USA Todayreports that key federal obligations are:
Social Security. It will grow by 1 million to 2 million beneficiaries a year from 2008 through 2032, up from 500,000 a year in the 1990s, its actuaries say. Average benefit: $12,089 in 2008.
Medicare. More than 1 million a year will enroll starting in 2011 when the first Baby Boomer turns 65. Average 2008 benefit: $11,018.
Retirement programs. Congress has not set aside money to pay military and civil servant pensions or health care for retirees. These unfunded obligations have increased an average of $300 billion a year since 2003 and now stand at $5.3 trillion. . . .
That’s quadruple what the average U.S. household owes for all mortgages, car loans, credit cards and other debt combined.
“We have a huge implicit mortgage on every household in America - except, unlike a real mortgage, it’s not backed up by a house,” says David Walker, former U.S. comptroller general, the government’s top auditor.”
Memorial Day 2009 in my small American town was like thousands of other celebrations across this great nation. Veterans and active duty military members marched proudly through our streets, honored by their neighbors in a public and jubilant way. Prayers, remembrances and tears punctuated the day as we were all called to remember and honor those who have made the ultimate sacrifice, giving their lives for our freedom. (more…)
Sensing opportunity, House Republicans have begun a campaign of television and radio ads as well as robocalls into the districts of vulnerable Democrats attempting to link them to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s allegation that the CIA misled her on the treatment of terrorist detainees.
The National Republican Congressional Committee is sponsoring television ads against Rep. Frank Kratovil (D-Md.) in his strongly Republican eastern shore district and radio commercials against Reps. Harry Teague (N.M.), Vic Snyder (Ark.), Stephanie Herseth (S.D.), Suzanne Kosmas (Fla.), Glenn Nye (Va.) and Tom Perriello (Va.). Another 18 Democratic members are getting automated calls into their districts.
As for the endorsements of Specter by President Obama and Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell, Sestak dismissed their power to persuade people in primaries. “Endorsements are a bit oversold,” he said, adding that average voters are far more concerned with where candidates stand on health care, for example, than they are on endorsements. (Sestak told Greg Sargent of the Plumline blog that he wouldn’t drop out of the race even if the president asked him to.)
2. Rhode Island (R): The smallest state in the country is headed toward a crowded governors race in 2010. Three statewide elected Democrats — state Attorney General Patrick Lynch, Lt. Gov. Elizabeth Roberts and state Treasurer Frank Caprio — are expected to run, joining state Rep. Joe Trillo (R) and former senator Lincoln Chafee (I) in the field. The general election race seems like a fight between Chafee and whoever Democrats ultimately pick. (Previous ranking: 1)
1. Kansas (D): Gov. Mark Parkinson (D), who took over for Heath and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius earlier this year, is doing everything he can to hand the governor’s mansion to Republicans in 2010. Not only has Parkinson announced he will not run for a full term next November, he chose a lieutenant governor — Troy Findley — who has also pledged not to run for office in 2010. Um, what? Meanwhile Sen. Sam Brownback (R) continues to run strong despite a primary challenge from Secretary of State Ron Thornburgh. To say Parkinson is handing this seat to Brownback would be an understatement. (Previous ranking: 2)
While recognizing the potential effect of individual experiences on perception, Judge Cedarbaum nevertheless believes that judges must transcend their personal sympathies and prejudices and aspire to achieve a greater degree of fairness and integrity based on the reason of law. Although I agree with and attempt to work toward Judge Cedarbaum’s aspiration, I wonder whether achieving that goal is possible in all or even in most cases. And I wonder whether by ignoring our differences as women or men of color we do a disservice both to the law and society. Whatever the reasons why we may have different perspectives, either as some theorists suggest because of our cultural experiences or as others postulate because we have basic differences in logic and reasoning, are in many respects a small part of a larger practical question we as women and minority judges in society in general must address…
Justice O’Connor has often been cited as saying that a wise old man and wise old woman will reach the same conclusion in deciding cases. I am not so sure Justice O’Connor is the author of that line since Professor Resnik attributes that line to Supreme Court Justice Coyle. I am also not so sure that I agree with the statement. First, as Professor Martha Minnow has noted, there can never be a universal definition of wise. Second, I would hope that a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experiences would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn’t lived that life.
