In the much praised career of Eric H. Holder Jr., President-elect Barack Obama’s choice to be attorney general, there is one notable blemish: Mr. Holder’s complicated role in the 2001 pardon of Marc Rich, a billionaire financier who had fled the country rather than face federal tax evasion charges.

November 23, 2008

That Money Isn’t Leaving the Vault

From plastic bags to all kind of pollution, we create events and chemicals that combine to contribute to the extinction of animals and plants. Unfortunately it seems, we've made the decision to destroy the natural planet, while keeping a few zoos for entertainment value...  

The only educational value plummets to "what once used to be not a very long time ago". Tragic. 

Detroit came to Capitol Hill on Tuesday, cap in hand and requesting $25bn in alms. 

As if to underline the fact that the financial crisis is shaping every corner of industry, the three top executives of what is still known as the Big Three companies of the US car industry appeared at the US Senate banking committee asking for a slice of the US's $700bn (£467bn) financial rescue package. 

The errors of Iraq are being repeated - and magnified ....

The awful prospect is of Obama and Brown, no fans of the 2003 invasion, blundering on in a more perilous war: Afghanistan.

US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson has clashed with members of Congress over the $700bn US financial bail-out plan.  

Mr Paulson told a Congressional committee that injecting cash into banks was the most effective way to stabilise the financial system.  

As Doctor Nelson, the former leader of the Australian Liberal Party, graces the doldrums of the parliamentary hills with his affable nature, his heroic grandstanding on global warming is only belittled by his own insistence to give a tax rebate of 5 cents a litre on petrol back to the punter, so they can add more CO2 into the atmosphere...  

Vice President-elect Joe Biden is getting a tour of his new home from the outgoing occupant, Vice President Dick Cheney. 

Biden arrived Thursday at the Naval Observatory, the home for vice presidents, with his wife, Jill. They were greeted with smiles by Cheney and his wife, Lynne. 

There really isn't any doubt any more about whether the Deputy Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, has the killer instinct. 

The problem tends more to be how to drag her off the victim's body. 

So far, so good. 

The first week of Barack Obama's transition to the presidency has gone about as well as anyone could imagine. His few public appearances have been gaffe-free, and his initial decisions in setting up his administration have been strongly reassuring.

Opposition Leader Malcolm Turnbull has also been criticised for questioning whether Mr Henry would be sacked if it was revealed he misled Treasury over advice given by regulators prior to the release of the Government's economic stimulus package.

But today in the Coalition party room meeting, one MP warned against attacking public servants.