A banner day for slime reduction. In Washington, Wall Street reform finally passed the Senate and BP at long last managed to ShamWow the Deepwater Horizon well into submission. The bad guys still eked out a couple of wins. Goldman agreed to pay the SEC a $550 million settlement yet its market cap rose $2 billion and 35 million Americans will likely be unemployed at some point this year. If you need us, we'll be scouring eBay for those newly released Alvin Greene dolls. This is HUFFPOST HILL for Thursday, July 15th, 2010:
AT LONG LAST: BP SAYS IT HAS SUCCESSFULLY CAPPED THE OIL SPILL - So what if the Gulf resembles the Terminator's foot bath...we'll take it. AP: "A tightly fitted cap was successfully keeping oil from gushing into the Gulf of Mexico for the first time in three months, BP said Thursday. The victory -- long awaited by weary residents along the coast -- is the most significant milestone yet in BP's effort to control one of the worst environmental disasters in U.S. history. Kent Wells, a BP PLC vice president, said at a news briefing that oil stopped flowing into the water at 2:25 p.m. CDT after engineers gradually dialed down the amount of crude escaping through the last of three valves in the 75-ton cap." http://huff.to/aiT76K
Transocean, which leased the now-exploded oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico to BP, has already spent $110,000 on the lobbying firm it tapped after the spill. Unlike BP, Transocean did not have a major lobbying presence in Washington, D.C., prior to the spill. Roll Call's Bennett Roth http://bit.ly/axQjze
Exclusive: Geithner doesn't want Warren to head CFPB. Shahien Nasiripour reports, "Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner has expressed opposition to the possible nomination of Elizabeth Warren to head the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, according to a source with knowledge of Geithner's views." Warren called for the creation of the bureau in a 2007 article and has been its most vocal advocate. But she's also been a thorn in Geithner's side since Day One, releasing bailout watchdog reports critical of Treasury every month since President Obama took office. http://huff.to/bpvpVn
Richard Shelby tells HuffPost Hill he also opposes her -- equally unsurprising. Byron Dorgan, asked who should lead the bureau, volunteered Warren's name.
WALL STREET REFORM PASSES SENATE, BILL HEADED TO PRESIDENT'S DESK - Nearly two years after major banks brought the global financial system to the brink of collapse, triggering a steep economic decline and crisis-levels of unemployment, Congress passed its Wall Street reform package, 60-39, with only three Republicans joining every Democrat (but one). The president will sign it into law next week. http://huff.to/bCtjMC
The scene inside the chamber: Dodd's wife and children were in the gallery, waving to their pop, and Barney Frank moseyed about the Senate floor, taking in the ambiance and cutting up a bit, at one point jokingly giving Harry Reid an Italian gesture favored by Antonin Scalia. Otherwise, there was little pomp -- nothing like the health care reform votes. The Senate waited on Richard Shelby, the last senator to arrive, before Roland Burris gavelled the vote closed. Under a third of the gallery seats were filled as Arlen Specter shuffled about the floor impatiently, waiting to give his 30-minute speech on Elena Kagan's nomination, which he's supporting.
"You're our 60th vote, get in here!," Dodd told Carl Levin as the Michigan senator was walking into the Senate chamber prior to the cloture vote.
Harry Reid tried to top his health care voting performance, when he twice voted "no" accidentally, before today's history-making vote on Wall Street reform. "There will be no more votes today," he said, leading to a collective spit take in the press gallery. "Oh, yeah. We'll have final passage," he then reminded his colleagues. "You scared the hell out of me, Jesus," Dodd told Reid.
Happy hour alert: FinReg staffers and reporters taking a deep long breath and then a big cold drink at Irish Times tonight.
OUR TAKE - Despite the obstacles, some major reforms will be put in place by the bill and new authorities granted to regulators could -- depending on whether that authority is acted on -- reshape the financial industry. The bill creates a consumer financial protection entity over the strenuous objections of the GOP and Wall Street, brings serious reform to derivatives trading, gives regulators the authority to break up major banks that are deemed a threat to the system, authorizes a broad audit of the Federal Reserve, largely bars banks from trading taxpayer money for their own profit and bans many of the deceptive mortgage lending practices that fueled the housing bubble. "It is a good step towards fixing some of the worst practices, most notably by creating the consumer protection bureau," said Dean Baker, an economist with the Center for Economic Policy and Research. "However, this bill does not fundamentally change the way Wall Street does business. These guys got off incredibly easy for the enormous damage they did the country."
