Suitably Flip

"Inexcusable Internet Lameness"

I haven't weighed in on this yet (in part because it pains me to see the kids fighting), but Ed Morrissey not only puts up a good synopsis of the O'Reilly vs. Hot Air kerfuffle, but also details an unseemly end (?) to the brouhaha wherein Bill's internet goons blackball a paying member for daring to probe the depths of BO'R's hypocrisy on the subject of policing site commenters.

Perhaps until O'Reilly reconciles his equation of websites with their commenters and BillOReilly.com's own commenting policy, he ought to nix the "Policing the Net" segment.

Obama Offers Glimmer of Hope to Fans of Longevity, Vitality

Promise?

President Barack Obama warned Thursday that if Congress doesn't deliver health care legislation by the end of the year, the opportunity will be lost, a plea to political supporters to pressure lawmakers to act. "If we don't get it done this year, we're not going to get it done," Obama told supporters by phone as he flew home on Air Force One from a West Coast fundraising trip.

Reagan's "Nine Most Terrifying Words" Relinquish Their Crown

To its credit, I'm from the government and I'm here to help had a good long run.

But in light of recent federal doings (e.g. increasing spending by countless trillions of dollars, nullifying contracts, flat-out sprinting toward a centrally planned economy), I'd say we have a new champion.

Never have nine (admittedly excerpted) words been so chilling.

Uttered the President at a Hollywood fundraiser last night, "I've made some mistakes... You ain't seen nothing yet."

"Saved Or Created" Green Collar Jobs Destroying Value All Over the Place

Much like you, I'm just delighted that we're finally transitioning to a 21st Century, post-capitalist, centrally controlled, green economy.  Still, something about this new Air Force solar field has me scratching my head.

Maybe you can help me put my finger on it.

President Barack Obama on Wednesday hailed solar energy as a cost saver for a major Air Force base, one stop on a Western trip devoted to raising political money and promoting his economic policies.

Obama's aides had mocked reporters for making a fuss over his first 100 days in office, but the president was eager to assess the first 100 days of his $787 billion economic stimulus package.

It has "saved or created nearly 150,000 jobs," he said, including "jobs building solar panels and wind turbines; making homes and buildings more energy-efficient."

Obama also announced more spending for renewable energy after touring a large field of solar panels at Nellis Air Force Base, near Las Vegas. The sun-powered cells provide a quarter of the base's power needs, Obama said, speaking in a large hangar warmed by the desert heat.

"That's the equivalent of powering about 13,200 homes during the day," he said, and it will save the Air Force nearly $1 million a year.
...
The base's $100 million public-private solar power system covers 140 acres and generates more than 14 megawatts of electricity.

Assuming the taxpayers' discount rate is 4.5% (based on the 30-year Treasury rate), a $1 million perpetual annuity is worth about $23 million today.  Of course, that assumes the plant lasts forever.  If its useful life is 30 years, chop that $23 million down to about $16 million.

Did the public foot more than 20% or so of the bill for this public-private project?  If so, it'd be a lot easier (and it'd make for much more entertaining show-and-tells) if the Treasury would just put our money into a big pile and light it on fire.

What's more, the "private" side of this partnership is compensated with multi-million dollar taxpayer-funded incentives.  So while the project may pay off for private investors, it's only because we're showering them with enough taxpayer money to make it worth their while to invest in a value-destroying project.  Here, again, Obama and Geithner could save a lot of time and paperwork by flushing the money down an Earth-friendly, low-flow toilet.

(Yet) Another New Tax From Which the Bottom 95% Should Probably Divert Their Eyes

Shazam.

With budget deficits soaring and President Obama pushing a trillion-dollar-plus expansion of health coverage, some Washington policymakers are taking a fresh look at a money-making idea long considered politically taboo: a national sales tax.

Common around the world, including in Europe, such a tax -- called a value-added tax, or VAT -- has not been seriously considered in the United States. But advocates say few other options can generate the kind of money the nation will need to avert fiscal calamity.

At a White House conference earlier this year on the government's budget problems, a roomful of tax experts pleaded with Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner to consider a VAT. A recent flurry of books and papers on the subject is attracting genuine, if furtive, interest in Congress. And last month, after wrestling with the White House over the massive deficits projected under Obama's policies, the chairman of the Senate Budget Committee declared that a VAT should be part of the debate.

