Permanent link to MTA daily media news

Weird. At Press Conference Ebony Reporter Asks Obama About Tent Cities and Children Sleeping Under Bridges (Gateway Pundit, a right-wing blog)
This was strange. Obama did not call on The New York Times, Wall Street Journal or The Washington Post at his second press conference [Tuesday night]. He did call on Kevin Chappell from Ebony Magazine who asked a weird question about tent cities and children sleeping under bridges… It’s not clear what country Kevin was talking about.
Maybe it’s the country of California Chappell was talking about, Gateway (see below).  How strange that a right winger wouldn’t know that some Americans are living out of their cars and in tents.

And it was not such a strange question to ask, when it gave Obama the chance to show his compassionate side:
Obama “Heartbroken” Over Homelessness (Homelessness.Change.gov)
[Tuesday night], President Obama directly addressed the growing homelessness crisis during a prime time press conference, saying he’s “heartbroken” that any child is without a roof over their heads. In a bold and noteworthy move, he also called for a shift in the national perception of homelessness and an overhaul of our embedded judgments and beliefs. Do I sense change in the air?

This is the graphic posted at the website,
so don’t blame me for the overhype.

So if Congress refuses to help the poor, well, hey, they can take comfort knowing that their president is heartbroken  about it:
Senate Dems propose cutting Obama budget by billions (CNN)
Hours before President Obama was to hold a prime time news conference — in part to boost his $3.6 trillion budget plan — a key Democratic senator Tuesday unveiled a scaled-down budget proposal. Sen. Kent Conrad of North Dakota said the Senate Budget Committee, which he chairs, will vote on his version Wednesday. “We’ve made hundreds of billions of dollars of changes to make this work to get down to the deficit goal and at the same time maintain the president’s priorities — education and energy and health care,” Conrad said as he left a closed meeting in the Capitol, where he briefed Senate Democratic colleagues on his plan.

Conrad and other centrist Democratic senators — whose support is critical to passing the legislation — have raised concerns about the long-term impact of the president’s spending plan on the deficit.
Tell me again why it was supposed to be a GOOD thing that Obama attracted votes from the right?

And oh, pooh, we can’t afford to leave Iraq, either:
Iraq Withdrawal Will Be a A Massive and Expensive’ Effort, GAO Says (Washington Post)
The removal of about 140,000 U.S. troops from Iraq by the end of 2011 will be a “massive and expensive effort” that is likely to increase rather than lower Iraq-related expenditures during the withdrawal and for several years after its completion, government investigators said in a report released yesterday. “Although reducing troops would appear to lower costs,” the Government Accountability Office said, withdrawals from previous conflicts have shown that costs more often rise in the near term. The price of equipment repairs and replacements, along with closing or turning over 283 U.S. military installations in Iraq, “will likely be significant,” the GAO reported.

Obama to critics: I’ll bend, but not break (AP)
With Congress pushing back against his proposals for energy, taxes and other matters, President Barack Obama is taking a bend-but-don’t-break posture.

Obama to answer questions on the Web tomorrow (AP)
President Barack Obama is planning an online town hall-style meeting on the White House’s Web site this Thursday.

Toxic Asset Plan Foresees Big Subsidies for Investors (New York Times)
The Treasury Department is expected to unveil early next week its long-delayed plan to buy as much as $1 trillion in troubled mortgages and related assets from financial institutions, according to people close to the talks. The plan is likely to offer generous subsidies, in the form of low-interest loans, to coax investors to form partnerships with the government to buy toxic assets from banks. To help protect taxpayers, who would pay for the bulk of the purchases, the plan calls for auctioning assets to the highest bidders.

Below is the best explanation I’ve seen of the Geithner plan for handling the big shitpile:
A remedial theatre take on the Geithnerist bailout [video] (by Mandos at Corrente)
Language a bit NSFW for workplaces where you are forbidden from using vernacular terms to discuss excrement:

Krugman: Economic Expectations – New Toxic Asset Plan “Won’t Work” (video, Bloomberg, thanks to Economist’s View)

Hey Paul Krugman (A song, A plea) (video,  therockcookiebottom)
It is very, very good.  You will enjoy it.

The Geithner Plan Won’t Work (by James K. Galbraith)
The ultimate objective, and in President Obama’s own words, the test of this plan, is whether it will “get credit flowing again.” (I have dealt with that elsewhere.) Short answer: It won’t. Once rescued, banks will sit quietly on the sidelines, biding their time, until borrowers start to reappear. From 1989 to 1994, that took five years. From 1929 to 1935—you get the picture… Let’s not forget: Behind all of this are mortgages and derivatives, which were called “liars’ loans,” “neutron loans,” and “toxic waste” by the people who issued them. There was fraud in the inducement, fraud in the conveyance, and fraud in the ratings process. The incumbent top management of the biggest banks either did this, or is complicit, or is complacent. And they all did very well, while the money was good.

And the reality is, if the subprime securities are truly trash, most of the big banks are troubled and some are insolvent. The FDIC should put them through receivership, get clean audits, install new management, and begin the necessary shrinkage of the banking system with the big guys, not the small ones. It should not encumber the banking system we need with failed institutions. And it should not be giving CPR to a market for toxic mortgages that never should have been issued, and certainly never securitized, in the first place.

Martin Wolf: “Successful bank rescue still far away” (Calculated Risk)
Martin Wolf writes in the Financial Times: … “[W]ill it work? That depends on what one means by “work”. This is not a true market mechanism, because the government is subsidising the risk-bearing. Prices may not prove low enough to entice buyers or high enough to satisfy sellers. Yet the scheme may improve the dire state of banks’ trading books. This cannot be a bad thing, can it? Well, yes, it can, if it gets in the way of more fundamental solutions, because almost nobody – certainly not the Treasury – thinks this scheme will end the chronic under-capitalisation of US finance.”