Kevin Drum: "Here's the good news: this record of progressive accomplishment officially makes Obama the most successful domestic Democratic president of the last 40 years. And here's the bad news: this shoddy collection of centrist, watered down, corporatist sellout legislation was all it took to make Obama the most successful domestic Democratic president of the last 40 years. Take your pick." http://bit.ly/bgcAte
The New York Times's Steven M. Davidoff read the 2,300 page bill on a plane ride. "My law professor verdict: There are many things to applaud in this bill and much in there that will substantially enhance the government's power to regulate the financial industry. On the whole, if you think that the financial industry needs more supervision and financial regulators more tools, you should be relatively happy. If you are an advocate of big world changing ideas like breaking up the banks, you will be less so.and offers a brief summary of what it does and doesn't fix." (Fwiw, Davidoff incorrectly says Simon Johnson thinks the bill is a failure. We know. He works here.) http://nyti.ms/9uMfML
"I think it ought to be repealed," John Boehner told reporters at his weekly press conference Thursday. Lucia Graves: http://huff.to/difPZe
Demos has an exhaustive take: http://bit.ly/coED33
The quotable Carl Levin: "It's not called the Main Street Journal; it's called the Wall Street Journal and there's a reason it's called the Wall Street Journal."
SCOOP: The DNC is circulating a memo on Capitol Hill aiming to calm the nerves of lawmakers (and reporters?) expecting a bloodbath in November, Sam Stein reports. The memo is penned by communications director Brad Woodhouse and goes through a litany of polling data to argue the case that 2010 is a far different political landscape than 1994 or 2006, when Democrats and Republicans respectively suffered majority-busting losses.
Key points from the memo below, read it all here: http://bit.ly/bIk1fz
-- President Obama is much more popular than President Bush was in 2006 or President Clinton was in 1994
-- Similarly, more voters trust the President and Congressional Democrats to lead the country than trust Republicans to do so
-- In fact, on what may be the most important issue of this election - the economy - Democrats lead Republicans in voter trust, and do so by a similar margin to Democrats in 2006 and a larger margin than Republicans in 1994.
Political detente of the modern age - White House retweets Pelosi: @WhiteHouse: RT @SpeakerPelosi: GOP leader already likened losing 8M jobs to an "ant," now GOP wants to repeal #WSR http://go.usa.gov/ORk
GOLDMAN SETTLES WITH SEC FOR $550 MILLION - The settlement resolves the SEC's lawsuit against the firm alleging that it misled investors in a subprime mortgage product. Wall Street Journal: "In agreeing to the SEC's largest-ever penalty paid by a Wall Street firm, Goldman also acknowledged that its marketing materials for the subprime product contained incomplete information, the SEC said. Goldman denied any wrong doing in the SEC lawsuit but has been under pressure from shareholders to reach a settlement on the fraud lawsuit and other SEC probes." http://bit.ly/bEH24H
By the way: On the news of Goldman's settlement of fraud charges with the SEC, it's market cap rose $2 billion. Goldman can't effing lose.
Unanswered question: what happened to DOJ's criminal investigation into Goldman?
@felixsalmon: "The total Goldman Sachs SEC fine is exactly the same as the amount that Drexel Burnham paid Mike Milken in 1987. #coincidence?"
DAILY DELANEY DOUBLE DOWNER - From Arthur Delaney: "Senate Democrats are doubling down on the argument that Republicans refuse to reauthorize extended unemployment benefits because they want a better November through a worse economy. 'There's only one kind of job Republicans care about saving or creating: their own,' said Jim Manley, spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) in a statement." :( http://huff.to/cpqhJs
Spend a few moments thinking about this: THIRTY-FIVE MILLION AMERICANS will probably be unemployed at some point this year, according to a new report by the Economic Policy Institute.
