From The Washington Post:

Since the failure of the company, Obama’s entire $80 billion clean-
technology program has begun to look like a political liability for an administration about to enter a bruising reelection campaign.

Meant to create jobs and cut reliance on foreign oil, Obama’s green-technology program was infused with politics at every level, The Washington Post found in an analysis of thousands of memos, company records and internal e-mails. Political considerations were raised repeatedly by company investors, Energy Department bureaucrats and White House officials.

The records, some previously unreported, show that when warned that financial disaster might lie ahead, the administration remained steadfast in its support for Solyndra.

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Last night, 60 Minutes aired its report on possible insider trading by Members of Congress. A principal focus of the report was House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and her participation in an IPO of Visa, one of the hottest IPOs in recent years. Reporter Steve Kroft questioned Leader Pelosi recently at a press conference about her investment and its possible impact on credit card legislation before the House during her term as Speaker.

I will have much more to say on this soon, as the legislative maneuvering around the recent credit card bill is a rich narrative and suggests there may be something to Kroft’s suspicions. For now, though, I have a more fundamental question: How did Nancy Pelosi get access to Visa’s IPO in the first place?

Participation in a stocks IPO, i.e. Initial Public Offering, is one of the more sought after trades on Wall Street. Often, an IPO investor is able to get into a stock at a relatively low price and realize an almost immediate gain once trading commences, especially if the IPO is “hot” or, rather oversubscribed, meaning more investors wanted shares than were available. Visa’s IPO was blockbuster-level “hot.” As reported by The New York Times:

Visa‘s blockbuster initial public offering is currently oversubscribed for its expected trading start on March 20, Scott Sweet of the research firm IPO Boutique told MarketWatch.

Mr. Sweet told the publication that the I.P.O. is drawing “extreme demand.”

It is very difficult for any individual investors to participate in an IPO, as most of the shares are reserved for major brokerage clients, institutional investors and pension funds. It is so difficult, in fact, the SEC has published an “FAQ” on why it is so difficult for individual investors to participate in IPOs:

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As I write this commentary, Joe Paterno has been fired as Penn State football coach — effective immediately. Thousands of Penn State college students are in the streets, angry, sad, disillusioned, emotionally wrecked, overturning cars, and chanting Joe Paterno’s name. The riot police are in place to prevent the situation from getting out of hand. Those aren’t hoodlums with no hope and no future. They are educated, middle class, salt-of-the-earth Pennsylvania college kids attending a well-respected university. What is wrong with this picture? What does it say about America?

Let’s start with the obvious. Why aren’t those educated college kids out protesting on behalf of the little boys who were allegedly sexually assaulted by a longtime Penn State assistant coach? Has America so lost its compass? These kids are in love with a coach because…he’s a celebrity? Because he wins football games? Because he wins football games all else is forgiven? If someone is a celebrity, nothing else matters? We are lucky this isn’t Kim Kardashian or Paris Hilton involved in child rape. We’d almost certainly witness mobs burn Los Angeles to the ground to show their support for their favorite celeb-turned-child-rapist. A sad commentary on all that is wrong with America.

Then there’s the actual conduct of Coach Joe Paterno. Here is a good moral man who has spent a lifetime molding the lives of young men at Penn State. Yet back in 2002 he heard from a graduate assistant that his longtime assistant coach was having sex in the shower with a 10 year old boy. Paterno reported the incident to his superiors, then never mentioned it again? How strange is that? He never thought to protect the 10-year old boy? Never thought the boy’s life (or certainly mental state) might be in danger? Never thought to find out who the boy was and talk to him? Never thought that stopping this sexual deviant might possibly save other boys? Never thought to confront his friend of 30 years and ask him what happened? Never thought to follow up with his superiors to ask about the young boys? Never even considered going to the police?

How could this happen in my America? Is everyone truly mad? Is winning football games more important than a 10-year old boy’s safety? How about dozens of innocent little boys? Is protecting a respected institution more important than stopping a child rapist? Why would educated responsible administrators with 6-figure and 7-figure salaries make the same decision to cover-up a heinous crime as priests and bishops and cardinals for the Catholic Church?

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Yesterday, Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky compared the Republicans on the House Energy and Commerce Committee who voted to subpoena White House documents relating to the Solyndra bankruptcy scandal to “birthers.”

She apparently did not appreciate her collegues’ reasonable demands to see relevant documents pertaining to the White House’s involvement in the scandal.

As could be expected, the congresswoman who never shies away from ad hominem name-calling or metaphorically disparaging anyone who thinks differently than she does, went on the attack again.

The Hill reports:

“I doubt that anything the White House would have agreed to yesterday would have been sufficient. This is a majority that won’t take yes for an answer,” Schakowsky said Thursday ahead of the committee vote.

“And while you are at it why don’t you ask for more documents relating to the place of his birth, or as some members want, his school grades, and why not from kindergarten through law school,”

So Jan believes that elected officials who seek answers relating to a $535-million bad loan, with a trail that goes all the way up to White House, is just as silly as demanding to see the president’s birth certificate?

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Have you seen the movie Dinner for Schmucks? Now we have a sequel, Twitter for Schmucks starring Congressman Anthony Weiner. I’m a Libertarian. I don’t want government in my bedroom, or my boardroom, so I’m generally hands-off (excuse the pun) about what politicians do in their private time. But this is different. Weiner must resign.

