A lame duck congress is when Congress gavels back into session after the November elections but before the new Congress is sworn in in January. The majority of the Congress and Senate live pretty far from Washington and like to go home for the holidays, so they don’t tend to call these sessions unless there is something pretty important going on. Like, say, the collapse of the US Economy.
Democratic Congressional leaders way that they want to pass emergency legislation to aid the imperiled auto industry during the lame-duck session that begins next week. President Bush, predictably, has said that he doesn’t favor tapping the $700 billion bail out fund to help automakers. Don’t these factory workers understand that there are employees at Goldman Sachs who need to sell their second houses in the Hamptons? Thank god we have a President who looks out for the little guy.
GM plant employees are not the only one’s looking at the prospect of unemployment checks. The nation’s top two intelligence officers are not to happy about the indication that they are going to shown the door by President-elect Obama. Director of National Intelligence Mike McConnell and CIA Director Michael V. Hayden today clearly leaked to the Washington Post that they want to remain in their current posts and that they feel early departures could be seen as politicizing their offices and keeping them could help stabilize the intelligence community. These are good points, but Hayden was in charge of the White House’s warrentless wiretapping program and both of them have publicly defended torture. Guys, don’t let the door hit you on the way out.
Unemployed autoworkers and senior intelligence officers will both but unable to afford prescription drugs. Monthly premiums for Medicare’s prescription drug coverage will increase on average 43% next year. So, uhh, don’t get sick.
You know who has had it for too easy for too long? Whales. You know, the big lazy fuckers just swimming around out there, getting in the way of our submarines, eating our krill. Thank God the Supreme Court is here to put them in their place.
Since the Supreme Court is about to recess for the summer, the Justices have been cranking out opinions like a college freshman cranks out poorly written term papers on The Republic. To be fair, most of the Justices have to clear out of their dorms by Monday and be home in time to start their summer jobs. Chief Justice Roberts lifeguards at his local YMCA, Antonin Scalia mows lawns and Ruth Bader Ginsburg dons a mask to fight crime on the streets - where she is known only as “The Talon.”
Like any college student, the first decision they turned in was top notch, but as the deadlines started to pile up it became more hit-or-miss.
They have barred the death penalty for those that rape a child - This was actually a decision that was applauded by rape victim groups. They argued that if the death penalty was on the table, there was nothing to prevent a rapist from killing his victim. More broadly, the court ruled that the death penalty is off the table for any individual crime where the victims life is not taken.
They ruled that Americans have a right to guns - This is the first major pronouncement on guns in the history of the court and by far the biggest ruling ot the year. If you read only one of the articles I link to, read this one. The case was focused on Washington DC, and many of the Justices cited the heavy amount of crime in that area as a rationale for the right to own a weapon. Would a case have gotten a similar result if it was in Bathesda? Expect the NRA to file lawsuits everywhere there is a gun ban. It is now no longer safe to do anything.
The court reduced the penalty against Exxon that a jury awarded after the Exxon Valdez oil spill in 1989 - They reduced the amount that the company must pay in punative damages from $5 billion to $500 million. Keep in mind that Exxon made $10 billion in the first quarter of this year but also that they have already paid $4 billion in cleanup fees, fines and restitution.
Thought we first mentioned it yesterday, today the Washington Post has a much more complete rundown of the Supreme Court’s 5-4 ruling that terrorism suspects have the right to appeal their detentions in civilian courts. Some are saying the decision was influenced by the fact that some detainees have been held for 6 years without a trial. This was the fourth time the court has ruled agianst the Administration’s detention policies. It is worth reading the story just to read the spluttering outrage in some of the dessenting opinions.
OK, I’ll admit it, this blog is not the best place to go for up-to-the-minute FDA safty announcement news. Apparently tomatoes are the most recent vegetable that will make you get sick and die. This was announced like Tuesday and yes, we probably should have given you a heads up earlier (at least before you had that BLT for lunch). However, there is a plus side, if you haven’t gotten E. Coli already you are probably fine. Paul Krugman has a good take on why vegetables keep getting contaminated.
Thunderstorms are tearing through the midwest with massive flooding and tornadoes in several states. Wednesday night a tornado hit a Boy Scout camp in Western Iowa, killing 4. Seconds after the tornado hit, the least wonded scouts organized first aid stations to care for the dozens of others who had been wounded. Paramedics say that this quick work likely saved lives of many of the more seriously wounded.
The Nintendo Wii continued it gaming domination in May. It was the top selling console of the month with 675,000 units sold. That brings the total US sales of the Nintendo Wii to 10.2 million - on a par with Microsoft’s Xbox 360 which has sold 10.27 million. This is even though the Xbox 360 came out more than a year before the Wii (an eternity in the gaming world).
I stayed up late last night to watch the eclipse. While watching the eclipse, I may have had a few beers (and a few glasses of whiskey). So I overslept and I was feeling a little delicate this morning when I popped open the newspaper. All of this is my way of saying to The New York Times, I WAS NOT PREPARED TO HANDLE A JOHN MCCAIN SEX SCANDAL. THAT IS GROSS.
Ok, it is not a “sex scandal”– yet — but The Times has a piece detailing the variety of ethical issues that Senator McCain has had come up during his career. The story leads by detailing McCain’s relationship with a female lobbyist during his 2000 campaign for President. She apparently traveled with him or to meet him on the campaign trail so frequently that campaign aides confronted both of them repeatedly to tell them to stop. Though he did not necessarily have an improper relationship with the lobbyist (both deny it), he did write letters to government regulators on behalf of her clients. The story is about 1 million words long and goes on to describe a variety of scandals in McCain’s career. But honestly, no one will be talking about a regulatory scandal from 1987. If this comes up at work, bring up that John McCain already has a smoking hot, super rich wife, so what the hell is his problem?
Democrats, The Law, and Blowing Shit Up after the jump
A lame duck congress is when Congress gavels back into session after the November elections but before the new Congress is sworn in in January. The majority of the Congress and Senate live pretty far from Washington and like to go home for the holidays, so they don’t tend to call these sessions unless there is something pretty important going on. Like, say, the collapse of the US Economy.
