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Selected News For Apr 18 – Apr 24

This thread is for the busy bees of S&L to post news items we might otherwise miss.

If you do post an article, please follow these guidelines as much as possible:

  • In order to make the articles as readable as possible, please try to stick to the format described in the first of these weekly editions here.
  • Do not just post a link without noting the source, giving the headline and a brief excerpt from the article.
  • Remember to link to the original source for each item you post.
  • Avoid articles from blogs or hugely popular sites like the Drudge Report, since most people will presumably see such material elsewhere.
  • Any articles that fit under the topic of a recent thread should be posted there.
  • Remember to excerpt heavily. Posting less than a third of the article, is a good rule of thumb.

Thanks!

Related Articles:

 

This article was posted by Steve Gilbert on Saturday, April 18th, 2009 at 12:00 am. You can leave a response.

83 Responses to “Selected News For Apr 18 – Apr 24”

  1. Rusty Shackleford
    April 18, 2009 at 12:18 am

    [From the Environmental News Service:]

    E.P.A. – GREENHOUSE GASES ENDANGER PUBLIC HEALTH AND WELFARE

    The US Environmental Protection Agency today issued a long-expected finding that greenhouse gases threaten public health and welfare. EPA scientists mostly decided as long as two years that such was the case, but were blocked from issuing such a finding by Bush/Cheney political appointees.

    This move clears the way for regulation by the EPA and/of legislation, after a 60-day public comment period. It also further clears the way for the EPA to grant the long-sought waiver under the Clean Air Act for California to implement its vehicle emissions law, enacted in 2002. The EPA noted in today’s finding that vehicles are a principal sources of greenhouse gas emissions.

    The Obama Administration would like to do an omnibus bill on greenhouse gas reductions, but will be hard-pressed to do so in the next year. The California program, which will encompass many other states able to follow California’s lead under the Clean Air Act, is a backdoor way to set up greenhouse gas regulation over most of the country via state regulation.

    Obama endorsed the California approach in 2007, while a seeming darkhorse candidate, in Iowa, as previously reported. He pledged during the campaign to make sure the EPA granted California its waiver, which had been automatic prior to the greenhouse gas issue, something the Bush/Cheney Administration denied was a problem.

    http://tinyurl.com/de3l3n

    Gotta say it…..CO2 is “deadly”. Oh my. Don’t trees use it for photosynthesis or something? And to the extent that they take in more than they give out? Hmmm, just how, exactly is the EPA gonna punish the trees for CO2 emissions?

    The mind boggles

    The wallet quivers….

    • heykev
      April 18, 2009 at 1:28 am

      There are more to come under BHO’s administration. There have been 37,000 Lost Jobs Because Of The Delta Smelt in CA because of the EPA. This my friend is only the beginning of an environmental regulation nightmare that’s coming once he’s completed wrecking the economy and befriending fellow communists leaders.

    • Rusty Shackleford
      April 18, 2009 at 10:33 am

      Addendum:

      I wanted to look up the latest definition of “cap & trade” and found it…but curiously, the EPA’s definition on their website is gone.
      http://www.epa.gov/airmarkets/cap-trade/index.html

      But if you want a good one, look here: http://www.generationgreen.org/cap-trade.htm

      Seems…..so……odd……that the EPA’s definition is, er, uh….missing.

      And a correction: I did find it on the EPA’s website but after some fishing around. If you go to the “Allowances” item and click on that, you can then click on “Cap & Trade” and get their definition of same.

      So…apologies to the EPA. (fingers crossed)

    • canary
      April 18, 2009 at 4:17 pm

      Rusty, your offense to the EPA was petty. They are the worthless scum that sickens the air we breath. They do not care about humanity or humane conditions. It’s all about creating more jobs for themselves and their families to sit on their butts, they only move when they want to release a little methane.

  2. texaspsue
    April 18, 2009 at 4:09 pm

    From the Houston Chronicle:

    Bush makes first overseas trip after presidency

    By WILLIAM FOREMAN Associated Press

    BOAO, China — Former President George W. Bush cracked jokes about how he scoops up after his dog on neighborhood walks before he discussed more serious subjects like terrorism and the financial crisis Saturday during his first overseas trip since he left office.

    Bush also shared some of his most unusual moments with leaders, including the time he listened to former Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi sing Hound Dog while visiting Graceland mansion, home to the late Elvis Presley in Memphis, Tennessee.

    The stories drew laughter and applause from the audience in a huge banquet hall at the Boao Forum, an annual conference where executives hobnob with global leaders at a resort on China’s southern tropical island province of Hainan. Security was tight and there were no protests.

    Bush said after he left the White House and moved into his new home in Dallas, he decided to take his Scottish terrier Barney for a walk. To be a good neighbor, he said he carried a plastic bag so that he could clean up the dog droppings. The task seemed ironic to him, he said.

    “I was picking up what I had been dodging for eight years,” Bush said.

    The former president also said after he left the presidency in January, he plopped down on the couch and said, “Free at last.”

    But his wife, Laura, piped in: “You’re free to do the dishes,” he said.

    After a few other jokes, Bush shifted to more serious topics. Although this was his first trip overseas, it was his second speech in a foreign land. Last month, Bush spoke in Calgary, Alberta, in Canada.

    On Saturday, he said that he would not criticize Barack Obama and wished his successor all the best.

    “He was not my first choice, but now that this election was made, it speaks volumes about the United States of America,” Bush said.

    http://www.chron.com/disp/stor.....80093.html

    I miss President Bush.

    Too bad GW was soo misunderstood. His real message, being distorted with a vengence by the MSM, was never truthfully presented. His projects were always derailed by a Democrat (Kennedy) or a Republican lite (MCain). His great ideas to fix America never evolved because he was always too busy putting out fires politically. I don’t know who’s fault it was, I just know that we somehow should have been paying closer attention. The Republican Party should have stuck together more and not fought each other on important issus. We should have had the “Tea Party” 5 years ago. I’m just saying……….. We could have kept our Liberties. sigh. Sorry for the dramtic rant. I would have put it in all caps but, I know how SG hates shouting. :-)

    File this under: “I am quick to laugh at everything so as not to have to cry”.

    • jobeth
      April 18, 2009 at 4:47 pm

      “I was picking up what I had been dodging for eight years,” Bush said.”

      Priceless!

      “He was not my first choice, but now that this election was made, it speaks volumes about the United States of America,” Bush said.”

      Man! This is even more priceless! And SO correct…good on him for saying that!

      It must kill him to have to watch someone like Obalmy undo everything he has done to protect American in the last 8 years in less that 100 days.

      Yep, I miss him too. When I see photos of him it’s like seeing a photo of someone you know has had your safety and opportunities in mind, that you haven’t seen in ages.

      I could go to bed at night knowing my safety was his biggest concern. Can’t do that now. And I do lay awake nights worried about the future of my children and grandchildren..and great grands.

      Bush could aggravate me at times…ie spending and not telling us what was going on (not the details…just the direction of the game plan). But he was a great president and did the office proud. Not to mention the American people. Who the H*** cares what the lefties think…except now they have power to do shady things.

      “

    • catie
      April 18, 2009 at 6:27 pm

      I recently ordered a bumper sticker (it’s yet to arrive) that says “I miss George W Bush already”. I do miss him as well. Unlike our current occupant, he always tried to stay above the fray and that cost him dearly plus there were many in his cabinet and inner circle who I don’t believe had his best interests at heart. But I wonder if he even watches the news now. I hate to say it but this Clown Prince Press Secretary makes Scott McClellan look like the best press secretary ever.
      Yeah, he could aggravate me to no end too with that immigration garbage and all but he’s leaps and bounds over Obama. I really hated voting for McCain and had he not picked Palin I probably would not have even gone out to vote. I think the Republican party isn’t doing her any favors but I digress. I hope that a change will be a coming in 2012.

    • Barbie
      April 20, 2009 at 7:27 pm

      I miss having a real president and vice-president. One day there are two strong, principled men in the White House protecting and defending the Constitution and Americans in general; the next you’ve got ultra wimp Obama badmouthing America as fast as he can open his mouth, and Joe the serial exaggerator girding his loins.

    • Diane
      April 22, 2009 at 4:19 am

      In all honesty, I do miss the GWB of the first four years. The guy who took over for about the last two years of his term I miss only in comparison to the current President. The closer Mr. Bush came to the end of his second term, the further off course he seemed to be. I’ve wondered what was up with that.

      Not to restate the obvious, but George W. Bush wildly off course was still preferable to Apologizin’ Barry.

  3. crosspatch
    April 18, 2009 at 5:09 pm

    News media recycles “ice shelf collapse” news and photos.

  4. caligirl9
    April 18, 2009 at 5:45 pm

    Oh brother. Yet another “artist” with no sense of humor. From our open-minded friends at CNN.

    Don Henley sues Senate candidate over song use

    Don Henley, a founding member of “The Eagles,” is suing a Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate, claiming the candidate is misusing two of his popular songs.
    The suit filed Friday in federal court in California claims Charles DeVore is using Henley’s hit songs “The Boys of Summer” and “All She Wants to Do Is Dance” without authorization.
    The suit comes from two campaign videos that DeVore posted on YouTube that used Henley’s music, according to the lawsuit.
    In one of the videos, DeVore’s campaign changed the words of “All She Wants to Do Is Dance” to lyrics that attacked Sen. Barbara Boxer, the lawsuit alleges.
    Mike Campbell, who co-wrote “Boys of Summer,” is also named as a plaintiff in the lawsuit.
    “Don Henley and Mike Campbell brought this action to protect their song, ‘The Boys of Summer,’ which was taken and used without their permission,” Henley’s spokesman said. “The infringers have vowed to continue exploiting this and other copyrighted works, as it suits them, to further their own ambitions and agenda. It was necessary to file a lawsuit to stop them.”
    DeVore, a member of the California State Assembly, is running against Boxer, a Democrat, in the 2010 election, according to his Web site.
    DeVore mentions Henley’s legal actions on the Web site.
    “We’re responding with a counter-claim, asserting our First Amendment right to political free speech,” the site said. “While the legal issues play out, it’s time to up the ante on Mr. Henley’s liberal goon tactics. By popular request, I have penned the words to our new parody song.”
    DeVore then posted the lyrics of a song he called “All She Wants to Do Is Tax.”

    http://www.cnn.com/2009/SHOWBI.....index.html

    The Eagles used to be one of my favorite bands when I was a mere wet-behind-the-ears teen.
    Cross that band and Don Henley’s solo stuff off my list.
    When Clinton used Fleetwood Mac’s “Don’t Stop” as his campaign’s theme song, I stopped buying anything they released, stopped seeing that band live. And they’d been one of my all-time favorite bands, but I will not give them a dime of my hard-earned money after they sold out like that!

    • VMAN
      April 18, 2009 at 6:17 pm

      I know what you mean. There is a list too long to mention of the Hollywood elitists and their movies. I used to like Heart until they informed Sarah Palin she was not to use Baracuda as a theme. I stopped watching Andy Griffith when Andy and Ron did a pro Obama internet commercial. I still watch 24 but find it hard not to wretch when Garafalo is on and what’s with that global warming PSA. Oh for the good old days of John Wayne, Bob Hope and the like.