Attorneys for the Lions Den Adult Superstore are arguing that a Kansas statute that would limit adult stores’ ability to advertise on outdoor billboards within one mile of a state highway is unconstitutional because it violates the right of free speech.
The statute still permits adult stores to advertise with one sign indicating that the business is off limits to minors and one sign identifying the business.
The legislation that created the statute passed the Kansas Legislature in 2006; however, a three-year grace period was included in the statute so that businesses would have the opportunity to comply with the law.
The statute is set to become law July 1, thus making the billboard signage advertising the Lions Den along Interstate 70 illegal.
Sen. Tim Huelskamp, R-Fowler, sponsored the legislation, which passed with bipartisan support.
Heaven knows, we all say things in impromtu speeches or on TV or in blog posts that we wish we could take back. But how are you the victim of poor word choice in a speech, as Ed Whelan pointed out the other day, that was apparently delivered from a prepared text and that was then turned into a law review article months later? (Ed refers to it as the “unscripted” law review article.) The problem wasn’t the word choice; the problem was quite obviously what Sotomayor meant to say and said several times in several different ways very clearly.
Vince Snowbarger, now acting head of Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, says KPERS crisis typical of ‘defined benefit plans’ that depend ‘too heavily on investment earnings for funding’
McKINNEY, Texas (AP) - A jury sentenced a suburban Dallas man to 45 years in prison Friday for knowingly infecting six women with the AIDS virus.
Philippe Padieu, described by his own lawyer as a “modern-day Casanova,” shook his head and looked down when the decision was read. Jurors sentenced him to 45 years on five counts and 25 years on the sixth, to be served concurrently. Padieu had faced up to 99 years.
The withering evaluation of Judge Sotomayor’s temperament stands in stark contrast to reviews of her peers on the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Of the 21 judges evaluated, the same lawyers gave 18 positive to glowing reviews and two judges received mixed reviews. Judge Sotomayor was the only one to receive decidedly negative comments.
Judge Sotomayor’s demeanor on the bench will be one of the issues the Senate Judiciary Committee tackles when she appears for her confirmation hearing. A lack of a good temperament has been used as a line of attack against nominees in the past - most notably conservative Judge Robert H. Bork, whose nomination to the Supreme Court was defeated.
Sixty-four percent (64%) of Americans now have a favorable opinion of Ford, up 10 points from 51% in early March. This includes 24% who now have a Very Favorable opinion of Ford, compared to 14% three months ago. Twenty-six percent (26%) view Ford unfavorably.
As for GM, 44% of Americans regard them favorably, including 12% who have a Very Favorable opinion. This compares with 32% favorables in early March. Forty-eight percent (48%) now have an unfavorable opinion of GM, down from 60% in the previous survey.
Forty percent (40%) view Chrysler favorably, up from 33% in March. But 52% have an unfavorable opinion of the bankrupt automaker, although that’s down seven points from 59% in the last survey.
That’s a frequent complaint from airline passengers, and Congress is being urged to put the airlines on official notice with a Passengers’ Bill of Rights that includes provisions for delayed takeoffs. (more…)
More than 1,000 Muslim migrants and leftists demonstrated in Athens Friday over an alleged police insult to the Koran, a week after two similar protests degenerated into clashes with anti-riot police.
The protest was called by leftist and anti-racist groups after a police officer allegedly tore up some sheets of paper with extracts from the Muslim holy book belonging to an Iraqi migrant during an identity check last week.
“We want this officer put on trial, and we ask the government to protect our prayer sites in Athens,” said Zuri, a Moroccan protester.
“But we intend to set a good example and refrain from violence, Islam is a religion of peace,” he said.
Scores of police on foot and on motorbikes were mobilised to maintain order and keep the migrants who marched on parliament from coming into contact with a few dozen neo-Nazi militants staging a street gathering a few blocks away.
The far-right group was commemorating the fall of Constantinople, capital of the Byzantine Empire, to the Ottoman Turks in 1453.
Greece’s main Muslim and migrant organisations distanced themselves from the migrant demonstration, preferring to take judicial action instead.
“You’ll be able to get the guts or the main headlines and alerts and everything on your Blackberry, on your Palm or whatever, all day long.