West Virginia's Democratic Gov. Joe Manchin will announce his appointment to the Senate tomorrow afternoon The new senator will be sworn in Tuesday, in time to vote for an extension of unemployment insurance. http://bit.ly/bFgGCu
TOMORROW'S PAPERS TODAY - Washington Post: Charles Krauthammer has a warning for Republicans: Don't underestimate Barack Obama. The Hill: In an exclusive interview with J. Taylor Rushing, Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) says expectations for President Obama were too great after the 2008 election. But she said those expectations aren't his fault. No one knew - or could have predicted - how bad the economy would be.
Don't be bashful: Send tips/stories/photos/events/fundraisers/job movement/juicy miscellanea to huffposthill@huffingtonpost.com. Follow us on Twitter - @HuffPostHill
ABC News' Jake Tapper: "Sen. Arlen Specter, D-Penn., has informed the White House that he would like to consider remaining in public service after his senate term ends at the end of this session, and White House officials are keeping an open mind about possible job openings for him... Sources said the job discussions are far from anything other than preliminary, and were not part of any "deal" when Specter switched parties and began supporting President Obama's agenda in earnest. Neither the White House nor Specter had any comment." http://bit.ly/8ZfFcc
CHENEY'S HEART PUMP 'NO MIRACLE CURE' - WashPost publishes a sad and striking story about the technology experts believed is being used to treat Dick Cheney's heart condition. "Cheney, 69, had a left ventricular assist device, or LVAD, implanted in his chest last week at Inova Fairfax Heart and Vascular Institute. In a statement Wednesday, Cheney said he was 'entering a new phase of the disease . . . and decided to take advantage of one of the new technologies available.' ... A study published in December showed that 58 percent of patients who got the HeartMate II were alive two years later, and 46 percent were alive, hadn't had a stroke (the chief complication) and hadn't needed it replaced." http://bit.ly/bjlSWW
DORGAN: INTERNET LENDERS SHOULD SPORT IDENTIFIABLE HEADWEAR, BE DENIED POUND OF FLESH - "You wonder how this country got in trouble. You know what, today on the Internet this exists," Byron Dorgan said on the floor this afternoon, waving his arm at a blown-up website for a shady online lender. "You want a loan because you've got bad credit, want to get a loan, go the Internet to this site. I'm not advertising for them. Clearly it's a bunch of Shylocks."
The political perils of using the anti-Semitic term "Shylock:" http://bit.ly/3KVC7y
An aide to a vulnerable House Democrat analyzes the White House-Hill dynamic: "House Democrats are like Flounder in Animal House. Obama's team just wrecked their car and is now saying, 'You f----ed up, you trusted us!'"
Among the current crop of GOP '12 contenders, human collar stay Mitt Romney is raking in the most dough. "So far this year, Romney has raised close to $3.5 million and given more than $400,000 to Republican candidates and causes. Those totals place Romney far ahead of other prospective 2012 Republican presidential hopefuls... Pawlenty's Freedom First PAC pulled in $723,501 during the second quarter and has donated nearly $84,000 to Republican candidates. The PAC will report just over $939,000 cash on hand... Palin's PAC raised nearly $900,000 in the second quarter and doled out $87,500 to candidates. While Palin endorsed Haley's bid in South Carolina and campaigned with her, SarahPAC did not cut her campaign a check." The Hill: http://bit.ly/cW0Y03
Walmart maybe be coming to the intersection of New York Ave and Bladensburg Road in Northeast DC. Washington City Paper: http://bit.ly/cIhTjp
ANOTHER BUSH PRESIDENCY? - Rarely is the questioned asked: Is our citizens learning? Former Clinton official Simon Rosenberg on the electoral math of a Jeb Bush candidacy: "Jeb [Bush] is married to a Latina, is fluent in Spanish, speaks on Univision as a commentator, his Spanish is that good," Rosenberg said last week. "And if you look at the electoral map in 2012, you have to assume that Obama is going to have a very hard time in holding North Carolina and Virginia. The industrial Midwest, where the auto decline has been huge, has weakened Obama's numbers... a great deal. So Ohio, Michigan, Indiana and Wisconsin become a bit more wobbly. So if you're Barack Obama, the firewall is the Latin belt from Florida to southwestern California And there is only one Republican who can break through that firewall. And it is Jeb.." Sam Stein: http://huff.to/cSA55V
