DHS Secretary: It’s Napolitano
Slate of all places has a pretty good accounting of the history of Governor Janet Napolitano as she is tapped to be the DHS Secretary for the incoming Administration. (And bonus-I think she can work well with Hillary)
How she chooses to address illegal immigration in terms of Homeland Security should be interesting. It is perhaps appropriate for a border Governor to take this post as we come to terms with a completely porous southern border.
Gov. Napolitano’s state of Arizona has consistently passed propositions enforcing illegal immigration statutes and pushing for tighter borders, often despite the opposition of the Governor.
From American Prospect:
This is a woman who has climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro and survived breast cancer. She cracks herself up by quoting Monty Python. (Indeed, she’s constantly smiling and laughing, from giggles to deep belly laughs to ironical gasps.) She is a powerful, self-possessed speaker, so it’s surprising to discover she’s only 5-foot-4. Napolitano likes to joke about being old, but in reality, at 50 she is young for a governor, with much of her political future ahead of her…
Napolitano is Arizona’s first Democratic governor to be re-elected in a quarter-century. When she entered office, Republicans controlled both houses of the state legislature. They still do, but their majority has dwindled to six seats in the House and four in the Senate, and they are at risk of losing control entirely this November. What’s more, Napolitano hasn’t just played smart politics, she’s made real strides in passing progressive policies. Improbably, she has managed to contain Arizona’s far right, co-opt the business community, and pacify the left..
Dingell Out Waxman In
A reshuffling of the guard!!
CNBC John Harwood just reported the final vote leaves Waxman (bio at the link) the new Chair of the powerful House Energy and Commerce Cmte
Rep. Henry Waxman unseated fellow veteran Democratic lawmaker John Dingell on Thursday to become chairman of the powerful House Energy and Commerce Committee.
The 255-House Democratic conference voted 137 to 122 to accept the recommendation of its steering committee and agreed to replace Dingell, 82, a long-time friend of the U.S. auto industry, with Waxman, a 69-year-old Californian anxious to ease global warming, a top concern of U.S. President-elect Barack Obama.
-snip-
Waxman is considered more liberal than current Chairman John Dingell, D-Mich., on issues like climate change, energy and business regulation. He also is potentially more aggressive on healthcare.
It is a HUGE BLOW for Detroit and the Rustbelt per Harwood
There is no doubt that Dingell has done all he can (as a Rep from MI and supporter of the Big 3) to BLOCK any meaningful CAFE standard changes or progress toward more efficient vehicles..
Market Update: Mind the Gap – DOW down 444.99…
NAS down over 4%, more than half S&P 500 at 52 wk lows..new 5 yr lows for DOW and S&P (11 yr low for S&P)
(I am done looking at treasuries for the day, it is a bloodbath…) 10 yr Treasury Yield falls to 50 YEAR LOWS, now every maturity is at historic low yields per Rick Santelli, unprecedented (CNBC: Rick says it’s a flight to safety story, Liesman says deflation, I am with Rick, it’s is a bigger picture yield drop for safety not on devaluation concerns, but in fear of further collapses..)
We bounced off of the 2002 lows on the DOW earlier and then broke back through it… The one-two combination of Paulson making it plain he is done making moves and Congressional Leadership (which at this point seems an oxymoron) announcing they feel no compunctions about playing chicken with 1 in 10 jobs by refusing a deal,..well markets have done what most of us expected and broken another important series of support levels…CITI trading in the 5 dollar range, down 26% today…and they are asking SEC to reimpose ban on short selling…..VIX over 81
Pelosi and Reid (and separately) Hank Paulson to speak LIVE at 2:00 ET…..
Update: Pelosi and Reid also holding joint news conference now, 2:00pm ET, on Big 3 Bailout, sounds promising..(Dueling conferences! Hang on to yer hats!)
Update: Paulson’s statement released, it seems to be a map of his decision making on Lehman, TARP all of it, and not much of use to us in re immediate action….more of the ball is in Obama’s court stuff so to speak..
Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water…
THE RETURN OF HANK!
Hank Paulson speaks LIVE in 21:17:13 according to the CNBC countdown clock…they will carry it live when it begins
Unless he plans to say they are using TARP for the FDIC plan, I think discretion is the better part of valor and he should remain mum..
After all, his last outing ‘cratered’ the markets, as the ever politic Charlie Gasparino just reported on CNBC..
Here’s hoping it’s something good, cuz after all as Gary Gnu said “NO GNEWS IS GOOD GNEWS!”
Batten down the hatches mates!
DC Leaders to Big 3 NO DEAL…Levin faction wants vote
Second Congressional Bipartisan Conference-the Opposing Side!: Now Levin D-MI, Stabenow D-MI, Bond R-Mo, Voinovich R-OH Sherrod Brown D -OH..are announcing a bill ..they are pushing to have put to a vote to utilize funds from Energy allocation with many limitations that would allow the BIG 3 to get through the bridge to the next Administration. Debbie Stabenow says this is a bipartisan agreement and she believes they would have the 60 votes needed if it were allowed to be put to a vote on the floor.Well we have a split ladies and gentlemen..if only we had some sort of leader who could bring people together….paging Camp Obama….
Congressional Leaders Conference earlier
FIRST PRESS QUESTION TO LEADERSHIP CONFERENCE: Isn’t Congress evading their responsibility by not taking action? DAMN STRAIGHT! Harry says “them flying in on jets doesn’t send a message we want them to get their act together..we are here to help those people keep those jobs …and yes we’re kicking can down the road..” WOW! Now Frank… says widespread dissatisfaction in country and Congress by failure of those we gave funds to (TARP) to use funds for what we intended. AHHH since Paulson bait n switched on TARP, now BIG 3 cant have money without a bunch of hoops being jumped thru first..
well many people clamored for this, let’s see the fallout..I think this is a very bad thing…to me this demonstrates Congress’ conviction that they have unlimited mandates and they are not going to move unless its all their way..or the highway, pardon the pun…they are wrapping it now..wow..
WOW UPDATE: Reid says they CANNOT find an agreement, despite valiant work of Levin D MI, he says they are giving auto companies another chance to make their case and submit thru Frank and Dodd, no later than Dec 2nd, a new plan, and hearings will be held that week on their proposal. They are prepared to come back into session Dec 8th to help auto industry but ONLY if plan gives Congress and American people the confidence the people’s money will be well served. He STRESSES at ANY TIME the Bush Administration or Paulson could use TARP to give the money the auto industry needs no action by Congress needed.
Pelosi associating herself with Reid’s remarks. WOW! “Accountability, Pelosi says, viability, a plan, until they show a plan we CANNOT SHOW THEM THE MONEY. That is where we are with this“…wow folks, just wow..markets steadily declining now, DOW turning down 124, NAS down 19 and S&P down 20 and change..wonder how the rank and file feel about their union dues going to these congressional wunderkind right about now…
New Guns N Roses Album ‘Chinese Democracy’
Finally, 17 years, and a new album from GnR..
Premiering via MySpace tomorrow and appearing in certain retail outlets November 23rd..
Chinese Democracy” has aroused interest because of its notoriety; it is the first album of new Guns N’ Roses material in more than 17 years, and has taken nearly as long to finish.
The band built its reputation on its hit debut “Appetite for Destruction” and “Use Your Illusion I” and “Use Your Illusion II,” but tension among members led to all of the original members but Rose, 46, leaving…
-snip-
Members of News Corp-owned MySpace will be able to play the songs on the bands’ MySpace pages, but they will not be able to download them onto their computers.
Geffen Records plans to exclusively release “Chinese Democracy” on November 23 in the United States at consumer electronics chain Best Buy Co Inc. Most of its tracks have already shown up in various forms, including pirated versions on the Internet…..
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