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Black Caucus Stalls Finance Overhaul

nasrudin — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:31:25 GMT

"According to House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank (D., Mass.), members of the caucus revolted on the grounds that their constituencies weren't allowed sufficient participation in Treasury and Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. programs, such as the Troubled Asset Relief Program or FDIC oversight of failed bank assets."
http://online.wsj.com/article/...

Wyden And Baucus To Cosponsor 'Free Choice' Amendment

The Big Hurt — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 01:44:03 GMT

If this amendment passes, it could significantly change--and most experts would say improve--the Senate health care reform bill.
As part of an agreement hashed out at the end of the Finance Committee mark up process, Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT) and Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) will join forces to amend the Senate health care bill with Wyden's "Free Choice Act." If it can attract 60 votes, it would give low- and middle-class Americans with employer-provided insurance the option of purchasing subsidized insurance in the exchanges.

http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo...

Robert Reich on Healthcare Reform: A compromise of a compromise of a compromise of a...

willf — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 21:43:39 GMT

Upbeat policy wonks and political spinners who tend to see only portions of cups that are full will point out some good things: no pre-existing conditions, insurance exchanges, 30 million more Americans covered. But in reality, the cup is 90 percent empty. Most of us will remain stuck with little or no choice -- dependent on private insurers who care only about the bottom line, who deny our claims, who charge us more and more for co-payments and deductibles, who bury us in forms, who don't take our calls.

The New York Mets and the business of terrorism

shergald — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 21:36:07 GMT

Aaron Levitt just posted this story on The Electronic Intifada.

When I first learned that the New York Mets were hosting a fundraiser for the nonprofit Hebron Fund at Citi Field in support of the Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank city of Hebron, I honestly assumed it was a joke, albeit a poor one. When I realized this was an actual, planned event, I still found it almost impossible to believe. This is because, even aside from the devastating impact of settlement expansion on the prospects for peace in the region, I have had the misfortune to see, repeatedly and at first hand, the fruits of the Hebron Fund's labors.
During the summers of 2005 and 2006, and very briefly in 2008, I spent several weeks working as a human rights observer in the Tel Rumeida section of Hebron, home of the Beit Hadassah and Tel Rumeida settlements that are supported by The Hebron Fund. During that time, I encountered racist graffiti with such statements as "Gas the Arabs" and "Fatimah, we will rape all Arab women." I repeatedly observed settlers throwing stones and clods of earth at young Palestinian girls on their way to elementary school; yelling racial epithets at Palestinians walking in the streets; pushing, kicking, and spitting on Palestinian children and (occasionally) adults who were quietly minding their own business; and hurling large stones down on Palestinian homes and residents from settlement balconies.
LINK to the rest of this story: http://electronicintifada.net/...

Not quite the definition of terrorism we are used to, is it?

According to the US Code, Title 22, Chapter 38, S 2656f, our country defines terrorism as "premeditated, politically motivated violence perpetrated against noncombatant targets by subnational groups or clandestine agents."

The Hebron settlers' violence certainly meets these criteria and the New York Mets organization must know what they are supporting here.

Texas' gay marriage ban may have banned all marriages

The Big Hurt — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 20:19:35 GMT

Barbara Ann Radnofsky, a Houston lawyer and Democratic candidate for attorney general, says that a 22-word clause in a 2005 constitutional amendment designed to ban gay marriages erroneously endangers the legal status of all marriages in the state.
The amendment, approved by the Legislature and overwhelmingly ratified by voters, declares that "marriage in this state shall consist only of the union of one man and one woman." But the troublemaking phrase, as Radnofsky sees it, is Subsection B, which declares:
"This state or a political subdivision of this state may not create or recognize any legal status identical or similar to marriage."

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/251...

US Nuclear Stockpile Good For Decades To Come

The Big Hurt — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 19:50:05 GMT

In a new report, a secretive federal panel has concluded that programs to extend the life of the nation's aging nuclear arms are sufficient to guarantee their destructiveness for decades to come, obviating a need for a costly new generation of more reliable warheads.
The finding, by the Jason panel, an independent group of scientists that advises the federal government on issues of science and technology, bears on the growing debate over whether the United States should ratify the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty or, instead, prepare for the design of new nuclear arms.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11...

report (pdf): http://www.armscontrolwonk.com...

