Author: HL

Looking for a Political Job?
Check out the great new job listings over at Political Job Hunt.

A special offer for this week only: If you’re looking to hire someone, get 20% off a new 30 day job listing by simply entering the discount code “congress.”

Massachusetts Republicans Avoid Primary
Massachusetts Republicans “gave an overwhelming endorsement” to Charlie Baker (R) for governor at their state convention over the weekend, giving him “a massive margin that forces GOP rival Christy Mihos out of the race and frees him from what could have been a bitterly divisive primary battle,” the Boston Globe reports.

Baker won 89% of the delegate votes, while Mihos got just 11%, falling well short of the 15% threshold needed to qualify for the September primary ballot.

Ways and Means Testimony
Yesterday I testified to the House Ways and Means Committee regarding clean energy finance and tax policy. You can find my testimony here….



United States House Committee on Ways and Means – Economic – House Ways & Means Committee – National Budget – Taxation

Annotating the Congressional Letter Affirming US-Israel Relations
I received a note today reacting to a set of Congressional letters reaffirming US-Israel relations from Sama Adnan, executive director of the new political action committee advocating for Palestinian interests, NewPolicy.org. He notes that 24 US Senators and 102 House…


Middle East – United States – State of Israel – Warfare and Conflict – Israel-Palestine

Blackburn Won?t Endorse Bachmann?s ?Gangster Government? Rhetoric
On Thursday, Rep. Michelle Bachmann (R-MN) referred to the government as a “gangster government,” telling a group of conservative activists, “We’re on to them. We’re on to this gangster government. And we are not going to let them have their way.” The following day, President Clinton — who has drawn parallels between the Oklahoma City […]

On Thursday, Rep. Michelle Bachmann (R-MN) referred to the government as a “gangster government,” telling a group of conservative activists, “We’re on to them. We’re on to this gangster government. And we are not going to let them have their way.” The following day, President Clinton — who has drawn parallels between the Oklahoma City bombing incident in 1995 and the current atmosphere of right-wing, anti-government hatred — took aim at Bachmann’s comments. “They are not gangsters. They were elected. They are not doing anything they were not elected to do.”

Clinton said people involved with “hatriot” groups like the Oath Keepers and the Three Percenters may take the wrong lessons from irresponsible rhetoric. “Ninety-nine percent of them will never do anything they shouldn’t do, but there are people who advocate violence and anticipate violence,” he warned. Fortunately, some of Bachmann’s conservative colleagues are heeding Clinton’s warning. This morning, during an appearance on Meet The Press, Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) — also a strong supporter of the Tea Parties — refused to endorse Bachmann’s “gangster government” rhetoric:

GREGORY: Do those kinds of words, April 19th is coming up, which is the anniversary of the Oklahoma City Bombing, when an anti-government person who was obviously a sociopath attacked the federal government. When you describe a “gangster government,” do you think that is over the line and inappropriate in our political discourse?

BLACKBURN: It would not have been a choice in words that I made. And what we have to realize is that any time you have large public gatherings, whether it is a group from the left, or a group from the right, you’re going to have lots of individuals with different opinions who show up.

Watch it:

This wasn’t the first time Bachmann has described the government as “gangster.” In June of 2009, Bachman took to the floor of the House and declared, “We have gangster government when the federal government has set up a new cartel and private businesses now have to go begging with their hand out to their local — hopefully well-politically connected — congressman or their senator so they can buy a peace offering for that local business.” In May of 2009, Bachmann compared Washington, D.C. to “enemy lines” and urged her supporters to become “armed and dangerous” and fight a “revolution” against cap and trade legislation.

Clinton: If Obama Offers Peace Plan, ?I Will Support It?
Discussing the Middle East peace process on ABC’s This Week, host Jake Tapper asked former President Bill Clinton whether he thought it was “time for President Obama to put a peace plan on the table,” as has been reported the administration is considering. Clinton responded that, while he was “reluctant to give him public advice,” […]

Discussing the Middle East peace process on ABC’s This Week, host Jake Tapper asked former President Bill Clinton whether he thought it was “time for President Obama to put a peace plan on the table,” as has been reported the administration is considering. Clinton responded that, while he was “reluctant to give him public advice,” if President Obama “decides to do it I will support it”:

CLINTON: Let me answer you this way, because I don’t want to do anything to foreclose their options. The argument against doing that is that the current Israeli government, with its current coalition, would almost certainly reject it. And the argument is that this makes us look weak. But I think they [the Israelis] may decide it’s more important to have clarity. And to do something that may be an action-forcing event that would bring them back to the table, if he [President Obama] decides to do it I will support it. And I think that if he decides to do it he should acknowledge that they may come up with a deal that’s slightly different from the one he proposes. But we need to do something to deprive both sides of any excuse not to engage in serious negotiations.

Watch it:

President Clinton also described how the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, in addition to driving extremism in the Middle East, tends to crowd out other, more positive developments in the region. “Half of the energy coming out of all this organization and money-raising for terror comes out of the allegations around the unresolved Palestinian issue,” Clinton said. “If there were a Palestinian state working in partnership with the policies Mr. [Salaam] Fayyad is following in the West Bank, it would be a whole different world”:

CLINTON: All the Arabs would identify with Israel, they’d have a political and economic partnership, the whole economic basis of the Middle East would shift from oil to ideas. Look at what the Saudi Arabians are doing, they’re building six new towns. The UAE wins the international competition for the clean energy agency, and they’re gonna build a carbon-neutral city. In the UAE. And nobody thinks about this — Dubai is the only country with huge amounts of imported workers that’s actually passed legislation to give these immigrant workers a better deal in the Middle East, they have women in the government, they have a joint public-private decision making process — nobody knows anything about. Why? Because of the Palestinian-Israeli thing.

