President Obama's nominee to be Attorney General Eric Holder's top deputy at the Justice Department crashed into a Republican roadblock in the U.S. Senate on Monday, garnering just 50 votes, 10 short of the number needed to break a GOP-led filibuster. Dick Lugar of Indiana was the lone Republican to support the nomination. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., switched his vote at the last minute to 'no' in order to have the vote reconsidered at a later date.Oh yes, how dare that dastardly James Cole favor trying terrorists in civilian court as opposed to military commissions. What, is he actually trying to convict these people instead of making political hay?
James Cole, a veteran Washington attorney nominated in May, had been serving in the position since late December courtesy of a presidential recess appointment, one that expires at the end of the current session of Congress. And despite the bipartisan support of eight former attorneys general, Republicans remained steadfast in their opposition, though nothing about Monday night's vote changes Cole's temporary job status.
GOP problems with the deputy attorney general are two-fold. Not only is there concern about Cole's tenure as an independent consultant to insurance industry giant AIG prior to the company's near-collapse in 2008 and its subsequent government bailout, but Republicans also voiced strong concern about what they believe to be his soft-on-terrorism stance.
I realize that a well-connected individual like Cole really doesn’t need me to plead a case for the job of deputy AG that he’ll probably get as a recess appointment once more. And I suppose you could argue that he could’ve blown a whistle or two on AIG but didn’t do so. However, I think it’s laughable to hear Grassley carry on against AIG when, as noted here, he voted against the financial reform measure that at least represents something to try and head off the next “bubble to bust” economic cycle that would no doubt reap more millions for AIG and their fellow crooks.
As noted here, though, concerning another Obama recess appointment…
Chuck Grassley’s press release Monday afternoon decrying the recess appointment of Undersecretary of Treasury Jeffrey Goldstein is a case of the Republican’s intentional stalling of the cleanup of Wall Street because of his lifelong commitment to deregulation.Also (from here)…
President Obama nominated Jeffrey Goldstein as Undersecretary of Treasury for Domestic Finance to clean up the Wall Street mess caused by Chuck Grassley’s lifelong commitment to deregulation. Mr. Goldstein had been waiting to have his nomination voted out of the Finance Committee for 248 days when the President made the recess appointment.
By contrast Ronald Reagan’s nominee for Undersecretary of Treasury Roger W. Mehle, Jr., who vigorously pursued the deregulation of Wall Street, was nominated on March 3, 1981, testified before the Senate Finance Committee on April 23 and 28, 1981, and was confirmed on July 13, 1981, for a total of 132 days. The Finance Committee finished its hearings on Mehle in 56 days.
Chuck Grassley as a freshman U.S. Senator voted to confirm a disciple of Wall Street deregulation in 132 days, but couldn’t even finish vetting the person nominated to clean up the mess in 248 days. Chuck Grassley’s slow pace in vetting and confirming Jeffrey Goldstein is proof that he doesn’t want to clean up the Wall Street mess caused by his lifelong commitment to deregulation.
If the controversy over Cole were simply about the large AIG stain on an otherwise distinguished career, we might consider this as just another case of “failing upward” in our nation’s capital. But the fact that the man appears to have his head screwed on straight in War on Terror terms is quite remarkable. I don’t believe there’s another example of an anti-Terror Warrior at this level in the Obama administration. How’d he get by the personnel vetters in the White House? Cole and Holder must be some pals. And Holder is likely out of chits with the President for the foreseeable future. The progressive media might seek Cole out for his views on germane topics. He might become a regular on “Democracy Now!” If Cole adds even a little sanity and balance to an Obama Justice Department heretofore determined to wage the War on Terror nearly as furiously as The Decider, the recess appointment will have been worth it.And as noted here, Grassley has no problem smearing those who would see justice done even on behalf of some of the most execrable people on earth (besides AIG, I mean).
A recent editorial, “The fight for the DREAM Act: Faltered but not fallen,” tells only one side of the story.In response I give you this (here)…
It’s easy to be sympathetic to illegal immigrant children who were brought here by their parents. Because their parents disregarded America’s immigration laws, they are in a difficult position. But by granting citizenship, the United States would actually reward their illegal immigrant parents who knowingly violated our laws.
The DREAM Act perpetuates the problem it claims to solve and penalizes citizens and legal immigrants. Once they become citizens, illegal immigrants could petition for their parents to be legalized. The parents could then bring in others in an endless chain.
