Month: June 2011

Fannie Mae: The scandal no one is talking about

Posted by dcrim – June 17, 2011

David Brooks of the New York Times writes that the Fannie Mae scandal is the most important political scandal since Watergate. It helped sink the American economy. It has cost taxpayers about $153 billion, so far. It indicts patterns of behavior that are considered normal and respectable in Washington.

Newsweek and the Daily Beast report that the financial disclosure report Rep. Paul Ryan filed with Congress last month and made public this week shows he and his wife, Janna, own stakes in four family companies that lease land in Texas and Oklahoma to the very energy companies that benefit from the tax subsidies in Ryan’s budget plan.

Buzz Bissinger writes that LeBron James does not deserve to be the most hated athlete in America.

Jon Stewart on the midnight ride of Sarah Palin

Posted by dcrim – June 7, 2011

Weiner finally fesses up after a week of denials

Posted by dcrim – June 7, 2011

In this week’s case of men behaving badly, U.S. Rep. Anthony Weiner finally acknowledges that he engaged in sexually charged exchanges on the Internet with a half-dozen women during the past three years. As USA Today points out, social media networks have opened up new possibilities for missteps — and for quick and dramatic exposure of such scandals.

The New York Daily News dubs Weiner “Congressman Creep” in an editorial, arguing that his days in Congress are numbered.

It seemed inconceivable that Anthony Weiner was not just a bald-faced liar but a relentless, calculating, remorseless and aggressively pugnacious bald-faced liar. But that’s who Weiner was last week, lying interview after lying interview after lying interview.

Meanwhile, in Illinois, Gov. Pat Quinn  is expected to launch the first salvo of the 2012 redistricting wars by signing a bill that creates new congressional districts for the state. In a typical election, it should yield a 12-6 Democratic edge, with a possible 13-5 edge in a wave year. This would represent a loss of five Republican seats, more than reversing the GOP gains made in 2010. Consider: Democrats have to pick up 24 seats to retake control of the House. With this map, they are roughly 20 percent of the way there.

If map holds, Republican congressional gains could be short-lived

Posted by dcrim – June 2, 2011

Since Republicans are charged with drawing congressional maps in many key states, ranging from North Carolina to Ohio, Democrats needed to make Illinois count if the party expected to make up for expected redistricting losses elsewhere. Politico reports that appears to be the case.

Just seven months ago, Republicans were euphoric over the capture of four seats in a blue state dominated by Democrats for decades. Now, with the new map expected to be signed into law by Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn, they’re staring at the prospect of losing every one of them and more — a handful of promising freshmen and maybe even a veteran congressman, too.

Among those expected to be vulnerable are first-termer Bobby Schilling in the 17th District. Things might have played out differently had Republican Bill Brady not tried to coast to the finish line in last year’s gubernatorial race, apparently figuring he could ride the GOP wave into the governor’s mansion.