In 2005, the U.S. issued an extradition warrant for Abdullah Khadr, the brother of Guantanamo child solder Omar Khadr, whose Guantanamo trial begins Tuesday. He's been in jail in Canada ever since. Now 29, Abdullah was freed Wednesday when a Canadian court refused to extradite him.

He is wanted in the U.S. for allegedly purchasing weapons for al-Qaida and plotting to kill Americans abroad. The U.S. case against Khadr relied on a statement he made to the FBI and Canadian police in Pakistan, and information he gave when he arrived in Toronto in December 2005. Khadr's lawyers argued the statements made in Pakistan were the result of torture.

And, that's $500,000.00 the CIA threw down the drain. It paid that amount as a bounty to Pakistani authorities in 2004 to detain Abdullah. He was then turned over to Canada which arrested him on the U.S. warrant.

Canada's Justice Minister Rob Nicholson says the government would study the ruling closely before deciding whether to appeal.

[More...]

The Senate has confirmed the confirmation of John Walsh for U.S. Attorney in Colorado.

As I wrote here, it will be interesting to see what changes he makes in leadership positions within the office.

I love this New York Times headline:

Man in the News | Vaughn R. Walker Conservative Jurist, With Independent Streak

What does that mean ? (Maybe this? "President Ronald Reagan nominated him to the federal bench in 1987, but the nomination languished for nearly two years and he was confirmed during the first Bush administration.") Your guess is as good as mine, but he should be David Broder's favorite judge. Good job by the NYTimes headline writer. The Wingnut head explosion must be immense on this one.

Speaking for me only

Open Thread.

This would be a great move:

Main Street may be about to get its own gigantic bailout. Rumors are running wild from Washington to Wall Street that the Obama administration is about to order government-controlled lenders Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to forgive a portion of the mortgage debt of millions of Americans who owe more than what their homes are worth. An estimated 15 million U.S. mortgages – one in five – are underwater with negative equity of some $800 billion. Recall that on Christmas Eve 2009, the Treasury Department waived a $400 billion limit on financial assistance to Fannie and Freddie, pledging unlimited help. The actual vehicle for the bailout could be the Bush-era Home Affordable Refinance Program, or HARP, a sister program to Obama’s loan modification effort. HARP was just extended through June 30, 2011.

The move, if it happens, would be a stunning political and economic bombshell less than 100 days before a midterm election in which Democrats are currently expected to suffer massive, if not historic losses. The key date to watch is August 17 when the Treasury Department holds a much-hyped meeting on the future of Fannie and Freddie.

Good policy and good politics. Let's hope this happens and the GOP whines about the government helping middle class homeowners while insisting on tax cuts for the rich.

Speaking for me only

TPM, February 2009:

A Win is a Win

Longtime reader commenting on the stimulus deal:

Like everyone else, I'm waiting for the details. But from what I've heard so far, this seems to be a remarkable triumph for the new president. A month ago, Obama economists Romer and Bernstein released job-creation projections that "assumed a package just slightly over the $775 billion currently under discussion." Lo and behold, the final bill comes in at $789 billion. It reportedly includes Obama's proposed tax cuts, comprising almost exactly the same proportion of the overall package. For the past month, media attention has focused on all the changes to the package, and on the controversies it has engendered. Obama has been criticized for failing to forge a bipartisan consensus, for not safeguarding his priorities, and for not taking a sufficiently aggressive role in the negotiations on the Hill. So it's worth stepping back to take note of the fact that the final package looks remarkably like what Obama has wanted all along. In fact, it's closer to that original proposal than to either the House or Senate versions of the bill. Remarkable.

FTR, TalkLeft in February 2009. Now, Josh Marshall today:

As often happens in government, the person who got it right on the stimulus, Christina Romer, is leaving:

"She has been frustrated," a source with insight into the WH economics team said. "She doesn't feel that she has a direct line to the president. She would be giving different advice than Larry Summers [director of the National Economic Council], who does have a direct line to the president. She is ostensibly the chief economic adviser, but she doesn't seem to be playing that role," the source said.