Why a second best bailout may not be good enough (by The Compulsive Theorist, thanks to Economist’s View)
I sympathize with the point of view which says that the political window of opportunity is narrow and the need for action urgent, so let’s accept the bailout plan for now, and deal with these wider issues later on. But the very fact that political momentum is limited means that if these wider changes are to be brought about, the process has to begin in earnest at once. Does anyone seriously believe that in a years time, if following massive government support the banks are stable – or can be made to appear stable – there will be any political will to break up very large institutions, or any real change to underlying norms in the financial sector?

However, absent these deeper changes, it is entirely possible that we will see a replay of the crisis – but on a larger scale – in a few years time.

Will Geithner and Summers Succeed in Raiding the FDIC and Fed? (by Jeffrey Sachs, thanks to Economist’s View)
Geithner and Summers have now announced their plan to raid the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) and Federal Reserve (Fed) to subsidize investors to buy toxic assets from the banks at inflated prices. If carried out, the result will be a massive transfer of wealth — of perhaps hundreds of billions of dollars — to bank shareholders from the taxpayers (who will absorb losses at the FDIC and Fed). Soaring bank share prices on the morning of the announcement, and in the week of leaks and hints that preceded it, are an indication of the mass bailout at work. There are much fairer and more effective ways to accomplish the goal of cleaning the bank balance sheets.

Why are we bailing out foreigners? (by Andrew Leonard, thanks to Economist’s View)
Why did American taxpayer money help AIG pay its debt to foreign counterparties? Representatives from both parties raised the question during Tuesday’s House Financial Services committee hearing on AIG. On the surface, the question seems perfectly reasonable. Why are American taxpayers bailing out foreign companies? Shouldn’t their own governments be taking responsibility for their welfare?

Foreign Firms Eye Stimulus Dollars (Washington Post)
U.S. firms are not the only ones hoping to cash in on the $787 billion stimulus program. Foreign nations and companies are stepping up their lobbying efforts in Washington and in state capitals, hoping to gain vital business in hard times. Hundreds of foreign-owned companies, many of them with significant operations in the United States, are selling their expertise in clean energy, high-speed transit and other technologies that undergird key aspects of President Obama’s stimulus efforts.

Unrepentant, to the last:
Money For Nothing (by Glenn Harlan Reynolds, Forbes)
An honest politician, as an old saw has it, is one who stays bought. If this is true, then we have the most dishonest bunch of officeholders ever, and it may lead Wall Street to reconsider its donations in the future. AIG, for example, was a huge donor to politicians, as CNS News reports… And it wasn’t just AIG: Wall Street in general gave profligately to Barack Obama, and to Democrats generally, in 2008. Yet now, when the polls shift, all of those politicians who were so happy to take the cash are suddenly pretending they have never even heard of Wall Street. Instead they’re getting behind punitive taxes, protesters steered to executives’ homes and what both the Financial Times and the New York Daily News have called a “witch hunt” against bankers and brokers.
They made donations, damn it!  They should be able to rape and pillage at will.  They’re ENTI’LED, don’t you see?

Brain-Dead Economic Reporting: If Wall Street Approves of Obama’s Plan, It Must Be a Winner! (by Brad Reed, AlterNet)
Corporate Accountability and WorkPlace: The corporate media’s coverage of the administration’s bank rescue plan comforts the comfortable.

Obama’s New Monopoly Set (by William Greider, The Nation, thanks to Susie at Suburban Guerilla)
President Obama has invented a new board game for Wall Street money guys to play that promises to be a lot of fun. It’s very much like the regular Monopoly game that kids play–only better–because this one uses real money, provided courtesy of the taxpayers. The best thing about Obama’s game is nobody loses. Usually, the winner in Monopoly is the one who winds up with the most money. In the Obama version, the losers get any losses back from the government at the end of the game. The president has promised.

The guy is a genius. He located these two whiz kids–Tim and Larry–who are smarter than God about financial matters. President Obama commanded the advisors to solve the financial mess, raise the zombie banks from the dead and start the good times rolling again. This game is what they came up with. It’s a very complicated game and not everyone can understand it. But the Wall Street titans smell hope. For this Monopoly set has no “Go to Jail” card in the deck.
So, good thing The Nation didn’t choose Obama as its candidate during last year’s primary, huh?  Oops, they did?  Below are some of the results of a search on The Nation’s website for “obama endorse” (without the quotes):

MoveOn Endorses Obama
Feb 1, 2008 … MoveOn makes its first presidential endorsement in history, backing Barack Obama after an overwhelming vote from its members.

The Choice
CHRISTOPHER HAYES | February 18, 2008 issue
Here’s why Obama is the left’s best chance to take back the country. … (Full disclosure: my brother is an organizer on the Obama campaign.) …

Endorsing Obama
TOM HAYDEN | posted January 28, 2008 (web exclusive)
The movement he’s inspired holds the promise of a new cycle of activism, reform and fresh thinking. So I will support him through the inevitable storms …

ACORN: Obama Gets It
Feb 23, 2008 … Yesterday, ACORN’s political action committee endorsed Barack Obama for President. This is an important nod from a group that understands …

Hightower: Obama Can Govern as a Progressive
Texas populist Jim Hightower’s endorsement of Barack Obama is an important … In endorsing Obama, Hightower has actually given his blessing — no small …

Ted Kennedy Prepares to Pass the Mantle to Obama
Of all the endorsements that Obama has received, these two may be the most important. And they come at precisely the right moment. …

Christophers for Obama: Buckley and Hitchens
A year ago, when everyone, including the man I’m about to endorse, … Vote for Obama: McCain lacks the character and temperament to be president. …

What Obama Activism Looks Like
Feb 4, 2008 … In an independent effort, MoveOn is backing up its recent endorsement of Obama with an online Endorse-O-Thon, tapping Facebook and other …

Obama’s GOP Base
JOHN NICHOLS | June 2, 2008 issue
Prominent Republicans who have endorsed Obama sound themes I’ve heard from crossover voters in numerous states. Former Senator Lincoln Chafee says Obama is …

The Audacity of Oprah
PATRICIA J. WILLIAMS | December 24, 2007 issue
I say all this because I’m intrigued by the brouhaha attending Oprah Winfrey’s decision to endorse BarackObama’s candidacy. The Internet is positively …

Why I’m Supporting Barack Obama
AND ANOTHER THING
The election of Barack Obama would send a signal to the world that the United … Obama may not be as progressive as we wish over here at The Nation– and …

Another Republican for Obama
Susan Eisenhower was a Republican until this year, when she endorsed Obama and switched her party registration to independent. …

More from The Nation, with commentary:
The bourgeois virtues (by Michael J. Smith at Stop Me Before I Vote Again)
[F]rom one of The Nation’s stable of secular parsons: “Tonight President Obama presents his budget to the American people. The budget is more than a balance sheet. President Obama will ask us to evaluate our priorities in the face of economic crisis. He will question our resolve to improve education, offer equal opportunities, and provide for our neighbors despite the the terrifying deficits. He will ask us what we really believe. Each of the stories I have told here could be eased with a collective national effort. All families should have quality public schools for their children. College should be more affordable for high achieving students.”

