memeorandum: Climate Science In Denial (Richard S. Lindzen/Wall Street Journal)

9:30 PM ET, April 22, 2010

Top Items:

Time:

BANKS: Deposits Guaranteed … Through the great banking houses of Manhattan last week ran wild-eyed alarm. Big bankers stared at one another in anger and astonishment. A bill just passed by both houses of Congress would rivet upon their institutions what they considered a monstrous system of guaranteeing bank deposits.

Discussion: Newsweek Blogs, Swampland, Ben Smith's Blog and TPM LiveWire

The White House:

Remarks by the President on Wall Street Reform Cooper Union, New York, New York — THE PRESIDENT: Thank you very much. Everybody, please have a seat. Thank you very much. Well, thank you. It is good to be back. (Applause.) It is good to be back in New York, it is good to be back in the Great Hall at Cooper Union.

Discussion: White House.gov Blog Feed, Democratic National Committee, Big Government, The Foundry, Washington Wire, Washington Monthly, The Atlantic Online, The Caucus, No More Mister Nice Blog, Deal Journal, Gateway Pundit, The New Republic and The Consumerist

The Politico:

Reid rolls dice on Wall St. bill — Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) placed a bet Thursday: call the roll on a Wall Street reform bill and at least one Republican will say aye. — Emboldened by public anger toward Wall Street, Democrats set the first key vote for Monday on a bill …

Discussion: CNN, The Hill, TPMDC, Blogs and Stories, Weekly Standard, Clusterstock, The Note, The Page, Gateway Pundit, ourfuture.org/blogs_chrono/*, Washington Monthly, Pat Dollard, Think Progress and EnviroKnow

Myglesias / Matthew Yglesias:

Higher Taxes: The Solution to Obscene Wall Street Profits — Ezra Klein uses some charts and graphs to demonstrate how profits and compensation have skyrocketed on Wall Street, and concludes: … I don't really understand this progressive passion for trying to micromanage the structure of the American economy.

Discussion: Ezra Klein

Ben Armbruster / Think Progress:

Issa Admits He Has No Proof For His Conspiracy That Obama White House Is Colluding With SEC — Last Friday, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed a civil lawsuit against Wall Street giant Goldman Sachs for allegedly selling mortgage investments that were secretly intended to fail …

Discussion: DealBook, Daily Kos, The Huffington Post and CNN

Ezra Klein:

What would FDR do? — In 1936, Franklin Delano Roosevelt took the podium at Madison Square Garden to deliver a message to his critics. “We [have] had to struggle with the old enemies of peace,” he said. “Business and financial monopoly, speculation, reckless banking, class antagonism, sectionalism, war profiteering.

Discussion: New Deal 2.0 and Newsweek Blogs

Lee Fang / Think Progress:
VIDEO: Bank Lobbyists Huddle For Another Secret Meeting With GOP Senators

Discussion: The Huffington Post, The Political Carnival and TPMDC

Peter Baker / New York Times:
In Manhattan, Obama Presses for Financial Reform

Discussion: Firedoglake, Crooks and Liars, The Baseline Scenario, Daily Kos, Townhall.com, The Spot, The Caucus and THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS

Victor Zapanta / Think Progress:
VIDEO: The GOP's Solution To Everything — Let's ‘Start Over’

Discussion: Matthew Yglesias and Grasping Reality …

Rep. John Boehner / Investor's Business Daily:
President Obama's ‘TARP Forever’ Act

Discussion: McClatchy Washington Bureau, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, The Corner on National …, NY Daily News, Bloomberg, Salon, The Note, ABCNEWS, Newshoggers.com and The Reaction

NBC Chicago:

Redactions Revealed: The Six Secrets You Need to Know From the Obama Subpoena Request — Former governor Rod Blagojevich's defense team asked Thursday to issue a trial subpoena to the President of the United States of America. — The motion, intended to be heavily redacted …

Discussion: THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS, Another Black Conservative, Hot Air, LewRockwell.com Blog and Real Clear Politics

Frances Martel / Mediaite:

Mediaite Exclusive: Censored Portions of Blago Subpoena May Implicate Team Obama — Today in United States v. Rod Blagojevich: following up on his 2008 claims that then-Senator Barack Obama was one of a few people who could testify to his innocence, his defense team issued a motion today to subpoena the President to testify in court.

