Understanding Government

The ACLU is calling for the federal Department of Justice to investigate whether or not Illinois cops use racial bias in traffic stop searches, reports Patrick Yeagle of the Illinois Times. A new study produced by the Illinois Department of Transportation found a slight disparity between the number of minorities stopped and the number of minorities who live in Illinois. It looks like real claims of bias lie in specific communities like Springfield, where 41 percent of all drivers stopped in 2010 were minorities and just 15 percent of the Springfield population is minority.

There’s more than political donations or legions of arm-twisting lobbyists in the Washington lobbying toolbox.  Sometimes, there’s a status symbol cupcake, as Edward Wyatt reported in the New York Times.  With AT&T facing what would appear to be a formidable task of convincing the Federal Communications Commission and the Justice Department to approve its proposed $39 billion merger with T-Mobile, one wonders if the company will be strategically delivering chocolate Easter eggs to the regulators this time around.  Wyatt likened the delivery of the sought-after cupcakes to offices within the FCC during holiday season to a military operation.  The breakdown of who got how many cupcakes was labeled “proprietary.” (more…)

It may be too little and much too late, but federal law enforcement officials swept up 500 alleged fraudsters in a crackdown on the mortgage and real estate industry according to an AP story by Ken Ritter.

‘The states that had the highest fallout in foreclosure and price depreciation certainly didn’t have markets built on sound business practices,’ Sharga said. ‘The running gag was, you’d put a home on the market at breakfast and have three offers for twice the asking price by lunch. We’re seeing the consequences of that now.’

‘As soon as prices stopped going up, the whole house of cards came down,’ he said. (more…)

Harper’s Magazine, one of the best publications in America today, continues to expose hypocrisy in American government and the violence that is integral to our country today.  Read Scott Horton’s shocking investigation into the deaths of three detainees at the U.S. prison at Guantánamo Naval Base.  These three men each “committed suicide” in one night, in the same way:  by first (somehow) stuffing rags down their own throats and then (improbably) hanging themselves. (more…)

Dawn Johnsen

The U.S. Senate concluded its 2009 session last week passing historic health care reform legislation. At the same time, however, the Senate effectively rejected six of Barack Obama’s nominations for administration leadership posts. By not approving these nominees in this year’s legislative session, Obama must either re-nominate the candidates next year — or choose to nominate a different candidate for their respective positions.

One such nominee is Dawn Johnsen, a constitutional law professor at Indiana University, whom Obama picked last January to head the Justice Dept’s Office of Legal Counsel. (more…)