tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-141206102024-03-13T14:56:16.159-04:00Article VPolitical opinion and used newsBlakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13331032307138903409noreply@blogger.comBlogger62125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14120610.post-27182735360131583872010-03-13T21:47:00.001-05:002010-03-13T21:48:55.580-05:00GA Legislature battle over indigent defenseThe Legislature is still in session--the attack is scurrilous. See other March FCDR articles for informed debate on properly funding the Council.Blakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13331032307138903409noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14120610.post-11307320332326897162009-09-28T15:58:00.002-04:002009-09-28T15:59:09.721-04:00Georgia Supreme Court blows off protecting the vote, Fulton County Daily Report blows off fully cutting & pasting AP storiesBlakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13331032307138903409noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14120610.post-14203887992912367472009-08-05T13:36:00.002-04:002012-01-07T12:16:00.294-05:00Lovely Wisconsin blogger post on local healthcare reform debateWith thanks to <a href="http://illusorytenant.blogspot.com">Illusory Tenant</a> for drawing my attention to it.Blakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13331032307138903409noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14120610.post-59197403918963017772009-07-31T15:26:00.000-04:002009-07-31T15:27:24.691-04:00Health reform political twistBlakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13331032307138903409noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14120610.post-38518772194580716622009-07-22T12:30:00.002-04:002009-07-22T12:32:27.752-04:00World government crisis watchTitle link is to the latest developments about Honduras from Reuters. I had hopes for the Arias-led mediation; looks like it's getting pretty rocky.Blakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13331032307138903409noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14120610.post-12970307910729323042009-07-19T22:34:00.003-04:002009-07-19T22:35:39.568-04:00From the Georgia BlogwireThe title link is a lovely post of anguish from Cup O' Joe on healthcare reform. He has motivated me to check out a couple of the details of the current bill(s) and think of what Senators I might call that it would make a difference.Blakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13331032307138903409noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14120610.post-25321516121048371842009-07-09T12:47:00.005-04:002009-07-09T13:33:31.375-04:00From the LeftyBlogs feed: Wilkinson (pop. 10K) gets more transportation stimulus funding than FultonTalk about something crying out for follow-up, as in, what on earth is it being spent on.<br /><br />EDIT: <a href="http://www.recovery.org/For_Businesses.aspx?gloc=WILKINSON%20[GA]*CNT:13319&mloc=GA$319">Mostly on a single highway bypass, it seems</a>. For introductory background on recovery.org, see <a href="http://www.greenerbuildings.com/podcast/2009/06/24/onvia-tracking-the-stimulus">this interview</a>. Not to be confused with recovery.gov.Blakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13331032307138903409noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14120610.post-59654344522587601052009-07-08T11:55:00.003-04:002009-07-09T11:34:06.667-04:00Local news: Buckhead boil water advisory & Georgia fatcat Don LeeburnIt's always <a href="http://www.wsbtv.com/news/19989479/detail.html">something with the water in Atlanta</a>, isn't it.<br /><br />Also, as ignorant as I am of Georgia politics, I just learned of <a href="http://www.dickyarbrough.com/2005Archives/2005-0207.htm">this charming fellow</a> via <a href="http://lucididiocyblog2.blogspot.com/2009/07/following-gubernatorial-fundraising.html">Lucid Idiocy</a>.Blakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13331032307138903409noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14120610.post-79130363064132992552009-07-07T18:09:00.005-04:002012-01-05T15:40:34.493-05:00NYT offers the Washington perspective on the possibility of a negotiated compromise in HondurasThe title link discusses the hopeful opening represented by Honduras' politicians accepting Costa Rican President Arias as a mediator.<br /><br />It's a lively world these days, isn't it, what with Honduras, <a href="http://tehranbureau.com/">Iran</a> and China's <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8138866.stm">Xinjiang</a> <a href="http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/china/article6664340.ece">province</a>. I bet there are other political hotspots out there I'm unaware of.<br /><br />Following the Honduras story revived an ongoing problem I have: finding a decent web site that permalinks AP stories. I like following Salon's AP feed, but those links have a really short weblife; this one, for instance, is bound to disappear soon:<br /><br /><code>http://www.salon.com/wires/ap/2009/07/07/D999RVQG0_us_us_honduras/index.html<br />Honduras political rivals accept mediation<br />By MATTHEW LEE Associated Press Writer</code><br /><br />If anyone knows an easily searchable site that preserves AP stories, please let me know.