A Pittsburgh station has pulled a Pat Toomey ad for being inaccurate and downright weird. "The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported Thursday that Sestak had complained about the accuracy of the ad sponsored by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. It began airing Monday and says Sestak voted 'with Nancy Pelosi 100 percent of the time" and for "a government takeover of health care.' Sestak's campaign called both statements false and protested to 16 stations that are airing it. A letter to the campaign from stations WPGH and WPMY says the ad will be discontinued because "it is not true that Sestak voted with Pelosi 100 percent of the time." http://huff.to/aG6M1p
ALVIN GREENE DOLLS HIT THE MARKET - Only a week after mysterious South Carolina Senate candidate Alvin Greene (D - The Colorless Dystopia of "The Giver") proposed boosting the economy by manufacturing action figures in his likeness, a Palmetto State minor league ball club will give away 1,000 Alvin Greene dolls. "The statues are actually male Statue of Liberty figures the team planned to give away as a different promotion based on a Georgia group's plan to build a mate for New York's Lady Liberty on the South Carolina coast. But after hearing Greene's idea, the RiverDogs decided to put a picture of his face on the statues instead." http://huff.to/bjVsy1
Greene has only pulled in $1,000 for his campaign skirmishchest. http://huff.to/aOQlRj
Speaking of broke pols: "A state representative is being sued in small claims court for failing to repay a payday loan. Payday Loan Store of AZ #341 filed the lawsuit against Rep. Carl Seel, a Phoenix Republican, June 17. The one-page filing claims that Seel bounced a $588.23 check he had given the lender to secure a loan." http://bit.ly/dDyxv2
Heaven help us: Blago ringtones are on the market. Political Wire: http://bit.ly/a1blha
SPOTTED -- LOOK AT THIS EFFING HIPSTER: TPM's Brian Beutler looking SHARP in the press gallery with a gray skinny tie and matching narrow-lapel suit.
SO'S YOUR FACE - Politico today: "The liberal blogosphere grew in response to Bush. But it is still a movement marked by immaturity and impetuousness -- unaccustomed to its own side holding power and the responsibilities and choices that come with that." So's your mom!.
Petulant bloggers respond: Peter Daou: http://huff.to/cv1I5 David Dayen: http://bit.ly/dhfiFG Greg Sargent: http://bit.ly/cxqBRO
A flack writes in: "Reps. David Price (D-NC) and David Dreier (R-CA) spent their Fourth of July in Liberia helping local legislators run constituent meetings in Kakata, and running workshops on legislative procedure and oversight with the House Parliamentarian and the Clerk of the House" http://bit.ly/95mI26
Americans Prefer Butter To Guns - New poll asks what folks would cut if they had to trim:
Social Security - 86% opposed to cuts
Medicare - 82% opposed to cuts
Wars - 41% opposed to cuts, 55% approve of cuts
Education - 63% opposed to cuts
Health care - 68% opposed to cuts
Medicaid - 77% opposed to cuts
Non-war Defense - 50% opposed to cuts, 46% approve of cuts
Time: http://bit.ly/cxbnNX
JERROLD NADLER DOESN'T MUCH CARE FOR YOUR RECKLESS DISREGARD OF CAB AND LIVERY REGULATIONS, SIR - In what is no doubt a shameless play for the turnstile-jumping vote back home, the New York Rep. is battling accusations that he skipped out on cab fare, shortchanging local cabbie Abraham Habteab in the process. "'When we arrived at the first stop, I advised the driver, Mr. Habteab, that I would be out of the cab for 30 seconds or so, and requested that he leave the meter running, in accordance with D.C. taxi regulations,' Nadler told ITK. 'Mr. Habteab then ignored D.C. taxi regulations and refused to take me to my final destination without restarting the meter.' Habteab says he considered the two trips separate. 'I stop the meter, you pay,' he says he told Nadler, recounting the events to a CBS affiliate on Tuesday." The Hill: http://bit.ly/aus9X1
JEREMY THE INTERN'S WEATHER REPORT - Tonight: There's a high pressure system parked right above our heads, and it's not going anywhere for a while. The good weather continues! Clear skies (stargazing!). It'll cool down just a bit, making for a pleasant night. Tomorrow: Get shade. It's going to be in the high 90s and sunny. Good news for you, but boring for me. Thanks, JB!
