Blagojevich’s retrial postponed until April 2011
Former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich won a delay until April 20 of his scheduled retrial on corruption charges, which means the trial won’t be going on while Chicagoans vote for their next mayor.
Judge James Zagel of the U.S. District Court granted the defense request for a delay, saying the Democrat’s scaled-down defense team will have to “retool” when he is retried on nearly two-dozen corruption counts. Among the charges are that Blagojevich attempted to sell President Barack Obama’s former U.S. Senate seat.
The first trial ended with Blagojevich convicted of lying to investigators while the jury deadlocked on 23 other counts, leading Zagel to declare a mistrial on those charges. A lone juror was reported to be the holdout among jurors intent on convicting him of additional charges, and prosecutors wanted to retry him in early January.
Testimony spared Obama administration officials any embarrassment, though former White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel apparently held discussions about the Senate seat with Blagojevich.
Emanuel resigned earlier this month and is laying the groundwork for a campaign for mayor of Chicago, with the election to replace the retiring Richard Daley taking place Feb. 22.
Blagojevich has kept an unusually low profile lately, though he has said he would welcome another appearance on a reality show. He did speak to a college symposium, for a fee.
Photo credit: Reuters/Jeff Haynes (Blagojevich in 2008)
Michelle Obama joins stump on behalf of Democratic hopefuls
First Lady Michelle Obama shook off the rust and hit the campaign trail – at least the campaign fundraising circuit – ahead of the November midterm elections.
Praising her husband’s accomplishments in just a year-and-a-half in office, she urged supporters to “have his back” by getting out the vote for fellow Democrats so he can pursue promised change with a friendly Congress.
Republicans are expected to make inroads in the November mid-term election.
“This is my first day out on the campaign trail. In fact, I haven’t been on the trail since a little campaign a couple of years ago,” Obama told a well-heeled crowd attending a $750-a-plate fundraiser for U.S. Senate hopeful Alexi Giannoulias.
She said she looked forward to voting early Thursday in her Chicago hometown, after a night’s rest “in my own bed.”
If she was out of practice after two years off the campaign trail, it didn’t show. While not rousing, the first lady delivered on familiar themes: the enduring struggles of American families to put food on the table, to get a good education for their children, to get health care.
She pledged support for military veterans — an issue she has adopted personally — but acknowledged it might take longer than one hoped to expand job opportunities in what has been an anemic economic recovery.
Washington Extra – Goldilocks Geithner
Not too hot, not too cold, just right.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner performed a delicate balancing act on the Hill today. On the one hand, Geithner had to tell an increasingly angry Congress that he was serious about trying to persuade China to revalue its currency, the yuan. On the other, he wanted to head off the kind of unilateral action from Congress that could provoke a trade war, and endanger the administration’s efforts to engage Beijing on a whole slew of issues.
Democratic Senator Charles Schumer raged that “China’s currency manipulation is like a boot to the throat of our recovery,” and accused Geithner of being the only person in the room who did not believe China was manipulating its currency.
“I share your frustration,” was the first part of Geithner’s message to Congress, acknowledging that the pace of the yuan’s appreciation had been too slow. But leave the response to us was the other, unspoken part of the message today. The administration would use the upcoming G20 summit in Seoul in November to try to mobilize other world powers to pressure China for trade and currency reforms, Geithner vowed, adding officials were looking at all the tools at their disposal to “encourage” the Chinese to move more quickly.
China has already warned that pressure from Washington could backfire, and the administration clearly does not want to be caught in the crossfire between a furious Congress and a prickly Beijing. Geithner also seemed to downplay the chances that the administration would declare China a currency manipulator in October. “The only thing that I would observe is, wishing something does not make it so, and issuing a report that requires me to go consult changes nothing,” he said.
Here are our top stories today…
Geithner vows to take China currency dispute to G20 Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner vowed to rally other world powers to push China for trade and currency reforms as he was grilled by lawmakers demanding a crackdown on Beijing’s policies. China warned that pressure from Washington could backfire. For more of this story by Doug Palmer and David Lawder, read here.
Mr. Geithner can complain all he wants. China holds $847 billion in United States Treasuries. If they decide to stop buying Treasuries, who’s going to lose the battle? As well, China spent $32 billion last year buying resource companies around the world in an attempt to secure their own resource future, including a 10% stake in Syncrude. With China now being the largest energy consumer in the world and the second largest economy, they are in the driver’s seat whilst the United States becomes increasingly less powerful. Here’s an article on China’s energy needs and how they will drive oil prices in the future:
http://viableopposition.blogspot.com/201 0/08/china-now-number-1-and-number-2-par t.html
Tips from juror for Blago retrial
Patrick Fitzgerald take note — when you retry Rod Blagojevich, keep it simple.