<br /><br />EDIT: I forget whether <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=auDlqzgeMZww">Bloomberg stories</a> disappear too. I think so.Blakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13331032307138903409noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14120610.post-49682564666190014782009-07-05T13:00:00.001-04:002009-07-05T13:01:58.521-04:00Well, scandal or not, Andrea Mitchell's theory that Palin is "out of politics for good" seems dead wrongTitle link to an AP story found on the Drudge Report. Forceful pushback on scandal speculations. We'll see, won't we?Blakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13331032307138903409noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14120610.post-87410553492337096842009-07-05T00:10:00.003-04:002009-07-05T00:35:28.600-04:00A classic illustration of how an intelligent man falls out of touch once he becomes PresidentThe title link is a Washington Post story of a conference call Obama held with a couple of his administration officials and half a dozen Congressional leaders on healthcare. He's only been President for 5 months and two weeks, but here he is<br /><br />1) using the stenographers at the Washington Post to communicate with liberal pressure groups like MoveOn and Democracy for America--not just to communicate with them, but to chastise and express displeasure with them. Your Excellency, if you want to communicate with a group, pick up the phone and call them, or invite them to a conference call. Don't use the corrupt inside-the-Beltway media to try to dictate to them at arm's length;<br /><br />2) fully embracing the power and insiderhood he has won. Do you remember when you quoted Franklin Roosevelt, Mr. Obama? "I agree with you; now make me do it"? That's what pressure groups are for. That's what good, effective activism is. When our representatives don't represent us the way we want, we become their adversaries. We withhold our support. We go after them no matter what letter they have after their names.<br /><br />Again, you are squandering one of America's best opportunities so far. You could be a transformational President. Part of that would include dismantling some of the power that your office has arrogated for itself ever since John Adams signed the Alien and Sedition Acts, through Thomas Jefferson making the Louisiana Purchase, to Abraham Lincoln preserving the Union rather than contain the supremacy of the federal government, to William McKinley conquering and creating the overseas Empire, to Franklin Roosevelt breaking the Supreme Court and the tradition of voluntarily giving up power, becoming President for life, to Richard Nixon asserting executive privilege, to Bill Clinton abandoning even the fig leaf of United Nations consensus to wage a war that Congress (again) never declared, to George Bush finally asserting that nothing, not even the Constitution, controls the power of the commander-in-chief.<br /><br />Are you going to continue protecting the office you hold, and consequently all the criminals who used it before you, thus becoming criminal yourself? Or are you going to be the hope you appealed to?Blakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13331032307138903409noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14120610.post-18835806482805928752009-05-20T16:55:00.001-04:002009-05-20T16:55:52.519-04:00A response to President Obama's latest email to his supportersBarack:<br /><br />1. On healthcare, I need you to move the goalposts further in the country's favor to ensure that whatever compromise ultimately ensues actually accomplishes your goals. I echo Robert Reich's consternation that neither "single-payer" nor "universally-available alternative government plan" seem to be part of the vocabulary any more.<br /><br />2. On foreign policy, I need you to live up to your campaign promises. I allowed myself to briefly hope that you would become our first transcendent President. The best we have ever had so far (the Roosevelts, Lyndon Johnson) outlined and accomplished truly good domestic agendas, but remained instruments of U.S. tyranny abroad. So far you are replicating that model. You have paid lip service to ending Cheneyism, but from state secrets to escalating unmanned attacks in Afghanistan to many other areas (Glenn Greenwald speaks for me in these matters) you have put a kinder face on essentially the same policy.<br /><br />Please fulfill the hope and change you championed.<br /><br />Yours truly,<br />Blake<br /><br />On Wed, May 20, 2009 at 4:29 PM, President Barack Obama <info@barackobama.com> wrote:<br />> Blake --<br />><br />> The chance to finally reform our nation's health care system is here. While<br />> Congress moves rapidly to produce a detailed plan, I have made it clear that<br />> real reform must uphold three core principles -- it must reduce costs,<br />> guarantee choice, and ensure quality care for every American.