How do you “ease” a “story”? Do I want to know? Sounds like it might involve a laxative. And why, I wonder, are deficits “terrifying”? They don’t scare me a bit. And as for the “low achieving” students — well, fuck ‘em, I guess. Really, if this is what passes for left discourse in this country, it’s no wonder people are reactionaries.

U.S. Seeks Expanded Power to Seize Firms (Washington Post)
The Obama administration is considering asking Congress to give the Treasury secretary unprecedented powers to initiate the seizure of non-bank financial companies, such as large insurers, investment firms and hedge funds, whose collapse would damage the broader economy, according to an administration document… Giving the Treasury secretary authority over a broader range of companies would mark a significant shift from the existing model of financial regulation, which relies on independent agencies that are shielded from the political process. The Treasury secretary, a member of the president’s Cabinet, would exercise the new powers in consultation with the White House, the Federal Reserve and other regulators, according to the document.

Labor Agency Is Failing Workers, Report Says (New York Times)
The federal agency charged with enforcing minimum wage, overtime and many other labor laws is failing in that role, leaving millions of workers vulnerable, Congressional auditors have found. In a report scheduled to be released Wednesday, the Government Accountability Office found that the agency, the Labor Department’s Wage and Hour Division, had mishandled 9 of the 10 cases brought by a team of undercover agents posing as aggrieved workers… Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis said she took the report’s findings seriously. “I am committed to ensuring that every worker is paid at least the minimum wage,” Ms. Solis said, “that those who work overtime are properly compensated, that child labor laws are strictly enforced and that every worker is provided a safe and healthful environment.”
Good.  Because the Bush administration wasn’t at all committed to those things.

Specter’s Defection From EFCA Upends Labor’s Strategy, Gives Foes New Weapon (by Greg Sargent at The Plum Line)
It’s hard to overstate how dramatically Arlen Specter’s announcement that he’s voting against Employee Free Choice changes the landscape of this fight. Business-backed groups lining up against the measure have a powerful new weapon. They can tell the half-dozen or so centrist Senators who haven’t made up their mind that Specter has given them cover to oppose the measure, by pointing to Specter’s claim that passing EFCA in a recession risks more job loss. Foes of the measure will also try to whip up media pressure on the remaining undeclared Senators to say whether they agree with 

White House Pleased to Have “Card Check” Pushed Off (Political Wire)
With the “card check” legislation now dead for this Congress, First Read notes the White House “appears to be happy (but very quietly so) to have this debate out of the way. No doubt they were for it. But it was always more of a Biden cause than a Barack cause. At this point in time, with everything else on their plate, sticking a finger in business’ eye wasn’t something the White House was looking forward to. Would Obama have signed it? Yes. But he doesn’t have to worry about it now, at least maybe not until 2011.”
So there you go, all you labor unions who endorsed Obama in the primary, you’re under the bus, too.  Welcome.  There’s plenty of room now that we’ve replaced that Greyhound with an Airbus.

National Service Corps Bill Clears Senate Hurdle (The Caucus, New York Times)
Following overwhelming House passage last week, the Senate tonight voted74 to 14 on a procedural move that essentially guarantees a major expansion of a national service corps, a cornerstone of volunteerism that dates back to the era of President Kennedy. It’s akin to a call to arms by President Obama, who has harkened back to those early days to demand giving back by those who voted for him… From President Kennedy’s days to the creation of Americorps by then President Bill Clinton, the notion of public service has become a rallying cry. Tonight’s vote, propelled by President Obama’s urging of an expansion, would mean a growth in such work from 75,000 community service jobs to 250,000.

According to the Congressional Budget Office, the cost of the Senate bill at least would be an outlay for the fiscal year 2010 of $418 million to about $5.7 billion from 2010 through 2014.
For some reason, the conservatives are claiming that national service will be mandatory because of this bill.  Nobody else seems to think that’s what it says.

Obama bolsters Mexico border in new drugs strategy (AFP)
President Barack Obama Tuesday announced extra agents for the southern US border and vowed to staunch narcotics demand as officials pledged full support for Mexico’s battle against drug cartels.

EPA moves to halt ‘mountaintop removal’ coal mining (McClatchy)
Using a proposed mine in Kentucky and one in West Virginia as examples, the federal Environmental Protection Agency signaled Tuesday that it is cracking down on mountaintop removal coal mining.

Most electronic voting isn’t secure, CIA expert says (McClatchy)
The CIA, which has been monitoring foreign countries’ use of electronic voting systems, has reported apparent vote-rigging schemes in Venezuela, Macedonia and Ukraine and a raft of concerns about the machines’ vulnerability to tampering.

Poll: Clinton has high job approval (CNN)
As Hillary Clinton flies to Mexico for a high-level summit, a new national poll indicates seven in 10 Americans are happy with the job she’s doing as secretary of state. Seventy-one percent of people questioned in a CNN/Opinion Research Corp. survey released Wednesday said they approve of how Clinton is handling her job as America’s top diplomat. Fewer than one in four disapprove.

Senate unanimously approves Locke as commerce secretary (McClatchy)
Former Washington state Gov. Gary Locke was confirmed late Tuesday as the 36th secretary of commerce. Only Washington state’s two senators spoke as the full Senate approved Locke’s nomination by unanimous consent.

