The government argues that, in spite of the fact that Saifullah Paracha’s Gitmo Detainee Assessment Brief was leaked in April, his lawyer, David Remes, cannot talk about it. Because if he did, we might conclude the DAB was real.

We’ve come to a point where Republicans are rejecting tax cuts – tax cuts! – because the White House supports them and thinks they would help the economy. Maybe this is good for the President politically. He can expose Republicans as interested in crashing the economy as a political end in itself. But that’s a small comfort for the economy.

This amendment was added to a bill reauthorizing the Economic Development Administration. It’s unlikely that the bill will pass through the Senate, and even then it’s more unlikely that the House will take it up. It’s telling that Harry Reid used this vote in an attempt to revive passage of the EDA bill, on which he filed cloture today.

This collective madness in Washington right now is our politicians own creation.

FDL founder Jane Hamsher is at Netroots Nation in Minneapolis today and will be joining a panel with “Don’t Ask. Don’t Tell” activist Lt. Dan Choi and others titled, “What to Do When the President is Just Not That Into You.”

The Beltway Consensus is that we can only use government to create jobs if we stay inside three constraints:
1. We can’t tax the rich.
2. Any structural change to the economy must not affect the profitability of any corporate person.
3. Government can only create jobs by giving money to corporate persons in the hope they will hire people.
Can I have a side of ignorance with that stupid?

If you thought that only Republican Administrations would assert broad and sweeping powers when they control the White House, think again.

While the Secessionist continues to pimp Texas’ supposed economic success while conservative rags like the WSJ serve as his Amen Chorus, other outlets are catching on.

It would be really great if the Administration spent more time on folks who’ve lied us into war or ordered torture. Instead they seem to be focusing on the folks who are calling them out for those failures. There is something seriously wrong with that.

The hearing has begun with opening statements from Senator Mary Landrieu and Senator Olympia Snowe. Also present at the onset of the hearing is Senator Rand Paul. Senator Landrieu expressed the overarching concerns of the Small Business Committee with reports of fraud and abuse in federal small business contracting programs. Ms. Landrieu also noted GAO investigations into this matter, and her hope that both the first panel representing the SBA, and the second panel representing the GAO and small business community, could help shed light on this issue.

Senator Snowe began by echoing Senator Landrieu’s statements, and further detailed the importance of this hearing, particularly in the context of job creation in the small business community. Expressing concerns at potential abuse in the SBA’s small business lending programs, Ms. Snowe also put forth her backing for s. 633 the Small Business Contracting Fraud Protection Act, which will take aim at eliminating fraudulent practices in the awarding of federal small business contracts.

In Senator Paul’s opening statement, he detailed concerns over the government’s interference with the free market, and placed these concerns in the context of the Small Business Administration’s lending programs. He described the possibility of a “politicization” of small business loans, and stated that the government’s facilitation of lending to small businesses may not be the best course for economic stimulus and job creation.