That’s the advice of the foreman of the hung jury that was unable to reach a unanimous verdict on 23 counts in the corruption case against the ousted Illinois governor.
Jury foreman James Matsumoto told NBC’s “Today Show” that prosecutors should re-try the case. Asked what advice he had for U.S. attorney Fitzgerald, Matsumoto said:
“If possible …streamline the case, concentrate on areas where they have more information and not rely so much on witness testimony which was sometimes weak. That’s where we split the most.”
“The major flaw (in the case) was probably the complexity … the amount of information that we had to digest. The length of the judge’s instructions to us,” the foreman said. He described the 14 days of deliberations as “fairly amicable” though the anger and frustration level rose as time went on and they could not reach agreement.
Matsumoto said the jury, which did find Blagojevich guilty on one count of lying to federal officials, just couldn’t reach unanimous agreement on the other 23 charges that ranged from racketeering to conspiracy, mail fraud and attempted extortion.
The allegations against Blagojevich included an attempt to sell or barter the U.S. Senate seat vacated by Barack Obama after he was elected president.
So in other words, break the trial down into individual counts, individual crimes. It may even be preferable to have separate trials on separate counts.
Obama joins call-in to back his pick in Colorado primary
President Barack Obama on Tuesday urged people in Colorado to support his pick to run for U.S. Senate in their state, jumping into a close Democratic primary race in which the other candidate is backed by former President Bill Clinton.
Obama has put his weight behind current Colorado Senator Michael Bennet, who was appointed to take over the seat vacated by Ken Salazar, whom Obama selected to be secretary of the Interior at the beginning of his term.
“He’s been a breath of fresh air in a town with a lot of hot air,” Obama told a telephone conference call with Bennet and listeners, who quizzed the freshman Senator about the attack ads he has endured. Obama said this was par for the course in politics.
“I know there have been a lot of negative ads running against Michael in the last few weeks, which is sort of politics as usual. But when he came to Washington, he came to get things done and not just play the usual political games,” he told the call.
Despite Obama’s backing, Bennet has faced a tough primary race from his opponent, Andrew Romanoff, a former speaker of the Colorado House.
The race has drawn national attention and split supporters within the Democratic party. Obama flew to Colorado earlier this year to raise money for Bennet. Former President Bill Clinton broke with the White House and endorsed Romanoff.
Romanoff pulled ahead of Bennet, a former Denver public schools superintendent, in a recent poll and sold his home to help finance his campaign.
Senator Byrd’s final poetic moment in the chamber he served
It was a poetic moment for the Senate.
Senator Robert Byrd’s flag-draped casket was carried into the chamber where he had fiercely protected Senate tradition, rule, and decorum during more than half -a-century of pressing for the needs of his constituents in West Virginia.
His body lay in repose on the Senate floor in front of the wooden desks where he helped shape U.S. history and displayed his oratory skills.
The last time such an honor was bestowed was in 1959, the year that Byrd joined the Senate.
When he died at age 92, the Democrat also made history as the longest-serving member of Congress.
U.S. value-added tax still a pretty toxic idea
White House Economic Economic Advisor Paul Volcker stirred up debate over the United States possibly adopting a European-style value added tax to help bring federal deficits under control, saying recently that it “was not as toxic an idea” as it has been in the past.
Well the idea is still pretty toxic in the U.S. Senate.
The Senate on Thursday voted 85-13 to adopt an anti-value-added tax resolution sponsored by Arizona Republican John McCain as part of its consideration of legislation that would restore lapsed jobless benefits.
The resolution has no force of law, but it gives a pretty clear sense that senators don’t like the idea of a value-added tax.
“It is the sense of the Senate that the value added tax is a massive tax increase that will cripple families on fixed income and only further push back America’s economic recovery,” the resolution stated.
A value-added tax would be added at each stage of production and as such would not be directly seen by the consumer the same way a sales tax is added to the total at the register. But it would be felt by consumers through higher priced goods and services. Critics say it is a regressive tax that hits hit fixed-income and poor people particularly hard.
But some economists argue a consumption tax is needed to help bring down budget deficits and curb America’s insatiable appetite for imported goods. It also could help U.S. manufacturers compete in the global economy. Some argue U.S. exports are less competitive because the European Union does not apply the value-added tax to its exports but does apply it to imports from the United States.
Interesting exchanges of opinions on this blog.
The debate on economic policy usually revolves around two philosophies. Tax and Spend and Borrow and Spend.