Coleman Considering Federal Appeal (Political Wire)
Norm Coleman (R) is still considering taking his election lawsuit to the federal court if he’s unsuccessful in reversing Al Franken’s (D) 225-vote lead in the Minnesota courts, according to Politico. He also said he wants to talk with Franken. Said Coleman: “At some point it is worth a conversation for the both of us and our families, it’s pretty surreal. Here we are in the end of March, moving into April, not done yet.”

FEC: DSCC can raise money for Franken’s recount (On Politics, USA Today)
The two parties battling over Minnesota’s second Senate seat now have approval to tap their supporters for fresh cash to pay for the prolonged legal fight. In an advisory opinion, the Federal Election Commission said national party committees can create recount funds to pay for costs stemming from the recount involving Republican Norm Coleman and Democrat Al Franken.

Dodd Hits Back As Wife’s Ties To AIG Are Scrutinized (by Sam Stein at the Huffington Post)
Connecticut Sen. Chris Dodd is batting back claims from a conservative-leaning publication that his wife — like he — has questionable financial ties to AIG… An independent ethics counsel review looked into the senator’s wife’s position and found no conflict of interest. The senator, moreover, disclosed his wife’s employment status on his financial disclosure forums for each year she served with IPCRe… That Clegg Dodd’s position with IPCRe would become an issue five years after her time at the company ended is a testament to just how toxic AIG has become in the current political climate and how problematic the senator’s own ties to the company are for his reelection effort.
Dodd dared to say he put the exception wording for bonuses in the TARP bill at the behest of the administration.  Nobody ever asked about Charlie Rangel’s finances until he stuck with Hillary to the bitter end.

Lincoln Could Be Vulnerable (Political Wire)
A new Public Policy Polling survey in Arkansas finds Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-AR) “not necessarily in danger of losing reelection next year, but certainly not unbeatable either.” Key finding: “Just 45% of voters in the state approve of her job performance, with 40% dissenting… Lincoln is struggling with independent voters in the state, 50% of whom say they disapprove of her work compared to only 31% approving.”

Specter’s Defection On EFCA Fails To Win Over Right Wing (by Greg Sargent at The Plum Line)
If Senator Arlen Specter had hoped that bailing on the Employee Free Choice Act yesterday would make him the toast of the town among his right winger critics, he probably woke up this morning feeling like he has a pretty crushing hangover — after doing a lot of drinking alone. Conservative groups and politicians, far from won over by Specter’s announcement, continue to hammer away at the embattled Senator, suggesting that his abrupt move on EFCA will do little or nothing to reduce his vulnerability to a primary challenge from the right.

Specter Would Lose GOP Primary (Political Wire)
A new Quinnipiac poll shows former Rep. Pat Toomey (R) crushing Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA) in a Republican primary, 41% to 27% with 28% still undecided. Overall Pennsylvania voters have a 45% to 31% favorable opinion of Sen. Specter, but he gets a 47% to 29% unfavorable score from Republicans. 

GOP Senators Who Used Budget Reconciliation To Pass Bush Agenda Items Now Calling It ‘Chicago Style Politics’ (Think Progress)
[Tuesday], Politico reported that Republican senators are prepared to go “nuclear” — essentially shutting down the Senate through the use of parliamentary maneuvers — if President Obama attempts to use budget reconciliation to pass key parts of his legislative agenda, such as health care reform and and cap-and-trade. Reconciliation allows some legislation to be protected from filibusters and passed by a simple majority. On NPR this morning, Sen. Kit Bond (R-MO) repeated a now familiar attack on budget reconciliation: “…I guess in Chicago, they coat them in cement and drop them in the river…”
Click through for the list of items the Republicans forced “reconciliation” on.  Why don’t they just can the damn filibuster rule?  It was instituted to help preserve slavery, for goddess’ sake.

Gregg: ‘This country will go bankrupt’ (Political Ticker, CNN)
Even though he was almost a member of the new Obama administration, New Hampshire Republican Judd Gregg Sunday slammed President Obama’s approach to handling the country’s fiscal outlook. “The practical implications of this is bankruptcy for the United States,” Gregg said of the Obama’s administration’s recently released budget blueprint.

Napolitano: “[T]he Obama administration is trashing the Constitution in order to micromanage the economy, Soviet-style” (video at County Fair, Media Matters for America)

Jindal’s List (Gambit, New Orleans’ alternative newspaper)
Since taking office last year, Gov. Bobby Jindal has appointed more than 200 of his top contributors to influential boards and commissions, proving that ‘ethics’ has a limit — and a price.

Palin’s logo snowsuit draws an ethics complaint (McClatchy)
The second ethics complaint in a week filed against Gov. Sarah Palin alleges a conflict of interest when she wore Arctic Cat logo gear during this year’s Tesoro Iron Dog snowmachine race.

Alaska legislators say they’ll take stimulus funds Palin rejected (McClatchy)
Top Alaska legislators said Tuesday they’re likely to accept at least most of the federal economic stimulus money that Gov. Sarah Palin did not.

Go back into hiding, GOP begs Dick Cheney (The Hill)
Congressional Republicans are telling Dick Cheney to go back to his undisclosed location and leave them alone to rebuild the Republican Party without his input. Displeased with the former vice-president’s recent media appearances, Republican lawmakers say he’s hurting  GOP efforts to reinvent itself after back-to-back electoral drubbings. The veep, who showed a penchant for secrecy during eight years in the White House, has popped up in media interviews to defend the Bush-Cheney record while suggesting that the country is not as safe under President Obama.

NRCC raises more than $6M at fundraiser (On Politics, USA Today)
The National Republican Congressional Committee just put out a press release boasting that it “surpassed its fundraising goal and raised more than $6 million” at its annual March fundraiser. But it didn’t surpass last year’s total of $8.6 million

Do the Secret Bush Memos Amount to Treason? Top Constitutional Scholar Says Yes (by Naomi Wolf, AlterNet)
Rights and Liberties: Legal expert Michael Ratner calls the legal arguments made in the infamous Yoo memos, “Fuhrer’s law.”

