WASHINGTON — House investigators have recommended that three lawmakers be further investigated to determine whether political contributions were improperly linked to votes on the huge financial overhaul bill.

The independent House Office of Congressional Ethics recommended that the member-run House ethics committee pursue potential rules violations by Republicans John Campbell of California and Tom Price of Georgia and Democrat Joseph Crowley of New York.

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A record number of Americans is unemployed for a record length of time. This is a national tragedy. It is to the nation's credit that many are receiving unemployment benefits.
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The Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller index shows a modest 1% gain over May figures, with prices in Los Angeles, San Diego and San Francisco increasing. However, some experts predict that expiring federal tax credits will have a negative effect.

Home prices rose in June, according to a closely watched national index released Tuesday, but many experts predict a drop in values this year with the expiration of popular federal tax credits for buyers.

Faithful Central Bible bought the Inglewood arena for $22 million a decade ago, with ambitious plans to make it a family entertainment venue. But now the Forum mostly sits empty and is embroiled in a legal dispute with management company SMG.

At the Tabernacle in Inglewood on a recent Sunday, more than 2,000 members of the Faithful Central Bible Church jammed the aisles of the warehouse-turned-church hall, standing, clapping and swaying to the gospel music thundering from a men's choir and accompanying rock band.

I read your speech from Friday at the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City Economic Symposium in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. In the speech you stated, "the Committee is prepared to provide additional monetary accommodation through unconventional measures if it proves necessary, especially if the outlook were to deteriorate significantly." (http://www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/speech/bernanke20100827a.htm)

It appears we are sliding into another recession and I have a simple suggestion that will redirect more money into the middle class and create more jobs than any policy proposal the Obama Administration has put forth to date. Since you acknowledged that you are willing to take extraordinary measures, why doesn't the Obama Administration consider not giving federal small business contracts to Fortune 500 firms, foreign companies and other large businesses? I realize that you control monetary policy, but as the nation's chief economist, and as one who advocates for fiscal policy, you could have an impact on this issue.

In March of 2005, the Small Business Administration (SBA) Office of Inspector General released Report 5-15, which states, "One of the most important challenges facing the Small Business Administration and the entire Federal government today is that large businesses are receiving small business procurement awards and agencies are receiving credit for these awards." (http://www.asbl.com/documents/05-15.pdf) The SBA Inspector General has listed this problem as the number one management challenge facing the agency for the past five consecutive years. (http://www.sba.gov/ig/onlinelibrary/tmc/index.html)

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Paris Hilton denied that a purse she was carrying that contained drugs was hers but said other items inside were, including breathing medication, credit cards and $1,300 in cash, according to a police report.

On Friday, Insomniac Inc, the promotion company behind the now notorious Electric Daisy Carnival, filed a million-plus dollar lawsuit against the City of Los Angeles and the Los Angeles Convention Center after the facility canceled an upcoming concert by the global trance DJ phenomenon Tiësto in the wake of the death of a 15-year-old girl at another Insomniac event earlier this year. For LA's dance music fans (who number in the hundreds of thousands), this is a major disappointment. For the promoters and performer, it is a significant blow to their business, as well as a potential first-amendment violation.

The fact is, when any government--from DC to City Hall--takes measures to prohibit a performance (ie "speech") based on the perceived character of the performance, we are all denied the fundamental right granted by the Constitution. On a weekend when Glenn Beck is allowed to speak a highly-questionable message of "civil rights" on the steps the Lincoln Monument, the notion of a City Government violating a contract for the event (in effect, prohibiting the performance) is laughable at best and chilling at worst. Where are the priorities in a city that would risk a million-dollar payout when it is severely in debt?

Of course, everyone will admit that there have been some logistical and behavioral issues that need to be addressed when it comes to dance music event, in Los Angeles and elsewhere. For that, Los Angeles County has convened a Rave Task Force to address the concerns. I personally sat in on a Task Force meeting last week and can attest to the sincere intentions of all involved to best mitigate the current concerns by making dance music events safer and better run in the future. This is how civilized society should handle it's concerns. Work to fix the problems, not toss out the baby with the bath water. Doing so is not only unwise, but in this case, it might just be denying someone their rights.

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You have to give credit where credit is due--The most reactionary forces in America have appropriated the mass protest tactics pioneered by the labor, civil rights, and anti-Vietnam War movements, and over the past two summers, used these tactics to disrupt town meetings of progressive politicians on health care reform and now to turn out tens of thousands of supporters on the Washington Mall to "take back their country" from the movement which elected Obama.

Meanwhile, the protest movement muscles of progressives seem to have atrophied. They no longer seem able--and perhaps are no longer even interested--in turning their supporters out on the streets in large numbers. Modern progressive online movements are all well and good. But there's still nothing like good old boots on the ground to demonstrate mass political power and inspire supporters.

Progressives should be able to fill the Washington Mall with hundreds of thousands of protesters demanding "Jobs and Freedom", the slogan of the 1963 March on Washington where Martin Luther King delivered his famous "I have a dream" speech. There was a time when pro-Vietnam War politicians including Presidents Lyndon Johnson and Dick Nixon couldn't leave the White House and speak in public for fear of being embarrassed by raucous anti-war protesters. Right-wing politicians who vote to deny people unemployment benefits and to continue tax-cuts for the wealthiest Americans should be met by similar protests whenever they show up in public.

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The mosque's backers hope to raise a total of $70 million in tax-exempt debt to build the center, according to the New York Times. Tax laws allow such funding for religiously affiliated non-profits if they can prove the facility will benefit the general public and their religious activities are funded separately.

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The battle looms. It is, in fact, right over a hill right in front of us. So, are Democrats girding their loins for the fight, and roaring their defiance at the opposition?

Um, well, not that I've noticed. Sigh. Instead, loins un-girded and roars muted to the level of squabbling jaybirds, Democrats are once again acting like Democrats.

The big fight this election season hasn't really dawned yet. And all the issues in the past will likely pale in comparison to the big fight that's just ahead of us. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (to his credit) set up this fight, right before the midterm election's homestretch. The big fight this year is going to be over extending the Bush tax cuts to the wealthiest two percent of American workers, and to the top three percent of American small businesses. On the other side are, respectively, ninety-eight percent of American workers, and ninety-seven percent of American small businesses. Not bad odds, even for Democrats.

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