<br />><br />> As we know, challenging the status quo will not be easy. Its defenders will<br />> claim our goals are too big, that we should once again settle for half<br />> measures and empty talk. Left unanswered, these voices of doubt might yet<br />> again derail the comprehensive reform we so badly need. That's where you<br />> come in.<br />><br />> When our opponents spread fear and confusion about the changes we seek, your<br />> support for these core principles will show clarity and resolve. When the<br />> lobbyists for the status quo tell Congress to hold back, your personal story<br />> will give them the courage to press forward.<br />><br />> Join my call: Ask Congress to pass real health care reform in 2009.<br />><br />> After adding your name, please consider sharing your personal story about<br />> the importance of health care reform in your life and the lives of those you<br />> love.<br />><br />> I will be personally reviewing many of these signatures and stories. If you<br />> speak up now, your voice will make a difference.<br />><br />> http://my.barackobama.com/HealthCareOrganizing<br />><br />> American families are watching their premiums rise four times faster than<br />> their wages. Spiraling health care costs are shackling America's businesses,<br />> curtailing job growth and slowing the economy at the worst possible time.<br />> This has got to change.<br />><br />> I know personal stories can drive that change, because I know how my<br />> mother's experience continues to drive me. She passed away from ovarian<br />> cancer a little over a decade ago. And in the last weeks of her life, when<br />> she was coming to grips with her own mortality and showing extraordinary<br />> courage just to get through each day, she was spending too much time<br />> worrying about whether her health insurance would cover her bills. She<br />> deserved better. Every American deserves better. And that's why I will not<br />> rest until the dream of health care reform is finally achieved in the United<br />> States of America.<br />><br />> Please add your name to join my call. Then share your personal story about<br />> why you too will not rest until this job is done.<br />><br />> http://my.barackobama.com/HealthCareOrganizing<br />><br />> Last November, the American people sent Washington a clear mandate for<br />> change. But when the polls close, the true work of citizenship begins.<br />> That's what Organizing for America is all about. Now, in these crucial<br />> moments, your voice once again has extraordinary power. I'm counting on you<br />> to use it.<br />><br />> Thank you,<br />><br />> President Barack Obama<br />><br />><br />><br />><br />> <br />> Paid for by Organizing for America, a project of the Democratic National<br />> Committee -- 430 South Capitol Street SE, Washington, D.C. 20003. This<br />> communication is not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee.<br />><br />> This email was sent to: *********<br />><br />> To unsubscribe, go to: http://my.barackobama.com/unsubscribe<br />>Blakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13331032307138903409noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14120610.post-31034457740213070192009-04-06T21:40:00.002-04:002009-04-06T22:31:00.611-04:00Atlanta mayoral race newsPresident of the Grady Health System Foundation and City Council President Lisa Borders has re-entered the race after dropping out last fall for her parents' health. They've gotten better, and she's back in.<br /><br />For some time all I saw were signs for Kasim Reed. In the last week on one of my usual neighborhood drives I saw a yard sign for Mary Norwood.<br /><br />I'm ashamed to say that these are all people that I've been marginally aware of for the last few years, but haven't read about or followed at all. I do a pretty bad job of following Atlanta & Georgia politics, which is the main reason that I've never submitted this to LeftyBlogs. I am just barely literate enough to know that the election will be this November, and to hold the tenuous opinion that Shirley Franklin was a big improvement over Bill Campbell. Occasionally I notice some glaring scandal of the legislature, such as when Erick Erickson <a href"http://www.peachpundit.com/2009/02/25/peach-pundit-united-against-sb-31/"=>emailed</a> his readers <a href="http://www.peachpundit.com/2009/01/27/sb-31-georgia-powers-poison-bill/">about the nuclear power boondoggle</a> or Tondee's Tavern did the same about the <a href="http://tondeestavern.com/200903171308/more-on-the-title-tax.html">amazingly regressive elimination of the ad valorem car tax</a>. (The Georgia Power nuclear bill passed.)