Government: There Is No Alternative (Center for American Progress)
Public support for government oversight of the economy is growing, and it’s not helping the conservative cause, writes Ruy Teixeira.

Karen Ignagni: health insurance parasites could never compete with a public system (by DCblogger at Corrente)
“‘There’s no way to run a side-by-side competition within the current structure,’ said Karen Ignagni, the chief executive of America’s Health Insurance Plans, the industry’s trade association. If the unstated and eventual goal of the public plan is to push private insurers out of the way — a de facto nationalization of health care — ‘let’s have a debate on a government-run system,’ Ms. Ignagni said.” You know what? She is absolutely right.
But that would destroy the profits of the insurance companies, which they are ENTITLED to, aren’t they?

Report: Alzheimer’s costs could be more damaging than recession (McClatchy)
A report being released Wednesday morning warns that unless the United States takes quick action now, Alzheimer’s “could very easily surpass even the current economic crisis in the damage it inflicts on individuals and our economy.”

Dean to Announce Health Care Effort (Political Wire)
Greg Sargent reports that former DNC Chairman Howard Dean “will make a surprise announcement, unveiling a major new health care campaign that will gear up his political operation to pressure the White House and Congress to preserve a public insurance option as part of health care reform.”.. Today’s announcement is keyed to the fifth anniversary of Democracy for America, which debuted during Dean’s 2004 campaign as Dean for America.
Now, you’re talkin’!

Gore to pen new book on climate change (AFP)
Former vice president and Nobel laureate Al Gore Wednesday announced the November release of “Our Choice,” his new book on climate change that proposes solutions to global warming and our present climate crisis… “Now that the need for urgent action is even clearer with the alarming new findings of the last three years, it is time for a comprehensive global plan that actually solves the climate crisis. ‘Our Choice’ will answer that call,” he added… “Our Choice” will go on sale November 3.

Report on Teen Dating Violence: States Must Do Better (by Alegre)
“Report: Few states responding to teen dating violence [-] The report by Los Angeles, California-based Break the Cycle includes state-by-state report cards that measure how each state treats teen victims of dating violence in comparison with the treatment of adult domestic violence victims.”… As parents we can only do so much to raise our daughters with a strong sense of self-worth.  There will always be some bastard out there who hits girls and women – we can’t be there 24/7 to protect them.  That’s where the police, the courts and the laws come in to play.  Without those resources and backup, our kids are left to fend for themselves.

A major difference between conservatives and progressives (by Glenn Greenwald at Unclaimed Territory, Salon)
One of the linchpins of the Bush presidency, especially during the first term (and well into the second, until he became a major political liability), was the lock-step uncritical reverence – often bordering on cult-like glorification – which the “conservative” movement devoted to the ”Commander-in-Chief.”  An entire creepy cottage industry arose – led not by fringe elements but by right-wing opinion-making leaders – with cringe-inducing products paying homage to Bush… Even though Obama unsurprisingly and understandably remains generally popular with Democrats and liberals alike, there is ample progressive criticism of Obama in a way that is quite healthy and that reflects a meaningful difference between the “conservative movement” and many progressives.
But there are definitely places where you cannot say a discouraging word about the president—Democratic Underground and MyDD, for two.

Life inside the Village (by Eric Boehlert at County Fair, Media Matters for America)
Because it’s all about them. Even presidential press conferences. From Politico (of course): “Like athletes limbering up for the big game, White House reporters have been going through elaborate preparatory rituals as they bone up for tonight’s prime-time news conference with President Obama, the second formal ‘presser’ of his presidency.” How long before Politico starts printing up baseball cards featuring their fave Beltway reporters?
Okay, cartoonist friends, let’s see your best media baseball cards.

For the Politico, there’s one side to every story (by Jamison Foser at County Fair, Media Matters for America)
A month ago, Stuart Rothenberg used his Roll Call column to tout the possibility that 2010 could be “the start of a comeback for the GOP in the Northeast.” Today, Politico runs what is essentially the same article, headlined “GOP sees signs of life in Northeast.” Though he devoted nearly 1,300 words to the article, Politico reporter Josh Kraushaar couldn’t find space to quote or paraphrase a single Democrat. That would be bad enough if the article simply included comments from Republicans predicting electoral success. But Kraushaar includes Republican attacks on Democrats.

Imagine what a good week for Obama looks like (by Eric Boehlert at County Fair, Media Matters for America)
We already mocked the NYT for echoing the chattering class’ claim that Obama, thanks to the  AIG story, suffered a “cataclysmic” week, last week. That sky-is-falling meme was everywhere… So how bad was Obama’s week? Fact: his approval ratings actually inched up.

The early frontrunner for worst question at [Last night’s] Obama presser … (by Jamison Foser at County Fair, Media Matters for America)
Marc Ambinder: “One Question I Might Ask Obama… Are you concerned that your rhetoric about anger, and particularly, anger against Wall Street, helped enflame public anger and distract attention from the economy’s real problems?” Wouldn’t it be better to ask a question that focuses on “the economy’s real problems” rather than one that distracts attention from them?

Why Is “Buy America” Okay for Banks, but Not Steel? (by Dean Baker)
Those damn protectionists in the Obama administration obviously don’t know anything about economics. How else can we explain the decision to require that the fund managers in their bank bailout plan must be headquartered in the United States. I can’t wait to see the outraged and condescending editorials in the Washington Post and elsewhere explaining how protectionism is not the way to promote jobs and growth.

Bartiromo falsely claimed the recovery act “actually gave AIG money and allowed the bonuses to go through” (video at County Fair, Media Matters for America)

Dobbs: Chavez’s “little love affair with his fellow socialist Barack Obama didn’t last long” (video at County Fair, Media Matters for America)

CNN’s Cooper asks if Obama is “over-exposed” like game show Who Wants to be a Millionaire (video at County Fair, Media Matters for America)

Still waiting for Bloomberg News to update its ‘Obama Bear Market’ reporting, cont’d (by Eric Boehlert at County Fair, Media Matters for America)
It was [a] Bloomberg article that legitimized the simplistic right-wing claim that Obama, in office for just a few weeks, was personally responsible for the Dow’s decline; a Dow that had already fallen 6,000 points under Bush. But since that hit piece, the stock market  has rebounded strongly, capped off by [Monday’s] nearly 500-point rally. Still nothing though, from Bloomberg’s Eric Martin about the ‘Obama Bear Market.’

