Category: Congress

So Much for “I Did It for the Judicial Appointment”

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Now Jay Bybee is actively defending the torture memos that he wrote, as opposed what was said by “friends” to the Washington Post, which is that he basically took the OLC job because he had to in order become a Federal Judge.

I think that the money quote is, “In that context, we gave our best, honest advice, based on our good-faith analysis of the law.”

It’s an attempt to say that it’s reprehensible, but not criminal, and hence does not fall under the the bailiwick of, “treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors,” though that might be small comfort, since the first impeachment and conviction was really because the subject was probably clinically insane, the charges were “drunkenness and unlawful rulings,” and the latter sounds a like Bybee.

Specter Switches Parties

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This is obviously the big news of the day, which is that Arlen Specter is changing parties, and becoming a Democrat.

The immediate effect is that Coleman-Franken goes on for another year, because now when Franken gets seated,* the Dems have the votes necessary for cloture.

If you read his official statement, he does not say that he is becoming a Democrat, just that he will be running in the Democratic primary, which is a less than sterling endorsement of the party, though his statement that, “The Republican Party has moved far to the right,” is no endorsement of them either.

Personally, it’s nice having a 60th vote for cloture, whenever the damn Minnesota recount is done,* but fundamentally, I see this as being all about Arlen Specter.

He squeaked out a primary victory in 2004 against wingnut Pat Toomey, and realized that, with moderates increasingly changing party affiliations to independent or Democrat, he had no chance of winning.

As a final thought on him: Quoth the Atrios, who was quoting Harry Reid, “Arlen Specter’s with us except when we need him.”

He’ll be a weasel, and will remain so.

I expect this to continue, particularly with regard to the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) labor legislation, which he says he will continue to oppose, despite sponsoring it a few years back.

*Please, just make it stop…..This recount is going on forever!!†
†Why yes, that little self-destructing man will continue to be a part of my Minnesota recount coverage.

Washington’s Various Serious People in Action

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Here we see Republican Senator Susan Collins saying that we should cut the stimulus money for flu pandemic.

They cut the money, because they are “centrists”, and unless they do something to throw their weight around, it means nothing, so Collins killed the money on pandemic preparedness, to show “fiscal responsibility”, and we may be on the brink of a major flu outbreak.

Bobby Jindal lambasted volcano monitoring, and Mount Redoubt erupted.

Republican spending cuts are making me very nervous about the next shoe to drop.

Congress Threatens Subpoena Over BoA Threats

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Now that Bank of America CEO Ken Lewis’ testimony before NY State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo has been released, members of Congress want the documents to investigate, and are threatening a subpoena if they don’t get them.

Representatives Rep. Edolphus Towns (D-N.Y.), chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, and Dennis Kucinich (D-OH), who the Domestic Policy subpanel, are demanding that all relevant documents be turned over to them, and they are threatening a subpoena:

The implications of Mr. Lewis’ testimony, if accurate, are extremely serious. Under these circumstances failure to comply with the Subcommittee’s request raises the prospect that we will be forced to consider compulsory means to achieve compliance with our request. However, we would prefer your voluntary compliance.

(emphasis mine)

As I’ve said before, it sounds to me like Paulson and Bernanke broke the law, and a full investigation would be a very good idea.

Hell an indictment would be a very good idea.

Harman Update: The CIA is Really the Gang That Cannot Shoot Straight

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As I’ve said before, I’m glad that Harman is not House Intel Chairman, but tht latest from Jeff Stein, who broke the story, is a classic case of the CIA screwing itself up, and f%$#ing itself over:

Frustrated and angry at Gonzales for aborting the investigation, intelligence officials let Pelosi know about the wiretap and its contents, according to the three former national security officials.

‘She knew. We made sure she knew,’ said one of the former officials, chuckling.

The officials would discuss the matter only on terms of anonymity, because even the existence of the wiretap remains classified.

These guys want to be unshackled from the Frank Church era restrictions, and they pull crap like this.

You are going to have Congressional committees investigating you in a way that is far less pleasant than an unlubed proctology exam now, and you are to blame for this.

Morons….We should have outsourced you lot’s job to the ex-KGB when the wall came down.

Shoe’s on the Other Food Now, Huh Steny?

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House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer is expressing concern over the wiretapping of house members, of course it wasn’t a problem when ordinary people were spied on, but not that it’s you and yours, there must be an investigation:

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) said Tuesday he had “great concern” over news reports that Rep. Jane Harman (D-Calif.) was wiretapped during a federal probe into Israeli agents, and he vowed to personally look into whether there should be an investigation into wiretapping of Members of Congress.