    • catie
      April 18, 2009 at 6:39 pm

      Well Caligirl this isn’t surprising. I saw Don Henley with my brother years ago (The End of the Innocence Tour) and he wouldn’t shut up about Walden Woods. My brother was still a conservative then and we along with everyone else around us was annoyed that he kept yapping but at least at that time that’s all he was yapping about. We saw the Eagles out in Hawaii in late November 05 before my husband’s deployment. They were out there for four sold out nights at the Blaisdell in Honolulu. We went the second night and as he did in the first night (because it was in the paper) he started mouthing off about the war. The majority of the crowd were military, former military or related to military (this is a 10K arena) and they boo’d. We boo’d the night we went as well for 5 minutes. He kept trying to talk and finally gave up and started singing “Hole in the World”. We heard from our friends who went the third night he did the same thing and was boo’d again. By the fourth night when our neighbors went they said he just shut up and sang. He was quiet in Maui too as my high school classmate and his wife went. Judi said they were ready to boo too. Funny thing though. I saw Heart (along with Cheap Sh*t & Journey) the night before McCain picked Palin at the Nissan Pavilion here in VA. They thanked everyone for coming and were nice but it was Cheap Sh*t that yapped about Bush and pushed Obama to a loud chorus of boo’s. Journey said nothing either. I was glad that I did not see Heart a few days later or I would have walked out. I’ve seen them a few times too (once when Ann was skinny) but don’t think I’ll ever see them anymore either. I won’t watch Andy Griffith or any Ron Howard or Tom Hanks thing anymore either. I would never see Don Henley solo but would probably see the Eagles again because when people kept booing Glenn Frey told Henley to just “Shut the F up so we can sing our song”.

  5. caligirl9
    April 20, 2009 at 6:49 pm

    But I thought we didn’t need affirmative action anymore? I would rather have the fire fighter with the highest scores show up at my residence versus the affirmative action promotion anyday!

    [From the Associated Press:]

    Racial bias case may affect hiring policies

    Jesse Washington, Associated Press
    Sunday, April 19, 2009

    New Haven, Conn.— Inside a burning building, fire doesn’t discriminate between Matthew Marcarelli and Gary Tinney. Inside the New Haven Fire Department, however, skin color has put them on opposite sides of a lawsuit that could transform hiring procedures nationwide.

    This week, the Supreme Court will consider the reverse discrimination claim of Marcarelli and a group of white firefighters. They all passed a promotion exam, but the city threw out the test because no black firefighters would have been promoted, saying the exam had a “disparate impact” on minorities likely to violate the 1964 Civil Rights Act.

    Besides affecting how race can be considered in filling government and perhaps even private jobs, the dispute also addresses broader questions about racial progress: Do minorities and women still need legal protection from discrimination, or do the monumental civil rights laws that created a more equal nation now cause more harm than good?

    Also, beneath the specific details of the firefighters’ lawsuit lies an uncomfortable truth: On most standardized tests, regardless of the subject, African Americans score lower than whites.
    Reconciling that reality with efforts to ensure “justice for all” remains a work in progress – one that will be molded by the Supreme Court.

    New Haven’s population is 44 percent white, 36 percent black and 24 percent Latino (who can be any race). At the time of the 2003 test, 53 percent of the city’s firefighters, 63 percent of lieutenants and 86 percent of captains were white. African Americans were 30 percent of the firefighters, 22 percent of lieutenants and 4 percent of captains.

    The promotion exams were closely focused on firefighting methods, knowledge and skills. The first part had 200 multiple-choice questions and counted for 60 percent of the final score. Candidates returned another day to take an oral exam in which they described responses to various scenarios, which counted for 40 percent.

    Tinney, a black lieutenant who has been a firefighter for 14 years, was seeking a promotion to captain when he took the exam.

    He says both the test and his Fire Department have hidden biases against minorities: The department is historically white, with the first black firefighters joining in 1957, and jobs, relationships, knowledge and choice assignments are passed on from friend to friend and generation to generation…

    The white firefighters’ attorney, Karen Torre, said they would not be interviewed for this story. In a conversation on Fox News’ “Hannity” program, Marcarelli said it was “gut wrenching” to learn that he was No. 1 on the test but would not get promoted…

    Torre said whites have no special advantage in promotions because of laws requiring use of a race-blind, score-based system. She added that many blacks have relatives on the force, including high-ranking officers.

    One hundred and eighteen people took the tests; 56 passed. Nineteen of the top scorers were eligible for promotion to 15 open lieutenant and captain positions. Based on the test results, the city said that no minorities would have been eligible for lieutenant, and two Latinos would have been eligible for captain. (The lawsuit was filed by 20 white plaintiffs, including one man who is both white and Latino.)

    The exams were designed by a professional testing firm that followed federal guidelines for mitigating disparate racial outcomes, the plaintiffs say.

    But after the results came back, the city says it found evidence that the tests were potentially flawed. Sources of bias included that the written section measured memorization rather than actual skills needed for the jobs; giving too much weight to the written section; and lack of testing for leadership in emergency conditions, according to a brief filed by officers of the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology…

    http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/.....171MFH.DTL

    • jobeth
      April 20, 2009 at 7:21 pm

      I can see it now….I get injured or burnt because a firefighter didn’t know what the best action would be for my rescue….And while in the local burn unit I say “Oh, it’s ok…he was black”

      Yeah, I would say that…not.

  6. caligirl9
    April 20, 2009 at 9:47 pm

    Nice, our little pirate is on his way to our shores! Welcome little pirate!!

    [From the New York Post:]

    SOURCES: SOMALI PIRATE SUSPECT EN ROUTE TO NY

    Posted: 7:09 pm
April 20, 2009
    The sole surviving Somali pirate from the hostage-taking of commercial ship captain Richard Phillips was being flown to New York late Monday, hours after his mother appealed to President Barack Obama for his release.
    U.S. officials said Abduhl Wali-i-Musi was due to appear in federal court in New York and could arrive in the city late Monday night. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the case.
    Investigators have determined that the suspect is at least 18 years old, one of the officials said. That means prosecutors will not have to take extra legal steps to put him on trial in a U.S. court.
    Shortly after his capture, U.S. officials identified him as Abduhl Wali-i-Musi and said his age was between 16 years and 20 years of age. Later, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said all four of the pirates who held Phillips hostage for five days off the Somali coast were between ages 17 and 19. Gates did not address his name.
    His mother insists he is only 16, and offered a different version of his name on Monday.
    In a telephone interview with The Associated Press, Adar Abdirahman Hassan gave her son’s name as Abdi Wali Abdulqadir Muse.
    “I appeal to President Obama to pardon my teenager; I request him to release my son or at least allow me to see him and be with him during the trial,” Hassan said from her home in Galka’yo town, 465 miles north of Somalia’s capital.
    Hassan said her son was coaxed into piracy by “gangsters with money.”
    Though no charges have been publicly filed yet, the suspect could face charges that carry a maximum sentence of life in prison.
    Wal-i-Musi was taken aboard a U.S. Navy ship, the USS Bainbridge, shortly before Navy SEAL snipers killed the three remaining pirates holding Phillips hostage on a lifeboat launched from his cargo vessel, the Maersk Alabama.
    The government had considered handing him over to authorities in Kenya, which has an international agreement to prosecute pirates.
    Officials decided to send him to trial in New York in part because the FBI office there has a history of handling cases in Africa involving major crimes against Americans, such as the al-Qaida bombings of two U.S. embassies in East Africa in 1998.
    Since the hostage standoff on the high seas ended more than a week ago, U.S. authorities have been examining details of the case, particularly Wal-i-Musi’s age.
    Rarely is someone younger than 18 put on trial in federal court, and to do so prosecutors must take a number of additional legal steps to assure the judge that the defendant belongs there and not in juvenile or state court.
    Ron Kuby, a New York-based civil rights lawyer, said he has been in discussions about forming a legal team to represent the Somalian.
    “I think in this particular case, there’s a grave question as to whether America was in violation of principles of truce in warfare on the high seas,” said Kuby. “This man seemed to come onto the Bainbridge under a flag of truce to negotiate. He was then captured. There is a question whether he is lawfully in American custody and serious questions as to whether he can be prosecuted because of his age.”

    http://www.nypost.com/seven/04.....165364.htm

    So his mamma’s gonna get a green card out of this, so she can be with her poor misguided pirate son during his trial! Any bets?

    BTW, Ron Kuby is one of the talking heads on what used to be Court TV. Gray hair, pony tail. Everything you could ask for in a civil rights lib defense attorney.

    I wonder how Captain Phillips feels about this? Bet he’s been muzzled already though …

  7. JohnMG
    April 20, 2009 at 10:41 pm

    …..“This man seemed to come onto the Bainbridge under a flag of truce to negotiate…….”

    I think I’d agree with the distinguished Mr. Kuby on this one. After the negotiations broke down and Captain Phillips had been rescued, poor little Abduhl Wali-i-Musi should have been required to return to his craft and his comrades, and been allowed to cast away. After all, he didn’t have anything else for which we wanted to negotiate.

    No crime, no foul.

    • Gila Monster
      April 21, 2009 at 7:37 am

      You’re right JohnMG, it would have been far less trouble to do exactly that. As it stands now, millions of our tax dollars will be wasted on this little a**hat with far too much of it going to the ACLU lawyer types that will end up defending the worthless POS.

  8. BillK
    April 21, 2009 at 6:15 am

    From the Wall Street Journal:

    Computer Spies Breach Fighter-Jet Project

    By Siobhan Gorman, August Cole and Yochi Dreazen

    WASHINGTON — Computer spies have broken into the Pentagon’s $300 billion Joint Strike Fighter project — the Defense Department’s costliest weapons program ever — according to current and former government officials familiar with the attacks.

    Similar incidents have also breached the Air Force’s air-traffic-control system in recent months, these people say. In the case of the fighter-jet program, the intruders were able to copy and siphon off several terabytes of data related to design and electronics systems, officials say, potentially making it easier to defend against the craft.

    The latest intrusions provide new evidence that a battle is heating up between the U.S. and potential adversaries over the data networks that tie the world together. The revelations follow a recent Wall Street Journal report that computers used to control the U.S. electrical-distribution system, as well as other infrastructure, have also been infiltrated by spies abroad.

    Attacks like these — or U.S. awareness of them — appear to have escalated in the past six months, said one former official briefed on the matter. “There’s never been anything like it,” this person said, adding that other military and civilian agencies as well as private companies are affected. “It’s everything that keeps this country going.”

    Many details couldn’t be learned, including the specific identity of the attackers, and the scope of the damage to the U.S. defense program, either in financial or security terms. In addition, while the spies were able to download sizable amounts of data related to the jet-fighter, they weren’t able to access the most sensitive material, which is stored on computers not connected to the Internet.

    Former U.S. officials say the attacks appear to have originated in China. However it can be extremely difficult to determine the true origin because it is easy to mask identities online.

    A Pentagon report issued last month said that the Chinese military has made “steady progress” in developing online-warfare techniques. China hopes its computer skills can help it compensate for an underdeveloped military, the report said.

    The Chinese Embassy said in a statement that China “opposes and forbids all forms of cyber crimes.” It called the Pentagon’s report “a product of the Cold War mentality” and said the allegations of cyber espionage are “intentionally fabricated to fan up China threat sensations.” …

    http://online.wsj.com/article/.....37401.html

    “Cold War mentality?”

    Why, just because a country that has threatened to nuke Los Angeles in the past is apparently stealing technical information on our most advanced fighter aircraft?

    You’re right, President Obama should chastise those responsible for spreading such irresponsible rumors.

    A bit more:

    The intruders entered through vulnerabilities in the networks of two or three contractors helping to build the high-tech fighter jet, according to people who have been briefed on the matter. Lockheed Martin is the lead contractor on the program, and Northrop Grumman Corp. and BAE Systems PLC also play major roles in its development.

    Lockheed Martin and BAE declined to comment. Northrop referred questions to Lockheed.

    The spies inserted technology that encrypts the data as it’s being stolen; as a result, investigators can’t tell exactly what data has been taken. A former Pentagon official said the military carried out a thorough cleanup.

    Fighting online attacks like these is particularly difficult because defense contractors may have uneven network security, but the Pentagon is reliant on them to perform sensitive work. In the past year, the Pentagon has stepped up efforts to work with contractors to improve computer security.

