A Spork in the Drawer

Saturday Palate Cleanser

Pure. Evil.

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And To Hell With Tom Daschle, Too

Tax-cheat:

President Obama’s pick for health and human services secretary, Tom Daschle, failed to pay more than $128,000 in taxes, partly for free use of a car and driver that had been provided to him by a prominent businessman and Democratic fund-raiser, administration officials said Friday.

[...]

The car and driver were provided by Leo Hindery Jr., a media and telecommunications executive who had been chairman of YES, the New York Yankees regional sports network. In 2005, Mr. Hindery founded a private equity firm known as InterMedia Advisors. Mr. Daschle was chairman of InterMedia’s advisory board.

Brad:

I am sick to death of rich assholes who cheat the system and don’t pay their goddamn taxes. Screw Daschle. I hope his nomination goes down in flames.

And Tim Geithner can go with him.

Apparently, when Obama promised "change" that didn't include changing to corrupt Washington culture.

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ADDED: BooMan has an excellent idea:

I say that the Obama administration should withdraw Daschle's nomination and replace him with Howard Dean.

This would have the added benefit of driving the Repubs crazy. Err, crazier.

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A Good Idea...

...that will go nowhere. Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-MO) is angry:

Her proposal would force companies taking federal bailout money to limit compensation for any employee to what the president of the United States currently earns: $400,000 a year.

"Is that so unreasonable?" the Democrat from Missouri asked. "It's eight times the median household income in the United States of America. … I don't think that sounds like a bad deal."

[...]

"They don’t get it," McCaskill said on the Senate floor. "These people are idiots."

The compensation cap would cover salary, bonuses and stock options.

By way of Todd Beeton:

Needless to say, not everybody is happy with this proposal:

"It's a stupid idea," said Woody Cozad, a lobbyist, commentator and Republican from Missouri. "I don't defend anyone who's at those companies now, but if they all need to be replaced, you're not going to replace them with anybody very good for $400,000."

Well, Lobbyist Woody, it would appear that $100,000,000 hasn't produced "anybody very good" either, has it?

And, of course, we must fear the "S" word:

“I think President Obama painted everyone with a broad stroke,” said Brian McCaffrey, 55, a Wall Street lawyer who was on his way to see a client. “The way we pay our taxes is bonuses. The only way that we’ll get any of our bailout money back is from taxes on bonuses. I think bonuses should be looked at on a case by case basis, or you turn into a socialist.”

That, indeed, was a recurring equation: Broad strokes + bonuses = socialist.

“It’s a very slippery slope to go down,” said another insurance broker as he waited to be seated for lunch at Cipriani Downtown. “A blanket statement like that borders on” — you guessed it — “socialism.”

You're goddamned lucky your blood isn't flowing down the gutter, Mr. McCaffey & Mr. Insurance Broker.

Despite his strong words the other day, President Obama seems to be prepared to do nothing:

In finalizing the plan, officials have made a policy decision that could dismay lawmakers. The administration is likely to refrain from imposing tougher restrictions on executive compensation at most firms receiving government aid but instead retain looser requirements initially included in the Treasury's $700 billion rescue program, a source familiar with the deliberations said. Officials are concerned that harsh limits could discourage some firms from asking for aid.

As much as I hate to quote John McCain I will anyway: That's not change we can believe in.

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State Department To Blackwater:

Drop dead:

The State Department will not renew the contract of security contractor Blackwater Worldwide when it expires in May, a senior State Department official said Friday.

The decision was made after the Iraqi government refused last week to renew the firm's operating license because of a 2007 incident in which the Iraqi government says security guards -- then employed by Blackwater -- fired on and killed 17 Iraqis.

However:

Officials said the State Department is talking with security firms DynCorp International and Triple Canopy, which share the Iraq contract with Blackwater, about picking up Blackwater's duties.

Neither of which are much better than Blackwater. DynCorp, in particular, has in the past protected employees engaged in a child sex-slave ring in Bosnia.

Lovely.

And as Zacary Roth noted yesterday, the State Department's decision might be little more than an inconvenience:

Sure, Blackwater as a corporate entity probably won't be roaming the streets of Baghdad or Mosul for much longer. But the individual mercenaries who've been working for years in Iraq, serving as a Praetorian Guard for the State Department's diplomats — those guys likely will be able to stay.

The State Department has a contract for "worldwide personal protective services" with three firms: Blackwater, DynCorp, and Triple Canopy. If Blackwater is no longer allowed to operate in Iraq, a lawyer steeped in the field tells Danger Room, there's no legal reason why the other two firms can't scoop up Blackwater's employees. "State simply issues a new task order to DynCorp or Triple Canopy, who turn around and hire some or all of Blackwater's employees," he says.

On the other hand, the thought of all those murderous psychopathic mercenaries walking around unemployed gives me the heebie-jeebies.

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New Captain...

...same old sinking ship.

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Yikes

Somebody (read: everybody) forgot to mention that we'd be hit with a snowstorm today.

If I remember my meteorology studies correctly this means that Al Gore is fat.

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George Finally Gets A Statue In Iraq!

Specifically, a statue in Saddam's hometown, Tikrit.



(Saleh/Getty)



(AFP/Getty)

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Banning Books

But not in the usual way. This is a matter of the Law of Unintended Consequences:

Unless the Consumer Product Safety Commission exempts them from the sweeping legislation, libraries nationwide could be forced to pull children’s books from their shelves or, alternately, ban children.

That would put roughly 2 million public library books — plus children’s books in school libraries — in the Kansas City area out of commission unless each volume was tested for lead, an unrealistic possibility.

[...]

The 63-page act does not specifically mention books.

However, according to an advisory opinion from the commission’s general counsel, ordinary books designed for ages 12 and younger are children’s products and the law does apply to them.

Following an onslaught of confusion and opposition, the safety commission is looking at last-minute options for mitigating the situation for libraries.

“There were many thousands of calls to the Consumer Product Safety Commission telling them how crazy they were,” Kansas City Public Library CEO Crosby Kemper III said. “Librarians turn out to be a pretty feisty group. We’ve put a lot of pressure on the (commission), and they’ve started to back off.”

The American Libraries Association is on the job:

[ALA Washington Office Executive Director Emily] Sheketoff said the Washington Office has asked the commission for a formal opinion exempting libraries from the testing requirements. She has also contacted an attorney to explore the possibility of filing for an injunction against the commission, and is prepared to ask the Obama administration to intercede if necessary.

Librarians have been at the forefront of fighting the absurdly misnamed "USA Patriot Act" and if there's one thing I've learned it's that when one threatens books librarians, despite their seemingly mild demeanor, turn into lionesses defending their cubs.

Simple rule: Don't. Fuck. With. A. Librarian.

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David Broder In Blackface

Tony Norman listens to Wan Williams talk about Michelle Obama and concludes:

Ironically, Williams probably considers his slander a form of racial tough love. I wonder if he secretly believes that knocking the first lady will earn him an invitation to the next soiree the president has with conservative commentators.

Since his Monday appearance on Fox, I've heard Juan Williams on NPR sounding reasonable again. There were no potshots at the First Lady. He even said nice things about Mr. Obama's political acumen. It was just another day in the life of America's most two-faced senior black correspondent.

Ouch.

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Double Yoi!

I'm not a sports fan in general nor a Steelers fan specifically - I wouldn't know a tight end from a split end - but I was a fan of the late broadcaster and sports writer Myron Cope. So it's nice to see that the New York Times has published an article on Cope, his great invention, the Terrible Towel, and the wonderful legacy that grew out of that piece of cloth.



(Lisa Kyle for The New York Times)

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