After falling again today below the 8,000 mark, the markets rallied and gained 300 on the day. A decent amount of buying back, but it hardly makes up for the 14% drop since the Age of Plenty began.

Since 1900, the worst such three-day performance for the Dow was a 6.0 percent fall after Harry S Truman was reelected in 1948. Such titanic declines are atypical as markets normally rally immediately after presidential elections with the average since the beginning of the 20th century being a 0.7 percent rise.

I know: We're in a crisis. The thing is, though, that we were in a crisis before the election too, which is kinda why Obama won. What's changed since then? Well, Obama won.

The left won the Presidency last week, has owned Congress since 2006, and long championed Freddie, Fannie, and the CRA and protected them from regulation. At some point they'll have to stop blaming Bush and begin taking ownership of their problems.

Here's the upside of winning: You have the power.

Here's the downside of winning: You have the power.

The Obama Left likes the upside but not the downside.

Posted by: Ace at 12:34 PM | Comments (116)
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They're not done counting yet, but this one is looking like another loss.

No Palin Senatorship, most likely. And, even worse:

Jennifer Duffy, editor of the Cook Political Report, said Democrats have an outside chance of attaining their goal of 60 Senate votes.

``It's sure still possible,'' she said.

Meanwhile, Al Franken wants to add "undervotes" to his tally, better known as "votes deliberately not cast for Al Franken but to which he believes himself entitled.

I'd like to see a history of Democrats coming from behind in recounts. I imagine they've "won" just about every time they've been behind, but close. And I'd like to see a statistical analysis of the likelihood of their impressive record.

Posted by: Ace at 12:05 PM | Comments (64)
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"I knew it!" more...

Posted by: Ace at 11:59 AM | Comments (39)
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Well, uhm, thanks and all.

Little late, but whatever.

The Roman Catholic Church is cutting off funds to the community organizing group ACORN, citing complaints over its voter registration drives in the November 4 election as part of the reason.

The Catholic Campaign for Human Development froze its contributions to the group in June amid allegations that Dale Rathke, the brother of ACORN founder Wade Rathke, had embezzled nearly $1 million.

Ok... froze funds in June. My bad.

With the usual response from the usual chuckheads at ACORN "we shore tried our darndest to catch all them bad registrations, honest we did".

it was ACORN that discovered the bad forms and called them to the attention of election authorities, putting the forms in a package that identified them in writing as suspicious, encouraging election officials to investigate, and offering to help with prosecutions," ACORN said in an October 9 news release.

Really?

I can't quite suspend my disbelief on that last bit.

Posted by: Dave in Texas at 09:26 AM | Comments (103)
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A stunning new possible side effect of global warming has been discovered: a new Ice Age

...A new analysis of the dramatic cycles of ice ages and warm intervals over the past million years, published in Nature, concludes that the climatic swings are the gyrations of a system poised to settle into a quasi-permanent colder state — with expanded ice sheets at both poles...

Posted by: Purple Avenger at 08:02 AM | Comments (152)
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Now that the mad geniuses at DARPA are involved, I'm thinking maybe.

Darpa says its Cessna-sized combo vehicle should be able to cruise at 60 MPH on land, and 150 MPH in the air. It should be able to stay aloft for two hours on a tank of fuel. "The challenge," the agency says, "is to define the major components of such a vehicle that would be suitable for military scouting and personnel transport missions, yet are small enough, inexpensive enough, and easy enough to operate that it can be widely used."

Thanks Obama!

Flying cars aren't my personal dream, I already have a pilots license. Now, if lightsabers ever hit the market, give me a call. Still, I know a lot of you here long for this and gas is getting cheaper so, keep hope alive!

Posted by: DrewM at 07:22 AM | Comments (54)
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It's interesting to say the least that a national political party is suing to overturn the hallmark legislative 'success' of it's most recent (until last week) nominee for President but it's certainly welcome news.

The move is considered a slap in the face of the Republican Party's failed 2008 presidential candidate, Sen. John McCain of Arizona, who was dramatically outspent by Democrat Barack Obama, and of President Bush, who signed McCain-Feingold into law in 2002.