<br /><br />I did of course notice that Attorney General Thurbert Baker has declared for governor, which is a potentially very interesting development, and fascinating if only for the ensuing scramble to replace him as AG. And in the course of looking for the web link to Erick's email, <a href="http://www.peachpundit.com/2009/04/05/2009-legislature-ends-in-colossal-epic-failure/#more-13669">I discovered that the car tax is dead!</a> Thank god the bumblefuckedness of Republican Georgia legislators can't be underestimated.Blakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13331032307138903409noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14120610.post-51027325559790701022008-10-14T20:05:00.004-04:002008-10-15T10:14:08.596-04:00This is not the first time the McCain campaign has shot itself in the footIf McCain is personally in charge of his campaign, then he's incompetent. Accept the endorsement of Ayers' Republican funder right before the last debate? When you've gotten wind that your opponent's rebuttal on Ayers is that he was funded by said major Republican? Either that, or McCain is being sabotaged. If, as I've seen hinted, it's by a Palin-supporting group closer to Bush & Cheney than McCain (Schmidt, Kristol, etc.), they're doing a terrible job of introducing her for 2012. She's such an obvious liar, so obviously incompetent and such a tangibly scary religious nut that she's already been defined as unqualified for the Presidency to a large majority of the country.Blakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13331032307138903409noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14120610.post-73736011242937949022008-10-10T22:07:00.002-04:002008-10-10T22:15:31.214-04:00My God, I didn't expect thisA little bit of the old McCain. (Thanks <a href="http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2008/10/is-mccain-final.html">Andrew Sullivan</a>.) And thank you, Senator John Sidney McCain III. Second piece of good news all week. Buy more stocks on Monday, kthnx. Consult the Fed for all your borrowing needs. (Except for credit cards; go ahead and just pay those off, you never know when you'll need your full power to delay payments.) Maybe someone won't take a shot at Obama now, because if McCain kept this Ayers shit up it would get likelier and likelier.Blakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13331032307138903409noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14120610.post-59279545597281487362008-10-09T22:42:00.001-04:002008-10-09T22:44:31.843-04:00Investors, banks, lenders:Get over it. The Fed and the Treasury are giving you everything you could possibly need in the shape of money. Now starting lending and spending it! That's your job. Capitalists are not allowed to strike. It's hypocritical.Blakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13331032307138903409noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14120610.post-52812974835825589582008-10-05T16:38:00.002-04:002008-10-05T16:39:06.063-04:00The Wachovia deal just got more complicatedHow will this end up? God knows I'd rather have a non-government-backed deal.Blakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13331032307138903409noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14120610.post-80021991584009642882008-10-05T05:02:00.004-04:002008-10-05T05:19:02.426-04:00How to democratise Presidential racesWouldn't it be great if Georgia became the third state after Maine and Nebraska to uncouple its Electoral Votes?<br /><br />If a snowballing number of states did that, that would take care of Electoral College reform as far as I'm concerned. <a href="http://www.fivethirtyeight.com/2008/10/omaha-nebraskas-one-electoral-vote-is.html#comment-4455089010920935891">This commenter</a> makes a fair point, though.Blakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13331032307138903409noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14120610.post-5254200364789453302008-10-05T04:47:00.001-04:002008-10-05T04:48:13.214-04:00NY Times article on Fannie MaeI'm not familiar with Charles Duhigg, but I like this article a lot.Blakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13331032307138903409noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14120610.post-24018918432440180622008-10-04T14:04:00.002-04:002008-10-04T14:06:26.247-04:00A note on how I've been posting the last few daysI've been treating the posts as works-in-progress, updating them with mostly unnoted edits throughout the day. Ideally, I prefer not to do that, but it has seemed harmless for now. My preferred method is to make a single, final post, then explicitly post edits at the end as amendments.Blakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13331032307138903409noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14120610.post-87903359189952382702008-10-04T12:54:00.010-04:002008-10-05T15:49:51.588-04:00Declan McCullagh's overview of the billHe leads with a sum of the government's "socializing" of Wall Street since Bear Stearns. Four months and a few days (or six months, depending how you count) since the beginning of this mess that is the first thing Obama is going to be forced to deal with.