COMFORT FOOD
- A collection of funny (and pretty disturbing) notes from children. http://huff.to/9EaCRC
- How to make potato chips with your microwave. http://bit.ly/cDgfCq
- More ridiculous slow-motion Japanese videos. This time a lizard eats a fly off of a dude's face. http://bit.ly/cSkVIr
- "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" re-imagined as "Fight Club." http://bit.ly/cuZ7ya
- Rings are for chumps. Check out this newly-discovered planet that has a TAIL. http://bit.ly/cPp53g
- Thanks to crappy early-90s PSA videos, that kid from Home Improvement, magical Amber Alert realms and watchful janitors, children will never be abducted again. http://bit.ly/bxoUJF
- This is just about the most disturbing music video we've ever seen. http://bit.ly/amghlV
TWITTERAMA
@hblodget OMG! Goldman win even bigger than I thought! They got "fraud" knocked down to "material omission"! http://read.bi/cY4H4y
@Common_Oil_Spil: stop'd
@dceiver: Well, BP Oil Cam, it looks like it's time for you to get to work on your book/sex tape.
@SenateBanker: I've gotta feeling that tonight's gonna be a good night, that tonight's gonna be a good good night
@pourmecoffee: "How was your summer?" "Not so great, I went to the Cheongryong Self-Denial Training Camp" http://bit.ly/c4BZYG
THE TUBE
TONIGHT: Jeff Merkley and our own Shahien Nasiripour were on Ratigan talking Wall Street reform. Tom Harkin and Sherrod Brown are on Schultz. Jennifer Granholm discusses the president on Countdown. TOMORROW: Huffpost's Sam Stein and the comparatively less handsome Aaron Schock stop by Morning Joe. Judy Woodruff interviews Alan Greenspan on Bloomberg.
ON TAP
TONIGHT
5:00 pm - 9:00 pm: Pix on the Plaza screens "Mamma Mia" and will also feature a karaoke station [Ronald Reagan Building, 1300 Pennsylvania Avenue NW].
6:00 pm - 11:00 pm: Ever wanted to look at the sky??? Well now here's your chance! It's Astronomy Night on the Mall [Washington Monument].
8:45 pm - 10:45 pm: The Capitol Riverfront Underdog Film Series presents "Rudy" [Canal Park, 200 M St SE].
5:00 pm - 7:00 pm: Ever the friend of the drilling industry, Rodney Alexander (R-La.) hosts his "Third Annual Catfish and Cocktails Reception." How nice of him to support the industry he helped totally screw [UPS Townhouse, 421 New Jersey Ave SE].
5:30 pm - 7:00 pm: Enjoying the perks of chairing the Ways and Means committee, Sander Levin attends a fundraiser in his honor [The Williams & Jensen Townhouse, 324 Independence Ave SE].
6:00 pm - 9:00 pm: Some people spend their birthdays at home with their families, others at bars with friends. Tom Latham (R-Iowa) is celebrating his 62nd year on this earth by raising funds for his congressional reelection campaign aboard a boat (priorities!). Denny Rehberg (R-Mont.), Mike Simpson (R-Idaho) and Jerry Lewis (R-Calif.) are scheduled to appear [The "Celebrity," 1300 Maine Ave SW].
TOMORROW
11:45 am: Ed Whitfield (R-Ky.) talks meat and potato issues over meat and potatoes [Charlie Palmer Steak,101 Constitution Ave NW].
5:00 pm - 8:30 pm: This week's Jazz in the Garden features "Incendio," a Latino jazz group from Los Angeles [National Sculpture Garden700 Constitution Avenue NW].
7:30 pm - 9:30 pm: The "I Love The 90s" Rosslyn Film Festival continues with "What's Eating Gilbert Grape" [Gateway Park, 1300 Lee Highway].
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