6
POPSEPA Rules Farm Dust NOT SAFE, Must Be Regulated But the U.S. District Court of Appeals in Washington ruled Tuesday that the EPA had already provided the evidence necessary to determine farm dust "likely is not safe." Michael Formica, a lawyer for the pork council, said this means farmers now face the daunting task of proving a negative - that the dust is not harmful. Formica said his and other groups will consider a further appeal. Farmers said they will be hard-pressed to meet the standards. In a letter sent Wednesday to the EPA, Grassley wrote that compliance would be impossible because of the dust produced in farmers' day-to-day activities. Grassley also has noted that because many rural roads are not paved, particulate readings could be affected by wind gusts that constantly change. "After all, God decides when the wind blows, not Chuck Grassley," he said. But the EPA said the regulation was overdue. http://www.lubbockonline.com/stories/030109/bus_399791974.shtml
0
POPSACORN Funded Political, For-Profit Efforts, Data Show ACORN, the masters at disbursing money to places where it wasn't intended. Who set this group up with money and who was behind keeping it funding with Gov't Funds??? Who gave ACORN $$$ earmarked for fire departments in Louisiana???
2
POPSSenate Panel Foils Public Preview of Health Bill 
Moreover, two Democrats, Sens. Jay Rockefeller of West Virginia and Charles Schumer of New York, are seeking to add a public insurance option to the bill. Such a plan is favored by many liberals but was substituted with nonprofit insurance cooperatives in the bill. The committee opened its second day of work on the bill after a clash over costs on Tuesday. Sen. Charles Grassley of Iowa and other Republicans want to change the bill's mandate for individuals to have health insurance, which they say would be a burden on some people. Baucus altered parts of the bill on Tuesday in a bid to gain support from both sides. Key changes included cutting the maximum penalty for families that don't get health insurance, to $1,900 from $3,800 a year. Health-care economist Len Nichols of the New America Foundation said he thinks Snowe's trigger amendment may help get some other Republicans on board with the broader bill. But at least one Republican leader criticized the idea.
12
POPSJoyce Meyer's $23,000 toilet... And you still believe its not a racket? Doesn't look like feeding the poor and walking in the footsteps of Jesus to me. But keep donating, they all have to take a dump somewhere. It's called fleecing the flock. It's a time honored tradition. Glad you could be on board. Thanks again for your donation. God will pay you back a 1000-fold ... after you're dead. (What a great punch line! Only a few people actually get it.)
2
POPSOpposition to Sotomayor - Day 1 Confirmation Hearings Of course you get whacked when you speak truth. It is true that we are human and that we can never be truly impartial. But just because you might have sympathies for one of the parties does not mean that you will inevitably rule in their favor. Sessions is dead wrong when he says that our system will be further corrupted because on critical ingredient for a judge is empathy. I want a human on the bench, one who realizes that their rulings will have consequences.
3
POPS Watchdog Out. Lapdog In. required that all Amtrak documents be "pre-screened" (and in some cases redacted) before being turned over to the inspector general's office; and taken control of the inspector general's $5 million portion of federal stimulus spending. Moreover, the report revealed, Amtrak regularly retained outside law firms shielded from IG reach. In another case, Amtrak's Law Department appeared to meddle in an inspector general investigation of an outside financial adviser suspected of inflating fees. The consultant ran to the Law Department when the IG demanded documents, and the Law Department repudiated the IG's instructions on complying with a subpoena. These interventions (ongoing since 2007) have "systematically violated the letter and spirit of the Inspector General Act," according to Grassley. IG staffers now fear retaliation -- and with good reason. (Amtrak Inspector General Fred Weiderhold "retired", dismissal of Gerald Walpin, financial shenanigans by Obama cronies)
7
POPSTwo IG Firings and One Double-Secret Probation Under Investigation Sen. Charles Grassley, R- Iowa, sent the letter Wednesday to Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner demanding information about a "dispute over certain Treasury documents" that he said were being "withheld" from Barofsky's office on a "specious claim of attorney-client privilege." A White House spokesman declined to comment, referring questions to the Treasury Department. Treasury spokesman Andrew Williams said late Wednesday that the agency would read Grassley's letter and respond to the senator before any public comment. http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-tc-nw-inspectors-0617-0618jun18,0,5718990.story We are seeing a pattern, no longer just a single data point. IGs work independently to protect taxpayers from corruption and abuse from its own government agencies. A coordinated attack on IGs certainly suggests hostility to that mission, which isn’t the Hope and Change Obama promised on the campaign trail. Yep.
