The Commentariat -- Jan. 24, 2014

Internal links removed.

... Lawrence Mishel of the Economic Policy Institute: "The minimum wage is 23 percent less than its peak inflation-adjusted value in 1968. This is despite productivity (how much output can be produced in an average hour of work in the economy) more than doubling in that time period. The low-wage workforce has surely contributed to this rise in economy-wide productivity, since as a group they have far more education now than they did then." Via Daily Kos.

The outstanding faults of the economic society in which we live are its failure to provide for full employment and its arbitrary and inequitable distribution of wealth and incomes. -- John Maynard Keynes,1936 ...

     ... ** Paul Krugman: "... it applies to our own time, too. And, in a better world, our leaders would be doing all they could to address both faults." Krugman goes on to show how unemployment, inequality, & economic crisis go hand-in-hand-in-hand. ...

... Tim Egan: Bill Gates predicted that "by 2035, there will be almost no poor countries left in the world."

Savvy Businessman Jamie Dimon gets a raise, despite the fact that JPMorgan Chase had to pay $20 billion in fines this past year.

I think a lot of it was unfair. -- Jamie Dimon, while hobnobbing with the super-rich & famous in Davos, Switzerland, on the way federal regulators' "assaulted" JPMorgan

David Remnick of the New Yorker has more from "The Obama Tapes."

Richardo Alonso-Zaldivar of the AP: "The uninsured rate dropped modestly this month as expanded coverage rolled out under President Barack Obama's health care law, a major survey released Thursday has found. The Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index found that the uninsured rate for U.S. adults dropped by 1.2 percentage points in January, to 16.1 percent. That would translate to roughly 2 million to 3 million people gaining coverage."

Seung Min Kim of Politico: "Democrats are drawing their red line against debt limit concessions -- again. Senate Budget Committee Chairwoman Patty Murray (D-Wash.) will release a letter later Friday saying Democrats will not heed any GOP demands in exchange for hiking the debt limit next month in the latest round of the fiscal fights that have plagued the Capitol." ...

... Jonathan Chait: "Two years ago, the demands were for trillions of dollars in cuts. Then it became 'the Boehner Rule,' which was the Speaker's made-up requirement that the House would demand equal-size spending cuts every time it lifted the debt ceiling. Now they're just floating a bunch of scattershot attacks on Obamacare, without even the pretext of reducing the debt, which was the whole rationale for threatening a crisis in the first place.... But you can only try this bluff once. The only way it could still work would be if Obama either paid a ransom or Republicans shot the hostage. Once the mark knows you're bluffing, it's over. You can't do it again. Nobody is falling for this":

Julie Creswell & Reed Abelson of the New York Times: "This month, the Justice Department said it had joined eight separate whistle-blower lawsuits against [Health Management Associates, a for-profit hospital chain based in Naples, Fla.,] in six states. The lawsuits describe a wide-ranging strategy that is said to have relied on a mix of sophisticated software systems, financial incentives and threats in an attempt to inflate the company's payments from Medicare and Medicaid.... The accusations reach all the way to the former chief executive's office, whom many of the whistle-blowers point to as driving the strategy." CW: I am totally shocked that a Florida-based for-profit hospital conglomerate would engage in Medicaid & Medicare fraud, Rick Scott.

Steve Kenny of the New York Times: "Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. said Thursday that the United States was willing to discuss how the criminal case against Edward J. Snowden would be handled, but only if Mr. Snowden pleaded guilty first. Mr. Holder, speaking at a question-and-answer event at the University of Virginia, did not specify the guilty pleas the Justice Department would expect before it would open talks with Mr. Snowden's lawyers. And the attorney general reiterated that the United States was not willing to offer clemency to Mr. Snowden, the former National Security Agency contractor who has leaked documents that American officials have said threaten national security." ...

... Kate Tummarello of the Hill: "National Security Agency (NSA) leaker Edward Snowden on Thursday said he would be willing to return to the United States if he were able to mount a legal defense as a whistleblower. 'Returning to the US, I think, is the best resolution for the government, the public, and myself, but it's unfortunately not possible in the face of current whistleblower protection laws, which through a failure in law did not cover national security contractors like myself,' Snowden wrote during an online chat." CW: Apparently his bids to help Germany & Brazil guard against U.S. cyberspying did not go well.

