#1 Reason for Obama to Win the Primary

Mark Penn:

Hillary Clinton's chief campaign strategist met with Colombia's ambassador to the U.S. on Monday to discuss a bilateral free-trade agreement, a pact the presidential candidate opposes.

Attendance by the adviser, Mark Penn, was confirmed by two Colombian officials. He wasn't there in his campaign role, but in his separate job as chief executive of Burson-Marsteller Worldwide, an international communications and lobbying firm. The firm has a contract with the South American nation to promote congressional approval of the trade deal, among other things, according to filings with the Justice Department.

Penn, Schoen & Berland Associates, Mr. Penn's campaign-consulting firm, received more than $10 million in payments from the Clinton campaign as of the end of February, according to federal election filings.

The fact that a Democratic candidate would hire a sleazebag like Penn - and has used him since 1996 - speaks volumes about candidate Clinton. The sooner she loses the sooner this loser will never see the light of day again.

Obama Raised $40 MM in March

Wow.

Do As I Say, Not As I Do

So says the world's largest emitter of greenhouse gases:

U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson urged China to drop tariffs on environmental equipment, saying trade barriers are hindering efforts to clean up a nation that has 16 of the world's 20 most polluted cities.

``There's something that doesn't seem economically sensible and morally right'' about charging a tariff on clean technology, Paulson said after his speech today on energy and the environment at the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing.

The only things that are economically sensible and morally right in Paulson's book are those that make him and his buddies more money. See Bear Stearns, where American taxpayers will bear the brunt of their losses if they exceed $1 billion. Based on Tuesday's subprime loss league table, their losses will.

All About Yoo

Lovin' the torture.

Classy

Hillary Clinton.

Congestion Pricing Passes NYC Council

The controversial proposal to charge drivers in the busiest parts of Manhattan took a major step forward on Monday, with Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and Speaker Christine C. Quinn wrenching approval from the City Council by an unusually slim margin.

Councilwoman Melissa Mark Viverito, left, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, Councilwoman Gale A. Brewer and Speaker Christine C. Quinn after the congestion pricing proposal was passed.

Under intense pressure from the mayor, Ms. Quinn and their allies that continued almost until the voting began, council members approved the plan to charge most drivers $8 to enter a zone below 60th Street by a vote of 30 to 20, with no abstentions and one absence.

Onto the state legislature.

Peacekeeping

I do not think that word means what you think it means:

Israel announced plans Monday for 1,400 new homes on land the Palestinians claim for a future state -- just hours after U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice ended a peacekeeping mission to the region.

She's quickly earning the worst secretary of state ever title.

Another One Bites the Dust

More Bushco, more corruption (WSJ, subscription required):

Housing and Urban Development Secretary Alphonso Jackson is expected to announce his resignation Monday, according to people familiar with the matter, a decision that will deal a blow to the Bush administration's efforts to tackle the housing crisis.

The exact reasons for Mr. Jackson's decision couldn't be learned. Earlier this month, two Democratic senators, Patty Murray of Washington and Christopher Dodd of Connecticut, sent a letter to President Bush urging him to request Mr. Jackson's resignation, arguing that accusations of wrongdoing had made him ineffective.

Get out and get your pardons while you still can.

Doublespeak

Bushco:

The dollar is likely to remain under pressure for the next few months at least, but its weakness is not inconsistent with the Bush administration's strong dollar policy, former U.S. Treasury undersecretary Tim Adams said on Monday.

"A strong dollar policy is a pledge by the United States not to use the dollar as a tool to gain competitive advantage in global markets. So it's not inconsistent," Adams, who was the Treasury's top international official until last summer, told a conference in Hong Kong.

Who are you going to believe? Me or your lying eyes?

Oops, My Bad. But It's Really Not My Bad

Condi.

Think Progress snarks:

Perhaps one casualty of the Iraq war has been the conservative belief in personal responsibility

That would be insightful if Bushco had any to begin with.