While it'd be a whopper, a national sales tax seems unlikely (despite the pesky mathematical consequences of the government spending gazillions of dollars it doesn't have).  Republicans hate it because it's an enormous new tax.  And Democrats don't love it as lasciviously as they do other taxes because it's less "progressive" (i.e. it doesn't disproportionately soak the higher income brackets as elegantly as, say, a steeply graduated income tax or a supplemental hundred-thousandaires' tax).

Happily, there's a much simpler way to pay for Obama's newest trillion-dollar adventure: scrub it.

If Astroturfing Is Professional Politicking Masquerading As Grassroots Activism...

Then this missive from the President's men is... what?  Green rubber mulch surfacing?

On June 6th, in thousands of homes across the country, we'll gather to launch our grassroots campaign for health care. We'll watch a special message from the President. We'll build the teams and draw up the plans for winning health care reform the same way we won the election: Building support one block, one neighbor, one conversation at a time. And we'll put those plans into action.

These kickoffs are so crucial that President Obama will join confirmed hosts and attendees on a live conference call.

As Gabriel at AoSHQ notes, they're not even going through the motions of obscuring the puppetry here; they're simply insisting that a political initiative nakedly coordinated by the Oval Office constitutes a massive grassroots uprising.

Community-Organizer-in-Chief Gathering "Grassroots" Health Care Parties

First, if it's being organized by the President of the United States it is by definition not a "grassroots movement." Idiots.

"Grassroots" connotes a spontaneous, local gathering of like-minded people who are usually every-day Joes rather than typical political activists. It is a bottom-up formation--"We the people believe"--rather than to the all too common top-down, "Let me tell you what you believe," favored by politicians.
...
With astroturfing they actually pretend that they're not being directed by a politician or lobby. Here, there's no attempt to hide anything. Obama says its a grassroots movement, therefore--facts be damned, words be damned--it's a grassroots movement. For Obama and the media, that's enough.

Sonia Sotomayor: Supreme Empath Nominee

Today, the President will name the apparently very empathetic federal appeals court judge Sonia Sotomayor as his first Supreme Court nominee.

Update:  Sotomayor at Duke Law School in 2005:

"Court of Appeals is where policy is made... and I know this is on tape and I should never say that, because we don't make law, I know..."

Obama: We're Already Broke, So We May As Well Keep On Spending

Charming logic.

Just Because I Wrote It Doesn't Mean I Read It

Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Hanna Barbera) is quite astonished that his colleagues might presume he's aware of the contents of the Waxman-Markey cap and trade bill.

He should check it out if he has a bit of free time over the long weekend.  It's full of unpleasant surprises.

Well, Duh

Turns out there are unintended consequences when the federal government begins nullifying contracts and sticking its grubby little fingers into capital markets.

Hedge fund manager George Schultze says he may avoid lending to any more unionized companies after being burned by President Barack Obama in Chrysler LLC’s bankruptcy.

Obama put Chrysler under court protection on April 30 after lenders balked at a proposal giving them about 29 cents on the dollar for their $6.9 billion in debt. The investors said the president’s plan favored a union retiree medical fund whose claims ranked behind them for repayment. It was offered a 55 percent equity stake in the automaker.

Pacific Investment Management Co., Barclays Capital and Fridson Investment Advisors have joined Schultze Asset Management LLC in saying lenders may be unwilling to back unionized companies with underfunded pension and medical obligations, such as airlines and auto-industry suppliers, because Chrysler’s creditors failed to block Obama’s move. The reluctance may put additional pressure on borrowers seeking capital in the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression.
...
“It’s terrible precedent,” said Schultze. “The sad thing is it impacts the manufacturing sector and the companies that have legacy liabilities directly. It will be nearly impossible, or much more expensive, to get secured financing for these type of companies.”

(HT: Hot Air headlines)

Galt-isano

Billionaire Tom Galisano has had enough.

I LOVE New York. But how much should it cost to call New York home? Decades of out-of-control budgets, spending hikes and relentless borrowing have made New York simply too expensive.

Politicians like to talk about incentives -- for businesses to relocate, for example, or to get folks to buy local. After reviewing the new budget, I have identified the most compelling incentive of all: a major tax break immedi ately available to all New Yorkers. To be eligible, you need do only one thing: move out of New York state.

