The Chamber of Commerce has responded to ThinkProgress’ reporting of the Chamber’s discussions with Hunton & Williams about an intelligence campaign against USChamberWatch and other anti-Chamber efforts. It purports to deny any connection with Hunton & Williams and HBGary. More Baseless Attacks on the Chamber by Tom Collamore We’re incredulous that anyone would attempt to [...]

I noted yesterday the mind-numbingly ignorant analysis of Glenn Greenwald’s motivation as a careerist hack that was provided by HBGary. And if the allegations in the excerpts of former WikiLeaks volunteer Daniel Domscheit-Berg’s book are accurate, HBGary’s analysis about WikiLeaks itself is even more ignorant.

Remember WhereIsTheNote?

In the face of mounting evidence that the banks foreclosing on homes did not comply with legal requirements during securitization of mortgages and therefore don’t have legal standing to foreclose, the SEIU and some community organizations teamed together last month to create an online tool that anyone can use to ask their mortgage servicer where their note is. By helping homeowners proactively check whether their bank has the right paperwork, it gives them more power in the event of a foreclosure.

The site launched just over three weeks ago. 200,000 people have visited the website; around 15,000 have used the tool to ask their bank for their note (I’ll have a more exact number shortly).

Voting Yes on Proposition 19 should be a no-brainer. Laws banning drugs, especially those that are mostly innocuous, are discriminatory. Legalizing marijuana will help save lives, and put a serious dent in the power of the drug cartels and criminal gangs preying on the defenseless.

SEIU’s California State Council – arguably the leaders of the state’s most powerful union – announced the union’s support of California’s Proposition 19 for marijuana legalization. Not only does SEIU’s endorsement bring much needed political mainstream legitimacy, but as the Times notes, it also brings SEIU’s campaign infrastructure to Prop 19′s campaign.

More good news for California’s marijuana legalization initiative: UFCW’s Western States Council, representing more than 200,000 union members in the Western US, endorsed Prop 19 yesterday.

In the wake of Blanche Lincoln’s surprise victory in the runoff election for the Democratic nomination of Arkansas’ Senate seat, top officials in the White House and Senate derided labor unions as “absolute idiots,” and “Washington special interests” who “flushed $10 million down the toilet” for supporting challenger Bill Halter. DSCC Chair Bob Menendez even had the gall to say he expects labor’s “support, you know, financially” in “all of our races across the country.”

It seems Menendez will get his wish. Sam Stein reports that labor unions plan to step up – you know, financially – for Democratic candidates across the country in 2010 to help stem the tide of a massive influx of corporate cash this cycle.

The market has been extremely volatile of late. An investment 10 years ago would have yielded almost no gains, and would have absorbed a giant loss in 2008. Too much of the stock market these days is ruled not by efficient capital flows, but high-frequency trading and other forms of gambling, none of which will be ameliorated by the financial reform bill. Putting 10-15% of the trust fund into that casino could result in lower returns or even losses from the safe investments in which it’s currently exposed.

When SEIU hatched this idea to start a third party in North Carolina, I was skeptical of their chances at success. Turns out I was right about that – it was too daunting a task to up and start a party in a couple of months, in time to qualify for the November ballot. However, SEIU didn’t quit with their plans at accountability for Democrats they feel betrayed them, and as a result, they are seeking to qualify a third-party candidate to run against Larry Kissell in NC-08.

SEIU has a new President. The union’s executive committee elected health care organizer Mary Kay Henry as SEIU’s first female president today, after now President Emeritus Andy Stern announced his resignation several weeks ago.