adoptedmainer's Blog

adoptedmainer recommended You asked for it Mr. President... by gumbun

2009-07-14T00:34:27Z

adoptedmainer Commented on Jeb Bush on the GOP: 'It's OK To Use Three-Syllable Words' by Rachel Slajda

2009-07-10T01:50:26Z

Yes, Jeb is definitely a Bush. Brother W couldn't think of any mistakes he had made; the only Repug sin Jeb can think of is losing elections. Glug. Two were enough.

adoptedmainer Commented on Poll: Majority Of Voters Say Sarah Palin Is Not Fit To Be President by Eric Kleefeld

2009-07-09T21:33:03Z

I think my vote is with those who've said Palin quit to make a lot of money. If she can have power too, that's great, but if not, the money will be enough, although there will never be enough of it for her.

adoptedmainer Commented on Revealed: The Sanford/Ensign Connection by Zachary Roth

2009-06-25T00:57:03Z

The entire C Street story seems fishy. Why does a bible study group for congressmen need a four-story townhouse? Why couldn't they meet in one of their offices/conference rooms? Why does a bible study group need bedrooms? Nice cover for sanctimonious repugs who want a discreet place to carry out their assignations, and nice cover for lobbyists to provide something congressmen want at no obvious cost to anyone.

adoptedmainer Commented on Senate GOP's Reaction To Sotomayor Hearings: We'll Have To Review 76 Cases Per Day by Eric Kleefeld

2009-06-10T02:12:44Z

You all seem to be assuming that Sotomayor should be confirmed. If I had to bet, I'd bet Sotomayor is a Souter in reverse: comes in as a dem, goes out as a repug, and in between votes down Roe v. Wade. I haven't read all of her decisions or even most of them, but those I have read suggest a conservative viewpoint, at least on those issues of most concern to progressives. Be careful what you wish for.

adoptedmainer Commented on Hill Reporter Of 'Concern' About The Impact Diet Will Have On Her Jurisprudence]]> by Brian Beutler

2009-05-28T01:47:42Z

OK, do we get to issue sworn questionnaires to all current Supremes on what they eat and impeach all of those who don't eat totally according to (what?) standards? Or after we follow them around grocery stores and impeach them for lying on the questionnaires? I admit it would be fun to know what Thomas, Scalia, and Alito eat.

adoptedmainer Commented on The Only Sure Way to Fund Universal Health Care by Robert Reich

2009-05-25T02:13:30Z

Of course I agree with all the commenters that a single payer system is what we need. What I don't understand is why the money for it is an issue. How much have we spent over the past what, seven or eight years?, on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan? Were taxes raised to pay for these wars? Not at all. Where did the money come from? From debt, I assume. If we could incur zillions of dollars of debt for unnecessary and immoral wars, why can't we incur billions of dollars of debt to ensure proper single payer health care for all Americans? Or proper private insurer health care for that matter? Are the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan really more important than health care for Americans? Do they really provide more benefit to Americans? If Obama wants health care for all now and thinks he can't afford it without more money, stop tomorrow every penny on the wars and put that money into health care, where it will do some good. The hypocrisy of saying we can't afford health care when we don't even think twice about the cost of war would be astounding if it weren't so normal. To move the ball along, require Congress, the Supremes, and all political appointees and elected officials of the Executive Branch to find and pay for their own health care in the private marketplace. How many of the folks in those groups are insurable? Believe me, we'd have single payer health care in no time if we did that.

adoptedmainer Commented on Cornyn: Hutchison Could Resign From Senate This Fall by Eric Kleefeld

2009-05-15T02:04:47Z

Given that most of the senators we do have might as well be republicans, what difference does it make? See, e.g., the cram down votes and the rejection of a 15 percent credit card interest rate limit, not to mention EFCA. See also so-called dem votes in the Senate for Scalia, Alito, Thomas, and Roberts.

adoptedmainer recommended Deep Thought by Josh Marshall

2009-02-27T01:34:56Z

adoptedmainer Commented on Coleman Apparently Laying Groundwork For Appeal by Eric Kleefeld

2009-02-18T02:09:49Z

We have that kind of on-site absentee/early voting in Portland, Maine, except that it's at City Hall instead of the courthouse. Works well; we've done it often.