Slow news day? (by Tengrain at Mock, Paper, Scissors)
This is the best made-up controversy they could come up with? Surely Rush must have demanded the blood of a virgin, or the still-beating heart of a GOP chairman, or something…
Click through to watch the video.  I think we should suspend politicians who break “windy.”  Oops, that would be all of them all of the time.

Shady AIDS Charity Running Prominent Times Ads (Pro Publica)
The Center for AIDS Prevention has mobilized a nationwide fundraising campaign — including prominent ads in the NYT – but the group’s history is shrouded in mystery, and its Web site offers incorrect information about AIDS prevention and treatment.

The Red Scare Index: 55 (by Karl Frisch at County Fair, Media Matters for America)
Here are the numbers for yesterday, Tuesday, March 24, 2009:
TOTAL: 55
Socialism, Socialist, Socialistic: 45
Communism, Communist, Communistic: 9
Marxism/Marxist: 1
Wow, it’s been in the high teens.  I guess they’ll roll out the scare words whenever Obama gets on national television.

Fox News’ Carlson asks, “Are we headed toward socialism?” (video at County Fair, Media Matters for America)

MacCallum on Rep. Bachmann’s claim that Obama proposals are a “lurch toward socialism”: “I think you’re absolutely right about that” (video at County Fair, Media Matters for America)

Limbaugh on Obama administration: “They are focused on the destruction of the private sector. This is an all-out assault on capitalism” (video at County Fair, Media Matters for America)

Limbaugh on Obama: “He’s a bad guy. He’s one angry guy. His wife is angry as well.” (video at County Fair, Media Matters for America)

Limbaugh refers to “Barack Ogabe,” drawing comparison between Obama and Robert Mugabe (video at County Fair, Media Matters for America)

Limbaugh says ACORN “got three and a half billion dollars from the stimulus bill” (video at County Fair, Media Matters for America)

Fox Business anchor compares tax on AIG bonuses to sexual abuse. (Think Progress)
[Tuesday], Fox Business Network anchor Dagen McDowell appeared on Fox News to make the case against the tax on AIG bonuses by comparing it to sexual abuse: “You don’t want to think if you get in bed with Uncle Sam he’s going to strip you naked, chain you to the bed, leave you there and then take nasty pictures of you and then put them on the Internet. Because that’s what’s been happening.”
Click through to watch the video.

O’Reilly: Obama “didn’t inherit AIG” (video at County Fair, Media Matters for America)

Bruce: “[I]t’s hysterical” that she’s “getting emails of people upset of me calling the Obamas trash” (video at County Fair, Media Matters for America)

To GIVE and To SERVE: The $6 Billion National Service Boondoggle (by Michelle Malkin, a right winger)
Maybe it’s just me, but I find federal legislation titled “The GIVE Act” and “The SERVE Act” downright creepy. Even more troubling: the $6 billion price tag on these bipartisan bills to expand government-funded national service efforts. Volunteerism is a wonderful thing, which is why millions of Americans do it every day without a cent of taxpayer money. But the volunteerism packages on the Hill are less about promoting effective charity than about creating make-work, permanent bureaucracies and left-wing slush funds.
But USA PATRIOT Act was just fine with you, Michelle.  As are all the make-money permanent bureaucracies and right-wing slush funds of the Bush years.

Does Drudge Have a New Understudy? (Gawker)
Andrew Breitbart has been Matt Drudge’s little helper for more than a decade. But he’s told people that he’s no longer doing regular shifts at the Drudge Report, and hasn’t been for nine months or so. Who are editors going to go to for links now? And can Drudge really do it all by himself?

Many Younger Americans See Colbert, Stewart As Alternatives to Traditional News Outlets (Rasmussen)
Nearly one-third of Americans under the age of 40 say satirical news-oriented television programs like The Colbert Report and The Daily Show with Jon Stewart are taking the place of traditional news outlets. Thirty-two percent (32%) of adults ages 30-39 believe this to be true, while 42% disagree.

Media Matters for America headlines

• Fox’s Cavuto, Baier repeat falsehood that Employee Free Choice Act would eliminate secret ballot

• Suggesting inconsistency on Obama’s part, Todd expands on his flawed “sacrifice” analogy

• Fox’s Carlson repeated executive pay claim that Gibbs told her was false the day before

• Media find Obama news conference insufficiently entertaining

• NBC Nightly News ignores Goolsbee rebuttal in reporting GOP “power grab” attack

• Dobbs falsely claimed Pelosi said “immigration law enforcement is, quote-unquote, ‘un-American”

• On Fox, Cavuto and Levin falsely claimed Obama administration wants to limit executive pay for all companies

Journalists decry Afghan arrests
Afghan journalists have condemned the arrest of two TV reporters over material they broadcast.

China: Tibet Video is Fake, But We’ll Block Entire YouTube Anyway (by Stan Schroeder at Mashable)
This is not the first time that China has blocked YouTube (the ban usually gets lifted within a couple of days), and it’s probably not the last. But one has to wonder how effective these bans are, since tools like Twitter make it incredibly easy for people to spread the news about incidents like this one. Proving that a video is fake would probably be a much better tactic than banning a site viewed by millions of people every day, and then claiming you’re not afraid of the Internet; it just doesn’t hold water.

Islamic States Push to Criminalize ‘Defamation of Islam’
A powerful bloc of 57 Islamic states is again pushing for the UN to make it a criminal offense to criticise or ‘defame’ Islam… [A new] resolution deems offending Islamic sensitivities a “serious affront to human dignity” which could lead to “social disharmony”, “violations of human rights” and “incitement to religious hatred in general and against Islam in particular”.  If passed, the resulting binding resolution would find its way into various UN documents all of which would require that UN member states at “local, national and international levels” start restricting the free speech of citizens to prevent public criticism of religious beliefs, particularly Islamic belief.     