"The Hidden History of the CIA's Prison in Poland." Adam Goldman of the Washington Post: "The CIA prison in Poland was arguably the most important of all the black sites created by the agency after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. It was the first of a trio in Europe that housed the initial wave of accused Sept. 11 conspirators, and it was where Khalid Sheik Mohammed, the self-declared mastermind of the attacks, was waterboarded 183 times after his capture.... But what happened in Poland more than a decade ago continues to reverberate, and the bitter debate about the CIA's interrogation program is about to be revisited."

Matt Apuzzo of the New York Times: "Dinesh D'Souza ... was indicted on Thursday on charges that he used straw donors to illegally donate to a 2012 Senate campaign. Mr. D'Souza is an outspoken political commentator who directed '2016: Obama's America,' a scathing anti-Obama documentary released in the final months of the president's re-election campaign. Federal prosecutors in Manhattan said that Mr. D'Souza encouraged others to give $20,000 to a Senate candidate and reimbursed them for the donations. Election law prohibits such arrangements and caps donations at $5,000 per donor to any one candidate." ...

... Schadenfreude Gives Way to Guffaws. J. K. Trotter of Gawker: "D'Souza is scheduled to be arraigned in Manhattan on Friday. He is also scheduled to debate former Weatherman Bill Ayers on January 30 at Dartmouth College about what makes America so great."

Laura Barron-Lopez of the Hill: "Climate change may get in the way of future Olympic Winter Games, a new study finds. If the globe continues to warm at its current rate -- without taking measures to mitigate climate change -- only six out of the last 19 locations that hosted the winter games will be cold enough to hold them by the end of the century, according to the report conducted by the University of Waterloo and Austria's Management Center at Innsbruck." CW: Finally something that could get politicians to do something to abate global warming. ...

... Ah, Another Incentive. Coral Davenport of the New York Times: "Today, after a decade of increasing damage to Coke's balance sheet as global droughts dried up the water needed to produce its soda, the company has embraced the idea of climate change as an economically disruptive force." Thanks to contributor Mushiba for the link.

Thomas Caton & Brody Mullins of the Wall Street Journal: "Behind the scenes..., [Google] has been working hard to change its profile as an ally of the Democratic Party, courting Republicans and building alliances with conservatives at a time when regulators and Congress are considering issues affecting its business interests." CW: Story is firewalled. If the link doesn't work, cut & paste part of the sentence into a Google search box. Irony intended required.

All Bob's Friends -- Are Crooks. Jonathan Deinst of NBC News-4 New York: "The federal criminal investigation into New Jersey Sen. Robert Menendez [D] is broader than previously known.... The Department of Justice is investigating Menendez's efforts on behalf of two fugitive bankers from Ecuador, multiple current and former U.S. officials tell NBC 4 New York. The probe into Menendez's dealing with the bankers comes as federal authorities are also investigating his relationship to a big campaign donor from Florida." With video. ...

... Josh Rogin of the Daily Beast: "Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Robert Menendez is striking back against new corruption allegations regarding his ties to two Ecuadorian bankers who are accused of defrauding account holders in Ecuador to the tune of $100 million."

Local News

Michael Isikoff of NBC News: "FBI agents have begun questioning witnesses in the investigation into whether New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie's aides threatened to cut off Hurricane Sandy relief money to Hoboken unless the city's mayor backed a billion-dollar development project, three sources with direct knowledge of the probe told NBC News on Wednesday. Federal prosecutors and agents have also instructed key witnesses to preserve all documents and emails relating to the allegations by Hoboken Mayor Dawn Zimmer, these sources said.... Federal agents questioned Dan Bryan, Zimmer's chief of staff, and Juan Melli, her communications director.... The two Zimmer aides are among at least five witnesses who Zimmer told the FBI could confirm that she had previously told them about the conversation she says she had with Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno last May." ...

... Darryl Isherwood of NJ.com: "The U.S. Attorney for New Jersey has issued a subpoena for documents to both the Christie for Governor reelection campaign and the New Jersey Republican State Committee, an attorney for both organizations confirmed today.... The subpoenas request documents from the two organizations in relation to the investigation into lane diversions at the George Washington Bridge in September." ...