    Investigators traced the penetrations back with a “high level of certainty” to known Chinese Internet protocol, or IP, addresses and digital fingerprints that had been used for attacks in the past, said a person briefed on the matter.

    As for the intrusion into the Air Force’s air-traffic control systems, three current and former officials familiar with the incident said it occurred in recent months. It alarmed U.S. national security officials, particularly at the National Security Agency, because the access the spies gained could have allowed them to interfere with the system, said one former official. The danger is that intruders might find weaknesses that could be exploited to confuse or damage U.S. military craft.

    Military officials declined to comment on the incident.

    But I thought the NSA was busy tapping innocent Americans’ phone calls instead. Huh.

    • Barbie
      April 21, 2009 at 10:00 am

      There’s no need for the Chinese to spy! The solution to this dilemma is obvious – prez Obama needs to give the Chinese a big hug, profusely apologize to them for the fact the U.S. has the audacity to exist in the first place, and then give them an autograph picture of him walking shirtless in the ocean waves. Obama will then voluntarily give them a copy of every piece of info their little hearts desire (I’m not trying to say Chinese are litte – in case my comment offends someone). The Chinese will LOVE him – and that’s what’s truly important to O. Afterall, submissive behavior to other countries is the Obama doctrine.

  9. BillK
    April 21, 2009 at 6:26 am

    Where’s the AIG-like outrage?

    From a curiously unoffended AP:

    Some of Wisconsin’s congressional staffers get bonuses from tax dollars

    MILWAUKEE — Most members of Wisconsin’s congressional delegation have given employee bonuses in the past year using tax dollars.

    The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports U.S. Rep. Tom Petri, R-Fond du Lac, bumped up every staff member’s pay, spending about $100,000 on bonuses late last year. At least one staff member received a bonus of $14,000.

    Petri’s spokesman Niel Wright said “privacy concerns” prevented him from discussing the bonuses.

    “We’re required to provide some information publicly,” Wright said Friday. “We do what’s required but don’t want to go beyond that.”

    LegiStorm, which tracks payroll data, reports congressional bonuses last year were the highest in years.

    Milwaukee Journal Sentinel columnist Daniel Bice says many of the delegates handing out the bonuses were the same ones who stoked public anger over big bonuses paid to Wall Street executives at firms receiving federal bailout money.

    All but one Wisconsin lawmaker voted to tax big employee bonuses paid by those firms. But Wright said the comparison can’t be made to what federal lawmakers handed out.

    “I’m still waiting for my $75 million bonus,” he said. “Yeah, it hasn’t come down yet. I must say I’m outraged.”

    Wright, who earned $113,000 last year, received a bonus of nearly $8,000.

    The bonuses are paid with surplus office funds that must be spent or forfeited. That helps explain why Petri and three other representatives from Wisconsin — Tammy Baldwin, Gwen Moore and Jim Sensenbrenner — bumped up their payrolls by more than 20 percent in the last quarter of 2008. Mb<Much of the increase was in bonus payments, staffers said. …

    http://www.madison.com/tct/mad/topstories/447802

    Oh, so if the bonus is “just” $8,000, it’s OK?

    If it’s with taxpayer money that must be “spent or forfeited” it’s OK? (”Forfeited?” As in “not spent and returned to the Government?” No, can’t have that.)

    This is insanity at it’s best, and somehow I don’t expect this story to be on the MSM’s RADAR anytime soon…

    • pdsand
      April 22, 2009 at 12:21 pm

      From my tech school days in the Air Force, I seem to recall that there are limits that apply to the DoD to prevent such frivolous spending at fiscal year closeout. For instance, no more than 20% of the funds can be obligated during the last whatever part of the year. That was specifically designed to keep the air force from going around and buying a bunch of office furniture and tvs and staff cars at the end of the year just to keep the budget at the same level for the next year. It would seem that that is yet another law for the rest of us that doesn’t apply to congress.

  10. BillK
    April 21, 2009 at 6:34 am

    What to do when you are considering raising the gas tax when there are all of those new hybrids on the road?

    Why, add a hybrid surcharge!

    That’s the way Wisconsin’s Governor Jim Doyle sees things.

    From the (Madison) Wisconsin State Journal:

    Doyle would consider gasoline tax hike instead of tax on oil company sales

    By Jason Stein

    Gov. Jim Doyle said Monday he’s open to a 3-cent gasoline tax increase as an alternative to his proposed tax on oil company sales.

    Doyle said he preferred his plan to pay for roads by raising taxes on oil companies by $272 million over two years and barring the firms from passing the tax on to consumers.

    But some business groups have instead been pushing an increase to the state’s gas tax — currently the second highest in the nation — saying it wouldn’t face the oil tax’s potential legal challenges.

    “I give them credit. They’ve really worked to come up with a proposal, and I think it’s one that’s worthy of consideration,” Doyle said.

    The plan by groups representing oil companies, grocers, car dealers and convenience stores would include $306 million in new money over two years for the state’s road fund through the gas tax hike and new fees.

    “Believe me, many of us in that group had to swallow pretty hard to advocate a tax increase,” said Tom Howells, president of the truckers group Wisconsin Motor Carriers Association. “But we do need good bridges and roads in this state.”

    Wisconsin’s motor fuels tax is now 30.9 cents per gallon. The state also adds 2 cents per gallon for an environmental cleanup fund.

    Assembly Minority Leader Jeff Fitzgerald, R-Horicon, criticized the tax proposal as coming at the worst possible time and noted that nearly $1.3 billion has already been transferred out of the road fund by Doyle and, in part, by lawmakers to help balance the budget.

    The plan would seek to end that practice and over two years would:

    • Raise $170 million from the gas tax.

    • Raise $61 million by increasing the fee for car titles to $78 from $53.

    • Raise $15 million by putting a $50 annual surcharge on hybrid vehicles. …

    http://www.madison.com/wsj/mad/latest/447842

    How much longer will anyone be able to afford to live in Wisconsin?

    Not like we all won’t be paying for this in similar ways in our own states…

  11. BillK
    April 21, 2009 at 6:40 am

    The latest from enemy of the United States AlGore, as reported in the San Francisco Chronicle:

    Gore: 2009 turning point in environment battle

    By Peter Fimrite

    Former Vice President Al Gore said Monday that this year is “the Gettysburg” for the environment and that the United States will have to lead the fight against global warming if true progress is going to be made.

    Gore made the comments during his keynote presentation of the Goldman Environmental Prize at the War Memorial Opera House in San Francisco. The $150,000 prize is the largest and most prestigious award for grassroots environmentalism in the world. It was presented to seven activists from around the world who bucked the odds and spearheaded changes that led to environmental improvements in their home countries.

    Gore said the winners of the prize showed unusual heroism and commitment while working on the grassroots level. What drove them, he said was “a commitment to doing what is right and toward making the world a better place. They have been motivated by the force of conscience … and courage.”

    Gore insisted, however, that the crisis of global warming cannot be resolved unless all citizens make a commitment to do their part. A movement is necessary, he said, especially as the world population continues to grow and more cars, fuel and energy are needed.

    “We are radically changing the relationship between the human species and the rest of the earth,” he said. “This year, 2009, is the Gettysburg for the environment. It is the time we have the opportunity to change.”

    Gore referred to the Climate Conference in Copenhagen, Denmark, later this year as the key. In 2012, the Kyoto Protocol, which limits world greenhouse gases, will run out. Environmentalists are hoping a new climate protocol will be reached in Copenhagen.

    Gore said the United States must take the lead in that process, but American citizens must also get involved. …

    http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/.....1763I8.DTL

    Of course, following the conference Al undoubtedly boarded a plane to jet off to yet another location to spread fear about the rate at which we burn fossil fuels…

    • canary
      April 21, 2009 at 9:07 am

      So, how many millions is Gore making in carbon exchange, And under which investment group is Gore playing cap and trade Shouldn’t he be registered as a lobbyist? How big is his private airplane. I doubt his mansion is global friendly either. Guess he didn’t get charged for plagerizing from that HollyWood movie to make his inconvieniant truth fictional movie.

    • pdsand
      April 22, 2009 at 12:43 pm

      God willing, this will be the Gettysburg of the environmental movement, only the greenies will be playing the part of the Confederacy.

  12. ptat
    April 21, 2009 at 7:07 am

    Why in God’s name would he liken anything to a the bloodiest, highest casualties chapter of our horrible civil war? I am lost here. Is there to be a violent shedding of blood over “global warming”? Does he mean we are to have another civil war? Is there anybody left that has the slightest idea what this hypocritical lunatic is rambling about anymore? I think we need a sequel to Inconvenient Truth to remove any marginal credibility he may have left.

    • JohnMG
      April 21, 2009 at 11:13 am

      …..”Why in God’s name would he liken anything to a the bloodiest, highest casualties chapter of our horrible civil war?…..”

      For the same reason he claimed to have walked ‘point’ during his four month tour in Viet Nam.

      Just like Obama, everything on his (their) agenda they wish to stampede through must be likened to some impending crisis or disaster. They know such claims won’t pass the smell test but they are banking on the gullibility of the populace to achieve the desired result. And you know what? Most of the time they get what they aim for.

    • proreason
      April 22, 2009 at 1:13 pm

      “liken anything to a the bloodiest, highest casualties chapter of our horrible civil war”

      Intereseting question.

      My guess: subconsciously, he wishes he could kill those who “deny” his fantasy world.

  13. BillK
    April 21, 2009 at 2:59 pm

    You elevate the man and then get booed in response?

    Poor Bill Maher…

    From McClatchy Newspapers:

    Maher’s audiences firing off boos when he disses Obama

    By Aaron Barnhart

    If you watch “Real Time With Bill Maher” on HBO these days, you may have noticed something odd: the audience booing the host.

    It happens almost every week now, usually after Maher says something critical of the president. Of course, six months ago this same audience would have cheered wildly had Maher ripped the then-occupant of the White House. Now, you’d swear from the reaction that he’d violated some taboo too weird even for pay cable.

    Maher knows this. And he knows the viewers know it. And he wants to make one thing perfectly clear.

    “That”—the stand-up act—”is just an entirely different animal than the television show.”

    And he does it by telling (upon request) an Obama joke.

    “Now, if I [told that joke] in my studio here at ‘Real Time,’ they would probably ‘ooh’ and ‘boo.’ But the stand-up audience doesn’t. They’re really great about that, and they want to laugh.”

    It might just be the difference between getting a free ticket to sit in the Bob Barker Studio to watch Maher’s comedy/talk show and dropping $40 in the expectation that the guy onstage will bust your gut every single minute.

    “This is not an era where people are parting with their dollar easily, and that is on my mind from the moment I get up there,” Maher says. “I start out each show by thanking people for coming out to see me in a recession and telling them, ‘I’d better be bleeping good!’ ”

    When I last saw Maher performing live, it was in 1996, and he was still hosting “Politically Incorrect” on Comedy Central. When I mention this, Maher invokes the deity he doesn’t believe in.

    “Oh, God,” he says. …

    http://www.chicagotribune.com/.....5992.story

    The cult is growing restless.

    Of course Mr. Maher can’t resist praising Him anyway:

    “Obama is a harder target now in that he’s not horny, he’s not stupid, he’s not angry, he doesn’t cheat on his wife, he’s not fat. He’s not all these things that we had in the last two presidents that were so easy to make fun of.”

    • JohnMG
      April 21, 2009 at 3:06 pm

      Right you are, Mr. Maher.

      But you left out ‘he’s not genuine’, too. Yet Obama’s not any of those things, and he certainly isn’t funny. He’s just pathetic!

  14. BillK
    April 21, 2009 at 3:05 pm

    She’s just learning the cost of speaking conservative values now?

    From Newsday:

    Miss California: Gay marriage answer cost me Miss USA crown

    By Robert Kahn

    Miss California says candor cost her the crown in Sunday’s Miss USA competition.

