Hot Rails To Hades

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metrolightrail_0preview.thumbnail.jpgIt has been quite the rage on teh progressive internets to discuss trans, trains and super trains. Atrios is the King of all Train Media. Yglesias has climbed on board, and now even a dyed in the wool California suburban guy like Kevin Drum is jawing about them, although he seems to have differing views on short haul commuter (for) than long haul passenger (against for financial reasons).

Well, this is most certainly not an area I have any expertise in, so I call on you, the smartest commentariat available, to edify me. And, this is important, because I just got a brand new choo choo.

A dress rehearsal for the new Metro light-rail system went smoothly Friday as trains packed with VIPs and special guests rolled out of Tempe for Phoenix and Mesa.

A couple hundred people trooped into the chilly plaza of the Tempe Transportation Center before dawn to be among the first to ride the $1.4 billion system. Metro has been making test runs with the trains and the Friday event for invited guests was a warm-up for Saturday, when the public is welcomed on board.
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Tempe Mayor Hugh Hallman said the rail system not only would help reduce congestion and bad air but also contribute to "cultural sustainability," helping cities preserve resources.

"We have to thank the taxpayers who sponsored this investment," he said.

Metro runs from the Christown Spectrum Mall area in Phoenix through downtown Tempe into west Mesa.

They have been planning, researching, constructing and developing the Valley Metro Light Rail for twelve years, and talking about it since the mid 80s. And now it is ready to roll. In fact, I saw the VIP run earlier today as I went to Sky Harbor airport to pick up a friend. Definitely very shiny. I am, however, not quite sure what to make of it.

Here is a good overview of the whole Valley Metro Rail System.

Phoenix and the greater "Valley of the Sun" is the very definition of urban and suburban sprawl. And it is very automobile centric; if you don’t have a car, you can’t get around. I have no idea what it would be like to ride a bus here, but my guess is not very pleasant or convenient. So, I have some questions.

1) Being so car ingrained, will people really ride this thing in numbers great enough to make it worthwhile?

2) Will it work in light of the fact that things are so spread out?  Read more →

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Happy Holidays And Thanks!

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HAPPY HOLIDAYS to one and all. And my thanks to the greatest readers and commenters on teh internets! You folks are awesome, and none of it works without you. And thanks, most of all, to Marcy for the tireless and incredible work she does, and for letting me hang around and be part of the fun and excitement.

We had a wonderful Christmas Eve dinner at Casa de bmaz and then retired to watch Bing Crosby and Fred Astaire in Holiday Inn. For those not aware, Holiday Inn is the movie the Irving Berlin classic song White Christmas actually comes from, not the later movie with the title "White Christmas".

Well, Santa has just now completed his night’s work and, later in the morning, it will be present time. Here’s wishing you and yours all the very best.

It’s the Holidays! How about a little more music? Well alright then, away we go!

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We Are All Banks Now

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GMAC wins bank status–gains access to TARP.

Optimistic emptywheel:

One of the critical problems in the auto industry is the absence of credit (I’ve heard folks under 750 can’t get a car loan, for example).  By making GMAC a bank, you relieve one of the biggest problems in the sickest parts of the auto industry, and thereby stimulate one of the key segments of the economy, and you begin to get to get money the economy moving again.

Pessimistic emptywheel:

Dan Quayle and John Snow have an (increasingly limited) ability to suck at the federal teat to make their private profit.

The small print:

GM must now reduce its stake in the auto lender below 10 percent, from 49 percent. GM has three years to sell the rest of its shares, which in the interim will be placed in a trust that the company does not control. The automaker and GMAC also agreed to unwind a number of exclusive agreements, freeing GMAC to offer financing on equal terms to customers of other car companies.

Cerberus and its chief, Steve Feinberg, must reduce their stake below 15 percent, from 51 percent. The private equity fund plans to distribute its GMAC shares proportionally among its investors.

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Shorter Blagojevich:

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"If I have to face impeachment, then the self-imagined future Speaker of the House ought to be forced to testify, too."

In a dramatic development in the ongoing impeachment proceedings, lawyers for Gov. Rod Blagojevich want two key aides to President-elect Barack Obama and U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. to testify before the House impeachment committee.

Sources tell CBS 2 that a letter sent by Blagojevich’s lawyers  to committee chairman, State Rep. Barbara Currie, asks that the committee subpoena Obama’s chief of staff Rahm Emanuel, senior adviser Valerie Jarrett and Jackson.

