Say Anything Blog

Ethics panel votes to charge Sanford

ov. Mark Sanford agreed Thursday to remove the last hurdle to a long-delayed House of Representatives impeachment investigation of his travel and campaign expenses.

Sanford’s attorneys said they planned to turn over a disputed State Ethics Commission investigative report to the House, likely early next week. House leaders have been waiting to review the report, which has been shielded from the public, before allowing impeachment hearings to begin.

Sanford’s attorneys provided some insight into the months-long ethics investigation Thursday, disclosing the commission has questioned about three-dozen instances of Sanford’s travel and use of campaign funds.

One sponsor of the House impeachment resolution, Rep. Greg Delleney, R-Chester, said the special impeachment panel could meet before Thanksgiving.

NY-23 ABSENTEE COUNTS: Hoffman can’t win

It’s over. Rep. Bill Owens, D-Plattsburgh, leads by 3,105 votes with 3,072 absentee ballots left to be counted.

...With 58.6 percent of all absentees counted, Mr. Hoffman has gained 71 votes on Mr. Owens so far.

UpYoursObama.com (Psalm 109:8)

7 When he shall be judged, let him be condemned: and let his prayer become sin.

8 Let his days be few; and let another take his office.

9 Let his children be fatherless, and his wife a widow.

10 Let his children be continually vagabonds, and beg: let them seek their bread also out of their desolate places.

11 Let the extortioner catch all that he hath; and let the strangers spoil his labour.

12 Let there be none to extend mercy unto him: neither let there be any to favour his fatherless children.

13 Let his posterity be cut off; and in the generation following let their name be blotted out.

14 Let the iniquity of his fathers be remembered with the LORD; and let not the sin of his mother be blotted out.

15 Let them be before the LORD continually, that he may cut off the memory of them from the earth.

16 Because that he remembered not to shew mercy, but persecuted the poor and needy man, that he might even slay the broken in heart.

17 As he loved cursing, so let it come unto him: as he delighted not in blessing, so let it be far from him.

18 As he clothed himself with cursing like as with his garment, so let it come into his bowels like water, and like oil into his bones.

19 Let it be unto him as the garment which covereth him, and for a girdle wherewith he is girded continually.

20 Let this be the reward of mine adversaries from the LORD, and of them that speak evil against my soul.

Romans 13-1:

Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God.

Americans Overwhelmingly Say Obama Bowing To Japanese Emperor Was Appropriate—Even In A Fox Poll

Despite a lot of complaining by conservatives, the American people don’t actually have any problem with President Obama bowing to the Emperor of Japan—and that’s according to the new Fox News poll.

Respondents were asked: “When the president of the United States is traveling overseas, do you think it is appropriate for him to bow to a foreign leader if that is the country’s custom or is it never appropriate for the president to bow to another leader?”

The numbers: Appropriate 67%, Never appropriate 26%. Even a majority of Republican respondents were okay with the bow, by a 53%-40% margin. Democrats weigh in at 84%-9%, and independents 62%-30%.

Holder’s reasonable decision

Reasonable minds can disagree about Attorney General Eric Holder’s decision to prosecute Khalid Sheik Mohammed and four other alleged Sept. 11 perpetrators in a Manhattan federal court. But some prominent criticisms are exaggerated, and others place undue faith in military commissions as an alternative to civilian trials.

...In deciding to use federal court, the attorney general probably considered the record of the military commission system that was established in November 2001. This system secured three convictions in eight years. The only person who had a full commission trial, Osama bin Laden’s driver, received five additional months in prison, resulting in a sentence that was shorter than he probably would have received from a federal judge.

One reason commissions have not worked well is that changes in constitutional, international and military laws since they were last used, during World War II, have produced great uncertainty about the commissions’ validity. This uncertainty has led to many legal challenges that will continue indefinitely—hardly an ideal situation for the trial of the century.

By contrast, there is no question about the legitimacy of U.S. federal courts to incapacitate terrorists. Many of Holder’s critics appear to have forgotten that the Bush administration used civilian courts to put away dozens of terrorists, including “shoe bomber” Richard Reid; al-Qaeda agent Jose Padilla; “American Taliban” John Walker Lindh; the Lackawanna Six; and Zacarias Moussaoui, who was prosecuted for the same conspiracy for which Mohammed is likely to be charged. Many of these terrorists are locked in a supermax prison in Colorado, never to be seen again.

In terrorist trials over the past 15 years, federal prosecutors and judges have gained extensive experience protecting intelligence sources and methods, limiting a defendant’s ability to raise irrelevant issues and tightly controlling the courtroom. Moussaoui’s trial was challenging because his request for access to terrorists held at “black” sites had to be litigated. Difficulties also arose because Moussaoui acted as his own lawyer, and the judge labored to control him. But it is difficult to imagine a military commission of rudimentary fairness that would not allow a defendant a similar right to represent himself and speak out in court.

...Of course, the attorney general made a different call on Mohammed than did the Bush administration. The wisdom of that difficult judgment will be determined by future events. But Holder’s critics do not help their case by understating the criminal justice system’s capacities, overstating the military system’s virtues and bumper-stickering a reasonable decision.

House panel votes to audit Federal Reserve

WASHINGTON — The House Financial Services Committee has voted to pull the curtain on the normally secretive Federal Reserve by subjecting the nation’s central bank to a sweeping congressional audit.

The provision would direct the Government Accountability Office to examine transactions the Fed has undertaken to spur lending, stabilize banks and revive the economy.

