New York Times, of all places, and it comes from Henry Paulson, Bush’s Treasury secretary. Paulson compares the coming “climate crash” to the credit bubble that burst in 2008. Paulson should know. He was there. And he says now that the climate bubble — which he calls the “challenge of our time” — risks not only the environment, but also the economy. If you think that reads like something Al Gore would write, you’re correct. And so it this: What Paulson says must be done — and done soon — is, yes, a carbon tax.

Paul Krugman says that Paulson is right except for one thing – that we’ll never get a carbon tax out of this Congress. He says if Paulson is serious, he must be ready to embrace what economists call “second best” answers.

Maybe immigration mattered in Eric Cantor’s loss in Virginia. But in Colorado, it isn’t an issue in the Republican governor’s primary. That’s shocking enough — but more shocking still considering that Tom Tancredo is in the race. Via the National Journal.

The AP throws a big slow softball to the four GOP candidates for governor: “What policies implemented by the current administration would you most focus on trying to modify or erase?” You guessed it: Taxes. Regulations. Guns! The Aurora Sentinel. How about this one, instead? “In our democracy today, is the question above, designed to elicit talking points you have all already articulated innumerable times on the stump — is it the only kind of question reporters can ask anymore if they are to expect answers from you, politicians who want to get paid by us to represent us and make policies that affect our lives?

The Libertarian candidate running for governor in Colorado is Matthew Hess. The Durango Herald found him and asked him some questions. An excerpt: “Property owners, he said, should be compensated for use of their land to acquire mineral resources underneath. He also said they should be compensated for pollution and the aftermath of resource extraction. “People need to be held accountable,” he said.

Washington Post columnist Steven Perlstein writes an open letter to Medtronic about what it means to be an American company. (Hint: It’s not moving your company to avoid paying taxes.)

Dexter Filkins argues in the New Yorker that the American plan in Iraq has never worked without American help. And so, back to Iraq go the 300 American advisors.

Meghan O’Sullivan argues in Politico that Obama has two choices in Iraq — both terrible ones.

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