Chris Hayes on the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP)

Here's Chris Hayes on the Rachel Maddow Show discussing the Home Affordable Modification Program, abbreviated HAMP (which always throws me somehow). This is painful, the natural consequence of "partnering" with private entities to do public functions. Painful (h/t David Dayen):



Would you like some fries with that triangulation?

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Bizarre Chris Matthews interview in which he claims Breitbart showed entire Sherrod tape

Very weird. Read More......

Judicial confirmations plummet under Obama

Why do Republicans block Obama's judicial nominations? Because they can. From CAP:

Judicial confirmations slowed to a trickle on the day President Barack Obama took office. Filibusters, anonymous holds, and other obstructionary tactics have become the rule. Uncontroversial nominees wait months for a floor vote, and even district court nominees—low-ranking judges whose confirmations have never been controversial in the past—are routinely filibustered into oblivion. Nominations grind to a halt in many cases even after the Senate Judiciary Committee has unanimously endorsed a nominee.

Such tactics are completely unprecedented, and so are their results. Fewer than 43 percent of President Obama’s judicial nominees have so far been confirmed, while past presidents have enjoyed confirmation rates as high as 93 percent. And President Obama’s nominees have been confirmed at a much slower rate than those of his predecessor—nearly 87 percent of President George W. Bush’s judicial nominees were confirmed.

The data could not be any clearer. As Figure 1 shows, judicial confirmations have fallen off a cliff since President Obama took office.

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Study: Smarter people go to bed later

He's got numbers to show it. And it may be true. The question is whether going to bed later makes you smarter, or whether smarter people choose to go to bed later, need less sleep, think too much and can't get to sleep, have more to do, or what. From Psychology Today:

Night Lights

Bedtimes and wake-up times for Americans in their 20s by IQ.

Very Dull (IQ < 75)

Weekday: 11:41 P.M.-7:20 A.M.

Weekend: 12:35 A.M.-10:09 A.M.

Normal (90 < IQ < 110)

Weekday: 12:10 A.M.-7:32 A.M.

Weekend: 1:13 A.M.-10:14 A.M.

Very Bright (IQ > 125)

Weekday: 12:29 A.M.-7:52 A.M.

Weekend: 1:44 A.M.-11:07 A.M.

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NY Times: 'Industries Find Surging Profits in Deeper Cuts'

I can't say it any better than the NY Times headline writer — Industries find surging profits in deeper cuts. The article itself, from Sunday's Business section, is a great read, if painful. There's too much in it to clip cleanly, but the opening captures one of the main points. (By the way, the end of this post contains an action suggestion; the goal isn't depression, but information and motivation.)

And now the article. It seems Harley-Davidson, that staple of American symbology, as a tale to tell (my emphasis):

By most measures, Harley-Davidson has been having a rough ride.

Motorcycle sales are falling in 2010, as they have for each of the last three years. The company does not expect a turnaround anytime soon.

But despite that drought, Harley’s profits are rising — soaring, in fact. Last week, Harley reported a $71 million profit in the second quarter, more than triple what it earned a year ago.

This seeming contradiction — falling sales and rising profits — is one reason the mood on Wall Street is so much more buoyant than in households, where pessimism runs deep and joblessness shows few signs of easing.

Many companies are focusing on cost-cutting to keep profits growing, but the benefits are mostly going to shareholders instead of the broader economy, as management conserves cash rather than bolstering hiring and production. Harley, for example, has announced plans to cut 1,400 to 1,600 more jobs by the end of next year. That is on top of 2,000 job cuts last year — more than a fifth of its work force.

The article goes on to talk about management "leveraging its position" to make workers more productive. (Care to work there? You too can be "leveraged.") And because it's the business page, there's a handy link so you can add Harley-Davidson to your portfolio. America at work.

The whole piece is good, with lots of corporate examples.

But I'd like to close with the graph that goes with the article, a two-parter:



On the left, look first at GDP (light gray). Now Employee Compensation (dark gray). Now Profit (black). Now look at the last three dots on the graph. The amount of GDP that I didn't go to Employee Compensation — was added to Corporate Profit, almost one-for-one.

Now look on the right. That's corporate cash. Remember what we said about deflations — that cash was king and things were its footstool? The corps are sitting on a mound of cash, waiting for the price of what cash buys to fall to the floor. Wanna bet that wages are one of the things they're watching to fall?

The types who run these companies may be predatory and unpatriotic, but they're not stupid.

One way to fight this, by the way, is to organize the unemployed as a political force. They are both potent, large (unfortunately) and highly motivated — very much like draft-age students during the Anti-War Movement. If you're considering action, consider this.

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Saturday morning open thread

One of the neat things about being in Paris is walking. I have to admit that I was never much of a walker until I got my puppy earlier this year. And once I dropped 7 pounds as a result of our twice a day romps around the neighborhood, little Sasha had me hooked on the value of a good stroll around the block.

But walking in Paris is something entirely different than walking in Washington, DC. To wit, my walk home last night from the Marais, an old neighborhood in the center of Paris. It was around 10pm and I was about to hit the metro, but figured, why am I heading home? I had nothing to do, but still, it's early and it's Paris. So I walked. The entire walk took about 45 minutes (not including a ten minute ice cream break at my favorite Italian gelato store, Amorino - they're a chain throughout Paris, and the best damn ice cream I've ever eaten - equal to the best stuff in Italy).

Anyway, so my walk started with the usual Marais night life, which can be a bit overwhelming unless you take a less traveled street, which I did. Then it's quite quaint. I headed down to the Tour St. Jacques, which was recently (relatively) renovated, and was standing in all its glory, bathed in green light, oddly.

I looked down the block and caught a glimpse of the Hotel de Ville, or city hall. And it's such a gorgeous building, even by day - but at night, with the lighting, it's simply stunning. So I took a detour so I could walk by it. As I got closer, I heard music. There was some kind of concert going on, and the crowd seemed to be liking it. So I headed on over.



Here's a quick video of the concert:



I have no idea who the band was, but they were speaking French with a heavily English, I think, accent. As I cut through the crowd, there were a slew of bikes just standing there, and I realized - it's 10 o'clock on a Friday night in Paris - it's the city-wide bike ride! Every Friday night, in summer at least (not sure about the rest of the year), at around 10 o'clock at night, they close some of the streets in Paris and have either a big bike ride, or a big roller blade ride. It's just great. I need to try it some time, at least the bike ride.



So I left the bike ride before it began, cut across the river and caught a glimpse of Paris Plage, or Paris Beach. Every year they truck in tons of sand and dump it along the roadway along the Seine. Probably a mile's worth. They then put up beach umbrellas, bring in vendors, water sprays, chairs, music, and voila! - it's a beach in the middle of the city. It's quite the popular event, takes place, more or less, from July 20 to August 20. You can get a glimpse of Paris Plage in the right side of the photo below.



