Author: HL

If Not For Crazy, They Wouldn’t Have A Party At All

The Promise
Coming next month: The Promise: President Obama, Year One by Jonathan Alter.

It’s the first of many planned insider accounts of the Obama presidency and seems to be modeled after Bob Woodward’s The Agenda, which chronicled Bill Clinton’s first year in the White House.

Woodward has his own book on the Obama administration coming this fall.

Obama Approval Sinks to New Low
The latest CBS News Poll finds Americans unhappier than ever with President Obama.

The president’s overall job approval rating has fallen to an all-time low of 44%, down five points from late March, just before the health bill’s passage in the House of Representatives. It’s down 24 points since his all-time high last April.

Would You Outsource Your Womb?
As science and global capitalism gallop forward, they kick up difficult questions about emotional attachment. What, if anything, is too sacred to sell?

As science and global capitalism gallop forward, they kick up difficult questions about emotional attachment. What, if anything, is too sacred to sell?

The Only Republican Plan Is to Destroy Democrats, Not Solve Problems
Republicans want to block Obama and the Democrats from solving national problems, even at the risk of the personal safety of their political opposition.

Republicans want to block Obama and the Democrats from solving national problems, even at the risk of the personal safety of their political opposition.

Corporate Court Acting in Secret, Citizens Locked Out
Delaware has a special court for corporations. And it’s about to start hearing cases that the public can’t hear about.

Delaware has a special court for corporations. And it's about to start hearing cases that the public can't hear about.

Ruling OK’s Tasering Pregnant Woman Three Times
Seven-months-pregnant Malaika Brooks suffered repeated 50,000 volt shocks for refusing to sign a parking ticket, and a federal court of appeals ruled it justified.

Seven-months-pregnant Malaika Brooks suffered repeated 50,000 volt shocks for refusing to sign a parking ticket, and a federal court of appeals ruled it justified.

Make It Rain: The Michael Steele Remix
RNC chairman Michael “Drill Baby Drill” Makes it rain! The RNC, the party of Family Values, dropped nearly $2,000 at a lesbian/bondage-themed night club in West Hollywood. In honor of Steele’s desire to bring the conservative movement “to urban-surburban hip-hop…


Republican National Committee – Michael Steele – Hip hop – Baby Drill – Nightclub

Michael Steele Problem
The recent RNC paid trip to the Hollywood Club Voyeur, which seeks to mimic Kubrik’s Eyes Wide Shut at $2000 per table cover charge, has put the Republican’s in a bit of a pickle. Michael Steele, the highrolling Chairman…


Michael Steele – Republican – Republican National Committee – Hollywood Los Angeles California – Politics

GOP congressman calls out conservatives pushing ?blatant misinformation? about the Census.
For over a year, many on the right have led a smear campaign against the Census, potentially undermining the constitutionally mandated decennial count. Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) led the charge, making outlandish claims about internment camps and proudly declaring in June that she would not fill her form, in violation of federal law. […]

For over a year, many on the right have led a smear campaign against the Census, potentially undermining the constitutionally mandated decennial count. Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) led the charge, making outlandish claims about internment camps and proudly declaring in June that she would not fill her form, in violation of federal law. Meanwhile, right-wing talk show hosts Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh urged listeners to not fully complete their forms, with Beck warning that answering the race question would somehow “increase slavery.” Today, in a post on the conservative blog Red State, Republican Rep. Patrick McHenry (NC) called out this “blatant misinformation” and urged all Americans to complete the Census, as it is our “Constitutional duty”:

No, what worries me is blatant misinformation coming from otherwise well-meaning conservatives. They are trying to do the right thing, but instead they are helping big government liberals by discouraging fellow conservatives from filling out their census forms. […]

Anyone who tells you that this year’s census is unconstitutional and that you are not required to fill out the form completely is flat out wrong. They argue that because this year’s census asks for more than a simple count of how many people live in your home, it is unconstitutional and therefore should not be completely filled out. That argument doesn’t stand up to either history or the Constitution’s text.

McHenry mentioned the startling news that some of the most Republican counties in Texas have had some of the lowest Census return rates in the country, implying that conservative fear mongering is to blame. He also noted that the race question has been asked since 1790, so suggesting “that this question or others like it make this year’s census unconstitutional is absurd.” And in a thinly veiled rebuke of Beck, Limbaugh, and Bachmann, McHenry wrote that “calls to only partially fill out census forms…feed a climate of mistrust in the census and need to be refuted.”

