Via Murray Waas, writing at The Hill, we have at long last fresh news on the Rick Renzi corruption case in Arizona. As you will recall, Renzi’s indictment was a critical prong in the greater US Attorney firing scandal, specifically as to Arizona US Attorney Paul Charlton.

OMG Michael is DEAD per TMZ. He was admitted to UCLA with cardiac failure, not breathing.

Bummer for the investors, Colony Capital, his fans and the folks who bought tickets for his 50 shows at London’s 02 Arena. And it makes Sky Saxon of the Seeds this millenium’s Darby Crash, Crash of the seminal punk band the Germs, died the night before John Lennon was murdered. Saxon’s band the Seeds was best known for hit “Pushing Too Hard.”

The Senate Democratic Policy Committee (DPC) has launched the “Accountability Series,” which features video on congressional efforts to ensure accountability in government.

Rachelle Honeycutt works at an oil refinery in Washington State. Sam Schaffer is a skilled sheet metal worker from West Virginia. Javier Almazan organizes workers in south Florida and Cathy Merkel is an registrar in Maryland. They’re all union members. And in a few days, all four will be graduates of one of the crown jewels of the labor movement: The National Labor College.

t’s sad that Cramer thinks the Masters of the Universe are all-wise financial guardians whose wisdom must not be challenged, but there is a reason that the Federal Reserve Transparency Act has 243 cosponsors, well in excess of the 218 needed for a majority.

Well, now we know Cramer thinks that what we’re suffering from is too much democracy.

Paging Jon Stewart….

keep calling, take the time to explain to whoever it is what you talk to how important it is that forty Democratic members of the House (only 40!) agree to hold that line.  That ought to let the air out of Kay Hagan’s tires.

It’s insufferable that each of these Senators thinks they’re the President because their vote is critical.  Well, there’s the matter of the House of Representatives too, and nobody wants to be the Democrat who blocked healthcare passage. 

So get on those phones an let’s build a brick wall.

Use Our Citizen Whip Count Tool 

They’re learning exactly the wrong lesson from their latest fallen hero.

Maybe it’s time for cultural conservatives to start asking if their leaders really are the true believers they claim to be, or just hypocrites willing to pander to them for power. Because that’s frequently what it looks like from the outside, but tribal loyalties trigger such knee jerk defensiveness that those questions never seem to get asked.

Keith Ellison:

I will not vote for any healthcare that does not include a public option. I will not do it, that’s a guaranteed no vote and I will not be dissuaded from that.

He also remains committed to working for single payer.

The Big E over at Minnesota Progressive Project suspects that our single Senator, Amy Klobuchar, may be more than a little wobbly when it comes to meaningful health care reform. He noted her supremely evasive response when asked about whether she would back a public option in a health-care reform package. Let’s change that, shall we?