James Meisler

Pat Buchanan show his real colors on Maddow.

Let’s start with some of the factual inaccuracies:

• Judge Sotomayor was born in New York, not PR.
• On having never written anything – She edited the Yale Law Journal and the Yale Journal of International Law.
• I’ll leave the affirmative action discussion to Andrew Sullivan of The Atlantic.
• That half of  the class graudates cum laude – Sotomayor graduated summa cum laude.  At Yale, at most the top 30% of the graduating class graduates with honors.  Summa cum laude graduates are at the top 5%, in the case of the class of 1979.  I don’t know the size of that class but it would put her, at the very most, in the top 10.

Visual aids after the cut.

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Five Facts about Alabama Prisons

From:

1.  Judges override jury verdicts to get reelected. Alabama is the only state practicing Standardless Judicial Override.   An Alabama Judge can sentence a convicted criminal to death even if the jury recommends another sentence, such as life without parole.   In 2006, 30% of new death sentence inmates were put on death row by their trial judges after juries had ruled on life without parole.   About 20% of individuals currently on death row were condemned by judicial override.

Alabama trial judges have the ability to override jury verdicts in the other directly, taking death penalty rulings and reducing them to life sentences, however this has happened only a handful of times since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976.  Several Alabama local governments have tried to promote standards for Judicial override.  These attempts have been defeated because of political pressure for local and state politicians (including elected judges) to appear “tough on crime.”

2. Excessive sentences contributed to prisons being filled to 200% capacity.   The AL DOC incarcerates 30,896 individuals.  The prison system is built to accommodate 13,403 prisoners.    The inmate-to-staff ratio is close to 10:1, about twice the national average.  That ratio applies only to the number of COs employed.  In terms of the number of officers on duty at any given time, it isn’t rare to have 250-300 inmates per officer.

Since 2001, 86 new felonies have been added to the books, but the prisons’ square footage has remained static.  Even Governor Bob Riley, a conservative Republican, has expressed concern about the state of Alabama’s prisons.  In 1980, Alabama instituted the Habitual Felony Offender Act, which provides for lengthier sentences for habitual offenders (meaning someone convicted of one previous felony, unlike California’s “3 Strikes” law that creates a life sentence after 3 felony convictions).  The sentence enhancement don’t even rely on felonies either.  Sentences can be increased to excess over misdemeanor and nonviolent convictions.  These sentence enhancements led Alabama to have the highest rate of life sentences in the U.S. with almost half of inmates serving 20 or more years in 2000.

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Judy Chu has been elected the first Chinese-American woman to serve Congress. She defeated Republican Betty Chu and Libertarian Christopher Agrella yesterday.  She will fill the seat vacated by Democrat Hilda Solis.  Solis vacated her seat in Congress, which she easily won in 2008, to become President Obama’s Secretary of Labor.  Chu’s victory means that the Democrats now hold a 78-seat lead in the House.

Dr. Chu’s election is notable because she won more than 60 percent of the vote in a largely Latino district.  The special election garnered little attention from the media.  It received little attention within the district as well, with just under 25,000 votes (roughly 10 percent of the electorate).  The districts heavy Democratic lean contributed to the low turnout.  More than a quarter of the electorate, 57,222 voters, turned out for the May 19 primary that featured 8 Democratic candidates who together won more than 71 percent of the vote.

Libertarian Agrella, who only recieved 654 votes in the primary, recieved almost twice as many in the general election, winning more than 5 percent of the vote.

In honor of our new president and his vow to encourage bipartisan cooperation, here are a few congressional actions that involved reaching across the aisle.

1. Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act

PRWORA was introduced by Republican Florida congressman Clay Shaw.  It was the cornerstone of the Republican majorities “Contract With America.”  One of the signature pieces of legislation of the Clinton Administration, it changed the nation’s welfare system dramatically.

In addition to putting a five-year limit on receiving assistance, it included money for the creation of jobs, programs to transition individuals from welfare to work, and childcare services for working mothers.

The bill passed largely on party lines having only 33 “Aye” votes from Democrats and only 4 “Nay” votes from Republicans in the house and 10 and 1 respectively in the Senate .   However, this vote is considered to be bipartisan due to the fact that Bill Clinton signed the act into Law despite the bill’s unpopularity among congressional Democrats.

2.  Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002 (McCain-Feingold)

The BCRA was introduced by Senators John McCain (R-AZ) and Russ Feingold (D-WI).  Its goal was to add transparency and accountability to federal campaigns and to reduce the impact of special interest groups in elections, especially “soft money” campaign contributions.

The Senate vote was split 60/40, with mostly Democrats voting “Aye”  In the Senate, it only received 11 GOP “Ayes” and 2 Dem. “Neas”.  In the House, it received 41 GOP “Ayes” and 12 Democrat “Neas”

President Bush signed the bill into law in March, 2002 though with some reservations

“I also have reservations about the constitutionality of the broad ban on issue advertising.” however, he added,  “I expect that the courts will resolve these legitimate legal questions as appropriate under the law.”

In two Supreme Court cases (McConnell vs. FEC and FEC vs. Wisconsin Right to Life, Inc.), the issues of the ban on issue advertising close to elections was resolved.

