WASHINGTON (AP) -- A top White House adviser questioned the need Sunday for a blanket stoppage of all home foreclosures, even as pressure grows on the administration to do something about mounting evidence that banks have used inaccurate documents to evict homeowners.

"It is a serious problem," said David Axelrod, who contended that the flawed paperwork is hurting the nation's housing market as well as lending institutions. But he added, "I'm not sure about a national moratorium because there are in fact valid foreclosures that probably should go forward" because their documents are accurate.

The markets will be protected first, but sadly the stupid money isn't showing up for the markets anymore either and they are just now beginning to understand all that.  The solution to that...more Big Wall Street Casino Ponzi style making money appear out of nothingness fraud.

Two clips from Sunday bobbleheads (h/t The Confluence (Riverdaughter's blog))

Appearing on CBS' Face The Nation, Axelrod defended Democratic ads that suggest pro-Republican outside groups are using political contributions from foreign sources.

"Why not simply disclose where this money is coming from?," Axelrod said. "And then all of these questions will be answered ..."

Ed Gillespie ... said Republicans are playing by the same rules as Democrats. "In 2008, $400 million went to help elect Barack Obama from liberal nonprofit advocacy groups, much of it non-disclosed," Gillespie said. "If people want to change the rules and have that debate, that's fine. But don't accuse those who are playing by the rules of somehow doing something unethical or illegal. [USA Today, 10-10-2010]"

Rilly, David Axelrod? Remember Citizens United, favorable SCOTUS ruling, blah blah blah ... Scalia SOTU cutaway 'No, it's not true' moment ... yadda yadda yadda ...? Meanwhile,

In an interview on Fox News Sunday this morning, Mr. Rove said [that] Mr. Obama's recent charge that Mr. Rove "funded" two groups -- American Crossroads and Crossroads GPS, which are investing large sums in Republican candidates around the country -- is "completely inaccurate."

 "I wish I had the billions of dollars that [Hungarian-American] George Soros has that he has used to fund Democratic causes in the past," Mr. Rove said. "I'm helping both of these groups by raising [likely foreign] money for them as is allowed under the laws of the United States. [NYT CaucusBlog, 10-10-2010]"

... as is allowed now, that is, but not to the Dems' benefit before the conservative-stacked SCOTUS changed the field and the rules.

Coffee shops legally selling cannabis have been a feature of Amsterdam's streets for more than 30 years, a magnet for younger tourists and a symbol of the Dutch brand of liberal exceptionalism.

But the fragrant haze found in the city's 200 or so establishments could be dispersed under plans by the incoming government, which is looking to roll back the "tolerance policy" that has allowed such shops to operate since 1976.

Coinciding with a tightening of laws regarding prostitution - another tolerated industry - the authorities' new stance on cannabis is raising questions about whether Dutch society is moving away from laissez-faire traditions, which have included some of the earliest gay-friendly policies in Europe and the provision of free contraception to teenage girls.

Certainly the outlook for coffee shops is bleak. Among the few policies that the three parties in the new coalition government agree on is the need to reduce their numbers. The governing agreement released last week laid out plans that will force them to become members-only clubs and shut down those shops located near schools.

The coalition is also advancing the idea of prohibiting the sale of cannabis to non-Dutch residents, which amounts to a death knell for many coffee shops.

SNIP

For Paul Schnabel, director of the Social and Cultural Planning Office, a government advisory board, the move reflects a growing view that the tolerance policies have not controlled the ills associated with drugs and prostitution, rather than a recasting of Dutch liberalism.

"There's a strong tendency in Dutch society to control things by allowing them. . . . We look for better alternatives to problems that we know exist anyway," he explained.

But, he added, "Dutch society is less willing to tolerate than before. Perhaps 30 years ago we were a more easy-going society."

The circumstances that led to the tolerance policies have changed in the past decade, as large-scale crime around coffee shops and the legal sex trade became more visible. In particular, the absence of legal means for coffee shops to obtain cannabis has highlighted their association with organized crime.

But the open-minded instincts that helped foster the policies are also being questioned. And it is not just the far-right opposing coffee shops. The traditional parties of power on the center-right, the Christian Democrats and the Liberal VVD, have also moved against the policies they once promoted.

"The liberal consensus that helped create those policies - that's gone now. The pragmatism has been replaced by increasingly moral politics, in a way which is reminiscent of what happened in the United States with the 'moral majority' in the 1980s," said Andre Krouwel, a political scientist at the Free University in Amsterdam.