Let the games begin! (or continue)

April 23, 2012

by David Safier I just found out Republican Senator Chuck Grassley is quite the tweeter. His latest: This just keeps getting more interesting.

Ann-Eve Pedersen on renewing the one cent sales tax

April 23, 2012

by David Safier Good interview with Ann-Eve Pedersen in the Republic Saturday on the one cent sales tax initiative. Before the excerpts, I want to restate what isn't well understood about the initiative. The sales tax money can't simply be folded into the general fund, letting the lege either keep education funding where it is … Read more

The Romney campaign’s descent into obsession and double entendre

April 23, 2012

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

We have incontrovertibly established that Willard 'Mittens' Romney is a pathological liar with the weekly "Fact checking the mendacity of Mittens" series via Steve Benen.

We have also established that the Romney campaign admittedly is engaging in a textbook case of psychological projection. Willard 'Mittens' Romney: 'I'm rubber, you're glue'.

Now the Romney campaign is descending into obsession. For the Romney campaign, time began with the inauguration of Barack Obama on January 20, 2009. All of human history which preceded President Obama's inauguration is irrelevant. Barack Obama is the source of all our woes, and he is not worthy of any praise for anything good that has occurred during his term.

Romney spokesman Eric Fehrnstrom presented the new argument at a campaign stop in Ohio Last week:

"The fact that [the economy] struggled through the last three years is not the fault of Barack Obama's predecessor; it's the fault of this administration and the failure of their policies to really get this economy going again."

Ed Kilgore writes at the Political Animal blog, “Obama Isn’t Working”:

By now you’ve probably heard about the Romney campaign’s big slogan for the 2012 campaign, at least at this point: “Obama Isn’t Working.” When I first heard about it, I immediately flashed back to a moment early in the movie Sid and Nancy, when in the background of one gritty London scene you could see a poster reading: “Labour Isn’t Working,” the big Tory slogan in the general election of 1979 (unfortunatey for the credibility of the filmmakers, Nancy Spungeon’s death, the dramatic fulcrum of the movie, actually occurred in 1978).

And indeed, the official explanation for the slogan posted last year on the Romney campaign website explicitly cites the 1979 Tory campaign as its inspiration, touting the professional awards won by the consultants who devised it.

Pounding the Political Pavement

April 22, 2012

by David Safier Saturday morning I went out knocking on doors for County Superintendent candidate Nancy Young Wright as well as Ron Barber and Richard Carmona. I was way up in the Northwest Territory, around La Canada and Naranja (just south of Tangerine). I was definitely not in solid Blue territory, though I was only … Read more

Commodity Futures Trading Commission claims first victory against oil market manipulator

April 22, 2012

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

U.S. regulators claimed their first victory in a four-year old effort to crack down on oil market manipulation on Thursday, announcing a $14 million settlement with high-frequency trading firm Optiver. High-frequency trader Optiver pays $14 million in oil manipulation case:

In a ruling that came just two days after U.S. President Barack Obama proposed a renewed campaign against illegal oil trading schemes, the Amsterdam-based company agreed to disgorge $1 million in profits and pay a $13 million civil penalty over allegations it used a rapid-fire tool nicknamed "The Hammer" to influence U.S. oil prices in 2007.

It was the first case brought by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) in its 2008 effort to curb market malfeasance, launched as prices soared toward a record near $150 a barrel in the middle of that year.

The case alleged that traders in Optiver's Chicago office reaped a $1 million profit by engaging in a practice called "banging the close", in which the firm attempted to move U.S. oil prices by executing a large volume of deals during the final moments of trading.

While far from the agency's largest fine, the case was viewed as an important milestone in the CFTC's efforts to get more aggressive over market manipulation – a charge that has historically been difficult to prove, despite mounting political pressure to take rogue traders to task.

"The CFTC will not tolerate traders who try to gain an unlawful advantage by using sophisticated means to drive oil and gas futures prices in their favor," David Meister, the CFTC's enforcement chief, said in a statement.

NY Times breaks new ground on ALEC story

April 22, 2012

by David Safier The NY Times has a front page story about ALEC: Conservative Nonprofit Acts as a Stealth Business Lobbyist. It picks up from the frequently told story about ALEC model legislation spreading to state legislatures around the country and moves the ball farther. It talks about how ALEC acts as a watchdog on … Read more

The coming week…

April 22, 2012

Posted by Craig McDermott, cross-posted from Random Musings   As usual, all schedules, calendars, and agendas are subject to change without notice…and since it hit 100 degrees in Phoenix this weekend, the non-Maricopa legislators will be pushing hard to get out of town soon, both to avoid the heat and to get busy with campaigning. … Read more

March for Justice against SB 1070 in Phoenix on Wednesday

April 22, 2012

Posted by AzBlueMeanie: Announcement from the National Day Laborer Organizing Network: Phoenix to March Against SB1070 and Federal Deportation ProgramsDuring SCOTUS Hearing Who: A Wide Coalition of Organizations [including Somos America and the American Civil Liberties Union] When: April 25th. March to begin at 3:00 pm Arizona Time. Where: Opening Rally at Civic Space Park, 424 N. Central … Read more