Election Night Open Thread

UPDATE @ 12:17 AM: So all the big races have been called, with the exception of the Nevada GOP Senate race, which is looking like a win for the teabaggers with their candidate, Sharron Angle. Based on the vote in Clark County, which includes Las Vegas, Nate Silver just tweeted, "Per @ForecasterEnten, Angle in fact leads in Clark Co. with about 1/3 of the vote reported. So, she's going to win." So, that's it. We'll pick this up in the morning.

UPDATE @ 12:08 AM: Via MSNBC, just saw that AP has called the GOP Senate primary in California for Carly Fiorina. She also tacked very hard to the right to cater to the extremists in her party. Good luck coming back from that. And, this can only mean more Demon Sheep.

UPDATE @ 12:03 AM: In Nevada, Jon Ralston is seeing a "blowout" for Sharron Angle, the teabagger candidate, in the GOP Senate primary. His latest tweet: "Angle now up more than 7 statewide. Looking like a blowout. Confetti out in Reid HQ. What a nightmare"

UPDATE @ 11:45 PM: AP has called the California GOP gubernatorial primary for Meg Whitman. Spending tens of millions of her own money, Whitman tacked really hard to the right in the primary and will be scrambling, just scrambling, to get back to the center. Good luck with that.

UPDATE @ 11:40 PM: One of the political geniuses at the White House trashed labor to Ben Smith for spending so much in the Halter-Lincoln race. This was done anonymously, of course, because those same WH geniuses will be needing labor's money this fall and in 2012.

UPDATE @ 11:29 PM: Libby Mitchell won the Democratic primary for Governor in Maine tonight. She'll be facing GOPer/Teabagger Paul LePage and at least one independent candidate in November. Maine has a history of electing independents, so that's always a concern. But, Libby will be a great candidate. She's a solid progressive and I'm hoping she's the next Governor of my home state.

UPDATE @ 11:22 PM: Via Taylor Marsh (a former Nevadan), the incumbent Governor of Nevada, Jim Gibbons, lost in his primary tonight. He's had all kinds of scandals swirling around him, including a very messy divorce.

UPDATE @ 11:11 PM: It's official. The teabagger won the GOP nomination for Governor tonight in Maine. Paul LePage beat six other candidates, including Les Otten who spent over $2.2 million of his own money on the race. The former Chief of Staff to Susan Collins, Steve Abbott, was another of the losing candidates. Susan and Olympia should be afraid. They're not part of their party in Maine anymore.

UPDATE @ 11:07 PM: Via One Iowa, pro-marriage equality incumbent State Rep. Ako Abdul-Samad fought back a primary challenge from a candidate funded by the anti-gay forces. Marriage equality is an issue in some of this year's state races because of the Supreme Court decision legalizing same-sex marriage.

UPDATE @ 10:58 PM: Incumbent Blanche Lincoln won in the runoff, defeating Bill Halter. This was not expected.

UPDATE @ 10:55 PM: Harry Reid won his nomination, no surprise. There will be a father-son ticket on the ballot in Nevada this November. Via AP, his son, Rory, won the Democratic nomination for Governor.

UPDATE @ 10:36 PM: In Arkansas, the lead switches back. With 63.5% reporting, Lincoln is up by almost 5,000 votes.

UPDATE @ 10:30 PM: In Arkansas, with 59.5% reporting, Bill Halter is now ahead by just over 3,000 votes. It's been close all night.

UPDATE @ 10:24 PM: In Maine, there haven't been any new numbers for awhile. We've been stuck at 12% reporting for awhile. But, I'm hearing from my very reliable sources that it looks like the teabagger, Paul LePage, will be the GOP nominee for Governor. The Democratic side is very close. (There's also a frost warning for several counties in Maine tonight.)

UPDATE @ 10:10 PM: Based on returns, Nate Silver says of Bill Halter, "He's in trouble."

UPDATE @ 10:02 PM: There will be a runoff in the SC GOP gubernatorial primary. Nikki Haley got around 49%. Her opponent will be J. Gresham Barrett. Andre Bauer came in a distant fourth...that's via MSNBC who got it from AP.

UPDATE @ 9:57 PM: In SC, Jim Demint, one of the Senate's leading obstructionists, won the GOP nomination, so he's running for reelection. His Democratic opponent is Alvin Greene. So, you ask, who is he? Good question: "Democratic Party Chairwoman Carol Fowler says she hasn't seen Greene since he filed to run." No website. No campaign. No fundraising. And, he won anyway.

