Click here to view this media Rachel Maddow talked to Steve Benen about his recent article at The Washington Monthly where he asked this after noting the Republicans like Michele Bachmann’s hypocrisy of privately requesting stimulus funds for their districts while publicly decrying any further attempts to stimulate the economy and claiming it doesn’t work. The easy observation is to mock the GOP hypocrisy, but Bachmann gave me a new idea: how about a new stimulus package focused on granting Republicans’ requests for public investments? Here’s the pitch: have the White House take the several hundred letters GOP lawmakers have sent to the executive branch since 2009, asking for public investments, and let President Obama announce he’ll gladly fund all of the Republicans’ requests that have not yet been filled. This is especially important when it comes to infrastructure, a sector in which GOP members have pleaded for more investment in their areas. When pressed, these same Republicans will offer an explanation that “sounds like something out of the mouth of a Keynesian economist, rather than the musings of a congressman who proudly touts his support from the Tea Party movement.” So, how about it? If these Republican lawmakers have identified worthwhile projects in need of government spending, which they themselves insist will boost the economy, why not start spending the money GOP officials want to see spent? If the White House is listening, I think this is something they should have been doing to Republicans a long time ago. As Rachel noted, back when Republicans were first complaining about the stimulus bill while at the same time running back to their districts and doing things like holding up big checks and taking credit for the projects that were helping to create jobs there, her blog posted a “hall of fame” with the list of these hypocrites. They’ve posted it again here —
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Click here to view this media Rachel Maddow talked to Steve Benen about his recent article at The Washington Monthly where he asked this after noting the Republicans like Michele Bachmann’s hypocrisy of privately requesting stimulus funds for their districts while publicly decrying any further attempts to stimulate the economy and claiming it doesn’t work. The easy observation is to mock the GOP hypocrisy, but Bachmann gave me a new idea: how about a new stimulus package focused on granting Republicans’ requests for public investments? Here’s the pitch: have the White House take the several hundred letters GOP lawmakers have sent to the executive branch since 2009, asking for public investments, and let President Obama announce he’ll gladly fund all of the Republicans’ requests that have not yet been filled. This is especially important when it comes to infrastructure, a sector in which GOP members have pleaded for more investment in their areas. When pressed, these same Republicans will offer an explanation that “sounds like something out of the mouth of a Keynesian economist, rather than the musings of a congressman who proudly touts his support from the Tea Party movement.” So, how about it? If these Republican lawmakers have identified worthwhile projects in need of government spending, which they themselves insist will boost the economy, why not start spending the money GOP officials want to see spent? If the White House is listening, I think this is something they should have been doing to Republicans a long time ago. As Rachel noted, back when Republicans were first complaining about the stimulus bill while at the same time running back to their districts and doing things like holding up big checks and taking credit for the projects that were helping to create jobs there, her blog posted a “hall of fame” with the list of these hypocrites. They’ve posted it again here —
Continue reading …Ari Melber: Call The Senate Back Into Session And Make Republican Obstructionists Vote On Obama Nominees
August 11, 2011 No CommentAppearing yesterday on MSNBC’s Dylan Ratigan Show , The Nation ‘s Ari Melber reminded us how Republican obstructionism has crippled administration appointments — and suggested what Obama and Harry Reid should do: ARI MELBER: Most of you know Congress just left for vacation. Normally when Congress is on recess, the president can make recess appointments to advance nominees that have been obstructed, but it turns out Congress is not really on recess. Republicans are holding symbolic sessions during their entire vacation in order to prevent recess appointments. This is just the latest ploy in a long obstruction campaign by the GOP. Since Obama came into office, Republicans have blocked an unprecedented number of nominees from ever getting a vote. Take judicial nominees. Republicans have blocked almost half of the nominees for judicial nominations, the worst obstruction rate in U.S. history. And the targets aren’t random, either. GOP obstruction has hindered female and minority nominees the most. Here’s a disturbing statistic from the People for the American Way, and I’m quoting now: “Every district court nominee with unanimous opposition from the Senate Judiciary committee Republicans has been a woman or a person of color.” You know, people forget that Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan was first nominated to an appeals court back in the day by President Clinton, but Republicans wouldn’t allow her a vote on that nomination. Then, when President Obama nominated her to be the third woman to ever serve on our high court, the same Republicans complained she didn’t have the experience as a judge — even though they were the ones who kept her off the bench. And meanwhile, nominees for jobs shaping economic policy – obviously the No. 1 issue in this country – have been totally shut down. Obama nominated Nobel economist Peter Diamond to the Federal Reserve Board over a year ago. Republicans filibustered, he was renominated two more times, and he ultimately withdrew in disgust. The top spot at the famous Consumer Protection Bureau remains empty. Republicans even brazenly blocked votes on nominees for the Board of