Cancer Patients Die While New Democrats Help
Bankers Get Billions

post from Firedoglake on 11 March 2009 12:36:53 PM. © Firedoglake

I'm having a hard time with this. As Rep. Alan Grayson said yesterday in his chat, "AIG blew up because it was a casino that dabbled in insurance on the side." To date they've received $173 billion -- billion -- and we've got no idea what they did with[...]

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nkers-get-billions/

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NY Times reported GOP senators'
"threat" to filibuster judicial nominees, but not their prior claims that tactic violates Constitution

post from Media Matters for America on 11 March 2009 12:36:29 PM. © Media Matters for America

A March 11 New York Times article reported that President Obama faces a "threat from Senate Republicans, who earlier this month threatened, though in vague terms, to block his judicial nominees by filibuster if they were not consulted on vacancies from their home states." But the Times failed to point out that several of the same Senate Republicans who signed onto the letter "threaten[ing] ... to block [Obama's] judicial nominees by filibuster" have previously challenged the constitutionality[...]

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Warren: Is AIG Bailout Money Going To Pay Off
"Speculators"

post from TPMMuckraker on 11 March 2009 12:31:00 PM. © TPMMuckraker

Looks like you can add Elizabeth Warren to the growing list of people who want the federal government to tell us more about that latest AIG bailout.

Warren, who chairs the panel that's monitoring bailout spending on behalf of Congress, went on MSNBC's Rachel Maddow Show last night, and all but demanded more disclosure from Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner.

Maddow raised the fact that AIG has reportedly passed bailout money onto its counterparties on those credit default swaps, and that it currently has four PR firms on its payroll. In response, Warren, appearing perhaps more frustrated than in any of her other numerous media appearances over the last few most, responded:

It doesn't seem strange to me, and the fact that it doesn't seem strange to me tells you something really awful about what it's been like to be in Washington for the last few months.
These financial institutions have figured out that they're bleeding red ink, and their best solution is to persuade the Treasury Department to give them lots of money. And when the Treasury Department starts to say, there may be some problems here, the American people don't want to go along with this, then lets see if we can spin the American people on it.
The Treasury Department has not asked for the critical information about where this money has gone, from AIG. We've poured the money into AIG, and it has somehow poured it out the other end. The Treasury Department has not asked, and has not revealed, what it is that's happening with that money.
And so as long as that's the case, maybe some of the money is going to other financial institutions. Maybe some of the money is going to pay off these credit default swaps that are essential for saving other institutions that have counted on it for credit and insurance. And maybe some of where this money is going is just off to speculators, who just played the game of speculation, and would now like to collect a hundred cents on the dollar form their speculations, and collect it indirectly from the American taxpayer.

You can see the video here. (The excerpt quoted above begins around the 9:00 mark.)

The Federal Reserve, which has been at the center of the latest AIG bailout, has declined to reveal much information about the maneuver, including the identity of AIG's counterparties, saying that doing so could affect confidence in the institutions at issue.

Reports by Warren's panel have grown increasingly critical of Treasury's level of transparency and accountability in regard to the bailout.

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Jim Cramer (Mad Money Ghuru) admits to
manipulating stock markets

post from The Fruit Fly on 11 March 2009 12:30:29 PM. © The Fruit Fly

The Huffington Post has dug up this little gem:After complaining about Jon Stewarts’ skewering him on a comedy show, Cramer has proven to be a bigger dirtbag than previously assumed. Cramer brags about manipulating the market:(Cramer) calls it “a fun game, and it’s a lucrative game.” He suggests all hedge fund managers do the same. [...]

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ipulating-stock-markets/

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Polis' hiccup

post from AMERICAblog News| A great nation deserves the truth on 11 March 2009 12:30:00 PM. © AMERICAblog News| A great nation deserves the truth

Andy Towle reports on a recent gay rights gaffe by openly-gay freshman congressman Jared Polis (D-CO). Basically, Polis told a questioner that the federal hate crimes law already covers hate crimes against gays and lesbians. It doesn't. A number of folks in the gay blogosphere, and beyond, were upset that Polis didn't know this. At first, my gut instinct was to ignore this. Everybody screws up. But on thinking more about it, it is surprising that an openly-gay member of Congress seemed unfamiliar with one of the two premiere pieces of legislation that the gay community been pushing for two decades. Polis says he misspoke. In fact, he was corrected right after he spoke and admitted that he didn't realize the bill hadn't yet passed. I'm not sure what to make of this. But the best thing Rep. Polis can do to rectify things is work doubly hard to get the darn thing passed. People will forget this little glitch once we have a few victories under our belt.

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Ron Paul's Pure Pork

post from Connecting.the.Dots on 11 March 2009 12:25:00 PM. © Connecting.the.Dots

Even Fox News thinks he's "having his cake and eating it too" by giving constituents more earmark money than any member of Congress, but Ron Paul insists it's all in the name of his libertarian beliefs.

It's "like a tax credit," he explains about the $73 million for his district. "And I vote for all tax credits, no matter how silly they might seem. If I can give you any of your money back, I vote for it. So, if I can give my district any money back, I encourage that.

"But, because the budget is out of control, I haven't voted for an appropriation in years--if ever."

Paul, who insists that John McCain is just "grandstanding" in his opposition to pork, was then asked "who proposes the bridge or the highway or the school? How does that even get in there?"

"I have no idea," says the Congressman who has deeply felt ideas about everything else. "But the most important thing is to have transparency."

Is that clear?

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http://ajliebling.blogspot.com/2009/03/ron-pauls-pure-pork.html

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The latest from the Peace Lack Of Movement

post from Docudharma - Front Page on 11 March 2009 12:23:31 PM. © Docudharma - Front Page

In "An open letter to MoveOn", Dennis put into words something that has been bothering me about the peace activist movement for a long time now. I commented here, voicing my own frustration and rage at these continued requests for my time and money. I've[...]

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Drug Czar No Longer To Be a Cabinet Position

post from TalkLeft on 11 March 2009 12:22:00 PM. © TalkLeft

It's official. President Barack Obama, as reported weeks ago, will name Seattle police chief R. Gil Kerlikowski to the position of Drug Czar. But...

The administration will remove the job's Cabinet designation -- reversing an elevation of the office under President George W. Bush -- although one senior official said that Kerlikowske would have "full access and a direct line to the president and the vice president."

And this should be no surprise:

The source also noted that Vice President Biden was instrumental in the creation of the Office of National Drug Control Policy and would continue to be an outspoken advocate on the issue.

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D'oh!

Coleman campaign puts all its online donors' credit card info up on the web. But they didn't tell anyone until a watchdog site sniffed it out. [...]

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Friends in Low Places

Former U.S. Ambassador Charles "Chas" W. Freeman, Jr was considered "the wrong guy" to serve as the country's top intelligence analyst, ....[...]

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http://tbogg.firedoglake.com/2009/03/10/friends-in-low-places/

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