5
POPSObama Broke Law Firing AmeriCorps IG The text of Grassley’s letter to the President: Dear Mr. President: I was troubled to learn that last night your staff reportedly issued an ultimatim to the Americorps Inspector General Gerald Walpin that he had one hour to resign or be terminated. As you know, Inspectors General were created by Congress as a means to combat waste, fraud, and abuse and to be independent watchdogs ensuring that federal agencies were held accountable for their actions. Inspectors General were designed to have a dual role reporting to both the President and Congress so that they would be free from undue political pressure. This independence is the hallmark of all Inspectors General and is essential so they may operate independently, without political pressure or interference from agencies attempting to keep their failings from public scrutiny.
1
POPS Health Care Hits A Snag in the Senate Now, a Medicare-like plan is highly unlikely, Senate aides say. White House officials also have signaled they are open to other approaches. Two other options are still on the table. One is to create a public insurance plan run by multiple regional third-party administrators. The other is to have states create their own insurance plans, possibly by allowing people to buy policies through the plans available to state employees. The idea is that state plans wouldn't have the clout that would enable a national plan to muscle out private insurers. Yet another option, proposed by Sen. Charles Schumer (D., N.Y.), is to create a public plan that pays for itself and adheres to private-insurance rules. If Senate Democrats and Republicans can't reach a compromise on the public plan, there are still several ways it could make its way into legislation. Although leading Democrats have said they want a bipartisan deal, they could use a tactic known as "reconciliation," . . . .
1
POPS"House to vote on 90% tax for AIG bonuses" I think it is crap that many of these guys/gals would take bonuses after what their institutions have gone though this last year, however, the government levying such taxes is criminal. I applaud those that have chosen to give back their bonuses. I know I would be tempted to "take the money & run." So, "CHEERS" to those returning the bonuses & "JEERS" to the government trying to control everyone & everything. This country is becoming more Orwellian every day, it seems.
1
POPSDrug Companies Pushing Doctors To Push Their Drugs On Unwitting Consumers? I'm not for making laws to prevent doctors from working with drug makers, but I definitely feel like there is a conflict of interest in a doctor pushing XYZ drugs while being paid by XYZ drug company and then failing to disclose their connections with the drug and the company while trying to encourage the public to take said drug. You then have to ask yourself: Are they pushing the drug because they believe that it will truly work or because they are getting some amazing perks for doing so?
1
POPSWill Obama Stop The Goldman to Gov't Express? Specifically, Grassley is concerned about a tax code change that paved the way for the acquisition of Wachovia by Wells Fargo. An ex-Goldman executive was leading Wachovia at the time of that deal. Here's the answer he'll get from Treasury and Paulson: these are dangerous times and anything that was done was for the good of the country. In other words, they'll drag out the old national security argument. Grassley will become a minnow in the next Democrat-controlled Congress. But the Democrats need to take up the baton, turn it into a club and see just what Paulson has been up to. As I've written before, Paulson has admitted that part of his job was to keep in touch with "market participants." Calling his friends on Wall Street - and especially at Goldman - would be an odd extension of the role of Treasury secretary and I certainly would like to know what he felt compelled to tell these folks.
0
POPSThe Latest Conflicted Researcher Sen. Charles Grassley has been digging up a lot of these. Gardiner Harris at NYT really manages to pull out some of the larger trends at work, especially toward the end of this piece.
4
POPSLet Them Eat Rice: Washington's Unedifying Ethanol Food Fight And what about the impact of the Chinese livestock and meat complex, alluded to by Senator Grassley? According to China expert, Darrell Ray, Director of the University of Tennessee's Agricultural Policy Analysis Center, "China has not been importing corn to grow her livestock industry. China continues to export more corn that she imports. With regard to grains, China has been taking care of China as if it were a planet on to its own, completely independent of what is happening elsewhere. . . .To attribute today's international grain prices to China essentially assumes that beginning two years ago the market decided there may be a need for China to become a net importer of some corn in the future, say 2012, and so bid-up the price of corn by double." As this "let them eat rice" soundbite made clear, the debate over the food versus fuel issue is about as undignified as a full out real food fight at a summer camp cafeteria.