Protection commissioner at the Homeland Security department and the head of Industry and Security at the Commerce department. Both of those posts were finally filled through recess appointments last year, but it’s only gotten worse. This week, White House officials openly said they need Tim Geithner to extend his term as Treasury Secretary, in part because Republicans would filibuster a vote on his replacement. Look, you don’t fight unemployment by trying to shut down one of the most important jobs on the president’s economic team. The solution is pretty simple — Senator Reid and President Obama should call the Senate back in session now, in this hot August summer. They should refuse to adjourn until there are votes on all these nominees. They can use quorum calls, break the silent filibuster that most Americans don’t even know is happening, and they can keep every member working seven days a week and refuse to adjourn unless it’s for a real old-school recess – you know, when recess appointments are on the table. Just imagine the president speaking to the nation about making government work again instead of just pleading for compromise with his tormentors. Imagine him seizing the initiative on a concrete action plan , and imagine him making a case for an American government based on the people who want to serve our government, to run our schools, protect our borders and put our people back to work. It says a lot about this Congress that they found a way to hinder government and recovery even while they’re on vacation. Well look, let’s bring these guys back to Washington. MATT MILLER: Ari Melber, great point. And also, what it does is echo the fact for those who say there’s an equivalence between Republican and Democratic responsibility aren’t looking hard enough at what the GOP is doing to block progress in a number of these areas. We’ll have to pick that conversation up another time. Ari, terrific rant.
Continue reading …Ari Melber: Call The Senate Back Into Session And Make Republican Obstructionists Vote On Obama Nominees
August 11, 2011 No CommentAppearing yesterday on MSNBC’s Dylan Ratigan Show , The Nation ‘s Ari Melber reminded us how Republican obstructionism has crippled administration appointments — and suggested what Obama and Harry Reid should do: ARI MELBER: Most of you know Congress just left for vacation. Normally when Congress is on recess, the president can make recess appointments to advance nominees that have been obstructed, but it turns out Congress is not really on recess. Republicans are holding symbolic sessions during their entire vacation in order to prevent recess appointments. This is just the latest ploy in a long obstruction campaign by the GOP. Since Obama came into office, Republicans have blocked an unprecedented number of nominees from ever getting a vote. Take judicial nominees. Republicans have blocked almost half of the nominees for judicial nominations, the worst obstruction rate in U.S. history. And the targets aren’t random, either. GOP obstruction has hindered female and minority nominees the most. Here’s a disturbing statistic from the People for the American Way, and I’m quoting now: “Every district court nominee with unanimous opposition from the Senate Judiciary committee Republicans has been a woman or a person of color.” You know, people forget that Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan was first nominated to an appeals court back in the day by President Clinton, but Republicans wouldn’t allow her a vote on that nomination. Then, when President Obama nominated her to be the third woman to ever serve on our high court, the same Republicans complained she didn’t have the experience as a judge — even though they were the ones who kept her off the bench. And meanwhile, nominees for jobs shaping economic policy – obviously the No. 1 issue in this country – have been totally shut down. Obama nominated Nobel economist Peter Diamond to the Federal Reserve Board over a year ago. Republicans filibustered, he was renominated two more times, and he ultimately withdrew in disgust. The top spot at the famous Consumer Protection Bureau remains empty. Republicans even brazenly blocked votes on nominees for the Board of Protection commissioner at the Homeland Security department and the head of Industry and Security at the Commerce department. Both of those posts were finally filled through recess appointments last year, but it’s only gotten worse. This week, White House officials openly said they need Tim Geithner to extend his term as Treasury Secretary, in part because Republicans would filibuster a vote on his replacement. Look, you don’t fight unemployment by trying to shut down one of the most important jobs on the president’s economic team. The solution is pretty simple — Senator Reid and President Obama should call the Senate back in session now, in this hot August summer. They should refuse to adjourn until there are votes on all these nominees. They can use quorum calls, break the silent filibuster that most Americans don’t even know is happening, and they can keep every member working seven days a week and refuse to adjourn unless it’s for a real old-school recess – you know, when recess appointments are on the table. Just imagine the president speaking to the nation about making government work again instead of just pleading for compromise with his tormentors. Imagine him seizing the initiative on a concrete action plan , and imagine him making a case for an American government based on the people who want to serve our government, to run our schools, protect our borders and put our people back to work. It says a lot about this Congress that they found a way to hinder government and recovery even while they’re on vacation. Well look, let’s bring these guys back to Washington. MATT MILLER: Ari Melber, great point. And also, what it does is echo the fact for those who say there’s an equivalence between Republican and Democratic responsibility aren’t looking hard enough at what the GOP is doing to block progress in a number of these areas. We’ll have to pick that conversation up another time. Ari, terrific rant.
