Why d[id] Boehner and the other leaders want [the] vote [on the stimulus bill] to be unanimous? Because they still want to extract concessions in the conference. . . In the end, I suspect that a couple dozen Republicans will vote for the final stimulus bill. But they sent a message today that they have discipline.

Is Booman expecting Obama to give more concessions to the House GOP? And what of concessions to the Senate GOP? Relatedly, Al Giordano writes:

Nick Kristof writes:

. . . [A]s George Santayana, the eminent Harvard philosopher wrote: “Those who forget history are destined to repeat it.” Rather than lose forever the chance to grow from our missteps, here’s a two-step proposal for confronting the past without distracting from the work on the economic crisis.

The first step is to appoint a high-level commission — perhaps a McCain-Scowcroft Commission? — to investigate torture, secret detention and wiretapping during the Bush years, as well as to look ahead and offer recommendations for balancing national security and individual rights in the future.

Kristof's good faith proposal ignores the fact that the US policy on interrogation and detention policies and on wiretapping is a live issue (the President has convened a task force to study the issues) and it is the role of Congress to investigate, oversee and enact legislation regarding these issues. I have no objection to blue ribbon commissions but the Congress can not abdicate its Constitutional responsibilities. There is work to do on these issues, and it is work for the Congress and the President. No shirking. Thus when Kristof writes:

No surprise here. Attorney General nominee Eric Holder passed the Senate Judicary Committee by a vote of 17 to 2 with only Republican Senators John Cornyn and Tom Coburn voting no.

A vote by the full Senate should take place in a few days. Mukasey's term expired on Jan. 20 Bush Deputy AG Mark Filip is <a href="http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2009/01/21/bush-holdover-takes-the-reigns-awaiting-holder-confirmation/, serving as Acting Attorney General until Holder is confirmed.

Next up after Holder's confirmation: The naming of 93 U.S. Attorneys. Will there be any holdovers? Patrick Fitzgerald is expected to stay as Obama previously said he would keep him. The rest will primarily be chosen through recommendations by the Senators in each district.

A year ago, John Yoo was sued by Jose Padilla:

"John Yoo is the first person in American history to provide the legal authorization for the instiution of torture in the U.S.," said Jonathan Freiman, an attorney representing Padilla in the suit. "He [Yoo] was an absolutely essential part of what will be viewed by history as a group of rogue officials acting under cover of law to undermine fundamental rights.it never would have happened without the legal green light. That made it possible."

Now the Obama Justice Department is charged with defending Yoo, presumably raising claims of qualified immunity. Steve Gillers makes a good point:

As the battle rages on between Obama partisans (these are persons who have, and perhaps it will be justified, an almost blind faith in Obama) and other progressives who are, to put it mildly, skeptical about the post-partisan unity schtick (I count myself among this group, a group cynical about all pols and who count Obama as a pol), I think there is little doubt that President Obama and his postpartisan unity schtick are about to face a major acid test -- the President's performance in shaping an economic stimulus plan.

I think this test should reveal a few things. First, is Obama as progressive as we have been told on matters economic. Second, what does he really believe "will work" to stimulate the economy adequately. Third, how effective was the post partisan unity schtick in helping the President achieve his political and policy goals.

More . . .

Some are noticing this story. President Obama is meeting with Republicans today on the issue.

The question is this - is Obama posturing by holding this meeting or will he offer even more concessions (his proposal pre-conceded on a lot already)? Is this a play to the Media? If so, will it work? Or does Obama think this description was apt?

I'll wait to see what Obama does.

Speaking for me only

Here is the actual CBO report (PDF) (as opposed to the GOP press release on a partial report) on the economic stimulus legislation. The report concludes that the stimulus plan will have a positive impact on job creation and economic growth (kind of a "duh" conclusion). The report does not seem to tell us how much impact. This economic stimulus plan seems entirely too timid to me.

Speaking for me only

Jane Mayer writes:

Across the Potomac River, at the C.I.A.’s headquarters in Langley, Virginia, however, there was considerably less jubilation [about Obama's executive orders.] Top C.I.A. officials have argued for years that so-called “enhanced” interrogation techniques have yielded life-saving intelligence breakthroughs. “They disagree in some respect,” admitted Craig. Among the hard questions Obama left open, in fact, is whether the C.I.A. will have to follow the same interrogation rules as the military. While the President has clearly put an end to cruel tactics, Craig said that Obama “is somewhat sympathetic to the spies’ argument that their mission and circumstances are different.”

(Emphasis supplied.) Actually, as written, the Obama executive orders bind the CIA to follow the Army Field Manual. In what way is the question open? Are Craig and Obama planning to backtrack on this point? A competent Media would be asking that question this morning.

Speaking for me only

President Barack Obama has named four chiefs of the Justice Department.

• David Kris is assistant AG for national security.
• Tony West is assistant AG for the Justice Department’s civil division.
• Lanny Breuer is assistant AG for Justice’s criminal division.
• Christine Varney is assistant AG for the antitrust division.

It's the criminal division, responsible for prosecuting crimes in our federal courts, that I'm interested in.

Breuer is a partner at the Washington law firm Covington and Burling, where attorney general-nominee Eric Holder also served as partner. He was special counsel to President Clinton and defended Clinton during his impeachment. New York Yankees pitcher Roger Clemens also hired Breuer last year to represent him during Congress’ investigation into the use of performance-enhancing drugs in professional baseball.

White Collar Crime Blog has this to say about Breuer: [More...]

As someone who always thought President Obama's (and then Presidential candidate John Edwards') rhetoric on lobbyists was so much nonsense, I am not at all surprised to learn this:

Mr. Obama's nominee for deputy secretary of defense, William Lynn, has been a lobbyist for the defense contractor Raytheon, and his nominee for deputy secretary of health and human services, William V. Corr, lobbied for stricter tobacco regulations as an official with the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. A senior White House official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, conceded the two nominees did not adhere to the new rules. . . .

So much for the ban on lobbyists. As Robert Schlesinger writes:

President Obama speaks on the economic stimulus package he is proposing:

Much to the chagrin of the Beltway Torture enablers and those who attempt to mainstream Bush/Cheneyism, President Barack Obama is acting forcefully on the civil liberties questions that have concerned many Americans. I have written about the developments here. One that escaped my notice was President Obama's Executive Order establishing a task force to review detention policy options. The task force is no small thing in that it includes the Attorney General, the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of State, the Director of National Intelligence, the Secretary of Homeland Security and the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency.

The Task Force will be charged with: