Econ 101: March 16, 2012

post from ThinkProgress on 16 March 2012 09:00:04 AM. © ThinkProgress

Welcome to ThinkProgress Economy?s morning link roundup. This is what we?re reading. Have you seen any interesting news? Let us know in the comments section. You can also follow ThinkProgress Economy on Twitter.

The financial services industry remains the least trusted in the U.S. [Politico]

Democratic Senators are objecting to the House’s JOBS Act due to provisions that weaken investor protections. [Los Angeles Times]

Former employees of the failed investment firm MF Global are being called to testify before Congress next month. [New York Times]

House Republicans don’t plan to take up the Senate’s transportation bill this month. [Politico]

A former for-profit college executive is blowing the whistle on his firm, saying it engaged in predatory lending. [Huffington Post]

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission is planning to increase its oversight of high-speed trading. [Wall Street Journal]

U.S. tax evaders can no longer count on Swiss secrecy. [Time]

The International Monetary Fund has agreed to put $36 billion into the latest round of funding to bail out Greece. [Washington Post]

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http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2012/03/16/445877/econ-031612/

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On This Day In History March 16

post from Docudharma - Front Page on 16 March 2012 09:00:00 AM. © Docudharma - Front Page

Cross posted from The Stars Hollow GazetteThis is your morning Open Thread. Pour your favorite beverage and review the past and comment on the future.Find the past "On This Day in History" here.March 16 is the 75th day of the year (76th in leap years) in[...]

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http://www.docudharma.com/diary/29363/on-this-day-in-history-march-16

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No News For Santorum Out of Missouri

post from The American Prospect on 16 March 2012 08:36:32 AM. © The American Prospect

The next jaunt on the wild Republican roller-coaster is this weekend. Missouri voters head to their local polling locations for the second time this cycle. They first expressed themselves back in early February in a nonbinding primary, a vote won by Rick Santorum but that has no bearing on the delegates that will be sent to Tampa this summer. Missourians vote once again tomorrow, this time in caucuses that will eventually, down the line, help select who is sent to the GOP convention, and by extension, whether the state votes for Santorum or Mitt Romney.

Like every caucus, the local meetings held tomorrow are nonbinding. Delegates elected from those meetings are sent on to the district convention. The actual Republican delegates are later selected at the state convention (that's for the statewide delegates, ones representing the various Congressional districts are selected at a separate meeting). That's not too different from how Iowa or other caucus states have worked thus far. But those states have included an unofficial straw poll alongside the local meetings, the theory being that those results will ultimately coincide with how each caucus selects its delegates. As TPM noticed, Missouri doesn't do that, so there won't be any new results to report out of Missouri tomorrow night. While it's safe to assume Santorum's previous success last time will translate to the caucus vote, he won't be able to tout any new victories. Instead, the only quantifiable vote this weekend will be Puerto Rico, a caucus Romney was expected to win even before Santorum went on a screed about how it was a lesser part of the U.S. because its residents don't uniformly speak English.

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http://prospect.org/article/no-news-santorum-out-missouri

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Ultra-local food: the proximity principle

post from Occasional Planet on 16 March 2012 08:00:43 AM. © Occasional Planet

I?m going to admit it. I?m privileged. And it has nothing to do with what?s sitting in my bank account. The privilege I?m referring to is the food I eat and the ingredients I cook with. Vegetables of all colors and varieties, apples, pears, peaches, plums, melons, grapes, berries, locally produced wines, beer, vodka, and [...]Related posts:

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http://www.occasionalplanet.org/2012/03/16/ultra-local-food-the-proximity-princip
le/

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Gingrich: Left doesn't believe the Wright
Brothers invented flying

post from US Politics | AMERICAblog News on 16 March 2012 08:00:34 AM. © US Politics | AMERICAblog News

Newt Gingrich via the Huffington Post:

"The Left has believed for at least forty years now in a concept called Peak Oil that says 'gee, we're about to run out.' Well, it turns out that our reserves in the U.S., because of new technology, which is something that the Left rejects - they don't believe the Wright Brothers invented flying, they don't believe Edison invented electric light, and they don't believe we're about to invent the next generation of interesting things.