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Model Linda Evangelista, who once touted she doesn’t get up for less than $10,000 a day, recently asked a New York court to award her $46,000 a month in child support. Is Evangelista’s child support request as unreasonable as the headlines would like us to believe? Not necessarily. According to a Bloomberg Businessweek publication, the child’s father Francois Henri-Pinault’s total compensation as CEO of PPR-SA, a luxury brand corporation, for fiscal year 2010 was roughly $5.2 million, excluding any dividends Pinault may have received from company stock or returns on other investments. The annual total of the child support requested is less than 11% of Pinault’s annual income from PPR-SA. Not an outrageous amount. While the demise of the “Supermodel” may have put a damper on Evangelista’s earnings, she is reported to be worth $8 million, far from an income level where her child is in danger of becoming a public charge. However, the child support award will not be based on the wealth of one or both parents. New York law states that in high income cases where parental income exceeds $130,000, as in this case, an award of child support should be based on the child’s actual needs and the amount required for the child to live an appropriate lifestyle. In Brim v. Combs, the Appellate Division held the Family Court erred in basing a child support award in part on the amount of support the father, Sean “Puffy” Combs, was paying for another child from a different woman, and not on evidence of the child’s expenses, resources and needs. The court used the custodial parent’s testimony and net worth statement as evidence of the child’s actual needs. The New York Post reports the majority of the $46,000 a month in child support would cover a 24-hour nanny and personal drivers for the child. In this case, a 24-hour nanny for a child whose mother has a career like Evangelista’s may be viewed as reasonable by a court. And while the request of personal drivers for a child may appear excessive and unreasonable to most, a judge may think they are necessary for the child’s lifestyle. Pinault is the husband of Oscar-nominated actress, producer and director Salma Hayek. Could Evangelista seek contribution to the child support payment from Pinault’s wife? In New York, the courts generally will not look to the spouse of the non-custodial parent for child support unless the parent is hiding assets, makes claims of indebtedness or becomes voluntarily unemployed or underemployed to evade child support payments. Since child support payments, under New York law, are retroactive to the date of the support application, Pinault will be obligated to pay from the application’s filing date. New York law is clear: child support awards should be based on a child’s actual needs. Will the Family Court order Pinault to pay $46,000 a month in child support to Evangelista? Probably not. Is Evangelista’s child support claim as outrageous as it seems? Not at all.