Privacy Group Wants Google Maps Feature Shut Down In Britain (Paid Content)
The fury in the UK over Google’s effort to introduce its Street View feature to Google Maps continues to escalate. The latest twist: A privacy group has filed a formal complaint with the British Information Commissioner, asking that the service be shut down pending an investigation, because it says more than 200 people could be identified in the street-view images. Privacy International says that Google’s privacy safeguards, which include the automatic blurring of faces in Street View photos, haven’t worked well enough.

Senate Bill Would Allow Tax-Exempt Status for Newspapers
Newspapers perform a public service for democracy and should be allowed to operate as tax-exempt non-profits, U.S. Sen. Benjamin Cardin, D.-Md., proposed Tuesday. The non-profit status is the same that public radio and television have now.

Former WSJ.com Editor: What Papers Can—And Can’t—Charge For (Paid Content)
In a two-part series on the Reflections of a Newsosaur blog, former WSJ.com managing editor Bill Grueskin argues that once newspapers decided to put their news online there was no going back because, in his opinion, readers won’t pay for news that was once free… Where papers do have the option to charge, Grueskin says, is for non-news content, including the following:
—Daily emails with actionable information, like the best-and-worst traffic routes during rush hour.
—Sites that offer real-time intelligence about the real-estate market.
—Survey sites that accept user submissions about the best-and-worst teachers in local markets.
—In-depth coverage of local government, including publishing bills and video.

The Daily We (by Rory O’Connor)
With mainstream media brands in tatters, a tsunami of information inundating us online, and “quality journalism” in decline (at least as defined by legacy media executives such as New York Times editor Bill Keller), how can we be sure that the news we see and hear is really true? Facing what some still term, “The Daily Me,” that scary online universe where “each of us is our own editor, our own gatekeeper,” the question remains: are average citizens interested in and capable of decoding that which is useful, credible, “quality journalism” — and that which is not? And even if they are, will they take the time to do so?

Newspapers: 5 Ways to Avoid Extinction (by Woody Lewis, a Social Media Strategist and Web Architect, writing at Mashable)
In a post titled “Newspapers and Thinking the Unthinkable,” Clay Shirky, who teaches interactive telecommunications at New York University, makes what many would consider a heretical statement: “Society doesn’t need newspapers. What we need is journalism.” It’s clear the newspaper business will never be the same. Here are five best practices publishers should consider to increase their odds of survival:
1. Embrace chaos…
2. Devise a new strategy that emphasizes alliances and collaboration..
3. Find a strong technology partner…
4. Create a Twitter taxonomy…
5. Explore micropublishing solutions.
Click through for details.

J-students have produced 11 front page Boston Globe stories in 20 months
“In Boston, there are so many investigative story prospects that even a standard-issue class assignment can bear fruit,” writes Northeastern University professor and ex-Globe reporter Walter Robinson. Students don’t have to wait for newsroom internships or graduation to do reporting that gets published in a metro newspaper, he notes. “And savvy newspaper editors ought to welcome the help.”

Chicago Tribune, LA Times Combine International Coverage
The Chicago Tribune and Los Angeles Times are combining their international reporting operations as their corporate parent tries to save money while reorganizing in bankruptcy court. The international cooperative, to be based in Los Angeles, will serve all newspapers owned by the Tribune Co.

‘Historic’ Memo Leaves Feathers Ruffled at WSJ
The memo from editor Robert Thomson last Thursday to the staff of the Wall Street Journal has “a historic-moment kind of feel about it,” said one reporter. That momentousness lay in Thomson’s declaration of a “fundamental shift in orientation” within the newsroom.

Revolving Door Newsletter: Another Round of Cuts at LAT
More job losses have hit the editorial staff of the Los Angeles Times, with at least 50 employees seeing pink slips. Expect big-name editors to be among the casualties.

‘Houston Chronicle’ Announces Staff Cuts 
In a story posted Tuesday on the Chronicle’s Web site, the Houston daily said it is laying off about 12% of its work force. Publisher Jack Sweeney blamed the cuts on the troubles of the newspaper industry, though he noted that all kinds of companies are being forced to slash expenses.

4 Michigan Markets Will Lose Daily Newspapers, as Ailing Industry Tries to Cope
The 174-year-old Ann Arbor News will shut down and become primarily Web-based. Three other publications will publish print versions three days a week.

Conde Execs Take the Subway
A number of Conde Nast’s most prominent editors and executives are shunning the chauffeur-driven Mercedes and taking the subway instead. Among them: New Yorker editor-in-chief David Remnick, Gourmet editor-in-chief Ruth Reichl, and Portfolio publisher William Li.

Westwood One shrinks staff, pay.
As part of a widening restructuring, about 30 employees, mostly in network sales, were laid-off yesterday. Remaining staffers will see their paychecks shrink and their 401(k) match end. The company’s San Francisco sales office will also close.

Warner Bros launches “made-to-order” DVD service
Warner Bros on Monday became the first studio to open its film vault to “made-to-order” DVDs, as it sought new revenues in a slumping DVD market by making it possible for fans to buy decades-old films.
They might ought to be thinking about made to order downloads and/or streams instead of DVDs.

Blockbuster to sell, rent movies through TiVo
Blockbuster Inc. plans to rent and sell its movies and TV showsthrough TiVo Inc.’s digital video recorders in the second half of this year. The Dallas-based video rental company is playing catch-up to rivalNetflix Inc., which already offers free instant streaming of its movies and TV shows through TiVo DVRs and other devices with its “Watch Instantly” service. But unlike Netflix, Blockbuster’s fee-based TiVo offering will include new releases available two to four weeks after they hit video rental stores — ahead of pay-per-view.

Expired TV converter box coupon? Try again
People who got digital TV converter box coupons but let them expire can now apply for new ones.

Local broadcast news staffs buck trend with stable levels
The local [Buffalo] television news departments have maintained a relatively stable workforce in the face of a tough economy and nationwide trend toward downsizing.

