The Hollywood Liberal

Ye Olde Scribe Presents: Another Edition of “Spam, Spam, Spam, Spam
“No not on a lamb, or from Bam, Bam, just spam from the inbox of some old fart HAM.” Cell Phone for old farts like Scribe

Gutierrez Likely to Enter Race for Chicago Mayor
Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-IL) will jump into the Chicago mayor’s race, according to NBC Chicago.

Said a source: “Even if he comes in third, if he gathers 60% of the Latino vote, then he hopes to walk into runoff contenders to barter ‘here’s what I need.”

A poll recently commissioned by Gutierrez finds Rahm Emanuel leading with 27%, Tom Dart at 19%, Carol Moseley Braun at 9% and Gutierrez at 8%.

Chaos in Massachsuetts Race Pushes Patrick to Lead
A new Suffolk University/7News poll in Massachusetts finds that the “treacherous defection” of Tim Cahill’s (I) running mate to Charlie Baker’s (R) camp has backfired and helped propel Gov. Deval Patrick (D) to a seven-point lead in the race for governor.

Patrick leads Baker, 46% to 39%, with Cahill at 10%.

Said David Paleologos: “Whether they like Deval Patrick or not, people are still saying he’s run the best campaign and he has the best temperament to be governor. He’s on the goal line. But he hasn’t gotten the touchdown yet.”

Blumenthal Widens Lead in Connecticut
A new Quinnipiac poll in Connecticut shows Richard Blumenthal (D) has opened up a double-digit lead once again over Linda McMahon (R) for U.S. Senate, 54% to 43%, among likely voters.

Said pollster Douglas Schwartz: “After McMahon had climbed to within 3 points of Blumenthal, he has stopped her momentum and increased his lead by 8 points in two weeks. While September wasn’t very good for Blumenthal, perhaps like Reggie Jackson, he could be called ‘Mr. October.’ Fueled by a surge in support from women, Democrats and independents, Blumenthal has his best poll numbers since the start of the fall campaign.”

Abercrombie Clings to Narrow Lead in Hawaii
A new Honolulu Civil Beat poll in Hawaii shows Neil Abercrombie (D) with a slight lead over Duke Aiona (R) in the race for governor, 47% to 44%.

Why Germany Has It So Good — and Why America Is Going Down the Drain
Germans have six weeks of federally mandated vacation, free university tuition, and nursing care. Why the US pales in comparison.

Germans have six weeks of federally mandated vacation, free university tuition, and nursing care. Why the US pales in comparison.

J Street, the Moderate Antidote to AIPAC, Weathers Another Cheap Attack from the Jewish Right Wing
The rise of J Street has the Jewish right — people who support Israel’s policies, right or wrong — on the attack.

The rise of J Street has the Jewish right — people who support Israel's policies, right or wrong — on the attack.

Why Is the White House Against Freezing Foreclosures in the Face of Rampant Fraud?
Treasury and Obama are facing huge financial pressure.

Treasury and Obama are facing huge financial pressure.

One man’s journey from Youngstown to life as a businessman on West Bank: Sam Bahour
President Barack Obama correctly placed Middle East peace on top of his agenda, but he must be careful. International law must be his guiding light; anything less is just prolonging the conflict and playing short-term politics. I live in my…

AIPAC, AJC, ADL: To Hell With The Turks
It must be fun being the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, the Anti-Defamation League, or the American Jewish Committee. You can switch policies on a dime and everybody understands. For decades, these three have been unabashedly pro-Turkish. If Turkey was…

Another Horrible Jobs Report – And Why The Great Jobs Recession Continues
America’s private sector generated 64,000 jobs in September — just about half the number needed to keep up with the growth in the labor force. (Government, meanwhile, shed jobs.) That means American workers are in worse shape today than they…

