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US Politics
Up one levelElection'08, pontification, spin and pandering.
Hillary Clinton: The new survivor
Once again, she sprouts a flower in a pile of manure. See also: "Shocked"
Baucus Watch, Part III
As chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, Senator Max Baucus holds the keys to health-care reform; any health-care legislation must pass through his committee. So what he says or doesn’t say is important to those following the twists and turns of the congressional effort to fix our health-care system. This is the third of an occasional series of posts on...
Saxby Chambliss wins Georgia runoff
Chambliss won a resounding victory over Martin, capturing a second term and ending Dem hopes of a 60-seat majority. See also: Franken's claim
Why Susan Rice Won't Be Calling John Bolton For Advice Any Time Soon
At the Chicago rollout yesterday of president-elect Barack Obama's national security team, between the surprising continuity of keeping Robert Gates as defense secretary and nominating Hillary Clinton to head the State department--not to mention the onstage repetition of bromides like "bipartisanship" and "pragmatism"--it was easy to forget what a seismic change Susan Rice will bring as ambassador to the United Nations. It's not just that, as Matt Yglesias points out, Rice will assume a "cabinet-rank" position as UN ambassador that gives her more sway than perhaps even Bush UN ambassador John Bolton, whose indifference to his own jurisdiction was legendary. [...]
Gates Vows Active Role in Staying On at Pentagon
Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said he agreed with what he termed President-elect Barack Obama’s “responsible drawdown” plan in Iraq.
AG Nominee Faces Questions Over Pardon of Fugitive
by Ben Protess , ProPublica - When Eric Holder appears before Congress next year, seeking confirmation as attorney general, lingering ghosts from his role in the Marc Rich pardon scandal could come back to haunt him. As today’s New York Times details, while Holder was deputy attorney general, he was more deeply involved in Bill Clinton’s 2001 pardon of the fugitive billionaire than typically understood. Rich fled the U.S. for Switzerland after facing indictment in 1983 on charges that he evaded taxes on tens of millions of dollars. At the time, it was the biggest tax fraud case in American [...]
Midnight Regs Update: Pollution in National Parks And More!
by Jesse Nankin , ProPublica - We have more proposed and finalized regulations from the Bush administration to share. Six, to be precise. Today’s additions to our Midnight Regulations chart include rules that affect our national parks, the approval and labeling of genetically-modified food, and public access to information from the Department of Housing and Urban Development. A rule from the Environmental Protection Agency seeks to change the way air pollution is measured in wilderness areas and in national parks. Rather than monitoring emissions in 3- and 24-hour intervals, pollution levels would be averaged over the year. The rule, critics [...]
Midnight Reg Watch: More Conflicts for Investment Advisers
by Sharona Coutts , ProPublica - The Bush administration is rushing to pass a regulation that would relax the rules on when investment advisers can recommend products sold by their own companies, despite protests from consumer groups who say the changes could put retirement savings at risk. ProPublica has been keeping a tally of midnight regulations pushed through the rule-making process in the final days before the new administration takes power. The proposed regulation (PDF) (scroll all the way down to page...49,919) on investment advisers comes from the Department of Labor, and builds on changes made by the Pension Protection [...]
FDR's bold brain trust versus Obama's timid wonks
Roosevelt came into office with a brain trust ready to enact change. Are Obama's brainiacs up to that task -- or are they too beholden to the Clintonian, neoliberal past?
Obama Asks Governors for Input
Obama urged the nation's governors for help in designing a bottom-up recovery plan, repeating a call for a stimulus package to help lift the economy out of recession.
Obama to put Richardson at Commerce
President-elect will host a press conference to name the New Mexico governor to the Commerce Department.
AP Is Excellent on Bush Mortgage Negligence
The Associated Press put out a story yesterday reporting that the Bush Administration ignored in-house warnings of an impending mortgage collapse in 2005, delayed enacting proposed rules for a year, and bowed to lobbyists in stripping out the harshest of the proposals. This story needs to be read widely and followed up by the rest of the press. Here's...
Mind the Map
After three decades of devolution, there's no turning back from the reality that states, their governors, legislators, and parties will play a central role in our country's political future.
Why We Need EFCA
Despite its paltry membership, the U.S. labor movement remains the nation's most potent force for progressive change and the most effective vehicle for electing Democrats.
Thomas Noyes: Federal aid should go to states for unemployment benefits and infrastructure projects
Thomas Noyes: US automakers aren't the only ones in need of a bail-out. States are also being hit hard by the economic crisis
California 'faces budget crisis'
California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger declares a fiscal emergency, ordering lawmakers to fix a huge budget gap.
Who Was the Careless CEO?
Like most tell-alls, The Price of Loyalty , Ron Suskind's eminently readable chronicle of the brief but contentious tenure of Paul O'Neill, George W. Bush's first treasury secretary, is a product of its timing. Published barely a year after O'Neill's resignation in December 2002, it was marketed very much as a book about the war. read more
Treasury’s Lead Role in China in Flux
Secretary Henry M. Paulson has spearheaded American policy toward Beijing since 2006, which raises the question of who will pick up the baton upon his departure.
Democrats in House Plan a Package of Up to $500 Billion to Help States
Speaker Nancy Pelosi said she hoped to deliver an economic recovery bill to President-elect Barack Obama when he takes office.
Bailout Monitor Sees Lack of a Coherent Plan
The head of a new Congressional panel set up to monitor the federal bailout says the government still does not seem to have a coherent strategy for easing the crisis.