Last week I spent 90 minutes doing a couple of simple things -- registering to vote, changing my driver's license, filling out a domicile certificate and signing a homestead certificate -- in Florida. Combined with spending 184 days a year outside New York, these simple procedures will save me over $5 million in New York taxes annually.

By moving to Florida, I can spend that $5 million on worthy causes, like better hospitals, improving education or the Clinton Global Initiative. Or maybe I'll continue to invest it in fighting the status quo in Albany. One thing's certain: That money won't continue to fund Albany's bloated bureaucracy, corrupt politicians and regular special-interest handouts.

Previously:  New Evidence Confirms: People Rational

Root Cause of Financial Crisis Identified

The culprit: the Y chromosome.

Indeed, the financial services industry – one in which lap dancing is apparently considered appropriate corporate entertainment (UK Equality and Human Rights Commission) – is overwhelmingly male dominated. ... If men are especially prone to being insufficiently risk averse and overly confident, then this male dominance may have contributed to the financial crisis.

... There is also a sizable literature documenting that men tend to be more overconfident than women. Barber and Odean (2001) find that men are substantially more overconfident than women in financial markets. In general, overconfidence is not found to be related to ability (see Lundeberg et al (1994)) and that success is more likely to increase overconfidence in men than in women (see, for example, Beyer (1990)). Thus, if confidence helps produce successful outcomes, there is more likely to be strong feedback loop in confidence in men than in women.

In a fascinating and innovative study, Coates and Herbert (2008) advance the notion that steroid feedback loops may help explain why male bankers behave irrationally when caught up in bubbles. These authors took samples of testosterone levels of 17 male traders on a typical London trading floor (which had 260 traders, only four of whom were female). They found that testosterone was significantly higher on days when traders made more than their daily one-month average profit and that higher levels of testosterone also led to greater profitability – presumably because of greater confidence and risk taking. The authors hypothesise that if raised testosterone were to persist for several weeks the elevated appetite for risk taking might have important behavioural consequences and that there might be cognitive implications as well; testosterone, they say, has receptors throughout the areas of the brain that neuro-economic research has identified as contributing to irrational financial decisions.

(HT: Freakonomics)

Norman Hsu Guilty

Again.

Norman Hsu, a former top fund-raiser for the Democratic Party and convicted Ponzi scheme operator, was found guilty Tuesday of illegally funneling tens of thousands of dollars to candidates for federal office by pressuring investors to donate to his favored candidates.

A jury of five women and seven men convicted Mr. Hsu of four counts of campaign finance fraud after about two-and-a-half hours of deliberations over two days. Each count carries up to five years in prison.

"I think he expected [the guilty verdict] because it was quick," said Alan Seidler, Mr. Hsu's lawyer.

Earlier this month, Hsu pleaded guilty to wire fraud and mail fraud charges in a Ponzi scheme that prosecutors said raised at least $60 million and swindled investors out of at least $20 million. He faces up to 20 years in prison on each fraud count.

Sentencing on all of the charges is set for Aug. 19.

Mr. Seidler said Mr. Hsu plans to appeal the convictions on the campaign finance fraud charges.

Prosecutors had alleged Hsu, in order to raise his public profile, pressured some investors in the Ponzi scheme between 2004 and 2007 to individually contribute thousands of dollars to candidates for president and Congress whom Hsu supported, including Hillary Clinton.

Well, yes, Hsu did serve as illicit benefactor to candidates for President and Congress.  But let's not forget the candidates for governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general, mayor, controller, district attorney, treasurer, assessor, and city supervisor, not to mention 20 state and federal Democrat parties and committees.

Previous Norman Hsu coverage

India Embraces Capitalism, Apparently Fails to Grasp Incontrovertible Lessons of Financial Crisis

Poppycock.

NEW DELHI -- A surprisingly strong showing by India's ruling Congress party gives a decisive mandate to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and raises hopes that an important engine of the developing world will continue on a path of economic reforms.
...
A government with a convincing majority, unshackled from communist political allies of the past, was viewed as crucial at a time when officials are expected to explore fresh approaches to spurring India's economy, reforming its archaic labor laws and perhaps opening it further to global capital flows.

"The best thing is that the Left has been left behind. This is great news for the markets, and we are going to see strong foreign inflows into the country," said Arun Kejriwal, founder and managing director of Kejriwal Research & Investment Services Pvt. Ltd.

Morgan Stanley has been similarly hoodwinked by India's capitalist folly.