... Tom Haydon of the Star-Ledger reported this story January 17, but it's just now getting more attention: "Elizabeth Mayor Christian Bollwage says recalling he complained about political retribution back in 2010. Bollwage on Thursday said that shortly after Christie first became governor, he closed the Motor Vehicle Commission office in Elizabeth because Bollwage, along with Union County Democrats state Sen. Raymond Lesniak and Assemblyman Joe Cryan, opposed some of governor's legislative efforts, such as an annual cap on budget and property tax hikes. Bollwage said Elizabeth also was denied red-light cameras, while surrounding municipalities received approvals. Christie spokesman Colin Reed disputed Bollwage's claim that closing the motor vehicles office was political, stating the move saved hundreds of thousands of tax dollars." CW: Yes, withholding basic services can save lots of tax dollars. (It's true that the DMV is revenue-producing, but almost everybody who needs drivers licenses or car tags will go out of his way to get them.) ...

... Matt Katz of WNYC: "The Christie administration has quietly cut its ties to an embattled company that had New Jersey's biggest contract for getting Sandy victims back in their homes. Homeowners and legislators had widely criticized the company's performance, taking some of the gloss off Governor Chris Christie's signature project: Sandy recovery. Christie officials - who as recently as two weeks ago gave legislators in Trenton no hint that the contract had been cancelled - wouldn't say on Thursday why the deal with Hammerman and Gainer, or HGI, was terminated more than two years before completion." CW: Could there be a seedy untold backstory here?

Can This Marriage Be Saved? Rosalind Helderman & Carol Leonnig of the Washington Post: "Maureen McDonnell relayed to federal prosecutors last summer that she felt responsible for the relationship with a wealthy businessman..., and her attorney asked whether the case could be resolved without charges for her husband.... Instead, months later, authorities proposed that then-Gov. Robert F. McDonnell plead guilty to one felony fraud charge that had nothing to do with corruption in office and his wife would avoid charges altogether. The governor rejected the offer.... Since the indictment was handed up on Tuesday, the former governor's comments have focused almost exclusively on his own innocence." ...

... Gene Robinson: "Nobody's as stupid as Bob McDonnell pretends to be."

Jeff Karoub & David Eggert of the AP: "Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder asked the federal government Thursday to set aside thousands of work visas for bankrupt Detroit, a bid to revive the decaying city by attracting talented immigrants who are willing to move there and stay for five years.... The proposal involves EB-2 visas, which are offered every year to legal immigrants who have advanced degrees or show exceptional ability in certain fields.... The visas are not currently allocated by region or state. And the number he is seeking -- 50,000 over five years -- would be a quarter of the total EB-2 visas offered."

Ian Simpson of Reuters: "The company behind a chemical spill that left about 300,000 people in West Virginia without tap water failed to disclose a second chemical in the leak, state officials said on Wednesday. The company, Freedom Industries, had previously said that only one chemical, crude MCHM, had spilled from one of its storage tanks into the Elk River at Charleston on January 9. Freedom Industries told the state Department of Environmental Protection on Tuesday that a second chemical, PPH, was in the above-ground tank despite an order immediately after the spill to disclose what was in it, the department said in a statement."

Congressional Races

** A Sobering Reality Chek. Molly Ball of the Atlantic: "The GOP's effort to rebrand itself didn't get far -- but it may not matter: It's winning anyway.... Republicans are almost guaranteed to keep the House of Representatives in November; they have about a 50-50 chance of taking the majority in the U.S. Senate; and they are likely to keep their majority of the nation's governor's mansions." AND "Republicans will have a 64 percent chance of victory" in the 2016 presidential contest, according to a model developed by John Sides. ...

... Presidential Election 2016

This Is Depressing. Nicholas Confessore of the New York Times: "The Obama political operation that once buried Hillary Rodham Clinton's White House ambitions is now rapidly converging around her possible 2016 presidential bid, conferring on Mrs. Clinton enormous early advantages in money, expertise and voter targeting techniques. On Thursday, Priorities USA Action, a 'super PAC' that played an important role in helping re-elect President Obama, announced that it was formally aligning itself with Mrs. Clinton and would begin raising money to fend off potential opponents for 2016. The group -- the largest Democratic super PAC in the country -- also named new directors, appointments that will cement the group's pro-Clinton tilt...."