“The stories that I’ve read give me great concern. I’m going to be in the process personally of finding out more about it and then, with the Speaker, determining what action, if any, needs to be taken,” Hoyer said Wednesday during a meeting with reporters.

Wanker.

Health-Care: Obama Looks Ready to Cave on Public Option

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And his allies in creating universal health coverage are pissed off:

More than 70 House Democrats recently warned party leaders that they will not support a broad health reform bill that does not offer consumers a government-sponsored policy, and two unions withdrew from a high-profile health coalition because it would not endorse a public plan.

“It’s way too early” to abandon what it considers a central plank in health reform, said Andy Stern, president of the Service Employees International Union. He said the organization pulled out of the bipartisan Health Reform Dialogue because it feared its friends in the coalition were sacrificing core principles too soon. “You don’t make compromises with your allies.”

So he’s looking at compromising on what should be one of the goals of the program:

Many Republicans and industry executives say that any program modeled after Medicare — with its power to set prices — would have an unfair advantage over private-sector competitors and eventually force some companies out of business.

Destroying private health insurance companies in the US should be one of the goals.

They are in large part responsible for the problem, and taking them down has the overwhelming support of everyone who has had to deal with them.

If there is not a public insurance option, I will contact my Congressman and ask him to vote against it.

Props to Senator Pat Leahy

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He is saying that he will not allow bipartisanship to be used as an excuse to delay an investigation into torture:

Sen. Patrick Leahy pledged today that if he cannot get the votes to create a bipartisan commission to investigate U.S. torture policy under former President George W. Bush — and regardless of calls by President Obama that any inquiry be bipartisan — he’ll conduct his own partisan inquiry in the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Leahy’s comments after a press conference on Capitol Hill today exposed a growing rift between Democrats in Congress and the White House on how to seek accountability from Bush-era Justice officials for condoning torture in the aftermath of 9/11.

Leahy is right, and Obama is wrong, morally, legally, and politically.

When you do not prosecute, these people keep coming back, which is why you had so many Watergate and Iran-Contra alums in Bush’s staff and cabinet.

This Whole Rep. Harman Thing is Going Very Weird

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First, we have a report that the “Israeli agent” that Jane Harman was having a phone conversation with was an Israeli-American named Haim Saban, if the name sounds familiar, it’s because you watch the credits for Mighty Morphin’ Power rangers.

He’s a producer who made much of his fortune by importing and redubbing the children’s show.

Then we have Ron Kampeas at the JTA noting that the phone call in question happened in the Summer of 2005, which is pre-Katrina, has her discussing becoming Intel committee chairman.

Katrina hit New Orleans on August 29, 2005. It was around a week before the scope of the incompetence hit, and began destroying whatever remained of Bush’s post 911, so the possibility of a Democratically controlled house was remote. People were still talking about a permanent Republican majority.

In any case, Keampeas points us toward

Laura Rozen at Foreign Policy magazine, who appears to have a line on the personalities, and the machinations therein within the intelligence establishment that might figure in this:

  • That Bush Era intel officials felt on the defensive about the recent torture and wiretap revelations, and might want to push back.
  • Porter Goss authorized the wire tap, and Goss has always, “intensely disliked,” each other. (It is claimed that FBI Chief Mueller was unavailable at the time the warrant was requested)
  • According to an interview with Goss, Harman was the only member of Congress briefed on water boarding whose reaction wasnot , “encouragement,” which included, “Reps Pelosi and Harman, and Sens Rockefeller and Sen. Pat Roberts.”

On the other side, the statement from the Neww York Times editor that Harman did not attempt to influence the publication of the illegal wiretap article may not be true, as Bill Keller has clarified his statements, and it appears that she contacted Washington Bureau Chief Phil Taubman regarding the matter, at the request of Michael Hayden, who keeps showing up in every bit of evil in the intelligence establishment like a demented Amway salesman.

It also means that Harman was actively working against the election of John Kerry, because if the Times had published before the election, it would likely have swung the race.

Finally, we have Jane Harman asking for the transcripts of her phone calls to be declassified and released.

Here is my older post on this, and try to figure this out.

It’s beginning to read like a John le Carré novel.

Elections Update

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Tho the surprise of no one, and to the disappointment of almost everyone, Norm Coleman has appealed the decision of the election court to the Minnesota Supreme Court. His lawyers are claiming that it’s the principal of the thing.

Meanwhile, in upstate New York, the NY-20 vote count continues apace, and it looks like Scott Murphy is picking up votes with each round.

