Best slip ever!

Talking Points Memo | Losing It?

If you think that Congress is having a tough time nailing down the terms of a $700-billion bailout because of high-minded concerns about fairness, proper use of taxpayer funds or regulatory oversight, think again.

So, for example, Rose City Archery, an Oregon company that makes bows and arrows for kids, might be the beneficiary of a provision inserted by Oregon senators Ron Wyden and Gordon Smith to end a 39-cent excise tax on wooden arrows.

If you're worried that the whole bailout might be a big scam, well, this certainly doesn't help.

They haven't even signed it yet and the pigs are already at the trough!

The law, which specifically prohibits the use of an electronic wireless communications device to write, send, or read a text-based communication while operating a more vehicle, takes effect Jan. 1.

Will they also ban reading maps and reading GPS units while stopped at a red light?

California bans READING text messages while stopped at a red light!

Mr. McCain saying he would suspend his campaign to help broker a solution and calling on Mr. Obama to postpone their first debate, scheduled for Friday night.

I'm working on some bad-ass economic shit right now! I have no time for politics!

Democrats in Congress... were reluctant to tie Mr. Obama’s hands by authorizing a lame-duck administration to spend money he hoped to use to expand access to health care, foster research for renewable energy and cut taxes for the middle class.

In the light of this article the whole thing appears to be some sort of cynical election year ploy, in which McCain is able to keep himself and Palin out of the hotseat while simultaneously putting a huge amount of money in the absolute and unreviewable control of one of the Bush team's Nixon administration buddies. If the Democrats win, all of that money, unfortunately, will have to be spent on bad debt which won't be worth anything in the end. Obama will not be able to make progress on any of his social programs because the national debt and plummeting US dollar will be in an untenable situation. If the Republicans win, however, it will turn out that only 100 billion was needed. Things weren't so bad after all...

News Analysis - For the Nominees, New Roles and New Risks - News Analysis - NYTimes.com

Julian Sanchez of Ars Technica passed on a statement from an Obama campaign representative who points out that the changes in wording highlighted by Versionista aren't the whole story, and that more Obama tech-plan details are now available in a PDF, saying "there is absolutely no substantive change to our policy - folks who want more information can click to get our full plan."

Thats an important point, but the PDF has also not been updated to include Joe Biden's name, either. Its possible that content revisions are planned to the PDF after the website update has been completed. Given the structural nature of the changes that have been made to the website, it would make sense for the PDF to be updated to reflect this. If that is not the plan, the Obama campaign needs to make a very clear public statement about this and not rely on a staffer who sent an email to a guy at a website who told someone who works at Slashdot.

Slashdot | Obama Significantly Revises Technology Positions

While you were busy focusing on the financial crisis another massive power grab is going down.

The new legislation before Congress would "reaffirm" that "the President is authorized to detain enemy combatants in connection with the continuing armed conflict with al Qaeda, the Taliban, and associated forces, regardless of the place of capture, until the termination of hostilities."

Congress is considering explicit authorization for the President to indefinitely detain US citizens on US soil without charges.

Why Congress shouldn't give the president more power. - By Neal Katyal and Justin Florence - Slate Magazine

Decisions by the Secretary pursuant to the authority of this Act are non-reviewable and committed to agency discretion, and may not be reviewed by any court of law or any administrative agency.

Another crisis, another massive power grab.

naked capitalism: Why You Should Hate the Treasury Bailout Proposal

I am asking for your support of the Democratic challenger, running in a difficult race against an out of touch Republican opponent.

Remember Virgil Goode? Here is your chance to send him packing.

Stop Virgil Goode

It seems to me that if the practitioners of campaign journalism can’t figure out a way to make it so that lying is punished, rather than amplified and rewarded, by the press then they ought to pack up their bags and go do something else. Pretty much all the other branches of the press — from the film critics to the foreign correspondents to the weathermen to the investigative reporters to the “news of the weird” guys — seem to have a clear role in the ecology.

From the article this article links:

Perhaps faith in institutions is so anemic that non-partisan truth-squadding simply isn't believed.

Matthew Yglesias - The roll of the press in an election

Berwyn Heights, MD Mayor Cheye Calvo, who was handcuffed by police after they shot and killed his two dogs in a baseless marijuana raid on his home, will criticize the overuse of SWAT-style drug raids this Thursday (9/11) at the Cato Institute in Wash, DC.

These kinds of stories - no knock raid, wrong house, gun fire exchanged, pets, innocent people, officers dead - seem to have become regular occurrences. This is not unavoidable.

Victim of botched paramilitary drug raid to speak out