    Carrie Prejean, 21, probably knew she was in trouble when she acknowledged her opposition to same-sex marriages in response to a question from openly gay judge Perez Hilton, the celebrity blogger.

    “In my country, and in my family, I believe that a marriage should be between a man and a woman,” Prejean replied. Later, she lost to Miss North Carolina.

    “It did cost me my crown,” Prejean, the first runner-up, said of her response, on Monday’s ” Billy Bush Show.” “I wouldn’t have had it any other way. I said what I feel. I stated an opinion that was true to myself and that’s all I can do.”

    In an appearance Monday on MSNBC, Hilton said he was absolutely “shocked and incredibly frustrated and disappointed” with Prejean’s stance.

    “That’s not the kind of woman I want to be Miss USA,” he said. “Miss USA should represent all Americans and, with her answer, she instantly alienated millions of gays and lesbians and their friends.”

    Earlier, Hilton had said on his video blog he would have run onstage and ripped the tiara off Prejean’s head had she won the title.

    And the blogger would not have been the only member of the Miss USA family to go apoplectic had Prejean advanced in the competition. Keith Lewis, executive director of California’s Miss USA operations, said in a statement released to Hilton that “religious beliefs have no place in politics in the Miss CA family.”

    Prejean Monday said she was raised in a way that you can never compromise your beliefs and your opinions for anything.

    “It is a very touchy subject and [Hilton] is a homosexual and I see where he was coming from and I see the audience would’ve wanted me to be more politically correct,” she added. …

    http://www.chicagotribune.com/.....7847.story

    Ah, so the openly gay judge states “he would have run onstage and ripped the tiara off Prejean’s head had she won” and that Miss CA director said “religious beliefs have no place in politics.”

    Nice to see such respect for an electoral process and basic civil rights, isn’t it?

    • JohnMG
      April 21, 2009 at 3:12 pm

      From an obviously “unbiased” judge, too! (sarcsam off)

      That’s not the type of person I want judging who should become Miss USA. (faggoty little weasel)

    • Anonymoose
      April 23, 2009 at 12:09 am

      Jeesh, if you don’t want the answer don’t ask the question. Although from everything I’ve heard about “Perez” (Real name Mario) this was probably another way to gain infamy, even at the expense of a beautiful young woman who is now being tarred and feathered by Hollywood.

    • sheehanjihad
      April 24, 2009 at 12:16 pm

      What is ironic, is that Prejean is being villified by the gay community for being intolerant and bigoted….when the question clearly stated that is was asking for HER opinion…not the PC version everyone expected.

      So now, Perez Hilton is actually demonstrating his total lack of tolerance, his bigotry and hatred for someone who doesnt cow tow to his way of thinking….and he still cant get over the shock of this woman answering what she believed, and not what that fat puffed up non celebrity expected her to say. She was honest….he is a lying son of a bitch.

      What is refreshing though, was how easily the gay rights activists exposed their own predjudices and unwillingness to accept any other opinion while they threw the very same accusations at Prejean. They are decidedly hypocritical, and still are under the mistaken impression that just because they expect everyone to follow the false god of political correctness…there are still some who put family values and personal beliefs over winning a contest……a contest that was put in place to reflect the perfection of American values….

      So Perez Hilton ended up doing more damage to his “cause” than miss California ever could. His vitriol and open hatred of someone with courage and character exposed him as the self loathing little shit bird he is….a loud mouthed spoiled rotten little brat who couldnt get his way.

      He was going to tear the crown off of her if she won? Yeah, that’s tolerance….gay activist style. He is lucky someone didnt threaten to tear his head off of his shoulders for being such a hate filled hypocrite. Gay community-0 Conservative cause-10….and Hilton is the one who dropped the ball….self centered child that he is. We should thank him for his open vile attitude towards anyone not gay…it just confirms what everyone really knows.

  15. proreason
    April 21, 2009 at 6:30 pm

    Detroit councilman walks on mortgage after putting $300K+ in pocket from refinancing. From the Boston Herald via the AP:

    Detroit councilman Kwame Kenyatta walks away from his mortgage

    DETROIT — It was their dream home, a two-story, four-bedroom colonial in one of Detroit’s nicest and most stable neighborhoods.

    But then, one day in December, City Councilman Kwame Kenyatta and his wife packed up their belongings, locked the doors, mailed in the keys and walked away — adding another vacant house to the thousands in a city hard hit by the nation’s mortgage crisis.

    “We’re already underwater when it comes to what we’re paying on the house versus what the house is worth,” Kenyatta said.

    Around the country, the practice, sometimes referred to as “mortgage walking” or “jingle mail,” appears to be growing. But for Kenyatta, the decision could do more than hurt his credit rating.

    It could damage his bid for mayor of Detroit this summer, particularly since he has been one of the city’s most vocal supporters of measures to improve neighborhoods and clean up blight.

    …
    In Detroit, the median sales price for a home is now a pathetic $5,800, down more than $66,000 from seven years ago. An estimated 16,000 foreclosed homes are on the market in the city of about 920,000 residents. Detroit also has one of the highest unemployment rates in the nation, at around 20 percent.

    Kenyatta’s former neighborhood, North Rosedale Park, is unlike most of the rest of Detroit. Stately, well-kept brick homes line quiet, winding streets. It fights to hold off blight from surrounding northwest side neighborhoods.

    Kenyatta’s former home is the ugly duckling on its block. Dead grass spreads gray across the lawn. Withered advertising circulars are strewn about the porch and the hedges.

    Bought for $225,000, the home nose-dived in value to $100,000, according to Kenyatta. Its manageable $2,600-a-month mortgage soon was about to soar about $1,000.

    About five months ago, the Kenyattas moved to a rented condo on the city’s east side. It has three bedrooms, four baths, a whirlpool bath, finished basement and garage. The rent is less than their old mortgage. (In Detroit, City Council members are elected from the city at large, not from districts, so leaving the neighborhood does not affect Kenyatta’s eligibility to serve.)…

    http://www.bostonherald.com/ne....._mortgage/

    Since it’s an AP story, they don’t connect the dots for the reader (knowing that few will do so for themselves).

    The mortgage is for $2600 and about to go up $1000. When ARM’s move, they are generally capped at 2%, so the $1000 represents 2% of the mortgaged value. That means the mortgaged value is about $600,000.

    So, this deadbeat bought a house for $225,000 and later refinanced it for about $600,000, putting $375,000 in his pocket. Not bad for an $81,000 salary, huh? Having collected his “redistribution” from da man, he is forfeiting on the loan. (That’s a conservative analysis, btw. A $3,600 mortgage could well mean the house was refinanced for $700 or $800,000.)

    Sweet huh?

    But of course, he doesn’t think the voters should hold this against him when he runs for mayor.

    And being from Detriot, they won’t.

  16. BillK
    April 22, 2009 at 12:01 am

    From Fox News, something the Administration will surely clamp down on:

    FBI Adds Berkeley ‘Animal Rights Extremist’ to ‘Most Wanted’ Terrorist List

    An “animal rights extremist” from Berkeley, Calif., was added to the FBI’s “Most Wanted” list of terror suspects, federal agents said Tuesday.

    Daniel Andreas San Diego, a 31-year-old computer specialist, has been on the run since 2003 and is wanted in two bombings that year of corporate offices in California, said Michael J. Heimbach, an assistant director of the FBI’s counterrorism division.

    “He is a known animal rights extremist,” Heimbach told reporters Tuesday at a Washington, D.C., news conference.

    He added that San Diego set an improvised explosive device in the bombings that caused “extensive property damage and economic hardship.”

    “The investigation revealed that metal nails were used in the construction of the device to create a more forceful effect,” Heimbach said.

    It’s the first time an accused domestic terrorist has been put on the “Most Wanted List,” which includes Usama bin Laden, Ayman Al-Zawahiri, and Adam Yahiye Gadahn, among others. San Diego is the 24th person on the list.

    Gadahn, another American on the list, grew up in California but later moved to Pakistan and is wanted for acts authorities say he committed overseas, as an alleged translator and consultant for Al Qaeda.

    San Diego is the only ‘Most Wanted’ terror suspect sought for attacks he allegedly committed in the United States.

    San Diego has a tattoo that proclaims, “It only takes a spark,” according to authorities.

    The move to add a domestic, left-wing terrorist to the list comes only days after the Obama administration was criticized for internal reports suggesting some military veterans could be susceptible to right-wing extremist recruiters or commit lone acts of violence. …

    http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,517233,00.html

    Funny how his qualifications for the Most Wanted list sound a lot like Bill Ayers’ “youthful indiscretions”…

  17. BillK
    April 22, 2009 at 12:05 am

    I’m shocked, just shocked!

    From Fox News:

    Senate Democrats Praise Obama for Possible Prosecution of Bush Officials

    By Trish Turner

    Senate Democrats praised President Obama for leaving the door open on Tuesday to prosecutions of former Bush administration officials who crafted or implemented harsh interrogation tactics, which some have called torture.

    Many of those Democrats were angered when White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel said Sunday the administration had ruled out such prosecutions.

    Obama’s apparent reversal also led to calls for one Bush legal advisor, Jay Bybee, to resign his judgeship on the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals. Bybee authored some of the legal opinions that supported the use of tactics like waterboarding, or mock drowning.

    Sen. Patrick Leahy, chairman of the Judiciary Committee, accused not only Bybee but also the Bush White House of lying to his panel during Bybee’s confirmation hearings.

    “If the White House and Mr. Bybee had told the truth at the time of his nomination, he never would have been confirmed,” Leahy said. “So actually, the honorable and decent thing for him to do now would be for him to resign. If he’s an honorable and decent man, he will.”

    Leahy said his committee would continue its investigation into the rough tactics.

    “Ultimately, we’ve got to get all the facts out, let people know who did what,” he said. “Bybee is another example of why these facts should come out.”

    But some Republicans fired back at the possibility of prosecuting Bush officials.

    “Prosecute them for what?” asked Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., a senior member of the Judiciary Committee. “Last time I checked, as a lawyer, when you give legal advice to your client, you’re not responsible for whether or not that advice is going to be disagreed with in some future administration. … These are policy differences, not legal differences, and reasonable lawyers can disagree about the advice that was given.”

    He added, “If we get to the point where a lawyer cannot give, even if later people believe it to be incorrect, legal advice, then no administration is going to be safe in the future.” …

    http://www.foxnews.com/politic.....officials/

    Of course the “honorable and decent thing to do” would be for Leahy and the Senate Democrats to resign.

    But that would never happen – no liberal ever does no matter how bad the charges get.

    Yet conservatives resign at the drop of a hat – we’ve yet to see how Bybee will respond.

    Regardless, Kyl’s comment is telling and he should know better – all Democrat Presidents will of course remain safe from prosecution.

    • pdsand
      April 22, 2009 at 3:11 pm

      He added, “If we get to the point where a lawyer cannot give, even if later people believe it to be incorrect, legal advice, then no administration is going to be safe in the future.” …

      This is obviously not a “chilling effect” which interests Democrats. So finally we have found one chilling effect which is acceptable in this country.

    • AngryD
      April 23, 2009 at 10:58 am

      Considering the weakening of national security under the Obamanation, does this mean that the next President, hopefully a COMPETENT one, will have the ability to prosecute his ignorant ass for getting more Americans killed?

      I blogged in 2007 that there would be another terrorist attack on American soil within 16 months of a democrat taking office in the White House again. We’re three months in and the clock is ticking.

      Just as Kennedy proved at the Bay of Pigs, leading to the Missile Crisis: America has no will when there’s a democrat in office. Just as Clinton proved in Mogadishu and after the Cole leading to 9-11, America will not prosecute her attackers with full military force when a democrat is in office.

      Explain to me again how democrats get into office? And will we FINALLY be able to prosecute that entire party for treason after this?