UPDATE @ 9:30 PM: No conclusive results yet. But, Rachel Maddow just said the GOP races tonight are "spectacular." I think she's right.
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Polls have closed in Arkansas, Georgia, Maine, New Jersey, North Dakota, South Carolina, South Dakota, Virginia.

Still open: California (closing at 11 PM Eastern), Iowa (closing at 10 PM Eastern), Montana (closing at 10 PM Eastern), Nevada (closing at 10 PM Eastern).

The races we're really watching are the Dem. Senate primary runoff in Arkansas, the Maine gubernatorial races (it's personal), the California GOP Senate and Governor races, the GOP Senate primary in Nevada and that SC GOP primary for Governor (because that one is going to provide plenty of fun fodder. It's already tawdry and there may be a runoff.) An incumbent GOP Congressman, Bob Inglis, could be defeated by a teabagger tonight in SC, too. In Iowa, there's one House race in Des Moines where anti-gay marriage side has tried to defeat pro-equality incumbent. Read the rest of this post...

Senator Levin: Gitmo Closure Going Nowhere, 'Not Enough' Push From Obama

Huff Post:

It's been more than five months since the Obama administration missed its self-imposed deadline for the closure of the detention center at Guantanamo Bay. And as things stand now, one key member of Congress says, the White House is showing little to no willingness to continue pursuing one of the more high-minded promises made by the president before entering office.

Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.), who chairs the Senate Committee on Armed Services, told the Huffington Post on Tuesday that engagement on the topic by the president and his team has been sparse. So has any type of political push to get Congress to help close Gitmo by appropriating money for an alternate facility in Thomson, Illinois, he added.

"They haven't threatened to veto on that one yet," said the Michigan Democrat. "Maybe they feel strongly enough about closing it that they may take a position on it the way they have on the funding for the [F-35] second engine [which Obama has deemed wasteful]. They have been pretty strong on that issue. But they don't seem to be as strong on Gitmo as they are on that. Don't Ask Don't Tell, they were pretty strong on that issue. But we haven't heard much about the language taking away the money for the prison facility in Illinois."

"They talk a little bit about it but not a lot," Levin added. "Not enough."

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Has the Internet made you impatient?

I don't mean to dismiss articles like this out of hand, but it seems to be the same things we heard 40 years ago about the evils of television (or, the idiot box, as mom used to call it). In the early 70s, my brother and I used to go through the TV Guide and plot out of our tv watching for the week, lest we miss anything. I'm not going to argue that I came out totally normal, but still... I just sometimes wonder if all this concern about the time we spend online isn't time we'd have spent doing something equally useless. Not to mention, for all the talk of people staying up too late to be online, when I do that, I'm often reading tomorrow's NYT, researching dog training, or searching for things I need to buy. That's hardly wasted time, and hardly akin to an alcoholic's drinking impeding on his workday. Read the rest of this post...

Madoff: 'F**k my victims'

Despicable though at least he's more honest than the rest on Wall Street about how they feel. The "too big to fail" giants can't bring themselves around to admit everyone else saved them from financial ruin. It's hard to believe this is the crowd that holds the keys to our future. CNBC:

One evening a fellow prisoner kept asking Madoff about the victims of his $65 billion scheme and Madoff, angered, said: "F*** my victims. I carried them for twenty years, and now I'm doing 150 years," the magazine reported.

Madoff saw his years as the mastermind of the gigantic pyramid scheme as a "nightmare" and he told investigators that he wished he had been caught six, eight years before he was, according to the article.

He was past apologizing and created his own version of events in prison, the magazine wrote.

"People just kept throwing money at me," Madoff is said to have told a prison consultant who advised him on how to endure prison life. "Some guy wanted to invest, and if I said no, the guy said, 'What, I'm not good enough?'?"

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Senior Federal Reserve official slams financial reform

Churning out more of the same policies that brought us to this crisis in the first place is not the answer. Any sane person has to agree that the financial system needed to be rescued to prevent an even worse crisis but strengthening an elite few while leaving nearly 1,000 banks in trouble is not progress. It's no wonder Goldman and the other mega banks think they own the US. They do. The financial reform only papers over the problem, setting the stage for the next problem which will be even more costly. More from the Fed's Richard Fisher via the Huffington Post.

This is most definitely not a market outcome.

"Based on these considerations, coupled with studies suggesting severe limits to economies of scale in banking, it seems that mostly as a result of public policy -- and not the competitive marketplace -- ever larger banks have come to dominate the financial landscape. And, absent fundamental reform, they will continue to do so. As a result of public policy, big banks have become indestructible. And as a result of public policy, the industrial organization of banking is slanted toward bigness."