adoptedmainer Commented on Coleman Timing Query by adoptedmainer

2009-02-15T04:07:07Z

Thank you so much. My experience is only in federal courts, but in those, one has an automatic right of appeal from district court to Circuit Court. No matter how absurd it may be, the appeal still will be given full and fair consideration, including a complete review of the record, all of which takes a lot of time. That's how it was in the Circuit where I clerked, anyway. Even with an expedited appeal, given the size of the record in this case, I should think it would take months to go through it all, and then you would have the gap between filing and oral argument, and another gap until a decision issued. If the Minnesota appellate court sent the case back on remand, Coleman could start all over again. I had a case that went back and forth three times, and it took ten years until the parties' management changed and the case settled. When the parties are stubborn and have effectively unlimited funds, there is not, in my experience, any limit to how long a case can take to reach final decision. And if Coleman's went to the Supremes, how likely is it they would rule for Franken? Roberts probably would rather be strangled in his bath.

adoptedmainer Commented on Who's Running TARP? You Might Not Wanna Know by Zachary Roth

2009-01-13T02:33:30Z

I'm another believer in everyone above but Ohio Guy. First of all, OG, the choices are not robber barons or credit union officials. We could have had Krugman and Stiglitz (sp?). We could have had Elizabeth Warren, about whom I don't know a lot, but she has seemed pretty much on the ball and in the right ball park. For all of his faults, like asking congressmen to pay for their breakfasts, which cooked his goose in Washington, Jimmy Carter would, I bet, have done a good job and the right thing. Same for Nate Silver, who definitely seems to understand numbers. More knowledgeable folks can correct my list, but I'm sure a good list would go on for miles and never touch a single robber baron. I've guessed from the beginning that all of the cash is by now safely out of the country in whatever the current version of Swiss bank accounts may be, and we're never going to see it again. My take away from all this is that I'm never, ever, going to give another dollar to another so-called Dem. I'll go to the polls and vote, although why I'm not quite sure, but I'm going to let the robber barons provide the cash.

adoptedmainer Commented on Specter: Holder Could Be Another Gonzo by Zachary Roth

2009-01-07T02:26:22Z

I agree with wbgonne, there are a lot of questions about Holder that ought to be answered. What he's been doing these last eight years at Covington, for instance. It has been reported that Holder through Covington has been helping anti-union forces in Colombia, among other not so savory activities. Remember, Covington folks wrote and got passed for Bacardi the anti-Cuba legislation that has thwarted reasonable relations between the two countries for years. Holder chose to become part of that family. I'm sure that's not what Specter wants to ask about, but I'd like to know.

adoptedmainer Commented on Coleman Camp Treks Off To Court Again, Alleging Votes For Franken Counted Twice by Eric Kleefeld

2008-12-20T00:32:43Z

Shouldn't claim preclusion be kicking in about now? The general rule most places is that a litigant who has filed a suit is barred from filing another one alleging something he could have alleged the first time around. After all of Norm's filings, it's hard to believe he hasn't reached that point yet.

adoptedmainer Commented on Congress Slams Fannie, Freddie by Zachary Roth

2008-12-10T02:48:28Z

Everyone should have known where Fannie Mae was going when it put up its McMansion on Wisconsin Avenue in Washington. For those who haven't seen it, the McMansion is an utterly pretentious pile in the place of what used to be very charming Georgetown-type buildings (I'm afraid I can't remember exactly now what was there before). The building signaled everything Fannie Mae became.

adoptedmainer Commented on Gonzo's Lawyer Quits Civil Case. Another Sign That Prosecutor Is Circling? by Zachary Roth

2008-12-06T00:36:51Z

What is Gonzo doing now? According to the V&E web site, he didn't go back there.

adoptedmainer Commented on Prosecutor On US Attorneys Case Seems To Be Going All Out by Zachary Roth

2008-12-03T18:56:21Z

Sampson isn't listed in the Hunton & Williams lawyer bios; he's not on their web site at all. A bit odd, that. And the explanation for his "leave" is even odder. Having clerked for a Fourth Circuit judge, Sampson probably is a member of the Virginia bar, and in any event it's not at all unusual to have lawyers, or even partners, in a firm who aren't members of the bar of the state in which they work.

adoptedmainer Commented on Reid: What Lieberman Did Was "Improper" And "Wrong" by Greg Sargent

2008-11-07T23:43:19Z

Getting down to the really important stuff, didn't Lieberman vote for every single one of W's Supreme and Court of Appeals picks, including Alito, Janice Brown, and Brett Kavanaugh? Next to that, the loathesome things he did on the campaign trail are nothing in the big picture. Of course he'll vote against any and all of Obama's judicial picks no matter what happens, but at least he won't do so as a top Senate dog.

adoptedmainer recommended A Letter to my Republican Father by davidvwhite

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adoptedmainer recommended The Obvious Line For Clark/Obama to use. by mrbenjones

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