CIA used ‘illegal, inaccurate code to target kill drones’.

via What the pot legalization campaign really threatens.

That truth is underscored by news this week that the California Beer and Beverage Distributors is financing the campaign against the legalization initiative. This is the same group that bankrolled opposition to a 2008 ballot measure, which would have reduced penalties for marijuana possession.

GORDON DUFF: AMERICA’S REAL ANTI-GOVERNMENT THREAT.

What would explain a Republican win in November?.

via New Proof Wall Street Knew Its Mortgage Securities Were Subpar: Clayton Execs Testify.

Here’s some additional things that made it all possible:2004 – The White House shelved rules aimed at forcing lenders to more clearly explain loan terms, after industry-friendly members of Congress threatened to block confirmation of his new housing secretary.2004 – In the 2004 election cycle, mortgage bankers and brokers poured nearly $847,000 into Mr. Bush’s re-election campaign, more than triple their contributions in 2000.2005 – The Bush Administration’s appointment of a new SEC Chairman who promised a “kinder, gentler” agency.2005 – Mr. Bush’s banking regulators brandished a chain saw over a 9,000-page pile of regulations as they promised to ease burdens on the industry. When states tried to use consumer protection laws to crack down on predatory lending, the comptroller of the currency blocked the effort, asserting that states had no authority over national banks. Additionally, the administration won that fight at the conservatively-controlled Supreme Court.2005 – The FHA Chief warned the White House about impending doom by drafting a memo detailing that low-income minority borrowers had been lured away by the “fool’s gold” of subprime loans. Senior aides, like Karl Rove, Mr. Bush’s chief political strategist, were wary of overly regulating an industry that, Mr. Rove said in an interview, provided “a valuable service to people who could not otherwise get credit.” While he had some concerns about the industry’s practices, he said, “it did provide an opportunity for people, a lot of whom are still in their houses today.”

Op-Ed Columnist – Downhill With the G.O.P..

So the clear and present danger isn’t that the G.O.P. will be able to achieve its long-run goals. It is, rather, that Republicans will gain just enough power to make the country ungovernable, unable to address its fiscal problems or anything else in a serious way. As I said, banana republic, here we come.

So How Did the Bush Tax Cuts Work Out for the Economy?.