National Politics
That’s being a Congressman, for ya. Patrick Kennedy hopes to get back to work from a mental health retreat “in time for the… debate on a national health-care overhaul later in the summer.” Presumably, he needn’t expend any hope on whether the checks from his $174,000 salary will keep arriving, whether or not he manages…
The possibility of payback in such forms as the following will be the continuing story: That news comes courtesy of federal disclosure forms that unions file each year with the Department of Labor. The Bush Administration toughened the enforcement of those disclosure rules, but under pressure from unions the Obama Labor shop is slashing funding…
This story confounds categorization: Eastern District of Michigan judge Lawrence P. Zatkoff handed down the decision, in a case involving an alleged violation of the constitutional separation of church and state. The issue is whether a government-owned company, AIG, can market sharia-compliant insurance products. (To be sharia-compliant, an investment vehicle must be created and structured…
This is the improbable combination suggested by commenter Joe Bernstein under Justin’s post. But sure enough … Do not expect these recommendations to be carried forward if Eric Holder decides to forgo his lucrative corporate law practice at Covington & Burling and accept the U.S. Attorney General position for which many believe he is the…
Egad. Nearly half of all Americans — 48 percent — disapprove of how the California Democrat she is handling her job as Speaker of the House in a CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll released Monday, while 39 percent approve of her performance. * * * That puts her approval rating at roughly the levels Newt Gingrich…
… and not so much a pure, reach-across-the-aisle spirit is the basis for President Obama’s selection of our next ambassador to China, The Corner’s Jay Nordlinger has concluded. I have had a line for some years now: Just as China is a one-party state, America is a one-party state, where China policy is concerned. There…
For the record, Senator Sheldon Whitehouse’s subcommittee hearing on the use of torture and harsh interrogation techniques following the 2001 terror attacks has been chugging along this week. This is necessary to note because one of its potential star witnesses has sucked much of the p.r. oxygen out of the hearing room with her energetic…
Mama’s, don’t let your kids grow up to be bureaucrats: Last week the Department of Labor reported that employers shed a net 539,000 jobs in the first three months of 2009, bringing the nation’s unemployment rate to 8.9%. The manufacturing sector lost 149,000 jobs, business services lost 122,000 jobs, and construction lost 110,000 jobs. All…
Dave Cribbin, quoted in yesterday’s WSJ: In the Chrysler deal, the [United Auto Workers] were unsecured creditors and the Chrysler bondholders were secured creditors. The bondholders received 28% of the value of their $6.9 billion in bonds in cash; the Union will receive stock worth approximately $4.2 billion, and a note for an additional $4.58…
So, Senator Whitehouse is pretty proud that he’s finally getting a chance to question Bush Administration lawyers about “torture memos.” I wonder if he’s interested in questioning members of Congress, particularly House Speaker Pelosi, about what I’m sure Whitehouse would consider a lack of oversight of the program?