Then more trekking south until I approach, of course, Notre Dame cathedral.



Honest to God, this is what it's like walking home in this city. You just walk by the most incredible things. I stopped for a moment and looked up at Notre Dame, a sight I've seen probably dozens of times, but just had to look again. Then headed south, across the river (Notre Dame is on an island, basically), and heard music playing, again. This time it was a guy with a guitar serenading a pretty large crowd along the Seine. He was playing Gloria Gaynor, I think, then swung into full blown Madonna.

Here's a quick video of the guy playing - I'm pretty sure he's singing "Like a Prayer." I love seeing the people just sitting along the Seine, 1030 at night, couples, friends, lovers, without a care in the world. I can't imagine sitting in any big city along a river late at night, and surviving.



From there, I walked through the Latin Quarter, heading down past St. Sulpice, and then hit Amorino, and walked the final minutes home in chocolate bliss. Read More......

CREW corrupt candidates update: Jeff Greene

We talked here about the CREW 2010 Crooked Candidates site. They've just added another, Democrat Jeff Greene — and he's, yep, a Floridian. (Is it the water?)

Jeff Greene (U.S. Senate, Florida): Mr. Greene is a business man and a Los Angeles real estate mogul.

While self-financing his Senate campaign, Mr. Greene appears to be skirting Federal Election Commission regulations by not giving complete information regarding vendors used by his campaign. Mr. Green is financing his campaign, in part, through a series of in-kind contributions, but the campaign has not revealed the names of the vendors providing services. . . .

In 2005, a multimillion dollar yacht owned by Mr. Greene dropped anchor on an environmentally sensitive coral reef off the coast of Belize causing major damage. . . . Mr. Greene also has been criticized for amassing his wealth through credit default swaps and subprime mortgages. In fact, Mr. Greene was likely the first individual to trade credit default swaps. . . . Finally, Mr. Greene paid Democratic National Committee member Jon Ausman $4,000 for political consulting and strategy six days before Mr. Ausman endorsed Mr. Greene for Senate.

Busted up a coral reef with a yacht anchor? Sheesh. And I think that Ausman guy got seriously taken — $4000 looks like pin money to me.

Click through to read about Ron Howard's dealings with Greene. Again, sheesh.

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X Prize Challenge finalists: Create the car of the future

The X-Prize Foundation offers prize money and awards for innovative technology that meets socially important technical challenges. From their blurb (my emphasis):

The X PRIZE Foundation is an educational nonprofit organization whose mission is to create radical breakthroughs for the benefit of humanity thereby inspiring the formation of new industries, jobs and the revitalization of markets that are currently stuck.

The Foundation's latest challenge — technology that cleans oil off water surfaces. Previous challenges range from space travel to genome sequencing.

The following Rachel Maddow clip highlights their "dream car" challenge — create an automobile that gets the equivalent of 100 mpg, has a 200-mile range, is safe and producible. The contest is down to nine finalists. Chris Hayes, subbing for Rachel, in a fascinating segment:



One reservation — I'm not a fan of public-private partnerships; I think the public gets screwed most of the time. The beast is still the beast, after all. Despite (or because of) their non-profit status, X Prize's challenges seem to have lots of corporate and foundation "partners". The auto competition is "partnered" with Progressive Insurance. The oil challenge is "partnered" with Wendy Schmidt, president of The Schmidt Family Foundation, and co-founder of the Schmidt Marine Science Research Institute.

Both of these orgs have naming rights to their competition — it's officially the "Progressive Insurance Automotive X PRIZE" for example. Kind of like the "Frito-Lay It's-All-in-the-Wrist Olathe Kansas Bowl".

So this may be wonderfully generous and unselfish, but still, color me questioning. There's a lot of patent money on the table. (Mm, money...) Still, great stuff technically.

Technically yours,

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Film a cop, face 16 years in jail

That's what a Maryland man is looking at — 16 years if convicted, for filming police at his own traffic stop and then posting the video on YouTube. All of this according to Ray Sanchez of ABC News (h/t Scott Horton).

The arrestee is charged with violating the state's anti-wiretapping laws. The ABC News story is here. The YouTube video is here. (Don't let the Maryland police catch you watching it.)

Sanchez says these arrests are more and more common, with an obvious purpose:

"The message is clearly, 'Don't criticize the police,'" said David Rocah, an attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union of Maryland who is part of Graber's defense team. "With these charges, anyone who would even think to record the police is now justifiably in fear that they will also be criminally charged."

Click through to the news story; there are lots of other instances. Horton agrees this is a "growing trend." He concludes:

This is an extreme example of the arrogance of power, in which a Maryland cop exercised bad judgment, was embarrassed when he was publicly exposed, and got his colleagues and prosecutors to exercise still worse judgment.

As Aristotle teaches us, in a democracy the people are entitled to throw light on the dealings of public officials to keep them honest, whereas the private dealings of the people are to be sheltered from unreasonable intrusion. In a tyranny, the officials of the government are enshrouded in secrecy but constantly invade the privacy of the common citizens. Which model does this bring the people of Maryland closer to?

The cop was filmed with a gun in his hand at a traffic stop. Rules of engagement?

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Eric Cantor's donations from the financial sector catch up with him

House GOP whip Eric Cantor has seen a sudden 32% increase in donations from the financial sector. Why imagine that. Read More......

The ADL thinks religious freedom exists only if bigots don't find you icky

What kind of BS is this coming out of the ADL? You'd think a Jewish civil rights group might appreciate the irony of caving to bigots simply because they find your religion uncomfortable.

From the ADL, about that new mosque being discussed for construction near Ground Zero.

We regard freedom of religion as a cornerstone of the American democracy, and that freedom must include the right of all Americans – Christian, Jewish, Muslim, and other faiths – to build community centers and houses of worship.

We categorically reject appeals to bigotry on the basis of religion, and condemn those whose opposition to this proposed Islamic Center is a manifestation of such bigotry.

The controversy which has emerged regarding the building of an Islamic Center at this location is counterproductive to the healing process. Therefore, under these unique circumstances, we believe the City of New York would be better served if an alternative location could be found.

The healing process? It's been 9 years. Just how long do we ban Muslim-Americans from participating in our democracy, before we're all well and healed? Is ten years enough? How about twenty? And does the same rule apply to synagogues? After all, Israel makes some people mighty uncomfortable too. Should we ban synagogues in, say, Detroit - you know, for that healing process thing.

This is disgusting.

J Street responds, God bless them:

The principle at stake in the Cordoba House controversy goes to the heart of American democracy and the value we place on freedom of religion. Should one religious group in this country be treated differently than another? We believe the answer is no.

As Mayor Bloomberg has said, proposing a church or a synagogue for that site would raise no questions. The Muslim community has an equal right to build a community center wherever it is legal to do so. We would hope the American Jewish community would be at the forefront of standing up for the freedom and equality of a religious minority looking to exercise its legal rights in the United States, rather than casting aspersions on its funders and giving in to the fear-mongerers and pandering politicians urging it to relocate.

