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POPSGradeGov.com Site allows you to send email directly to Senate Staff and allows you to grade your Representatives or Non-representing representatives as the case may be.
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POPSKeep your eyes on the right BALL
If the Senate fails to garner the needed 60 votes during next weeks procedural vote, watch and see if the Senate Finance comm. and HELP comm. swiftly send versions of the Health reform bill to the Senate Budget comm. This would be the last step needed to enable the Majority Leader to move the Health Care bill under reconciliation, thereby bypassing a motion to proceed and the 6+ additional procedural, cloture votes that would be required if the bill would be considered under the regular order. In addition to the numerous cloture votes needed at various stages to pass the Health care bill in the Senate, with each cloture vote, comes an unavoidable 1 intervening day that must pass between initiating the procedure and the actual vote itself.The Reconciliation process saves time, valuable session days and only requires 50 votes to pass. The Majority Leader could lose 10 of his democratic members and still pass the bill with the Vice President voting to break the tie. In addition, sending t
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POPSGeithner Says Credit-Default Swaps Weren't the Problem, After All.
But if Mr. Geithner now says the AIG bailout wasn't driven by a need to rescue CDS counterparties, then what was the point? Why pay Goldman and even foreign banks like Societe Generale billions of tax dollars to make them whole? Regulators say that having taxpayers buy out the counterparties improved AIG's liquidity position, but why was it important to keep AIG liquid if not to protect some class of creditors? Yesterday, Mr. Geithner introduced a new explanation, which is that AIG might not have been able to pay claims to its insurance policy holders: "AIG was providing a range of insurance products to households across the country. Yet, if there is one thing that all observers seemed to agree on last year, it was that AIG's money to pay policyholders was segregated and safe inside the regulated insurance subsidiaries. If the real systemic danger was the condition of these highly regulated subsidiaries"where there was no CDS trading"then the Beltway narrative implodes.
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POPSHolder stonewalled on potential conflicts of interest "Yes, I will certainly consider that request," he said. "But I asked you for information," Grassley responded. "Will you provide it?" "I will consider that request," Holder repeated, adding that the lawyers involved are "fine public servants" and "patriots" who have "national security uppermost in their minds." Grassley still wanted an answer. "The very least you can give me is a list of the recusals," he said. "I will consider that," Holder said again.
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POPSHolder's former law firm representing 17 detainees - Conflict of Interest? The Senate shrugged at the glaring conflict of interest Attorney General Holder presents in handling Gitmo legal issues. Lieutenant Colonel Gordon Cucullu, author of Inside Gitmo: The True Story Behind the Myths of Guantanamo Bay, makes the ethical problem plain: As a senior partner, he undoubtedly had significant input on what kind of charity cases his firm picked up. Even now, his Covington colleagues continue to allege rampant torture at Gitmo. They’re fighting hard to have detainees tried through the US court system—essentially given the same rights as US citizens. And their arguments and plans hinge largely on having Holder issue a bad report card. Recent polls indicate that at least half of Americans disagree with affording the detainees legal rights on US soil. Will they have the same access to Holder’s ears as his former colleagues do?
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POPSABC News: NYC Prison Guard attacked by Al Qaeda in Prison break attempt Salim had marked an escape route from the prison to the United Nations and written a hostage demand note, as part of a wider plot to negotiate the release of other prisoners. To complete his escape, Salim had to get the cell block keys away from Pepe, his intended victim. Salim would later testify in court that he launched his attack after another guard announced he was going to lunch, leaving Pepe alone. " was regarded as one of the only guards that actually treated these people, in their view, with respect, and so immediately he emerges as a soft target. That's the reason they went after Officer Pepe," Cloonan said. "I was very nice," Pepe said. "I always would whatever they want. I used to help them give them, of course you would never give money, but if you want help, you need something, whatever you need."
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POPSBlinded Prison Guard: Don't House Terror Suspects in NYC Billingsley said she could not discuss whether security measures have changed since Pepe was nearly killed in 2000, nor could she discuss whether any new steps would be taken if more Al Qaeda suspects are sent to the MCC. But those reassurances were little consolation for Pepe and his sister, who said the government was quick to forget the terrible lesson of his attack. "We're such a lax country — we don't learn from our mistakes," Trotta told FoxNews.com. "We have to protect our own, and at this point we're not doing it.
