S.E.C. Chairwoman Mary Schapiro announced improved public participation procedures to open up SEC’s rulemaking proceedings, thus proving that doing the public’s business in public isn’t hard. So what’s the excuse of other Federal agencies (like FCC) and Obama’s extreme closed-door Catfood Commission?

When I was leaving Las Vegas (don’t break into song), I encountered a guy on the elevator who was talking to his friend about his loss of home equity. “It’s like playing at the casino,” the man said. “You have a bunch of chips, and after a few hands, you look down, and they’re gone.”

This was a common theme at the Netroots Nation conference. Not specifically a guy relating home equity to a loss of blackjack chips, but attendees casually mentioning their interactions with people in Nevada who are struggling.

The New York Times continues to downplay the human rights abuses, amounting in some instances to war crimes, in its reporting on the classified documents released by Wikileaks. In contrast to the Guardian and Der Spiegel, the NYT’s failed to highlight the many accounts of atrocities committed by U.S. and coalition troops in the papers’ recent coverage.

Staunch conservative Christine O’Donnell is challenging Rep. Mike Castle (R-DE at large) for the Republican nomination for the Delaware Senate seat formerly held by Joe Biden. Despite Castle being the establishment choice with a good chance of winning in a blue state, O’Donnell has lined up impressive endorsements from powerful conservative organizations, including the Susan B. Anthony List, Tea Party Express and Concerned Women for America. Seeing conservatives wrestle with which candidate is the best choice for advancing their policy goals is a great way for the progressive community to understand the policy and economics of primary challenges.

The surface oil may be disappearing from view, but so far, the biggest impact of the gusher in the Gulf, for BP, comes in the form of their huge tax rebate.

Earlier this month the DEA conducted several coordinated raids of California medical marijuana dispensaries and collectives. Problem is, these DEA raids are in direct opposition to the directive issued by President Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder last year that designated raids on legal medical marijuana dispensaries to “not be a priority” for the DEA. Today, Firedoglake publisher Jane Hamsher joined drug policy reform organizations and a conservative group, led by the Marijuana Policy Project, in condemning the DEA’s raids.

In a respectful act of the type of mutual annoyance that was admitted by all at Netroots Nation, I joined three other undocumented people in challenging Majority Leader to help us get the votes for the DREAM Act.

Although there wasn’t any room for teachers’ jobs, there was apparently enough for some money for working people: included in the bill was $22 million in mine safety funding. This money will help alleviate a “backlog of more than 17,000 cases involving mine operator appeals of safety and health violations,” according to the House Education and Labor Committee.

agree entirely with Adam Serwer when he says that this passage makes the crack disparity “only one fifth as racist as it used to be.” But you know what we don’t do a lot of in this country? Reduce sentences. Check out the makeup of the world’s largest prison population and you’ll see what I mean. “Law ‘n’ Order” and “Tough on Crime” remain shibboleths used by politicians to hammer away at criminal sentencing reformists. So ANY change in a positive direction takes a ridiculous amount of work and struggle. This is a small step, but it’s a step in the right direction.

Judge Susan Bolton of the District Court for the District of Arizona has enjoined the most significant aspects of the Arizona Immigration Law.