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I am off to witness the wedding of this young gentleman today, so I’m shutting down ye blog. I may have a couple more items tomorrow depending on events. If not, have a great New Year and we’ll see you in 2012.
• Three major rulings came down in California yesterday: one where the State Supreme Court will dissolve local 400 redevelopment agencies as part of a transformation of state and local government, one which bars the state from cutting Medicaid reimbursement rates and one which blocks the state’s low-carbon fuel standard under AB 32, the global warming law.
• Charlie Savage submits the same survey on Presidential candidates and executive power that he did in 2007, and finds, unsurprisingly, that Republicans have very expansive views on the subject. Until Congress asserts itself, we’re going to see consistently expansive executive power aggrandizement. President Obama, incidentally, didn’t bother to return back the survey.
• Corporations will benefit this year from a massive tax break on stock options they gave out to their CEOs.
• Newt Gingrich was actually ahead in the Southern states of South Carolina and Florida over the past several weeks, but now he’s falling in Florida into a dead heat with Mitt Romney. Gingrich got incinerated on Iowa TV with negative ads, and there’s no reason to believe that won’t happen elsewhere.
• House Republicans will still force a meaningless vote on a resolution of disapproval for the next tranche of debt limit increase, when they return in January.
• If I had to guess, Romney will barely clear the bar in Iowa, with Santorum surging into a tie with Ron Paul or second place by himself. At which point the story will be Santorum instead of Romney. And I do think Bachmann drops out after a sixth-place showing.
• Just try to charge $2 for online bill pay, Verizon. Although it’s really $1.56, since you save the stamp with online payments.
• This new immigration hotline for detainees sounds like a good idea. But when will the deportation reviews wrap up?
• Occupy the Rose Parade will get a legitimate opportunity to protest and voice their message after the floats go by. The crowd in the stands will not be released until after the protest ends.
• North Korea announced that they will embark on no changes in policy under the rule of Kim Jong-un.
• Jim White has more on the US drone wars and the collateral damage from them.
• More big protests in Syria today, perhaps the largest ever, as activists try in vain to get the attention of the Arab League monitors. The Free Syria Army of defectors also announced a stand-down in their operations while the monitors observed the country.
• The OCC foreclosure reviews are a sham, as if you needed a further reminder.
• Guy made a surprisingly good-looking film using a Nokia cell phone.
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I just saw that he was getting married. Have a great time. Love love love your roundups. Thanks
Verizon caved.
Two Maryland abortion doctors face murder charges
Happy New Year, David, fatster and all.
One more:
Here’s a nice gift for your fundy friends and acquaintances.
Jefferson’s Bible
That abortion story had me rattled for a while earlier today, too.
Very best New Year’s wishes to you, allan. We all gotta rise and shine in 2012!
More on the demise of Calif redevelopment agencies
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203899504577128843382001680.html
So the money reverts to local coffers? That may not be a bad outcome after all.
Ever notice how Kim Il Sung, Kim Jong Il and now Kim Jong-un were and are the only fat people in North Korea in like sixty years?
Sad.
Romney wins big in Iowa, no matter how few the percentage points are between him and number two and no matter if it’s Paul or Santorum who is number two.
Why? Because Paul has already been rejected by the establishment and they will never let him win.
Because Santorum has no national structure to capitalize on a good showing in Iowa and will be demolished in New Hampshire.
So what this means is that Iowa will show that there’s no viable Conservative alternative to Romney acceptable to the establishment. The point won’t be that Paul and Santorum did well. The point will be that Bachman, Perry and Gingrich didn’t.
Paul will obviously stay in the race and may have a lot of delegates, enough to raise a ruckus at the convention. Bachman and Perry will be out soon, although one of them may be able to cling on until S. Carolina. Gingrich will last a bit longer but not be a contender. The big money is already destroying him and he’ll not be able to win Florida or S. Carolina like he’s planned.
That leaves Huntsman, who will do well in New Hampshire, and Santorum both really running for V.P or for being the next heir apparent.
Soon the main block to Romney, the fact that the Fox News and Radio talking heads haven’t supported him, will disappear as they realize he’s the eventual winner and they better start promoting him if they want their followers to support him in the fall against Obama. As soon as that happens, which will in my mind be fully done by March, more likely early February, Romney will go from small wins to big ones.