This is an unfair, nontransparent, and dangerous taxpayer subsidy at work.

"Big banks that took on high risks and generated unsustainable losses received a public benefit: TBTF ["too big to fail"] support. As a result, more conservative banks were denied the market share that would have been theirs if mismanaged big banks had been allowed to go out of business. In essence, conservative banks faced publicly backed competition."

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Why does AT&T; hate capitalism and economic recovery?

Then again, why does the US government allow exclusive rights in the mobile phone market? Even here in "socialist Europe" any exclusive coverage has only lasted a limited time. It's obvious AT&T; is not up to the task of providing modern services for their customers which is why they are cutting unlimited data service. This is a step backwards for consumers and yes, everyone in Washington is going along with the show. This is not too different from the net neutrality debate in that the powerful interests want to squash new options and let the fat cats with the most money to lobby control everything.

The latest change by AT&T; is not helping anyone other than AT&T.; Politicians are completely missing the point that in an economy like this where everyone is scratching for jobs, we need entrepreneurs who will seek new challenges and opportunities. By killing the unlimited service and going back to the old ways, there's less incentive to create new businesses for this sector. AT&T; is contributing to the economic crisis but some fools in Congress are buying into the AT&T; pitch that they need to be protected to hold jobs. AT&T; is lazy but has plenty of cash to throw around and kill innovation. Too bad we have lazy politicians as well who accept AT&T;'s argument.

Why is "competition" such a bad word for AT&T; and Washington?

For the last two years, unlimited data plans have given app-hungry smartphone users an all-you-can-eat buffet. But will customers react to AT&T;’s new, limited menu by simply eating less?

Some software developers fear they will, and if that happens, the caps on data use that AT&T; has imposed could also make consumers lose their appetite for the latest innovations. Some developers worry that customers will be reluctant to download and use the most bandwidth-intensive apps and that developers will cut back on innovative new features that would push customers over the new limits.

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New lies from GOP Senate candidate Mark Kirk, now regarding foreign policy

The last time we left the Republican Senate candidate in Illinois, Mark Kirk, he was repeatedly, and falsely, claiming to have won some big award from the Navy. Now the Chicago Trib has found that Kirk's lies extend beyond his CV.

When he last ran for re-election to his congressional seat, he got into trouble for saying China was drilling for oil off the coast of Cuba, which was not true, he acknowledged Thursday in a meeting with the Sun-Times editorial board.

Speaking to the City Club of Chicago last year just after President Obama authorized the shooting of Somali pirates who kidnapped American Capt. Richard Phillips, Kirk got a whole lot wrong talking about pirates attacking ships off Africa.

"We began to see some backbone, not from the U.S. but from France," Kirk said. "France was always good for a quick $2 million ransom until the election of President Sarkozy. When his first ship was seized, he authorized the standard ransom payment -- with a transmitter in the box. As that went into the pirate compound, he then authorized French Special Forces to roll in. And they killed everybody. . . . It kind of shocked us in the Pentagon. But it sent a clear message and I don't think the French have had many problems since."

It turns out, most of Kirk's story about France was completely false.

Last year, Kirk told WLS-AM (890) that America should drill offshore for oil so we don't have to import oil from Iran: "We have a fundamental choice. . . . We can either buy 80 billion barrels of oil from the Iranians or from ourselves. And we should buy it from ourselves," he said.

The problem is, the U.S doesn't get oil from Iran. The U.S. government has adopted sanctions for any company that would try.

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BP purchasing prime location on leading search engine sites

For those who have had it with BP's spin, here's a bit more. Who really believes this is BP trying to make it easy for those impacted by the disaster? Probably the same people that thought BP had all of the answers. Read the rest of this post...

Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission: Goldman not cooperating

Why should they? Everyone in Washington made sure to avoid any strings being attached to the bailout that saved Wall Street and Goldman Sachs from ruin. The problem now is that Goldman is certain that it's above the law of the land. Unfortunately they're probably right as well. They know they can get away with anything because they are on the short list of "even bigger than too big to fail" in the financial industry. Until Washington decides to get serious about reform we will see more of this behavior. There's a complete lack of appreciation for being saved and protecting their precious bonuses.

Phil Angelides, the chairman of the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission, said that while the overwhelming number of financial firms from which the FCIC has sought documents or information have complied, Goldman has not. Instead, Goldman has been “dumping” an overwhelming volume of documents on the FCIC, which has a staff of just over 50 people.

"We did not ask them to pull up a dump truck to our offices to dump a bunch of rubbish," Angelides said during a conference call following the announcement that the FCIC had sent Goldman a subpoena Friday.