<br /><br />Others that should be on his list:<br /><br />Planning drawdown & redeployment of U.S. forces in Iraq (he should do this worldwide, but that's a pipe dream)<br />Revolutionising Afghan & Pakistani policy<br />Tax code reform (dare we hope for simplification?)<br />Investigations/prosecutions of current Administration:<br />-Guantanamo<br />-Abu Ghraib<br />-U.S. Attorneys<br />-Domestic warrantless surveillance<br />-Walter Reed<br />Healthcare<br />Russian/Chinese/Iranian/North Korean adjustments<br />Global nonproliferation<br />Adjustment of world organizations and regimes: WTO, UN<br />Energy/environmental policy<br />A complete overhaul of confidential/secret information policy and retention<br />Repairing the armed forces<br />Voting mechanics and law (aka making the USA safe for democracy)<br />Veterans Administration reform: Better and cheaper<br /><br />Stuff that he should get to but probably won't:<br />Repeal of Military Commissions Act, chunks of the Patriot Act, most of the FISA amendments<br />Ballot accessBlakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13331032307138903409noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14120610.post-43747303318189048852008-10-03T20:58:00.005-04:002008-10-04T00:10:21.526-04:00Senate, House and President Agree: This is how we throw money at the economy<a href="http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=h110-1424">The final bill</a>. Let's see what all's in it.<br /><br />"<a href="http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2008/10/20081003-17.html">President Bush Signs H.R. 1424 Into Law</a><br /><br />On Friday, October 3, 2008, the President signed into law:<br /><br />H.R. 1424, the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008, Energy Improvement and Extension Act of 2008, and Tax Extenders and Alternative Minimum Tax Relief Act of 2008, which authorizes the Secretary of the Treasury to establish a Troubled Assets Relief Program to purchase troubled assets from financial institutions; provides Alternative Minimum Tax relief; extends expiring tax provisions and establishes energy tax incentives; and temporarily increases Federal Deposit Insurance limits."<br /><br /><a href="http://www.salon.com/tech/htww/2008/10/03/bailout_and_reagan_revolution/">I like Andrew Leonard's commentary</a>. Seems right.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.rttnews.com/ArticleView.aspx?Id=731215&SMap=1">SEC Revokes Ban on Short Selling as of Oct. 9</a><br /><br /><a href="http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5h21ZbzgPbTVRftcJPT5vkHkonY5QD93JB5JO0">Palin saved her next crazy moment until after the debate</a>. This is one entertaining lady. Are we about to get Andrew Sullivan's long-desired press conference?Blakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13331032307138903409noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14120610.post-30097846989940539912008-10-03T12:22:00.002-04:002008-10-03T12:24:50.194-04:00Yup, definitely going to passAtlanta's own John Lewis is changing his vote.<br /><br />Yet every outlet reports that the outcome is very much in doubt. Reporters are such shankers. It's coming to a vote today and it's going through.<br /><br />Hopefully after 1.20.09 something much better can immediately be passed. God, there's so much to clean up from the past eight years, they'll never get to it all.Blakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13331032307138903409noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14120610.post-35742604432611700192008-10-02T17:07:00.016-04:002008-10-02T23:07:07.860-04:00Cheat sheet: (Futile) Lobbying for a Better Bailout BillUPDATE II: It looks like there are now at least 13 Representatives publically reported in the various news media as changing their votes. Congratulations. Get to know your new $700 billion toxic assets, and look to see if one of the new tax breaks might be good for you.<br /><br /><a href="http://banking.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Articles.Detail&Article_id=76b1aea4-39b8-404f-b3cd-f8b6c46e3b14&Month=10&Year=2008">Link to the bill on Senate website</a><br /><br /><a href="http://online.wsj.com/public/resources/documents/senatebillAYO08C32_xml.pdf">PDF of bill at the Wall Street Journal</a> (courtesy of <a href="http://www.salon.com/tech/htww/2008/10/01/senate_bailout_extravaganza/index.html">Andrew Leonard</a>)<br /><br />Is lobbying for a better bill a futile notion, not just because I'm thinking about influencing at the last minute legislators with whom I have no relationship, but because <a href="http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/09/27/tricky-bailout-politics/">something has to be done, and this is what's possible</a>? (Thanks again to <a href="http://www.salon.com/tech/htww/2008/10/02/politics_of_the_bailout/index.html">Andrew Leonard</a>.)