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James Webb Shows Leadership Regarding Prison Reform
Tweet Share on Facebook January 2, 2009 Comment (18)By John Aloysius Farrell, Thomas Jefferson Street blog
Sen. Jim Webb of Virginia has never been afraid to march to the beat of his own drum.
The decorated Vietnam War veteran who served as Secretary of the Navy under Ronald Reagan, then got elected to the Senate as a Democrat in 2006, has his own views on things, and his own way of stating them.
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Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger Hides From Bad California State Budget News
Tweet Share on Facebook January 2, 2009 Comment (8)By Bonnie Erbe, Thomas Jefferson Street blog
How did you spend your New Year's holiday? California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger spent his many miles from the state capitol building, avoiding the camera as his aides released California's harshest and most depressing budget plan in decades.
In prior budget cycles, Gov. Schwarzenegger has paraded himself before as many cameras as would attend the unveiling of his financial plan for the state. This year he hid out in Sun Valley, Idaho, as his aides were forced to tell state taxpayers to expect deep cuts in services and higher tax bills due to the state's dire fiscal condition.
What does Schwarzenegger care? Not much, apparently, or he would have been there himself to dole out the tough news. He's term-limited out as governor and probably would not do well as a senator, as he's used to doing his own thing in politics and in business. He won't be running for president anytime soon unless he gets the Constitution changed, as it bars foreign-born citizens from serving in that lofty office.
Am I the only one who senses more than a mite of arrogance in Schwarzenegger's dodge?
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Senate Has No Right Not to Seat Roland Burris, Despite Blagojevich
Tweet Share on Facebook January 2, 2009 Comment (27)By Michael Barone, Thomas Jefferson Street blog
Law professor and blogger Eugene Volokh takes the same view that I do of the right of the Senate not to seat Roland Burris: Under the 1969 Supreme Court case of Powell v. McCormack, the Senate has no right at all to do that. Interestingly, Adam Clayton Powell, the successful plaintiff in the 1969 case, was African-American, as is Burris. I thought the House's refusal to seat Powell back in 1967 was wrong and an exercise in racism. Powell did indeed have ethical problems, but they could have been referred to the ethics committee and he could have been disciplined or expelled. But so great was the demand by Southern Democrats and conservative Republicans for a rejection of Powell, who was flamboyant to the point of recklessness, that the House voted not to seat him.
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A Trillion Dollar Barack Obama Stimulus Package Could Spur Inflation
Tweet Share on Facebook January 2, 2009 Comment (75)By Bonnie Erbe, Thomas Jefferson Street blog.
We all wish Congress and the White House our best as the Democratic leadership begins to cobble together President Roosevelt, er, Obama's plan to revive the economy. As Reuters puts it, Monday's meeting between the incoming President and House Speaker is designed to kick-start the economy:
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President-elect Barack Obama and Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi will meet on Monday to discuss a stimulus bill aimed at kick-starting the ailing U.S. economy, The Washington Post reported on Thursday.
It said Obama and Pelosi will discuss the timing and scope of the legislation, intended to spur job growth and likely to include big infrastructure investments and tax cuts.
Obama transition officials declined to comment.
Pelosi, a California Democrat, has said she wants a bill ready for Obama to sign when he takes office on January 20. That timing is now seen as overly optimistic, the Post said.
The Washington Post notes the proposed timing for the bill (to be ready in less than three weeks) is overly optimistic. Let us hope it is also not over-sized. As I've blogged before, hyperinflation is a well-justified fear among Wall Street types and more than a trillion dollars in government spending is more likely to send the economy into overdrive than just about anything else.
And while they're at it, let's hope the Democrats do a much better job of regulating how and where the money is spent. If, like the bank bailout bill, it ends up lining the pockets of corporate higher-ups, it could quickly eviscerate the Democrats' current popularity.
