The DC Morning – 9/23/10

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1.) Road-tripping Tea Partiers talk of time travel — “What if the Tea Parties sprung up a few years before they did?” asks The Daily Caller’s Alex Pappas, who is currently living the life on a bus in Florida. Some Tea Partiers, writes Pappas, think that their lives would be mucho better right now if they had raised Cain under Bush. “We trusted Bush to do the right thing, and he didn’t do the right thing,” said Dr. Patrick Mcpoland. Another player in the game, 61 Plus founder Jim Martin, blamed Congressional Republicans–yes, the same Congressional Republicans who will soon take over–saying, “Republicans didn’t do what they said they’d do. A lot of them turned their back during the Bush years.” Turned their back? Is that code for spent a metric buttload of taxpayer dollar$ on social engineering and warring and pork? I think it is! Dear Tea Partiers: Keep those talons sharp in case the new crew gets out of line. It seems y’all and only y’all can strike the fear of God into the Cap Hill careerists.

2.) Career leftists say net neutrality good for America — “A report from the Institute of Policy Integrity at the NYU School of Law was released Wednesday and argues the Google-Verizon proposal would increase economic uncertainty by weakening the open framework of the Internet,” reports The Hill. “The authors instead endorse net neutrality principles laid out by the FCC last November.” Institute director Michael A. Livermore told The Hill, “We can take a cautious approach by protecting net neutrality,” because if “we” abandon net neutrality now, we may never get it back. On the other hand, writes The Hill, “strict net neutrality rules today could be relaxed down the road if better alternatives emerge.” Right, because the government is in the habit of relaxing its regulatory death-grip on the shaft of American industry after some vaporous amount of time! So, what is the Institute of Policy Integrity, exactly? It’s a regulatory orgy palace, that’s what. “When done correctly, the numbers often support strong government protections for important issues like the environment, health and safety, and consumer protection,” reads an opening statement from the institute’s dean. And Livermore’s no disinterested champion of doing the right thing, but a regulatory junkie. In a piece for the Huffington Post advocating cap and trade, Livermore wrote, “If history is our guide, we cannot count on regulators to so single-mindedly protect consumers.” His complaint is that they would not be staunch enough. Meaning if people like Livermore are the ones providing advice to the FCC, the agency probably wouldn’t relax its grip ever.

3.) Obama sends agency lackeys far and wide to dissuade voters from scalping dumb Dems — “We would not be standing here today if it weren’t for your courageous representatives in Congress,” Transportation Secretary Ray “Buckle ’em if you got ’em” LaHood told a gaggle of Washington state residents earlier this month. LaHood was in Seattle to talk up the $30 million in federal grant money “the administration was delivering to help unclog a notoriously snarled interchange downtown,” reports the AP, as well as to boost the chances of Sen. Patty Murray, who once attributed Osama Bin Laden’s popularity among insane terrorists to the fact that he “been out in these countries for decades, building schools, building roads, building infrastructure, building day care facilities, building health care facilities, and the people are extremely grateful. We haven’t done that.” If all it takes to elect a hated human being is a little infrastructure investment, LaHood’s visit to Seattle should do the trick for Murray.

4.) House Democrats scramble to preserve tuition-inflating loan program — “Hoping to gain momentum for an amendment that would delay the upcoming demise of the federal Perkins Loan Program, [Representative John Spratt (D-S.C.)] held a hearing here on Wednesday to declare the program’s importance,” reports Inside Higher Ed. These are the reasons why we need the Perkins program, say supporters: “Perkins Loan availability is a crucial component of increasing enrollment.” Honestly, that is about all there is to it. Colleges need the Perkins program because it allows a poor kid from the wrong side of the Save-a-Lot, who’s borrowed the maximum amount of Stafford Loans but still can’t cover his college’s ridiculous tuition, to borrow just a teensy bit more. So, by all means, Dems should save the program. And the next time the bill’s sponsors campaign, their opponents can roll out slogans like, “John Spratt supports federally funded predatory lending to unemployed 18-year-olds.” Wouldn’t that be great?

5.) Charlie Crist sets out to save Social Security — Florida Gov. Charlie Crist recently took a break from his Designing Women marathon to speak to old people. Do you know what he said? He said he knows how to save social security! “Campaigning amid walkers and canes at a Pembroke Pines retirement community, Gov. Charlie Crist pledged Wednesday to protect Social Security and suggested an unconventional solution to shoring up the trust fund: allowing illegal immigrants to earn citizenship.” According to the Miami Herald, Crist told the crowd of blue-hairs, “I’m the only candidate in the race who is saying we need to preserve it as it is and protect it….Secure the border, make sure we have a pathway that is earned — no amnesty — and if we have those 11 to 14 million people productively participating in the American economy and paying the payroll taxes that would be attended to it, that would help Social Security.” The blue-hairs smiled at the governor’s magical thinking.

6.) Investors v. The Banks v. America — “Big U.S. banks are facing legal pressure to make up for losses tied to pools of soured low-end mortgage loans,” reports the Wall Street Journal. “In the latest effort, a group of investors in 2,300 mortgage securities worth roughly $500 billion is seeking to force several banks that originated or are now servicing faulty subprime-mortgage loans to repurchase or modify them.” Investors will likely spend many moons howling for change with little satisfaction. In the meantime, however, banks and lenders are now in the delightfully awkward position of having to explain–or deny/obfuscate–how some of these truly shitty loans were created and why they’re not working with homeowners to make them into better loans. Ah, Wall Street!

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Julia McClatchy (admin)