• When home prices finally collapsed, these ticking time bombs exploded, saddling taxpayers with hundreds of billions of dollars of debt.
• Sen. Richard Shelby • Saying why he thinks the financial reform bill should include Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, two major mortgage companies that fell apart during the financial crisis. He thinks that the financial reform bill should do something about the mortgage giants, which he characterized as costing taxpayers significant amounts of money. During his statement, in response to Obama’s weekly radio address (which tackled health care’s successes), Shelby also criticized a proposed consumer protection watchdog bureau in the Federal Reserve for possibly raising costs for taxpayers. source

• It’s a sad day when Glenn Beck (!) offers a more eloquent defense of constitutional rights than the normally statesmanlike senator from Connecticut.
• Commentator David Frum • Regarding Joe Lieberman’s suggestion that those who show loyalty and support to terror organizations lose their citizenship. Frum notes in a number of ways why this is a stupid idea, specifically because there’s already legal precedent for this (the 1940 Nationality Act, which was limited in 1967 by the Supreme Court and expanded slightly by Congress) and that legal precedent would mean that the enemy combatant would have to go through a lengthy court case. Bet Lieberman didn’t think of that. source

• one Bickhart was behind a Powerpoint presentation that compared Harry Reid to Scooby Doo and promised a fundraising campaign driven by “fear” of Obama.
• two As a result of that Powerpoint, Bickhart’s compensation came under scrutiny. Dude got paid $370,000 over a nine month period – or more than the president.
• three Then there was the strip club scandal. That little piece of drama caught the media’s attention and made Bickhart’s performance look even worse. See ya! source

• Stewart gets lots of laughs for his pointed commentaries about the news industry’s sacred cows. Perhaps he may secretly yearn to have credibility as a pundit, in addition to the appreciation as a comedian.
• MarketWatch commentator Jon Friedman • Making a, uh, impassioned plea for CBS to consider “The Daily Show” host as its next anchor – if Katie Couric leaves, that is, which seems likely. His point? He has charisma, and he’s trusted immensely by his younger-leaning audience. Plus, it’d be fun to watch. So, you’re asking, why do we think this is a stupid idea? Because Jon Stewart’s authority as a media commentator is largely the product of his outside-looking-in dynamic. Oh, and he’s a comedian, not a journalist. Oh, and we think Anderson Cooper probably has the inside track for this. source

• Lots of potential, but many Americans aren’t convinced. The new ABC News/Washington Post poll on bizarro hippies (not to be confused with the similar New York Times/CBS News poll a few weeks ago) suggests that the party has a lot of opportunity to grow their base, but could find themselves ticking off moderates in the process.

• 2% of Americans are directly a part of the bizarro hippie movement

Would you vote for these guys?

• 15% of registered voters are more apt to
  support a bizarro hippie candidate
  running for Congress (9 percent
  “much more likely”)
• 24% are more apt to oppose
  that candidate because they’re
  a bizarro hippie (17 percent “much more likely”)

Do you like what you hear?

• 34% like bizarro hippies the more
  they hear about them
• 43% hate bizarro hippies the more
  they hear about them

• » The neutral problem: There’s a large sub-section of the population that’s fairly neutral to the bizarro hippies – around 44 percent – and 45 percent of them really REALLY grow to dislike them the more they hear about them.

Understanding their constituients

• Bizarro hippies may be a movement built out of republican weakness. While progressives largely stand behind the Democratic party, Republicans on the other hand have trouble getting their political equals under the same tent, according to the study:

• 86% of Democrats and Democratic-leaning indie kids say the party represents their values
• 56% of Republicans and Republican-leaning indie kids say the same thing about their party
• 29% of Republicans would much rather wear a funny hat and tape tea bags to the rim of it

Who doesn’t like Obama? Bizarro hippies

• 84% of bizarro hippies think Obama is lamesauce

• 87% of bizarro hippies say race is not a reason that the support the movement
• 57% of evil socialists think race is a huge reason why bizarro hippies hang out and party together

• » Other notes: Bizarro hippies think that race is less of a problem in this country than the country at large, but they also tend to be more likely to be white. 81 percent of bizarro hippies are white, versus 74 percent of all adults and 65 percent of people who think bizarro hippies are lamesauce. Just as many bizarro hippies think Obama is doing too much for black people as he is not doing quite enough, which matches the population at large. source

• first He revoked legal protections from
  gay workers at the university,
  causing a massive outrage
  throughout the state that Gov. Bob
  McDonnell had to clean up.
• second He’s now trying to subpoena the
  university for the records of a
  former pro-climate-change
  professor, Michael Mann, causing
  more angry outrage. source

• 47% of primary voters plan on voting for our boy Arlen
• 39% prefer Joe Sestak in May 18th’s Pennsylvania Democratic primary
• 14% of voters are ready to give
  Arlen Specter fits source

• When they say it’s certainly a one-off, it’s an appropriate question to say, ‘How do you know that; was this based on real briefings?’ To me, the most basic question in journalism is, ‘How do you know that?’ They won’t always tell you, but you can gauge a lot by their response.
• Columbia University graduate journalism Professor John Dinges • Regarding the seemingly knowledgeable responses of leaders on the Sunday talk shows about an incident that happened just the night before. Many of them – including New York Sen. Charles Schumer and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano – spoke of the incident as if they had the evidence to say it was a lone wolf incident, at a point when investigators were still working. While each claimed later that they had been briefed about the incident beforehand by authorities, it still raised a lot of questions, especially since the investigation was just beginning. source

• So far we have seen a New York-style rather than a Washington-style response to the threat. And while New York is the least ‘American’ of U.S. cities, its emotional and social response is just what America’s should be.
• “The Atlantic” writer James Fallows • Discussing how New York’s response to the Times Square car bombing attempt is so unlike that of the Transportation Security Administration’s response to any problem. Essentially, Fallows argues that it doesn’t put people in constant fear that something’s going to happen, but emphasizes resiliency. (Note how quickly Times Square re-opened after the incident.) Regarding the TSA’s methods, Fallows explains: “It’s not just that they’re pointless, uninformative, and insulting to our collective intelligence; it’s that their larger effect is to make people feel frightened rather than brave.” source