Meanwhile, back at the failing economy:

[T]he nation lost 131,000 jobs last month, but those losses came as 143,000 Census Bureau workers left their temporary posts, the Labor Department said. June’s number was revised dramatically downward to a total loss of 221,000 jobs. The agency originally reported that the nation lost 125,000 jobs in June.

If Obama fails politically, the cause will be his policy failure regarding the size of the stimulus -- when he listened to Geithner and Summers instead of Christina Romer.

Speaking for me only

In answer to Ezra Klein's (and the media in general's) strange fawning over GOP representative Paul Ryan, Paul Krugman takes him apart:

[Ryan]’s often described with phrases like “intellectually audacious.” But it’s the audacity of dopes. Mr. Ryan isn’t offering fresh food for thought; he’s serving up leftovers from the 1990s, drenched in flimflam sauce.

[. . .] The nonpartisan Tax Policy Center['s analysis] indicate that the Ryan plan would reduce revenue by almost $4 trillion over the next decade. If you add these revenue losses to the numbers The Post cites, you get a much larger deficit in 2020, roughly $1.3 trillion. [. . . T] Roadmap wouldn’t reduce the deficit. All it would do is cut benefits for the middle class while slashing taxes on the rich.

[. . .] The Tax Policy Center finds that the Ryan plan would cut taxes on the richest 1 percent of the population in half, giving them 117 percent of the plan’s total tax cuts. That’s not a misprint. Even as it slashed taxes at the top, the plan would raise taxes for 95 percent of the population.

[. . .] After 2020, the main alleged saving would come from sharp cuts in Medicare, achieved by dismantling Medicare as we know it, and instead giving seniors vouchers and telling them to buy their own insurance. Does this sound familiar? It should. It’s the same plan Newt Gingrich tried to sell in 1995.

(Emphasis supplied.) The new Newt Gingrich is the new "thinker" for the GOP.

Speaking for me only

I've been following the Aspen Sheriff's race and rooting for Deputy Sheriff Joe Di Salvo, who has promised to continue the policies of long-time and much beloved Sheriff Bob Braudis, who is retiring. Last week I wrote about the candidates' debate on undercover activity in the county (DiSalvo, like Braudis, opposes it, saying it fosters mistrust in the community.)

Last night, the three candidates faced the local media for what is called "Squirm Night." It's just what it sounds like: the candidates are asked questions that might make them squirm.

What came out: Two of the three had been arrested, and all three had used illegal drugs, although one couldn't remember the last time and a second only admitted to smoking pot in Amsterdam six years ago. I think DiSalvo gave the most honest answer. He gave no excuses (like "it was legal where I did it" or "I can't remember") and said simply, "1984." [More...]

Back in March, I wrote Free Koua Fong Lee From His Toyota Camry Nightmare. Mr. Lee, a recent Hmong immigrant, was driving his family home from church in 2006 when his Toyota Camry sped up a ramp and hit another car. Three people died and two were injured. Mr. Lee insisted he did everything he could to avoid the accident and hit the brakes. He was convicted and sentenced to 8 years in prison.

While in prison, Toyota revealed the problems with its gas pedals. The Innocence Project of Minnesota took up his case, and the prosecutor agreed to revisit it.

Today, a judge freed Mr. Lee from prison, ordering a new trial. The prosecutor said there isn't going to be one, ""I think it's time to bring this very sad situation to a close." [More...]

Republicans won't agree to immigration reform, but Democrats were willing to kow-tow to them today and pass another $600 million for border security for 2011, 10% more than 2010. $1 billion for border security with one country for two years?

The money would be used for such purposes as adding 1,500 new enforcement agents and deploying unmanned aerial drones to improve border surveillance.

Cops and drones. Just what we don't need more of. And, get this -- John McCain said the $600 million was insufficient, he wanted more. And more jail sentences: [More...]

Elena Kagan is our newest Supreme Court Justice. The Senate confirmed her nomination by a vote of 63-37. See how reaching out to the GOP garnered a ton of votes? The PPUS, working like a charm.

Open Thread.