What better ammunition to feed the Osama Bin Laden’s of the world and their claim of anti-Muslim bias in the United States as they seek to whip up global jihad than to hold this proposal for a Muslim religious center to a different and tougher standard than other religious institutions would be.

UPDATE: Krugman agrees. Read More......

Fewer people moving to find a new job, economists worry this could set the economy back

From the Wash Post:

Labor mobility has nearly ground to a halt in the past two years, and policymakers are increasingly worried that the slowdown is not just a symptom of the nation's economic struggles but also a barrier to overcoming them.

With many people locked in homes by underwater mortgages, only 1.6 percent of Americans moved between states in a one-year period that ended in March 2009 -- a labor stagnation not seen in half a century. Though household mobility has gradually declined for more than two decades, the recent sharp downturn has caused economists to worry that it could harm the already struggling recovery.

"In the past, people tended to move to where the jobs are," said Assistant Treasury Secretary Alan B. Krueger, who oversees economic policy for the department. "Now it is necessary to have more of a strategy to move the jobs -- and create new jobs -- in areas where the people are."

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Environmentalists say pollution makes baptism at sacred spot in Jordan River unsafe

A scary sign of the times, even though Israel denies it. Read More......

Obama & the Embeds (DEA edition)

Tell me again why it's called the "Obama administration"?

Last October (almost a year ago, if you're counting) Eric Holder called a halt to DEA raids on medical marijuana patients and facilities (my emphasis):

Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. directed federal prosecutors Monday to back away from pursuing cases against medical marijuana patients, signaling a broad policy shift that drug reform advocates interpret as the first step toward legalization of the drug.

The government's top lawyer said that in 14 states with some provisions for medical marijuana use, federal prosecutors should focus only on cases involving higher-level drug traffickers, money launderers or people who use the state laws as a cover. . . .

In a statement, Holder asserted that drug traffickers and people who use firearms will continue to be direct targets of federal prosecutors, but that, on his watch, "it will not be a priority to use federal resources to prosecute patients with serious illnesses or their caregivers who are complying with state laws on medical marijuana."

Seems clear enough. So why is the DEA raiding legal California marijuana facilities? Steve Elliott at Alternet (h/t Michael Whitney):

The federal Drug Enforcement Administration has flouted Mendocino County, California’s newly enacted medical marijuana ordinance by raiding the first collective that had applied to the sheriff’s cultivation permit program.

A multi-agency federal task force descended on the property of Joy Greenfield, the first Mendo patient to pay the $1,050 application fee under the ordinance, which allows collectives to grow up to 99 plants provided they comply with certain regulations.

July 2010 raids were also conducted in San Diego county.

Sounds like an Embed. Let's see. DEA, Acting Administrator, Michele Leonhart. Bingo — Bush-nominated as Deputy Administrator of the DEA in 2003, confirmed in 2004. Bush-nominated as DEA head in 2008, but never confirmed. Re-nominated by Obama in February 2010.

And it seems Ms. Leonhart doesn't much like medical marijuana. Alternet again (all you need is the headline, though click if you like):

Obama Wants a Bush Crony Appointed as a Top Drug Enforcer

Jeez. Come on, Mr. President. If you can post up Reggie Love, you can block this nomination — all by yourself.


The Marijuana Policy Project has a petition, if you're so inclined. Jane Hamsher has some thoughts as well.

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How to lose an 11 point lead in seven weeks?

We love Sharron Angle:

Throughout Angle's primary campaign, the conservative candidate touted a wide range of controversial views as she took to the campaign trail to sell her candidacy.

From expressing her desire to "phase out" social security to appearing to advocate for an armed insurrection if "Congress keeps going the way it is," Angle didn't fail to raise eyebrows in communicating her positions.

The Tea Party-backed hopeful has made visible efforts to soften the language she uses to communicate her views since securing the Republican nomination; however, her statements have nevertheless been well-documented.

Here are a few examples of stances Angle has taken that have led her to face criticism and scrutiny:

- Calling the BP oil spill an "accident" and suggesting to "deregulate" the oil industry

- Offering advice to victims of rape considering abortion: 'Lemons can be made into lemonade.'

- Advancing abortion-causes-breast-cancer myth

- Expressing a desire to abolish Social Security

- Raising the possibility of an armed insurrection

Yeah, armed insurrection against the government was my personal fav. Read More......

Rep. Weiner Goes Off On Republicans Over Blocking 9/11 Health Compensation Act

Hat tip, the Political Carnival.

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Reid plans showdown with GOP on funds for education, Medicaid

This sure sounds like the food stamp cuts that the administration was reportedly pushing a few weeks ago:

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) will force Republicans to vote next week on a $26.1 billion package of education funding and Medicaid assistance to states.

It will be a tough vote for centrist Republicans because the provisions are popular with Democratic and Republican governors and would not add to the deficit.

The entire cost of the bill is covered by offsets, such as a provision to end tax credits on corporate foreign-earned income. Closing the foreign income tax credits will raise $9 billion in revenue.

Democrats will also make $8.4 billion in spending recissions. Another $6.7 billion will come from cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).

SNAP is the Food Stamp program. And I quote an interview with David Obey of a little more than a week ago:

We were told we have to offset every damn dime of [new teacher spending]. Well, it ain’t easy to find offsets, and with all due respect to the administration their first suggestion for offsets was to cut food stamps. Now they were careful not to make an official budget request, because they didn’t want to take the political heat for it, but that was the first trial balloon they sent down here. … Their line of argument was, well, the cost of food relative to what we thought it would be has come down, so people on food stamps are getting a pretty good deal in comparison to what we thought they were going to get. Well isn’t that nice. Some poor bastard is going to get a break for a change.

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Swift Boat donors charged with 'extensive securities fraud' by SEC

Excellent. From the NYT:

Samuel and Charles Wyly, the billionaire brothers from Dallas who are large donors to philanthropies and to conservative causes, were charged Thursday with conducting an extensive securities fraud that the Securities and Exchange Commission said reaped $550 million in undisclosed gains.
Enlarge This Image

The brothers, who founded Sterling Software, a business software and services company that they sold for $4 billion in stock to the software company CA in 2000, were also charged with insider trading violations from which they profited by more than $31 million, the S.E.C. said.

I do hope all the Republicans they've funded are now going to give their tainted money back:

Charles and Samuel Wyly, along with their wives, have donated $2.5 million to more than 200 Republican candidates and committees over the past 20 years, including over $1.3 million to the Republican National Committee, according to an analysis by the Center for Responsive Politics.

The top recipients of their largesse have been Texas Republicans. George W. Bush received at least $100,000 raised by the Wyly clan during the 2000 presidential election. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchinson has received $30,400 from the family; Rep. Pete Sessions, $29,000.