This is a smart move by Blago. Obama has already signaled he wants to protect Jarrett and Rahm (more on this in upcoming posts). So why not make Obama as uncomfortable as possible? (I intend to start counting the number of unintended consequences from Obama’s crappy treatment of yesterday’s report; count this as number one.)

Furthermore, this will expose a good deal of Fitz’s case. Not that Obama or Jarrett or JJJ himself (as opposed to his associates) are key players in Fitz’s case. But this gives Blago an opportunity to play to the press’ shiny object to distract attention from the wholesale sale of government that is the core of Fitz’s case.

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Blagojevich Report Timeline

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Here are the Obama related dates pertaining to Rod Blagojevich–taken from the report on contacts with Blago and the complaint.

October 31: Blago approached by "emissary" from Jesse Jackson Jr about Senate seat

November 3: Blago spoke with Deputy Governor A and Advisor A about Senate seat; mentions Jarrett

November 4: Obama elected President; Deputy Governor A suggests Blago put a list of things he might ask for in exchange for the Senate seat; Blago also speaks with John Harris about the seat

November 5: Blago and Deputy Governor A talk about possibility of HHS appointment for Senate seat; Blago and Harris talk about a foundation appointment; (approximately) Blago talks to Tom Balanoff (SEIU) and "understood that [Balanoff] was an emissary to discuss [Jarrett]’s interest in the Senate seat"

November 6: Rahm Emanuel accepts Chief of Staff position; Blago gives a leak to Michael Sneed designed "to send a message to the [Obama] people" that Madigan might get the Senate seat over Jarrett

November 6-8: Louanner Peters called Eric Whitaker to ask who spoke for Obama regarding his preferences for his replacement; Obama told Whitaker no one had that authority, which Whitaker "relayed" this to Peters

November 6-8: Rahm has "one or two" conversations with Blago, about his own seat, as well as Senate seat; Rahm has four conversations with John Harris about the Senate seat

November 7: Blago tells Advisor A he’s willing to "trade" the Senate seat for Secretary of HHS; Blago discusses HHS with Harris and Advisor B and talks about 3-way deal with SEIU; Tom Balanoff (local SEIU head) tells Valerie Jarrett that Blago asked whether he might be named HHS; in the same conversation, Balanoff told Jarrett he had talked to Blago about Jarrett for the Senate seat; Balanoff mentioned that Blago had also mentioned Madigan

November 9: Valerie Jarrett withdraws from consideration; Obama talks about Senate candidates with Rahm, with the understanding he would pass on those candidates

November 10: Long conference call about the seat, including discussions about a non-profit in exchange for the seat; Blago admits he’s not going to get HHS; Blago plants leak with Sneed about Jesse Jackson Jr.

November 11: Blago complains that, "they’re not willing to give me anything except appreciation"

November 12: Blago notes that CNN has reported Jarrett is uninterested in Senate seat; Blago talks to Balanoff, probes about whether Jarrett is interested in Senate seat and proposes 401c4; Balanoff says he will "“put that flag up and see where it goes"

November 13: Blago says he wants to be able to call Rahm and say, "this has nothing to do with anything else we’re working on but the Governor wants to put together a 501(c)(4)" and that when Rahm "asks me for the Fifth CD thing I want it to be in his head"; Blago then asks Advisor A to have Individual A (believed to be John Wyma, who is cooperating with Fitzgerald) propose the 501c4 to Rahm; Advisor A says, "while it’s not said this is a play to put in play other things" and Blago agrees

[November 13 is the last reference to negotiations with Obama’s team in the complaint]

December 4: Blago talks about reaching out to JJJ’s people about him rising in consideration, partly because they would raise funds

December 5:  Trib reveals Blago has been wiretapped; Blago tries to pull back discussions related to JJJ

December 6: Fundraiser for JJJ hosted by JJJ’s emissary; some participants believe the fundraiser pertains to the Senate seat

December 7: Fitz gets arrest warrant for Blago

December 8: JJJ and Blago meet about the Senate seat

December 9: Blago arrested; Obama team learns of it from public reports

December 11: Obama team begins to conduct inquiry into contacts with Blago; Read more →

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The Blagojevich Contacts: Only 5-6 Contacts with Rahm on the Senate Seat, But the Report Does Not Cover Rahm’s Seat

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The Obama team has released its report of contacts between the Transition Team and Governor Blagojevich.

