Just as corporations that no longer run a profit have been known to resort to innovative financial instruments to hobble along in the absence of a working business model, it seems the woebegone Senate Republicans are looking to pioneer a novel and ingenious use of the filibuster to compensate, at least in part, for their present inability to win actual elections. Sen. Cornyn (R) of Texas is the head of the Republican senate campaign committee. And if he follows through on his promise, his caucus will actually use the filibuster not to stymie legislation but to prevent the Democrats from adding another senator (Al Franken) to their ranks.
With such innovations the possibilities really are endless.
--Josh Marshall
As we reported last night, the Minnesota recount is now complete. And Al Franken won by 225 votes. The Canvassing Board is slated to meet tomorrow when they're expected to certify the result. Sen. Schumer (D-NY) just released a statement in which he, not surprisingly, said Franken is clearly the winner and that he should be seated -- notwithstanding whatever post-recount legal challenges outgoing Sen. Coleman (R-MN) might attempt. That sets up a probable fight with the Republicans since Sen. Cornyn (R-TX) has promised to filibuster any effort to allow Franken to take his seat.
--Josh Marshall
Richardson bowing out as Commerce Secretary nominee, says NBC. The reason? Has to focus on the investigation from his time as NM governor.
--Josh Marshall
One of the most hopeful developments in the American Jewish community over recent years has been the creation of J Street, the new pro-peace, pro-two state solution lobbying organization. In The Forward, Eric Yoffe, President of the Union of Reform Judaism attacked J Street's refusal to get on board with the Gaza attack. Here J Street responds.
--Josh Marshall
Former President George H.W. Bush says his son Jeb should run for president -- but probably not right now, considering how many Bushes we've already had. That and other political news in today's Election Central Sunday Roundup.
--Eric Kleefeld
With the recount now complete, absentee ballots have pushed Franken to a 225 vote lead over Norm Coleman, making Franken's eventual victory now appear all but certain.
--Josh Marshall
From Iyad Allawi, courtesy of Reuters ...
Former U.S.-installed Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi has denounced the policies of President George W. Bush as an "utter failure" that gave rise to the sectarian venom that ravaged his country.In an interview published on Saturday in the pan-Arab newspaper Asharq al-Awsat, Allawi found fault with American management of Iraq since the U.S.-led invasion in 2003 as well as the government of present Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki.
...
"Yes, Bush's policies failed utterly," said Allawi, describing the U.S. administration that once backed him. "Utter failure. Failure of U.S. domestic and foreign policy, including fighting terrorism and economic policy."
"His insistence on names like 'democracy' and 'open elections', without giving attention to political stability, was a big mistake. It cast shadows on Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan and Egypt, and I believe this will be remembered in history as President Bush's policy," he said.
As I said above, I certainly won't disagree. But let's not forget that Allawi connived with Bush for some time when Bush had power. In addition to being more or less accurate, Allawi's judgment is a telling sign of what it means to have power -- both in the deep sense and in the more immediate sense of controlling violence -- and what it means to lose it. President Bush had none of the power rooted in respect, judgment and persuasion. He won two elections and he controlled an army. Now he has nothing.
--Josh Marshall
About 950 more ballots will be counted today (and possibly tomorrow) in the Minnesota Senate race, as Norm Coleman's six-year term officially expires. That and other political news in today's Election Central Saturday Roundup.
--Eric Kleefeld
Interesting article by McClatchy's Warren Strobel on the possibility of an international force in Gaza as the basis of a new ceasefire. Part of the equation might be having Fatah reassume control not over Gaza itself but over the border crossings into Gaza.
--Josh Marshall
Political self-interest being what it is, I'm not really sure what the calculus was by which the Franken and Coleman campaigns came to agreement on these absentee ballots.
--Josh Marshall
From Bloomberg ...
U.S. regulators working to untangle Bernard Madoff's alleged $50 billion Ponzi scheme are probing other money managers suspected of using similar tactics, two people with knowledge of the inquiries said.The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is pursuing at least one case in which investors may have been cheated out of as much as $1 billion, according to one person, who declined to name the manager and asked not to be identified because the probe isn't public.
--Josh Marshall
Last Fall PIMCO chief Bill Gross was on the airwaves 
raising the alarm bell about how the backlog of toxic mortgage-backed securities were on the brink of crushing the US economy. And he certainly had some unique insight into the problem since over 60% of his firm's $830 billion in holdings were made up of those mortgage-backed securities. At the time, Gross was on the airwaves (on CNBC in particular) pledging that just out of a sense of patriotic duty he'd be willing to have his firm manage the government bail-out (i.e., government purchase of the crap CDOs) for free. Just for the sake of patriotism.
So now that his firm is one of the four that got a contract to run the program from the Fed, is he following through on the pledge? Doesn't seem like it. So far we've gotten through to three of the four firms, each of which has declined to comment on the fees the four companies are making for administering the program. PIMCO is the only one that hasn't responded at all. So it's seeming like the patriotic do-it-for-free plan hasn't panned out.
--Josh Marshall
As Josh mentioned earlier in the week, the Fed has brought in -- with next to no transparency -- four firms to dispose of the $500 billion of toxic mortgage-backed securities the Fed has purchased as part of one of its bailout programs (separate and apart from the Treasury Department's TARP program).
So how much are these guys making under their contracts with the Fed? We called around and all of them declined to say.
We're still waiting to hear back from the Fed itself.
--David Kurtz
Republicans now accusing Obama of palling around with Democrats.
--Josh Marshall
It's always a bittersweet moment. One of our vets, who did amazing work for us over more than two years, Greg Sargent, is moving on. Here's Greg's farewell post. He'll be missed and we were honored to have him.
--Josh Marshall
From the Post:
The handover of the Green Zone from U.S. to Iraqi control Thursday presented such a powerful symbol of the waning American presence in Iraq that it would have been nearly impossible for both sides not to mark it with a formal ceremony.They did, but the ceremony wasn't much. A podium was set up in the middle of a dirty street. Five small balloons and some tinsel decorated a seating area. The American ambassador and the top commander of U.S. troops didn't show up. Neither did Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.
Maliki instead attended an unannounced event where he watched what might have been one of the most stirring signs of the new Iraq: the raising of the Iraqi flag over what just a day earlier had been the U.S. Embassy. The decision to keep reporters away from this ceremony hinted at the unease and uncertainty both sides feel about the transition.
Almost goes without saying (but it shouldn't) that the transfer is largely a formality and U.S. troops are still providing security in and around the Green Zone.
--David Kurtz
Like many others, I've been saying this for years. So I'm surprised to be surprised. But the journalistic establishment in Washington, whether it's the Post or the Politico or much of the rest of the journalistic apparatus in the city, is essentially Republican in character -- not necessarily in terms of individual voting habits, though you'd be surprised, but in fundamental outlook about whose opinions matter and how government functions, which is what really counts. And you can see that resurfacing with increasing clarity just in that last week.
--Josh Marshall
Richardson Withdraws As Commerce Dept. Pick
Bill Richardson has announced that he is withdrawing his nomination to be President-Elect Obama's Commerce Secretary, due to an investigation of a political donor who has done business with the state of New Mexico.
Al Franken has taken a lead of 225 votes with the Minnesota recount now complete, making a Coleman victory all but impossible.
Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak declared that the invasion of Gaza "will be expanded and intensified as much as necessary," adding that "War is not a picnic."
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