Other Republican senators who've received their donations include John Cornyn of Texas, Sam Brownback of Kansas, Judd Gregg of New Hampshire, John Thune of South Dakota and Kit Bond of Missouri. Sam Wyly also funded the Swift Boat campaign that torpedoed Massachusetts Democrat John Kerry's 2004 presidential campaign.

And the Wyly brothers have been busy in the 2010 election cycle, most recently writing a check dated June 10 for $10,000 to the Republican Congressional Campaign Committee. Charles Wyly has contributed to FreedomWorks PAC, which has been instrumental in the Tea Party movement. The Wylys and their companies have also reportedly contributed $353,500 to Texas Gov. Rick Perry in recent years.

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Friday morning open thread

Joe is off celebrating a milestone birthday in Maine (all those wishing to extend him their best, here you go: sudbayjoe@yahoo.com), so you get me this morning. I'm finally off doing my annual August cat-sitting for Chris and his wife Joelle while they take the traditional French August vacation. And you know what that means.... no, not retinal detachments. Rather, the breakfast of champions is back, baby.



I did my junior year abroad in Paris, and speak French, so for me, in many ways, Paris is a second (or third) home, alongside DC and Chicago. Chris and Joelle live in the same general neighborhood where I lived at 19, and some of my classes took place literally around the corner from their apartment on Blvd. Raspail. I'll continue to blog, as usual, this month, while throwing in a bit of French flavor here and there.

And oh yes, there will be cats.

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Big Coal getting together to influence elections

It's all a result of the recent Supreme Court decision. From ABC:

Top officials at the country's major coal companies, including Massey Energy, owner of the West Virginia mine where 29 died earlier this year, apparently want to take advantage of looser campaign finance laws and use corporate money to defeat political candidates they believe to be "anti-coal."

According to an email from Roger Nicholson, senior vice president of the International Coal Group, "a number of coal industry representatives recently have been considering developing a 527 entity with the purpose of attempting to defeat anti-coal incumbents."

Nicholson's email notes that a recent Supreme Court decision will allow the "voices" of the coal firms "to be heard." The Court ruled earlier this January in Citizens United v. FEC that corporations and labor unions can spend unlimited funds on elections.

Mind you, note that we still haven't even gotten climate change signed into law, and they're still organizing to throw the Dems out. It doesn't matter what we do, big business is not our friend. They will take us on, regardless. Read More......

10 English words with foreign origins

A few are quite interesting, others quite obvious (poltergeist is German, duh). But who knew that "berserk" came from the Vikings? Read More......

Geithner: We want to expire tax cuts on the highest 2–3%

Back to taxes for a minute. Here's Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner on Meet the Press, July 25 (my emphasis):

I'll say what the president believes, and I believe this, is the right thing for the country, the fair thing, the responsible thing for the country now is to make sure we leave in place and preserve tax cuts that go to more than 95 percent of working Americans and complement those with a set of incentives for businesses to expand and hire. To make that possible, and to do that responsibly, I think it is fair and good policy to allow those tax cuts that only go to 2 to 3 percent of the highest earners in the country to expire as scheduled. The country can withstand that. The economy can withstand that. I think it's good policy.

So the Treasury Secretary is using high-profile MTP to push expiring the top end of the deadly Bush tax cuts. Three points:

• This is a very promising first step, since Geithner says explicitly he speaks for the president.
  
  
• The Bush tax cuts expire on December 31, 2010.
  
  
• There's an election in November, prior to the expiration, and Dems are already promising not to be "bad" (read, "effective") during the lame-duck Congress.

If you want to keep your party in power through 2016, Mr. President — keep your word. Please. Your credibility is already razor-thin, and Occam's Switchblade is watching.

GP

(A note to commenters on the earlier version of this post — thanks!) Read More......

Graham wants to amend constitution to stop children born in US from automatically becoming citizens

It's about immigration.

Asked how intent Graham is on introducing the amendment, the South Carolina Republican responded: “I got to.”

“People come here to have babies,” he said. “They come here to drop a child. It's called "drop and leave." To have a child in America, they cross the border, they go to the emergency room, have a child, and that child's automatically an American citizen. That shouldn't be the case. That attracts people here for all the wrong reasons.”

I got to? I really am sick and tired of this cute Republican redneck regular guy thing that everyone from Sarah Palin to now Lindsey Graham is doing. The old "using incorrect English to come off as a man of the people" trick.

If Lindsey Graham is going to bash immigrants, he can at least speak proper English when doing so. After all, he'd expect nothing less of the immigrants he's bashing. Read More......

Gays now apparently pose a threat to 'spooning' in the military

Anyone else think that the Family Research Concil's Tony Perkins, who brings new meaning to the phrase "straight-acting," spends just a bit too much time thinking about gay sex? Now he's afraid that gays threaten "spooning" in the military. I don't know whether Tony has ever served in the military, but I've got news for him, if soldiers refused to "spoon" with guys they had questions about, the ever-fey Tony would be at the top of the no-spooning list.

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Polls show opposition to health care reform falling

Wash Post:

Opposition to the landmark health care overhaul declined over the past month, to 35 percent from 41 percent, according to the latest results of a tracking poll, reported Thursday.

Fifty percent of the public held a favorable view of the law, up slightly from 48 percent a month ago, while 14 percent expressed no opinion about the measure, according to the poll by the Kaiser Family Foundation.

The approval level was the highest for the legislation since it was enacted in March, after a divisive year-long debate. In April, the poll found 46 percent in favor and 40 percent opposed.

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We soon should know whether we're double-dipping into recession or not

Wash Post:

The recovery faces a crucial test over the next couple of months: Either it will pick up vital momentum from increased consumer spending and investment or stall out, dipping into a period of anemic growth -- or perhaps even another recession.

Forecasters knew this inflection point would arrive, a moment when consumers and businesses must take over for government stimulus spending and the rebuilding of inventories.

On Friday, the government will offer crucial evidence when it reports on second-quarter economic growth. This will be the first in a series of indicators in the coming weeks that could help answer whether the economy has achieved cruising speed, in particular whether the private sector is growing fast enough to put unemployed Americans back to work. Forecasters are expecting that gross domestic product rose at a rate of 2 to 2.5 percent rate in the April-through-June quarter, which would be too slow to drive down the jobless rate.

Just Wednesday, the government announced a surprising 1 percent drop in June orders for durable goods and a compilation of anecdotal reports from around the country by the Federal Reserve showed a recovery that is increasingly uneven. This fit into the pattern of recent economic indicators showing that the transition to a self-sustaining recovery has been rocky.

