Posts by Christy Hardin Smith

Christy Hardin Smith is a former attorney, who earned her undergraduate degree at Smith College, in American Studies and Government, concentrating in American Foreign Policy. She then went on to graduate studies at the University of Pennsylvania in the field of political science and international relations/security studies, before attending law school at the College of Law at West Virginia University, where she was Associate Editor of the Law Review.

Judge in Stevens Case Starts Criminal Contempt Proceedings Against DOJ Officials
Posted by Christy Hardin Smith, Firedoglake on April 7, 2009 at 10:28 AM.

UPDATE: Judge Sullivan announced today that he will commence criminal proceedings against DOJ attorneys on the Stevens' case:

Sullivan said today that he would commence criminal contempt proceedings against the original trial team and their supervisor, and appoint a non-government lawyer to prosecute the case.

That includes William Welch II, chief of the Justice Department's Public Integrity Section; Brenda Morris, his principal deputy chief and former lead prosecutor in the case, public integrity prosecutors Edward Sullivan and Nick Marsh; and Alaska-based assistant U.S. attorneys James Goeke and Joseph Bottini.

The judge said that "the interest of justice" he would appoint Henry Schuelke III, name partner at Janis, Schuelke & Wechsler, to investigate and prosecute team for violating court orders and potentially obstructing justice.

An outside appointment of an independent prosecutor under these circumstances where conflict of interest is raised is not uncommon, but from what I've heard it was not announced prior to today's proceedings which is a little unusual. That says the Judge was pissed by whatever was in documents he ordered DOJ to turnover regarding further misconduct allegations that Holder found so objectionable when he issued his indictment dismissal.

Hold onto your hats, kids -- this just got even rockier for Justice.

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Unemployment Rises to 8.5%. . . and Then There's the Bad News
Posted by Christy Hardin Smith, Firedoglake on April 3, 2009 at 8:24 AM.

The economy keeps on chug, chug, chugging along at a poky, yet steadily poky, pace.

While President Obama's been breaking up G-20 tiffs, the rest of us are still paying our bills and hoping things get better. Here's a little update on where things may be:

-- The NYTimes does a poignant interview with three folks in Columbia, SC who have lost jobs in this recession, and what they are doing to make ends meet while looking for work.

-- In the "duh" column, the WaPo reports that new polling shows Americans are worried about the recession. Color me shocked.

-- Maybe it has something to do with the fact that unemployment numbers are still rising? According to Dept. of Labor:

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Sick Around America: Half-Assed Health Insurance Doesn’t Work
Posted by Christy Hardin Smith, Firedoglake on March 30, 2009 at 10:45 AM.

This infuriates me. And not just because I have a pre-existing condition that would likely have me on the "insurance blacklist."

It's especially timely because growing numbers are looking for individual health insurance after losing their jobs. On top of that, small businesses, which make up the bulk of South Florida's economy, are frequently finding health policies too expensive and are dropping coverage, sending even more people shopping for insurance....

''This is absolutely the standard way of doing business,'' said Santiago Leon, a health insurance broker in Miami. Being denied for preexisting conditions is well known, but when a person sees the usually confidential list of automatic denials for himself, ``that's a eureka moment. That shows you how harsh the system is.''...

Imagine working your rear end off for a company and having them close down in this recession.  But you've paid into an emergency fund for health care coverage, so you think you've planned ahead and made wise choices.  

Or, if you own a small business (as I have), trying desperately to find affordable coverage for your employees and continually getting quoted insane prices for a relatively healthy group of people that none of you can afford.  It's nuts.

And then, you get slapped with the fine print:

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Smile: Obama Family to Plant Organic Garden at White House
Posted by Christy Hardin Smith, Firedoglake on March 20, 2009 at 7:31 AM.

The Obamas will plant a garden at the White House, the first since Eleanor Roosevelt's Victory Garden during WWII. Now that is some change I can fully believe in:

On Friday, Michelle Obama will host a groundbreaking for a White House kitchen garden on the South Lawn. She will be joined by students from Bancroft Elementary in Washington, who will be participating in the project during tomorrow's event as well as by planting in the coming weeks and harvesting later this year....

