Blog - December 2008

The Fix: "Scandal-tarred Louisiana Democratic Rep. Bill Jefferson [pictured at right] was defeated in his bid for a tenth term tonight by a little known Republican named Joseph Cao. [...] In 2007, Jefferson was indicted on 16 counts relating to allegations that he had accepted bribes from companies hoping to secure contracts in Africa. Jefferson insisted he had done nothing wrong."

Two weeks ago, Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) introduced a non-binding "sense of the House" resolution declaring that the "President of the United States should not issue pardons to senior members of his administration during the final 90 days of his term of office." Today, Josh Marshall at Talking Points Memo reports that Nadler is planning to introduce a constitutional amendment to limit presidential pardons powers once and for all.

All this talk about bridge loans for the Big Three reminded me of a little something special Congress has already given to one of the car companies this year. As part of H.R.3221, the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 that was signed into law this summer, Congress approved a provision that allows corporations to claim additional R&D or AMT credits in 2008 in lieu of bonus depreciation for “eligible qualified property,” at a maximum benefit of $30 million. Unlike Ford and GM, Chr...

Ford, GM and Chrysler executives were back in front of Congress today to ask again for a $34 billion "bridge loan" that they claim they need in order to survive. Here are some video clips of memorable moments from today's hearing - as you can see, opposition to giving the companies money seems to be just as strong as it was during the last round of hearings.

When the Senate passed the $700 billion financial bailout bill, they included a provision that established a Special Inspector General at the Treasury Department to oversee the whole process and make sure that the taxpayers' money was being used legitimately. In mid November, President Bush nominated Neil Barofsky, an assistant U.S. attorney from New York, to fill the position. Shortly thereafter, Barofsky's nomination was approved by the Senate Banking Committee and the leadership of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, but according to Banking Chairmen Chris Dodd (D-CT), "the nomination was blocked on the floor by at least one Republican member."

Senator Saxby Chambliss (R-GA) easily won re-election tonight in a runoff against Democratic state Rep. Jim Martin. Chambliss' victory means that the Democrats' hopes for a 60-seat, filibuster-proof Senate, which always was a long shot, is now officially out of the question.

Barack Obama has made clear that believes in the power of technology to make government more transparent and participatory. His transition team has already taken steps towards openness that use the internet in ways that chart new territory for government. As the Obama-Biden Transition Team is settling in and establishing the tone of their operation, we've joined a host of other open government advocates in sending them a letter to encourage them to take a few more crucial steps towards being truly open.

Everyone's three favorite auto executives will be back in front of Congress later this week to ask, again, for a $25 billion bailout. Now that Federal bailouts are a competitive business, and I bet the Big Three are shaking in their boots after seeing just how far the bar has been raised in bailout testimony standards: (h/t Reason.tv via Boing Boing.) ...

This is pretty awesome: >Consistent with the values of any "open government," and with his strong leadership on "free debates" from the very start, the Obama team has modified the copyright notice on change.gov to embrace the freest CC license. > >[...] > >I'm glad the thought in this administration led to the right conclusion, so quickly, and in the midst of so much else going on. The Creative Commons (CC) Attribution 3.0 Unported license that the Obama-Biden Transition Team has adop...

Tomorrow, GM, Chrysler and Ford are scheduled to submit their revised plans to Congress explaining how, exactly, a $25 billion bailout is going to help them be financially viable going forward. In the meantime, there's some good news from Japan for the auto companies that should give them a boost going into their next round of negotiations with Congress.