Bankers Expect Bigger Bonuses A Bloomberg Global Poll on financial executives finds three in five traders, analysts and fund managers expect their bonuses to match or exceed last year’s, with 1 in 10 predicting their best-ever payout. Just one in four see a decline.
Another Poll, Another Dead Heat in New Jersey The latest FDU Public Mind poll in New Jersey shows Gov. Jon Corzine (D) and challenger Chris Christie (R) in a close race for governor, with Corzine holding a lead among likely voters by a statistically insignificant thread of 44% to 43%. Another 6% volunteer they will vote for independent Chris Daggett and 4% are undecided.
Said pollster Peter Woolley: “At this point, anyone who says their vote doesn’t count is mistaken. And no one knows that better than the campaigns.”
Interestingly, when Daggett is included in a list of possibilities his support grows to 14%, with Christie edging Corzine, 41% to 39%.
3 Silly Religious Beliefs Held By Non-Silly People Many of the beliefs held by religious moderates — smart people who respect science and the separation of church and state — are as untenable as the dogma of fundamentalists.
Winning the Peace With all the Bloviators pulling out their “Afghanistan=Vietnam” analogies, Joshua Kurlantzick writes in the Washington Post, that we should only be so lucky. 76 percent of Vietnamese say U.S. influence in Asia is positive, according to a 2008 study by…
During Forged Letter Investigation Hearing, Coal Industry Lies Under Oath About Its Lobbying History Today, the Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming held a hearing investigating fraudulent letters forged by Bonner & Associates on behalf of the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity (ACCCE) to attack the Waxman-Markey American Clean Energy and Security Act (H.R. 2454). As the Wonk Room’s Brad Johnson has reported, ACCCE President and […]
Today, the Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming held a hearing investigating fraudulent letters forged by Bonner & Associates on behalf of the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity (ACCCE) to attack the Waxman-Markey American Clean Energy and Security Act (H.R. 2454). As the Wonk Room’s Brad Johnson has reported, ACCCE President and CEO Steve Miller lied under oath when he told the committee that his organization has never opposed clean energy legislation.
Later during the hearing, Rep. Jay Inslee (D-WA) asked Miller about the purpose of ACCCE. Miller replied that in addition to grassroots lobbying (astroturfing) and state-based lobbying, his front group has only began federal lobbying in “April of 2008″ in its “16 year history”:
INSLEE: Your entire goal of your organization is to influence Congress. Is that right?
MILLER: We do work at the state level, we do regulatory matters, we do general education to the public. So, the federal, direct federal lobbying has only been part of our portfolio since April of 2008 with a 16 year history of the organization.
Watch it:
Miller’s claim is another example of the coal industry’s perjury under oath. In a six month period of 2007 alone, ACCCE, under its previous name of Americans for Balanced Energy Choices, spent $2,660,000 lobbying the federal government. Senate disclosures show that the organization has spent millions more lobbying since 2001.
ACCCE was formed in 2008, according to its website, with the combined “assets and missions of the Center for Energy and Economic Development (CEED) and Americans for Balanced Energy Choices (ABEC).” So when Miller noted his 16 year history, he was referring to the lobbying efforts of the coal industry’s previous incarnations, ABEC and CEED.
?Party of No? Continues To Hold Obama Judges Hostage Last June, ThinkProgress reported that Senate conservatives were using single-senator anonymous holds to deny dozens of Obama nominees the up-or-down vote Republicans used to think was so important. Four months later, nothing has changed. Since taking office last January, only four of President Obama’s judicial nominees have been confirmed, despite the fact that President Bush’s […]
Four months later, nothing has changed. Since taking office last January, only four of President Obama’s judicial nominees have been confirmed, despite the fact that President Bush’s judges received very different treatment:
Consider, for example, the judicial nominations process during President George W. Bush’s last two years in office, 2007 and 2008. Bush was deeply unpopular at the time, and he faced a Senate firmly under Democratic control. Still, a large number of Bush nominees sailed through. The Senate voted on more than one-third of Bush’s confirmed nominees (26 of 68) less than three months after the president nominated them. […]
The story was similar in the first two years of Bush’s presidency: A Democratic majority in Congress confirmed 100 of Bush’s nominees in 17 months, even after delays due to a change in party control of the Sen. after Senator James Jeffords left the Republican Party in May 2001.