How could the Syrians stay out there alone, cooperating with the Iranians and letting Hezbollah people travel through Syria, and doing all the things they do? If there were a peace for the Palestinians, they would have to come along with the rest of the Arab states, and there would be a peace between Israel and Syria. This is a huge deal. So the fact that the president is putting new energy into this and taking personal responsibility for it, and trying to get them back to the table, that’s the most important thing.

Supreme Court still resists pressure to televise proceedings
As two Supreme Court justices submitted to their annual, gentle congressional interrogation last week, it seemed for the briefest of moments that there might be movement on the most perennial of questions about the court: whether its proceedings will ever be televised.

Halter’s challenge energizes Lincoln’s Senate reelection campaign
When Arkansas Lt. Gov. Bill Halter announced on March 1 that he would enter the Democratic primary against Sen. Blanche Lincoln, many political observers viewed it as the beginning of the end for the incumbent.

Mine blast means new realities for West Virginia Democrats in Congress
In southern West Virginia, it used to look as if three Democrats, who have served in Washington for a combined 115 years, had figured out the delicate, occasionally violent politics of Appalachian coal.

Abortion rulings could bring scrutiny of possible Supreme Court pick Wood
CHICAGO — If President Obama nominates U.S. Circuit Judge Diane P. Wood to replace retiring Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens, social conservatives say they intend to make her rulings on abortion rights the primary point of contention.

Man Should Be Free to Love the Earth
Mark Landsbaum, OC Register
I'm an environmentalist. I love trees, having squeezed nearly two-dozen evergreens and deciduous onto our normal-size, suburban tract-house lot. My bride and I are rarely happier than when digging in dirt to plant another truckload of flowers and shrubs.Camphors and clinging rose vines are among God's most glorious creations. I flinch at the site of strip-mined hillsides, and can't get enough of wild, yellow mustard flowers that carpet Southern California's rolling hills after spring rains.

For an Activist President, Court Emerges as Obstacle
Peter Baker, NYT
WASHINGTON — They are two of the smartest men of their generation, both magna cum laude products of Harvard Law School, both cerebral and charming and ambitious. They vaulted to the highest offices in the land after just short stints at the next level down, and each was seen initially as a conciliator only to lead on the strength of his own majority.Many years after their campus days in Cambridge, Mass., President Obama and Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. have emerged as the intellectual gladiators in a great struggle over the role of government in American society. In this moment…

How Big a Government Do We Want?
Robert Samuelson, Newsweek
“There is always an easy solution to every human problem — neat, plausible and wrong.”– H.L. Mencken Receive news alertsThe value-added tax has become the designated panacea for massive federal budget deficits. It's touted by think-tank economists and mentioned by congressional leaders. A VAT could, it's said, raise stupendous amounts of money, which, Lord knows, are needed to cover projected deficits. A VAT is likened to a “national sales tax,” so once in place, most Americans would barely notice it — just as they barely notice state and local sales taxes….

Real Reform Must End Too Big to Fail
Thomas Hoenig, New York Times
LAST week, I visited Santa Fe, N.M., and spoke to one of America’s many Main Streets: more than 300 small-business owners, real estate developers, artists, bankers and other citizens. A good number of them, experiencing the fallout of the financial crisis and feeling the stress it put on New Mexico’s banks, were angry and frustrated.You see, New Mexico’s financial institutions were not too big to fail. They were never invited to meetings and told to accept financing from the Troubled Asset Relief Program. As a result, banks and residents of Santa Fe, like those…

Late Late Night FDL: Double Or Mutton
Double Or Mutton starring Ralph Wolf and Sam Sheepdog. This Warner Bros/Looney Toons cartoon was released on July 23, 1955.

Double Or Mutton starring Ralph Wolf and Sam Sheepdog.  This Warner Bros/Looney Toons cartoon was released on July 23, 1955.

Directed by Charles M. Jones.  Produced by Edward Selzer.  Story by Michael Maltese.  Animation by Keith Darling, Ken Harris, Abe Levitow, and Richard Thompson.  Layout and Backgrounds by Philip DeGuard.  Voices by Mel Blanc and others.  Original Music by Milt Franklyn.

What’s on your mind tonight?

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Sunday Talking Heads: April 18, 2010
Good Morning everyone! I have to thank res ipsa loquitur at Rising Hegemon for bring back this video classic on Goldman Sachs. Talking Heads today talk about tea parties, financial reforms, elections and cetera.

Good Morning everyone!  I have to thank res ipsa loquitur at Rising Hegemon for bring back this July 2009 video classic on Goldman Sachs.

Talking Heads today discuss tea parties, financial reforms, elections and cetera.

Washington Journal: 7:45am – Martin Crutsinger, Associated Press, Senior Economics Writer.  8:30am – StudentCam Winner Interview.  8:30am- George Pataki (R), Fmr. NY Gov. 1995-2006 & Revere America.org, Chairman.  9:15am – Thomas DiFilipo, Joint Council on International Children’s Services, President & CEO.

ABC’s This Week: Jake Tapper hosts.  Former President Bill Clinton “to talk about Haiti, his efforts to engage the next generation of leaders with the Clinton Global Initiative University and politics.”  Roundtable: George Will, Donna Brazile, Al Hunt, and Kim Strassel of The Wall Street Journal.

