http://www.globalstrategywatch.com Election'08, pontification, spin and pandering. daily 1 2008-07-17T01:44:28Z http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1208/16135.html Once again, she sprouts a flower in a pile of manure. See also: "Shocked" No publisher bcarliner politics 2008-12-03T19:34:03Z Feed Item http://www.cjr.org/campaign_desk/baucus_watch_part_iii.php 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... No publisher bcarliner politics 2008-12-03T19:34:03Z Feed Item http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1208/16151.html 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 No publisher admin politics 2008-12-03T17:55:25Z Feed Item http://blogs.tnr.com/tnr/blogs/the_plank/archive/2008/12/02/why-susan-rice-won-t-be-calling-john-bolton.aspx 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. It's that she will bring an entirely different philosophy of global interaction to the UN. No publisher admin politics 2008-12-03T17:55:24Z Feed Item http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/03/us/politics/03gates.html?partner=rss&emc=rss Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said he agreed with what he termed President-elect Barack Obama’s “responsible drawdown” plan in Iraq. No publisher admin politics 2008-12-03T17:55:25Z Feed Item http://feeds.propublica.org/~r/propublica/main/~3/473015135/ 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 history. Rich also was believed to be a middleman for several suspect oil deals involving Iraq and Iran. Rich’s fugitive status made his pardon shocking, and Clinton has faced significant scrutiny for his decision. A Congressional committee and a grand jury investigated the pardon, though they found no criminal conduct. But stoking the claims of wrongdoing: Rich’s ex-wife, who lobbied heavily for his pardon, had made hefty donations to Clinton’s presidential library fund, Hillary Clinton’s Senate campaign and several other Democratic causes. Read more... No publisher admin politics 2008-12-03T17:55:25Z Feed Item http://feeds.propublica.org/~r/propublica/main/~3/472930000/ 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 say, could make it easier for oil refineries and other polluting energy producers to build plants near these cherished areas, and creates a loophole that could lead to greater pollution levels.  According to the Washington Post, the proposed rule has not just incited controversy amongst environmentalists, but inside the EPA as well . Read more... No publisher admin politics 2008-12-03T17:55:27Z Feed Item http://feeds.propublica.org/~r/propublica/main/~3/472975945/ 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 Act of 2006, which for the first time permitted investment advisers to have conflicts of interest in two specific circumstances. Read more... No publisher admin politics 2008-12-03T17:55:26Z Feed Item http://www.salon.com/opinion/feature/2008/12/03/obama_fdr/index.html?source=rss&aim=/opinion/feature 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? No publisher admin politics 2008-12-03T17:55:22Z Feed Item http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122823053791072519.html?mod=fox_australian 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. No publisher bcarliner politics 2008-12-02T21:50:49Z Feed Item http://www.politico.com/politico44/perm/1208/richardson_to_commerce_3ddb27e3-1fc7-40dc-84f0-c7d0aea8e9de.html President-elect will host a press conference to name the New Mexico governor to the Commerce Department. No publisher bcarliner politics 2008-12-02T21:50:49Z Feed Item http://www.cjr.org/the_audit/ap_is_excellent_on_bush_mortga.php 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... No publisher bcarliner politics 2008-12-02T19:18:27Z Feed Item http://www.prospect.org/cs/articles?article=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. No publisher bcarliner politics 2008-12-02T19:18:28Z Feed Item http://www.prospect.org/cs/articles?article=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. No publisher bcarliner politics 2008-12-02T19:18:28Z Feed Item http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2008/dec/02/economy-states-governors-infrastructure 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 No publisher bcarliner politics 2008-12-02T19:18:27Z Feed Item