When Obama released his budget proposal last week, bankers no likey. Not content with the billions of dollars in subsidies they’re already receiving from the federal government, Obama’s proposal to cut $4 billion in subsidies to the student loan industry made them indignant. Not that there is any need for the subsidies, mind you — the government absorbs the losses either way, so they might as well lend directly

As Joan Walsh writes, “Michael Steele, we’re gonna miss you when you’re gone.”

The TradMed is, wonder of wonders, actually talking to IT security experts about the bad joke that is www.colemanforsenate.com. While Norm and his people are still crying about political hacking, the experts and some Coleman donors are firing back that the only political hackery involved is coming from Norm’s side.

The hubris here is pretty gobsmacking.

On Tuesday, Citigroup analyst analyst Debora Weinswig downgraded WalMart stock from a buy to a hold because of fears that the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) would “make it easier for employees to unionize would raise the retail giant’s labor costs and hurt its competitiveness.” It was hard to view this as anything but an overt political act intended to set off panic in a

As expected, Bernie Madoff, the widely hailed Grand Poobah of Ponzi, plead guilty today to all 11 counts of fraud, perjury, money laundering, and theft. That should net him around 150 years in the pokey. The question this morning was would the 70-year-old go straight to jail, or would he remain free, or under continued house arrest, pending sentencing.

US District Court Judge Deny Chin has just decided:

Dawn Johnsen is being considered in SJC today. When the Republicans start making incendiary claims about her, call them and remind them that, unlike John Yoo, she has promised to use a non-politicized method to put respect for the law back in OLC memos.

There are a lot of problems with our system, but possibly none greater than the GOP’s successful creation of a bubble reality where things are real just because they say they’re real. Case in point, Employee Free Choice.

Dear Mr. President: There has been an extraordinary amount of recent chatter on potential judicial nominees, a few USAtty positions and final staffing decisions for DOJ. A lot. Scuttlebutt is announcements are brewing for early April, but no one knows who and when just yet.

Yikes. Hypocritical grandstanding, anyone? Speaking of which… Al Gore is such a big fat liar. I see the hand of Silvio behind this. No one could’ve predicted… Time’s running out for da man at da RNC. Blaming Obama. Bowers: ‘I told you so.’ Hehindeedy.

Oh what lie will they trot out before it’s completely debunked next?