Morgan Stanley (MS.N) on Monday raised its end-2009 target for India's benchmark stock index .BSESN to 15,300 points, up by quarter from current levels, after a decisive victory for the ruling Congress coalition.

"We, now believe, that there is greater probability of our bull case rather than our bear case," analysts Ridham Desai and Sheela Rathi wrote in the note, adding companies will gain from government policy.
...
The earnings growth for the stock index constituents will likely be 2.5 percent in 2009/10, up from the previous view of 10 percent fall, Morgan Stanley said.

New Evidence Confirms: People Rational

Policymakers excluded, naturally.

Here's the problem for states that want to pry more money out of the wallets of rich people. It never works because people, investment capital and businesses are mobile: They can leave tax-unfriendly states and move to tax-friendly states.

And the evidence that we discovered in our new study for the American Legislative Exchange Council, "Rich States, Poor States," published in March, shows that Americans are more sensitive to high taxes than ever before. The tax differential between low-tax and high-tax states is widening, meaning that a relocation from high-tax California or Ohio, to no-income tax Texas or Tennessee, is all the more financially profitable both in terms of lower tax bills and more job opportunities.

Updating some research from Richard Vedder of Ohio University, we found that from 1998 to 2007, more than 1,100 people every day including Sundays and holidays moved from the nine highest income-tax states such as California, New Jersey, New York and Ohio and relocated mostly to the nine tax-haven states with no income tax, including Florida, Nevada, New Hampshire and Texas. We also found that over these same years the no-income tax states created 89% more jobs and had 32% faster personal income growth than their high-tax counterparts.

New Hampshire helps give the lie to the feeble counterargument.

Those who disapprove of tax competition complain that lower state taxes only create a zero-sum competition where states "race to the bottom" and cut services to the poor as taxes fall to zero. They say that tax cutting inevitably means lower quality schools and police protection as lower tax rates mean starvation of public services.

They're wrong, and New Hampshire is our favorite illustration. The Live Free or Die State has no income or sales tax, yet it has high-quality schools and excellent public services. Students in New Hampshire public schools achieve the fourth-highest test scores in the nation -- even though the state spends about $1,000 a year less per resident on state and local government than the average state and, incredibly, $5,000 less per person than New York. And on the other side of the ledger, California in 2007 had the highest-paid classroom teachers in the nation, and yet the Golden State had the second-lowest test scores.

Gingrich Minces Words

It's difficult to parse, but I get the sense that this is a subtle dig at the Speaker.

In an interview with ABC News Radio’s Marcus Wilson, Gingrich, R-Ga., said Pelosi, D-Calif., “has lied to the House” in claiming that she was never briefed by the CIA about the Bush administration’s use of waterboarding and other harsh tactics.

"I think she has lied to the House, and I think that the House has an absolute obligation to open an inquiry, and I hope there will be a resolution to investigate her. And I think this is a big deal.  I don't think the Speaker of the House can lie to the country on national security matters,” Gingrich said.

He continued: "I think this is the most despicable, dishonest and vicious political effort I've seen in my lifetime."

"She is a trivial politician, viciously using partisanship for the narrowist of purposes, and she dishonors the Congress by her behavior."

"Speaker Pelosi's the big loser, because she either comes across as incompetent, or dishonest.  Those are the only two defenses,” Gingrich said. “The fact is she either didn't do her job, or she did do her job and she's now afraid to tell the truth.”

Previously:

Pelosi's Prevarications To Date: A Dramatic Reenactment in 60 Seconds
Prevaricatin' Pelosi Tries Another Angle

Obama's Financial Wizardry

Show me even one of our 43 mortal Presidents who had the power to burn through $100 billion without spending a dime.

The Obama administration has pledged a $108 billion contribution to the IMF, as part of a $500 billion global boost to IMF resources.
...
But the U.S. contribution became entangled in arcane — though politically important — budget math. The White House had argued that the action shouldn’t be characterized as a $108 billion expenditure, which would make it difficult to sell at a time when Congress has recently passed a series of multibillion-dollar spending bills.

The U.S. wouldn’t provide a lump sum, but would essentially make a line of credit available to the IMF, which the fund could draw on when it needed to make loans to other countries. In theory, the U.S. would hope to get the money back. So the White House argued that the budgetary impact should be calculated at zero.

He's like some magnificent hybrid of Jimmy Carter and Monty Brewster.