The Fed is an independent agency of the government and has been shielded from scrutiny. The proposed audit would not include a review of the Fed’s monetary policy deliberations.

Antipathy toward the Fed’s closed-door activities has grown after it used its emergency powers during last year’s financial crisis to pump hundreds of billions of dollars into the struggling financial sector

Senate confirms controversial judge

WASHINGTON — The Senate on Thursday confirmed U.S. District Judge David Hamilton for the Chicago-based federal appeals court, approving a nominee targeted by conservatives as a liberal activist.

Hamilton was approved on a 59-39 vote and became the eighth of President Barack Obama’s judicial nominees to win confirmation. He is the third confirmed for a U.S. appeals court, which is usually the last stop for federal court cases.

Republican senators — backed by their conservative allies outside Congress — had blocked a vote for five months until Democrats overcame a filibuster last Tuesday with a 70-29 vote.

Dem lawmakers introduce Afghan war surtax

A trio of Democratic lawmakers on Thursday introduced legislation that would impose a surtax to pay for the war in Afghanistan.

Appropriations Committee chairman Rep. Dave Obey (Wis.), Defense Appropriations Subcommittee John Murtha (Pa.), and Democratic Caucus chairman John Larsen (Conn.) say that the bill woild end the practice of paying for the war with deficit spending.

“Regardless of whether one favors the war or not, if it is to be fought, it ought to be paid for,” the lawmakers said in a statement. “Now the president is being asked to consider an enlarged counterinsurgency effort in Afghanistan, which proponents tell us will take at least a decade and would also cost about a trillion dollars.  But unlike the healthcare bill, that would not be paid for.”

Should the bill pass, the surtax would come into effect in 2011 and would pay off war costs from the previous year. Democratic lawmakers previously introduced a similar measure to fund the Iraq War that failed to pass through Congress.

“We believe that if this war is to be fought, it’s only fair that everyone share the burden. That’s why we are offering legislation to impose a graduated surtax so that the cost of the war is not borrowed,” the three sponsors said.

VIRUS in the VOTING MACHINES: Tainted Results in NY-23

GOUVERNEUR, NY - The computerized voting machines used by many voters in the 23rd district had a computer virus - tainting the results, not just from those machines known to have been infected, but casting doubt on the accuracy of counts retrieved from any of the machines.

Cathleen Rogers, the Democratic Elections Commissioner in Hamilton County stated that they discovered a problem with their voting machines the week prior to the election and that the “virus” was fixed by a Technical Support representative from Dominion, the manufacturer.  The Dominion/Sequoia Voting Systems representative “reprogrammed” their machines in time for them to use in the Nov. 3rd Special Election. None of the machines (from the same manufacturer) used in the other counties within the 23rd district were looked at nor were they recertified after the “reprogramming” that occurred in Hamilton County.

Republican Commissioner Judith Peck refused to speculate on whether the code that governs the counts could have been tampered with.  She indicated that “as far as I know, the machine in question was not functioning properly and was repaired” by the technician.

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US leading indicators up for seventh month in row

The forward-looking US index of leading economic indicators rose nearly as expected in October, the Conference Board said Thursday, in a sign that economic recovery from recession is on track.

The index edged up 0.3 percent, following a 1.0 percent gain in September and 0.4 percent rise in August, the business research firm said.

Most economists had expected a 0.4 percent rise in the index, which is based on data such as manufacturing hours worked, stock prices and consumer expectations,

“The data indicate that economic recovery is finally setting in,” said Ken Goldstein, a Conference Board economist.

“We can expect slow growth through the first half of 2010. The pace of growth, however, will depend critically on how much demand picks up, and how soon,” he said.

Factors such as interest rates, initial unemployment insurance claims and stock prices contributed positively to the index, more than offsetting declines in such areas as consumer expectations and home construction, the firm said.

Barrett consultant arrested for dirty campaign tricks

A 38-year-old advisor to Congressman Gresham Barrett’s gubernatorial campaign has been arrested in Myrtle Beach for engaging in dirty campaign tricks.

Mike Green, who works for the Columbia-based political consulting firm Starboard Communications, was arrested for trespassing at a Myrtle Beach bar Monday night.

Green told police the firm “pays him to cause problems for the opposing side, which is Mark McBride’s campaign.” McBride is running for mayor of Myrtle Beach.

According to WMBF, a police report showed Green was jailed at 8 p.m. after officers were called to the BATB Security Office at 1320 Celebrity Circle. The Palmetto Scoop is working to obtain a copy of the report.

Green was reportedly arrested after trying to enter the Crocodile Rocks bar, where McBride was holding a private campaign party. The bar owner told Green to leave and an altercation ensued, according to the report.

A security officer said he told Green to leave several times, and Green refused. The officer allegedly told Green he was trespassing and the consultant still refused to leave.

The incident came less than 48 hours after police were called to another Myrtle Beach establishment

The Myrtle Beach Sun News reported Saturday that Green showed up at The Fish House where McBride was meeting with restaurant owner Bill Howard. Green walked in with a video camera and began saying some “pretty brutal stuff,” according to Howard.

Green was asked to leave, and that time he did.

Green’s troubles come less than a week after another Barrett consultant, Jim Dyke, made headlines for his own controversy.

On Nov. 11, a staffer for Dyke published an allegedly doctored photo that was used to attack one of Barrett’s gubernatorial rivals.