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Reich: 'American companies may never rehire large numbers of workers'

If Robert Reich is to be believed, it's the end of an era that started when your great-grandfather was just a thought:

The Great Decoupling of Corporate Profits from Jobs

Second-quarter earnings reports are coming in, and they’re making Wall Street smile. Corporate profits are up. . . . Big businesses have recovered almost 90 percent of what they lost. . . . So with all this money and profit, they’ll start hiring again, right? Wrong – for three reasons.

First, lots of their profits are coming from their overseas operations. So that’s where they’re investing and expanding production.

GM now sells more cars in China than it does in the US, but makes most of them there. The company now employs 32,000 hourly workers in China. But only 52,000 GM hourly workers remain in the United States – down from 468,000 in 1970. . . .

[Two more reasons worth clicking through to read]

The reality is this: Big American companies may never rehire large numbers of workers. And they won’t even begin to think about hiring until they know American consumers will buy their products. The problem is, American consumers won’t start buying against until they know they have reliable paychecks. (h/t Brilliant at Breakfast)

To which I'll add, American consumers won't start buying until they pay down the mountain of debt they spent enjoying the RBC (Reagan-Bush-Clinton) "prosperity." Be prepared, folks, just in case. Trim expenses hard, and if you can, hoard cash. Après Bush, le Déluge unless we're very lucky.

GP Read More......

Shirley Sherrod to sue Breitbart

It bugs me when reporters call this guy "a blogger." He's more a conservative activist than a blogger, no? Anyway, AP has a short story on this. Read More......

Economists say stimulus/TARP averted 2nd Depression

From the NYT:

Like a mantra, officials from both the Bush and Obama administrations have trumpeted how the government’s sweeping interventions to prop up the economy since 2008 helped avert a second Depression.

Now, two leading economists wielding complex quantitative models say that assertion can be empirically proved.

In a new paper, the economists argue that without the Wall Street bailout, the bank stress tests, the emergency lending and asset purchases by the Federal Reserve, and the Obama administration’s fiscal stimulus program, the nation’s gross domestic product would be about 6.5 percent lower this year.

In addition, there would be about 8.5 million fewer jobs, on top of the more than 8 million already lost; and the economy would be experiencing deflation, instead of low inflation.

The story goes on to cite an economist from the conservative Hoover Institute who, surprise, disagrees. The story doesn't identify the Hoover Institute as a conservative think tank. Again, surprise. Read More......

Prudential profiting from deaths of US soldiers

Um, fix this. ASAP. It's despicable:

[Cindy] Lohman, a public health nurse who helps special-needs children, says she had always believed that her son's life insurance funds were in a bank insured by the FDIC. That money -- like $28 billion in 1 million death-benefit accounts managed by insurers -- wasn't actually sitting in a bank.

It was being held in Prudential's general corporate account, earning investment income for the insurer. Prudential paid survivors like Lohman 1 percent interest in 2008 on their Alliance Accounts, while it earned a 4.8 percent return on its corporate funds, according to regulatory filings.

"I'm shocked," says Lohman, breaking into tears as she learns how the Alliance Account works. "It's a betrayal. It saddens me as an American that a company would stoop so low as to make a profit on the death of a soldier. Is there anything lower than that?"

Millions of bereaved Americans have unwittingly been placed in the same position by their insurance companies. The practice of issuing what they call "checkbooks" to survivors, instead of paying them lump sums, extends well beyond the military.

Prudential is literally making money off dead soldiers. That's sick. Seriously, have they no shame?

John Strangfeld is the Chairman and CEO of Prudential. The list of officers and directors is here. They're all benefiting financially from this practice. Bastards. Ms. Lohman is right: "Is there anything lower than that?" Read More......

Thursday Morning Open Thread

Good morning.

The President's interview on "The View" airs this morning. ABC was teasing it out all night. "The View" was taped yesterday. In real life, this morning, Obama is speaking about education at National Urban League's 100th Anniversary Convention, which is being held in DC. Then, he's got a meeting with on Afghanistan and Pakistan with his whole national security team. That group, among others, includes Biden, Gates, Clinton, Panetta, Mullen, Petraeus (by videoconference.)

The House is wrapping up its work before the recess. But, there's a major event on today agenda: The start of the ethics trial for Rep. Charles Rangel. Yeah, I don't think this really helps with messaging, but that's me.

And, yesterday, a federal court judge in Arizona blocked implementation of SB 1070. At Netroots Nation, I talked to the very cool and the very smart Arizona State Representative, Kirsten Sinema, about Brewer. For anyone who hasn't seen it -- or wants to know more about Brewer, here it is:

Brewer is another of the GOP's shining stars...

Have at it... Read More......

The fight to save Social Security starts again

From Howie Klein:

Yesterday Blue America and the Americans For America PAC launched the first in a series of ads meant to emphasize what's real at stake if the GOP takes over again after the midterm elections. If you missed it yesterday, take a look at the video today. As you see, John Boehner addressed the long held Republican Party (and conservative) dream of dismantling Social Security. This morning a coalition of 60 groups representing over 30 million Americans launched a campaign specifically meant to strengthen Social Security, not weaken it as Boehner, the GOP (and some conservative Democrats) hope to do.

Richard Trumka (AFL-CIO), Gerald McEntee (AFSCME), Justin Ruben (MoveOn.org), Dennis Van Roekel (NEA), Eliseo Medina (SEIU), Terry O'Neill (NOW), Donna Meltzer (Consortium for Citizens with Disabilities), Hilary Shelton (NAACP), and Ed Coyle (Alliance for Retired Americans) held a press conference this morning at the National Press Club to announce the new campaign. With some serious indications-- like Obama's reactionary nominees to the panel-- that the his fiscal commission is considering recommending that Congress cut Social Security benefits, these groups are launching a major new campaign to push back and demand that Congress not make any benefit cuts. New polling shows massive public support for members of Congress who support strengthening, not cutting, Social Security.

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Tom Perriello fights back

A political note. Remember Tom Perriello, the Virginia House Dem from a conservative district who went from even to down 23% in his current race?

I called that race a potential harbinger of what mixed-district Dems in 2010 are up against -- the Dems who took Rahm's deal to (1) vote Yes on a health care bill that was deeply unpopular in their districts, then (2) offset it with a Yes on Stupak.

How unpopular was health care in Perriello's district? He's the guy whose brother's propane gas line was cut by tea baggers back in March, according to MSNBC. They thought they were cutting the congressman's gas.

Well, all of a sudden it's Tom Perriello week; it seems he's everywhere. Here he is on Rachel Maddow sounding very progressive:



Looks like he's doubling down in his fight against Robert Hurt — by veering to the left. Most refreshing.

For example, according to this report of Day 3 at Netroots Nation, he's talking the talk. (I especially like that he's in favor of those killer VoteVets ads — more on that later.)

He's raising money like a madman, running left as hard as he can, and cannon-balling the media. Act Blue has a page for him. If you think he's the real deal, go for it.