      -=D=-

  18. BillK
    April 22, 2009 at 12:09 am

    From a thrilled AP, news that being a Democrat once again frees you from prosecution of any crime:

    Sources: Feds Consider Dropping Spy Case Linked to Lawmaker

    WASHINGTON — Government officials say the Justice Department is considering dropping its case against two former pro-Israel lobbyists accused of illegally disclosing national defense secrets.

    Two government officials said Tuesday the Justice Department has been weighing whether to go forward with the much-delayed case. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to disclose details of internal discussions.

    Steven J. Rosen and Keith Weissman were charged in 2005 with conspiring to obtain classified documents and sharing them with reporters and former diplomats.

    Their trial is scheduled for early June in a Virginia federal court but is likely to be delayed further because a judge has a scheduling conflict.

    The former senior Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee asked the Justice Department on Tuesday to release all transcripts of her recorded conversations involving the treatment of the two accused spies.

    Rep. Jane Harman, D-Calif., said in a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder that she never interceded in the government investigation of the two lobbyists.

    Congressional Quarterly reported Monday that Harman was overheard agreeing to seek lenient treatment for Steven J. Rosen and Keith Weissman, former lobbyists for the American Israel Public Affairs Committee. CQ attributed the information to anonymous current and former national security officials familiar with a transcript of the recorded call.

    Rosen and Weissman were charged in 2005 with conspiring to communicate national defense information to unauthorized personnel in violation of the 1917 Espionage Act. The indictment said the classified material included information about the al-Qaida terror network, the bombing of the Khobar Towers dormitory in Saudi Arabia that killed 19 U.S. Air Force personnel, and U.S. policy in Iran.

    In her letter to Holder, Harman said she never contacted the Justice Department, White House nor anyone else seeking favorable treatment for Rosen and Weisman. But she maintained that it was “entirely appropriate to converse with advocacy organizations and constituent groups.”

    She said she learned from news reports that the FBI or National Security Agency secretly wiretapped her conversations in 2005 or 2006 while she was ranking Democrat on the Intelligence Committee. She urged Holder to investigate possible wiretapping of members of Congress and selective leaks of investigative material for political purposes, calling the recordings an abuse of power.

    Harman campaigned to become the committee’s chairman when Democrats won control of the House in the 2006. The transcripts raised the question of whether she agreed to intercede in exchange for help in persuading party leaders to give her the powerful post.

    Speaker Nancy Pelosi instead gave the chairmanship to Rep. Silvestre Reyes, D-Texas.

    In October 2006, a federal law enforcement official, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the ongoing investigation, told The Associated Press that Harman’s ties with AIPAC had been under scrutiny since the previous year. However, the inquiry had failed to turn up evidence of illegal activity, the official said at the time.

    CQ said Harman was said to have been picked up on a court-approved NSA tap directed at alleged Israel covert action operations in Washington. Contrary to reports that the Harman investigation was dropped for “lack of evidence,” it was Alberto Gonzales, President George W. Bush’s top counsel and then attorney general, who intervened to stop the Harman probe, CQ said. …

    http://www.foxnews.com/politic.....anscripts/

    Why did Gonzales do it?

    Gonzales wanted Harman to be able to help defend the administration’s warrantless wiretapping program, which was about to be revealed by The New York Times.

    Republicans never, ever learn.

  19. BillK
    April 22, 2009 at 12:16 am

    There’s no conflict here and nothing wrong!

    From the Washington Times:

    EXCLUSIVE: Senator’s husband’s firm cashes in on crisis

    Feinstein sought $25 billion for agency that awarded contract to spouse

    By Chuck Neubauer

    On the day the new Congress convened this year, Sen. Dianne Feinstein introduced legislation to route $25 billion in taxpayer money to a government agency that had just awarded her husband’s real estate firm a lucrative contract to sell foreclosed properties at compensation rates higher than the industry norms.

    Mrs. Feinstein’s intervention on behalf of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. was unusual: the California Democrat isn’t a member of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs with jurisdiction over FDIC; and the agency is supposed to operate from money it raises from bank-paid insurance payments – not direct federal dollars.

    Documents reviewed by The Washington Times show Mrs. Feinstein first offered Oct. 30 to help the FDIC secure money for its effort to stem the rise of home foreclosures. Her letter was sent just days before the agency determined that CB Richard Ellis Group (CBRE) – the commercial real estate firm that her husband Richard Blum heads as board chairman – had won the competitive bidding for a contract to sell foreclosed properties that FDIC had inherited from failed banks.

    About the same time of the contract award, Mr. Blum’s private investment firm reported to the Securities and Exchange Commission that it and related affiliates had purchased more than 10 million new shares in CBRE. The shares were purchased for the going price of $3.77; CBRE’s stock closed Monday at $5.14.

    Spokesmen for the FDIC, Mrs. Feinstein and Mr. Blum’s firm told The Times that there was no connection between the legislation and the contract signed Nov. 13, and that the couple didn’t even know about CBRE’s business with FDIC until after it was awarded.

    Senate ethics rules state that members must avoid conflicts of interest as well as “even the appearance of a conflict of interest.” Some ethics analysts question whether Mrs. Feinstein ran afoul of the latter provision, creating the appearance that she was rewarding the agency that had just hired her husband’s firm.

    “This clearly gives the appearance of a conflict of interest,” said Kent Cooper, a former federal regulator who specializes in government ethics and disclosures. “To maintain the people’s trust in government, it is incumbent on a legislator to take the extra steps necessary to ensure that when she introduces any legislation that it does not cause people to question her motives or the business activities of her spouse.” …

    http://washingtontimes.com/new.....on-crisis/

    Of course, as Feinstein is a Democrat, this will be the last you ever hear of this, where if she were a Republican, Senate Democrats would already be demanding she resign.

    Such is the natural order of things in Washington.

    • Liberals Demise
      April 22, 2009 at 1:44 pm

      Someone pull the gagballs out of the GOP’s mouth and issue them a real set of balls!! I’m sick of them sitting back and watching the whirl go by!! Is there one GOOD American among them?

    • jobeth
      April 22, 2009 at 9:55 pm

      LD, I’ve been wondering the same thing. We understand that there aren’t enough of them to stop much…but it would sure be nice if there was a the very least a cry of foul from them.

      Nothing…you hear nothing.

      Personally, I’m taking names and keeping records…I’m gonna vote against all of them come 2010. Rep or Dem. I’m claiming to be a conservative and all it means. I’ve had it with the Repubs.

      The don’t seem to have the gonads you are talking about. So if they don’t…I don’t want them working for me.

    • Liberals Demise
      April 22, 2009 at 10:19 pm

      jobeth, if I was up there I’d make such a ruckus and the rally cry would be heard,”COMMON SENSE”!
      I’d squeeze the shear fear out of the so called Grand Ol’ Party and whip up something of a front to stand and deleiver a voice of opposition together. This here and there crap ( 1 or 2 people ) has got to go and I mean go fast!!
      If it was up to me ….. I’d can the whole lot in the House and Senate and start anew with fresh faces and new blood. Neither side has the good of the country in view or at heart!!
      Bottom line : WE ARE NOT BEING HEARD!!

  20. BannedbytheTaliban
    April 22, 2009 at 12:52 pm

    This is a story that I find really important that isn’t getting much attention. It is however on every major news outlet, just hidden under all the other fluff news that gets reported these days.

    From CNN:

    Taliban claims victory near Islamabad

    By Ivan Watson
    CNN

    ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (CNN) — Taliban militants who implemented Islamic law in Pakistan’s violence-plagued Swat Valley last week have now taken control of a neighboring district.

    Control of the Buner district brings the Taliban closer to the capital, Islamabad, than they have been since they started their insurgency. Islamabad is 96 kiloemeters (60 miles) from the district.

    “Our strength is in the hundreds,” said Moulana Mohammad Khalil, as heavily armed men openly patrolled the roads in pickup trucks, singing Islamic anthems.

    ..Earlier this month, the militant movement made forays into Buner and clashed with locals before withdrawing.

    Now the Taliban appear to have returned in force – a move that indicates the recent government concessions may have emboldened the militants to expand their reach.

    The Pakistani government appears unable or unwilling to stop the Taliban’s steady advance deeper into the territory of this nuclear-armed country.

    In the days after the government’s April 13 decision to implement sharia law in Swat, pro-Taliban clerics have staged rallies in Swat and Islamabad. They have demanded the imposition of Islamic law across Pakistan and beyond.

    …Khan added that he would like to see sharia law implemented beyond Pakistan, even in America, a country he knows intimately. For four years, the Taliban spokesman lived in the United States, working as a painter near Boston, Massachusetts.

    http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/.....index.html

    Will Obama keep is promise to bomb Pakistan should the government be overthrown, again? To me it appears that the “democratically” elected government of Pakistan was just a puppet regime for the extremist after all:

    The Pakistani government appears unable or unwilling to stop the Taliban’s steady advance

    And how about this stunning declaration from the MSM (it also appears in the AP article Mr. Watson probably plagiarized from):

    a move that indicates the recent government concessions may have emboldened the militants to expand their reach.

    • JohnMG
      April 22, 2009 at 12:57 pm

      ……”Will Obama keep is promise to bomb Pakistan…..”

      More likely he will keep his other promise which is to side with the Islamists.

    • Odie44
      April 22, 2009 at 1:16 pm

      I am glad the Dope in Chief decided “Afghanistan” was where “the war shoudl be fought to defeat Al Queda”, while ok’ing drone hits within Pakistan, which have led to the resurgence of terrorists in a nuclear-ready state.

      Combine his failure to get any new troops for combat, from our Euro darling friends – and we now have a much bigger problem that taglines and J Crew photo ops can’t overcome: Complete destabalization of Islamic nations. Combine the savvy castration of the CIA and global intelligence groups – and deepening “Its the American-caused global recession” – and we are far worse off than we were just 94 days ago.

      So lets lay out the “War on Terror” scorecard under Bambi:

      Iraq: Increase in violence and death among Iraqi’s 5 fold in the past 2 months. Knowing our troops will be leaving soon, they are just get started. Grade: C-

      Afghanistan: The so-called “next” area of the war is seeing slow increases in American troops, but with pressure from Moron.org, Code Pink, etc – nothing more than an empty promise that will have an expiration date. Grade D

      Pakistan: See above Grade F

      South America: After getting the pretty photo-ops and accolades from the MSM as to “success” – each dictator is rallying anti-American sentiments by blasting Bambi the moment he leaves. Add in Russia’s desire to move military sites to Venezuela and Cuba (Ironic, eh???) – the very same country’s that Obama embarrassed America and himself – we know what is to come in the near future. Grade F

      Russia: Sitting back and laughing, perhaps even a bit embarrassed to realize – they could have saved trillions over 50 or so years with the Cold War by just backing a weak-limp wristed liberal for President, through a group called “ACORNZINSKY” Grade FF

      China: Still offering a new world currency to replace the one they are heavily invested in, hoping to pressure Treasury rate increases, regardless of crippling inflation and high default ratios. Behind the scenes – investing in military and technology, throguh the government to take market share away from America, through cozy Euro-Russian-Islamic nation agreements. Grade F

      You are failing Bambi. The difference is, instead of moving forward to your new job/degree/paygrade based on failed results that you “achieved” through life – we Americans along with honest worldwide people will suffer.

  21. BillK
    April 22, 2009 at 10:31 pm

    From a deeply troubled AP:

    Supreme Court to Hear White Firefighters’ Case on Affirmative Action

    WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court hears arguments today in a Connecticut firefighters’ civil rights case that has the potential to change hiring practices nationwide.

    The court will weigh whether New Haven’s decision to scrap a promotion exam because too few minorities passed violates the civil rights of top-scoring white applicants.

    The discrimination lawsuit was brought by 20 white firefighters — one also is Hispanic.