Continue reading …Model Linda Evangelista, who once touted she doesn’t get up for less than $10,000 a day, recently asked a New York court to award her $46,000 a month in child support. Is Evangelista’s child support request as unreasonable as the headlines would like us to believe? Not necessarily. According to a Bloomberg Businessweek publication, the child’s father Francois Henri-Pinault’s total compensation as CEO of PPR-SA, a luxury brand corporation, for fiscal year 2010 was roughly $5.2 million, excluding any dividends Pinault may have received from company stock or returns on other investments. The annual total of the child support requested is less than 11% of Pinault’s annual income from PPR-SA. Not an outrageous amount. While the demise of the “Supermodel” may have put a damper on Evangelista’s earnings, she is reported to be worth $8 million, far from an income level where her child is in danger of becoming a public charge. However, the child support award will not be based on the wealth of one or both parents. New York law states that in high income cases where parental income exceeds $130,000, as in this case, an award of child support should be based on the child’s actual needs and the amount required for the child to live an appropriate lifestyle. In Brim v. Combs, the Appellate Division held the Family Court erred in basing a child support award in part on the amount of support the father, Sean “Puffy” Combs, was paying for another child from a different woman, and not on evidence of the child’s expenses, resources and needs. The court used the custodial parent’s testimony and net worth statement as evidence of the child’s actual needs. The New York Post reports the majority of the $46,000 a month in child support would cover a 24-hour nanny and personal drivers for the child. In this case, a 24-hour nanny for a child whose mother has a career like Evangelista’s may be viewed as reasonable by a court. And while the request of personal drivers for a child may appear excessive and unreasonable to most, a judge may think they are necessary for the child’s lifestyle. Pinault is the husband of Oscar-nominated actress, producer and director Salma Hayek. Could Evangelista seek contribution to the child support payment from Pinault’s wife? In New York, the courts generally will not look to the spouse of the non-custodial parent for child support unless the parent is hiding assets, makes claims of indebtedness or becomes voluntarily unemployed or underemployed to evade child support payments. Since child support payments, under New York law, are retroactive to the date of the support application, Pinault will be obligated to pay from the application’s filing date. New York law is clear: child support awards should be based on a child’s actual needs. Will the Family Court order Pinault to pay $46,000 a month in child support to Evangelista? Probably not. Is Evangelista’s child support claim as outrageous as it seems? Not at all.
Continue reading …Robyn Gardner Missing: Search For Maryland Woman In Aruba Called Off, According To Boyfriend
August 11, 2011 No Comment
The search for Robyn Gardner, the missing American tourist who vanished in Aruba, has been called off by island police, according to the woman’s boyfriend. In a case that has drawn comparisons to the still-unsolved disappearance of Natalee Holloway, who went missing from the same town in Aruba in 2005, local law enforcement officials have been trying to track down the 35-year-old Gardner. She was last seen on Aug. 2 at the Renaissance Aruba Resort & Casino in Oranjestad. But after detaining a male travel companion who claimed Gardner drowned in the typically tranquil waters off Baby Beach, authorities have ended the search, her boyfriend, Richard Forester, told The Huffington Post. “I’ve heard the search has been called off,” Forester said. The 41-year-old man claims he has received word that the FBI and Interpol will pick up the search and investigation, but the FBI did not immediately respond to inquiries from The Huffington Post. Aruban Solicitor General Taco Stein told WJLA the active search has ended as investigators have pursued all of their leads. Gardner disappeared while traveling with Gary Giordano, a man she met on an online dating website and saw twice a month, according to CBS News. Several days into the trip, Giordano and Gardner went snorkeling off the island’s southern tip, Giordano’s lawyer Michael Lopez told the Associated Press. When Giordano, 50, noticed a current pulling them out to sea, he signaled to Gardner that they should return to shore. But when he got to dry land, she was nowhere to be found, according to Lopez. Giordano searched for Gardner and spoke with police, only deciding to leave Aruba after the woman’s mother arrived in the country and he received permission from a U.S. consulate official in Curacao, the lawyer said. But on Aug. 5 police took Giordano into custody before he left Aruba. PHOTOS OF ROBYN GARDNER: “They suspect murder but there’s no proof, to my knowledge,” Lopez told ABC News. “I don’t see any proof. There’s no proof and no motive.” This isn’t Giordano’s first run-in with the law. Two women have taken out orders of protection against Giordano, including one by his ex-wife during their divorce, the network reported. Forester told The Huffington Post that he had heard of Giordano before the trip, but had been told by Gardner that he was a gay friend. “I was under the impression that she was taking a family trip,” Forester said. Though Forester describes Gardner as someone who “was very active” and “liked to be outside,” he doubts she would have gone snorkeling in the evening, as Giordano reportedly