(For me, I've done my best to figure him out at the core, and I just can't get data that makes me sure. In my nightmares, I see Heath Schuler's face — and Jon Tester just voted to keep the filibuster. But still, we have to start somewhere, and Perriello is showing fight and then some. If you have more on his positions, feel free to add them to the comments.)

GP Read More......

Reid improving in Nevada Senate race

Apparently the fat lady - or in this case, the crazy lady - has not sung. Interesting, this comes from Rasmussen, a GOP pollster.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has edged ahead of his Republican opponent Sharron Angle in his bid for reelection in Nevada. Both candidates are seen to hold extreme views by large segments of the population.

The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of Likely Voters in Nevada finds Reid with 45% of the vote, while Angle earns 43% support. Seven percent (7%) favor some other candidate, and four percent (4%) are undecided.

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NOAA: 'the scientific evidence that our world is warming is unmistakable'

Against the backdrop of a Senate that can't seem to grasp the reality of climate change, NOAA has issued "The 2009 State of the Climate report." It's just a scientific study "based on comprehensive data from multiple sources," so there's no reason for anyone in the GOP to take it seriously. They eschew science anyway. But, it's really happening:

The 2009 State of the Climate report released today draws on data for 10 key climate indicators that all point to the same finding: the scientific evidence that our world is warming is unmistakable. More than 300 scientists from 160 research groups in 48 countries contributed to the report, which confirms that the past decade was the warmest on record and that the Earth has been growing warmer over the last 50 years.

Based on comprehensive data from multiple sources, the report defines 10 measurable planet-wide features used to gauge global temperature changes. The relative movement of each of these indicators proves consistent with a warming world. Seven indicators are rising: air temperature over land, sea-surface temperature, air temperature over oceans, sea level, ocean heat, humidity and tropospheric temperature in the “active-weather” layer of the atmosphere closest to the Earth’s surface. Three indicators are declining: Arctic sea ice, glaciers and spring snow cover in the Northern hemisphere.

Real problems demand real solutions. And, real problems demand leadership. We're lacking in both right now. Read More......

Dems tie Republicans to Tea Party: 'They are one and the same'

Heck of a change from last summer when Democrats were running scared from these morons disrupting health care reform rallies. From Hotline:

As part of its initiative, the DNC is launching a website accusing Republicans of supporting a legislative blueprint in line with the Tea Party movement that includes repeal of the health care law and Wall Street reform, extending tax breaks, privatization of Social Security and the elimination of the Department of Education and the Department of Energy.

"The Tea Party is now an institutionalized part of the Republican party. They are one and the same," a DNC operative said, previewing Kaine's speech. "The positions espoused by the Tea Party is the governing platform of the Republican party. And as voters make their choice this fall it's important to understand what the Republican-Tea Party wants to do if elected."

Here's the DNC's web ad laying out the Republican Tea Party agenda:
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Mocking Sarah Palin

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GetEQUAL protests at Capitol for vote on ENDA: Pelosi told us to pressure her

Earlier today, activists from GetEQUAL staged another protest to push for LGBT legislation in Congress. Today, the focus was on the Employment Non-Discrimination Act and the venue was the Rotunda of the U.S. Capitol today.

Last week, GetEQUAL published a list of timeline of broken promises from a myriad of elected officials promising votes on ENDA. To date, there have been no votes and, as far as we can tell, none are planned.

A press release from GetEQUAL's provided context for the protest:

"We know that Speaker Pelosi has the political prowess and the political bandwidth to take on ENDA while the Senate is shepherding 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' through the legislative process," said Robin McGehee, co-founder of GetEQUAL. "We are pressuring Speaker Pelosi to move on ENDA because, while we know that she values the legislation, we have yet to see her show the leadership she's promised in taking ENDA out of committee and moving it through the House."

"We are following her advice to 'make her do it,' and to ensure that she and the rest of the House see that people's lives and livelihoods are on the line here," said Heather Cronk, managing director of GetEQUAL. "As we head into the August recess, we will take the energy of today's Rotunda action out into the states, and look forward to building popular support for the legislation in coalition with other LGBT organizations. We will concentrate on the districts where Representatives and Senators have not yet found the courage to step forward to support ENDA -- both Republicans and Democrats."

Lesbian, gay, and bisexual employees can be fired from their jobs in 29 states, and transgender or gender-nonconforming employees can be fired in 38 states. (My emphasis)

On Saturday at Netroots Nation, Speaker Pelosi repeatedly told progressive activists to "make her" pass progressive legislation like ENDA, comprehensive immigration reform, and a comprehensive climate change bill. GetEQUAL activists took up that challenge and today's action builds on prior actions that GetEQUAL has organized or co-organized, including sit-ins in Speaker Pelosi's offices in March of this year, a shut-down of the Las Vegas Strip last week targeting Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV), and several rallies at Speaker Pelosi's district office in San Francisco, including one yesterday.

And, some photos from the protest courtesy of Ian Goldin/GetEQUAL.

The protest:

The arrests:
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Ellsberg: Obama 'has indicted more people for leaks than all previous presidents together'

The Wikileaks leak is all the rage; it's having its 15 minutes of fame. (More on delayed detonation of that bomb at the bottom of this post.)

Julian Assange, Wikileaks founder, appeared on Larry King Live this week, as did Daniel Ellsberg, the Pentagon Papers leaker from the Vietnam War era, and Michael Hastings, the recently famous Rolling Stone writer. The transcript is here (h/t ezpz in the comments of this post).

There's much in the show to comment on, but here are two fast take-aways:

1. In the Julian Assange interview, King asks him (my emphasis):

KING: The U.S. national security adviser, General James Jones, calls this irresponsible. According to him, "The disclosure could put the lives of Americans and our partners at risk and threaten our national security." How would you respond to that?

ASSANGE: Well, we're used to dealing with organizations that have been exposed as a result of our publishing efforts, and, you know, whenever we hear something like that, how could this be incorrect? I mean, a Martian may land on the Pentagon at any moment in time. That doesn't mean that it's correct.

KING: So, you don't take this seriously, this criticism? Any fear -- any conscious [sic — conscience?] about possibly what you did cost a life?

ASSANGE: When you're talking about any and possibly, of course, all sorts of things can happen in political affairs that are not -- that are not predictable. But insofar as we can understand the material, we see material that's at least 7 months old. We have withheld approximately 15,000 reports for a further minimization process, and we don't see anything here that is of tactical significance.

It's so subtle, so part of the foliage, you almost miss it. "Cost a life." The blockbuster revelation so far from this material is the thousands of Afghan lives already lost. Yet King, like almost everyone living in this country, only totes up lost lives when they're ours. Afghan life, like Iraqi life, must be almost invisible, like raindrops compared to ours.

(Assange's answer, by the way, seemed a perfectly reasonable one; and no one wants any lives lost — that's kind of the point.)