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POPSWhy Won't Obama Won't Call Fort Hood Suspect a Terrorist? Maybe it was because this would be the first Terrorist Attack on US soil in eight years and it was on his watch. Bush kept us safe at home from Islamic Extremists for the years after 9/11 and Obama did not... So, we get denial and stories about Post Traumatic Stress Disorder... that newly contagious disease.
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POPSScientist: CO2 Not Causing Climate Change the world has experienced three periods of cooling since 1850 and furthermore carbon dioxide was increasing during many of those cooler periods. "If we had only had warming, then there would be a connect between co2 and temperature, there is not," he added. Prof Plimer has come under attack as a "denialist poster boy" whose theories are in danger of stopping the world from tackling the grave dangers of climate change. But he said the scientists "frightening people witless by following the party line" are motivated by politics and research funding. "They are taking advantage of the current situation. That is understandable. In previous times people got wonderful research grants in a war against cancer and they achieved a lot of money for that. Now we have a war on climate change and we have a huge number of people out there who have their career staked on it and are beneficiaries of this process."
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POPSHanged Census Worker likely Insurance Fraud/Suicide There were no defensive wounds on Bill Sparkman's body, and while his hands were bound with duct tape, they still were somewhat mobile, suggesting he could have manipulated the rope, the officials said. He was found hanging from the tree yet was in contact with the ground.
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POPSObamaCare endorsements: What the bribe was The AARP got a financial windfall in return for its support of the healthcare bill. Over the past decade, the AARP has morphed from an advocacy group to an insurance company (through its subsidiary company). It is one of the main suppliers of Medi-gap insurance, a high-cost, privately purchased coverage that picks up where Medicare leaves off. But President Bush-43 passed the Medicare Advantage program, which offered a subsidized, lower-cost alternative to Medi-gap. Under Medicare Advantage, the elderly get all the extra coverage they need plus coordinated, well-managed care, usually by the same physician. So more than 10 million seniors went with Medicare Advantage, cutting into AARP Medi-gap revenues. Presto! Obama solved their problem. He eliminates subsidies for Medicare Advantage. The elderly will have to pay more for coverage under Medigap, but the AARP — which supposedly represents them — will make more money
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POPSAccidental Landlords - Fannie's "Deed for Lease" program What this does is guarantee a steady negative cash flow for the banks, further weakening their financial outlook and giving Obama yet another reason to tighten his grip on them. Fannie Mae caused this mess, and their fix will only make things worse.
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POPSFannie & Freddie NOT included in Obama's Financial Regulations In analyzing the mortgage crisis, economist Walter E. Williams has written: “Starting with the Community Reinvestment Act of 1977, that was given more teeth during the Clinton administration, Congress started intimidating banks and other financial institutions into making loans, so-called sub-prime loans, to high-risk homebuyers and businesses. “The carrot offered was that these high-risk loans would be purchased by the government-sponsored enterprises Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Anyone with an ounce of brains would have known that this was a prescription for disaster but there was a congressional chorus of denial,” he added. “The financial collapse of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac is not a failure of the free market because lending institutions in a free market would not have taken on the high-risk loans,” said Williams. “They were forced to by the heavy hand of government.”
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POPSEven more lies, damned lies and stimulus jobs So we've now seen reports of goosing stimulus job stats in Georgia, Illinois, Wisconsin, California, New Hampshire, Florida, Ohio, New Jersey, Virginia and Texas. (Ed Morrissey at Hot Air has more thoughts on the California story, as well as a round-up of some of the other state reports on stimulus chicanery.) At first the White House was owning up to "persisting errors" in the stimulus jobs data -- but when all the supposed errors seem to create the illusion of more jobs and are widespread from coast to coast, it sure looks like a deliberate ruse to hide the stimulus' clear failings. The White House needs to explain how this is happening before it turns into a full-fledged scandal.
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POPSFt. Hood suspect reportedly shouted `Allahu Akbar' At least six months ago, Hasan came to the attention of law enforcement officials because of Internet postings about suicide bombings and other threats, including posts that equated suicide bombers to soldiers who throw themselves on a grenade to save the lives of their comrades. Investigators had not determined for certain whether Hasan was the author of the posting, and a formal investigation had not been opened before the shooting, said law enforcement officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to discuss the case. The FBI, local police and other agencies searched Hasan's apartment Thursday night after evacuating the complex in Killeen, said city spokeswoman Hilary Shine. She referred questions about what was found to the FBI. The FBI in Dallas referred questions to a spokesman who was not immediately available early Friday morning.
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