Amanpour.

CBS’ Face The Nation: Sen. Scott Brown (R-MA), his first Sunday show since he was sworn into the Senate.

Chris Matthews: Joe Klein TIME; Kathleen Parker The Washington Post; Norah O’Donnell MSNBC; John Heilemann New York Magazine. Topics: All The New Rage: How Dangerous Is The Current Anti-Washington Anger?  Would the GOP Recapture The House With A Gingrich-LikeContract With America?

CNN’s State of the Union: Republican Senate leader Sen. Mitch McConnell (KY).  Then Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA).  Also economic roundtable.

Fareed Zakaria – GPS:

Fox News Sunday: Sen. John McCain (R-AZ).  Then Gen. Ray Odierno.  Fox News AllStars: Brit Hume, Mara Liasson, Bill Kristol, Juan Williams.

NBC’s Meet The Press: Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner.  Roundtable: Gov. Ed Rendell (D-PA), Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), National Journal’s Ron Brownstein, and Telemundo’s Jose Diaz-Balart.

Newsmakers: House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD) discussed the prospects for his party to maintain their majority in the 2010 midterm elections, saying the passage of the health care bill “energized” his party. Rep. Hoyer also went over the chances of the Senate passing financial regulatory reform.

Q & A: Stanley Crouch, author and regular columnist for The New York Daily News. Mr. Crouch is the author of over ten books on culture and jazz. His novel, “Don’t the Moon Look Lonesome” was published ten years ago. Included in this interview, a discussion of President Obama, health care, and political parties.

Religion & Ethics: Evangelicals and Nuclear Security.  Christian Legal Society v. Martinez.  Eradicating a Global Scourge.  Tariq Ramaden.

60 Minutes: 21st Century Snake Oil – “60 Minutes” hidden cameras expose medical conmen who prey on dying victims by using pitches that capitalize on the promise of stem cells to cure almost any disease. (This is a double-length segment.)  Pacino – In a rare sit-down interview, Oscar-winning actor Al Pacino talks about his films and how he prepares for them, including his upcoming movie in which he stars as Dr. Jack Kevorkian.

To The Contrary: Topics:  1- Actress Sigourney Weaver on women and environmental awareness; 2- Cleaning up the nation’s water supply.  Panelists: Formal Federal Prosecutor and Judge Debra Carnahan; Conservative Commentator Tara Setmayer; National Council of Negro Women’s Dr. Avis Jones-DeWeever; and Center for Immigration Studies’ Jessica Vaughan.

Univision’s Al Punto: First Lady Michelle Obama, Mexican First Lady Margarita Zavala de Calderón, Mrs. Cynthia Salazar, Mother of the Children Murdered by Mexican Soldiers; Mr. Raymundo Ramos, President of Nuevo Laredo’s Human Rights Council, Juan Luis Guerra, Award-Winning Singer/Songwriter.

Virtually Speaking: Jay Ackroyd and Joan McCarter, Joan (mcjoan) is a front page blogger at Daily Kos.

C-SPAN’S Book TV.

FDL Book Salon: Chat with Naomi Cahn and June Carbone about their new book, Red Families v. Blue Families: Legal Polarization and the Creation of Culture.  “The authors show how the Red-Blue divide goes much deeper than this value system conflict–the Red States have increasingly said “no” to Blue State legal norms, and, as a result, family law has been rent in two.”  5pm ET.

FDL Movie Night Monday: The Weather Underground.  “Fueled by outrage over racism and the Vietnam War, the Weather Underground waged a low-level war against the government throughout much of the 1970s—bombing the Capitol building, breaking Timothy Leary out of prison, and evading one of the largest FBI manhunts in history.”  Chat with director Sam Green, and host Lisa Derrick, Monday, 8pm ET.

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BofA Back in the Black
We can all now breathe a collective sigh of relief: Bank of America has returned to quarterly profit after losing almost $200 million in the last quarter of 2009. The news comes even as home foreclosure activity hit an all-time record in March. —JCL The BBC: Bank of America (BoA) has returned to profit, reporting a net income of $3.2bn (£2.1bn) in the first three months of 2010. This compares with a $194m loss in the previous quarter, but is 24% lower than profits of the same period a year ago. The giant US bank said record sales and trading activity at its capital markets arm – including acquisition Merrill Lynch – had driven the latest results. BoA said it was having to put aside less money for losses on bad loans. Read more

We can all now breathe a collective sigh of relief: Bank of America has returned to quarterly profit after losing almost $200 million in the last quarter of 2009. The news comes even as home foreclosure activity hit an all-time record in March. —JCL

The BBC:

Bank of America (BoA) has returned to profit, reporting a net income of $3.2bn (£2.1bn) in the first three months of 2010.

This compares with a $194m loss in the previous quarter, but is 24% lower than profits of the same period a year ago.

The giant US bank said record sales and trading activity at its capital markets arm – including acquisition Merrill Lynch – had driven the latest results.

BoA said it was having to put aside less money for losses on bad loans.

