the American Problem

* tpmm:

"Over at the Sunlight Foundation, they've found Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-IL) taking a page from Rep. Ken Calvert's (R-CA) investment playbook.
For years, Hastert has been pushing the construction of a highway called the Prairie Parkway in Illinois. He secured $207 million in earmarks to support the project. But what he didn't tell constituents was that he owned a huge plot of farmland just a few miles from where the road would run. And now that the project's gone through, the land has been tranferred to a real estate development firm with plans to build a 1,600 home community. The land has already improved in value by millions of dollars.

I wonder how much Hastert will ultimately make on the deal?"

I've looked at Hastert's financial records before - until now, he was essentially asset-free.

* jeralyn:

"So much for freedom of the press. Journalists have been forced to leave Guantanamo in the wake of the suicides."

* luskin:

"“The scariest thing in the world is to be the lawyer for an innocent client, because all you can do is screw it up,” he said. “So from my personal perspective—and particularly because I like and respect my client so much—it’s a huge sense of relief that I didn’t manage to screw it up.”"

* emptywheel:

"The Solution to the Iran "Problem" Is in Pakistan"

(i left a comment there noting the American Problem)

* emptywheel:

"Because if we don't hold (the neocons) accountable for their absolute failure, they'll stick around and keep trying, in Iran, with China, who knows where they have their sights set? The false renunciations of Fukuyama and the promised disbanding of the office are simply an attempt to retain influence by abdicating all responsibility for the colossal failures of the Neocon project. We have got to make them accept their responsibility."