links for 2009-05-06

An internal Justice Department inquiry into the conduct of Bush administration lawyers who wrote secret memorandums authorizing brutal interrogations has concluded that the authors committed serious lapses of judgment but should not be criminally prosecuted, according to government officials briefed on a draft of the findings.
The report by the Office of Professional Responsibility, an internal ethics unit within the Justice Department, is also likely to ask that state bar associations consider possible disciplinary action, including reprimands or even disbarment, for some of the lawyers involved in writing the legal opinions, the officials said.

The conclusions of the 220-page draft report are not final and have not yet been approved by Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. The officials said it is possible the final report might be subject to revision, but they did not expect major alterations in its main findings or recommendations.

The political whirlwind that surrounded Sen. Arlen Specter ’s switch from the Republican to Democratic party had him forgetting which team he is rooting for in 2010.

But after voicing support for Republican Norm Coleman in his contested Minnesota Senate race, Specter said he misspoke in a New York Times magazine interview and is supporting Democrats.

The Senate dealt a blow tonight to Sen. Arlen Specter's hold on seniority in several key committees, a week after the Pennsylvanian's party switch placed Democrats on the precipice of a 60-seat majority.

In a unanimous voice vote, the Senate approved a resolution that added Specter to the Democratic side of the dais on the five committees on which he serves, an expected move that gives Democrats larger margins on key panels such as Judiciary and Appropriations.

But Democrats placed Specter in one of the two most junior slots on each of the five committees for the remainder of this Congress, which goes through December 2010. Democrats have suggested that they will consider revisiting Specter's seniority claim at the committee level only after the midterm elections next year.

Former Pennsylvania governor Tom Ridge (R) is seriously considering a 2010 bid for the Senate seat held by Republican-turned-Democrat Arlen Specter and will make his decision in the next two weeks, according to several sources familiar with his thinking.

California's increasingly severe and largely self-inflicted economic crisis will deepen on May 19 if, as is probable and desirable, voters reject most of the ballot measures that were drafted as part of a "solution" to the state's budget deficit. They would make matters worse.

National economic revival is being impeded because one-eighth of the nation's population lives in a state that is driving itself into permanent stagnation.

California's perennial boast —that it's the incubator of America's future—now has an increasingly dark urgency.

Under Arnold Schwarzenegger, the best governor the states contiguous to California have ever had, people and businesses have been relocating in those states.
For four straight years, more Americans have moved out of California than have moved in. California's business costs are more than 20% higher than the average state's. In the last decade, net out-migration of Americans has been 1.4 million.

All in all, it would be surprising were Democrats to make substantial inroads in California congressional races next year. Any big change is more likely to hinge on the next round of congressional redistricting by the Legislature, and its tenor will depend on whether Republicans retain the governorship in 2010 or it passes back to Democrats.

Yet last year, Murtech received $4 million in Pentagon work, all of it without competition, for a variety of warehousing and engineering services. With its long corridor of sparsely occupied offices and an unmanned reception area, Murtech's most striking feature is its owner — Robert C. Murtha Jr., 49. He is the nephew of Rep. John P. Murtha, the Pennsylvania Democrat who has significant sway over the Defense Department's spending as chairman of the House Appropriations defense subcommittee.

Former state House Speaker Marco Rubio (R) will run for the open seat being vacated by Sen. Mel Martinez (R), setting up a near-certain primary fight with popular Gov. Charlie Crist next year.

"I want to serve in the United States Senate because I believe that our country is at the proverbial crossroads and that our future will depend on which path we choose," Rubio says in a video announcing his intentions set to be formally released at 10 am. "This campaign isn't going to be a campaign against anyone, nor will it be a campaign against anything."

Rubio, a protege of former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, has been contemplating a bid for months — a calculation complicated by Crist whose interest in the race has grown considerably since Martinez announced his retirement.