Read more

Related Entries

• April 15, 2010 A Supreme Court Choice We Can Believe In
• April 15, 2010 The Supreme Court’s Audio Anxiety

Geithner Pushes to Restrict, Not Ban Derivatives
In a letter to a ranking Senate Democrat, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner called for restrictions on derivatives—those financial instruments whose value is derived from other instruments—but stopped at an outright ban on the trading practices that helped lead to the current financial crisis. Geithner said that derivatives were “at the very center of the financial crisis,” though he did not endorse a proposal by Democrats to ban the derivative business entirely. Read Geithner’s letter in pdf form here. The Wall Street Journal: Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said Thursday in a letter that tight restrictions on derivatives is “at the core” of a sweeping overhaul of financial rules but didn’t call for the outright ban on trading by banks that some Democrats are pushing. Mr. Geithner, in a letter to Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Blanche Lincoln (D., Ark.), said new financial rules must create restrictions on how over-the-counter derivatives are traded “in order to curb abuses that were at the very center of the financial crisis.” But he notably stopped short of endorsing a proposal from Ms. Lincoln to force large banks to spin off derivatives trading businesses entirely. His letter is the latest in a forceful push by the Obama administration to counter a lobbying effort by financial companies to scale back the derivatives rules. Read more

In a letter to a ranking Senate Democrat, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner called for restrictions on derivatives—those financial instruments whose value is derived from other instruments—but stopped at an outright ban on the trading practices that helped lead to the current financial crisis.

Geithner said that derivatives were “at the very center of the financial crisis,” though he did not endorse a proposal by Democrats to ban the derivative business entirely.

Read Geithner’s letter in pdf form here.

The Wall Street Journal:

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said Thursday in a letter that tight restrictions on derivatives is “at the core” of a sweeping overhaul of financial rules but didn’t call for the outright ban on trading by banks that some Democrats are pushing.

Mr. Geithner, in a letter to Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Blanche Lincoln (D., Ark.), said new financial rules must create restrictions on how over-the-counter derivatives are traded “in order to curb abuses that were at the very center of the financial crisis.” But he notably stopped short of endorsing a proposal from Ms. Lincoln to force large banks to spin off derivatives trading businesses entirely.

His letter is the latest in a forceful push by the Obama administration to counter a lobbying effort by financial companies to scale back the derivatives rules.

Read more

Related Entries

• April 15, 2010 A Supreme Court Choice We Can Believe In
• April 15, 2010 The Supreme Court’s Audio Anxiety

Matthew Campbell: Steve King opposes Treasury program to catch rich tax evaders
Latest remarks made by Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) in a Fox News interview last week have further highlighted his failure to represent his Iowa constituents….

Arianna Huffington: Sunday Roundup
For companies putting profits over people, paying fines for breaking the law has become part of the cost of doing business. So, in the week following the deadliest mining accident in 40 years, it was business as usual for Massey Energy: the company received 130 “significant and substantial” safety violations — those that present a direct risk to the health and safety of workers. That’s why it was great to hear the president raise the possibility of criminal prosecutions resulting from the West Virginia tragedy. He should do the same for Wall Street. Otherwise Goldman Sachs will end up writing a big check for its investment fraud and quickly return to gaming the system. Only criminal prosecutions will finally bring true accountability to corporate America and restore the moral underpinnings essential for a healthy free enterprise system.

Judge H. Lee Sarokin: Would Jesus Have Joined The Tea Party Movement?
It is difficult to know whether or not the Tea Party Express is a grass roots creation, a production of Fox News or a concoction by a public relations firm to make money. But no matter its origins, it seems to have coalesced around some basic concepts.

Conservative attacks on potential Supreme Court nominees don’t hold water

Conservatives appear ready to attack anyone President Obama nominates to the Supreme Court as suggested by a New York Times article that quoted conservative activist Richard Viguerie signaling that he will affix the “radical” label to anyone Obama nominates. Furthermore, the specific attacks on potential nominees cited by the Times do not hold up to scrutiny.

Conservatives signal attack on anyone Obama nominates

Conservative activist Viguerie signals that conservatives will paint any nominee as “radical.” The New York Times reported in an April 16 held 2-1 in FAIR v. Rumsfeld that the Reagan appointee, joined the majority opinion in the case. Stapleton had previously been appointed to a federal district court judgeship by President Nixon. Kagan subsequently reinstated the ban against military recruitment through OCS for one semester in 2005 after the 3rd Circuit held that the law was unconstitutional. As Kagan explained in a September 2005 letter to her colleagues:

The Law School’s anti-discrimination policy, adopted in 1979, provides that any employer that uses the services of OCS to recruit at the school must sign a statement indicating that that it does not discriminate on various bases, including sexual orientation. As a result of this policy, the military was barred for many years from using the services of OCS. The military retained full access to our students (and vice versa) through the good offices of the Harvard Law School Veterans Association, which essentially took the place of OCS in enabling interviews to occur.

[…]

I reinstated the application of our anti-discrimination policy to the military (after appropriate consultation with University officials) in the wake of the Third Circuit’s decision; as a result, the military did not receive OCS assistance during our spring 2005 recruiting season.

Reality: Dozens of other law professors, other law schools, and the Cato Institute argued against the government’s interpretation of the Solomon Amendment. As Media Matters for America has detailing their law schools’ attempts to restrict military recruiters’ access to career services offices. Following the 3rd Circuit’s decision, in addition to Harvard, Yale and New York Law School also reportedly reinstituted their restrictions against military recruiters. In addition, at least one other school had a more restrictive policy than Harvard. According to the FAIR v. Rumsfeld complaint, from 1989-2002, at Whittier Law School, “[m]ilitary recruiters were not permitted to post recruiting information, speak at school-sponsored events, sit at tables, access student/alumni addresses, leave material visible in any library area, or interview on campus. If a student expressed interest in a military JAG [Judge Advocate General] career, the director of career services would refer the student to a recruiting office.”