What is interesting here is that it looks like Democratic campaigns are out-hustling Republicans on absentee ballots, which in years past, always seemed to trend Republican.

It’s a very good development.

Faith and Pecora

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Nancy Pelosi is now proposing a bipartisan commission to investigate the cases and abuses that have led to the current banking crisis.

It would be modeled after the Pecora Commission, which looked into the 1929 crash.

This ignores both recent, and less recent history, with the history of the Iran-Contra commission being that the Republicans would use it to obstruct any real investigation of Reagan’s arms for hostages swap, and the Pecora Commission itself, which really did not do much until the Dems took control of Congress, and unleashed their cheif counsel, Ferdinand Pecora.

The Republicans are far more venal and partisan than they were in 1987, and infinitely more so than in 1932, and the idea that they can be trusted even as spectators is a pipe dream.

Miscellaneous Thoughts on Jane Harman

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Let me start by saying that I’ve always thought that she was an anti-civil rights scumbag, so that colors my view of her, but this news is really big.

You can go to CQ politics for Jeff Klein’s story, but the short version is that Jane Harman wanted to be the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, and in the process of lobbying various folks to get that position, which ultimately went to Silvestre Reyes, she talked to some member of the Israel lobby who was under a court authorized wiretap because they were under suspicion of being an Israeli intelligence operative, and she said that she would “waddle into” the AIPAC prosecution, and that she wanted them to intercede with Nancy Pelosi on her behalf regarding the Intel committee post.

According to sources who saw the transcript, she finished the discussion with the phrase, “This conversation doesn’t exist.”

Certainly, the implication of “interceding with Pelosi,” is that campaign donations were involved, though the article does not make a specific claim of campaign donations for Harman’s action.

This gets more complex because Alberto Gonzalez quashed the investigation of Harman because he wanted her support of the Bush Administration’s illegal wiretap program, she had always been supportive of the program, and the New York Times was finally getting ready to release the story, and they wanted a Vichy Dem to speak for them.

Let’s be clear, there was no indication of a quid pro quo between Abu Gonzalez and Harman, but neither did there need to be one. She was always in the tank on this issue.

I would also note that while Klein suggests that Harman interceded to get the story spiked at the Times in 2004, the editors there have categorically denied this.

I’m not sure whether there was a crime or not. Law enforcement officials seem to think so, but law enforcement officials always think that, as the other Matt notes, “….how many politicians’ reputations could really stand up to serious surveillance? ….. we have a political system that’s substantially powered by a kind of systematic, quasi-legalized bribery.”

He also has the bigger point, which is that politics is messy business, and if you were to wire tap any political figure, you would end up with stuff that is just plain sleazy, because that is how political “sausage” is made.

His best point, however is this:

Thinking about that further reinforces the point that selective, unaccountable surveillance is very dangerous. A president could do a great deal to gin up pretexts to wiretap members of congress and blackmail them even without the members doing anything unusually egregious.

Which really is the big point on why we should all object to the surveillance society.

Meanwhile a friend of John Aravosis thinks that this is all a tempest in a teapot, noting, accurately, that the AIPAC “spies” are not charged with espionage, i.e. acting as an agent for a foreign power, but rather acquiring sensitive government data under the (never used in this circumstance in the past 90 years) 1919 Espionage act:

The heart of the CQ story is incorrect…because Harman wasn’t acting on behalf of Israel. Rosen and Weissman aren’t being accused for spying on behalf of Israel. The CQ story is trying to depict Rosen and Weissman as convicted spy Jonathan Pollard. What Rosen and Weiss did is nothing like what Pollard was convicted of. Rosen and Weissman met with the State Department official on their behalf, not at the behest of Israel or AIPAC. To suggest so is wrong and that’s what stinks about this story. The fact that Stein’s title of CQ’s “Spy Talk Columnist” shows the inherent bias of this story and shows that it is teetering on pure fantasy.

In any case, it’s clear that if she had a normal security clearance, it would be yanked pending an investigation, and that she should never be chairman of the Intel committee, and it appears that Pelosi was aware of this episode, and it may have contributed to her passing over Harman for the position.

Obama Plan to Nationalize Student Lending Meets Forces of Evil

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Most notably Sallie Mae, which has a history of cheating students, bribing college financial aid officers, and contributing generously Congressional campaigns.

As Matthew Yglesias notes, the college lending giant’s “compromise”, would waste $17 billion a year as compared to direct loans.

Luckily, Obama can eliminate much of the fraud, waste, and abuse, by which I mean much of the private players in the student loan market, through executive orders, as well he should.