Zeke Miller of Time: "The Republican National Committee took steps Thursday to change how it will pick its presidential candidate in 2016, the latest effort by the national party to tighten control over the primary calendar.... It’s all about the money. The RNC, is looking to free up those general election dollars sooner by moving the 2016 convention to late June or mid-July. On Thursday, the RNC's Rules Committee, continued to ease the path for better-funded establishment candidates to avoid the type of 'long slog' against poorly-organized and under-funded candidates that Mitt Romney was subjected to."

Sex and the GOP

Travis Gettys of the Raw Story: "Mike Huckabee says Democrats make women feel helpless to control their libido by offering government-sponsored birth control":

     ... Peter Grier of the Christian Science Monitor: "'It sounds offensive to me, and to women,' said White House spokesman Jay Carney when asked about the remarks, which Huckabee made during a luncheon appearance at the Republican National Committee's winter meeting." ...

     ... Fade to Guffaw. Again. Dave Weigel: "Earlier today, Harvard's Institute of Politics announced that former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, who's currently a Fox News host and who may run for president again in 2016, would be a 'visiting fellow' for the spring semester." ...

     ... CW: May I suggest, in the interest of efficiency, that the Harvard student clinic set up its free contraceptives booth in front of Huckabee's classroom so the ladies of Harvard can picket while they wait in line for condoms, pills & other Democratic reproductive handouts.

David Edwards of the Raw Story: "Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX) revealed on Thursday that he had become a congressman because he was outraged that single women were having as many as 15 babies and getting welfare checks." Thanks to Jeanne B. for the link.

News Ledes

AP: "Syria's government handed an ultimatum to a U.N. mediator hoping to broker peace in the country's civil war, vowing to leave if 'serious talks' do not begin by Saturday. The delegation chosen by President Bashar Assad met for less than 90 minutes Friday with U.N. mediator Lakhdar Brahimi as part of a peace conference with the Western-backed opposition. The meeting has been on the verge of falling apart ever since it was conceived."

AP: "A string of bombings hit police around Cairo on Friday, including a suicide car blast that ripped through the city's main police headquarters and wrecked a nearby museum of Islamic artifacts. Five people were killed in the most significant attack yet in the Egyptian capital at a time of mounting confrontation between Islamists and the military-backed government."

All Our Presidents Are Losers

As noted in today's Commentariat, Peter Beinert thinks he has picked a winner for the Republican presidential nomination: "Don't laugh, Beinert writes in the Atlantic, "Rand Paul is the 2016 Republican frontrunner.... He has built-in advantages in Iowa and New Hampshire, a party moving in his direction, and formidable fundraising potential."

I suppose Paul could win the GOP nomination, but he will not be the next President of the United States. Here's why:

At the 1952 Democratic convention, John F. Kennedy lost to Estes Kefauver in balloting for the vice-presidential nomination.

Lyndon Johnson lost three elections. In 1941 he ran for a special election for the U.S. Senate & lost to Texas Gov. Pappy O'Daniel. “Landslide Lyndon” ran for the Senate again in 1948, and though he lost at the ballot box, he “won” through voter fraud. At the 1960 Democratic convention, Johnson lost the presidential nomination to Kennedy on the first ballot.

Richard Nixon of course lost the presidency to Kennedy that year, and lost the governorship of California to incumbent Pat Brown (Jerry's father) two years later.

Jerry Ford never lost an election before he became president, but he also was never elected president. Nixon had appointed him vice president to replace Spiro Agnew, who resigned after pleading no-contest to criminal charges. When Ford did run for president, he lost.

Jimmy Carter came in third in a primary race for governor of Georgia in 1966.

Ronald Reagan lost in his bid for the Republican presidential nomination in 1976.

George Bush I ran for the U.S. Senate in 1964 & lost in the general election. He lost to Democrat Lloyd Bentsen in another Senate bid in 1970. He lost a presidential primary bid to Reagan in 1980.