Conservatives make ridiculous claim about Garland’s quote on Blackmun papers

Conservative claim: It’s “alarming” that Garland called the release of Blackmun’s papers a “great gift to the country.” The Times reported that “while [D.C. Circuit] Judge [Merrick] Garland has not often dealt with social issues, at a 2005 book event, he reportedly described the release of the papers of the late Justice Harry Blackmun — the author of the 1973 Roe v. Wade abortion rights decision — as a ‘great gift to the country.’ Phillip Jauregui, the president of the conservative Judicial Action Group, said that remark sent an alarming signal to social conservatives. ‘The fact that he would use those words to describe Harry Blackmun’s papers is cause for concern,’ he said.”

Reality: People from across the spectrum have used the “great gift” of justices’ papers in their research. The National Right to Life Committee has used reports on Blackmun’s papers to attack the Roe decision and the doctrine of a constitutional right to abortion. In addition, news outlets have used the Blackmun papers to shed light on the Roe decision and on the Supreme Court as a whole. Furthermore, abortion rights opponent and law professor Douglas Kmiec reported that he had researched some of former Justice Thurgood Marshall’s papers and used his research to attack Roe v. Wade.

Attack on Garland’s deference to federal regulations does not hold water

Conservative claim: Garland often votes to uphold the decisions of federal agencies. The Times reported: “Because the District of Columbia Circuit hears all challenges to federal agency regulations, Judge Garland also has a long record of voting to uphold such federal authorities – an issue that could resonate with the libertarian sentiment on display in the Tea Party movement.”

Reality: Based on a decision by Stevens, Supreme Court requires courts to give great deference to agency decisions. In the 1984 case of Chevron, USA, Inc. v. National Resources Defense Counsel, the Supreme Court held in a decision written by Justice Stevens that federal courts should give great deference to agency regulations. Stevens wrote in a 6-0 decision (with three justices recused):

If Congress has explicitly left a gap for the agency to fill, there is an express delegation of authority to the agency to elucidate a specific provision of the statute by regulation. Such legislative regulations are given controlling weight unless they are arbitrary, capricious, or manifestly contrary to the statute. Sometimes the legislative delegation to an agency on a particular question is implicit rather than explicit. In such a case, a court may not substitute its own construction of a statutory provision for a reasonable interpretation made by the administrator of an agency.

Reality: Justice Scalia has argued for strong judicial deference to agency decisions. Scalia has been a staunch supporter of the doctrine that federal courts must give great deference to agency decisions. Indeed, in United States v. Mead, a case decided 8-1, Scalia was the lone dissenter from a decision finding that an agency decision was not entitled to “Chevron deference.” Scalia argued that the federal courts should enforce a “general presumption of authority in agencies to resolve ambiguity in the statutes they have been authorized to enforce.”

Garland, like the Supreme Court, has often ruled in favor of detainee rights

Conservative claim: It’s potentially problematic that Garland has “several times side with the rights of detainees.” Finally, the Times identified as a potential conservative line of attack against Garland the fact that he “has also several times sided with the rights of detainees. He voted to overturn the military’s determination that a Chinese Muslim detainee at Guantánamo Bay prison in Cuba was an ‘enemy combatant.’ He also voted to allow former detainees who had been held at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq to sue private contractors accused of being involved in abuses.”

Reality: Supreme Court repeatedly overturned Bush detainee policies, including on decision by Garland. The Supreme Court has repeatedly overturned Bush administration policies relating to “enemy combatants” and Guantanamo Bay, including in the 2004 cases of Hamdi v. Rumsfeld and Rasul v. Bush, the 2006 case of Hamdan v. Rumsfeld, and the 2008 case of Boumediene v. Bush. In each of these cases Stevens was in the majority, except for Hamdi, a case in which Stevens and Scalia argued that the Court had not gone far enough in striking down the government’s policy. Furthermore, in Rasul, the Supreme Court actually overturned a decision by Garland in favor of the government and against the detainees.

SEC Slaps Goldman With Civil Fraud Complaint
The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged Goldman Sachs with defrauding investors by allegedly “misstating and omitting key facts” in the marketing of a financial product linked to the performance of subprime mortgages right as the housing crisis was beginning to unfold.

Koch Industries: We Don’t Fund Tea Parties (Except For The Tea Parties We Fund)
Koch Industries, a major backer of myriad right-wing causes, has never provided funding “specifically to support the tea parties,” said Koch spokeswoman Melissa Cohlmia in an unsolicited message that landed in our inbox last night in advance of Tax Day.

SEC files lawsuit against Goldman Sachs for financial fraud
Excerpt: On Friday, almost two years after the financial meltdown that began on Wall Street and reverberated throughout the U.S. economy, a lawsuit has been filed by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) against Goldman Sachs, alleging that the behemoth financial institution engaged in financial fraud. According to the AP, the charges against Goldman relate to a […]

Arizona Bill Forcing Officers to Determine Immigration Status Marks “All-Out Assault†on Latino Communities
We speak to Isabel Garcia, co-chair of the Tuscon-based Coalition for Human Rights and legal defender of Pima County, Arizona, about the situation in her state.

We speak to Isabel Garcia, co-chair of the Tuscon-based Coalition for Human Rights and legal defender of Pima County, Arizona, about the situation in her state.