    The city argues going ahead with the promotions based on the test results would have risked a lawsuit claiming the exams had a “disparate impact” on minorities.

    A federal appeals court in New York upheld a lower court ruling dismissing the lawsuit.

    Business interests worry that a decision in favor of the firefighters would force employers to choose whether to face lawsuits from disgruntled white or minority workers. …

    http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,517448,00.html

    Damned if you do, damned if you don’t – the legacy of our modern court system.

  22. BillK
    April 22, 2009 at 10:35 pm

    Just keep promoting “bipartisanship” oh Chosen One while your followers are doing this (though allegedly not on your behalf.)

    From Fox News:

    Democrats Move Closer to ‘Fast Track’ for Obama Health Care Plan

    WASHINGTON — Democrats moved one step closer Wednesday to using a controversial budget procedure to speed passage of President Obama’s health care legislation.

    House Democrats went on record again in favor of advancing the legislation while allowing only limited debate, which would hobble the ability of Republicans to wrest concessions on one of Obama’s top domestic priorities.

    By a 227-196 vote, the House affirmed Democrats’ plans to move health care legislation under rules that block Republicans in the Senate from being able to slow progress of the legislation — or even stop it, through a filibuster.

    The vote came as senior House and Senate Democrats negotiated the issue in private talks on the 2010 budget. Republicans are passionately against the idea of putting health care on a “fast track,” saying it is too important and too complicated to be rushed through Congress under rules permitting just 20 hours of Senate debate.

    But the White House is insisting on having the fast-track process — known as “reconciliation” under the arcane rules governing the congressional budget process — available to them, though it claims a preference is for a bipartisan measure.

    As a practical matter, passing health care measures under fast-track procedures would give Democrats far more control over the details of the legislation. It would reduce the influence of not only Republicans but also conservative Senate Democrats.

    But it also would provoke howls of outrage from Republicans claiming that filibuster-proof reconciliation legislation is not intended to be used to pass sweeping measures such as Obama’s health care overhaul, which they argue would drastically increase the size of government and the taxes needed to pay for it. It likely would mean that Republicans would abandon the health care effort and engage in scorched-earth tactics against it. …

    http://www.foxnews.com/politic.....re-debate/

    Of course the Democrats have a prepared “Bush defense”:

    But Democrats say the Republican outrage is misplaced given the GOP’s use of fast-track procedures to pass President George W. Bush’s 2001 and 2003 tax cut bills.

    Hmmm, tax cuts or socializing one of the largest sectors of the American economy and one with which people interact daily.

    Yeah, I guess they’re the same if you’re a liberal Democrat.

    • Liberals Demise
      April 22, 2009 at 10:52 pm

      Yeah….look what the hurry up Tarp Bill that everyone read (sarc) has done for us so far. Why bother with 20 hours of debate? The Dems are gonna fast track us into a quick monetary collapse.
      Just in time from an Obama Christmas. (as if muslims celebrate Xmas…….they celebrate beheading humans and BlackBarry will lop the head off this country)

  23. BillK
    April 23, 2009 at 10:28 am

    From a deeply amused Hollywood Reporter:

    Drama at GE shareholders meeting

    Fox News producer infiltrates event; ‘hostility’ over MSNBC

    By Paul Bond

    The hostility between Fox News Channel and MSNBC reached a fever pitch Wednesday when a Fox producer infiltrated the GE shareholders meeting.

    Just before GE re-elected board members, company brass were hit with questions from shareholders critical of an alleged leftward political slant at MSNBC.

    But one of those questions came from Jesse Waters, a producer on “The O’Reilly Factor” whose criticisms were cut short when his microphone was cut off, according to several attendees. Waters apparently did not publicly identify himself as a Fox employee.

    Waters has built a reputation as an ambush interviewer, specializing in on-the-street confrontations. But this is arguably the boldest move by a Fox newsie to utilize the tactic inside their chief rival’s tent, as it were.

    O’Reilly and MSNBC anchor Keith Olbermann have been involved in a running feud for several years, but the pissing match between the two has of late started to envelope other parts of the News Corp. and GE empires.

    GE pointed out that Waters had Fox News cameras waiting outside the Orlando meeting.

    Attendees who spoke to THR said shareholders asked about 10 politically charged questions concerning MSNBC as well as one about CNBC.

    First up was a woman asking about a reported meeting in which Immelt and NBC Uni CEO Jeff Zucker supposedly told top CNBC executives and talent to be less critical of President Obama and his policies.

    Immelt acknowledged a meeting took place but said no one at CNBC was told what to say or not to say about politics.

    During the woman’s follow-up question, her microphone was apparently cut off. A short time later, Waters asked a question and his mic was cut, too.

    “The crowd was very upset with MSNBC because of its leftward tilt,” one attendee said. “Some former employees said they were embarrassed by it.”

    When he got the floor, Waters focused his question about MSNBC on Olbermann’s interview of actress Janeane Garofalo, who likened conservatives to racists and spoke of “the limbic brain inside a right-winger.”

    “He (Waters) was complaining that Olbermann didn’t bother to challenge her,” another GE shareholder said. …

    http://www.hollywoodreporter.c.....775e31310b

    Funny, when the left does this type of thing all the time, it never even gets a mention.

    Michael Moore made a career out of this kind of crap; did he identify himself as a liberal anti-capitalist filmmaker when filming at GM? Of course not.

    Or when making any of his other films, for that matter.

  24. pdsand
    April 23, 2009 at 3:01 pm

    From Charlie Rose (sick) last night, and CBS:

    “Bloomberg Announces NYC Green Buildings Initiative

    “While many people think of green buildings as being new buildings, the fact is that making existing buildings more energy efficient is the key challenge for our economic and environmental health,” Bloomberg said.

    The mayor, along with City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, unveiled a plan to improve the energy efficiency of existing buildings and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by creating the New York City Energy Code.

    “Anytime a renovation takes place in one of New York City’s one million buildings , this work would be required to conform to a set of easily-applied standards,” Quinn said.

    Green standards are outlined in the code and three other new bills, and will require:

    * buildings 50,000 thousand square feet or more to upgrade lighting systems to be more energy efficient

    complete energy audits once every ten years

    building owners submit to a yearly analysis of energy consumption…”

    http://wcbstv.com/politics/ear.....91540.html

    I caught this on the Charlie Rose show last night, and the panel was the executive director of Greenpeace, Bloomberg (D) and of course the toad speaker of the city council. They all kept talking about how this is a market solution to the problem, and how the building owners love it and are on board because they’ll supposedly make money off it. I still haven’t stopped laughing then puking.

    • pdsand
      April 23, 2009 at 3:13 pm

      That’s right, by making building owners scramble to reduce their emissions and increase their efficiency by a certain percentage every year, they are “creating a market for green technology”. Vis a vis, government regulation is a market solution! Man if you just drink the kool-aid it tastes so GOOD!

      I also learned that city governments tend to really get in people’s business and mandate these sorts of things in response to liberal hysteria because they are “more practical” than legislatures and congress, who only sit around and bicker about politics. It’s certainly not because demographics universally make city-dwellers tend more liberally hysterical than the country as a whole. And the conservatives in congress certainly aren’t basing their objections on the Constitution, or anything impractical like that.

  25. BillK
    April 23, 2009 at 4:27 pm

    Obama continues to feel his oats.

    From Televiision Week:

    President Asks for Primetime Slot in May Sweeps

    By Josef Adalian

    The President Obama Show will be making an appearance in the May sweeps.

    Officials from the Obama administration have asked the major broadcast networks for up to an hour of primetime next Wednesday at 8, according to sources familiar with the request. Mr. Obama wants the time for a news conference outlining his first 100 days in office.

    The end of those first 100 days comes on April 29, and at least one cable news channel, CNN, had already announced plans for a major Election Night-style coverage extravaganza.

    By scheduling a press conference on the night, the president is positioning himself to directly participate in the debate over his early performance.

    There’s no word yet on whether the broadcast networks will agree to the White House request, though one network insider said it’s all but a given they will.

    Programmers have been peeved at President Obama’s numerous primetime appearances since taking office, because every unscheduled speech or press conference results in a loss of ad revenue.

    The latest appearance falls on the first Wednesday of the May sweeps, which means networks also will have to reschedule some key programming.

    http://www.tvweek.com/news/200.....time_s.php

    Any second thoughts, guys?

    Stations and networks are barely staying afloat with the loss of advertisers, and El Presidente comes along and demands an hour of prime time during a prime revenue-generating period to do nothing more than an hour of PR.

    It’s not an address to the nation but so he can talk about what he’s done.

    • pdsand
      April 23, 2009 at 6:29 pm

      Well the Obama show needs to rate highly in sweeps, or else he’ll lose ad revenue and prestige. Being a hollywood celebrity, Obama knows what he’s doing.

    • Rusty Shackleford
      April 24, 2009 at 8:49 pm

      “heh-heh….Ain’t I sumthin’?”

  26. canary
    April 24, 2009 at 1:47 am

    Pelosi was there and okayed waterboarding. Also, I noticed Jane Harman was there too. Rep Jane Harman was is presently being investigated after being wire-tapped, is listed in the 2nd link along with all the other reps being investigated. y

    http://www.washingtonpost.com/.....01664.html

    Rep Jane Harman who approved waterboarding with Pelosi has new major problems as do other politicans under investigation.
    http://www.sourcewatch.org/ind.....estigation

    Hill Briefed on Waterboarding in 2002
    In Meetings, Spy Panels’ Chiefs Did Not Protest, Officials Say

    By Joby Warrick and Dan Eggen
    Washington Post Staff Writers
    Sunday, December 9, 2007; A01

    In September 2002, four members of Congress met in secret for a first look at a unique CIA program designed to wring vital information from reticent terrorism suspects in U.S. custody. For more than an hour, the bipartisan group, which included current House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), was given a virtual tour of the CIA’s overseas detention sites and the harsh techniques interrogators had devised to try to make their prisoners talk.

    Among the techniques described, said two officials present, was waterboarding, a practice that years later would be condemned as torture by Democrats and some Republicans on Capitol Hill. But on that day, no objections were raised. Instead, at least two lawmakers in the room asked the CIA to push harder, two U.S. officials said.

    “The briefer was specifically asked if the methods were tough enough,” said a U.S. official who witnessed the exchange.

    Congressional leaders from both parties would later seize on waterboarding as a symbol of the worst excesses of the Bush administration’s counterterrorism effort. The CIA last week admitted that videotape of an interrogation of one of the waterboarded detainees was destroyed in 2005 against the advice of Justice Department and White House officials, provoking allegations that its actions were illegal and the destruction was a coverup.

    Yet long before “waterboarding” entered the public discourse, the CIA gave key legislative overseers about 30 private briefings, some of which included descriptions of that technique and other harsh interrogation methods, according to interviews with multiple U.S. officials with firsthand knowledge.

    With one known exception, no formal objections were raised by the lawmakers briefed about the harsh methods during the two years in which waterboarding was employed, from 2002 to 2003, said Democrats and Republicans with direct knowledge of the matter. The lawmakers who held oversight roles during the period included Pelosi and Rep. Jane Harman (D-Calif.) and Sens. Bob Graham (D-Fla.) and John D. Rockefeller IV (D-W.Va.), as well as Rep. Porter J. Goss (R-Fla.) and Sen. Pat Roberts (R-Kan)…

  27. canary
    April 24, 2009 at 3:07 am

    Holder plays the I don’t recall game, not my job discription, gives confusing answer to prosecuting. Guess he’s picking up Obama’s game playing.

    [From the Associated Press:]

    Holder won’t selectively release terror memos

    By Devlin Barrett, Associated Press Writer
    Thu Apr 23

    WASHINGTON – Attorney General Eric Holder told Congress on Thursday he won’t play “hide and seek” with secret memos about harsh interrogations of terror suspects and their effectiveness. In testimony before the House Appropriations Committee, Holder said he’s willing to release as much information as possible about the interrogations.