Donohue: ?There?s a connection between homosexuality and sexual abuse of minors.?
As ThinkProgress noted yesterday, the conservative Catholic Leauge placed a full-page ad in the New York Times on Tuesday that claimed that the sexual abuse scandal currently roiling the Catholic Church is a crisis of “homosexuality,” not “pedophilia.” On CNN yesterday, Catholic League President William Donohue defended the assertion by pointing to a study that […]

As ThinkProgress noted yesterday, the conservative Catholic Leauge placed a full-page ad in the New York Times on Tuesday that claimed that the sexual abuse scandal currently roiling the Catholic Church is a crisis of “homosexuality,” not “pedophilia.” On CNN yesterday, Catholic League President William Donohue defended the assertion by pointing to a study that found that “three out of every four” of the male victims of sexual abuse by Catholic priests were “post-pubescent, meaning that it’s homosexuality driven.” “It’s not a matter of my opinion to say that this is a pedophilia crisis. It’s been a homosexual crisis all along,” said Donohue. He then asserted that “there’s a connection between homosexuality and sexual abuse of minors“:

SANCHEZ: Well, let me just stop you right there, because immediately as you say that, there are people watching this show, and I can hear them saying this, Bill Donohue, shame on you. Are you saying all gays are pedophiles?

DONOHUE: As I said in the ad, which I wrote, most gay priests are not molesters, but most of the molesters have been gay. And I also said, that there’s no such thing as a — that homosexuality does not cause predatory behavior.

Let me give you a quick example. I’m Irish. Everybody who has half a brain knows that the Irish have a bigger problem with alcoholism than the Italians or the Chinese, for example. Does that mean because you’re an Irishman, therefore, you are driven to become an alcoholic? Of course, not.

What it means, though, if your group is overrepresented in a particular problem area, you ought to explore it. Yes, there’s a connection between Irish and alcoholism, and, yes, there’s a connection between homosexuality and sexual abuse of minors.

Watch it:

Later in the segment, when pressed to defend his views, Donohue proclaimed of gay priests: “They can’t keep their hands off the boys, don’t you get it?” In the New York Times yesterday, Maureen Dowd wrote that “Donohue is still talking about the problem as an indiscretion rather than a crime. If it mostly involves men and boys, that’s partly because priests for many years had unquestioned access to boys.”

Lawmakers revisit derivatives regulation
Lawmakers on the Senate Agriculture Committee are crafting new rules to oversee the vast, unregulated derivatives market, legislation that could become a central element of a larger regulatory overhaul effort currently headed to the Senate floor.

For ‘tea party,’ midterm elections present a choice between ideals and pragmatism
FROG JUMP, TENN. — But for one important detail, Stephen Fincher could be a perfect “tea party” candidate: a gospel-singing cotton farmer from this tiny hamlet in western Tennessee, seeking to right the listing ship of Washington with a commitment to lower taxes and smaller government.

Democrats map out midterm campaign strategy for Obama
Facing a tough midterm election in which they could potentially lose their majorities in Congress, Democrats are privately debating where and how President Obama can help — or hurt.

National disaster exercises, called too costly and scripted, may be scaled back
The plan was to stage the nation’s first live exercise that simulates a nuclear bomb being detonated by terrorists in an American city, with 10,000 emergency responders, U.S. troops and officials playing out their roles in the heart of Las Vegas.

Why Liberals Have Grown to Love Joe Biden
Katie Connolly, Newsweek
Liberals love Joe Biden because he keeps things interesting in the White House.Please fill in the following information and we'll email this link.Separate multiple addresses with commasNearly every day, Annie Lowrey, an editor and blogger for Foreign Policy magazine, sends a photo of Vice President Joe Biden to her Twitter followers. Sometimes the photos are playful. Others show the veep in a reflective moment. And some are downright hilarious. She calls it the Daily Biden, because everyone needs their daily fix of Joe. “He looks just so delighted all the time,” Lowrey says….