...(GOP Chairman Mike) Duncan said one suit will be filed in the District of Columbia to strike down the soft-money ban that is the central tenet of the McCain-Feingold Act — formally known as the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002. "Soft money" is largely unrestricted contributions from wealthy individuals, corporations and labor unions.

The second suit will be in a Louisiana federal court to strike down the limits under the law Mr. McCain co-sponsored with Sen. Russ Feingold, Wisconsin Democrat, that control coordination between parties and their candidates.

"It prohibits us from spending over $84,000 in coordination with a candidate in a congressional race," Mr. Duncan said. "That means we have to find some group to raise and spend money but without any coordination" with the candidate, his campaign or the RNC.

"That does not allow for a unified message," he said. "We don't think there is anything corrupting about coordinating with a candidate."

Amusingly, President-Elect Hope 'n Change doesn't seem to have much to say about campaign finance laws. Mostly his statements involve lying about accepting public financing for his recent campaign. Perhaps he can be pressured into instituting basic credit card security protections on donations to his reelection campaign. Or not.

How successful this will ultimately be is obviously hard to say. The major ruling to date on McCain-Feingold is McConnell v. FEC and it was one of those hodgepodge decisions with multiple majorities, concurrences and dissents. Fortunately, now retired Justice O'Connor was part of the 5-4 majority to uphold parts of the law, so if the court keeps the same balance when the case finally reaches it, Alito may come into play. Of course, by then Anthony Kennedy may have discovered some esoteric reason to change his mind (it's not like that's ever happened before), so we really have no idea.

Still, anything that's a slap in the face to McCain and his faux moral crusade is a good thing in my mind.

Posted by: DrewM at 06:49 AM | Comments (68)
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Posted by: Gabriel Malor at 04:53 AM | Comments (126)
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World renowned paleo-con reich wing skinhead rag Mother Jones deigns to question The One's choice of Jim Leach to ride shotgun with Madeline Notsobright as The One's representatives to the G-20 conference

But let's look at an Obama campaign statement released last March (when he gave a speech on financial regulation) that referred to the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act:

In the two years before Glass-Steagall was repealed in 1999, financial service industries gave $58 million to congressional campaigns; $87 million to political parties; and spent $163 million lobbying Washington....Nearly a decade later, our financial markets--and everyday Americans--are paying the price.

Paying the price--for a bill that Leach helped to usher through Congress. That's a tough critique....

...But Leach shares responsibility for some of this deregulation and for legislation that Obama has blasted as the handiwork of corporate lobbyists.

Posted by: Purple Avenger at 08:25 PM | Comments (86)
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This was too good to pass up, even if it's a relatively dry Speech or Debate Clause issue. Retiring U.S. Rep. Rick Renzi (R-AZ) has been indicted on 35 counts of conspiracy, wire fraud, extortion, money laundering and insurance fraud. I don't know much about the case, but I love it when Congresscritters try and fall back on the Speech or Debate Clause to stave off prosecutions.

Renzi's lawyers contend that he is protected from prosecution for any activities related to the legislative process. Prosecutors argue that promising future votes for shady federal land swaps isn't a protected "legislative act." Then comes the good part:

Prosecutors replied in court papers filed late last week that Renzi "distorts the intent and plain meaning" of the clause and argues in essence that he "is the fortunate denizen of a 'sanctuary for crime.'"

In Related News: The Fourth Circuit just denied Democratic Congressman William "Cold Cash Is My Middle Name" Jefferson's Speech or Debate Clause claim (PDF). The Court held that Jefferson was trying to apply the clause so broadly that it would be impossible to charge a congressman with a crime. His trial can now go forward, unless he appeals to the Supreme Court.

Incidentally, the good Democrats of New Orleans just handily helped him win the primary run-off; he is a shoo-in for re-election to the "sanctuary for crime."

Posted by: Gabriel Malor at 07:02 PM | Comments (37)
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