With regards to the question of whether or not anyone in Obama’s team talked with Blago about Obama’s replacement, the contacts are innocuous: the only Transition Team member who had any contacts was Rahm, who had "one or two" with Blago and four with John Harris. (According to Greg Craig, Rahm can’t remember whether it was one or two contacts with Blago.)

But curiously, the Obama team very narrowly crafted the question to cover only conversations about Obama’s replacement!!

I arranged for transition staff to provide accounts of any contacts that you or they may have had with Governor Blagojevich or his office in which the subject of your successor came up.

This, even though one of Blago’s conversations references "the 5th CD thing," suggesting an imminent conversation between Blago and Rahm about the special election to replace Rahm, White House Counsel to-be Greg Craig didn’t ask about such conversations.

In addition, on a conference call about the report, Craig stated that he hadn’t known about the Fox report that Rahm had tipped Fitzgerald off to Blago conversations; that seems like a worthwhile question to ask Rahm, don’t you think?

I will try to get some clarification on whether Craig even asked Rahm whether he had talked to Blago about his own replacement; but in the meantime, you can rest assured that Obama was not chumming it up with Blago directly.

Clarification:

As WO and MD point out, Rahm’s House seat does come up:

Soon after he decided to accept the President-Elect’s offer to serve as Chief of Staff in the White House, Mr. Emanuel placed a call to the Governor to give him a heads up that he was taking the Chief of Staff’s position in the White House, and to advise him that he would be resigning his seat in the House of Representatives. They spoke about Mr. Emanuel’s House seat, when he would be resigning and potential candidates to replace him.

My complaint about this report is that it is either amateur in its execution or deliberate in its narrowness, but they apparently never asked Rahm, "How many conversations did you have with Blago and Co about your OWN seat, in addition to the 5-6 that pertained to the Senate seat?" Read more →

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GUILTY – The Fort Dix Five Convicted

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The panel of jurors deliberating the Fort Dix Five terrorism trial has found all five defendants guilty of plotting to attack the military base and kill soldiers. The foreign-born Muslims from Cherry Hill Pennsylvania, were charged with conspiracy to kill military personnel, attempted murder and weapons charges. There does not appear to be date set for sentencing, but the men could be sentenced to up to life in prison.

From The Guardian:

The defence called the case against the Fort Dix, New Jersey defendants a big mistake, one that came to court only because of zealous investigators and sleazy FBI informants.

The prosecution said that the defendants were linked by their common belief in radical Islam and a desire to kill American soldiers, and that investigators stepped in before their plot could come to fruition.
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"The government was mistaken about these men’s intentions," defence attorney Michael Huff told jurors yesterday. "You have the opportunity to correct that mistake."

In his rebuttal, Deputy US Attorney William Fitzpatrick said the defendants’ words and actions "cry out for guilty verdicts".

Defendant Mohamad Shnewer, for instance, drove to several military bases with an FBI informant, who was recording their conversation. Prosecutors called their trips "surveillance".

"All he’s talking about is picking targets, killing people," he said. "And the defence counsel wants you to believe he doesn’t mean it; he’s a flake." The defence did paint Shnewer, the lead defendant, as an overweight outsider and a screw-up, the butt of his friends’ jokes.

Mike Riley, the attorney for defendant Shain Duka, said the case was built on "the mouth of Mohamad Shnewer and the computer of Mohamad Shnewer".

In addition to his many inflammatory statements about killing soldiers, Shnewer downloaded more than 100 jihadist videos to his laptop, including some created by al-Sahab, the media wing of al-Qaida.

The Guardian article provides a good background on the matter and the different arguments presented by both the prosecution and defense.

It is hard to know the validity of prosecutions like this one with the tattered reputation of the Bush Department of Justice. The habitual practice of oppressive and deceptive prosecutions, and flat out dishonesty, especially on terrorism cases, leaves even jury verdicts open to question. January 20, 2009 cannot come soon enough.

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Jesse Jackson Jr’s Fundraiser Wants Immunity

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The most interesting tidbit from the Trib’s report that Raghuveer Nayak, one of JJJ’s fundraisers mentioned in the Blagojevich criminal complaint, wants immunity in exchange for testimony is the reaction from JJJ’s lawyer.

Jackson’s lawyer, James Montgomery Sr., reacted to the news of Nayak’s bid for immunity by saying, "If that is indeed the case, and if that cooperation relates to my client, then [Nayak] is trying to save his own skin. That’s all I have to say."