Big Brother on Your Tail
Steve Chapman, Chicago Tribune

Women at the Heart of U.S. Foreign Policy
Hillary Clinton, London Times
Win a Luxury trip to the bright lightsHillary ClintonWhere am I?At this moment women are rescuing girls from brothels in Cambodia, campaigning for public office in Kuwait, healing mothers injured in childbirth in Ethiopia, running schools for refugees from Burma and rebuilding homes in the aftermath of earthquakes in Haiti and Chile. In cities and villages, countries and continents, women are running domestic violence shelters and fighting human-trafficking. Without recognition or fanfare, and often with little support, women are working to improve the quality of their lives and the lives of…

Immigtirant Population in California on Decline
After decades on the rise, California’s foreign-born population has peaked and in some large areas — including Los Angeles County — has even slightly declined, with that trend expected to continue, according to a new report. This peaking of the foreign-born population has occurred earlier than previously forecast because of sharp declines in new immigrant arrivals, largely attributed to stepped-up border enforcement and the downturn in the economy, according to the report by USC demographer Dowell Myers. In the report’s figures, California has a population of roughly 34 million.

Voyeurism and Sexual Intimidation Have No Place in Business
Turns out the Republican National Committee staffer who accompanied a group of donors to Voyeur, a bondage-themed nightclub in West Hollywood, and then turned in an expense account seeking reimbursement for the nearly $2,000 tab, was a woman. By Ruth Marcus

Turns out the Republican National Committee staffer who accompanied a group of donors to Voyeur, a bondage-themed nightclub in West Hollywood, and then turned in an expense account seeking reimbursement for the nearly $2,000 tab, was a woman.

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March Mildness: How the NCAA Tournament Lost Its Swagger
The NCAA Tournament is the highest-level single-elimination event in basketball, making it special. Nevertheless, in the Big Dance’s present incarnation, other words come to mind, like bloated, over-commercialized and bland.

By Mark Heisler

The NCAA Tournament is the highest-level single-elimination event in basketball, making it special. Nevertheless, in the Big Dance’s present incarnation, other words come to mind, like bloated, over-commercialized and bland.

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Seniors Wary Of Health Care Reform Impact On Medicare
WASHINGTON — Seniors aren’t celebrating President Barack Obama’s health care overhaul. While Democrats hail the sweeping legislation as the greatest expansion of the social safety…

Linda Fischer Gets Challenger: John Fischer Announces Candidacy Against Wife Amid Allegations Of Violence
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – An eastern Missouri lawmaker is facing an election challenge from her own husband, whom she accuses him of physical violence. He…

Supreme Court Looks To Foreign Law For Tips
WASHINGTON — The debate over whether the Supreme Court should look to foreign law when interpreting the Constitution is ultimately irrelevant because justices can read…

Quick Fact: Morrisey advances falsehood that “doctor fix” means health care bill doesn’t reduce deficit

In a March 30 Hot Air post, Ed Morrisey advanced the falsehood that the health care reform bill does not reduce the deficit because it did not include the so-called “doctor fix.” However, there is no reason the “doctor fix” should be included in the cost of health care reform since the issue predates the health care reform debate and will need to be resolved regardless of health care reform’s outcome.

Hot Air falsely claims health care bill doesn’t reduce deficit because it excluded “doctor fix”

From a March 30 Hot Air explained that the so-called “doc fix” is a remedy to faulty legislation that will need to be passed irrespective of health care reform. From Klein’s explanation:

For a longer explanation of this issue, head to this post. The short version: In 1997, Republicans passed the Medicare Sustainable Growth Rate into law. The provision created a simple equation meant to hold down Medicare costs and cut doctor payments when they rose. But the provision was passed when Medicare’s costs were uncommonly low. Suddenly, SGR was forcing huge cuts rather than the modest adjustments that had been intended. So legislators began voting to delay implementation rather than cut doctor payments.

The first delay was passed in 2003, under Republicans. Then again in 2005, also under Republicans. Then in 2006, under Republicans. Then in 2007 and 2008, under Democrats. For those keeping count at home, this is a policy in a Republican bill that Republicans delayed three times and Democrats delayed twice. What’s needed is to reform the system so we stop delaying it. And we will need to do that — and this is important — whether or not health-care reform passes.

Klein further stated that the problem necessitating the fix “predates health-care reform and exists irrespective of health-care reform’s fate. Attempts to lash the two together are nonsensical.”

