For months now, I've been writing about how Wall Street ratings agencies have been pushing for transparency and disclosure with regard to private pension plans. (See my piece in latest Reason for a comprehensive look at that issue.)
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New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg may prefer "No Labels" but in his case, I think "gun grabber" is a pretty fitting one. As part of his misguided crusade to tighten up gun laws nationally, The New York Times reports that Hizzoner sent undercover cops to gun shows in Arizona and found they were violating the law:
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According to this report from Newsday, a state oversight board is seizing control of Nassau County's finances "in large part because County Executive Edward Mangano was unable to get millions of dollars in labor givebacks to balance his $2.6-billion budget."
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I'm just going to warn you right now that I'm going to discuss Bill Maher. He's generally not worth discussing because to the extent he's a comedian, his humor -- and I employ that term very loosely -- is always used to mask some tedious lecture about wrong with conservatives.
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Breaking from the Indianapolis Star-Tribune:
U.S. Rep. Mike Pence shut the door today on a run for the presidency, but left wide open the likelihood that he’ll seek a different office: Governor of Indiana.
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John Huntsman appears to be running for President and he's getting the McCain band back together.
Bill Clinton on Fox News? I'd watch that.
Author of anonymous novel about Barack Obama revealed! (Though you probably didn't care in the first place.)
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We've know for a while that Robert Gibbs' days as White House press secretary are numbered. Now reports are emerging that Jay Carney, Biden's communications director and former a former journalis at Time, is going to be named as Gibbs' replacement. ABC News has more on this and some other White House personnel shake-ups:
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Well, this might be the best Chris Christie-tells-off-pubic-employees video yet. In part because in this case the poor policeman doesn't come off as arrogant, and Christie does his best to level with the guy and respect him. But that doesn't keep Christie from flinching when it comes to leveling with the guy. Money quote: "“Here’s the thing: You’re getting a paycheck. And there are 9% of the people in the state of NJ who are not.”:
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Or alternatively, are State of the Union addresses such tired exercises in rhetorical bloat that it's difficult not to lean on others for inspiration? I mean this isn't exactly a scandal, but I think we can yet again chalk this up to another case of if George W. Bush did the same thing we'd never hear the end of it:
During his Tuesday evening address to a joint session of Congress Obama cited....
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Claire Berlinski on why Egypt matters to you.
Contra the President's remarks last night, Democrats want earmarks -- badly.
Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., drives Rep. Anthony Weiner, D-N.Y., to drink.
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Reason.tv has a pretty clever response to the State of the Union:
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Here's a rather depressing sign of the times:
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Now that I've had a bit of time to sleep on it and clear my head, some random thoughts about last night's big speech:
--Their egregious pomp and length have long made State of the Union Speeches a chore. Last night's longer than average speech did no one any favors, least of all the President.
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Mike Allen at Politico takes notice of Obama's 180 on earmarks. Here's Obama in 2009:
"[L]et me be clear: Done right, earmarks have given legislators the opportunity to direct federal money to worthy projects that benefit people in their districts, and that's why I've opposed their outright elimination."
Obama in last night's State of the Union speech:
"[I]f a bill comes to my desk with earmarks inside, I will veto it."
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House Budget Committee Chair Paul Ryan is on deck for GOP's SOTU response
Egyptian government bans Twitter to clamp down on protesters
Obama didn’t meet with half-dozen Cabinet members in first two years
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URL: http://www.sfexaminer.com/people/mark-hemingway?page=2