VIDEO: AIPAC Staffer Reveals How Lobby Works (In Berkeley and DC) ++ INSANE DAN PIPES ITINERARY
Now it’s on video. Top AIPAC staffer tells how AIPAC plans to turn around Berkeley vote on divestment. He says that AIPAC will take over Berkeley’s student government to install a pro-Israel student legislature. “This is how AIPAC operates…


American Israel Public Affairs Committee – Israel – Middle East – Warfare and Conflict – Israel-Palestine

A Successful Summit
Yesterday’s meeting on nuclear security in Washington was that rare bird — a successful summit meeting. Not only did the 47 participating nations endorse the Obama administration’s general goal of securing all nuclear weapons and bomb-making materials in four years,…



Nuclear weapon – Nuclear – International Atomic Energy Agency – Presidency of Barack Obama – Summit

Judge strikes down Arkansas law banning same-sex couples from adopting.
Yesterday, a Circuit judge struck down a state law banning unmarried couples from adopting children or serving as foster parents. The measure amounted to a ban on adoption and foster parenting by same-sex couples, who are banned from legally marrying in Arkansas. “Due process and equal protection are not hollow words without substance,” said Judge […]

Yesterday, a Circuit judge struck down a state law banning unmarried couples from adopting children or serving as foster parents. The measure amounted to a ban on adoption and foster parenting by same-sex couples, who are banned from legally marrying in Arkansas. “Due process and equal protection are not hollow words without substance,” said Judge Chris Piazza of Pulaski County Circuit Court. The Arkansas News reports:

Act 1, passed by voters in 2008, unconstitutionally burdens non-marital relationships and acts of sexual intimacy between adults by forcing them to choose between becoming a parent and having any meaningful type of intimate relationship outside of marriage, Circuit Judge Chris Piazza ruled in a lawsuit challenging the law.

“It infringes upon the fundamental right to privacy guaranteed to all citizens of Arkansas,” the judge ruled in the lawsuit filed by the ACLU.

Piazza also “sided with the ACLU in its argument that the ban reduced the pool of potential adoptive and foster parents to the point where many children could go without homes.”

Delirious Right Wing Bloggers Claim ?Proud Racist? Tea Party Attendee Was A ?Leftist Plant?
At Thursday’s tea party rally in St. Louis, conservative blogger-activist Adam Sharp confronted a racist, Nazi-sympathizer who attended the event. Sharp approached the unidentified racist who was wearing a black shirt with a swastika on the back of it, and told him that shirt “doesn’t represent tea party values” and asked him to leave. The […]

At Thursday’s tea party rally in St. Louis, conservative blogger-activist Adam Sharp confronted a racist, Nazi-sympathizer who attended the event. Sharp approached the unidentified racist who was wearing a black shirt with a swastika on the back of it, and told him that shirt “doesn’t represent tea party values” and asked him to leave. The white racist man responded, “I’m with the Knights of the Klu Klux Klan. We are a white unit.”

After Sharp accused the unidentified man of not belonging to the tea party, the racist responded, “Do you belong to the Council of Conservative Citizens? … I do.” Sharp continued to hound the man, asking him to leave and demanding to know whether he was a racist. “I’m not a Nazi, I’m a proud racist. I’m white,” the man said.

Sharp then loudly declared, “He’s here representing –” but then cut himself off. He’s “trying to pretend that we’re racist,” Sharp clarified. “No, I’m not,” the racist said, later telling Sharp more people need to stand up for their “white rights.” “Race has nothing to do with this, sir,” Sharp answered. “We’re here protesting policy, sir, I don’t care what race anybody is.” Eventually, Sharp’s persistent hounding of the racist man caused him to leave the rally. Watch Sharp’s report:

In a blog post promoting his video, Sharp titled the post, “Dem Shill Wears Nazi Gear to TEA Party, Gets Called Out.” There is no evidence on the tape to suggest the racist man was a “Dem shill.” And in fact, Sharp never accuses the man of being a liberal in his encounter with him. Rather, the tape shows the racist man explicitly touting his conservative bona fides.

Another conservative blog, Gateway Pundit, picked up Sharp’s post and titled their own: “Racist Leftist Infiltrators Driven From Tea Party Rallies.” Gateway Pundit’s Jim Hoft, who cross-posted on Andrew Breitbart’s Big Government site, argued that the racist was a “leftist plant.” Hoft implored his readers to contact him if they could identify him as such.

Powerline, another leading conservative blog, joined in the spectacle, telling their readers: “Jim is asking for help identifying the infiltrator depicted below.” Fortunately, there’s at least one conservative blog that isn’t buying the spin. Writing on HotAir.com, blogger Allahpundit reviews the racist man in Sharp’s video and concludes, “[I]n fairness to lefties, he may be the real deal.”

It’s one thing for conservative tea party activists to courageously confront their own racist sympathizers. That is to be respected. But it’s quite another for them to baselessly and shamefully smear “leftists” for being Nazi racist infiltrators.

Sunday talk shows
Guests to be interviewed Sunday on major television talk shows:

W.Va. mine disaster calls attention to revolving door between industry, government
More than 200 former congressional staff members, federal regulators and lawmakers are employed by the mining industry as lobbyists, consultants or senior executives, including dozens who work for coal companies with the worst safety records in the nation, a Washington Post analysis shows.