NY Times: “Doc fix long predates” reform and criticism is “pretty flimsy.” The Times‘ David Leonhardt described criticisms of the “so-called doc fix” as “pretty flimsy,” explaining that the fix would rectify an “accounting fiction” resulting from the 1990s legislation that has been repeatedly overridden since 2003. He wrote:

The current health care bills don’t fix this problem. An early version of them tried to, which has led some people to suggest that the doc fix is a creation of this health reform effort. But it isn’t. The doc fix long predates it. For reform to reduce the deficit relative to the status quo, it doesn’t need to undo the doc fix — any more than it needs to, say, cure cancer in order to improve the nation’s health. The bill simply needs to improve the status quo.

Expert: Hutaree Were ‘Right Smack In The Middle Of The Militia Movement’
Conventional militia organizations are racing to distance themselves from the Hutaree — the Christian-based militia whose members were charged yesterday with conspiring to kill law enforcement as part of their preparation for the coming battle with the Anti-Christ. But that may be a tall order.

Accused Christian Militia Member Posted Video Last Year: ‘I’m Just A Simple Militant … What’s Wrong With That?’
Another YouTube video, posted last year by one of the Christian militia members accused of conspiring to kill law enforcement, sheds light on his grievances against the government and “corporate media.” “I’m just a simple militant,” he says.

Rep. Buyer: Ethics Office Closes Review Of Foundation
Rep. Steve Buyer (R-IN) announced today that the Office of Congressional Ethics had closed with no further action a review of his foundation, which came under scrutiny last year for collecting donations from companies seeking to curry favor with Buyer but not giving out anything for its stated purpose of providing scholarships.

Former GOP Officials Launch Political Group
As troubles at the RNC mount, the Wall Street Journal reports “a group of former Republican officials are starting an outside political group that could compete with the RNC for wealthy donors and prominence.”

“The group, American Crossroads, hopes to raise $52 million from wealthy Republicans and corporations, according to officials involved with the organization. The goal is to mount an independent campaign to help Republican candidates win in the November elections.”

The new group “will be run by former RNC Chairman Mike Duncan and Joanne Davidson, a onetime RNC co-chair. Former RNC Chairman Ed Gillespie and former White House adviser Karl Rove are informally advising the organization.”

Paterson May Not Call Special Election
New York Gov. David Paterson (D) “is backing away from his earlier pledge to call a special election in the state’s 29th Congressional District as soon as possible,” WGRZ-TV reports.

The seat was held by former Rep. Eric Massa (D-NY) who resigned in February.

Generation Mixed: Breaking the Race Barrier
We can only transform and love ourselves if we accept both the honorable and shameful aspects of our history and our humanity.

We can only transform and love ourselves if we accept both the honorable and shameful aspects of our history and our humanity.

Orange Is the New Black: My Year in a Women’s Prison
Piper Kerman’s memoir reveals how prison changed her life, and why warehousing people who commit crimes is such a waste of human potential.

Piper Kerman's memoir reveals how prison changed her life, and why warehousing people who commit crimes is such a waste of human potential.

Swagger Like Us: Should Women Be More Like Men or Not?
For decades, women have been told just to get ahead in an unjust system — but should they be amplifying their aggression to mimic successful men?

For decades, women have been told just to get ahead in an unjust system — but should they be amplifying their aggression to mimic successful men?

What Do Israel and Iran (and Brazil) Have to Do With Each Other Part III
Ace national security reporter that he is, Michael Hirsh of Newsweek has pulled back the curtain on the recent US-Israeli flare-up. His finding: that the administration’s chief frustration with the Israeli government — and main focus of the Biden visit…



Iran – Israel – Middle East – Brazil – United States

David Frum Purged
The American Enterprise Institute is where the Conservative Counter-revolution was born. It is still the Politburo of Right Wing Republican politics with it’s huge budget financed by corporate America. And they don’t like dissidents within their halls. And so when…



American Enterprise Institute – David Frum – Republican – United States – Politics

Boeing Complains About Losing Health Care Tax Break Despite Being One Of Least Taxed Big Corporations
Since the Affordable Care Act passed last week, some of the country’s largest companies have complained about a provision that preserves a federal subsidy they receive for providing retirees with prescription drug coverage, but prevents them from deducting the subsidy from their taxes. Republicans and right-wing media have latched on, claiming health care reform is […]

Since the Affordable Care Act passed last week, some of the country’s largest companies have complained about a provision that preserves a federal subsidy they receive for providing retirees with prescription drug coverage, but prevents them from deducting the subsidy from their taxes. Republicans and right-wing media have latched on, claiming health care reform is going to hurt American businesses.

