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06 Jan 2010 10:03

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U.S.: Chris Dodd’s drop-out might have an effect on financial regulation

  • Obama’s big plan for 2010: Financial industry regulation. Unfortunately for Obama, Chris Dodd has been having trouble working with ranking Republican Sen. Richard Shelby on the plan. While the lack of electoral pressures might make it easier for Dodd to focus on it, it also makes it just as easy for the Republicans to stall until next year, when a more moderate Democrat (or based on how things go, a Republican) might chair the Senate Banking Committee. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

06 Jan 2010 09:52

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U.S.: Chris Dodd tight-lipped about leaving the Senate; let’s speculate!

  • Financial industry ties Dodd, a five-term senator, is chair of the powerful Senate Banking Committee. Some feel he’s used these ties in interest-conflicting ways, including receiving a nice mortgage from the now-disgraced Countrywide Financial Corp.
  • Weak poll numbers Dodd, despite being a longstanding member of the Senate and once being seen as a presidential candidate, hasn’t been polling well in his home state lately, leading to fears he might lose in the election. Dude probably got scared.
  • What’s next? Let’s just say that Dems can’t like knowing that two senators have dropped out their races within 12 hours of each other. Especially Dodd, who was a health care plan architect. It may help the seat stay Democratic, though. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

05 Jan 2010 11:15

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Politics: Ron Paul isn’t afraid of standing up to Dick Cheney’s crazy

  • I think he had his eight years, and he’s caused a lot of trouble for our country and perpetuated a war in Iraq unnecessary and wrong-headed. I would say it would be best he not be so critical right now.
  • Rep. Ron Paul • Suggesting that Dick Cheney is out of his element in criticizing the Obama administration’s security policies. Granted, Paul isn’t exactly GOP leadership, but he is also somebody people know and also in Cheney’s party. So it’s interesting that he’s saying this about the guy. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 4 Comments • Permalink

05 Jan 2010 10:55

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Politics: Fox News cuts off satellite feeds of politicians they don’t like

  • That was the most unrealistic loss of satellite feed we’ve ever seen. It comes up in the last 20 seconds of the clip, but it’s worth watching, because it comes out of nowhere and the Fox News host appears not to be surprised by the cutoff at all, like she knew it was coming. Rep. Joe Sestak lost his final word as a result of the kerfluffle.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 3 Comments • Permalink

04 Jan 2010 12:47

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Biz: Political pubs HuffPo and Politico are profitable, but not massive

  • $12-16 million The Huffington Post’s estimated profit in 2009, which is peanuts considering its massive size
  • $20
    million     Politico’s estimated 2009 profits, which largely came from its print publication source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

04 Jan 2010 08:37

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Politics: Sen. Jim DeMint lets politics get in the way of security

  • obvious The Senate needs to confirm a TSA chief. Obama already has a guy picked out, and has for months. We just had a terror attempt, too.
  • lame Sen. Jim DeMint is holding up Erroll Southers‘ nomination … over his fear of unions. WTF? Who cares? Let it go, man! source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 4 Comments • Permalink

03 Jan 2010 21:44

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World: Yemen says it has a plan to stop terrorism; everyone else not so sure

  • Yemen has its own short-term and long-term schemes to tackle terrorists anywhere in the republic that only call for intelligence and information coordination with other countries.
  • Yemeni Foreign Minister Abubakr Qirbi • Speaking to a government-run newspaper on his country’s plans for fighting terror. They claim the threat is exaggerated. In other news, exaggeration means something different than it did before, according to the Yemeni government. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

03 Jan 2010 03:10

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Politics: Corny country comic Ray Stevens is still around, still sucks

  • 36 years ago, this guy was responsible for one of the cheesiest, corniest songs to ever become a No. 1 pop hit, “The Streak.” (In his defense, Owl City’s blatant Postal Service rip-off “Fireflies” might be cornier and cheesier.) Since then, he’s maintained a cult audience, but in recent years, he’s taken to releasing topical country “comedy” songs about current events, with a far rightward lean. This one, “We the People,” threatens congressmen who vote for health care. And it has a million views on YouTube. Who are these million viewers, and what are they doing searching for “Ray Stevens” on YouTube? It’s not even funny!
Posted by Ernie Smith • 1 Comment • Permalink

02 Jan 2010 16:13

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Politics: Rick Sanchez makes John Ensign feel all uncomfortable & stuff

  • Our Boy Rick Sanchez got Nevada Sen. John Ensign on his show to talk terror. Big deal, right? Well, except it was the first interview Ensign had done with CNN since his ethics scandal broke around the time Mark Sanford’s did. And Rick quickly changed the subject quickly to Ensign’s myriad ethics problems. Painful to watch.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

02 Jan 2010 15:58

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Politics: Switching parties may not be good for a politician’s career

  • ⅓ of House defectors since 1980 lost their next election source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
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