Bill Clinton lost a Congressional bid in 1974. After being elected governor of Arkansas in 1978, he lost a re-election bid in 1980.

George W. Bush lost a Congressional race in 1978.

Barack Obama lost a Congressional primary race (by a margin of two to one!) in 2000.

Rand Paul has never lost an election.

The Commentariat -- Jan. 23, 2014

Amie Parnes & Justin Sink of the Hill: In his State of the Union address, President Obama "will include a 'healthy dose' of the income inequality message the White House has focused on in recent weeks, according to one senior administration official familiar with the text."

Charlie Savage of the New York Times: "An independent federal privacy watchdog has concluded that the National Security Agency's program to collect bulk phone call records has provided only 'minimal' benefits in counterterrorism efforts, is illegal and should be shut down. The findings are laid out in a 238-page report, scheduled for release by Thursday..., that represent the first major public statement by the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board, which Congress made an independent agency in 2007 and only recently became fully operational. The report is likely to inject a significant new voice into the debate over surveillance...." ...

... Linda Greenhouse takes on the question of the applicability of analog precedent in a digital age. ...

... Paul Waldman: "... it doesn't take a totalitarian regime" to deprive us of privacy. "The ability to be anonymous has been receding for decades as documentation and record-keeping has advanced, like a picture of each of us coming more into focus with each passing year."

Matt Apuzzo of the New York Times: "The company that conducted a background investigation on the contractor Edward J. Snowden fraudulently signed off on hundreds of thousands of incomplete security checks in recent years, the Justice Department said Wednesday. The government said the company, U.S. Investigations Services, defrauded the government of millions of dollars by submitting more than 650,000 investigations that had not been completed.... In addition to Mr. Snowden, the company performed the background check for Aaron Alexis, a 34-year-old military contractor who killed 12 people at the Washington Navy Yard last year.... The lawsuit highlights not just how reliant the government is on contractors to perform national security functions, but also how screening those contractors requires even more contractors."

Jason Millman of Politico: "More than 6.3 million people have been determined eligible for Medicaid and Children's Health Insurance Program coverage since the October start of open enrollment, the Obama administration announced Wednesday -- but it's still impossible to say how many are newly insured because of Obamacare. At least 2.3 million people were found eligible for Medicaid and CHIP in December alone, the same month that enrollment in private health plans also spiked sharply, according to the latest figures from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. These determinations include people who renewed coverage or were previously eligible for coverage but had not enrolled. However, the Medicaid numbers just released don't include eligibility determinations made through federal-run exchanges in 36 states, meaning the total could be higher."

Justin Sink of the Hill: "President Obama on Wednesday marked the 41st anniversary of the Roe v. Wade decision with a statement calling on the nation to 'recommit' to the principle 'that every woman should be able to make her own choices about her body and her health. We reaffirm our steadfast commitment to protecting a woman's access to safe, affordable health care and her constitutional right to privacy, including the right to reproductive freedom,' Obama said." The full statement is here. ...

... Dana Milbank: According to the sponsors' own theory, it would appear an Angry God put a chill on the March for Life on the Mall in Washington. "The temperature was 12 degrees at the start of the annual antiabortion event, the wind chill below zero, and participants were trudging about in snow and ice from the previous day's storm.... Long before they make abortion illegal, Republicans will make themselves irrelevant, by choosing abortion bills over jobs bills and by validating Democratic claims of a GOP 'war on women.'" ...

Mrs. Pearce holds the book that condemns her to submit to her lord and master.... War on Women, Ctd. Aaron Blake of the Washington Post: "Rep. Steve Pearce's (R-N.M.) ... says in a recently released book that a wife is to 'voluntarily submit' to her husband, but that it doesn't make her inferior to him." Because the Bible tells us so. Pearce is extremely upset that the Post has accurately quoted him. Thanks to Julie L. for the link. ...

... War on Women, Ctd. Emily Goodman of the Nation on oral arguments before the Supreme Court on the Massachusetts law that provides a "buffer zone" of 35 feet for reproductive healthcare facilities. "Anti-choicers allege they are being denied access to public sidewalks and that their free speech rights are being infringed.... Respondents -- those defending the law -- focused at oral argument on the law's impact on public safety and crowd control at reproductive health facilities." ...

