Senate votes against cloture on S.J.Res. 19 on an entirely party-line vote, effectively killing the bill, which would have amended the U.S. Constitution to strike a blow against corporate "personhood" and allow state and federal governments to make campaign finance laws again. Note well that John McCain, he of McCain/Feingold fame, voted nay, just like the rest of his kind -- but also that Harry Reid didn't switch his vote to nay at the end, thus relinquishing his option to bring the bill up again if Republicans filibustered, almost like that was the plan or something.
"Guantánamo a 'Living Grave' for Dozens Cleared to Leave," says this AFP article -- as a mere one of the nearly 80 detainees cleared for transfer has actually been moved, and we're in September already. We know how too many detainees came to Guantánamo merely on the say-so of a fellow national or a bounty hunter; we know how after six or eight or twelve years it shouldn't be that damn hard to charge a man with something; we know that reports of detainees "returning" to terrorism are exaggerated -- but still, it's good to have all this info in one place.
The Center for Effective Government informs us that the 32 corporations that have both renounced their American citizenship (that is, have reincorporated in a foreign country to lessen their tax burden) and still report executive pay paid their CEOs an average of nearly $14 million in 2013. So when they say they're "moving" so they can "deliver more value to shareholders," just replace "shareholders" with "the boss," who, after all, is the Greatest Person Who Ever Lived and deserves all the money he can redistribute upwards from his workers.
Normally I'd say the news that Wisconsin faces a projected two-year, $1.8 billion budget shortfall would be toxic to Scott Walker's re-election chances, except that the two-year budget shortfall projected in 2010 was about twice the size. I doubt it'll get through the noise that the 2010 projected shortfall (though Gov. Doyle did, as you might recall, actually leave Mr. Walker a slight surplus) was mostly due to the lousy economy, while Mr. Walker's is mostly due to his own tax-cuts-for-the-rich policy.
Speaking of 2016 Republican Presidential hopefuls, Fitch Ratings has downgraded the state of New Jersey's credit for the second time this year, claiming that Mr. Christie's broken promises in re funding the state pension. Fitch also notes that New Jersey has lagged behind other states in this economic recovery, such as it is, but does not note (as commenter Ed the Independent does) that Mr. Christie also screwed up the pensions by putting them in the hands of banksters, who tend to care more about their managing fees than the health of pensions in their charge.
Finally, Rep. Robert Pittenger (R-NC) suggests that firing or not hiring folks just because they're gay is "one of the freedoms we enjoy." Your "enjoyment" may vary, obviously -- especially if you're one of the folks who loses a job you like just because your boss found out you were gay and finds that icky. And strange how you would have fewer "freedoms" to "enjoy" after that. Comparing it to smoking bans is, if anything, even worse -- second-hand smoke actually makes other people sick, but you can't even get gay cooties from gay folks. It's a shame so many "conservatives" can't think straight about this anymore -- if you really get more rights because you own property, then they're not really rights, are they?
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