The Hollywood Liberal

At Finnish Embassy, the heat is on
On a recent Friday evening in the basement of the Finnish Embassy, a half-dozen men, all sweating profusely and wrapped in white towels, turned to resident sauna authority Kari Mokko to settle a dispute.

Obama’s plans to travel overseas as health vote nears draw criticism
There are always so many last-minute details to attend to before a trip abroad: Tickets. Packing luggage. Passing major health-care legislation.

Clinton’s agenda for Russia trip reflects improving but fragile relationship
MOSCOW — A year after U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton presented a mock “reset” button to Russia’s foreign minister, the two nuclear giants have significantly improved their tattered relationship, making progress on U.S. priorities such as Iran and Afghanistan and closing in on a major arms-control agreement, officials from both countries say.

Kucinich’s health-care vote could be Obama’s lucky charm
According to legend, if you catch a leprechaun in the forest, the little creature must grant you three wishes. Our Kenyan Hawaiian commander in chief evidently has the luck of the Irish, because, just in time for St. Patrick’s Day, President Obama bagged himself a leprechaun — in Cleveland, of all places — and on Wednesday his first wish was granted.

America’s Debt Gets Scary
Charles Gasparino, The Daily Beast
Enter your email address:Enter the recipients' email addresses, separated by commas:Message: Richard Drew / AP Photo The country's top-notch credit rating is in danger of being downgraded, Moody's is warning"”and if a ratings agency that completely failed to predict the financial crisis is sounding the alarm, we should all be afraid.Here's how you know the massive amounts of debt compiled by the Bush administration, and the even greater debt loads promised as part of Barack Obama's agenda, is reaching…

What Will the Court Be Like After Stevens?
Jeffrey Toobin, New Yorker
Supreme Court Justices are remembered for their opinions, but they are revealed by their questions. For many years, Sandra Day O'Connor chose to open the questioning in most cases, and thus show the lawyers"”and her colleagues"”which way she, as the Court's swing vote, was leaning. Today, Antonin Scalia often jumps in first, signalling the intentions of the Court's ascendant conservative wing, and sometimes Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Jr., makes his views, which are usually aligned with Scalia's, equally clear. New Justices tend to…

Gov. Chris Christie’s ‘Tough Love’
Michael Riccards, Star-Ledger
Register now for free, or sign in using your AIM or Google account! By Michael P. Riccards/Star-Ledger guest columnist The days of wine and roses are over, but the New Jersey hangover has just begun.Gov. Chris Christie’s budget for the coming fiscal year is balanced, and it does that the only way one can — with massive cuts in the areas that consume most of the state’s expenditures. Schools and municipalities have all been among the major recipients of state largesse year after year.The budget still does not deal with the pension mess which the Hall…

Bankrupting of United States Bonds
Steven Malanga, RealClearMarkets
In January the U.S. Treasurer, Rosie Rios, traveled to Dallas to join local officials at the construction site of a new convention hotel being built with money raised through Build America Bonds. The purpose was to celebrate the success of the so-called BABs, which are federally-subsidized bonds created by the 2009 stimulus package.Of course, what no one at the Dallas “celebration” pointed out is that the $388 million in BABs that the city floated with federal aid were necessary because no private developer would cough up the money for the risky project. In fact, local officials…

College Loan Fix Fits with Health Reform
Rep. George Miller, SF Chronicle
The case for fixing today's backward student loan system is simple: According to the Congressional Budget Office, the federal government is wasting $67 billion on subsidies to banks. President Obama and lawmakers, including some Republicans, believe these dollars could be better spent directly helping families pay for college. Not surprisingly, banks are waging a ferocious battle to save their sweetheart deal by playing fast and loose with the truth. If they succeed, they will put at risk tens of billions of dollars that we would use to increase Pell Grants for students, boost college…