I don't think I have met anyone on 'the Left' who seriously disputes the notion that the Wright brothers were the first to succeed at powered flight but as everyone knows, the Montgolfier brothers beat them to 'flight' by more than a century.

Nor have I met anyone who disputes the fact that Thomas Edison made enormous contributions to the development of electric light. But the fact remains that he did not invent electric light. The British inventor Joseph Swan began working on the problem in 1850 and developed a recognizable lightbulb back in 1860. Swan was the first person to live in a house lit by electricity (1880). And even though Edison and Swan both made substantial contributions to making the first practical systems for electric light, there were 22 other people working on incandescent electric lamps before them.

This might seem pedantic, but Gingrich is a professor of history. If he can't make an argument about historical facts with accuracy and precision, then just what is he good for?

It is almost as if Gingrich told someone that the Wright brothers invented 'flight', someone attempted to correct his error, and rather than check the facts for himself Gingrich deduced they were a leftist hater of America. Later on someone must have tried to correct Gingrich on the history of electric light, a second observation that proved the existence of a vast left wing conspiracy.

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http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Americablog/~3/0BHmoqJ2LpQ/gingrich-left-doesnt-be
lieve-wright.html

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Daily Kos Elections Morning Digest: The number
one redistricting villain in the nation: Andrew Cuomo

post from Daily Kos on 16 March 2012 08:00:04 AM. © Daily Kos

Want the scoop on hot races around the country? Get the digest emailed to you each weekday morning. Sign up here.Leading Off:

? NY Redistricting: Late on Wednesday night, Albany lawmakers passed the unholy legislative gerrymanders agreed upon by Democratic leaders in the Assembly and their Republican counterparts in the Senate. Indeed, Senate Democrats were so enraged that they stormed out of the chamber en masse, leading to a 36-0 vote in favor of the maps. (The four members of the so-called "Independent Democratic Conference" shamefully sided with the GOP: David Carlucci, Jeffrey Klein, Diane Savino, and David Valesky.)

Then on Thursday, Gov. Andrew Cuomo gave final testament to the fact that he spent a year lying to New Yorkers about his promise to reform the redistricting process and signed the maps into law. What did he get in exchange? The mere possibility that a deliberately crappy redistricting commission might come into effect a decade hence. In order for that to happen, the next legislature would have to pass the proposed constitutional amendment again?something they may well not bother to do, given that they already got what they wanted (their maps)?and then voters have to approve it in a referendum.

Hopefully they won't: SUNY New Paltz Prof. Gerry Benjamin, an expert on government process, rated the commission a "C-" on behalf of the Citizens? Committee for an Effective Constitution (a good-government group) and said he'd vote against it himself. Cuomo also pushed the legislature to pass a statute that is identical to the amendment in case the amendment never happens... but of course, a statute can be undone by an act of the same legislature which passed it in the first place.

All in all, this is an extremely raw deal for New Yorkers, and for Democrats, this truly is the worst of all possible worlds. We gave up the ability to draw a congressional map, and we allowed the GOP to produce another outrageous gerrymander of the state Senate?in other words, worse than bupkes. If Cuomo had kept his word and vetoed any maps produced by the legislature, we'd be taking back the Senate this fall, guaranteed, and then we'd have an opportunity to re-do the congressional map next year.