Florida governor Crist goes from GOP leading light to party pariah
THE VILLAGES, FLA. — Republican Gov. Charlie Crist, once regarded as a shoo-in to become Florida’s next senator, waded into a milling crowd. If his campaign had been going according to plan, the audience here would have been perfect: an elderly, largely conservative throng that included 82-year-…

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In a Rush to Judge Goldman?
William Cohan, New York Times

Watch The Goldman Case

How to Save the Catholic Church
Peggy Noonan, Wall Street Journal
The great second wave of church scandals appears this week to be settling down. In the Vatican they're likely thinking “the worst is over” and “we've weathered the storm.” Is that good? Not to this Catholic. The more relaxed the institution, the less likely it will reform. Let's look at the first wave. Eight years ago, on April 19, 2002, I wrote in these pages of the American church scandal, calling it calamitous, a threat to the standing and reputation of the entire church. Sexual abuse by priests “was the heart of the scandal, but at the same time…

The Left’s Hypocritical Reaction to Tea Partiers
Rich Lowry, NY Post

Goldman’s Fall From Grace
Charles Gasparino, The Daily Beast
Enter your email address:Enter the recipients' email addresses, separated by commas:Message: Bloomberg / Getty Images The accusation that Wall Street’s top investment bank defrauded investors means the end of their golden reputation, says Charlie Gasparino—and only confirms what everyone suspected: They play dirty. Before Goldman Sachs was lampooned in the media, famously labeled by Rolling Stone magazine the evil “vampire squid,” and became the symbol on Main Street for all that was wrong on Wall Street,…

Insurance Companies Own Fast Food Stock
The fast-food industry has long been under fire for selling high-fat, high-calorie meals that have been linked to weight gain and diabetes, but the financial health of the industry continues to attract investors — including some of the leading insurance companies in the U.S., a new study reports. According to Harvard Medical School researchers, 11 large companies that offer life, disability, or health insurance owned about $1.9 billion in stock in the five largest fast-food companies as of June 2009.

Geithner Pushes to Restrict, Not Ban Derivatives
In a letter to a ranking Senate Democrat, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner called for restrictions on derivatives—those financial instruments whose value is derived from other instruments—but stopped at an outright ban on the trading practices that helped lead to the current financial crisis. Geithner said that derivatives were “at the very center of the financial crisis,” though he did not endorse a proposal by Democrats to ban the derivative business entirely. Read Geithner’s letter in pdf form here. The Wall Street Journal: Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said Thursday in a letter that tight restrictions on derivatives is “at the core” of a sweeping overhaul of financial rules but didn’t call for the outright ban on trading by banks that some Democrats are pushing. Mr. Geithner, in a letter to Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Blanche Lincoln (D., Ark.), said new financial rules must create restrictions on how over-the-counter derivatives are traded “in order to curb abuses that were at the very center of the financial crisis.” But he notably stopped short of endorsing a proposal from Ms. Lincoln to force large banks to spin off derivatives trading businesses entirely. His letter is the latest in a forceful push by the Obama administration to counter a lobbying effort by financial companies to scale back the derivatives rules. Read more

In a letter to a ranking Senate Democrat, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner called for restrictions on derivatives—those financial instruments whose value is derived from other instruments—but stopped at an outright ban on the trading practices that helped lead to the current financial crisis.

Geithner said that derivatives were “at the very center of the financial crisis,” though he did not endorse a proposal by Democrats to ban the derivative business entirely.

Read Geithner’s letter in pdf form here.

The Wall Street Journal:

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said Thursday in a letter that tight restrictions on derivatives is “at the core” of a sweeping overhaul of financial rules but didn’t call for the outright ban on trading by banks that some Democrats are pushing.

Mr. Geithner, in a letter to Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Blanche Lincoln (D., Ark.), said new financial rules must create restrictions on how over-the-counter derivatives are traded “in order to curb abuses that were at the very center of the financial crisis.” But he notably stopped short of endorsing a proposal from Ms. Lincoln to force large banks to spin off derivatives trading businesses entirely.

His letter is the latest in a forceful push by the Obama administration to counter a lobbying effort by financial companies to scale back the derivatives rules.

Read more

Related Entries

• April 15, 2010 Live Chat: Robert Scheer on the Financial Crisis
• April 9, 2010 ‘Left, Right & Center’: Justice Stevens, Financial Hearings and Nukes

Gays Get Hospital Visitation Rights
Addressing an important rights issue, President Barack Obama has written a memo ordering hospitals in the U.S. to grant to gay and lesbian partners the same visitation privileges already enjoyed by married heterosexual couples. One caveat of the order is that those hospitals required to allow visitation must explicitly receive Medicare and Medicaid money. Private hospitals without government support are still free to be as homophobic as they want. The memo also requires that all documents for power of attorney and health care proxies be accepted and honored, regardless of the patient’s sexual orientation. —JCL Los Angeles Times: President Obama late Thursday ordered most hospitals in the country to grant the same visitation rights to gay and lesbian partners that they do to married heterosexual couples. In a memo to his Health and Human Services agency, Obama ordered the secretary to ensure that all hospitals getting Medicare and Medicaid money honor all patients’ advance directives, including those designating who gets family visitation privileges. The order also requires that documents granting power of attorney and healthcare proxies be honored, regardless of sexual orientation. The language could apply to unmarried heterosexual couples too. Read more

Addressing an important rights issue, President Barack Obama has written a memo ordering hospitals in the U.S. to grant to gay and lesbian partners the same visitation privileges already enjoyed by married heterosexual couples.

One caveat of the order is that those hospitals required to allow visitation must explicitly receive Medicare and Medicaid money. Private hospitals without government support are still free to be as homophobic as they want.

