It’s $500 million or three years in Nigerian prison if former veep Dick Cheney is convicted on bribery charges in Nigeria. I wonder how much Cheney or his former employers woul’d pay to avoid imprisonment on torture charges?

Senate leadership has planned a vote on a free-standing Don’t Ask Don’t Tell legislative repeal, unencumbered by the defense authorization bill, to come to the floor sometime in the lame duck session, perhaps next week. Joe Lieberman and Susan Collins are co-sponsoring the bill, which will have the same language as what was in the defense authorization bill. Harry Reid will co-sponsor as well, and they will use Rule 14 to bypass the Senate Armed Services Committee and bring it directly to the floor.

Sometimes the often irresponsible behavior of the United States Senate rises to a new, more disgusting level that still manages to physically make me ill. Today, a bill that would provide help finding health care for the 9/11 rescue workers sickened as a result of their selfless actions failed in the Senate because it managed to only get 57 votes in favor (compared to 42 opposed).

What if the Republicans, unnerved by the anger in THEIR base over the deal, check out?

Labor unions came out in force against the Obama Administration’s NAFTA-style Korea Free Trade deal today, breaking nearly a week of silence since the agreement was dropped late Friday night.

The AFL-CIO labor federation, the United Steelworkers (USW), and the Communications Workers (CWA) all released simultaneous statements Thursday afternoon saying they would oppose the Korea Free Trade deal.

Alas, the final vote was 57-40. Reid, I’m assuming, voted no on procedural reasons, so he can reconsider it later. But I’d say DADT repeal is dead for the year.

Paul Krugman came to the conclusion that the Obama-McConnell tax deal could end up hurting President Obama’s 2012 re-election bid by reducing growth rates in the critical months leading up to the election.

UAW President Bob King tells a more revealing story about the union’s curious support for the NAFTA-style Korea Free Trade deal. In an interview with labor reporter Mike Elk for In These Times, King makes the shocking admission that the union endorsed the deal simply to “reward the [Obama] Administration for good behavior” just for including the unions in the discussions.

Funny how Republicans never get told, “Take it or leave it.”

Statement by AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka On Korea Trade Deal

For more than a decade, the labor movement, environmental groups, development advocates and others have advocated for a new trade policy that is part of a more coordinated and coherent national economic strategy. The proposed U.S.-Korea trade deal does not live up to that model and does not contribute to a sustainable global future. . . .