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POPSPerino: Jobless should just return to the workplace The Bush administration’s refusal to extend a helping hand to those punished by the economy it created is nothing new: Last month, the White House threatened to veto a second stimulus package over opposition to an expansion of food stamps benefits.
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POPSDo Facts Matter? "We also hear that it is the free market that is to blame. But the facts show that it was the government that pressured financial institutions in general to lend to subprime borrowers, with such things as the Community Reinvestment Act and, later, threats of legal action by then Attorney General Janet Reno if the feds did not like the statistics on who was getting loans and who wasn’t. Is that the free market? Or do facts not matter?"
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POPSDid the Community Reinvestment Act cause the subprime meltdown? There have been many clips here arguing that the Community Reinvestment Act (legislation forcing banks to loan in areas from which they take deposits, enacted in 1977 and strengthened in 1995) caused the subprime meltdown, because banks were forced to make loans in poor areas. Robert Gordon shows that the CRA could not have been responsible for the subprime meltdown for two reasons: 1. Timing--CRA activity largely slowed down by 2002, yet sub-prime lending continued to intensify. 2. Lenders NOT covered by CRA played a huge role in sub-prime lending. "Half of sub-prime loans came from...mortgage companies beyon the reach of CRA...Most important, the lenders subject to CRA have engaged in less, not more, of the most dangerous lending...Independent mortgage companies...not covered by CRA, made high-price loans at more than twice the rate of the banks and thrifts."
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POPSMystery to Ponder John McCain’s top campaign officials on national security issues, Randy Scheunemann, actually worked as a lobbyist for the Georgian government so that’s his excuse for not thinking this through more thoroughly. But how about everyone else?
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POPSGovt blocks payment of Gitmo defense attorneys "government argues is required under U.S. law because the beneficiaries of the lawyers' services are foreign terrorists" - of course, these being "fair" trials, we wouldn't assume they were "terrorists," before their conviction, now would we? Justice means nothing in this political theater.
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POPSBush admin. should save Libyan dissident Upon his release, Eljahmi began speaking up for political reform in Libya. Within the month, Gadhafi had him back in prison, where he has been held, mostly incommunicado, since late March 2004. In all that time, there have been no more public mentions of Eljahmi's name from the White House. Gadhafi, meanwhile, has hit the jackpot as America's prime example of a rogue regime on rehab - presumably a case study for the likes of Iran and North Korea of how good life can get for tyrants if only they will forego an interest in nukes. Astride the oil wells of Libya, Gadhafi has enjoyed a parade of high-level visitors, including United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, and he has been welcomed in Paris. This year, with no protest from the United States, Libya gained one of the 10 rotating seats on the U.N. Security Council. Last month, Rice treated the Libyan foreign minister to a personal tour of the White House.
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POPSA War We Just Might Win Can you believe this?? This article was published by the New York Times!! It is obvious the democrats have stuck their necks way out, predicted and often enabling our defeat. Now that we are winning, they are backed into a corner. If we do win, their lies will be exposed. Even the NYT, their propaganda arm, seems to be covering all the bases.
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POPSUS Drops Baghdad electricty reports The State Department's new method shows that the national electricity supply is 4% lower than a year ago, according to the July 11 report. If the Bush administration is not willing to level with us about progress in Iraq, why should we trust its ability to manage the occupation of that country? Via Matt Yglesias
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POPSBush admin: Undermining Iranian democracy Similar warnings were delivered to U.S. officials by others, including Trita Parsi, president of the National Iranian American Council. "We had talks with the State Department and with lawmakers," Parsi told TIME. "We pointed out the dangers. Our advice was not taken into consideration. Things have turned out worse than we expected." Parsi says that, in the past, individual democracy activists have been arrested without a pretext, but that the Bush Administration's program gave the regime an opportunity to go after as many as 10,000 non-government organizations and their memberships. "There is tremendous self-censorship going on," Parsi says. "They know that the money has made them targets." Via Garance Franke-Ruta
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POPSBush loses Kristol Check out Kristol's editorial where he turns on Bush: I FEEL TERRIBLE for Scooter Libby's family. Millions of Americans feel terrible for Scooter Libby's family. Millions? *snort* Via Mark Thoma at Economist's View
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POPSLibby, Cheney, Rove - 'Traitors.' Et tu Thompson? Plame Wilson portrayed herself to the outside world as an employee of Brewster Jennings & Associates. That was a dummy corporation set up for the purposes of tradecraft by the CIA. Cheney and his henchmen destroyed the value of that facade. They also put in danger the lives of everyone known to have closely associated with Plame Wilson and her "company"-- i.e. her assets and contacts in Africa and elsewhere helping her with counter-proliferation. Cheney had Libby and his other gang members potentially "burn" all those agents.
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POPSHow Republican Senators broke their promise to investigate Iraq intelligence First Roberts said publicly that he'd "try" to have Phase II available to the public before the 2004 election. He didn't. Roberts then gave his word, in writing, that members of the Senate Intelligence Committee would have a draft report on controversial "public statements" from administration officials. That didn't happen either.Then Roberts indicated that he might just give up on the second part of the investigation altogether, because, he argued, there was nothing left to learn. Under pressure to release Phase II before the 2006 elections, Roberts agreed to release subparts of the report, which documented...nothing about the White House's mistakes. One reason why we should be skeptical of Republican reports from the Senate Intelligence Committee. In this instance, they were shamefully negligent in overseeing the executive branch.
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POPSSenate Report: Intelligence Predicted Iraq Problems in 2003 It's amazing what we're finding out now. The investigation reviewed assessments from a number of agencies but focused on two January 2003 papers from the National Intelligence Council: "Regional Consequences of Regime Change in Iraq" and "Principal Challenges in Post-Saddam Iraq." Those papers drew from expertise within a number spy agencies and were distributed to scores of White House, national security, diplomatic and congressional officials - most of whom were listed in 81 pages of the Senate report. The full report (PDF) .
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POPSThe Hillary Exception Because George W. Bush has been such a terrible president, many Democrats have developed a sort of amnesia about the Clinton era. They forget that Bill reneged on his promise not to sign NAFTA without significant environmental or labor reforms, pushed for the Telecommunications Act of ‘96, which drastically consolidated the media, leading to Clear Channel and the like, and cleared the merger of megabanks. The coziness between politicians and big business did not start with President Bush.
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POPSJimmy Carter Here we have it. The worst president in recent history calling the current president the worst. Carter should be confined to his peanut farm.
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POPSPentagon Puts Handcuffs on Congressional Testimony Once again the Bush Administration attempts to make an end-run around checks and balances and keep congress in the the dark. I, as a citizen, cannot understand how they believe they can get away with this. Congress, as the voice of the people can also legitimately be considered the ears of the people. WE control and empower the Pentagon. THEY DO NOT CONTROL US. Those they seek to muzzle are, effectively, US, as every soldier is a citizen first. When Congress yanks the chain, the Pentagon choke-collar gets tighter. It is that simple.
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POPSA Queen's Toast--or Roast? At the risk of kmcolo saying it is disgusting to be hanging onto the words of a British monarch, I did think it is interesting that reports say that Elizabeth Windsor II was very careful in not saying anything supportive of George W. Bush. If David Corn's account is correct, it is hard to read her toast as anything but a snub.
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