But instead, Cuomo's for some reason in thrall to Republican Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos, who appears to be his closest ideological soul-mate in Albany. It's absolutely disgusting, and if there's a singular villain who stands out above many others across the nation in this dismal season of redistricting, it's Andrew Cuomo. When he tries to run for president, don't forget this. (David Nir)

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http://feeds.dailykos.com/~r/dailykos/index/~3/nIFmG1jLxvQ/-Daily-Kos-Elections-M
orning-Digest-The-number-one-redistricting-villain-in-the-nation-Andrew-Cuomo

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Morning CheckUp: March 16, 2012

post from ThinkProgress on 16 March 2012 08:00:02 AM. © ThinkProgress

Catholic Bishops pressured Komen over Planned Parenthood: “Internal Komen documents reviewed by Reuters reveal the complicated relationship between the Komen Foundation and the Catholic church, which simultaneously contributes to the breast cancer charity and receives grants from it. In recent years, Komen has allocated at least $17.6 million of the donations it receives to U.S. Catholic universities, hospitals and charities.” [Reuters]

Rick Santorum signs “personhood” petition in Oklahoma: “Oklahoma has become the new hotbed for Personhood activity with two bills introduced, one in the form of a constitutional amendment and one, a standard piece of legislation declaring fertilized eggs as people. While campaigning in Oklahoma, Rick Santorum signed the Personhood Petition that is being circulated in that state.” [RH Reality Check]

Administration partners with gym owned by anti-abortion supporter: “It’s well known that [Curves] founder and CEO, Gary Heavin, has given to anti-abortion causes. So when the Office on Women’s Heath, a division of the Department of Health and Human Services, announced that it was teaming up with the ubiquitous chain to promote National Women’s Health Week this May, some in the reproductive rights community were none too pleased.” [Mother Jones]

Obama shifts health care defense: “The Obama administration has shifted its legal arguments as it prepares to defend the president?s healthcare law before the Supreme Court. The shift moves the focus of Justice?s argument from the Commerce Clause of the Constitution to the Necessary and Proper Clause, which says Congress can make laws that are necessary for carrying out its other powers.” [The Hill]

Mississippi builds insurance exchange as it fights health law: “Mississippi, a deeply red Southern state that is part of the Supreme Court case against the health law, is moving full speed ahead with one of the key provisions of that law: an online health insurance exchange.” [NPR]

Read The Full Article:
http://thinkprogress.org/health/2012/03/16/445874/morning-checkup-march-16-2012/

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Justiceline: March 16, 2012

Welcome to Justiceline, ThinkProgress Justice?s morning round-up of the latest legal news and developments. Remember to follow us on Twitter at @TPJustice.

The conservative Fifth Circuit held that the Second Amendment was not violated when police seized a gun from a man after he was arrested on drug and firearms charges that were later dropped.
Meanwhile, shootings of three children are sparking new calls for tighter gun laws in Washington state.
A federal judge struck down a Utah law banning panhandling.
The Department of Justice approved Virginia’s newly redrawn congressional districts.
Meanwhile, the Alaska Supreme Court orders that state’s redistricting commission to try again with its state legislative districts.
And, finally, the Wall Street Journal explains just how much of a pain it is going to be to get a seat in the Supreme Court room during the Affordable Care Act oral argument.

Read The Full Article:
http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2012/03/16/445881/justiceline-march-16-2012/

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Mike's Blog Round Up

Real American Liberal: You know things are going badly for the GOP when Fox News polling shows President Obama beating all the Republican contenders.

Progressive Blog Digest: All the news that fits we print.

Plunderbund: Right-wingers peddle myth that the Affordable Care Act has doubled in cost. (More on what the CBO really said about the ACA, why it should now cut the debt by $50 billion more over the next decade, and what its potential impact on employer-provided coverage might be.)

Media Matters: Right-wingers peddle myth that the Affordable Care Act authorizes ?$1 abortions.?

Speaking of which, your quote of the day: ?So when asked will I preserve and protect a woman's right to choose, I make an unequivocal answer: yes.? (Mitt Romney, 2002.)

Guest blogging Mike's Blog Round Up today is Jon Perr from Perrspectives. Send your tips, recommendations, comments and angst to mbru AT crooksandliars DOT com.

Read The Full Article:
http://crooksandliars.com/jon-perr/mikes-blog-round-71

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Lakeside Diner

A variety of links to articles/interviews/speeches on current topics that may be of interest.[...]

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http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/firedoglake/fdl/~3/MC4UT3ddwfM/

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