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ABC Poll: BP Oil Spill Response Rated Worse than Katrina

This poll explains why Obama is talking tough on TV. The recent aggressive tone makes you wonder what the smartest people in the room at the White House have been thinking as the situation unraveled. How could they not have been in front of this problem? They only sound defensive and out of character at this point. Did their deep conversations with the experts convince them that somehow the oil would miraculously disappear? The White House messaging continues to be a flop and part of the problem. ABC News:

By more than a 2-to-1 margin, Americans support the pursuit of criminal charges in the nation's worst oil spill , with increasing numbers calling it a major environmental disaster. Eight in 10 criticize the way BP's handled it – and more people give the federal government's response a negative rating than did the response to Hurricane Katrina.

A month and a half after the spill began, 69 percent in a new ABC News/Washington Post poll rate the federal response negatively. That compares with a 62 negative rating for the response to Katrina two weeks after the August 2005 hurricane.

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Tuesday Morning Open Thread

Good morning.

The President will be out selling his health insurance reform bill today. He's doing an event at a senior center in Wheaton, Maryland to talk about the benefits for older Americans in the new law. (That demographic has been skeptical.)

The big political news is that it's primary day in a slew of states -- eleven altogether. One of the big ones to watch is the Democratic Senate primary runoff in Arkansas where Bill Halter is challenging Blanche Lincoln. Lincoln could become the third incumbent Senator to lose in a primary.

Polls close in Arkansas at 7:30 PM Central/8:30 PM Eastern. In California, where GOPers are picking candidates for Senate and Governor, polls close at 8:00 PM/11:00 PM Eastern. In Nevada, the race to watch is the GOP Senate primary, which will determine Harry Reid's opponent in November. Polls in Nevada close at 7:00 PM Pacific/10:00 PM Eastern. Maine is picking its gubernatorial candidates today, too. The incumbent, John Baldacci, is term-limited. Polls close at 8:00 PM Eastern in Maine. We'll post results tonight as they come in.

Let's get started.. Read the rest of this post...

Obama wants to kick someone's ass

An interesting change in tone that made me chuckle it sounded so strange and unnatural coming from him. Is this Rahm's attempt to make him sound like a tough guy or less Spock-like? OK fine, he was down on the Gulf coast a month ago and he stood in the rain with fisherman. Hooray for Obama. Nobody expects Obama to be able to clean up BPs mess overnight though the many have been waiting for real leadership instead of believing BP. Maybe he did think the meetings were college seminars because how else could you believe BP for so long? If we hadn't seen the same old routine of deferring on an issue (Wall Street, Health Care, etc.) until it spun out of control it might be different.

Perhaps "the talking heads" were not jumping on Obama immediately because they thought it was only fair to give him a chance to understand the situation and then act. Speaking for myself, it was only after watching the crisis go in circles and listening to the daily BP spin that I thought enough was enough. For Obama to cry about not being challenged from the start is weak and misses the point that yes, people were giving him a chance.

Good for Obama that he's talking tough and even saying BP CEO Tony Hayward should be fired, but we're deep into this crisis. There is a lot of lost time to make up and the gap needs to be closed immediately.

"I was down there a month ago, before most of these talking heads were even paying attention to the Gulf," Obama told NBC's "Today" show in an interview scheduled to air Tuesday. "A month ago I was meeting with fishermen down there, standing in the rain talking about what a potential crisis this could be."

A variety of critics have accused Obama of being too cerebral in his reaction to the undersea gusher now fouling the Gulf of Mexico, of failing to put the full force of the administration and of putting too much trust in oil company BP. But Obama told NBC his deliberations have been more than academic.

"I don't sit around talking to experts because this is a college seminar," Obama continued. "We talk to these folks because they potentially have the best answers, so I know whose ass to kick."

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Indian courts convict Union Carbide Indian management

Justice was slow and very mild after 25 years. As limited as the verdict was, it still didn't include then current Union Carbide CEO Warren Anderson or any other US executives who chose to ignore the case and court summons. Instead the courts punished the team from India alone.

A court in central India ruled Monday that seven top executives and the company they worked for are guilty for their role in the 1984 industrial disaster that killed thousands in Bhopal, India.

The leaking of poisonous gas from Union Carbide India Limited -- the now-defunct local subsidiary of the American chemical company -- was one of the world's worst industrial disasters. Plaintiffs had waited more than two decades for the verdict.

The convicted former employees have been sentenced to the maximum punishment allowed in the case. The judge imposed a two-year prison term and a fine of about $2,000 each after convicting the men of negligence causing death, endangering public life and causing hurt.

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