‘the senate refuses to consider obama nominees’

Barney Frank (in the Washington Post): …. The president has nominated Richard Cordray, an able, experienced and thoughtful former state attorney general who has a record of achievement in protecting individuals against financial abuse, to head the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. And the Republican minority in the Senate has announced that it intends to deny any consideration of the individual …. they will do that by blatantly distorting the Constitution…..

Cordray is just the latest capable, dedicated public servant to fall victim to a Republican mugging …. his record as attorney general of Ohio puts him in a small group of people able to act effectively to deal with the mortgage crisis. No one has raised any questions about his intelligence, integrity or dedication.

Yet his nomination will not even be fairly considered by the full Senate …. They will not confirm anyone until the Senate majority reverses itself to once again put bank regulators in a position to overrule virtually all of the policies that would be set by the consumer agency. The president is being told that the price of having a nominee confirmed is reversing himself on a major policy initiative that has already been enacted.

…. Cordray’s hearing is scheduled for Tuesday, and we’re going to see an extraordinarily qualified administrator of an important consumer protection agency be trashed by the Senate Republican minority because their primary goal is to ensure that financial institutions are not troubled by what they may see as an excessive concern for consumer fairness.

They are now refusing to confirm any recess appointment …. It is the legislative equivalent to an arsonist having set a fire and objecting to a building’s inhabitants using the fire exit.

Full article here

sabotage?

Yahoo: …As an American citizen, I would think – or at least hope – that elected government representatives would … put the country’s interests firsts, even if those interests conflicted with their personal desire to gain more power or get re-elected.

My colleague Dan Gross, however, who has covered Washington for two decades, thinks that this principle – if it ever existed – has been thrown out the window. …Dan argues, Republicans are doing everything they can to ensure that the economy remains a mess when it comes time for the 2012 election…

…If this is actually what some Republicans are doing, Americans of both parties should be outraged. The first loyalty of any elected representative should be acting in the best interests of the country., and advocating policies that you know will hurt the country – or stonewalling ones that will help it – is a gross dereliction of professional and civic responsibility.

More here

Thank you Ladyhawke

‘letting a diamond slip away’

Steve Benen: Last year, the Senate Banking Committee twice approved Peter Diamond’s nomination to the Federal Reserve. And twice, the Senate wasn’t allowed to vote on Diamond because Sen. Richard Shelby (R-Ala.) and a handful of his far-right colleagues threw tantrums for unknown reasons. So, this year, President Obama resubmitted the Diamond nomination. And once again, the petulant Republican from Alabama led a small contingent that decided they’re entitled to veto power over the process.

After more than a year of waiting for a simple vote, Diamond has given up. In a New York Times op-ed, the respected Nobel laureate explained why he’s withdrawing:

Instead of going to the Fed, however, I will go about my congenial professional existence as a professor at M.I.T., where I have taught and researched since 1966, and I will take advantage of some of the many opportunities that come to a Nobel laureate. So don’t worry about me …  But we should all worry about how distorted the confirmation process has become, and how little understanding of monetary policy there is among some of those responsible for its Congressional oversight.

… Diamond is among the most accomplished economists of his generation, and last year, was awarded a Nobel Prize in economics. And yet, there was Richard Shelby & Co., insisting that Diamond lacked the qualifications to join the board of governors of the Federal Reserve ……The result of this fiasco isn’t just the loss of a qualified nominee to an important post; it’s also a lost opportunity to have the Fed take actions to bolster the economy. We can only hope that this wasn’t part of a larger campaign by Republicans to hurt the economy on purpose.

Full post here

introducing….

President Barack Obama shakes hands with John Bryson, his nominee to be Commerce Secretary, May 31

Steve Benen: ….Up until a few hours ago, I’d never heard of Bryson, so I can’t speak with any confidence to the quality of the nomination. That said, the Center for American Progress seems pleased, as do a variety of folks I’ve talked to this morning involved with climate activism, who consider Bryson one of the good guys.

What I found most interesting, though, wasn’t the White House’s announcement, but rather, the reaction from the Senate Republican leader.

“Shortly before Obama announced Bryson’s nomination, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell’s office reiterated Republicans’ threat to block all administration nominations until the president acts on pending trade deals with Panama, Colombia and South Korea.”

Our entire political process has been reduced to a series of hostage stand-offs. McConnell …. wanted to remind everyone that unless the GOP gets what it wants on some trade measures, Republicans won’t allow a vote on Bryson’s nomination anyway. It doesn’t matter if he’s qualified or not. American governance has never worked this way; it wasn’t designed to work this way; and it can’t work this way.

See full post here

facebook

Hi people,

A few of you have told me that you’re having trouble sharing posts from here and The Only Adult in the Room on Facebook – that you’re being told the links are “spammy” – the nerve!

I just Googled and found this response to someone having a similar problem with another site:

“It’s likely a person marked it as spam. It’s probably not Facebook’s fault, a user probably did it and the system automatically flags link containing your web site address. Now it is tagged in their databases as spam. You probably won’t be able to fix it. You might try putting your links in a url shortner and so it changes the name to a shortened name that is randomly generated.”

Hopefully it’s just a glitch, but it might be – as suggested above – that people not too fond of the President are marking your links as spam. So, try using Tinyurl to change the address for links from here and The Only Adult in the Room – fingers crossed that’ll work. Let me know!

Update: Okay, using Tinyurl didn’t work. Will check asap to see if there are any work-a-rounds for this.

Another Update: Hey people, Tien just left a comment under the post above to say she was able to post it to Facebook – is anyone else having any success?

picture perfect: no 10

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, a Republican member of the Cabinet, feigns being a blocking back for President Barack Obama as he arrives backstage to meet with GOP House leaders before speaking to their issues conference at the Renaissance Baltimore Harbor Place Hotel in Baltimore, Md., Jan. 29, 2010. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

See all the Picture Perfect photos here

picture perfect: no 5

President Barack Obama blocks a shot while playing basketball with personal aide Reggie Love at St. Bartholomew’s Church in New York, Sept. 23, 2009. (Official White House photo by Pete Souza)

Souza showed Obama a picture on the back of his camera from a friendly one-on-one game Obama played with presidential aide (and former Duke basketball player) Reggie Love. Obama, who was talking trash during the game, is seen leaping up to block a shot, looking great. Souza said when the president saw the photo, he told him, “I order you to make this a jumbo.” Before it was posted, the president had Love sign the print with a note complimenting the president on his block.

See all the Picture Perfect photos here

let me at ’em

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, a Republican member of the Cabinet, feigns being a blocking back for President Barack Obama as he arrives backstage to meet with GOP House leaders before speaking to their issues conference at the Renaissance Baltimore Harbor Place Hotel in Baltimore, Md., Jan. 29, 2010. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)