<br /><br /><a href="http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D93IL9300&show_article=1">UPDATE</a>:<br /><br />"Emboldened by the feverish bidding for votes, other members of both parties were demanding substantial changes to the legislation before they would vote for it. A group of Republican opponents indicated they'd back it if the price tag were slashed to $250 billion and several special tax breaks added by the Senate—including for children's archery bow makers, imported rum producers and racetrack owners _were removed. Democrats wanted to add a way to pay for the bailout and more help for homeowners staring at foreclosure."<br /><br /><a href="http://www.nypost.com/seven/10022008/news/nationalnews/piggy_pols_in_hog_heaven_with_pork_packe_131770.htm">Fun Facts About What's In the "New" Bill</a><br /><br />Changing votes to yes<br /><br />David Dreier (R?-CA)<br />Zach Wamp (R-TN)<br />John Shadegg (R-AZ)<br />Jim Gerlach (R-PA)<br />Tim Murphy (R-PA)<br />Patrick Tiberi (R-OH)<br />Steve LaTourette (R-OH)<br />Henry Cuellar (D-TX)<br />Marsha Blackburn (R-TN)<br />Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL)<br />Jim Ramstad (R-MN)<br />Emanuel Cleaver (D-MO)<br />Shelley Berkley (D-NV)<br /><br />Changing votes to yes?<br /><br />Doc Hastings (R-WA)<br />Gene Green (D-TX)<br />Earl Blumenauer (D-OR)<br />Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ)<br />Adam Schiff (D-CA)<br />Elijah Cummings (D-MD)<br />Donna Edwards (D-MD)<br />Other Arizonans?<br /><br />Changing votes to no?<br /><br />Spencer Bachus (R-AL)<br />Some Blue Dog Democrats?<br />Not changing yes votes: Dan Boren (D-OK), Jane Harman (D-CA), Jim Marshall (D-GA), Jim Cooper (D-TN)<br /><br /><br />Not changing<br /><br />Marcy Kaptur (D-OH)<br />Steve King (R-IA)<br />Lloyd Doggett (D-TX)<br />Brad Sherman (D-CA)<br />Roscoe Bartlett (R-MD)<br />Pete Stark (D-CA)<br /><br />Sources<br /><br /><a href="http://apnews.myway.com/article/20081002/D93IBC9G0.html">AP 1</a><br /><a href="http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gjqOOcNbraMeLsp2gGVRDaSLJftQD93IH3VO1">AP 2</a><br /><a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=a8Kas_4fQKBY&refer=us">Bloomberg</a><br /><a href="http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/nation/politics/bal-te.bailout02oct02,0,7917580.story">Baltimore Sun 1</a><br /><a href="http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/nation/politics/bal-te.maryland02oct02,0,5819297.story">Baltimore Sun 2</a><br /><a href="http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/10/01/MNNF139PF5.DTL&type=politics">San Fran (Chron?)</a><br /><a href="http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D93IL9300&show_article=1">Drudge's AP</a><br /><a href="http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/opinions/articles/2008/10/02/20081002thur1-02.html">AZ Republic</a><br /><a href="http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D93IL9300&show_article=1">Drudge's AP 2</a><br /><br />http://news.google.com/?ncl=1253382426&hl=en&rfilter=3&hubgeo=United+States<br /><br />http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/politics/2008221336_econ02.htmlBlakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13331032307138903409noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14120610.post-46201396108611355712008-10-01T20:02:00.009-04:002008-10-02T17:59:03.742-04:00An inside analysis of the Paulson plan (preserved in the current Senate version)<a href="http://www.salon.com/wires/ap/us/2008/10/02/D93IG9M80_financial_meltdown/index.html">The bailout's supporters are doing everything they can</a> to get it passed.<br /><br />Meanwhile, for an in-depth illustration of how much the Paulson plan blows and how scandalous it is, click this post's title; read as much or as little as you want. Not only are the Democratic "reforms" less than window-dressing, <i>it probably won't even work</i>. Not like the government backing up the nation's mortgages would, anyway, or the government directly infusing capital into banks and <b>taking an equity stake in return</b> (an idea George Soros is pushing).<br /><br />There has to be an alternative to this plan for which opponents can muster a majority in the House. Can <a href="http://www.defazio.house.gov/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=441">Representative DeFazio's plan</a> be made palatable? The first three proposals are nonsense, but the fourth is the obvious meat of the plan, along with the fifth which has already been endorsed by both McCain and Obama and is part of the amended bill that just passed the Senate.<br /><br /><a href="http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/09/23/getting-real/">Like Krugman said</a>: "No equity ... no deal."<br /><br /><a href="http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/PersonalFinance/story?id=5926400&page=1">Will the Blue Dogs help kill the "new" plan?</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.salon.com/wires/ap/2008/09/30/D93GT5600_mccain_dead_end/index.html">McCain's attempts to turn the credit crisis to his political advantage backfired.</a>Blakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13331032307138903409noreply@blogger.com0