Today, Boeing Co. is the latest corporation to complain, announcing that it expects to take a $150 million tax hit because of the new law:

“Boeing will no longer be able to claim an income tax deduction related to prescription drug benefits provided to retirees and reimbursed under the Medicare Part D retiree drug subsidy,” the company stated in a release. “Although this tax increase does not take effect until 2013, accounting standards require that a deferred income tax asset be written down in the period legislation changing the tax law was enacted.”

An association representing 300 of the largest U.S. corporations is pushing for a repeal of the provision that ends the tax break on the government subsidy, something the Wonk Room’s Igor Volsky called “the worst kind” of taxpayer waste and “the most egregious form of corporate welfare.” These companies will still receive their subsidy, but they’ll no longer be able to take the tax deduction as well (so-called “double dipping“).

But Boeing’s complaint further rings hollow because the industry giant is among the largest U.S. companies that pay the least in corporate taxes. Conservatives complain about the high 35 percent U.S. corporate tax rate, but because of corporate welfare such as the prescription drug deduction, Boeing’s tax rate was just 3.2 percent averaged over the last 4 years and just 0.7 percent averaged from 2002 to 2007. And Boeing’s three-year effective tax rate from 2001-2003 was -18.8 percent.

But also, according to Boeing’s 2009 annual report, the company paid no federal income tax in 2009 and actually received $132 million back from the IRS. And in 2008, Boeing paid just $44 million in federal income taxes while netting $2.7 billion in earnings that year.

Therefore, it’s difficult to take Boeing’s whining seriously. After all, if they had any complaints, they could have aired them back in September when the Senate Finance Committee inserted the provision to end the tax break in the health care reform bill. And even then, the measure won approval from many business interests, with the chairman of Business Roundtable saying “it’s very closely aligned to [our] principles.”

Toby Keith joins LL Cool J in shock at being used for Palin?s Fox News show.
Fox News has been promoting Sarah Palin’s first episode of “Real American Stories,” set to air on Thursday, with “In Their Own Words” segments featuring celebrities talking about their lives. Last night on Twitter, rapper LL Cool J objected to being included in the show, saying that Fox was “misrepresenting” one of his interviews […]

Fox News has been promoting Sarah Palin’s first episode of “Real American Stories,” set to air on Thursday, with “In Their Own Words” segments featuring celebrities talking about their lives. Last night on Twitter, rapper LL Cool J objected to being included in the show, saying that Fox was “misrepresenting” one of his interviews from 2008 (which was not conducted by Palin). LL Cool J’s spokesperson said that the interview “was being repurposed without LL’s permission.” Fox ended up cutting LL Cool J’s interview out of Palin’s show. Now, country singer Toby Keith, another person featured in the “In Their Own Words” segments, is also upset at being caught off guard:

In a telephone interview on Wednesday, Elaine Schock, a publicist for Mr. Keith said: “I have no idea what interview they are using. Toby’s talked to Fox a number of times, and I had no idea that this was going to be on Sarah Palin’s special. Fox has never contacted me — not now, not when they were putting this together, not at all. I have no idea what they’re using.” […]

In a subsequent email message, Ms. Schock said that the interview with Mr. Keith likely happened in early 2009. Asked if Mr. Keith was ever interviewed by Ms. Palin, Ms. Schock said, “Absolutely not.”

A Fox News executive is claiming that the network e-mailed Schock on Monday “to report our show is finally going to air,” but Schock says she never received the message. “The last email I have from them is from January, 2009,” she said, adding, “I’m not saying Fox did not email me. Maybe they spelled my name wrong. I’m just saying I never got an email or a phone call from them.”

Congress misses deadline for payments to black farmers
The federal government promised last month to pay more than $1 billion by the end of March to tens of thousands of black farmers who had filed decades-old discrimination complaints against the U.S. Agriculture Department.

After overhaul passage, Republicans turn their ire toward Pelosi
In the wake of the passage of the health-care overhaul, Republicans have turned their ire toward House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) almost as much as President Obama, looking to rally their supporters against a political figure less popular than the president.

Featured Advertiser

A message for Washington on schools: Don’t mess with Texas
MADISONVILLE, TEX. — As vendors sold yellow “Don’t Tread on Me” flags nearby, Texas State Board of Education member Don McLeroy assured a gathering of Tea Party activists one recent evening that President Obama was going to keep his hands off the schools in the Lone Star State.