2. Daniel Ellsberg is asked to comment on a clip of press secretary Robert Gibbs complaining about the leaks:

KING: Daniel, do you understand why Mr. Gibbs, representing the president, is so upset?

ELLSBERG: Well, he's very upset in part because he's working for a president who has indicted more people now for leaks than all previous presidents put together. And two of those people -- Thomas Drake and Shamai Leibowitz -- have been indicted for acts that were undertaken under Bush, which [the] George W. Bush administration chose not to indict.

So this is an administration that's more concerned about preventing transparency, I would say, than its predecessor which I'm very sorry to hear. As somebody who voted for Obama and expect to vote for him again, despite all this.

Yikes. That's all — yikes. (Video of the Ellsberg interview is available here.)

About delayed detonation: The current counter-spin has veered from "Bad wiki" to "Gosh, didn't we already know that?" Nice move; I didn't see the soft-pedal coming.

But wait until all the citizen solders, the bloggers, the commenters, the research professionals and un-embedded journalists — the real ones — dig through that pile. My guess? This bomb will explode for months.

GP Read More......

BREAKING: Federal judges 'blocked the most controversial parts' of Arizona's SB 1070

A major decision today in Arizona:

A federal judge, ruling on a clash between the federal government and a state over immigration policy, has blocked the most controversial parts of Arizona’s immigration enforcement law from going into effect.

In a ruling on a law that has rocked politics coast to coast and thrown a spotlight on the border state’s fierce debate over immigration, United States District Court Judge Susan Bolton in Phoenix said some aspects of the law can go into effect as scheduled on Thursday.

The parts of the law that the judge blocked included the sections that called for officers to check a person’s immigration status while enforcing other laws and that required immigrants to carry their papers at all times. Judge Bolton put those sections on hold until the issues are resolved by the courts.

I posted the full decision, via Scribd.com, after the break.

Here's the decision:
Decision in lawsuit against Arizona SB 1070 Read More......

Dems bending over backwards to assure Republicans they won't pass legislation during lame duck session

Of course, it's entirely legal to pass legislation during the lame duck session. It's not like Congess ceases to exist between the elections and the swearing in of a new Congress. But, Democrats being Democrats, all the Republicans have to do is say "boo!" and they back away as quickly as they can. Really quite pathetic.

From The Hill:

The head of House Democrats’ campaign committee tried Tuesday to tamp down speculation that the party would try to push through major legislation during a lame-duck session of Congress this fall.

Rep. Chris Van Hollen (Md.), the assistant to the Speaker and chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC), said “no one should think there’s some secret plan for after the election on big issues.”

“There’s no secret or overt plan to do something like that,” he told MSNBC.

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Missouri Teabaggers: We have NOT endorsed Roy Blunt. And, they're angry at Bachmann.

Woah. There's a major intra-GOP cat fight underway in Missouri.

Seems Michelle Bachmann, founder of the House Teabagger Caucus, is going to be campaigning this weekend for GOP Senate candidate Roy Blunt. His primary is next Tuesday, August 3rd. Joe the Plumber did an ad for Blunt's right-wing opponent, Chuck Purgason, this week.

Well, the Missouri teabaggers are NOT happy. Not at all. They're not for Blunt and want everyone, including Bachmann, to know it. Sean at FiredUp Missouri has the details:

KMBC's Micheal Mahoney: "More that two dozen Missouri TEA parties say a bid by US Senate candidate to capitalize on their movement has 'shocked' them...'Roy Blunt voted for TARP and Cash for Clunkers. For Michele Bachmann to come to Missouri and give the impression that all the Missouri Tea Parties support Roy Blunt is an abomination of everything we have been standing up for,' said Jedidiah Smith, a Tea Party leader in Franklin County, Missouri."

And, here's that Teabagger press release.
teapartypr Read More......

Maine's teabagger/GOP candidate for Governor caught lying. Will now only give written answers to media

Maine's Republican Party has its own version of Sharron Angle. He's the GOP candidate for Governor: Paul LePage. After a rough week, in which he basically spewed out a series of lies and personal attacks, LePage said he's not talking to the media anymore, via the Kennebec Journal:

"How do we keep this above board, how do we keep this straight?" Hale asked.

"Well, from now on, what I am going to do is, I'm not going to make any comments to reporters unless it's in writing," LePage said.

Hale asked, "Really?"

"Yeah," LePage said. "Because they won't report what you say, they just report the spin that they want to put on it."

Huh? See, part of the problem is that when LePage opens his mouth, he inserts his foot. For example:

On Tuesday, Democratic officials once again called on LePage to apologize for statements over the weekend in which he said that the Democrats’ 2010 campaign manager, Arden Manning, had suggested LePage was not fit to be governor because he is Catholic and of French Canadian descent.

Manning has denounced the accusation as “a lie, plain and simple.” And on Tuesday, the Maine Democratic Party insinuated that LePage’s statements could land him in legal hot water — even while citing the controversy in an appeal for campaign donations.

I believe Manning. LePage just flat out lied. That's disturbing on several levels. But, it's not unusual. He's made some bizarre statements in the past.

LePage thinks creationism should be taught in public schools. Seriously. In a televised debate of the GOP gubernatorial candidates on May 27th 2010, Maine Public Broadcasting Network’s each of the candidates was asked: “Do you believe in creationism, and do you think it should be taught in Maine public schools?” LePage's answer: “I would say intelligence, uh, the more education you have the more knowledge you have the better person you are and I believe yes and yes.”

Maine has a strong legacy of environmental leadership. But, even in the wake of the Gulf of Mexico disaster, LePage supports offshore drilling. In that same candidate's debate On May 27 on Maine Public Broadcasting Network, LePage was asked if he would support drilling off the coast of Maine. He answered “Yes.” Two of Maine's premiere industries are tourism and lobsters. Offshore drilling would do a number on both.

The Democratic candidate is Libby Mitchell (LePage trashed Libby about her age over the weekend, too.) There are also a couple of independents in the race.

So, when you wonder why Collins and Snowe aren't being the moderates they purport to be, keep in mind that their stand-bearer in Maine is a teabagger. Collins has already endorsed LePage. I'm sure Snowe will. Read More......

Senate Dems blocking move by Senate Dems to change filibuster

Our government isn't working. That seems obvious to most Americans. And, the big problem is the Senate. The GOP's obstructionist tactics have prevented that body's ability to solve some of our nation's glaring problems. But, instead of trying to fix the filibuster, several Senate Democrats are enabling the obstruction by blocking efforts to change the rules. Via The Hill, here are some of the problems:

“It won’t happen,” said Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), who said she would “probably not” support an effort to lower the number of votes needed to cut off filibusters from 60 to 55 or lower.

Sen. Daniel Akaka (D-Hawaii) echoed Feinstein: “I think we should retain the same policies that we have instead of lowering it.
“I think it has been working,” he said.