The White House will be using organic seedlings, as well as organic fertilizers and organic insect repellents. The garden will be located near the tennis courts and visible to passerbys on the street. The whole Obama family will be involved in tending the garden....

It's not just Alice Waters that's thrilled with this development.

I love this. And not just because I'm planning on doing the same with my family.

While there will be no beets in the White House garden (nor in mine, thanks), there will be a variety of veggies and fruits.  And hives for honey; wonderfully thoughtful touch at a time when bees are fighting back for survival.

Michelle says Barack will be expected to pull weed duty:

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AIG Scrutiny: Basic Questions for Media and Congress Alike
Posted by Christy Hardin Smith, Firedoglake on March 16, 2009 at 8:02 AM.

You know it's bad when even the WSJ's headline screeches about growing wrath toward AIG's bonuses.  

On This Week, Robert Kuttner made the point that auto workers take pay cuts while the big guys fund themselves bonuses -- watch and see if it doesn't piss you off, too.

Retention bonuses for companies on the brink of financial ruin are not new.

KMart paid them when they filed restructuring bankruptcy a few years ago to keep upper management who knew how to run supplier networks or other crucial components from jumping to a healthier business.  Under certain stressed conditions, they can make good business sense.

But, as we reported yesterday, the AIG bonus issue is a bit more complex than simply "is this a retention bonus."

What is most horrifying about this is how little the government appears to have known before doling out the next ladle of public bailout fundage: Did treasury know about these bonuses before doling out TARP monies? How much did they know? We have no idea at this point.

Now THAT is troubling.

The House Financial Services Committee has a hearing scheduled on risk and fraud on Wednesday at 10 am ET. One thing that will need to be determined going forward is whether this is a regular AIG business practice or some sort of "fraud in the inducement" scheme to fund their own bonus payola with ginned up demands for taxpayer moolah.

On the off chance that the media and Congress have no clue what to scrutinize, here are some basics:

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Axelrod Strikes Back, Slams Cheney and Rove for Attacks on Obama
Posted by Christy Hardin Smith, Firedoglake on February 13, 2009 at 7:47 AM.

This is a fine way to wake up. In an interview with the WaPo's Lois Romano, Obama top advisor David Axelrod politely yet firmly hands Cheney and Rove their STFU papers:

ROMANO: Can I get a reaction on Dick Cheney's comments that there will be a high probability of a terrorist...that terrorists will attempt a catastrophic nuclear attack in the next ten years?

AXELROD: Well, those...there's no doubt, I think we all live with the reality that there's a threat and it's a grave threat. It existed during the years of the Bush Administration. We're living with it now -- it's something that the President is completely focused on and meets every day on these threats.

I was disappointed with the Vice President's comments, not because he said...stated the obvious which is that there are threats that are grave, but that he suggested that somehow the president's decisions on torture and Guantanamo would increase the likelihood of that.

You know, one of the things that I've been impressed by is the graciousness that President Bush has shown during this transition period and the first weeks of this administration. When he left, he wished us the best -- and I believe that he meant that.

Apparently the memo didn't circulate around the White House, because I've seen...you know...what I consider tasteless comments by the Vice President.

Amazing comments by Karl Rove. You know, the last thing that I think we're looking for at this juncture is advice on fiscal integrity or ethics from Karl Rove. I mean, anyone who's read the newspapers for the last eight years would laugh at that.

So, I appreciate that President Bush has been so classy during this period, and I'm disappointed that some of the folks who worked for him didn't--don't share that.

Ooooooh...snap! Love it when Axelrod decides to throw an elbow.

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Margins of Terror: Just How Unsafe Is Our Food Supply?
Posted by Christy Hardin Smith, Firedoglake on February 11, 2009 at 7:01 AM.

The House Committee on Energy and Commerce's Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations has a doozy of a hearing scheduled for today beginning at 10 am ET on the "Salmonella Outbreak: The Continued Failure to Protect the Food Supply."  

C-Span will have coverage.  C-Span3 has a hearing with TARP-recipient bank CEOs at the same time.  Ought to be a doozy of a morning.