told investigators. “She didn’t go in the water at 6 p.m. — I know she didn’t. She would get her hair messed up, she would get her makeup messed up,” said Forester, who says he lived with Gardner at his home in Bethesda, Md., five or six nights per week. “I think that this man Gary Giordano did something to her and stashed her somewhere.” Despite frequent media comparisons between Gardner’s disappearance and the Holloway case, Forester says the only thing they share in common is that they involve “two beautiful women.” But after watching the Holloway case fizzle in the hands of Aruban law enforcement, he hopes for intervention from the FBI or Interpol. “My concerns are that they are more interested in keeping things quiet to not hurt the tourism,” Forester said. Authorities describe Gardner as 5 feet 5 inches tall, 120-pounds, blonde with brown eyes and tattoos on her left arm, right bicep and rib cage. WATCH:
Continue reading …Robyn Gardner Missing: Search For Maryland Woman In Aruba Called Off, According To Boyfriend
August 11, 2011 No CommentThe search for Robyn Gardner, the missing American tourist who vanished in Aruba, has been called off by island police, according to the woman’s boyfriend. In a case that has drawn comparisons to the still-unsolved disappearance of Natalee Holloway, who went missing from the same town in Aruba in 2005, local law enforcement officials have been trying to track down the 35-year-old Gardner. She was last seen on Aug. 2 at the Renaissance Aruba Resort & Casino in Oranjestad. But after detaining a male travel companion who claimed Gardner drowned in the typically tranquil waters off Baby Beach, authorities have ended the search, her boyfriend, Richard Forester, told The Huffington Post. “I’ve heard the search has been called off,” Forester said. The 41-year-old man claims he has received word that the FBI and Interpol will pick up the search and investigation, but the FBI did not immediately respond to inquiries from The Huffington Post. Aruban Solicitor General Taco Stein told WJLA the active search has ended as investigators have pursued all of their leads. Gardner disappeared while traveling with Gary Giordano, a man she met on an online dating website and saw twice a month, according to CBS News. Several days into the trip, Giordano and Gardner went snorkeling off the island’s southern tip, Giordano’s lawyer Michael Lopez told the Associated Press. When Giordano, 50, noticed a current pulling them out to sea, he signaled to Gardner that they should return to shore. But when he got to dry land, she was nowhere to be found, according to Lopez. Giordano searched for Gardner and spoke with police, only deciding to leave Aruba after the woman’s mother arrived in the country and he received permission from a U.S. consulate official in Curacao, the lawyer said. But on Aug. 5 police took Giordano into custody before he left Aruba. PHOTOS OF ROBYN GARDNER: “They suspect murder but there’s no proof, to my knowledge,” Lopez told ABC News. “I don’t see any proof. There’s no proof and no motive.” This isn’t Giordano’s first run-in with the law. Two women have taken out orders of protection against Giordano, including one by his ex-wife during their divorce, the network reported. Forester told The Huffington Post that he had heard of Giordano before the trip, but had been told by Gardner that he was a gay friend. “I was under the impression that she was taking a family trip,” Forester said. Though Forester describes Gardner as someone who “was very active” and “liked to be outside,” he doubts she would have gone snorkeling in the evening, as Giordano reportedly told investigators. “She didn’t go in the water at 6 p.m. — I know she didn’t. She would get her hair messed up, she would get her makeup messed up,” said Forester, who says he lived with Gardner at his home in Bethesda, Md., five or six nights per week. “I think that this man Gary Giordano did something to her and stashed her somewhere.” Despite frequent media comparisons between Gardner’s disappearance and the Holloway case, Forester says the only thing they share in common is that they involve “two beautiful women.” But after watching the Holloway case fizzle in the hands of Aruban law enforcement, he hopes for intervention from the FBI or Interpol. “My concerns are that they are more interested in keeping things quiet to not hurt the tourism,” Forester said. Authorities describe Gardner as 5 feet 5 inches tall, 120-pounds, blonde with brown eyes and tattoos on her left arm, right bicep and rib cage. WATCH:
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“I don't know what's worse,” Tina Brown's selection of the wild-eyed Michele Bachmann cover photo for Newsweek or her “bold-faced lie” defending the choice, NewsBusters publisher Brent Bozell told Fox News's Sean Hannity on his program last night. “There's not a person in the face of this Earth that looks at that picture and says, 'she looks more presidential,' which is what Tina Brown” insisted on the August 10 edition of MSNBC's “Morning Joe.” [video follows page break; MP3 audio is available here ]
Continue reading …“I don't know what's worse,” Tina Brown's selection of the wild-eyed Michele Bachmann cover photo for Newsweek or her “bold-faced lie” defending the choice, NewsBusters publisher Brent Bozell told Fox News's Sean Hannity on his program last night. “There's not a person in the face of this Earth that looks at that picture and says, 'she looks more presidential,' which is what Tina Brown” insisted on the August 10 edition of MSNBC's “Morning Joe.” [video follows page break; MP3 audio is available here ]
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