Galt'd!

Apparently it's ok to send Americans to fight and die in a war built on lies, but it's not ok for them to pay higher taxes.

Galt!

Rewarding Bad Behavior

Invent bullshit legal theories, get published in the WSJ! Money quote:

The first thing any lawyer will do is tell his clients to shut up. The KSMs or Abu Zubaydahs of the future will respond to no verbal questioning or trickery -- which is precisely why the Bush administration felt compelled to use more coercive measures in the first place.

This from the guy who was one of the principal actors in authorizing torture. John Yoo should be locked up in jail for the harm he's caused (maybe waterboarded, which he wouldn't consider torture, for kicks). Instead, conservative institutions give him a louder megaphone from which he can spew his bile. Somebody please prosecute this assclown.

Off to a Good Start

I know my expectations have been warped over the past eight years, but this is common sense, good law:

President Obama signed his first bill into law on Thursday, approving equal-pay legislation that he said would “send a clear message that making our economy work means making sure it works for everybody.”

The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act is long overdue. After the Supreme Court refused to hear the Ledbetter v. Goodyear case on standing - no politics involved there - Senate Republicans killed the bill in 2008.

Elections have consequences.

Republicans Jump, Hi-Five Shark

Sounds like an Onion headline:

Republicans Irate of Expansion of Republican-Approved Program

Off to a Good Start

One of President Barack Obama's first acts Tuesday was to put the brakes on all pending regulations that the Bush administration tried to push through in its waning days.

The order went out shortly after Obama was inaugurated president, in a memorandum signed by new White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel.

Mmm, tasty hope.

Wingnut Droppings

In response to the headline "History Will Remember Bush Well" from the WSJ, my girlfriend writes:

Do you ever wonder how the Wall Street Journal manages to inhabit an alternate universe, and yet cross over and leave its droppings in ours on such a regular basis? Someone should alert NASA that this is actually possible

I do, but can only handle the stupid for a short amount of time before it my mind explodes.

One Last Pony

Thanks, Bush.

What will we use for Obama? A bicycle?

The Stimulus Plan

Ambinder has the summary.

Run Hank Paulson Out of Town

The U.S. government is close to committing billions in additional aid to Bank of America Corp. as the nation's largest bank by assets tries to digest its Jan. 1 acquisition of Merrill Lynch & Co., according to people familiar with the situation.

[...]

Any possible arrangement might protect Bank of America from losses on Merrill's bad assets. There would be a cap on the amount of losses the bank would have to absorb with the federal government being on the hook for the remainder, according to one person familiar with the matter.

[...]

The talks with Bank of America were driven by Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, people familiar with the matter said, because he was concerned that without help the deal wouldn't close, leaving Merrill adrift. The merger did close Jan. 1 with the understanding the two sides would hammer out a plan, said a person familiar with the talks.

Hank is working for the bankers, not the taxpayers.

Tail Wags Dog

This has to stop:

“I said, ‘Get me President Bush on the phone,’ ” Mr. Olmert said in a speech in the southern Israeli city of Ashkelon, according to The Associated Press. “They said he was in the middle of giving a speech in Philadelphia. I said I didn’t care: ‘I need to talk to him now,’ ” Mr. Olmert continued. “He got off the podium and spoke to me.”

Israel opposed the resolution, which called for a halt to the fighting in Gaza, because the government said it did not provide for Israel’s security. It passed 14 to 0, with the United States abstaining.

Mr. Olmert claimed that once he made his case to Mr. Bush, the president called Ms. Rice and told her to abstain. “She was left pretty embarrassed,” Mr. Olmert said, according to The A.P.

U.S. and Israeli interests are not one and the same.

Drinking the Ethanol-aid

Hmm:

Former Iowa Governor Thomas Vilsack is set to be named by President-elect Barack Obama as his choice for Agriculture secretary

My hopes for substantially improving the farm bill just decreased, but we'll see.

Senate Republicans Kill Auto Bill

Because it would have given normal people the means to live a normal lifestyle.

The Senate on Thursday night abandoned efforts to fashion a government rescue of the American automobile industry, as Senate Republicans refused to support a bill endorsed by the White House and Congressional Democrats.

The failure to reach agreement on Capitol Hill raised a specter of financial collapse for General Motors and Chrysler, which say they may not be able to survive through this month.

After Senate Republicans balked at supporting a $14 billion auto rescue plan approved by the House on Wednesday, negotiators worked late into Thursday evening to broker a deal, but deadlocked over Republican demands for steep cuts in pay and benefits by the United Automobile Workers union in 2009.

I'm sickened. Republicans' ideological - privatize wealth! socialize risk! - and political - break the unions' backs! - reasons are disgusting.

This is not to say that this was the greatest plan ever - it wasn't - and that we needed to act right now - we don't - but there are principled objections that they could have made to the bill. Instead, they acted upon the most base and wretched motives.

Link.

Clarence Thomas Wants a Pony for Christmas

Too bad for him, I don't think it's likely:

in a highly unusual move, U.S Associate Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas has asked his colleagues of the court to consider a lawsuit filed, that questions Barack Obama's citizenship.

Nobody likes Clarence.

War?

Oh yeah, that war.

At least 15 people died and 147 were hurt, including many schoolchildren, by two suicide vehicle bombs in the former rebel bastion of Fallujah on Thursday, an interior ministry official said.

Earlier, a defence ministry official said at least 10 people, including women, were killed in the bombings, which he said targeted Iraqi police posts.

The surge was a success!

Media Drama Queens

NYT's Alessandra Stanley.

Oh no she didn't!

Obama's Economic Team

Roubini likes.

Illegal Spying

Can we revisit FISA now?

Verizon Wireless said on Thursday that some employees had gained unauthorized access and viewed a personal cell phone account held by President-elect Barack Obama that is now inactive.

An Obama aide said his voice-mail messages and e-mails were not breached in the incident.

"We were notified yesterday that employees had accessed the records of an old cell phone no longer in use," the Obama aide said. "No voice or e-mails were listened to or read."

Irony

Dead.

The End of Cheneyism

TPM.

Rats Jumping Ship

Reuters:

Roy Blunt, the Republican whip in the House of Representatives, will announce on Thursday he will not seek another term in leadership after his party's blowout election losses, Republican sources said.

Blunt will be the second senior Republican not seeking another term in leadership after Adam Putnam of Florida said on Tuesday that he would not seek re-election to his third-ranking job of Republican conference chairman.

I think Cantor is gunning for Blunt's job. Let him have it.

The Republican party has a lot of soul searching to do before it can be nationally viable again. Fortunately for us, I don't know what it can do. The party is disintegrating into civil war between the corporate-, theo- and neo-cons, as well as a large part of the base that won't take anything less than all three together (let's call this the National Review wing of the party), a philosophy that was hardly two days ago soundly rejected in the election.

The biggest mistake they can make is to enshrine themselves even further in their cocoon and claim that it's because they weren't Republican or conservative enough that they lost, which is what the National Review wing of the party is claiming. If they continue to cling to this and nominate a similar candidate in 2012 they will consign themselves to the wilderness for a very long time.