Blocking nearly every single one of a President’s nominees is unprecedented, but conservatives have played Calvinball with the Senate’s confirmation rules for decades. During the Reagan and Bush I Administrations, then-Senate Judiciary Chair Joe Biden (D-DE) followed a longstanding rule allowing a nominee’s home state senators to block a judicial nominee, but only if both senators agreed to do so. After President Clinton took office and conservative Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT) became judiciary chair, however, the rules suddenly changed to allow a single-home state senator to veto a nominee — a power that segregationist Sen. Jesse Helms (R-NC) used to block every single one of Clinton’s nominees from North Carolina. Yet when Bush II took office, Hatch eliminated the home-state senator veto altogether.
This time, however, the right doesn’t even have enough votes to maintain a filibuster if the Majority Leader insists that President Obama’s nominees deserve the same favorable treatment he gave to President Bush’s; the only question is how long Reid will let the “Party of No” say no to Obama’s judges.
Iran counters U.N. on uranium plan Iran on Thursday appeared to reject a key element of a U.N.-backed proposal aimed at quickly reducing its stockpile of enriched uranium, offering an informal oral counteroffer that diplomats said fell far short of a tentative deal reached earlier this month.
House Democrats announce health-care bill SPEAKERS: REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CALIF.), SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE; REP. STENY H. HOYER (D-MD.), HOUSE MAJORITY LEADER; REP. JAMES E. CLYBURN (D-S.C.), HOUSE MAJORITY WHIP; REP. CAROL SHEA-PORTER (D-N.H.); REP. GERRY CONNOLLY (D-VA.); REP. MARY JO KILROY (D-OHIO); REP. MARCIA FUDGE (D-OHIO); REP. KATH…
Dozens in Congress under ethics inquiry House ethics investigators have been scrutinizing the activities of more than 30 lawmakers and several aides in inquiries about issues including defense lobbying and corporate influence peddling, according to a confidential House ethics committee report prepared in July.
Audacity to Win: Obama’s 2008 Victory David Plouffe, Time In a new memoir, The Audacity to Win, David Plouffe, who managed Barack Obama's 2008 race for the White House, provides a behind-the-scenes glimpse inside the campaign. Here's an excerpt:Agony. Ecstasy. The [Rev. Jeremiah] Wright story broke on a Wednesday and exploded across the media landscape the next day. We decided Obama had to take questions about [his former pastor's inflammatory sermons] head-on on Friday, in a series of lengthy national cable interviews.There was one not-so-minor complication. He was already scheduled to do editorial…
What Happened to Obama’s Grassroots Activists? Lydia DePillis, TNR Tea partiers, townhall protesters, Texas secessionists–for the past few months, grassroots organizing has seemed to be mostly the domain of the right. And for a period this summer, they (okay, not the Texas secessionists, but the others) appeared to be successfully tugging the national debate in their direction. As conservative activists, organized by groups such as FreedomWorks and encouraged by the likes of Glenn Beck, poured into the streets, moderate senators began to waver on health care, President Obama's approval ratings dipped, and momentum for reform seemed to stall.It…
Obama Hinders Public’s Right to Know Quin Hillyer, Washington Times PoliticsNew bill targets 'distracted flying'NationalFeds warn of retaliation after radical's deathPoliticsHouse health-bill event closed to publicBusinessGeithner: Plan won't lead to more bailoutsPoliticsHouse Democrats deliver health reform planBusinessEconomic growth spikes to 3.5% in 3QNationalObama goes to Dover to receive U.S. deadWednesday, October 28, 2009Rate this storyAverage 5.00after 1 votes Login or register to rate this storyBy Quin Hillyer When it came to divulging basic information, it was Richard Nixon's administration that became infamous…
Racist Judge Inadvertantly Makes the Case For Gay Marriage The marriage equality movement has been severely damaged by the argument that those opposed to same-sex marriage would be forced to perform weddings against their will. READ THE WHOLE ITEM
By The Rev. Madison Shockley
The marriage equality movement has been severely damaged by the argument that those opposed to same-sex marriage would be forced to perform weddings against their will.
The Hollywood Liberal is an anti-war, anti republican, from right here beautiful Hollywood California.
This site was originally started to help get The Worst President Ever G.W. Bush Jr. Out of office. Now that we have accomplished that
the goal is to get Obama to start acting like a Democrat, and not an butt kissing Republican Wannabee. We will continue to fight for that goal
. Thanks H.L.
Last June, ThinkProgress reported that Senate conservatives were 
