Boston.com:
Campaign contributions to Senator Scott Brown from the financial industry spiked sharply during a critical three-week period last summer as the fate of the Wall Street regulatory overhaul hung in the balance and Brown used the leverage of his swing vote to win key concessions sought by firms.
From mid-June until the Fourth of July, according to a Globe analysis of his campaign finance reports, the Massachusetts senator took in $140,000 from banks and investment firms and their executives, including companies based in the state, such as MassMutual and State Street Corp. That is 400 percent more than the $28,000 received on average by all Republican senators during the same three weeks.
As the money poured in, Brown and his Senate staff were working both publicly and behind the scenes to scuttle $19 billion in fees on the financial industry that would have paid for part of the regulatory overhaul, and to weaken a provision intended to curb certain types of investment activities by banks and insurance companies....
Looks like those bank contributions helped bankers get what they wanted - courtesy of Sen. Scott Brown.
* The judge who ruled against health care has some very interesting ties.
TPMMuckraker:
Federal judge Henry E. Hudson's ownership of a stake worth between $15,000 and $50,000 in a GOP political consulting firm that worked against health care reform -- the very law against which he ruled today -- raises some ethics questions for some of the nation's top judicial ethics experts. It isn't that Hudson's decision would have necessarily been influenced by his ownership in the company, given his established track record as a judicial conservative. But his ownership stake does create, at the very least, a perception problem for Hudson that could affect the case.
"Is Judge Hudson's status as a shareholder coincidence or causation? Probably the former, but the optics aren't good," James J. Sample, an associate professor at Hofstra Law School, told TPM. "Federal judges are required by statute to disqualify themselves from hearing a case whenever their impartiality might reasonably be questioned. It's a hyper-protective rule and for good reason. At the very least, his continued financial interest in Campaign Solutions undermines the perceived legitimacy of his decision."
The rules are pretty straightforward: if a judge is invested in a company that is a litigant in a case, he or she can't be involved. But in cases where a company owned by a judge has an interest in the outcome of a case but is not a direct litigant, the lines get much more murky....
Isn't that interesting?
CNN:
Richard C. Holbrooke, the high-octane diplomat who spearheaded the end of the Bosnian war and most recently served as the Obama administration's point man in the volatile Afghan-Pakistani war zone, has died, officials said.
The 69-year-old diplomat died Monday at George Washington University Hospital in Washington. He was admitted last Friday after feeling ill. Doctors performed surgery Saturday to repair a tear in his aorta.
One of the world's most recognizable diplomats, Holbrooke's career spanned from the Vietnam War-era to the war against the Taliban and al Qaeda in Afghanistan and Pakistan, coinciding with presidencies of the past five decades, from John F. Kennedy to Barack Obama.....
Holbrooke will be missed.
Joseph at Plunderbund has a possible conflict of interest if Mary Taylor leads Commerce:
...who would have thought John Kasich would have the balls to appoint Mary Taylor to head the agency responsible for approving plans, verifying compliance and issuing licenses for the construction industry – knowing full-well that her husband is the CEO of a large Ohio-based construction company.
Even worse, Mary Taylor faced two scandals back in 2006 when she was still a State Rep., both based on her association with her husband’s company Welty Building Co.....
Visit Plunderbund for the details of the scandals.
Looks like those bank contributions helped bankers get what they wanted - courtesy of Sen. Scott Brown.
_________________
TPMMuckraker:
Federal judge Henry E. Hudson's ownership of a stake worth between $15,000 and $50,000 in a GOP political consulting firm that worked against health care reform -- the very law against which he ruled today -- raises some ethics questions for some of the nation's top judicial ethics experts. It isn't that Hudson's decision would have necessarily been influenced by his ownership in the company, given his established track record as a judicial conservative. But his ownership stake does create, at the very least, a perception problem for Hudson that could affect the case.
"Is Judge Hudson's status as a shareholder coincidence or causation? Probably the former, but the optics aren't good," James J. Sample, an associate professor at Hofstra Law School, told TPM. "Federal judges are required by statute to disqualify themselves from hearing a case whenever their impartiality might reasonably be questioned. It's a hyper-protective rule and for good reason. At the very least, his continued financial interest in Campaign Solutions undermines the perceived legitimacy of his decision."
The rules are pretty straightforward: if a judge is invested in a company that is a litigant in a case, he or she can't be involved. But in cases where a company owned by a judge has an interest in the outcome of a case but is not a direct litigant, the lines get much more murky....
Isn't that interesting?
- - - - - - -
* This just in-----CNN:
Richard C. Holbrooke, the high-octane diplomat who spearheaded the end of the Bosnian war and most recently served as the Obama administration's point man in the volatile Afghan-Pakistani war zone, has died, officials said.
The 69-year-old diplomat died Monday at George Washington University Hospital in Washington. He was admitted last Friday after feeling ill. Doctors performed surgery Saturday to repair a tear in his aorta.
One of the world's most recognizable diplomats, Holbrooke's career spanned from the Vietnam War-era to the war against the Taliban and al Qaeda in Afghanistan and Pakistan, coinciding with presidencies of the past five decades, from John F. Kennedy to Barack Obama.....
Holbrooke will be missed.
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>>>> Lt. Gov.-elect Mary Taylor might become the Director of Ohio's Department of Commerce, according to the Plain Dealer. Seems as Kasich has been thinking about the appointment. If she becomes the Director of Commerce, and even if she just remains the Lieutenant Governor, will she spend more time in Columbus instead her "satellite" office near her home?Joseph at Plunderbund has a possible conflict of interest if Mary Taylor leads Commerce:
...who would have thought John Kasich would have the balls to appoint Mary Taylor to head the agency responsible for approving plans, verifying compliance and issuing licenses for the construction industry – knowing full-well that her husband is the CEO of a large Ohio-based construction company.
Even worse, Mary Taylor faced two scandals back in 2006 when she was still a State Rep., both based on her association with her husband’s company Welty Building Co.....
Visit Plunderbund for the details of the scandals.
