Wednesday, February 27, 2008

Link barrage (12:25 pm)

1) Juan Cole, angry about the right-wing’s repudiation of Obama’s name, hilariously dissects the ins and outs of Semitic and Arabic monikers in America.

2) Kate Sheppard on the crisis in the EPA.

3) Obama picks up another Senate endorsement, this time from Byron Dorgan.

posted by Adam Doster | start the discussion

Fighting For FISA (12:18 pm)

The FISA fight is still ongoing, largely behind the scenes. In public, the White House is continuing its policy of issuing false statements, asserting that America is in great danger now, and slandering House leadership in the process. Take a look at this press release from Sunday. It appears to be some sort of fact check of Speaker Pelosi’s statements on the expiration of the Protect America Act, but if you look closely, you’ll notice that they neither dispel—nor even really address—any of her assertions. That’s, of course, because they’re all correct.

posted by Brian Beutler, Media Consortium | start the discussion

William F. Buckley, dead at 82 (10:34 am)

A legend, whether you agree with him or not, passes.

UPDATE: Here’s Rick Perlstein’s obit.

posted by Adam Doster | start the discussion

Change the bankrupcty laws? RIDICULOUS! (10:26 am)

Unsurprisingly, President Bush is threatening to veto the mortgage relief bill favored by Senate Democrats that would give more bargaining power to homeowners who face foreclosure. Essentially, banks and friends of banks are pissed because Congress wants to give bankruptcy judges the authority to rewrite the terms of mortgage loans — as they do with other types of loans — when a homeowner declares bankruptcy. It’s interfering with the contracts, they whine. But as Dean Baker reminds us, something very similar happened three years ago.

This is an interesting charge to come from the Bush administration and to be associated with the banks. Those old enough to remember may recall the bankruptcy reform of 2005. This bill altered the enforcement of loans in the opposite direction, making it easier for lenders to collect from debtors. It was applied to loans that had already been contracted not just future debt yet to be incurred, in that sense, it interfered with contracts.

Clearly, neither the Bush administration nor the banks, both of whom eagerly supported the bankruptcy reform bill, have any principled objection to interfering with contracts. Their objection seems to be based more on whom the interference is favoring. The reporters covering this issue should have provided readers with this background.

Sucks to be on the short end of the stick in Bush’s America.

posted by Adam Doster | start the discussion

Hacktastic debate moderating (10:18 am)

Tim Russert was on his game last night! From the ludicrous hypotheticals to the inane badgering to his poor handling of the Farrakhan question, he really brought the ruckus. Illinois super-blogger Archpundit has the goods on The Farrakhan boogeyman and if you haven’t already read Yglesias’ takedown of Timmy, do so now.

Tim Russert, it is said, is tough—supertough—and wily, too, like a knuckleball pitcher. As Jim Geraghty put it, “Every once in a while a Washington media institution really does matter, and Meet the Press is one of them.” Why? “Because Tim Russert, without commercial interruption, will throw hardballs and curveballs for a solid half hour, and standard delaying tactics won’t work.” So Meet the Press thrives, delighting precisely the sort of person who doesn’t realize that a hardball is a kind of ball whereas a curveball is a kind of pitch.

posted by Adam Doster | start the discussion

Tuesday, February 26, 2008

Bike-sharing in the Windy (2:22 pm)

Bike-sharing may soon come to Chicago. Good times.

posted by Adam Doster | start the discussion

The Newest Corporate Growth Industry: Public Place Holders! (12:37 pm)

After a couple months off, Megan Tady was all set to make her first 2008 appearance on In These Times.com later this week with a reported piece on the ground at yesterday’s Boston FCC hearings about Comcast’s blocking of content. But then she got waylaid by the flu and it doesn’t look like she’s going to recover in time to write the piece. So in addition to wishing Megan a speedy recovery, I’m going to outsource our coverage to the good folks at the Save the Internet blog.

There’s some good analysis about the hearing itself, but I was particularly intrigued by this post that suggested:

Comcast — or someone who really, really likes Comcast — evidently bused in its own crowd.
These seat-warmers were paid to fill the room and keep the public out. They arrived en masse some 90 minutes before the hearing began and occupied almost every available seat, upon which many promptly fell asleep.
One told us that he was “just getting paid to hold someone’s seat.”
He added that he had no idea what the meeting was about.

It’s a gig with a long history in D.C., as this Seattle Pilot-Intelligencer piece explained back in 2005:

Line standers earn from $11 to $16 an hour to hold places in lines for lobbyists, activists and others willing to pay to attend congressional hearings.
Committee rooms have limited space, and the public seats are assigned on a first-come, first-filled basis.
[…]
So line standers assemble hours — or sometimes days — before the hearings to claim places for those Gucci-shoed legions whose livelihoods depend upon being inside committee rooms where laws are written and other congressional business is conducted.

In October, Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) introduced a bill to put an end to the practice. Predictably, it’s gone nowhere.

posted by Brian Cook | start the discussion

Monday, February 25, 2008

Moblizing Millenials (5:05 pm)

As a writer very interested in the challenges facing young Americans today, I’d be remiss if I didn’t point you to a package in The American Prospect’s March issue on “mobilizing Millenials.” A good chunk of the pieces are tired hat, but a few are worth reading. I’d recommend Kate Sheppard’s article on organizing efforts at community college and nontraditional campuses and Dana Goldstein’s piece on young people and unions.