(HT: MM)

Pelosi's Prevarications To Date: A Dramatic Reenactment in 60 Seconds

So Madam Speaker, back in 2003, didn't pretty much everyone on both sides of the Congressional leadership aisle agree that enhanced (and demonstrably life-saving) interrogation techniques were warranted in select cases?

No, of course not.  I've always vocally opposed it.

Then why didn't you speak out against it at the time?

I didn't know about it at the time.

You weren't briefed on it?

No.

But here's proof that you were briefed on it.

Well, okay yes I was briefed on it, but it was only presented as a hypothetical.  I didn't realize they had been or would actually use such tactics.

But here's proof that you were informed that it was not just a hypothetical, but already historical fact.

Well, okay yes I was "informed" and "told" about it, but that doesn't mean I was "briefed" on it.

... Are you serious?

Yes.

So, why didn't you speak out against it at the time?

Because it wasn't my place to do so.  My job was, um... to win the Congressional majority, so we could change policies years later.

Mm.

I was fighting a war in Iraq at the time too, you know!  I had to save my members!

Anything else?

Yes, the CIA is framing me.

---

Previously:  Prevaricatin' Pelosi Tries Another Angle

The Clinton-Hsu Tapes

Reader discretion is advised; contains sickeningly cloying adoration of a convicted, fugitive con artist:

Hillary Rodham Clinton gushed to disgraced Democratic fund-raiser Norman Hsu that he would "single-handedly" help her win the presidency because nobody "has been more loyal and been more effective" in landing donations.

"Norman, it's Hillary! What am I going to do with you, Norman? You're working so hard for me that I, I just don't even know what to say anymore," fawned then-Sen. Clinton in a taped voice message to Hsu, who -- unbeknownst to her -- was illegally funneling thousands into her war chest.

"I've never seen anybody who has been more loyal and been more effective and really just having greater success supporting someone than you," said Clinton on the embarrassing tape -- played during the kickoff of Hsu's campaign-finance fraud trial yesterday in Manhattan federal court.

"Everywhere I go, you're there. If you're not, you're sending people to be part of my events.

"You know, we're going to win this campaign, Norman, because you single-handedly are going to make that happen.

"I hope to see you again soon," Clinton purred. "Take care, my friend. Get some sleep, slow down for a few minutes. We're going to get to the end of the first quarter, and then we can all take a little rest. "Lots of love. Bye, bye."

After Hsu's illegal antics came to light, the red-faced Clinton campaign returned $850,000 in donations he had steered her way.

Previous Norman Hsu coverage

Eat Fast and Prosper

Laziness and productivity inversely correlated.  Who knew?

The OECD has released its Society at a Glance survey, which reveals some interesting social trends in OECD member countries. Floyd Norris points out that countries with fast eaters, including all of North America, have higher economic growth rates than slow-eating countries like France. In addition to leisurely meals, the French also enjoy the most sleep...

Prevaricatin' Pelosi Tries Another Angle

Okay, so maybe she did know about the waterboarding six years ago, and she did know it was more than a hypothetical, and she would've objected at the time... but her respect for "appropriate legislative channels" tied her hands (and tongue).

Or something.

For those of you keeping score at home, on deck is the gender card, followed by, "You've got the wrong twin."

It's Less Cute When You're Not a Fabulous A-Lister

It's been a rough few days for the paparazzi-unfriendly New York State Senate majority whip Kevin Parker (D-Brooklyn).  After being arrested on Friday, he was stripped today of his $22,000 leadership stipend by majority leader Malcolm Smith.

Parker, of Brooklyn, is accused of chasing down and confronting a New York Post photographer to prevent him from taking his picture Friday night. He's charged with felony and misdemeanor criminal mischief, assault and menacing. If convicted of a felony, he could lose his seat.

"I expect to be here every week," Parker said from Albany. "I think that the (court) system will work. It's worked for me in the past."

Indeed it has.

The encounter was the latest in a string of reported assaults involving Parker, who has held office since 2002.

In 2005, he was arrested on charges he punched a traffic agent who was writing him a ticket. The charges were dropped after Parker agreed to take an anger management class.

That year, Parker's security pass for state buildings was temporarily suspended for repeated violations of security regulations. A former aide complained that Parker had once assaulted her, then threatened her for talking about the incident.

Last summer, another aide filed a report with police saying Parker had shoved her and smashed her glasses during an argument. At the time, Parker claimed that the woman hit him first.

