Bad Deeds for 11-29-06

Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson says, “A strong dollar is clearly in our nation’s interest and I feel very good today about the strength of the U.S. economy,” as the U.S. dollar hit a 20-month low against the Euro

Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, who said in London Tuesday, “A strong dollar is clearly in our nation’s interest and I feel very good today about the strength of the U.S. economy,” as the U.S. dollar hit a 20-month low against the Euro. Treasury secretaries are not paid for their candor, but Paulson’s rejection of our current reality won’t bolster his credibility with either our trading partners or the new Democratic-led Congress. Our current account deficit — the broadest measure of international trade — is on track to approach $1 trillion this year. And our current account deficit is almost 7 percent of our nation’s gross domestic product, considerably above the threshold at which Federal Reserve studies have acknowledged our economy must make policy adjustments or face major financial crisis. We’re borrowing about $3 billion a day just to pay for our imports, and our trade debt now stands at $5 trillion.

The Washington Post doesn’t label the incredible amount of violence in Iraq a “civil war” because government officials won’t
Am I missing something here or are they getting an Armstrong Williams check or committing negligent journalism?
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Texas Ethics Commission has no ethics
A Texas official who receives any sum of cash as a gift can satisfy state disclosure laws by reporting the money simply as “currency” without specifying the amount, the Texas Ethics Commission reiterated Monday. The 5-3 decision outraged watchdog groups and some officials who accused the commission of failing to enforce state campaign finance laws. “What the Ethics Commission has done is legalize bribery in the state of Texas. We call on the commission to resign en masse,” said Tom “Smitty” Smith, who heads Texas Citizen, an Austin-based group that advocates for campaign finance reform.

A German says he was kidnapped three years ago, held by the CIA and tortured for months in Afghanistan
“I want to know why this was done to me,” said Khaled el-Masri, a 43-year-old German of Lebanese origin. “I would like an explanation and an apology.” “The claim that this was a case of mixed identity is absolutely absurd,” he said at a news conference. “They didn’t even accuse me of anything.”

US Government Falsely Accused Terror Suspect
A Oregon lawyer who was wrongfully arrested and detained by the U.S. government as a suspect in the 2004 Madrid train bombing because of a bungled fingerprint match. Under the terms of an agreement with the government, Brandon Mayfield – who has said his conversion to Islam made him a target – will still be able to pursue a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the Patriot Act. The settlement also required the government to admit that it monitored Mayfield’s phone and e-mail communications and conducted secret searches of his home and office.

Cheney Shuts Down Sections Of Florida Interstate To Go Hunting

Regards,

Jim