The memo also requires that all documents for power of attorney and health care proxies be accepted and honored, regardless of the patient’s sexual orientation. —JCL

Los Angeles Times:

President Obama late Thursday ordered most hospitals in the country to grant the same visitation rights to gay and lesbian partners that they do to married heterosexual couples.

In a memo to his Health and Human Services agency, Obama ordered the secretary to ensure that all hospitals getting Medicare and Medicaid money honor all patients’ advance directives, including those designating who gets family visitation privileges.

The order also requires that documents granting power of attorney and healthcare proxies be honored, regardless of sexual orientation. The language could apply to unmarried heterosexual couples too.

Read more

Related Entries

• April 15, 2010 Live Chat: Robert Scheer on the Financial Crisis
• April 9, 2010 ‘Left, Right & Center’: Justice Stevens, Financial Hearings and Nukes

Murray Hill Inc.: Justice John Paul Stevens: Corporate Persons Everywhere Salute You!
As the first corporation to run for federal office, Murray Hill Inc. took up the challenge as outlined by Justice Stevens and filed a voter registration with the Maryland Board of Elections.

Carl Pope: Back to the 90s
No, not the 1990s (Bill Clinton’s era). I’m talking about the 1890s, when William McKinley served as the 19th century’s last president. That’s where the…

Jerry Schweighart, Champaign Mayor: Obama Not An American (VIDEO)
Add Champaign mayor Jerry Schweighart to the short and oddball list of skeptics about Barack Obama’s birthplace. In a video shot by YouTube user illinoisgrads…

Right-wing media furious Obama “mock[ed]” tea partiers by correctly pointing out he lowered taxes

The right-wing media has attacked President Obama for “mocking average citizens”after he said “you’d think [the tea partiers] would be saying thank you,” because he has lowered taxes. Indeed, absent from the right-wing media’s outrage is the fact that Obama is correct; as the AP wrote, “[y]ou wouldn’t know it by the Tax Day rhetoric, but Americans are paying lower taxes this year.”

Right-wing media furious over Obama remarks that tea partiers should say “thank you” for lower taxes

Ace of Spades: “Obama: Ha ha…can you believe those anti-tax rubes?” Ace of Spades reported on April 15 that “taxes are at their lowest levels in 60 years, according to William Gale, co-director of the Tax Policy Center and director of the Retirement Security Project at the Brookings Institution.” CBS News further reported:

“The relation between what is said in the tax debate and what is true about tax policy is often quite tenuous,” Gale told Hotsheet. “The rise of the Tea Party at at time when taxes are literally at their lowest in decades is really hard to understand.”

Bruce Bartlett: “[F]ederal taxes are very considerably lower by every measure since Obama became president.” Bruce Bartlett, former adviser to President Reagan and Treasury Department economist under George H.W. Bush, wrote on March 19 that “federal taxes are very considerably lower by every measure since Obama became president. And given the economic circumstances, it’s hard to imagine that a tax increase would have been enacted last year”:

As noted earlier, federal taxes are very considerably lower by every measure since Obama became president. And given the economic circumstances, it’s hard to imagine that a tax increase would have been enacted last year. In fact, 40% of Obama’s stimulus package involved tax cuts. These include the Making Work Pay Credit, which reduces federal taxes for all taxpayers with incomes below $75,000 by between $400 and $800.

According to the JCT, last year’s $787 billion stimulus bill, enacted with no Republican support, reduced federal taxes by almost $100 billion in 2009 and another $222 billion this year. The Tax Policy Center, a private research group, estimates that close to 90% of all taxpayers got a tax cut last year and almost 100% of those in the $50,000 income range. For those making between $40,000 and $50,000, the average tax cut was $472; for those making between $50,000 and $75,000, the tax cut averaged $522. No taxpayer anywhere in the country had his or her taxes increased as a consequence of Obama’s policies.

AP: “You wouldn’t know it by the Tax Day rhetoric, but Americans are paying lower taxes this year.” The Associated Press reported on April 14, “You wouldn’t know it by the Tax Day rhetoric, but Americans are paying lower taxes this year, even with increases passed by many states to balance their budgets.” While noting that in future years, some taxes may increase for some Americans, the article said that “Tax Day rhetoric” does not match the reality of Americans’ tax burdens today. From the article:

Congress cut individuals’ federal taxes for this year by about $173 billion shortly after President Barack Obama took office, dwarfing the $28.6 billion in increases by states.

[…]

The massive economic recovery package enacted last year included about $300 billion in tax cuts over 10 years. About $232 billion was in cuts for individuals, nearly all in the first two years.

The most generous was Obama’s Making Work Pay credit, which gives individuals up to $400 and couples up to $800 for 2009 and 2010. The $1,000 child tax credit was expanded to more families, and the working poor can qualify for as much as $5,657 from the Earned Income Tax Credit.

There were also credits for qualified families who buy new homes or make energy improvements to existing ones, as well as tax breaks to help pay college tuition or buy new cars.

CBS: “Poll Reveals Most Americans Don’t Know They Got a Tax Cut.” A February 5-10 New York Times/CBS News poll found that only 12 percent of respondents “think the Obama Administration has … decreased taxes for most Americans.” CBS wrote that “[o]f people who support the grassroots, ‘Tea Party’ movement, only 2 percent think taxes have been decreased, 46 percent say taxes are the same, and a whopping 44 percent say they believe taxes have gone up.” Media Matters for America has noted that conservative media figures including Steve Moore of the Wall Street Journal, Fox News contributor S.E. Cupp and Fox Forum columnist Peter Roff have denied that Obama cut taxes.