    Several members of the committee pressed him about the Justice Department’s release last week of four long-secret legal memos detailing the harsh techniques used on some detainees during the Bush administration.

    “It is certainly the intention of this administration not to play hide and seek, or not to release certain things,” said Holder. “It is not our intention to try to advance a political agenda or to try to hide things from the American people.” …

    http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/200.....errogation

    • Steve
      April 24, 2009 at 10:58 am

      Thanks for posting, Canary. But you really have to get into the habit of excerpting.

      Please post less than a third of the original article whenever possible.

      Also please cite the original source and follow the format layout posted in the link at the start of the thread. (Or just format like BillK does.)

      I don’t really have the time to edit all of these posts. And I will be forced to delete those that do not excerpt enough.

    • snix
      April 24, 2009 at 11:35 am

      I would like to thank all of the posters who take the time to post news here.

      And I especially appreciate those who use the format that Steve suggests.

      It really does make the posts much easier to follow.

      Otherwise, I think this thread would get very confusing.

  28. JohnMG
    April 24, 2009 at 8:11 am

    …..“It is certainly the intention of this administration not to play hide and seek, or not to release certain things,” said Holder. “It is not our intention to try to advance a political agenda or to try to hide things from the American people…..”

    Yup. Count on him doing the exact opposite of what he’s just said. This is Obama’s M O but the MSM will give him another pass. As far as Holder upholding the law, one need look no further than his handling of the Marc Rich pardon for Bill Clinton to realize that he doesn’t even recognize the law, much less uphold it.

    • proreason
      April 24, 2009 at 10:16 am

      This country has never had a president and administration that puts politics above the country. Even Carter and Clinton didn’t do that.

      Every action, EVERY ACTION that this administration takes is designed solely to consolidate power and crush the political opposition.

      Obama would gladly accept a nuclear attack on a Red State if he could remove term limits on the presidency. To that point, he sits idly by as the Taliban takes over Pakistan. He does nothing as Iran acquires the bomb.

      These people are evil to the bone. They are not a natural extension of partisan politics or normal change of opinion in the country.

      They mean to destroy America as we know it. And they have already done much that is irreversible.

  29. BillK
    April 24, 2009 at 2:22 pm

    The AP is nothing if not persistent in their propaganda war.

    Nearly 3 in 10 say Fox News too tough on Obama

    NEW YORK – Nearly three in 10 Americans say Fox News Channel has been too critical of President Barack Obama.

    Pollsters for the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press found a partisan divide. Forty-four percent of Democrats say Fox has been too tough on Obama, while 18 percent of Republicans said that.

    Either way, Fox has a winning formula: Fox News has solidified its hold on first place in the ratings since Obama took office, with Bill O’Reilly and Glenn Back’s shows doing particularly well.

    Although MSNBC has positioned itself as a left-leaning network in prime time and CNN says it tries to be nonpartisan, an identical 16 percent of Americans each found those networks too easy on the new president. …

    http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/200.....XIlTKuGL8C

    Note how the AP is spinning this because there’s no mention in the headline of the “Nearly 2 in 10 say CNN, MSNBC too easy on Obama.”

    Huh.

    As far as the 18% of Republicans, that sounds like the same group that actually voted for McCain in the primaries…

    • jobeth
      April 24, 2009 at 2:52 pm

      “less than 3 in 10 say we Fox is to hard on Obama? I read it as more than 7 in 10 say Fox is on the right track.

      I’m surprised they would admit those numbers! Says a lot for Fox in my book. Altho they have their problems too, they are the best we have.

    • Colonel1961
      April 24, 2009 at 10:40 pm

      CNN says it tries to be nonpartisan? That is beyond the pale. They are just inches from MSNBC in their pro-Obama cheerleading. Nonpartisan my rear…

  30. BillK
    April 24, 2009 at 2:27 pm

    Hey, it’s only money.

    From a delighted AP:

    GM is getting another $2 billion in federal loans

    WASHINGTON – General Motors is getting another $2 billion in federal loans, while Chrysler is trying to work out a deal to keep it out of bankruptcy courts.

    The Treasury Department says it has provided General Motors Corp. with more money in federal loans as the giant automaker struggles to restructure. The Treasury said that the payment was made to GM on Wednesday and provides working capital to the company.

    Meanwhile, with a government-imposed deadline for massive restructuring less than a week away, Chrysler LLC and Treasury Department officials are still holding out hope that they can reach deals to keep the troubled automaker out of bankruptcy courts, two people briefed on the talks said Friday.

    The wounded automaker already is living on $4 billion in government loans and could get another $500 million in temporary financing. Chrysler must take on Fiat Group SpA as a partner, cut debt and reduce labor costs by Thursday if it wants an additional $6 billion.

    A government report revealed earlier this week that the Treasury was prepared to provide GM with up to $5 billion more in federal loans and Chrysler with up to $500 million more in bailout support as they race against deadlines to restructure.

    GM has until June 1 to complete restructuring plans that satisfy the government’s auto task force, while Chrysler has until April 30.

    Absent completed deals, the Obama administration has said it won’t lend any more money, and without more cash, Chrysler almost certainly would be auctioned off in pieces under court supervision.

    As talks continue, Chrysler and the Treasury Department are preparing paperwork for bankruptcy filings, one as a reorganization in Chapter 11 with government funding and the other as a liquidation if no government money is available, both people said. …

    http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_.....V0dGluZ2E-

    So the money isn’t going to keep GM out of bankruptcy, so it’s for what, lawyers’ salaries?

    Meanwhile another $2 billion of (pick one) taxpayer money/money printed out of thin air swirls around the toilet following GM into its inevitable Chapter 11 hole.

    I’m sure glad Obama’s told his people to “cut” $100 million from the budget, aren’t you?

    • Odie44
      April 24, 2009 at 2:30 pm

      http://finance.yahoo.com/news/.....25881.html

      On the other side of Detroit – things are looking up for the Ford folks who didn’t take bailout money.

      I suggest we track both companies, sales, stock price, etc – for the next 2 years and see who works out in the end.

      The fact Ford didn’t eat up $50B so far, puts them way ahead in the race…

    • JohnMG
      April 24, 2009 at 3:41 pm

      Maybe.

      On the other hand, when GM and Chrysler are being dictated to because of their acceptance of government loans, they will remain immune from onerous legislations or be given inside information and incentives designed to drive the remaining free-market, capitalist U S automaker to her knees and into submission to Obama’s socialist agenda.

      How long does anyone think Ford can prevail when every asset at the government’s disposal will be used against her success? This is the same government that directs the IRS to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to collect an $800 delinquency in tax revenues, all while elevating blatant tax-cheats to cabinet positions.

      Think about a free-market corporation that guarantees/warrantees their product having to compete with company(s) whose warranty program is underwritten by Uncle Obama. This is fair?! Obviously not, but that’s how the ‘new’ rules are being written. If the MSM and Obama will seek to ruin “Joe the Plumber” for a mere question, if Obama forces banks to take funds they don’t want and refuses to take back the money after the fact in order to keep them under the government thumb, if Obama & Co. will sic the DHS on military veterans, people adhering to the Second Amendment, people holding anti-abortion views, and people disagreeing with government dictats that embrace socialism, what makes anyone think he won’t ruin a huge corporation that operates counter to his wishes. It’s only a matter of time.

      Ford will be punished for her success, if for no other reason than to teach the rest of us a lesson. Wait and see.

    • Odie44
      April 24, 2009 at 3:57 pm

      JohnMG –

      I believe your opinion is valid and could possibly come true, but the mechanics of supply and demand are at hand here (what we have left) and if betting on a horse – Ill take the free market one over the Gov propped up one, even with their backs against the wall as you pointed out. And for the record – isn’t this Chryslers 3rd bailout in the past 30 years? Additionally, they have that failure – Nardelli, who destroyed Home Depot in less than 3 years and was hand picked, most likely because he a) is a business failure, making a few million a year like the Bambi cabinet and b) will willingly go lalong with whatever Uncle Sam says, to keep said millions. If that alone isnt hypocrisy – being Bambi wants to go after “the rich white folk” , I don’t kow what is.

      I beleive Ford can build a successful campaign around their ability to go alone – and as the Q1 report shows – are doing much better than GM/Chrysler funded company’s, by a long shot and can win over American consumers fro core truck/car sales. GM and Chrysler are doing nothing, nada, zilch to grow sales – and are doing everything to stave off absolute bankruptcy. Even Bambi can’t give and print enough money to make up for this.

      The stock market will let us know how things will go. Here is the last 3 months between GM and Ford:

      http://finance.yahoo.com/echar.....M;range=3m
      http://finance.yahoo.com/echar.....F;range=3m

      As long as Bambi defies capitalism through bailouts – he will lose in the capital markets every day of the week. As long as he punishes success on Wall Street, he will fail.

    • JohnMG
      April 24, 2009 at 4:22 pm

      My sympathies are with Ford, as well. But consider this. GM and Chrysler will get the benefit of government largese while Ford will be required to ‘go it alone’. The UAW will grant concessions to the ’sick, lame, and lazy’ because they and the Party-in-Power are joined at the hip, while Ford, being deemed a success, will be considered fair game by the union–all with Obama’s blessing. And should Ford fail after the fact, the coup will be completed.

      Even if Ford did manage to garner the lion’s share of the other two’s faltering sales, etc, the capacity to absorb those gains wouldn’t necessarily translate into jobs for those who lost them at the other companies. I have a friend who is normally quite sensible, yet he’s convinced that the unions don’t share any blame for the current fate of the U S automakers. (He also votes for democrats all the time.) People like that won’t take the necessary medicine because they refuse to admit they are sick.

      I drive Fords as do almost all of my relation. All of my business vehicles are Fords, not for the reasons mentioned above, but because my past experiences, going back over 50 years, have given me confidence in their products, services, and warranties. And I realize that union labor builds Fords just like the others, so I’m not anti-union per se. But some of those fools in government and the UAW need to re-read about the goose that laid the “Golden Egg”.

      Not Obama, though. He has an entirely different agenda.

    • Odie44
      April 24, 2009 at 4:47 pm

      John –

      I think you just gave the reasoning for Reps to compare the 2 companies ramping up for 2010.
      Gov subsidized company: Fail
      Free market company: Success

      I dont disagree with your sentiments, but as a guy who works in brand building – I will bet the true brand vs a propped up one will win, starting with sales.

      Unions have become the whipping post (in fact, led to FIAT walking away from a Chrysler merger – ouch!) but even foreign companies who manufacture in America, with unionized labor are doing a hell of a lot better than GM and Chrysler. I find the dynamic interesting – because down south, where many foreign based comapny’s are manufacturing – there isn’t that “buy America only”, just the opposite – its “but a car from a company who gainfully employs you” NASCAR were concerned about foreign ownership (being they werent American, in an American sport) – but are reaping benefits across the board, again due to popular drivers switching to foreign cars.

      The backlash never happened in both instances – primarily due to state tax breaks for company’s to move there. Alabama, Georgia, Tenn., Miss, etc are fourishing with brands like Hyndai, Toyota, Nissan being built in their back yard.

      Union payouts to the lazy are overhead costs – the worst thing GM and Chrysler need right now, even with Bambi’s posturing. So they can make all the gov funded concessions – which does nothing to spur sales. Its been their legacy problem for years now.

      All in all (I may be naive) – but trust the person employed over the hand out crowd, when pitted against each other. Also remember – Michigan went Dem – and could be in play in 2012 – purposely killing Ford would have disasterous effects.

      It will be an interesting comparison and feel pro Ford, pro capitalism folks should show these glaring differences as much as possible.