“All these things are possible. Some of the greatest electronics companies in the world are working on this very hard,” Murdoch said.
“I think it’s two or three years away before they get introduced in a big way and then it will probably take 10 years or 15 years for the public to swing over.”
Murdoch, who has announced plans to charge readers of his publications online, also said “you’re going to have to pay for your favorite newspaper on the Web.”
The days of free news online were “going to stop,” he said.
“I believe newspapers will be selling subscriptions on the Web,” he said. “A (newspaper) website will be vastly improved, much more in them and you’ll pay for them.”
Described by the archives as a “Western Digital MY BOOK external hard drive” with a 2-terabyte storage capacity, it contained copies of backup tapes from the White House dating back to president Bill Clinton’s tenure in the 1990s.
Two weeks from today, Iran’s presidential election will determine whether Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the Holocaust-denying, Israel-hating, America-bashing incumbent, remains in office, whether his country continues its drive to become a nuclear power, and whether a state with a key role in Iraq, Afghanistan and other international flashpoints remains hostile to the West.
The stakes could scarcely be higher, but it is the lowly potato that has been grabbing attention.
The Government is handing out 400,000 tonnes of free spuds in rural towns. It says that it is merely distributing the surplus from a bumper crop, but Mr Ahmadinejad’s opponents accuse it of bribing the poor. “Death to potatoes,” they chant at rallies.
Asked why he was naming some of his rivals to top administration jobs, President Lyndon B. Johnson said it best: “I’d rather have them inside the tent pissing out than outside pissing in.” President Obama seems to echo Johnson’s management style in his handling of Bill and Hillary Clinton. By bringing them into his inner circle, he has marginalized them both and sharply reduced their freedom of action. (more…)
LONDON (Reuters) - The European Union’s executive body will study plans by Google to make millions of books available online after Germany said the Internet company’s project flouts EU copyright law.
The bloc’s industry ministers agreed on Thursday to ask the European Commission to look at how Google’s settlement with authors in the United States affect writers’ rights in the EU.
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Palm Inc’s (PALM.O) iPhone competitor Pre got an unexpected boost on Thursday as No. 1 U.S. mobile service Verizon Wireless said Pre would be part of its upcoming device line-up, sending Palm shares up 8.8 percent.
The next German government is almost certain to crack down on spending and drastically raise taxes after the lower house of parliament yesterday adopted measures that come close to banning budget deficits beyond 2016.
The controversial constitutional amendment, part of a reform of federal institutions, will prohibit Germany’s 16 regional governments from running fiscal deficits and limit the structural deficit of the federal government to 0.35 per cent of gross domestic product.
The amendment still requires approval by a two-thirds majority of the upper house of parliament which represents the regions. The vote is scheduled to take place on July 12 and is expected to be approved.
The most sweeping reform of public finances in 40 years was an “economic policy decision of historic proportions”, Peer Steinbrück, finance minister, told parliament shortly before MPs endorsed the amendment with the required two-thirds majority.
The vote underlines Berlin’s determination quickly to plug the holes that the economic crisis, two fiscal stimulus packages and a €500bn ($706bn, £437bn) rescue operation for German banks are expected to blow in the public coffers this year and next.
A woman whose three-year-old son was abducted and taken to live in Hungary has been reunited with him 27 years later after finding his name on Facebook.
Avril Grube last saw Gavin when his father took him on an outing to Blackpool Zoo. That was in 1982.
Instead of going to the zoo, however, Joseph Paros took the boy to Budapest in defiance of a court order.
Despite appeals via the Hungarian Embassy in London and the British Embassy in Budapest, and an appeal to Margaret Thatcher, then the Prime Minister, Mrs Grube heard nothing more of her son.
First, the population was dumbed down through a politicized and substandard education system based on pop culture, rather then the classics. Americans know more about their favorite TV dramas then the drama in DC that directly affects their lives. They care more for their “right” to choke down a McDonalds burger or a BurgerKing burger than for their constitutional rights. Then they turn around and lecture us about our rights and about our “democracy”. Pride blind the foolish.