Discussion: The Blago Blog, TalkLeft and Confederate Yankee

WBBM-TV:

Judge Holds Emergency Hearing In Blagojevich Case — Defense Motion To Subpoena President Barack Obama Contained Sealed Information That Was Visible In Some Electronic Formats — CHICAGO (CBS) ― The judge presiding over the corruption case against former Gov. Rod Blagojevich summoned attorneys …

Discussion: Pundit & Pundette and National Review

Dave Itzkoff / ArtsBeat:

‘South Park’ Episode Is Altered After Muslim Group's Warning — A message posted on SouthParkStudios.com, the Web site of Trey Parker and Matt Stone's production company. — 8:56 a.m. | Updated — An episode of “South Park” that continued a story line involving the Prophet Muhammad …

Andrew Sullivan / The Daily Dish:

Puss-TV vs Non-Puss TV — If you try to access the latest episode of South Park online, you get the message above. — I know I'm a broken record, but the two-part 200th episode was about as close to genius - and hardcore fan-pandering - as you can get. Hennifer Lopez, Mr Hat …

Discussion: The Awl and NewsReal Blog

Ann Althouse / Althouse:
Comedy Central cowers in the face of a murder threat/warning against …

Discussion: ArtsBeat, Instapundit, GayPatriot, Mediaite, Hit & Run, DaTechguy's Blog and The Other McCain

The Corner on National Review Online:

Liberty, Tyranny, and the Globe — By: NRO Staff — I don't know Jim Manzi, but given his out-of-nowhere rant, you'd think I ran over his dog or something. Feel free to read my book, and the chapter Manzi distorts and cherry-picks, yourself. You don't need Manzi to interpret it.

Discussion: Erick's blog, The Daily Dish, Democracy in America, AmSpecBlog, Balloon Juice, Sadly, No!, The American Scene and The Other McCain

Richard S. Lindzen / Wall Street Journal:

Climate Science In Denial — Global warming alarmists have been discredited, but you wouldn't know it from the rhetoric this Earth Day. — In mid-November of 2009 there appeared a file on the Internet containing thousands of emails and other documents from the Climatic Research Unit at the University of East Anglia in Great Britain.

Discussion: The American Scene, The Corner on National … and NewsBusters.org

Reuters:

Exclusive: WellPoint routinely targets breast cancer patients — (Reuters) - One after another, shortly after a diagnosis of breast cancer, each of the women learned that her health insurance had been canceled. First there was Yenny Hsu, who lived and worked in Los Angeles.

Discussion: Crooks and Liars, Wonk Room, Firedoglake, The Hill, The Huffington Post, The Consumerist, RHRealityCheck.org, Obsidian Wings, Shakesville, Bob Cesca's Awesome Blog! and Swampland

Matt Corley / Think Progress:

Cheney: Telling Leahy to ‘f*ck’ himself was ‘sort of the best thing I ever did.’ — In 2004, then-Vice President Dick Cheney had a “frank exchange of views” with Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) on the Senate floor over Cheney's ties to Halliburton and President Bush's judicial nominees.

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland, The Other McCain and Washington Post

Fox News:

Franklin Graham Regrets Army's Decision to Rescind Invite to Pentagon Prayer Service — Evangelist Franklin Graham said Thursday that he regrets the Army's decision to rescind its invitation to him for the Pentagon's National Day of Prayer service on May 6, but expressed “strong support” for the U.S. military.

Discussion: Hot Air, Pat Dollard and National Review

Jen DiMascio / The Politico:
Pentagon pulls Graham invitation

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland and Media Matters for America

Thomas Fitzgerald / Philly.com:

In Pa. House race, identity politics with a twist — It's happened so often that it's now a cultural cliche: the gay politician pretending to be straight. In most parts of the nation, homosexuality or bisexuality is a clear electoral liability. — Not in Center City's 182d state House district.

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, Hot Air, Daily Kos, Confederate Yankee and Moonbattery

Martin Kady II / Glenn Thrush's Blog:

GOP brings KBH back into leadership — Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Texas) is being rewarded for sticking with Republicans in the Senate. — Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on Thursday appointed Hutchison as a “counsel” to GOP leadership to serve alongside Judd Gregg of New Hampshire and Bob Bennett of Utah.