This would undoubtedly encourage more illegal immigration.
The DREAM Act would have made eligible for citizenship immigrants who were brought to the country illegally before age 16 and served in the military or went to college for two years.So sure, maybe after 15-20 years, those who would have completed their college degree or military service could petition to obtain legal status for their parents. However, if they were to meet those requirements, I personally would not have an issue with that.
If the so-called DREAMers met all the requirements for eventual citizenship, they would be awarded conditional residency for a period of 10 years, during which they had to complete the college or military service requirements and stay out of trouble.
After becoming a permanent resident, an applicant would have to wait an additional three years before applying for citizenship.
Once U.S. citizens — which could be 15 to 20 years after they first applied under the act — DREAMers could petition for parents or siblings to gain legal status.
Smith also tells us that…
The president wasn't able to pass the DREAM Act when he had large Democratic majorities in the House and Senate because of bipartisan opposition. And American families opposed it, too.Well, that doesn’t square with the Gallup polling results noted here from last December, in which a “slim majority” approved the DREAM Act.
This is typical for Smith who, as noted here, wants to end “birthright citizenship” altogether (though doing that kind of flies in the face, as it were, of the U.S. Constitution those zany teabaggers courted by Smith claim to love). Also, as noted here, Smith once claimed that border violence took 28,000 lives, which Politifact said was a lie (the number was closer to 12,000…also, a good response to The Orange One on that issue is here).
I keep hearing about Better Pennsbury, the special interest group that brought us Simon Campbell and Allan Weisel. These two school board members were recently responsible for derailing a meeting with a state mediator between negotiators for the school board and the teachers union.One of the individuals running for the Pennsbury school board from “Better Pennsbury” is Steve Kosmorsky, someone who pretty much was recruited by Campbell and Weisel to be their rubber stamp in pursuit of a teacher’s strike (which is Better Pennsbury’s ultimate goal). Kosmorsky actually visited Le Manse Doomsy a month or so ago, and I’ll give him credit for making a professional appearance. However, I later checked his information on teacher salaries and benefits for the school district and found out that they were pretty much BS for anyone who was either new or had about 5 or so years of experience in the field. Kosmorsky also stressed the urgency of reining in the supposedly grandiose salaries and perks being awarded to Pennsbury teachers because of Harrisburg’s money troubles, and I said that the troubles in Harrisburg wouldn’t be what they are if Tom “Space Cadet” Corbett hadn’t shoveled money out the door to his pals with tax cuts; in response, Kosmorsky ignored what I said and continued with his spiel.
Well, they are offering us a new slate of candidates. I have been skeptical of this group since receiving a slanted email warning me of the impending doom facing our school district if action was not swift and immediate. I visited their website to see what positive actions they recommend for making a Better Pennsbury. To my dismay, this is what I found:
Home page: Six articles attacking the teachers union and none on improving education, providing rewarding experiences for students, or anything actually related to the education of children.
Issues page: Five topic areas devoted to misleading tax fears and anti-union rhetoric. Again, none on improving education, providing rewarding experiences for students, or anything actually related to the education of children.
Salaries page: An entire page devoted to providing public information that is already public, and making it seem like it was being kept secret from the poor unsuspecting taxpayer, adding an attack on teachers as a bonus.
What's New page: Once again providing public information, that is already public, and again leaving the underlying message that this information has been kept from the poor unsuspecting taxpayer in the past. And surprise, surprise, more anti-union rhetoric.
It seems to me that this group, and the candidates they support, have only one suggestion to create a Better Pennsbury ... get rid of the union. Now I know many of us have differing opinions about the value of unions and what they have meant to the American workforce, but we can all agree that they are not the root of all evil. Eliminating the unions will not right any shortcoming in the American education system. It is not the silver bullet that will forever take away the concern of higher property taxes.
Fooling us once by hiding your one-goal agenda under a name like Better Pennsbury, shame on you! Fooling us again by getting us to vote for your one-goal candidates, shame on us! Let's tell this vocal minority, we won't be fooled again. Vote on May 17 for candidates who are truly interested in taxpayers and education.
Region 1: Gene Dolnick.
Region 2: John Palmer, Jacqueline Redner and Gary Sanderson
Region 3: Linda L. Palsky
Kevin Kopp
Lower Makefield
On top of the school board elections, I would remind anyone out there in Lower Makefield that we’re going to be voting for three township supervisors on May 17th also, and we really need to get behind Ken Seda and Ron Schmid,
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