    • Odie44
      April 24, 2009 at 5:33 pm

      From Yahoo:

      http://news.yahoo.com/s/ynews/ynews_pl311

      Interesting look at Bamb’s polls. MOst love him, while most think his policies are going in the wrong direction – and John – I want to point out the perception of people, when comparing “big gov, vs big business vs big union:

      That certainly doesn’t mean Americans are confident all around. While Obama himself may be polling well, some of his policies — and the government as a whole — aren’t. A recent Rasmussen poll found that 60% of Americans think the federal government has too much power and too much money. The bank bailouts, which began before Obama was president, didn’t fare any better: 59% of voters say they were a bad idea, while 60% say the Chrysler and GM bailouts were a bad idea. In Gallup’s long-running question of who the biggest threat to America is — big government, big business or big labor — big government still leads 55% to 32% to 10%, respectively…

      I will take the Ford bet…

      The fact they mention Carter had 75% approval 100 days in lets us know something very important: People who “feel good” are being lied to. When you promise everything from free this, to bail out that – people’s feelings rise. Of course the net effect is unattainable – but important to note: people love being lied to.

    • JohnMG
      April 24, 2009 at 9:55 pm

      I’ll take part of that bet, Odie. Like I said, I’m pulling for free enterprise and capitalism, especially if the deck isn’t stacked. But when the butcher has his thumb on the scale…….well, you never know how it’ll play out.

    • bullforever
      April 24, 2009 at 11:36 pm

      MSNBC Poll…Obama recieves failing grade:

      http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29493093/

      3 million, random hits on MSNBC of all places…and the MSM still claims this azz hole is on the right track?

  31. BillK
    April 24, 2009 at 2:34 pm

    Wow – how bad is the threat when Time Magazine is making a note of it?

    From Time:

    Does Pakistan’s Taliban Surge Raise a Nuclear Threat?

    By Mark Thompson

    When asked last year about the security of Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal, Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman Admiral Mike Mullen didn’t hesitate: “I’m very comfortable that the nuclear weapons in Pakistan are secure,” he said flatly. Asked the same question earlier this month, his answer had changed. “I’m reasonably comfortable,” he said, “that the nuclear weapons are secure.”

    As America’s top military officer, Mullen has traveled regularly to Pakistan – twice in just the past two weeks – for talks with his Pakistani counterpart, General Ashfaq Kayani, and others. And like all those who have risen to four-star rank, Mullen chooses his words with extreme care. Replacing “very comfortable” with “reasonably comfortable” is a decidedly discomforting signal of Washington’s concern that no matter how well-guarded the nukes may be today, the chaos now enveloping Pakistan doesn’t bode well for their status tomorrow or the day after.

    The prospect of turmoil in Pakistan sends shivers up the spines of those U.S. officials charged with keeping tabs on foreign nuclear weapons. Pakistan is thought to possess about 100 – the U.S. isn’t sure of the total, and may not know where all of them are. Still, if Pakistan collapses, the U.S. military is primed to enter the country and secure as many of those weapons as it can, according to U.S. officials.

    The U.S. has been keeping a watchful eye on Pakistan’s nukes since it first detonated a series of devices a decade ago. “Pakistan has taken important steps to safeguard its nuclear weapons, although vulnerabilities still exist,” Army General Michael Maples, chief of the Defense Intelligence Agency, told the Senate Armed Services Committee last month. Then, he immediately turned to the threat posed by al-Qaeda, which, along with the Taliban, is sowing unrest in Pakistan. “Al-Qaeda continues efforts to acquire chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear materials,” he said, “and would not hesitate to use such weapons if the group develops sufficient capabilities.”

    The concern in Washington is less that al-Qaeda or the Taliban would manage to actually seize Pakistan’s nuclear weapons, but instead that increasingly-radicalized younger Pakistanis are finding their way into military and research circles where they may begin to play a growing role in the nation’s nuclear-weapons program. Pakistani officials insist their personnel safeguards are stringent, but a sleeper cell could cause big trouble, U.S. officials say.

    Nowhere in the world is the gap between would-be terror-martyrs and the nuclear weapons they crave as small as it is in Pakistan. Nor is their much comfort in the fact that Abdul Qadeer Khan, the father of Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal who was recently ordered freed from house arrest by the country’s supreme court, was the Johnny Appleseed of nuclear proliferation, dispatching the atomic genie to Iran, Libya and North Korea. But U.S. and Pakistani officials insist it is important to separate Pakistan’s poor proliferation record with what is, by all accounts, a modern and multilayered system designed to protect its nuclear weapons from falling into the wrong hands. …

    http://news.yahoo.com/s/time/2.....Bha2lzdGFu

    Well, as long as they have a “modern, multilayered” system in place to protect them…

    As I said, when Time starts raising a red flag about this during His administration, you know it’s got to be a matter of concern…

  32. BillK
    April 24, 2009 at 2:40 pm

    Having read more than one postulation in the past that a good way to spread a bioweapon is to infect the population of Mexico and wait for it to cross the border, this is more than just a bit disconcerting.

    From the socialists at Reuters:

    Deadly new flu breaks out in Mexico, U.S.

    By Alistair Bell and Noel Randewich Alistair Bell And Noel Randewich

    MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – A deadly strain of flu never seen before has killed as many as 61 people in Mexico and has spread into the United States, where several people were reported ill.

    Mexico’s government said on Friday that at least 16 people have died of the disease in central Mexico and that it may also have been responsible for 45 other deaths.

    The World Health Organization said genetic tests of the virus in 12 of the Mexican victims had the same genetic structure as a new strain of swine flu, designated H1N1, seen in seven people in California and Texas.

    Because there is clearly human-to-human spread of the new virus, raising fears of a major outbreak, Mexico’s government canceled classes for millions of children in its sprawling capital city and surrounding areas.

    “It is a virus that mutated from pigs and then at some point was transmitted to humans,” Health Minister Jose Angel Cordova said.

    It first looked mostly like a swine virus but closer analysis showed it is a never-before-seen mixture of swine, human and avian viruses, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

    Humans can occasionally catch swine flu from pigs but rarely have they been known to pass it on to other people.

    Seven people were infected with the new strain in California and Texas, but all of them have recovered. Mexico said it had close to 1,000 suspected cases there.

    Worldwide, seasonal flu kills between 250,000 and 500,000 people in an average year, but the flu season for North America should have been winding down.

    The White House was closely following the new cases in the United States and Mexico, and President Barack Obama has been informed, an administration official said.

    The Mexican government cautioned people not to shake hands or kiss when greeting or to share food, glasses or cutlery for fear of infection.

    The outbreak jolted residents of the Mexican capital, one of the world’s biggest cities and home to some 20 million people.

    One pharmacy ran out of surgical face masks after selling 300 in a day.

    “We’re frightened because they say it’s not exactly flu, it’s another kind of virus and we’re not vaccinated,” said Angeles Rivera, 34, a federal government worker who fetched her son from a public kindergarten that was closing.

    The virus is an influenza A virus, carrying the designation H1N1. It contains DNA from avian, swine and human viruses, including elements from European and Asian swine viruses, the CDC has said.

    The Geneva-based U.N. agency WHO said it was in daily contact with U.S., Canadian and Mexican authorities and had activated its Strategic Health Operations Center (SHOC) — its command and control center for acute public health events.

    The CDC said it will issue daily updates at http://www.cdc.gov/flu/swine/investigation.htm.

    Surveillance for and scrutiny of influenza has been stepped up since 2003, when H5N1 bird flu reappeared in Asia. Experts fear this strain, or another strain, could spark a pandemic that could kill millions. …

    http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/us_.....FkbHlzd2k-

    Time to reread Stephen King’s The Stand…

  33. BillK
    April 24, 2009 at 7:43 pm

    Proving yet again that the ACLU has nothing to do with their time.

    From the Denver Post:

    Vanity plates catch ACLU’s eye

    By Tom McGhee

    The American Civil Liberties Union has fired the first shot in what could turn into a legal battle over the state’s control of what messages may appear on personalized license plates.

    Colorado chapter legal director Mark Silverstein earlier this week asked the Colorado Department of Revenue for records including copies of plate applications denied since Jan. 1, 2007, because they were considered “offensive to the general public,” or “offensive to good taste and decency.”

    Revenue department spokesman Mark Couch said he had received the request and the agency will comply with the Colorado Open Records Act.

    The ACLU became interested in the case after a Centennial woman was denied a plate with a message trumpeting her affection for tofu.

    Kelley Coffman-Lee, 38, asked the Revenue Department’s Division of Motor Vehicles to approve a special plate emblazoned with “ILVTOFU” for her Suzuki SL-7.

    But “FU” is on a long list of letter combinations barred by the division because someone could interpret the letters as an abbreviated obscenity.

    Courts have held that when the state sets up a program allowing personalized license plates, a decision whether to approve the message must comply with the First Amendment, Silverstein said.

    A standard such as “offensive to good taste and decency” is too vague, subjective and indefinite to survive a First Amendment challenge, he said. …

    http://www.denverpost.com/breakingnews/ci_12213302

    I can hardly wait until they approve the first “BUSHIT” plate but find some reason to reject “NOBAMA.”

  34. BillK
    April 24, 2009 at 7:48 pm

    Awww, it’s so sad.

    From a depressed AP:

    Civil libertarians feel let down by Obama

    By Mark Sherman

    WASHINGTON — The Obama administration is asking the Supreme Court to overrule a long-standing law that stops police from initiating questions unless a defendant’s lawyer is present, another example of the White House seeking to limit rather than expand rights.

    The administration’s action is one of several that have disappointed civil rights and civil liberties groups that expected President Barack Obama to reverse the policies of his Republican predecessor, George W. Bush, after the Democrat’s call for change during the 2008 campaign.

    Since taking office, Obama has drawn criticism for backing the continued imprisonment of enemy combatants in Afghanistan without trial, invoking the “state secrets” privilege to avoid releasing information in lawsuits, and limiting the rights of prisoners to test genetic evidence used to convict them.

    The case at issue is Michigan vs. Jackson, in which the Supreme Court said in 1986 that police may not initiate questioning of a defendant who has a lawyer or has asked for one, unless the attorney is present.

    The decision applies even to defendants who agree to talk to the authorities without their lawyers.

    Anything police learn through such questioning cannot be used against the defendant at trial. The opinion was written by Justice John Paul Stevens, the only current justice who was on the court at the time.

    The justices could decide as early as today whether they want to hear arguments on the issue as they wrestle with an ongoing case from Louisiana that involves police questioning of an indigent defendant that led to a murder confession and a death sentence.

    The Justice Department, in a brief signed by Solicitor General Elena Kagan, said the 1986 decision “serves no real purpose” and offers only “meager benefits.”

    The government said defendants who don’t wish to talk to police don’t have to and that officers must respect that decision. But it said there is no reason a defendant who wants to should not be able to respond to officers’ questions. …

    http://www.denverpost.com/ci_12213406

    Personally I’m shocked this story was even published.

  35. proreason
    April 24, 2009 at 10:24 pm

    Gee, who could have guessed that there would be 20 criminal investigations into TARP wrongdoing already? From a report by the Special Investigator General of the Troubled Asset Relief Program:

    Special Report

    …Both from the Hotline and from other leads, SIGTARP has initiated, to date, almost 20 preliminary and full criminal investigations.…

    http://sigtarp.gov/reports/con.....ngress.pdf

    Boy, this is really shocking.

    Of course, I knew, because I’ve been told once or twice by our trustworthy president, how corrupt and evil private business is, but I was certain, absolutely certain, that our beloved government betters would never ever allow even a single corrupt practice with the 700 Billion dollars we faithfully entrusted to their oversight.

    Luckily, we can be sure nothing will ever go wrong with the tens of trillions that we’ll be forking out for medical care for illegal aliens and in-country deadbeats who voted for our Saviour. That program will be on the honor system.

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