Then their faith in God was destroyed, until their churches, all tens of thousands of different “branches and denominations” were for the most part little more then Sunday circuses and their televangelists and top protestant mega preachers were more then happy to sell out their souls and flocks to be on the “winning” side of one pseudo Marxist politician or another.
On Thursday she was behind bars, charged with rape, sexual abuse and child endangerment after the student’s mom tracked her down.
Her head hung low, Melissa Weber was ushered away in cuffs, no doubt thinking about the probable end to her teaching career and whether her alleged sexual rendezvous with her 14-year-old student had been worth it.
WASHINGTON - The selection of Judge Sonia Sotomayor for the Supreme Court has opened a new battle in the fight over affirmative action and other race-conscious remedies for patterns of inequality, with each side invoking the election of the first black president in support of its cause.
Minnesota is one of the few states that do not limit the number of terms a governor may serve, so Pawlenty is free to run again if he wants to. But Pawlenty endured bruising battles during the Democratic-controlled state legislature’s annual session, which ended with him taking control of the state’s budget via a rarely used executive power called “unallotment.”
Though it was a controversial move to make in a state that usually votes Democratic, the governor said he doesn’t think the flap would make a statewide run any more difficult than usual. “For me, it’s always tough,” he said. “I’m the Republican in a Democrat-leaning state, and any time you’re somewhat conservative in Minnesota and you run for election or re-election it’s always an uphill battle.”
And Pawlenty’s efforts to close the state’s budget gap did win him favor with conservatives, which could bolster his standing as a possible contender for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination.
Democrats, meanwhile, faced a difficult recruiting chore in any case, as Sebelius was barred by the state’s term-limit law from running again next year.
The next best-positioned Democrat appears to be six-term Rep. Dennis Moore of Kansas’ 3rd District. There was even been some chatter in Kansas Democratic circles that Moore might be appointed as interim lieutenant governor to better position him for a run for governor, before Parkinson picked his chief of staff, Troy Findley, for the position. (more…)
While negative opinion of Sotomayor is higher than it was for Bush’s nominees, a Gallup poll shows that the percentage of voters who rate the selection of Sotomayor as “excellent” or “good” (47 percent) is slightly lower than it was for Roberts (51 percent) and slightly higher than it was for Alito (44 percent).
Given the fact that Obama has a much higher approval rating than Bush did, it’s surprising that less than 50 percent of voters think that Obama made a good choice by picking Sotomayor.
Any doubts I had that it was not just right in principle but also politically smart to challenge the Sonia Sotomayor pick disappeared this morning: The National Journalreports that its survey of “GOP Insiders” shows 64 percent advising that Republicans dodge a battle, with only a quarter recommending fighting. Safe rule of American politics: Two-thirds of “GOP Insiders” are never right.
the New York Times and Washington Post were very very concerned about John Roberts’s and Samuel Alito’s association with the nefarious Federalist Society: (more…)
Louis B. Susman (England) and his wife have contributed or helped raise about a million dollars for Obama, other Democratic candidates, and Obama’s January inauguration festivities, according to this timely fact sheet assembled by the Center for Responsive Politics. (The group notes Susman has earned the nickname “vacuum cleaner” and “The Big Bundler.”)
John V. Roos (Japan) doesn’t speak Japanese, but he and his wife did donate or bundle nearly $600,000 for Obama and other Democrats, CRP found.
Charles Rivkin (France) does speak French, Obama press secretary Robert Gibbs wants folks to know. CRP wants you to know Rivkin also gave and bundled more than $800,000 in donations to Obama’s campaign and inauguration, and has given another $97,500 to Democratic candidates.
What word would Gibbs have preferred? Apparently, something less judgmental than “better.” “She was simply making the point that personal experiences are relevant to the process of judging, that your personal experiences have a tendency to make you more aware of certain facts in certain cases, that your experiences impact your understanding….”
So what Sotomayor meant to say, according to Gibbs, was simply that one set of experiences would lead you to a different conclusion as a judge than another–but not that one set is any “better” than another. Gibbs remained faithful to the core claim of identity politics–that judging can’t really be impartial or blind. He just gave up on the claim that one identity is any better than another. He turned Sotomayor’s statement from a silly expression of Latina pride into an assault on the possibility of impartial judging.