Smith said he's also awaiting a report on a recent confrontation he was told was "heated discussion" involving Parker and state police in an Albany parking garage.

If you ask me, Smith's giving off mixed signals.  Earlier this year, he agreed to seat alleged lady-face-slasher (and habitual, self-dealing diverter of taxpayer funds) Hiram Monserrate into his new Senate majority.

To what can we credit the majority leader's suddenly limited tolerance for violent recidivism among his caucus members?

Previously:  Clutzy Hiram Monserrate Sworn Into NYS Senate

Another Few Months and I Can Drag My Polar Bear Skin Rug Out of the Closet

Saints be praised that we finally live in a post-partisan, post-racial, post-anti-bear-skinning world.

The Obama administration said on Friday it will keep a Bush-era rule that weakens protection for polar bears' icy habitat and plays down links between the threatened status of the species and climate change.

U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar announced the decision, saying that revoking the rule would cause confusion, and that protecting the big Arctic bears was best tackled under a comprehensive climate-change strategy. ...

Former President George W. Bush's administration listed polar bears as threatened under the Endangered Species Act on May 15, 2008, but issued a rule that leaves global warming off the list of threats the federal government must consider in protecting the bear.

That rule will be retained by the Obama administration.

John Hinderaker wonders the following 6 things, vis a vis the left's attempts to martyr the cuddly bears over the last decade in the name of science-over-prosperity:

As a matter of public policy, it was a bad joke, since 1) the earth is cooling, not warming; 2) Antarctic ice is at record levels; 3) Arctic sea ice is at lower levels due mainly to wind currents, not alleged warming; 4) polar bears have survived both far warmer and far colder climates than anything now in prospect over a period of thousands of years; 5) by all first-hand accounts, polar bear populations are now especially robust; and 6) there is not a damn thing we can do by changing the weather that will have any impact on polar bears, one way or the other.

Caldera Ousted

I predicted it would take 2 days.  It took 11.

WASHINGTON - The White House aide who authorized the controversial Air Force One photo-op flight last week around the Statue of Liberty is out of a job.

President Obama has accepted the resignation of Louis Caldera, the director of the White House Military Office, the Daily News learned Friday.

A secretary of the Army in the Clinton administration, Caldera took the fall for the public relations fiasco arising from the April 27 flyover, which was designed to replace a publicity photo of Air Force One flying past Mount Rushmore with a similar shot of Obama's 747 jumbo jet over the Statue of Liberty.

Caldera's office insisted the flyover was a "classified" mission and should not be disclosed to the public, ensuring that thousands of New Yorkers would be blindsided by an event eerily reminiscent of the 9/11 terror attacks against the Twin Towers.

The White House will reportedly release its self-vindicating review of the fiasco later today.

Update:  There's the $357,000 photo.  This couldn't have been achieved with 10 minutes of Photoshop?

Update:  And here's the report.

Previously:
My President's Plane Went To Lower Manhattan and All I Got Was This Stupid Ulcer
Another Building-Buzzing Air Force One Glamor Shot Slated For DC?
Audio of 911 Calls Prompted by Ingenious Air Force One Photo Op
Video Of the Idiotic Air Force One Photo Op (And Frightened New Yorkers Fleeing)

Hsu Pleads Guilty

The two-time fugitive, Ponzi scheme operator, and fraudulent benefactor of prominent Democratic politicians (including Barack Obama, Joe Biden, Hilary Clinton, Eliot Spitzer, et al) has pled guilty to a slew of fraud charges, but has not acknowledged any political motives.

Former top Democratic fundraiser Norman Hsu pleaded guilty in federal court Thursday to charges he cheated investors out of at least $20 million in a massive Ponzi scheme.

The 58-year-old Hsu (SHOO) pleaded guilty to 10 counts of wire and mail fraud before U.S. District Judge Victor Marrero.

"I knew what I was doing was illegal," Hsu told the judge.

His lawyer, Alan Seidler, said outside court afterwards that his client was likely to testify on his own behalf at a trial on four counts of violating federal campaign-finance laws. Hsu is accused of violating those laws by making hundreds of thousands of dollars in contributions to more than 50 politicians.