Double Standard: Fox Fear Mongers About ?Ground Zero Mosque?s? Foreign Funding, But Defends The Chamber?s
Following ThinkProgress’ investigation revealing that the U.S. Chamber of Commerce takes money from foreign corporations into the same account it uses to fund attack ads, Fox News personalities and conservative pundits have rushed to the right-wing business group’s defense. Former Bush advisor (and current Fox News contributor) Karl Rove and former RNC chair Ed Gillespie, […]

Following ThinkProgress’ investigation revealing that the U.S. Chamber of Commerce takes money from foreign corporations into the same account it uses to fund attack ads, Fox News personalities and conservative pundits have rushed to the right-wing business group’s defense. Former Bush advisor (and current Fox News contributor) Karl Rove and former RNC chair Ed Gillespie, who together have started their own shadowy attack outfits, have been some of the Chamber’s staunchest defenders. They have tried to paint the business lobbying behemoth as an innocent victim, while reflexively — and baselessly — attacking the Center for American Progress Action Fund, ThinkProgress’ parent organization.

The Chamber and its defenders on Fox repeatedly claim there is “not one scintilla of evidence” supporting the foreign money charge, and thus have declared the allegations a groundless “smear.” But as the Daily Show with Jon Stewart pointed out last night, these same pundits had a very different view of undisclosed foreign money just two months ago when they were apoplectic about the Islamic Community Center near Ground Zero and its supposedly nefarious foreign funding.

Playing back-to-back clips of Fox personalities alternatively fear mongering about the mosque’s alleged foreign funding, and dismissing that of the Chamber, Stewart adeptly points out the hollowness their defense of the business group:

Of course, Fox’s parent company News Corporation gave the Chamber $1 million just last month.

Meanwhile, the Chamber and the media have still failed to explain away key concerns raised by the ThinkProgress investigation. Mainstream media reports have focused almost entirely on so-called “AmChams,” but these entities represent only a small piece of the puzzle and have been used as a red herring by the Chamber to distract from the real concern — direct donations from large corporations headquartered abroad. If Fox’s personalities spent as much effort hyperventilating about the Chamber’s foreign funding as they did about the Islamic community center’s, maybe the Chamber would be forced to finally disclose its fundraising and clear up the supposedly fraudulent charges leveled against them.

Obama calls for extending tax break for college students
President Obama on Wednesday will call on Congress to extend a tax break aimed at college students that was included in last year’s stimulus package.

Judge halts ‘Don’t ask don’t tell’ policy
A federal judge ordered an immediate end Tuesday to the Pentagon’s enforcement of its ban on openly gay service members, rejecting the Obama administration’s argument that an injunction to stop the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy might harm military readiness.

Sponsor of National Prayer Breakfast received money from alleged terrorist group
A group of Ohio ministers has asked the Internal Revenue Service to investigate the organization that sponsors the National Prayer Breakfast because it received money six years ago from an alleged Islamic terrorist organization trying to finance illicit lobbying.

Featured Advertiser

Will Anti-Obama Mood Decide WV Senate Race?
Jay Newton-Small, Time
West Virginia Governor Joe Manchin is making his way up Randolph Avenue in the annual Elkins Forest Festival Parade, one of the oldest and largest parades in the Mountain State. Like the natural politician that he is, Manchin zigzags across the street, tossing babies in the air and hugging their mothers. Folks call out, “Hey Joe!” and “Good luck!” “That's the governor!” excited onlookers exclaim. Manchin is unquestionably popular, as he is in much of the state, where he enjoys approval ratings in the high 60s. But about halfway through the festive …

Tory vs. Voodoo Conservatism
Ruth Marcus, Washington Post

Freer is Better
John Stossel, RealClearPolitics
The 2010 Index of Economic Freedom lowers the ranking of the United States to eighth out of 179 nations — behind Canada! A year ago, it ranked sixth, ahead of Canada.Don't say it's Barack Obama's fault. Half the data used in the index is from George W. Bush's final six months in office. This is a bipartisan problem. Receive news alertsFor the past 16 years, the index has ranked the world's countries on the basis of their economic freedom — or lack thereof. Ten criteria are used: freedoms related to business, trade, fiscal matters, monetary matters, investment,…