3. State Children’s Health Insurance Program

SCHIP was designed to match state funds for programs that provide health care for impoverished children and those whose parents make too much money to qualify for Medicaid, but not enough for private insurance.  It was originally created by Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-MA) and Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah).  One of its signature aspects is its use of increased cigarette taxes to provide funding.  The original bill passed with a partisan split in the House and with unanimous support in the Senate.

When SCHIP came up for reauthorization in 2007, it passed with only 45 “Nay” votes (all Republican) in the House and 38 Republican “Nays” in the Senate.  President Bush vetoed the bill in October 2007, but the House was unable to get enough votes in order to override the veto.

In 2009, the House and Senate both passed the reauthorization and it was signed by President Obama.  The new reauthorization removed a rule that prohibits children of legal immigrants from receiving health under SCHIP care for five years.

4. TRICARE Reserve Select coverage for Reservists

The TRS plan created a premium-based insurance plan for otherwise uninsured members of the US military reserves.  Though the program does have a cost for its members, they government pays 72% of the premium.  The legislation succeeded in part do to the collaboration of Senators Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina), Hillary Clinton (D-New York), Mike DeWine (R-Ohio), and Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont)

From Yahoo/Politico:

Joe the Plumber, who isn’t a plumber and whose name isn’t actually Joe, in addtion to being a war corespondant is the guest of honor at this week’s Conservative Working Group meeting.  The CWG is an invitation-only group of conservative staffers and lobbyists who discuss short-term and long-term senate strategies.  In about 5 minutes he will speaking, most likely, about his views on the Senate version of the Economic Stimulus Package.  His invitation is, no doubt, part of a series of lectures and colloquia entitled, “Methods and Strategies to make the GOP more Gimmicky.”

Update:

It’s always scary when Onion articles come true:

At least, I don’t until well into the year.  Since the election season is over, I’ve decided to use the next two months before the 2010 mid-terms begin reading alternative view points.  Most people don’t believe me, but I like to think of myself as fairly moderate.  So, to make sure that my news-reading remains balanced, I’m giving a list of where I get my political news.

1. The Fark Politics Page

Why I like it: Fark is one of the most diverse web communities out there.  The site is moderated very well and the nifty political thermometers help gage the political leanings certain articles.  Most of the comments are well reasoned and with a few exceptions, the dialog is civil and there are enough people posting and critiquing the comments and articles that factual inaccuracies, exaggerations, and logical fallacies are kept to a minimum.

Is it balanced? Yes.  Just look at the meters!

2. The Stranger/Slog

Why I like it: In two words, Dan Savage.  There are few issues where I will only take one side, and chief among them is same-sex marriage.  His column (and Lovecast) are phenomenal, too.  Additionally, I would really like to live in STL.

Is it balanced? No.  But think of it as a bottomless well of Dan Savage.

3. The Atlantic.

Why I like it: Recently, they decided to release all of their archives for free on their site.  That I like.  The literature and articles are some of the best I’ve ever read and as far as magazines go, I can’t think of one that presents balanced articles.  The January/February 2009 edition is an exception though, I think.

Is it balanced? Between Andrew Sullivan, Marc Ambinder, and Ta-Nehisi Coates, I’ll have to say, “Yes.”

4. Pew Research Center

Why I like it: I will be the first one to tell you there is no such thing as objectivity in reporting.  PRC is just about as objective as it gets.  I also use its News IQ quiz to measure my self-worth.  If I don’t score a 10/10, I’m pretty disappointed.

Is it balanced: My other “balanced” news sources are balanced in that they present multiple points of view with equally.  This source is mostly objective.

5. Charleston City Paper (The Southern Avenger/Jack Hunter)

Why I like it: Hunter is a local institution in my home town, Charleston, SC.  He is a classical conservative whose opinions are well-reasoned.  I often disagree with him, which is one of the reasons I like him so much.  There are few local columnists whose writing quality ever compare to the Avenger’s. His columns frequently depict local situations with international implications.  I used to listen to his spot on The Critic on 96 Wave.

Is it balanced? The Southern Avenger is certainly conservative, but I will keep him in this list to balance out Dan Savage.

6. National Public Radio – Morning Edition, All Things Considered, and Market Place

Why I like it: I live in broadcast range of three NPR affiliate stations–between them there is usually something interesting on.  An NPR affiliate station is an integral part of its community, providing an outlet for information free of the profit-motive.  They bring emerging talent to their listening areas.  I spend two hours of my work day in the car, so it’s nice to get the variety that All Things Considered, Morning Edition, and Marketplace have to offer.

Is it balanced? This is a point of contention.  Since, as an NPR liberal, my credibility here is shot, I’ll use science. Quarterly Journal of Economics finds that on a scale of 50-100: 50 being purely centrist and 100 being most liberal, NPR scores about 66.  It’s ranked 12th out of 20 other news outlets, which all average out to about 62.  So NPR is left of center, but not much so than most media outlets.  Also, it’s worth noting that in the most recent election cycle, NPR has more stories about McCain than Obama.  However, according to Pew, a higher percentage of McCain’s stories were negative by a margin of almost 2:1…but come on, everyone in the media had a field day with Palin. 

…There are many more sources that I will frequently post here or on my Twitter feed.