Really? So Cheney put his reputation on the line and started turning up on television everywhere to make the case that enhanced interrogation works, even though he secretly knows it doesn’t? And Obama has the smoking-gun memos in his possession and could destroy Cheney at any moment by declassifying them - and yet hasn’t? And Cheney knows that, and yet still he presses on? (more…)
I find the attempt to shut down the debate over Sotomayor by crying racism and crowing over the supposed fatal political damage Republicans will do to themselves by opposing her bullying and outrageous. But we do have to be smart about this.
My advice, which tracks with that of others today, is: 1) Don’t call her names, and yes, “stupid” and “racist” are names; 2) Don’t whine about the double standard when a) it’s just a fact that a white male can’t say the kind of things she did in her “Latina lecture” and survive (if you don’t understand why, you haven’t paid attention to American history) and b) liberal Democrats can get away with viciously opposing a Latino nominee like Miguel Estrada without paying a real political price because Latinos aren’t primed to believe that liberal Democrats are hostile to them and their interests (plus, the public doesn’t really pay attention to appeals-court nominees); 3) Do treat her personally with an extra measure of respect because old-fashioned people - and thank goodness, there are still a lot of them out there - will expect a woman to get more deference than a man.
According to the Hill, Congressional Democrats are planning to run up a trial balloon on comprehensive immigration reform in June, and then take a crack at passing a bill late this year or next:
Senate Democrats may be close to 60 votes on a measure that would represent the first step towards immigration reform under President Obama.
The Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act is a concept dear to Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin’s (D-Ill.) heart, and while health care reform may get this summer’s headlines in Washington, the DREAM Act may be a sleeper…
The White House has scheduled a June 8 meeting among members of Congress on immigration reform. And President Barack Obama, a close ally of Durbin, has publicly declared his commitment to the overall idea…
Strategically, the [DREAM] legislation is likely to be rolled into an overall immigration bill to attract votes. Durbin says he has the votes to pass the bill, for example, but prefers to do it as part of a comprehensive immigration package…
Suppose Sestak raises the cash. What’s his angle? I think Specter has provided him with a great valence issue - i.e. one that divides the electorate by 90-10 or even 99-1 rather than 50-50 or 60-40. That is: “Why shouldn’t Pennsylvania Democrats demand a real Democrat?”
…..
This is good news for Toomey. If Specter loses the primary, the race becomes an open seat, which improves his chances. If Specter wins, but Sestak puts up a spirited fight, the negativity of the final weeks should knock Specter down a peg. Plus, Specter would have had to spend a good deal of his cash.
WASHINGTON (AP) - President Barack Obama on Friday personally sought to deflect criticism of Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor, who finds herself under intensifying scrutiny for saying in 2001 that a female Hispanic judge would often reach a better decision than a white male judge. “I’m sure she would have restated it,” Obama flatly told NBC News, without indicating how he knew that.
The quote in question from Sotomayor has emerged as a rallying call for conservative critics who fear she will offer opinions from the bench based less on the rule of law and more on her life experience, ethnicity and gender. That issue is likely to play a central role in her Senate confirmation process.
“I think that when she’s appearing before the Senate committee, in her confirmation process, I think all this nonsense that is being spewed out will be revealed for what it is,” Obama said in the broadcast interview, clearly aware of how ethnicity and gender issues are taking hold in the debate.
A new Quinnipiac University poll shows Dodd trailing former Rep. Rob Simmons (R) 45 percent to 39 percent, a marked improvement from the 16 point deficit Dodd faced in an April Q poll.
Dodd’s gains, expectedly, have come from Democrats — less than six in ten of whom were backing him in the April survey. Now, 67 percent of Democrats are behind Dodd and, barring some other scandal, that number should continue to grow. (Dodd’s greatest strength in this race is that he is running in an overwhelmingly Democratic state where, if he can come even close to consolidating his party’s base behind him, he can win.)
Dodd continues to lag badly behind Simmons among independents, however, losing that critical voting bloc by 23 points — a margin he must find a way to narrow if he is to win next November.
Other data in the poll affirms the mild progress Dodd has made. His personal favorability score is now at 37 percent up from 30 percent in April and his job approval number is 38 percent up from 33 percent in April.
McKINNEY, 