From the committee release yesterday, the following witnesses "have been invited":

-- Jeffrey Almer
-- Lou Tousignant
-- Peter K. Hurley
-- Stewart Parnell, President, Peanut Corporation of America*
-- Sammy Lightsey, Plant Manager, Peanut Corporation of America
-- Stephen Sundlof, D.V.M., Ph.D., Director of the Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, Food and Drug Administration
-- Oscar Garrison, Consumer Protection Division, Georgia Department of Agriculture
-- Darlene Cowart, President, J. Leek Associates, Inc.
-- Charles Deibel, President, Deibel Laboratories 

* The Committee voted on February 10, 2009 to compel the testimony of Stewart Parnell.

Interesting line-up, isn't it?  Should provide quite a few testimonial fireworks, and not an inconsequential amount of "Representative Waxman, I decline to answer that question on advice of counsel" responses.

This hearing is a continuation of a series of hearings (YouTube) that the committee has held over the past few years on the increasing worries of taint, infestation and other problems within the nation's food chain.  And with products coming from outside our borders -- you'll likely remember the melamine scares from a few months ago as one example.

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Econopocalypse Goes From Bad to Worse
Posted by Christy Hardin Smith, Firedoglake on January 30, 2009 at 7:37 AM.

Anyone else getting that "bottom's gonna fall out of the tilt-a-whirl" feeling about the economy, too? It's an ugly day of news on the economic front:

-- Calculated Risk says consensus predictions are a 5.4% drop in GDP for the last quarter. Numbers are due today. There's a lot of money in short-selling in this market, so I'm always suspicious of analyst motive: how can you tell self-interest driven analysis from honesty? But it still looks bleak. Bloomberg says economy tanked faster than any time since 1982. Ouch.

-- The spot of good news? The Senate passed SCHIP last night. Boo yah!

-- Via LATimes:

On Thursday, three milestones showing the depths of the downturn were reached: The number of workers filing unemployment claims hit an all-time high, sales of new homes fell to an all-time low, and production of durable goods dropped for the fifth straight month, boosting inventories to their highest level since at least 1992....

Calculated Risk has a series of indicator charts on the credit crisis that are equally grim.

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Pay Equity: Raise Your Voice for Equal Pay for Equal Work
Posted by Christy Hardin Smith, Firedoglake on January 8, 2009 at 10:17 AM.

Democratic leadership in the House on a Thursday conference call -- including California's Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Rep. George Miller, chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee, and Connecticut's Rep. Rosa DeLauro, vowed to push forward with the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act (HR 11) and the Paycheck Fairness Act (HR 12).

DeLauro said: "Women who work hard and productively and carry a full range of family responsibilities should be treated fairly."

DeLauro emphasized that close to one-third of all women in this country live in poverty. And for unmarried women, especially those who are heads of household with children, things are even more grim. These women have income that is, on average, $12,000 less than unmarried male counterparts. Wade Henderson of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights said, "this is a civil rights issue."

This needs to change. Women should earn the same pay for doing the same work. That should not even be a question.

The House is likely to reintroduce these bills late Thursday afternoon or, more likely, early on Friday. Miller, who has championed the Ledbetter Act through the last Congress and today, said that the Senate will likely take up this issue next week as well -- that Democratic leadership is looking at the schedule for floor time and that this is a priority for a number of members of the Senate.

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Shocking Santa Investigation: Jolly Elf Or Major Douchebag?!?
Posted by Christy Hardin Smith, Firedoglake on December 25, 2008 at 8:00 AM.

Think Santa's just a jolly old elf who brings great gifts and cheer? Think again. 

But make certain your young children are out of the room before watching this horrifying expose.  

Just tragic.

(I am SO going on the naughty list with this one...as if I already weren't headed to hell with this.)

Wingnut's Crazy Obama Nationality Case Thankfully Booted by the Supreme Court
Posted by Christy Hardin Smith, Firedoglake on December 9, 2008 at 6:30 AM.

Just in time for the annual War On Christmas rush, SCOTUS boots the Obama nationality case:

The Supreme Court this morning unceremoniously declined to hear an emergency appeal from a man who claimed President-elect Barack Obama is not qualified for the presidency because he is not a "natural-born" citizen.