... Dean Obeidallah in the Daily Beast visits a new Jersey abortion clinic where he was met by a "sea of people screaming, counseling and praying" to prevent women from entering the clinic. Thanks to contributor Victoria D. for the link & raising this important matter.

Jake Sherman of Politico: "Treasury Secretary Jack Lew sent a letter to Speaker John Boehner on Wednesday, saying the 'best course of action would be for Congress to 'raise the nation's debt limit 'before February 7 to ensure orderly financing of the government.' At the latest, Lew writes, Congress must lift the cap by the end of February.... Michael Steel, a spokesman for Boehner, hinted in an email that Republicans will again demand concessions from Democrats to raise the borrowing limit." Emphasis added.

Gail Collins: "It's way easier to be pope" than POTUS.

CW: George Will has noticed that the Supreme Court has a conservative majority, I'll wager, so he has decided, with a little help from a libertarian writer, that judicial activism is a very good thing. "America's defining value is not majority rule but individual liberty.... Conservatives' advocacy of judicial restraint serves liberalism by leaving government's growth unrestrained." Will makes his point by citing a ridiculous state regulation which prevented a poor Louisiana woman from earning a living as a floral designer. His new judicial philosophy will also liberate George, in a manner of speaking, as he is now free to cheer on the increasingly activist Roberts Court.

Uri Friedman of the Atlantic: "In 2013, for the eighth year in a row, more countries registered declines in political rights and civil liberties than gains. Even as the number of electoral democracies in the world increased, nations like the Central African Republic, Mali, and Ukraine suffered devastating democratic setbacks. Thirty-five percent of the world's population, living in 25 percent of the polities on the planet, found themselves in countries that aren't free." CW: The report, by a Washington, D.C.-based organization, lists the U.S. as "free." I think we can all agree that voter suppression laws & the Supreme Court's ruling striking down most of the Voting Rights Act have made the U.S. less free than it was in, say, 2008.

Senate Race

** McConnellCare. Igor Volsky of Think Progress: "Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) is out with a new campaign ad touting his success in securing free preventive health care services for Kentuckians. The spot, titled 'Cares,' tries to paint the Senate Minority Leader as a compassionate Republican who carries a moral obligation to provide sick people with access to government-sponsored health care." Uh, like ObamaCare. ...

... ** Jason Cherkis of the Huffington Post: The ad buy is based on a horrifying lie, the same lie he ran with during his 2008 campaign. ...

... Jed Lewison of Daily Kos: "But ... the context in which this ad will be received is the context in which tens of thousands of previously uninsured Kentuckians now have health insurance thanks entirely to Obamacare. And ... Mitch McConnell ... wants to repeal Obamacare completely.... McConnell can't simply walk away form his hardline position against Obamacare without exposing himself to attacks from [Tea Party challenger Matt] Bevin, his new ad shows that he and his political operation are acutely aware that being against Obamacare has a major political downside." ...

... Burgess Everett of Politico: The Koch-funded Tea Party astroturf group "FreedomWorks endorsed Mitch McConnell's primary challenger Matt Bevin on Wednesday, marking another conservative group that is standing against the Senate minority leader. FreedomWorks' PAC praised Bevin as the more fiscally sound choice and criticized McConnell for 'helping the Democrats' fund Obamacare during the fall. The GOP leader opposed a strategy backed by conservative favorite Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) to vote down any spending bill that did not defund the law. That tactic fueled a weekslong government shutdown that McConnell ended by cutting a deal with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.)." ...

... Presidential Election 2016

The news is better for Kentucky's junior senator. Peter Beinert in the Atlantic: "Don't laugh.... Rand Paul Is the 2016 Republican Frontrunner.... He has built-in advantages in Iowa and New Hampshire, a party moving in his direction, and formidable fundraising potential."

Beth Reinhard of the National Journal: "The Republican National Committee is poised this week to enact its toughest crackdown yet on states that try to infringe on the special, first-in-the-nation status afforded to Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina, and Nevada. Florida, this means you." ...