National House ballot updated, 11/20

Chris Bowers — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 18:22:02 GMT

Just put up today's National House Ballot number: Democrats +3.35, up from Democrats +3.19 yesterday.

Polls added: Daily Kos weekly tracking
Polls removed: None

I will post an update in quick hits on this everyday, so that people are aware of the changes, and better understand where they come from.

Obama approval 49%--44% in Gallup tracking

Chris Bowers — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 18:11:31 GMT

First time President Obama drops below 50% in that poll.

9th Circuit Court rules half of DOMA unconstitutional

Chris Bowers — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 18:07:14 GMT

This sets up a Supreme Court case next year.

Judge Stephen Reinhardt of the Ninth Circuit in an order Wednesday seems to have declared the half of DOMA that declares that a same-sex marriage cannot be a marriage under federal law or for purposes of granting federal benefits unconstitutional, a violation of the equal protection component of the due process guarantee of the Fifth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. http://www.ca9.uscourts.gov/.... (PDF)

I wonder how Roberts, Alito, Thomas and Scalia will rule. Such a mystery...

"Progressive" CAP hosting corporate suits Arne Duncan and Mike Bloomberg on education

Liberaltarian — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 17:26:26 GMT

The increasingly inaccurately-named Center for American Progress is hosting Ed Secretary Arne Duncan and NYC Mayor Mike Bloomberg in their DC offices for an education policy discussion. OpenLeft regulars will know just what a horrible duo those two are, and how ill-fitted their ideas are to an ostensibly "progressive" organization.

Check out posts by Paul Rosenberg and jeffbinnc for the low-down.

If you're in DC and want to go (I encourage heckling and hostile questions), here's the link to RSVP to the event.

Afghan Turf War Pits Taliban Against Gov’t Drug Gangs

counterspin — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 17:22:32 GMT

From Joe Lauria at Boiling Frogs Post:

The revelation that Afghan President Hamid Karzai's brother Wali is on the Central Intelligence Agency payroll and is a known drug lord has complicated President Obama's already torturous internal debate on Afghanistan and dredged up questions about long-standing ties between the C.I.A. and illegal drugs.
From Laos to Nicaragua to Afghanistan, and many places in between, the C.I.A has a long history of links to illegal drugs as a means to buy allies and fund off-the-books missions.
<...>
"We are already a narco-state," Mohammad Nader Nadery of the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission told the Christian Science Monitor. "If the governors in many parts of the country are involved in the drug trade, if a minister is directly or indirectly getting benefits from drug trade, and if a chief of police gets money from drug traffickers, then how else do you define a narco-state?" Abdul Karim Brahowie, Afghanistan's minister of tribal and frontier affairs, told the paper "the government has become so full of drug smugglers that cabinet meetings have become a farce." After Malalai Joya, a Member of Parliament, denounced drug traffickers and warlords in government, she escaped several attempts on her life.
The U.S. supports this drug-lord government with massive amounts of aid. Washington spends huge sums more fighting the drug-lord-supported Taliban. In August, the Pentagon put 50 Taliban-tied drug traffickers on a list to be captured or killed. But it singled out none tied to the government.

Can States Opt Out Of The Public Option Immediately?

The Big Hurt — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 16:54:30 GMT

When Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid first announced that he'd chosen to include a public option with an opt-out provision in his health care bill, he suggested that states would be required to offer the government insurance plan for a year before opting out. Well, it appears as if he's dropped that requirement.

Landrieu, Nelson Win Goodies As Reid Seeks Their Vote ON HCR

The Big Hurt — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 16:40:24 GMT

$100 million medicaid aid for LA for landrieu

no antitrust exemption repeal for nelson

http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo...

reid should have got a yes-cloture guarantee from sob nelson for that

Bill To Audit Fed Passes Key Hurdle

nasrudin — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 16:34:43 GMT

"In an unprecedented defeat for the Federal Reserve, an amendment to audit the multi-trillion dollar institution was approved by the House Finance Committee with an overwhelming and bipartisan 43-26 vote on Thursday afternoon despite harried last-minute lobbying from top Fed officials and the surprise opposition of Chairman Barney Frank (D-Mass.), who had previously been a supporter."

Dems opposed the measure 15Y, 26N.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/...

