With all of the hubbub in the news lately about gay marriage and how the LDS church in Utah stuck their noses a little too far into the whole mess, I was asked to add my two cents. Why me, you ask? Because I am a bonafide lesbian living in Mormon Mecca: Salt Lake City, UT.
So with little argument and a 300-plus majority, Congress yesterday voted to tax bonuses given by companies (read “A.I.G.”) funded under TARP at 90%, thus recovering the multi-million dollar awards to anyone in these companies earning over half a million bucks in regular income. The fact that this was targeted at TARP recipients in general was an attempt to generalize the law… and not make it, as it clearly is, a focused punishment of a particular company.
Essentially, this is what is referred to as a Writ or Bill of Attainder, and which is specifically banned in the Constitution.
A bill of Attainder is legislative act that singles out an individual or group for punishment without a trial. Article I, Section 9, paragraph 3 specifically states: “No Bill of Attainder or ex post facto Law will be passed.”
President Obama is taking it to the people. Today he was in Los Angeles and this evening he will be on Leno. An historic first I am told. A few republicans are whining about the Presidents approach to getting things done. They seem to be upset that the President is trying to talk to the American people. I wonder why?
Dana Lithwick at Slate.com talks about one of my pet peeves; intellectual dishonesty, and hypocrisy.
Senate Republicans roughing up Obama’s pick for his solicitor general, Elena Kagan, this afternoon on the Senate floor as they voted on her confirmation. She was confirmed by a vote of 61-31.
Now, this is in spite of the fact that every solicitor general since 1985- including Ken Starr– vouched for her credentials, and noted they supported her nomination. Sadly, Senate Republicans couldn’t follow that example. Senator Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, in particular, just couldn’t stand the fact that Ms. Kagan didn’t provide enough information about her ideological views.
Funny that.
From sister Virginia blog Blue Commonwealth:
Robert Holsworth of Virginia Commonwealth University is an important media voice on things political in Virginia. He is, after Larry Sabato, perhaps the most frequently quoted academic figure on Virginia politics. He also writes a column with his observations. Given all the discussion of the meaning, or lack thereof, of the straw poll at Gerry Connolly’s St. Paddy’s day event, I thought it might be worthwhile to draw people’s attention to the piece. You can of course skip the rest of what I offer and go directly to St. Paddy’s Day in Fairfax: Endorsements and Straw Polls. Or you can follow the link below for some extracts and a bit of great commentary from “Teacherken”, someone who is officially neutral in the race, with a working relationship with all 3 Democratic gubernatorial candidates, and friends committed to each of the three candidates. In any case, at least read what Holsworth has to say at Blue Commonwealth.
I was going to try to do these more frequently so they could be shorter. Ah well. I guess this isn’t too bad. I can’t say that much for the news today, so instead I will stick with yesterday.
Tuesday March 17, 2009 in 100 seconds brought to you by the fine folks at TMPtv.
Yup. A bad morning to stop sniffing glue. Now we know what is wrong with the republicans.
Monday March 16, 2009 in 100 seconds.
Out-fracking-rageous!
Headzup points out some help for all of those feeling bad about all that money they stole.
It has worked for over a millennium right? Heh.
… by throwing his daughter under the bus.
Stephanopoulos asked McCain, “What do you think of Meghan’s feud with Coulter and Ingraham?” McCain first said, “I’m proud of my daughter and she has a right to her opinions.” When asked if he agrees with his daughter, McCain did not say, simply stating, “like any family we agree on some things and disagree on others.”
Now, I’m not afraid of admitting I used to be a loud and proud McCain supporter in the 2000 Republican primaries. I never really ever forgave Bush for kneecapping McCain the way he did- even if I did end up supporting the man for far, far, far too long as I watched my party and our country head towards a precipitous cliff. But if there was ever any doubt that McCain 2008 isn’t McCain 2000… if the election season hadn’t removed that doubt from anyone here- viola.
President Obama is speaking right now. He just took responsibility for everything that is wrong with the country.
I know Washington’s all in a tizzy and everybody is pointing fingers at each other and saying it’s their fault, the Democrats fault, the republicans fault. Listen. I’ll take responsibility. I’m the President.
More to follow? I would rather that Congress just get back to work. And more importantly, let President Obama get to work. Let the obstructionism stop now.
Democratic leaders scrambling to strip AIG executives of bonuses are having a hard time answering a key question: Why didn’t Congress act to prevent the bonuses in the first place?
Hmm. That’s an excellent question. Of course, don’t ask this guy…
He doesn’t have a clue.
This certainly doesn’t remind me of anything in particular. How about you guys?
Motley Moose is a community blog focused primarily on American politics. The site began as a joint effort by 25 active political bloggers (a healthy mix of long-time Obama supporters, ‘Clintonistas’, centrists, and Republicans) who had become tired of the trolling and flame wars found on many political sites. The idea was to build a post-partisan site that could move forward instead of looking back. Motley Moose springs from the rich history of progressive blogs, including MyDD (AKA, “The Blogfather”) and Daily Kos.
The Moose has grown far beyond those original 25 bloggers by becoming a ‘home base’ for many long-time as well as new political bloggers. In separating ourselves from the political blog herd, we set out to build a new place to gather that had clear lines of moderation, fostered a strong community, promoted reasoned discourse and well-researched diaries, and included a healthy dose of snark and dry wit. We are focused on political pragmatism and centrism because we believe that without a dialogue from all sides of the political spectrum, we’ll never be able to move forward, beyond partisanship and rhetoric, and make progress on the challenges we face. We have built a strong community on which the success of the blog rests, and we believe that one blog and one blogger can make a difference in the world.
We wholeheartedly believe that there can be progress through politics. We invite you to join the discussion!
Motley: Having elements of great variety or incongruity.
Moose: A reference to the Bull Moose Party (the first Progressive Party) and a nod to our Progressive Democratic beliefs.
The Moose was born on Wednesday, September 10, 2008.