... Gubernatorial Race

Frank Rich: "If there's a unifying lesson to be learned from the double-header of the McDonnell-Christie scandals, it's only that dubious character is hardly a bar to running for governor. Yesterday, the Republican senator David Vitter, best known for turning up in the phone book of the 'D.C. Madam' in 2007, announced he would seek Louisiana's state house in 2015. Somewhere, perhaps, Rod Blagojevich is laughing.' Thanks to MAG for the link.

Sean Sullivan & Aaron Blake of the Washington Post: "Sen. David Vitter's announcement Tuesday that he will run for governor of Louisiana in 2015 marks the latest chapter in a remarkable comeback story for a politician who was once embroiled in a high-profile prostitution scandal."

Michael Tomasky of the Daily Beast: Vitter is "America's Most Contemptible Senator."

Local News

Elections Matter. Robert Barnes of the Washington Post: "Virginia Attorney General Mark R. Herring will announce Thursday that he believes the state's ban on same-sex marriage is unconstitutional and that Virginia will join two same-sex couples in asking a federal court to strike it down, according to an official close to the attorney general with knowledge about the decision. The action will mark a stunning reversal in the state's legal position on same-sex marriage and is a result of November elections in which Democrats swept the state's top offices. Herring's predecessor, Republican Ken Cuccinelli II, adamantly opposes gay marriage and had vowed to defend Virginia's constitutional amendment banning such unions, which was passed in 2006 with the support of 57 percent of voters." CW: Herring won election by only a few hundred votes among more than a million cast.

Carol Leonnig & Rosalind Helderman of the Washington Post: "Former Virginia governor Robert F. McDonnell has admitted he used 'poor judgment' in taking luxury gifts and loans from a prominent businessman, but federal prosecutors will face difficult challenges in proving a crime was committed. The government must show persuasively that McDonnell and his wife struck a corrupt bargain with the Richmond business owner, agreeing to use his powerful state office to help the company in exchange for the executive's largess." ...

... Laura Vozella of the Washington Post: The McDonnells' "Restoration Fund, established in July to bankroll the governor's legal team, had less than $2,000 in contributions, according to its Web site. Although it's unclear how comprehensive the list is, the amount shown is not enough to pay a high-dollar lawyer for even a day's work. McDonnell may not have the personal resources to pay for his defense."

Paul Egan, et al., of the Detroit Free Press: "A settlement of Detroit’s bankruptcy that would protect city retirees and the collection at the Detroit Institute of Arts appeared closer Wednesday after Gov. Rick Snyder pledged $350 million to a growing rescue fund designed to bring all the major parties together in a grand resolution. U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Steven Rhodes also put his weight behind a grand bargain Wednesday, saying in a separate hearing that he might not allow DIA artwork ever to be sold to satisfy city debts."

Lawyering Up in Jersey:

     ... Shawn Boburg of the Bergen Record: "The Christie aide who wrote the now infamous message -- 'Time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee' -- has hired a hard-charging and prominent defense attorney to represent her as several investigations move forward. Michael Critchley confirmed Wednesday that he was representing Bridget Anne Kelly, of Ramsey, Christie's former deputy chief of staff, who was fired after her message surfaced...."

     ... Jason Grant of the Star-Ledger: "Hoboken Mayor Dawn Zimmer is poised to hire prominent New Jersey lawyer Gerald Krovatin to represent her, as federal prosecutors investigate her claims that Gov. Chris Christie's office withheld tens of millions of dollars in Sandy-related funds from Hoboken because Zimmer refused to push for a Christie-connected real estate development. Hoboken's city council plans to vote tonight on whether to appoint Krovatin as the city's as 'special legal counsel.' Krovatin has defended Dawn Zimmer in civil court in the past."

News Ledes

Reuters: "Lawmakers in one of the largest cities in Washington state have said no to marijuana businesses, the latest in a series of backlashes by municipalities against a voter-approved recreational pot market in the northwest state.... The Yakima City Council on Tuesday voted 6-1 in favor of banning pot growers, processors and retailers from operating within its borders."

AP: "A massive highway pileup being blamed on whiteout conditions killed at least two people and injured scores of others Thursday afternoon in northwestern Indiana, police and a coroner said."