this is an adventure

Malanga on NYC: “Taxes, fees, and fines are worse than ever; city departments have stepped up inspections and enforcement; city agencies have stymied efforts to cut red tape; and at a time when the national and city economies are struggling, commissioners have promoted new social policies that have added to businesses’ burdens.”

There’s little question that Charles Rangel’s corrupt real estate dealings are a matter of fact. But “Boehner and other top Republicans don’t want to make Rangel into a sympathetic figure and are sensitive to any accusation from African-Americans that there is a GOP campaign to remove him from power.”

Newsweek calls Virginia’s gubernatorial race “the first big electoral test of Barack Obama’s presidency.” Unfortunately, Obama seems to be taking this one pass-fail. “Already, unnamed White House aides have leaked that it’s Deeds’s race to win, perhaps distancing themselves from the blowback if he loses.”

Witness: “a somewhat unlikely alliance between an administration that came into power criticizing George W. Bush for his closeness to Big Business and groups such as the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America and the American Medical Association.” “No quid pro quo was involved, they insist, as do the lobbyists themselves.”