Dye Job

By Mr. Fish

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Sarah Palin, Neocon Messiah
Judge them by their enemies. More evidence that Barack Obama might be shaping up as a good president is that Norman Podhoretz hates him so much.

By Robert Scheer

Judge them by their enemies. More evidence that Barack Obama might be shaping up as a good president is that Norman Podhoretz hates him so much.

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Dave Johnson: Dear Deficit Commission, It’s Not Hard
Dear Deficit Commission, It’s not hard to figure out why we have a huge deficit. It’s so easy I don’t have to use words. Here…

FBI Questions American Travelers To Cuba
At least 10 Americans who recently traveled to Cuba through cultural exchange programs have been questioned by FBI agents, either at home or over the…

Raymond Leon Roker: Why Health Reform Was the Right Thing to Do
In the wake of the landmark passage of comprehensive health care reform by President Obama and the Democratic congress, I’m reminded of how absolutely necessary…

Morrissey baselessly suggests new nuclear arms treaty limits U.S. missile defense

Ed Morrissey baselessly suggested that the proposed U.S.-Russian nuclear arms treaty would limit U.S. missile defense, citing a Russian diplomat’s statement that Russia might pull out of the treaty if the U.S. increases its missile defense capabilities. But the Obama administration says the treaty does not constrain U.S. missile defense, and treaties — including a nuclear arms treaty signed by President Bush — typically allow parties to withdraw.  

HotAir’s Morrissey baselessly suggests U.S. missile defense limited by treaty

Morrissey says “Russians claim the treaty limits” U.S. missile defense. In his March 30 HotAir.com post, headlined “Is the START treaty a non-starter?” Ed Morrissey wrote that “the Obama administration may have bungled the translation of its newly-announced START treaty with Moscow” because “[t]he Russians claim that the treaty limits American efforts on missile defense, which the White House denies.” Morrissey added that “If the treaty does limit American efforts on missile defense,” President Obama will not have the votes in the Senate to pass it.

Article Morrissey cites says on that Russians say they will pull out of treaty if level of U.S. missile defense increases. The sole evidence Morrissey cited for his suggestion that the treaty would limit U.S. missile defense was the following passage from a March 30 Washington Times article:

As the Obama administration prepared to send the new U.S.-Russian arms treaty to the Senate for ratification, differences emerged Monday between Moscow and Washington over whether the agreement limits missile defenses.

Speaking to reporters in Moscow, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Russia reserved the right to pull out of the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, or START, if the level of U.S. missile defense forces increases.

“The package of documents presumes that the treaty is concluded in circumstances where the parties have appropriate levels of strategic defensive systems,” Mr. Lavrov said. “Changing these levels gives each party the right to decide the question of its future participation in the process of reducing strategic offensive arms.”

No contradiction between Russian and U.S. comments on missile defense. Contrary to the claim of the Times as forwarded by Morrissey, there is no contradiction between the U.S. statement that the treaty does not impose limits on their missile defense system and the Russian statement that they reserve the right to withdraw from the treaty if the U.S. expands its missile defense capabilities.

White House: “No Constraints on Missile Defense”

A March 26 White House fact sheet on the proposed treaty states:

No Constraints on Missile Defense and Conventional Strike:  The Treaty does not contain any constraints on testing, development or deployment of current or planned U.S. missile defense programs or current or planned United States long-range conventional strike capabilities.

Treaties typically allow parties to withdraw

White House fact sheet calls new treaty’s withdrawal clause “standard.” The White House fact sheet states that it “includes a withdrawal clause that is standard in arms-control agreements.”

Bush-signed arms treaty included withdrawal clause. The Strategic Offensive Reductions Treaty, signed by Bush and former Russian President Vladimir Putin in 2002 — which the new proposed treaty would replace — stated: “Each Party, in exercising its national sovereignty, may withdraw from this Treaty upon three months written notice to the other Party.”

Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty also provided both nations “right to withdraw.” The Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty of 1972 between the United States and the Soviet Union contained a withdrawal provision, which stated:

Each Party shall, in exercising its national sovereignty, have the right to withdraw from this Treaty if it decides that extraordinary events related to the subject matter of this Treaty have jeopardized its supreme interests. It shall give notice of its decision to the other Party six months prior to withdrawal from the Treaty. Such notice shall include a statement of the extraordinary events the notifying Party regards as having jeopardized its supreme interests.

President Bush exercised the United States’ right to withdraw from the ABM treaty in 2001.