Discussion: Riehl World View and Erick's blog

Jordan Fabian / The Hill:
Sen. Hutchison gets leadership post

Discussion: The Page

Tim Shipman / Daily Mail:

'I've gone from being Churchill to a Nazi in a week': Clegg defends attack on Britain's ‘delusions of grandeur’ over WWII — A rattled Nick Clegg today sought to defend himself over his claim that the British people have a ‘more insidious cross to bear’ than Germany over World War II.

Discussion: Guardian, Indecision Forever, Telegraph, The Daily Dish, Weekly Standard, thetorydiary, Swampland, Iain Dale's Diary, MyDD and THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS

Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blog:
Clegg and America — The sudden prospect (though not likelihood) …

Discussion: Mediaite, Israel Matzav and Eunomia

Wall Street Journal:

Democrats at the Edge of the Cliff — Democrats are spending trillions at the worst possible moment, with a new poll showing public trust in government at a historic low of 22%. — There was always something eerie about the way the Democrats said their health-care legislation was what the American people had waited “70 years” for.

Discussion: The New Republic

Peterhamby / CNN:

Pawlenty makes moves in South Carolina — Tim Pawlenty is scheduled to visit South Carolina in May. — Washington (CNN) - His top advisers have already started talks with key political players in South Carolina, and now Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, a potential 2012 presidential contender …

George F. Will / Press Association:

Bringing Thunder-ous change to New Jersey — The bridge spanning the Delaware River connects New Jersey's capital with this town where the nation's most interesting governor occasionally eats lunch at Cafe Antonio. It also connects New Jersey's government with reality.

Discussion: Mediaite, Moonbattery, Commentary, Betsy's Page, Taylor Marsh, AmSpecBlog, Left Coast Rebel and Beltway Confidential

Jonathan Chait / The New Republic:

Conservative Radio Silence On Financial Regulation — Yesterday I commented on the miraculous nature of the sudden revival of financial reform. One other key element in this upsurge is the intellectual disarray on the right. Conservatives do not know what to say or think about this.

Discussion: The Corner on National …, A plain blog about politics and The Daily Dish

Mike Lillis / The Washington Independent:

In Coal Country, a Culture of Fear — Massey Intimidates Workers, Families Into Silence … Charleston, W.Va. — Two weeks after the horrific explosion that killed 29 coal miners in southern West Virginia, it's business as usual for the owner of the project.

Discussion: Grist, The Political Carnival, Think Progress, Wall Street Journal and The Washington Independent

Marist Poll:

4/22: Making Change with the 50 Dollar Bill — A Republican congressman from North Carolina has proposed legislation that would replace the image of President Ulysses S. Grant on the fifty dollar bill with that of President Ronald Reagan. Do Americans want this change to occur?

Discussion: Texas on the Potomac, Open Left and The Swamp

Yves Smith / naked capitalism:

Blankfein: Suit Against Goldman Will “Hurt America” — An interesting disconnect exists between Goldman's public posture on the SEC's suit against it over its Abacus 2007 AC1 deal and its private remarks. The firm has maintained that the charges are baseless and politically motivated …

Discussion: Corrente, Law Blog, Think Progress, Clusterstock, Pacific Views and The Washington Independent

Mark Murray / msnbc.com:

Obama administration to appeal prayer ruling — From NBC's Pete Williams — The Justice Department says it intends to appeal a federal court ruling that found the National Day of Prayer to be a violation of the separation between church and state. — The ruling came in a lawsuit filed …

Discussion: The Blotter

CNN:

Poll: Obama gets thumbs down on Israel — One third of Americans approve of how President Obama is handling the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians, according to a new poll. — Washington (CNN) - Only a third of Americans approve of the way President Obama's handling …

Discussion: Ben Smith's Blog, Ynetnews, Time and Israel Matzav

CNN:

From CNN's Jeff Simon — Washington (CNN) - The Senate on Thursday passed legislation to scrap its $1600 cost-of-living pay raise for 2011. Lawmakers automatically receive the pay hike unless they vote each year to stop it. — The bill was introduced by Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Wisconsin …

Discussion: TalkLeft

Ben Geman / The Hill:

Graham: Immigration would ‘destroy ability to do climate change’ — Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) on Thursday said the Senate is not ready to tackle immigration reform and that bringing a bill forward would be “CYA politics.” — CYA is slang for “cover your a**.”