The thing that really makes me laugh is that the Folding Chair Patriots who all vote Republican are griping about the deficit they created. And they ignore the fact that their Republican representatives all just voted against PAYGO. Makes you wonder what those astroturf organizers are putting on their donuts.
The Folding Chair Patriots who supported the policies that created this massive deficit have no standing when it comes to discussions of how we work it off. None.
Dueling Carly Fiorina websites do battle
The California Democratic Party launched a website parodying former Hewlett-Packard Co chief Carly Fiorina’s credentials to run as the Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate from California.
Fiorina was the driving force behind HP’s controversial 2002 acquisition of Compaq Computer, turning the Silicon Valley pioneer into a behemoth with billions in annual revenue in line with that of IBM, although she was ousted three years later owing to the firm’s poor performance. She wants to run to unseat liberal Democrat Barbara Boxer later this year.
If she secures her party’s nomination, Fiorina, 55, would likely be the underdog against Boxer, who has served four terms in the Senate and has an edge in Democratic leaning California.
The CDP said the website is the first in a series they planned to launch this year profiling Republican candidates. They said it parodies Fiorina’s own online campaign drive that aims “to paint her as a competent CEO and business leader, despite her numerous failures.”
The site highlights what it says are Fiorina’s “failures” during her spell at the helm of HP, including off-shoring profits and laying off workers during restructuring. It invites visitors to submit their own “Carly Fail” stories.
“Carly Fiorina would be an unmitigated disaster for California,” CDP Chairman John Burton said in a news release. “But just don’t take our word for it. Talk to any of the 28,000 people she fired while she was busy sending jobs overseas and running Hewlett-Packard right into the ground.”
Fiorina’s campaign shrugged off the attack on her as back-handed acknowledgement that the former CEO is the GOP frontrunner, and pointed out errors on the website which said she is running for California governor not the Senate.
There another website that isn’t run by either party, or by the candidates… it’s a site where HP employees and alumni can share their stories of Carly Fiorina’s incompetent management. Read the facts about Fiorina’s track record at http://www.carly-fiorina.com
Healthcare and the holidays
It’s Christmas Eve and there is a lot more stirring than just a mouse. In Washington, D.C., the U.S. Senate just voted to approve a wide-ranging healthcare overhaul bill with Democrats and Republicans divided as they have ever been.
All 60 Democrats voted for the legislation while 39 Republicans opposed it (Republican Senator Jim Bunning was absent), ending a month-long marathon debate in the Senate with the first Christmas Eve vote in more than a century (1895).
In what some could interpret as a sign of just how important this legislation is to President Barack Obama’s agenda, his vice president, Joe Biden, presided over the session serving in his dual role of president of the Senate.
Now lawmakers will have the task early next year of trying to meld the two different versions of healthcare legislation that passed the Senate and House of Representatives, with Republicans vowing a tough fight.
“This fight is long from over. My colleagues and I will work to stop this bill from becoming law,” said Senate Republican Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.
With the Senate vote done, that cleared the way for senators to head home finally and Obama to head off to the sunny skies and warm sand in Hawaii where he will spend the holidays with his family. Luckily he has Air Force One to get him there as a major winter storm is moving through the Midwest which could snarl plans for many trying to make it home for the holidays.
Already a few flights out of one major hub for Northwest Airlines, Minneapolis-St. Paul, has been canceled this morning and that is expected to um, well, snowball down to Chicago and elsewhere.
Jeremy Pelofsky reported (on or about 1/5/10) an otherwise good story about the Yemeni detainee who lost his appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals.
But Mr. Pelofsky made the curious statement: “The decision is one of a handful of cases to reach the appeals court. Dozens of detainees have sought release from the Guantanamo prison under the so-called habeas corpus doctrine.”
Jeremy, “so-called”? Where did you get that? Is this an editorial? The right of habeas corpus is embedded (that’s a term the press knows) in the First Article of the U.S. Constitution, Section 9, Clause 2. Your preface cheapens that right, it’s like saying our so-called constitution, or the so-called journalist Jeremy Pelofsky. This may be your editors fault, and if, so accept my apology and please pass along my complaint to them. Thanks
Why would Obama travel to Ohio this week to tout his universal healthcare coverage ideas to a group of AFL-CIO members? Don’t they already have coverage as union members, so why would they be interested? OR could it be that they see his plan as a way of shifting their healthcare costs to -somebody- with even deeper pockets than the employers they’ve already driven out of business with demands for more pay and more benefits, resulting in less competitive products on the global market? “Oh you can’t scare me, I’m sinkin’ with the Union…”