Sen. Mark Pryor (D-Ark.) said he recognizes his colleagues are frustrated over the failure to pass measures such as the Disclose Act, campaign legislation that fell three votes short of overcoming a Republican filibuster Tuesday.

“I think as torturous as this place can be, the cloture rule and the filibuster is important to protect the rights of the minority,” he said. “My inclination is no.”

Sen. Jon Tester, a freshman Democrat from Montana, disagrees with some of his classmates from more liberal states.

“I think the bigger problem is getting people to work together,” he said. “It’s been 60 for a long, long time. I think we need to look to ourselves more than changing the rules.”

Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.), who is up for reelection in 2012, also said he would like the votes needed for cloture to remain the same.

“I’m not one who think it needs to be changed,” he said.

Of course Nelson doesn't want it changed. He sides with GOPers all the time. But Feinstein? Tester?

The filibuster has to be fixed.

Chris Bowers has been keeping track of filibuster vote count, including some of this year's candidates. Read More......

Wednesday Morning Open Thread

Good morning.

The President is heading to New Jersey tomorrow to talk about the economy. He'll be at the Tastee Sub Shop in Edison. He's also taping "The View." (It will air tomorrow.)

The House is getting ready to head home for recess. They'll be adjourning on Friday. I have to say, with some notable exceptions like the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) and the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA), the House really has delivered on the Democratic agenda. But, time after time, that agenda was stalled in the Senate. And, the White House often dissed the House for doing exactly what the President said he wanted.

The Senate has another week before recess. Big loss for campaign finance reform yesterday and, thus, a big win for the GOP's corporate benefactors. It's beyond annoying that Snowe and Collins voted to filibuster the DISCLOSE Act when Mainers voted to enact a Clean Elections law. And, that happened fourteen years ago -- in 1996. Those two know where their constituents stand, but stuck with Mitch McConnell again. They're such frauds.

I'm in Maine for the next couple days. And, the weather is perfect. Read More......

The President is on 'The View' this week with that lesbian expert Elizabeth Hasselbeck

Yes, Obama is taping "The View" later today. We learned this week that one of the show's hosts, Elizabeth Hasselbeck, is an expert on lesbians. Who knew?:

This is actually very embarrassing.

But, "The View" has established its gay bona fides, perhaps the hosts could get Obama to explain his current positions on LGBT issues, particularly why he continues to defend DOMA and DADT in the courts. After all, Obama has said both laws are discriminatory. Since the President, as President, has never talked to LGBT media, maybe "The View" hosts can fill in. Read More......

CSI Gulf of Mexico

Would that the federal officials responsible for overseeing oil drilling and enforcing the nation's environmental laws were as organized and diligent as the crew investigating potential crimes:

A team of federal investigators known as the "BP squad" is assembling in New Orleans to conduct a wide-ranging criminal probe that will focus on at least three companies and examine whether their cozy relations with federal regulators contributed to the oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, according to law enforcement and other sources.

The squad at the FBI offices includes investigators from the Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Coast Guard and other federal agencies, the sources said. In addition to BP, the firms at the center of the inquiry are Transocean, which leased the Deepwater Horizon rig to BP, and engineering giant Halliburton, which had finished cementing the well only 20 hours before the rig exploded April 20, sources said.

If the GOPers take over Congress, they'll prevent this investigation. They'll defund it or use some other gimmick.

I wouldn't be surprised to see BP start turning its (failed) P.R. campaign into a political campaign. And, the Senate GOPers blocked campaign finance reform, so that's really not a joke. It's a possibility. Read More......

GOPers Vitter and Blunt sponsor bills to protect BP by limiting liability

You'd think that the Senator from Louisiana would want to hold BP accountable. Not David Vitter. He wants to pass legislation to protect BP by limiting the company's liability by basing liability on BP's profits (and, as we reported earlier, BP had a $17 billion loss in the last quarter.)

Via Sam Stein:

Instead, the GOP has rallied around a counter-proposal, authored by Sen. David Vitter (R-La.) that would cap an oil company's liability at an amount equal to its profits of the last four quarters. If the company had not made a profit in the past four quarters, it would be liable for $150 million (or twice the current cap).

To be sure, BP still has a chance to turn around its profit margin during the next three quarters. But in terms of net earnings, it is now operating out of a $17 billion hole. If Vitter's version of economic liability legislation were the law of the land, there would be open concern about the damage payments that Gulf residents would end up recouping. As a Democratic operative working on the issue notes:

When Vitter introduced the bill, we pointed out that one of the co-owners of the Deepwater Horizon rig, Andarko, had not made a profit in the last year. But with this news today, if BP doesn't overcome this quarter's losses, next year they could be responsible for a disaster as bad as or worse than the one in the Gulf and they would only be liable for $150 million if Vitter's bill were law.

UPDATE: An astute reader points out that another Senate candidate, Rep. Roy Blunt (R-MO), has sponsored legislation similar to Vitter's in the House.

Vitter and Blunt are two of the GOP's top Senate candidates this year. Protecting BP is a top priority.

And, we're all well aware of Vitter's shady past with prostitutes. Turns out Blunt is a Party Boy -- a big time DC Party Boy. Read More......

'Put down that plastic, Mr. President'

A tip for the president from Jennifer Grayson, the green columnist at Huffington Post, writing at her own place (my emphasis):

President Obama, you’ve spearheaded a number of meaningful environmental reforms since taking office (raising fuel efficiency standards for cars, an $80 billion investment in clean energy technology, the Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program) — and it seems like you genuinely want to move this country toward a clean energy future, especially in the wake of the BP oil disaster — so would it be too much to ask you to stop being a shill for the bottled water industry? . . .

It may seem like a minor detail, but those little plastic bottles are having a big impact on our nation’s oil footprint, once you factor in the crude used to make the plastic, the energy needed to process the water, the fuel used to transport the bottles, the electricity to refrigerate them… The grand total? Fifty million barrels of the sticky stuff a year. . . .

Now imagine the example you’d set for all of us if you were photographed sporting a reusable Nalgene or Klean Kanteen[.]

Seems like a reasonable request for all of us. May as well start with what's in our hand; it's at least something we can control.

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Iraq and Afghanistan war spending tops $1 trillion

Today, the House voted to approve another emergency supplemental appropriation to cove the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Anyone who is bitching about the deficit needs to know this:

With the new war spending, the total amount of money that Congress has allotted for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan surpasses $1 trillion.

The war in Iraq never should have happened. If that war of choice hadn't distracted the U.S., we might have actually done the job in Afghanistan in a timely fashion. But, nine years laters, it's still a mess

This is a testament to the failed leadership of George Bush and Dick Cheney. That $1 trillion is all deficit spending. Just like the Bush tax cuts. But, those faux deficit hawks never gave these Bush/Cheney policies a second thought.

And, the money is one thing. There's no price tag that can sum up the unnecessary human tragedies. Read More......