Local TV Is New Weapon
In the marketing battle between telephone and cable companies, both sides have found a surprisingly simple weapon: local-television offerings such as community news, traffic alerts and weather. This summer, Verizon Communications Inc. plans to launch its own local TV channel in New York City, according to people familiar with the matter. The move is a response to Cablevision Systems Corp. and Time Warner Cable. Their round-the-clock local news channels, News 12 and New York One, have helped the companies keep some customers in Long Island and New York City from bolting for Verizon.

Lamb’s C-SPAN Turns 30
For political junkies, C-SPAN is Must See TV and the network is celebrating its 30th anniversary this month (yes, that means 28,000+ hours of U.S. House debate later…). In the latest POLITICO Podcast, we chat with C-SPAN founder and CEO Brian Lamb about the network’s past, present and future. Lamb says that he was confident from the beginning of C-SPAN’s potential. How did he know it would take off? “I did a very scientific study: I talked to my friends.”

NASA might name toilet for Stephen Colbert
Space agency doesn’t want to flush away good will following online poll

OnLive promises video games without the hardware
A new online video game distribution network hopes to free players from buying game discs or the console systems and high-priced computers needed to play them.

iStopOver: Skip the Overpriced Hotel and Rent a Local Pad Instead (Mashable)
If your travel budget has gone the way of the stock market, but you still want to traipse around the world and take a mini-vacay, you’ve got more options than you think when it comes to affordable accommodations — especially if you’re trying to avoid paying inflated hotel prices in metropolitan cities. Sure, you could peruse Craigslist for people willing to rent their place out for a weekend, but for more search options, higher quality information, and safer financial transactions you can turn to iStopOver for finding (or renting out) the perfect place to stay.

Road rage goes virtual on Aussie motoring website
Australian motorists are being encouraged to vent their anger on the Internet, and not on each other, via a new website that aims to make roads safer.

Quickly Create Media-Rich Chat Rooms with Conference.io (Mashable)
Let’s take a moment to reflect on the early 90s, a time when AOL was massively popular and chat rooms of all varieties were all the rage. Chat rooms have since evolved and taken on many different forms and shapes with microblogging supplanting the hearts and minds of today’s Web-obsessed. With FriendFeed rooms and Twitter groups applications springing up, could it be that real-time chat rooms are reemerging as a popular online trend? Drop.io, the site mainly known for fast and easy file sharing, is testing that very notion with their brand new service, conference.io, which is designed for group-oriented rich media chat.

Facebook Responds to Criticism Over Latest Redesign (Mashable)
Facebook users have been very vocal about protesting the latest changes to the social networking site, which were rolled out earlier this month. Some wondered whether or not the company would even respond at all, after it was reported that CEO Mark Zuckerberg told employees that “the most disruptive companies don’t listen to their customers.”… [T]he company has responded to those customers, issuing a lengthy blog post describing how they make product decisions, as well as describing some upcoming changes intended to appease user concerns.
Click through for Mashable’s synopsis of the Facebook blog post.

Google Invests in Pixazza, An AdSense for Images (Mashable)
If you’re a publisher using images in your site or blog, and you’re willing to sacrifice a little real estate inside your images, you could be poised to make a nice little chunk of change from Pixazza. The site, which … hopes to be the AdSense for images, uses crowdsourcing to match products in photos on participating sites with similar products available for purchase, and essentially turns bloggers and content creators into affiliate marketers who can cash in on Pixazza’s merchant network.
I wish cartoonists would use this feature, and allow me to post their cartoons freely.

iList Micro: Create and Browse Classified Ads Without Ever Leaving Twitter (Mashable)
iList, the classifieds site for instantly broadcasting your listing to your friends across your favorite social sites, has just made itself incredibly useful to Twitter users who hate to go anywhere else with iList Micro. With iList Micro now all you have to do to create a classified listing is tweet what you are offering and use the hashtag #ihave in your tweet. Likewise, you can tweet that you’re interested in something by using the hashtag #iwant. Your #ihave and #iwant tweets will automatically get picked up by iList and added to their microlisting site, where anyone can search from the available assortment of twittered classified ads.

Turning a Bus Into a Batmobile
In Germany, a Clever Movie Promotion

Arbitron lays-off 100.
CEO Michael Skarzynski’s ongoing “strategic realignment” has led to the dismissal of 10% of Arbitron’s workforce. Other non-salary expense cuts are also being implemented companywide in an effort to slice $10 million from the budget.

Nokia invests in mobile money firm Obopay
The world’s top cell phone maker Nokia has bought a minority stake in Obopay, enabling the U.S. mobile money firm to extend its product offering and geographical presence… Mobile banking services are expected to match those of onlineretail banking and eventually go beyond that with technologies like near-field communications (NFC), which enables payments by just waving a phone.

T-Mobile gets into the game of laptop connections
T-Mobile USA is opening up its new cellularbroadband network to laptops for the first time, with Wednesday’s launch of a USB “dongle” that lets portable computers get wireless Internet access. The plug-in device costs $50 with a two-year contract, or $100 if the buyer is signing up for one year. From then, service costs $60 per month for up to 5 gigabytes of traffic. The prices are similar to those at the three larger cellular carriers. 

Wacom introduces Intuos4 tablet
Tablet-maker Wacom on Wednesday introduced its next generation of pen tablets designed for the creative professional. The Intuos4 brings new features and improved pen performance, the company said.

Spark Capital To Offer Seed Funding For Digital-Media Companies (Paid Content)
VC fund Spark Capital today announced a new program called Start@Spark that will provide entrepreneurs with up to $250,000 in seed financing to get their companies through the development stage. The funding will mainly go to entrepreneurs in New York City and Boston, and primarily in the areas of content, online services and applications, technology platforms and infrastructure… Details about the size of the Spark’s new program (and whether it will even be a separate fund) weren’t disclosed, but it currently manages about $600 million and has a strong track record in digital media, having funded companies like Twitter, Akamai Technologies, thePlatform and Novatel Wireless.