Montgomery hedges his statement carefully: he doesn’t admit that Nayak’s cooperation would necessarily pertain solely to JJJ. But he insinuates that, if Nayak’s cooperation does relate to JJJ, Nayak’s just trying to save himself. 

Given how closely Nayak’s actions match up with the complaint (that is, he appears to be a good candidate to be both JJJ’s "emissary" and–as the Trib points out–the Indidvidual D whom Blago was preparing to hit up on December 4, not long before Blago was arrested) that’s an interesting admission. It also suggests that JJJ and Nayak may be trying to damage each other, which given the way things are shaping up in Chicago, wouldn’t surprise me. Most of all, it surprised me that Montgomery didn’t immediately suggest that Nayak might be cooperating to make the case against Blago; there’s no reason to assume any more than that, after all.

Meanwhile, here’s a summary of Nayak’s ties to the Jackson family:

Nayak’s connections to the Jackson family go back years. Not only has he been a longtime political supporter of Rep. Jackson, he’s traveled with the congressman’s father, Rev. Jesse Jackson, to India and he’s partnered with the congressman’s brother, Jonathan, on a failed land deal. Records also show Jonathan Jackson’s former cellular phone business used office space at a Gold Coast facility owned by Nayak.

His ties to the world of medical industry that ties so closely to many of Blago’s pay-to-play are much stronger. But I do find the ties to other Jacksons–aside from JJJ–notable.

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Blagojevich Presser Live-Blog

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Watching MSNBC leading up to the Blago presser. Blago has announced he is not going to take questions. Go figure.

Blago’s lawyer has already suggested that the wiretaps that caught him trying to sell Obama’s Senate seat were illegal. Expect some righteous outrage over that–though I think that’s a ploy to try to get the affidavit that justified those wiretaps, which would, in turn, reveal more about the people cooperation with Fitz.

Not guilty of any criminal wrong-doing. I will fight (repeated a bunch of times). I have done nothing wrong. And I’m not going to quit a job people hired to do bc of false accusations and political lynch mob. 

Not going to talk about case in 30-second sound bites. Dying to show you how innocent I am. I intend to answer them in appropriate forum, court of law. Absolutely certain that I will be vindicated. 

Kipling? He’s quoting Kipling?

Most powerful ally there is, and it’s the truth. I have the personal knowledge I have not done anything wrong. Please reserve judgment. Afford me same rights that you and your children have: presumption of innocence.

One last thing: to all of those who have expressed support, thank you for your prayers and good wishes. Patti and I cannot express how grateful we are. 

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays.

Well, that was short.

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Baseball, Hot Dogs, Apple Pie and Chevrolet

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George Bush has joined the malodorous southern Republicans in their heinous attempt to drive US automakers into bankruptcy. From the Washington Post:

An "orderly" bankruptcy may be the best way of handling the struggling U.S. auto industry, President Bush indicated today as he spoke before the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative Washington think tank. However, he said he hasn’t decided what action he will take, the Associated Press reports.
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Perino said: "The president is not going to allow a disorderly collapse of the companies. A disorderly collapse would be something very chaotic that is a shock to the system."

Bush and the American auto killers are flat out determined to drive the country to ruin and kill the last remaining hard industry the nation has, it appears. And they are able to do so because so much of the country is ill informed to completely uninformed about the real nature of American auto.

In the previous post, Marcy described how Bill Ford schooled Larry King on the truth about Ford Motor Company and the backup credit line they wish to have available should it be necessary. Well, now I am here do a little edifying about General Motors.

Remember all that bashing administered by Richard Shelby, Bob Corker, Jim DeMint and so many other union busting types about "the failed business model", the "backwards out of date products", and the failure to transform to a company for the future? It is hard to tell whether this is a knowing lie or just rank ignorance. Time to school the foreign coddling, un-American, Dixie union and industry busters; a southern man doesn’t need them around anyhow.

First off, that plan for a profitable and sustainable future with progressive products that the Congress keeps demanding? It is already in progress; and, hey Republican nimrods, it has been for almost four years, since 2005. The following information bits are excerpted from various GM information releases forwarded to me by a senior executive at General Motors headquarters.

As to the need to shift from huge SUVs and large trucks and towards efficient cars and smaller crossover vehicles, GM is already doing that:

Eleven of our last 13 new or major launches in the U.S. were cars or crossovers.

Take the Chevy Malibu, for example, which has won 29 industry awards so far, including the 2008 North American Car of the Year. And consumers are reacting with enthusiasm… as Read more →

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