3
POPSHousing Bill Threatens Personal Privacy Email Petition The Senate is currently considering a $300 billion mortgage bailout for the riskiest borrowers and their banks. Recently, it was revealed that Senator Chris Dodd (D-CT), the primary architect of the compromise bill that ultimately ended up on the Senate floor, had received a special “VIP” loan from Countrywide Financial, which stands to be one of the primary beneficiaries of the bill. Unfortunately, the irresponsible economics and the VIP scandal are only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the bad policy in the mortgage bailout. Hidden within the bill is a provision added by Sen. Charles Grassley (R-IA) that would greatly expand the power of the Internal Revenue Service to monitor what Americans buy online. Sen. Grassley’s provision would require the nation’s electronic payment systems to track, aggregate, and report information on nearly every electronic transaction to the federal government.
3
POPS Tremendous Range Of Unintended Consequences On the losing side of the equation have been cattle, hog and chicken producers, as well as consumers. The government’s latest projection, released Friday, is that food prices this year will rise as much as 5.5 percent. Some products, including cereals and eggs, are expected to rise about 10 percent. The idea of easing ethanol mandates, while it would also lower the price of corn, is contentious. Keith Collins, the former Agriculture Department chief economist, will release a study on Monday saying that as much as half of the sharp increase in corn prices over the last few years is due to the demands of ethanol production. “We’ve seen a tremendous range of unintended consequences” from the requirement that increasing amounts of ethanol be blended into gasoline. The White House will be forced to confront the ethanol issue next month. States are allowed to asked for waivers of the mandate for corn ethanol on the ground that it is harming the economy or the environment.
1
POPS The 11th Commandment “Though Shalt Not Attack Fellow Republicans.” The Romney camp frames the memo as a top-10 list of McCain’s “attacks” on Republicans. It could also be called “10 instances over the last eight years when McCain got angry or lost his cool.” Oh, and the missive pays special attention to McCain’s use of four-letter words that are not H-E-double-hockey-sticks. Update: On Thursday afternoon, Romney said, “One thing I’m also gonna point out is, particularly in a Republican campaign, I’m not going to talk about the character of the people I’m running against.” He also cited Ronald Reagan’s so-called 11th commandment, something along the lines of, “though shalt not attack fellow Republicans.”
9
POPSTelevangelists Hinn & Dollar Under Senate Investigation "All the ministries preach a form of Word of Faith theology, known as prosperity gospel, which teaches that God wants believers to reap material rewards for their faith." "Grassley has insisted his investigation "has nothing to do with church doctrine" and is strictly concerned with making sure nonprofit groups are following the law."
6
POPSReligious Hucksters Turn Slimmy It's telling that these snake oil salesmen for god are fine with getting tax breaks but become shifty when asked to back up their tax exempt justification. Typical. I'd like nothing more than see these Charletans for Christ thrown in the clink for contempt of congress. Of course the irony meter pegs out since these crooks claim Constitutional protection. They are the epitome of shameless self-interest. And people line up to give them money.
1
POPSNext Up: Colombia No surprise here. This deal only helps U.S. exporters--most Peruvian goods already enter the U.S. duty free. The story behind the news is the international politics. The administration is hoping to shore up Latin American trade deals to win support in the region. Congress is now considering a free trade agreement with Colombia, but it has been met by opposition from Democratic leaders. -- Brian Wingfield
0
POPSAvandia: Hanging By A Thread? Senator Charles Grassley said in a letter to the Food and Drug Administration that he has heard an FDA panel voted in private to keep Avandia on the market. The margin: One vote.
5
POPSAlberto should Go Isn't this George's second AG that had a cloud around him. I can't imagine why he doesn't resign. There is a concept in the law called avoiding even the "appearance of impropriety." I am not a big Chuck Schumer fan, but he's right.
2
Pops
Newest Clips
Latest Comments
Most Pops
Print
Save
Turn on live update