If this was just an affair…Okay. People have affairs every day. But what people- let alone Congressmen- don’t do every day is send photos of their penis to strangers. That’s far worse than an affair. It’s mental illness. Weiner is a pervert, an electronic, high-tech version of the naked man in the raincoat from yesteryear who walks up to pretty female strangers and opens his raincoat. Weiner is a schmuck- and for that he must go.

Here is what the case boils down to:

#1) Weiner thinks we’re the schmucks. Any man so sick he must send photos of his penis, bulging underpants, naked chest, and talk dirty over Twitter and Facebook with complete strangers has a deep-rooted sexual and mental illness. Since he claims he never had a physical affair, Weiner thinks he should be forgiven. I’d rather hear he’d slept with them. I can understand sex talk and photos between lovers. But a Congressman sending crotch shots over Twitter to complete strangers? This man is in dire need of mental help. He has an addiction or perhaps a deep-seated need to destroy his career. Either way, he’s too self destructive to be sitting in the United States Congress.

Remember, this is the Congressman who introduced a bill to loosen immigration requirements for foreign models. I can only assume his goal was more potential Weiner Twitter victims.

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From The Hill:

Senate Democrats were also distancing themselves from the embattled New Yorker on Tuesday. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) paused for several seconds when journalists asked if Weiner should resign.

“I know Congressman Weiner — I wish there was some way I can defend him,” Reid said, plainly not defending the embattled congressman.

When a reporter persisted in asking whether Weiner should resign, Reid said: “I’m not here to defend Weiner. That’s all I’m going to say.”

When another reporter asked what Reid would say if Weiner called him for advice, Reid said he would tell him to “call somebody else.”

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There are number of factors that could lead to the Pigford scandal becoming a political issue in Iowa, of all places. The state’s demographics – about 95% Caucasian – might make this seem unlikely but it’s very interesting how many of the major political players in the Pigford scandal are from the heartland state.

1) One of the major Senate proponents of Pigford is Republican Chuck Grassley

2) The major political opponent of Pigford is Republican representative Steve King

3) USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack, a Democrat, is also the former governor of Iowa who also served in the state legislature with Steve King. Vilsack has made Pigford a priority in his administration and has opposed any efforts to investigate fraud in the settlement.

4) Vilsack was also the fall guy in the forced resignation of Shirley Sherrod; Mrs. Sherrod has stated publicly that she believes the White House was behind her firing because she was told this by USDA Undersecretary Cheryl Cook. Vilsack has denied White House involvement. The White House and the USDA both had good reasons for not wanting publicity about Pigford and Mrs. Sherrod; she, her husband Charles and the New Communities farm that she helped manage were by far the largest single recipients of Pigford money, getting over $13 million.

5) Vilsack’s USDA also did an end run around the court decision and created their own expedited process to give money to women and Hispanic farmers — and significantly, women and Hispanics who claim to have attempted to farm. This “attempted to farm” distinction is exactly what led to significant fraud in Pigford.

6) Sec. Vilsack and Sen. Grassley have both praised “Dr.” John Boyd and have advocated using Boyd for outreach in the Pigford, women and Hispanic farmers cases. For more on John Boyd watch the segment from my documentary Pigford Blues.

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As a 2010 Census watchdog, I am extremely disturbed to learn that a man so deeply involved in the Blagojevich/Obama-Senate-seat-for-sale scandal is now employed in an upper level management position by the Census Bureau in Chicago.

Even if the man, Joseph Aramanda, has not been convicted (yet) of  a crime, his reputation for being involved in illegal activities seriously undermines the credibility of Census Bureau operations in Chicago. In a city with corruptionlinked to 2010 Census advertising, the public should not have to worry that upper management positions are being filled by individuals who are directly tied to government corruption and fraud.

Furthermore, Joseph Aramanda’s experiences as a pizza franchise owner (his job prior to the Census Bureau gig) don’t qualify him to be in charge of 1,000+ employees.

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Like any halfway sentient member of the human race I reacted to the news of Obama’s Nobel win last week with disbelief, soon giving way to scorn and ridicule, before experiencing a nasty sinking feeling.

Just a week after the naughty boys and girls at the IOC had delivered a blow to the president’s majestic ego, some idiots in Norway had decided to puff that balloon right back up again. And lo, there was Mr. Obama on TV, floating about in front of a podium, chin held aloft, doing the old mock humility routine as he wittered on about his daughter and his dog: just a regular guy, doing my best to save the world. Aw, shucks.

Since that moment of world-historical absurdity a great deal of commentary has been produced. As even Mr. Obama admits he does not deserve to stand in the company of earlier laureates such as Mandela or Mother Theresa, the focus has thus been on the ulterior motives of the Nobel Committee. Was this a late snub to Bush? Condescending encouragement to America for electing someone all right-thinking Norwegians approve of? Victor Davis Hanson offered this elegant piece, anatomizing social democratic Norway and its pathologies. However the one factor which nobody has discussed, and yet which I think is central is-

SATAN.

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ACORN suspends, plans audit, in wake of videos

ACORN, calling the actions of some of its employees “indefensible,” has suspended advising new clients as part of its service programs and is setting up an independent review to see what happened.

ACORN chief executive Bertha Lewis said in a written statement that she was “ordering a halt to any new intakes into ACORN’s service programs until completion of an independent review.”