Happy Hour Discurso

Today's opining on the public discourse.

Bush Administration to cash-strapped homeowners: get a box.

"The bill will likely do more harm than good by bailing out lenders and speculators, and passing on costs to other Americans who play by the rules and honor their mortgage debt obligations," said White House press secretary Dana Perino. "In addition to the concerns with how the Senate treated the provisions we do like, the bill still retains many other provisions that we don't like – provisions like the plan to fund purchases of foreclosed properties and a tax credit idea."

that we don't like – provisions like the plan to fund purchases of foreclosed properties and a tax credit idea."

Dana Perino's talking about the Senate housing bill meant to keep folks from losing their homes. The Republicons have already forced an evisceration of the bill. The White House wants it disemboweled completely. How shocking that they don't have the country's best interests at heart.

Considering government deregulation led to this shitstorm, it's a little annoying. If they have their way, there's going to be a hell of a run on cardboard boxes and interstate underpass real estate quite soon.

In other news, Rep. John Conyers Jr. is sniffing around the John Yoo memo. The White House will probably have apoplexy if he gets his way:

(Washington, DC)- Today, House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI) announced plans to hold a May 6 hearing to examine a recently released torture memo and the issue of executive power as it relates to interrogation and war-making authority. Conyers also sent a letter today to University of California - Berkeley professor John Yoo asking him to
testify at the hearing. Yoo is the former attorney in the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel who authored the recently released memo seeking to clarify torture procedures and detailing the administration's extremely broad view of presidential powers during wartime.

"I am concerned that some in the administration view the president's power as that of an imperial presidency - not a democracy," Conyers said. "The Judiciary Committee will look at the legal basis for actions taken before and during the war and whether we need to write stronger laws to prevent a future imperial presidency from steamrolling Congress and the American people into a thoughtless war and violating our fundamental human rights obligations."

I'll take an extra helping of stronger laws, and a steaming side of outrage, please. Give them no quarter, sir.

Of course, the White House will treat this as they have every other Congressional investigation: they'll lie, obfuscate and fear-monger. Good fucking luck with that, Mr. Bush.

And finally, our own dear CC has a rather astute observation regarding the truth of certain matters as the Petraeus Pony Show mark II takes place on the Hill:

I've been watching closely, and I think I've noticed a pattern: When you're thousands of miles away from the actual action, you can afford to be as optimistic as you want.

Too fucking right.