It seems that so far this election cycle, there are already more lobbyists raising cash for candidates than in the entire 2004 campaign. That number spiked last night after some of Sen. John McCain’s lobbyist friends threw a fundraiser for the Arizona Republican over at Charlie Palmer Steak, near the Capitol.
Archive for January, 2008
January29
You can't get fooled again
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eKgPY1adc0A&rel=1]
To borrow from the president’s past words of wisdom, “Fool me once, shame on – shame on you. Fool me – you can’t get fooled again.”
We knew that President Bush’s final State of the Union address would be less than impressive when it comes to what American consumers want. And we expected him to continue pushing for the same programs and policies that he’s backed for the past eight years. Of course, Dubya didn’t disappoint.
Check out Public Citizen’s guide to the 2008 SOTU address for complete and accurate information about the issues.
January28
Maine says bring on the heavy trucks
Suppose, a federal survey of your state’s bridges found 73 bridges that were built below interstate standards and an additional 200 bridges that were designed for trucks weighing no more than 80,000 pounds (when trucks much heavier are already on the road). That might be a little reason for concern, considering the catastrophic collapse of an interstate bridge last summer in Minneapolis.
Unless, of course, you were a state official in Maine. In that case, you would ask the Federal Highway Administration permission to allow trucks weighing up to 105,000 pounds to have access to those very bridges.
From Todd Tucker @ Eyes on Trade: Nobody could accuse the Washington community of lawyers that is responsible for our trade policy of being overly concerned with social justice. But, c’mon, give me a break. Usually when we have trade debates in this town, they center around making one-way streets into two-way streets, keeping the bicycle of trade moving forward, bashing protectionists and isolationists, engaging not retreating, etc.
From Paul Alan Levy @ Consumer Law & Policy Blog: Last fall, Greg Beck blogged here about a law firm’s cease and desist letter that demanded suppression of consumer criticisms of Direct Buy, and closed with a threat to sue for copyright if the recipient of the letter had the audacity to post the cease and desist letter on his web site. Although the widespread discussion that followed this posting (including a fair amount of ridicule) apparently had the effect of inducing the firm to leave such threats out of future letters, the firm’s proprietor, John Dozier, can’t let go of his theory that such a copyright suit could be brought and not laughed out of court.