Snowe, Carper In Discussions About Trigger-Like Amendment

The Big Hurt — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 16:34:07 GMT

"Tom and I have been working on it, we've had discussions and so on, but, you know, we haven't got down in concrete terms, and he'd like to have my affordability language and so on," Snowe said. "But nevertheless it's still going to require 60 votes so I don't know when that would happen, and frankly I would have preferred that to happen at the outset of this process, rather than going through this convoluted procedural gymnastics."

http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo...

T-Bills Turn Negative, “Double-Dip Recession" Predicted

counterspin — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 16:27:31 GMT

From Bloomberg (archived):

Treasury three-month bill rates turned negative yesterday for the first time since financial markets froze last year on concern that prices of everything from stocks to commodities are too high given the outlook for economic growth.
The global average government bond yield dropped to 2.20 percent as of yesterday from 2.50 percent in August, according to the Merrill Lynch Global Sovereign Broad Market Plus Index. Bill Gross, who runs the world's biggest bond fund at Pacific Investment Management Co., said the "systemic risk" of new asset bubbles is rising with the Federal Reserve keeping interest rates at record lows.
"There will be a double-dip recession," said Hiromasa Nakamura, a senior investor at Mizuho Asset Management Co. in Tokyo, which oversees the equivalent of $21.4 billion and is part of Japan's second-largest bank. "The Federal Reserve's low-interest-rate policy will continue for a long time, maybe two years. Treasury yields will decline."

Note: The current version of the article has been edited to delete Nakamura's comments. However, given that Mizuho is a broker-dealer for the NY Fed, he is well-positioned to make such an analysis.

Netanyahu: 'never portray the President as a wimp'

shergald — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 16:23:56 GMT

There is no question that Israel's PM, Bibi Netanyahu, has not been just defiant towards Obama and his peace initiative, but is treating him publicly as an insignificant player in Israeli politics. The recent clash over Netanyahu's intended settlement building in East Jerusalem created the appearance that Obama, the US president, is a "wimp," to quote this article from the Israeli newspaper, Haaretz:

The crisis surrounding the expansion of Jerusalem's Gilo neighborhood is making waves all the way to China now. U.S. President Barack Obama, an amazing orator in his own right, was able to easily duck a question from a reporter from the conservative Fox network on the Jerusalem issue. But Obama did not want to hide his anger in diplomatic phrasings this time. There are at least three reasons for Obama to take out his anger on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over the Gilo affair.
First, the U.S. administration has been working hard over the past few days to convince Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to leave open the possibility of staying in Ramallah....The decision to approve the Gilo expansion is one more nail in Abbas' political coffin and one more blow to Obama's prestige.
Second, Washington, as opposed to Jerusalem, paid attention to the fact that this is public, and not private, construction in the middle of an existing (Palestinian) neighborhood.
(And finally,) Obama's fury was over not only the principle, but also the way Netanyahu handled the crisis. In their recent White House meeting...White House officials wanted to believe that Netanyahu had taken to heart the message that he should never again portray the president of the United States as a wimp.
LINK: http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/s...

Never portray President Obama as a wimp? Netanyahu apparently never got the message.

Only 14% support health care filibuster

Chris Bowers — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 14:41:57 GMT

In Nebraska, Louisiana and Arkansas, only 14% support a filibuster of the health care bill. an even smaller percentage supports blocking the bill from going to the floor.

Poll results here.

In addition to the impact on the health care debate, this poll shows the filibuster is very unpopular in general.

Americans think it was appropriate for President Obama to bow

Chris Bowers — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 14:37:22 GMT

Despite the right-wing freakout, a Fox News poll (!) shows that a large majority of Americans think it was appropriate for President Obama's to bow, 67%-26%.

Why Don’t Drone Targets Receive a Fair Trial?

counterspin — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 14:13:05 GMT

via Josh Greenman at the NY Daily News:

If you're morally opposed to putting Khalid Shaikh Mohammed through a military tribunal and believe that Attorney General Eric Holder's decision to try him in civilian court is a great expression of democratic values, you ought to be up in arms about this: In your name, at President Obama's orders, our country is arbitrarily killing people in a foreign land. By the hundreds.
In Pakistan, with bloodless predator drones, we are taking lives, from thousands of feet in the air, by remote control.
Who are we sentencing to death without trial? People we think are terrorists, though we have no legal proof. Evidence could be hearsay; it could be conjecture. It could prove faulty the next day. This is in a country where we haven't declared war. And while we blow to bits the people we assert are bad guys, we're simultaneously ending the lives of many more innocent people.