I just don’t think the American people are going to elect a guy named “Mitt” POTUS in 2012.
Nice that David A is getting married – my best wishes for the couple.
And have a great New Year, David.
As to “House Republicans will still force a meaningless vote on a resolution of disapproval for the next tranche of debt limit increase, when they return in January.” – this was not necessary – but Obama caved to the GOP request that he not issue his request for a debt limit increase today – they wanted him to wait so they could do their vote – and Obama caved and will wait to the next session – and they will have their vote.
I predict that this does not bode well for recess appointments – and that Obama either wants the obstruction of the GOP so he can “cave” on protecting Social Security or some other promise in return for must have appointments, or that Obama does not have the backbone of a wet noodle.
Meanwhile I’m told that Obama/Biden versus either Mitt/Rubino or Mitt/Christie loses Florida, Ohio, Penn, etc. – and indeed only Hillary on as VP changes the outcome to a win of a second term – but offsetting that is the fact that Obama staff, media voices, and Dem establishment types (esp. the black folks that Obama sold on the idea that the Clintons were racist for noting his demand for black “group loyalty”)are screaming that he must not move Biden to State and Hillary to VP – and given that “wet noodle spine” – it is not going to happen. So I predict he will roll the dice and hope things change. Reagan sold (with the help of the media) “improving economic trend line equals sunrise in America” even when his 3 year economic history sucked in 1984 – perhaps Obama can pull it off with Bidden on the ticket, but the current polls say he can’t.
Hey, hey, USA, let’s go throw some more money away.
“Boeing won a $3.48 billion contract Friday to retain its leading role in building a US shield against long-range ballistic missiles, defeating rival Lockheed Martin Corp., officials said Friday.
“The US Missile Defense Agency announced the decision for the seven-year contract in which Boeing will test, engineer and manufacture the system designed to thwart potential attacks from intercontinental ballistic missiles.
. . .
“The ground-based mid-course missile defense system has had a mixed record on missile tests, with two failures in 2010. The program has also faced cost overruns due to faulty parts, and the Pentagon is now requiring contractors to absorb the cost of defects in the future.”
LINK.
I accompanied a small community group that met with the local Redevelopment Agency three times over the course of a year or so, seeking their help in locating and obtaining a building to be used for homeless women and children. I took notes the first meeting and never took any more, since we had the exact same meeting each time we met. The outcome of each meeting was the same, too: nothing.
Whether the funds will be better spent by the locals depends, of course, on who those locals are and what interests they serve.
Military as employer of last resort. What are the implications?
This man’s compassion and generosity are truly admirable, but it took enlisting in the Army to escape the misery of homelessness which just about destroyed him and his family.
LINK.
If that’s the biggest cave of the year, to give Republicans a meaningless vote of no import, we’ll have gotten off easy.
I actually don’t think it is, though some state analysts I know disagree with me. RDA’s became slush funds in the wrong hands, building all sorts of boondoggles.
Happy New Year!
Same to you and David, too!
As if we aren’t throwing enough of our money away on Star Wars (see @ 12), there’re always the gas companies. And under the O-Team, their exports have surged together with the price we pay in the old USA for their products.
U.S. exports record amount of refined fuels in 2011
Supplies that might have helped lower domestic prices were shipped abroad, causing U.S. drivers to spend a record amount on gasoline.
LINK.
need “James Joyce” to comment on this.
this is interesting:
“Joanne Shore, lead operations research analyst at the Energy Information Administration, and colleague John Hackworth said that U.S. refineries had found thriving and lucrative markets overseas for their products, even as they were shutting down domestic facilities because of low demand.”
didn’t know there was low demand for gasoline in the USA.
I’m sure it’s all relative, mafr–relative to how much profit they want to make, I mean.
And here’s yet more Starwars news. Gotta protect our oil-producers, yessirreebob.
Lockheed to build missile defense system for United Arab Emirates
“The Pentagon has awarded US defense giant Lockheed Martin Corp. with a $1.96 billion contract to supply the United Arab Emirates with a missile defense system.
. . .
“The UAE will also receive 30 years of spare parts, support, and training. The total package is valued at approximately $3.48 billion.”
And where is all that money coming from?
LINK.