This was the Donofrio case. But, take heart, oh ye wingnuts of little faith, the Berg case still moves forward ... for now.

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Grumpy McCain's Plumber Didn't Have the Fix
Posted by Christy Hardin Smith, Firedoglake on October 16, 2008 at 7:02 AM.

David Gergen's post-debate quip that McCain's debate performance looked like an exercise in anger management was spot on.  It was a huge turn-off to watch McCain taking his smirky, petulant, immature, angry id on a public parade.

In politics it is generally not considered a good sign when voters are laughing at you, not with you. And by the end of the third and last presidential debate, the undecided voters who had gathered in Denver for Democratic pollster Stan Greenberg’s focus group were "audibly snickering" at John McCain’s grimaces, eye-bulging, and repeated references to "Joe the Plumber."

The word of the night for McCain was "angry." Or was it frustrated.  Or petulant.  Or dyspeptic.  Or...

The one word that never came to mind with regard to McCain was "presidential."  Huge problem this late in the game for him.

And the snap polls show that across the board, with Obama handily wiping the floor with McCain.  Obama was calm, thoughtful, and not an asshole, which was a perfect contrast with McCain, and a great counterpoint to the mess that George Bush has been.  

Joe Biden: Experience With a Big Heart Is a Winning Combo
Posted by Christy Hardin Smith, Firedoglake on October 2, 2008 at 11:14 PM.

This moment, when Joe Biden talked about being a single parent unsure whether his sons would make it after his wife and daughter were tragically killed in a car accident?

Most real thing I've seen in politics in a long, long time.

When Biden was speaking about the folks he grew up with in Scranton and Wilmington -- their fear about how to pay for the heat in the winter, and groceries, and medical bills? You could feel the empathy pouring out of the television.

He wants to help those folks. They are his neighbors, whether they live next door or across the continent.

Sarah Palin has clearly been on camera enough to hit her marks, and deliver her rote, frenzied lines for that closing speech or to launch into yet another hyperactive filibuster. I give her credit for having a great camera presence, but so much of it felt scripted, manic and manufactured -- down to the newly caramelized color of her highlights that they toned down with a color rinse from the usual brassier version for the stage lighting tonight.

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Michelle Obama Cooks Up Quite a Political Dish on the Food Network
Posted by Christy Hardin Smith, Firedoglake on September 22, 2008 at 4:31 PM.

Michelle Obama scored a huge coup, with an appearance on Paula's Party on Food Network, taking her "home cooking mama" appeal straight to the most sought-after demographic this year: women.  Get this from People Magazine:

"She was everything I thought she would be: Smart, great sense of humor and loves to talk about family," Deen told PEOPLE of meeting Mrs. Obama.

The pair prepared fried shrimp for Deen's show and Deen said, "I can tell she spends time in the kitchen – she was very relaxed when we cooked. And that lady is a good eater."

Not that it shows. "Did I tell you she is in the best shape ever? Everyone was staring at her amazing arms!" said Deen.

Food Network doesn't allow political ads, so this was huge in terms of reach-out.  Both campaigns have been running ads designed to hit female viewers -- during talk shows, soap operas, you name it.  Demographic strategery.

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The GOP Thinks Organizing in Your Community is Worthless
Posted by Christy Hardin Smith, Firedoglake on September 4, 2008 at 9:34 AM.

Well, I suppose we should all just throw up our hands and let local children starve, let civil rights problems fester, and shut up and accept every problem for what it is:  our lot in life.  

Screw the poor.  To hell with women being allowed to vote.  Rollback the end of slavery.  And get yer hazmat suits, because your environment is about to be sold off piecemeal to the highest bidder -- hunters, fishermen, and wildlife enthusiasts be damned.

Welcome to Republican world, where trying to make things better in your hometown makes you something they laugh at proudly.  How's that feel America?

Correct me if I'm wrong, but without community organizers like Martin Luther King, Jr., we'd all still be dealing with separate water fountains for coloreds and Jim Crow Laws.  And I mean the old ones, not the new poll tax crap that Hans Von Spakovsky keeps trying to sneak in through the sewers.

Oh, and ladies?   No community organizers means that your voice doesn't count for shit.  No vote for you!

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