"He's like a groupie. He just likes the political process," Seidler said, adding that Hsu was adamant that he never made a political contribution expecting something in return. Prosecutors said he made contributions to political candidates in the names of others.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Katherine Lemire told Marrero that the government will seek to prove that Hsu made political donations "to fuel" the Ponzi scheme and pressured victims of his fraud to contribute to political candidates.

(HT: JWF)

Previous Norman Hsu coverage

AIP Column: The Obama-Geithner Savings Plan

I've got a column up today at American Issues Project exploring the righteous crack down on offshore tax havens poised to tax "save" us some $210 billion.

Decision Day For Manhattan GOP On Bloomberg's Candidacy

Tonight, members of the New York Republican County Committee will vote on whether to allow Mike Bloomberg a special exemption to run as a Republican (despite having quit the party in 2007) for his prospective third mayoral term.

I've noted in the past that I was at best skeptical that Bloomberg would be able to make a sufficiently convincing case to outweigh his track record of expedient party shifting and lifestyle regulation.  Following consultation with Bloomberg's staff in the weeks since, I'm somewhat more encouraged that the mayor's pitch may include what we (or I, anyway) need to hear - namely, that Bloomberg is willing to extend (and, tonight, to pledge with specificity) more overt and substantive support for local candidates, something that's been conspicuously missing over the last eight years.

No Manhattan resident has a Republican representative at any level of government, an imbalance that Bloomberg's staff acknowledges makes his job more difficult.  As growing some coattails would seem to be in his honor's own interest (irrespective of his access to the GOP line), I'm cautiously optimistic that he'll make a sufficiently strong commitment on this front to justify the party agreeing to serve as the mayor's doormat as he reenters City Hall.

I'll update tonight with the results of the vote.

Update:  What timing.  Two separate invitations in the mail today to parties at Gracie Mansion.

Update:  As the only candidate to appear at the screening, Bloomberg easily won the county endorsement (and thus access to the GOP primary ballot) with a voice vote that went roughly 30-1 in his favor.  More on this later.

ADP Jobs Number Significantly Less Awful Than Expected

The ADP National Employment Report showed a loss of 491,000 jobs in April, far fewer than the 645,000 expected and a notable deceleration from the revised 708,000 jobs shed in March.

The official government data for April will be released on Friday.  ADP hasn't been wonderfully correlated with the official jobs number in the past, but folks still see it as the best single predictor and a deviation this large is enough to warrant some attention.  Shortly after its release, Dow futures jumped from -20 to +60.

My President's Plane Went To Lower Manhattan and All I Got Was This Stupid Ulcer

Say what now?

The $328,835 snapshots of an Air Force One backup plane buzzing lower Manhattan last week will not be shown to the public, the White House said yesterday.

"We have no plans to release them," an aide to President Obama told The Post, refusing to comment further.

The sole purpose of the secret photo-op, which sent thousands of New Yorkers running for cover, was to take new publicity shots of the presidential jet over the city.

"The photos . . . are classified -- that's ridiculous," Councilman Peter Vallone Jr., said.

So the promotional snapshots - so vital as to require absolute secrecy, despite recognition by the planners that the stunt would scare the bujeezus out of New Yorkers - aren't destined for any grand public display that will instill confidence among the populace in the grandeur of our Presidential fleet?  Are they at least to be used in some glossy, confidential recruiting brochure for prospective Air Force One pilots?

An AoSHQ commenter wonders:

Perhaps the photos were ruined by people running for their lives in the background?

Previously:
Another Building-Buzzing Air Force One Glamor Shot Slated For DC?
Audio of 911 Calls Prompted by Ingenious Air Force One Photo Op
Video Of the Idiotic Air Force One Photo Op (And Frightened New Yorkers Fleeing)

Strategy Room 3:00-4:00

I'll be on FoxNews.com's Strategy Room today at 3 pm.

---

As always, you can email the show at this address and you can stream it live here.

Update:   Here's a clip.

Wherein Ellen Ratner lauds Obama's latest tax hike, and the rest of us take her to task on her "stupid argument":

SCOTUS Vacancy Scouting Report

Michelle runs down Obama's top three likely picks for Souter's replacement:  Elena Kagan, Sonia Sotomayor, and Diane Wood.

Meanwhile, Drudge is reminding us that Obama, Biden, and Clinton all supported the failed filibuster of Alito in 2006.  The purely ideological obstruction, as Ted Kennedy noted at the time, was based on the opinion of a sub-minority of Senators that Alito "does not share the values of equality and justice that make this country strong."