HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan:

[A] national, blanket moratorium on all foreclosure sales would do far more harm than good -- hurting homeowners and home-buyers alike at a time when foreclosed homes make up 25 percent of home sales.

For instance, in Cleveland, where there are over 18,000 vacant homes, lives Millie Davis who recently earned her Master's Degree in Urban Planning from Cleveland State University and just bought her first home - one that had fallen into foreclosure and sat abandoned for years. Had a blanket moratorium been in place, that sale would have fallen through [. . .] These homeowners are at risk, too - and the best hope they have is for the "Foreclosed" signs in front of the vacant, abandoned properties on their block to come down, so that the value of their homes can start rising again.

(Emphasis supplied.) I am insistent on following the rule of law and providing homeowners due process, not a moratorium on foreclosures. I am for ending the moratorium on the rule of law that persists in this country regarding foreclosures. But beyond that, Donovan's statement makes no sense. The current climate of clouds over titles to homes is not a result of a potential national moratorium on foreclosures. Quite the opposite. It was due to the moratorium, blithely accepted by the Obama Administration, on due process and the rule of law. The Obama Administration has simply been incompetent regarding the mortgage crisis (from HAMP on down.) There is a crisis of confidence in the country about this issue, and a cause of that is the incompetence of the Obama Administration.

Speaking for me only

I've tried, but I just don't like Boardwalk Empire. It's depressing, viscerally unappealing and the characters are completely one-dimensional. I don't care about any of them. I also don't think Steve Buschemi was a good choice for the lead character.

At least there's a new Next Iron Chef, Desperate Housewives and Brothers and Sisters.

This is an open thread, all topics welcome.

Ken Buck and Sen. Michael Bennet were on Meet the Press today. Ken Buck said homosexuality is a choice.

DAVID GREGORY: Do you believe that being gay is a choice?

KEN BUCK: I do.

DAVID GREGORY: Based on what?

KEN BUCK: Based on what?

DAVID GREGORY: Yeah. Why do you believe that?
KEN BUCK: I guess-- you can choose who your partner is.

DAVID GREGORY: You don't think it's something that's determined at birth?

KEN BUCK: I-- I think that-- birth has an influence over like alcoholism and some other things-- but I think that-- basically, you-- you have a choice.

Sen. Bennet called Buck an opportunist:[More....]

Via Steve Benen, Ezra Klein writes:

This isn't a very popular statement, but there is a role for elites in public life.

Does Ezra mean like this?

Where do we go to order a new "elite?" I think the last 10 years have demonstrated that the American elite is harmful, not helpful. I distrust Ezra's appeal for respect for "the elite."

Speaking for me only

I've not been a follower of the Tea Party, so I do not profess to know what they think, but I have studied the Constitutional debates, and feel confident that Peter Berkowitz is misstating the views of the authors of The Federalist Papers:

Whether members have read much or little of The Federalist, the tea party movement's focus on keeping government within bounds and answerable to the people reflects the devotion to limited government embodied in the Constitution. One reason this is poorly understood among our best educated citizens is that American politics is poorly taught at the universities that credentialed them. Indeed, even as the tea party calls for the return to constitutional basics, our universities neglect The Federalist and its classic exposition of constitutional principles.

It seems to me it is Mr. Berkowitz who has neglected the Federalist Papers and the thoughts of the authors. Indeed, I would think that a review of Alexander Hamilton's defense of the First Bank of the United States should be added to Mr. Berkowitz's reading material:

Via Atrios, Cleveland Plain Dealer:

Michael Rendes of Berea had his mortgage sold last year to Bank of America. The bank foreclosed on him in November, after insisting for months that it didn't hold his loan and wouldn't accept his payments.

Via D-Day, see also this.

Kevin Drum writes:

[Some argue that] Obama and the Democrats could have done a lot more to improve the economy. But I'm not convinced of that. [. . .] The only other thing I can think of that the administration screwed up seriously is mortgage reform. Again, though, that would have been politically difficult even if they had played all their cards perfectly. Like it or not, the American public hates the idea of seeing their neighbors get bailed out from stupid mortgages. It makes them feel like saps: we scrimped and saved and bought a house we could afford and we're getting nothing. Joe and Betty down the street lived the high life, took out a NINJA loan they knew was way more than they could afford, and now they're getting a taxpayer-funded bailout and living easy. That's not a vote getter.

[. . . P]eople are mostly reacting to actual pain, and there's surprisingly little Obama could have done about that.

Matt Yglesias seconds this argument that the President was impotent:

There's a new Rand report, Reducing Drug Trafficking Revenues and Violence in Mexico that examines how Prop 19 and marijuana legalization in California might influence drug trafficking organization revenues and the violence in Mexico. The key findings:

• Mexican DTOs' gross revenues from illegally exporting marijuana to wholesalers in the United States is likely less than $2 billion;

• The claim that 60 percent of Mexican DTO gross drug export revenues come from marijuana should not be taken seriously;

• If legalization only affects revenues from supplying marijuana to California, DTO drug export revenue losses would be very small, perhaps 2–4 percent; [More...]

Booman's latest "Leave Obama Alone!" piece. An instant classic. Very funny.

For the second straight week last Saturday, like my Gators, I crashed and burned with my college picks, going 7-10-1, and falling to 42-45 for the season. Like the Gators, my season can still be a success. So here are this week's picks:

Ohio State (-4.5) over Wisconsin. No state that considers dumping Russ Feingold deserves a win in this type of game. That is also why the Packers are falling apart. Repent! Wisconsin.

Mich St. (-7) over Illinois. Usually this is a game Mich State loses, the one after a big win. Something feels different in Lansing to me. Let me put it this way - it's a shame Ohio State and Michigan State don;t play each other this year. More . . .

Pro Publica has a lengthy investigative article on admitted Mumbai bombing complicitor and former DEA informant Daood Gilani, aka David Coleman Headley.

The focal point of the article is that Headley's ex-wife told the FBI he had become an extremist involved with Lashkar-i-Taiba back in 2005 when she reported a domestic violence incident between them. The FBI either did nothing or glossed over it. [More...]

So glad the weekend is here.

Here are some law professors supporting Prop 19 and legalization of marijuana in California. If you haven't read the ballot initiative, you can do so here.

Child soldier Omar Khadr, facing the first miltiary commissions trial under Obama's revised rules, is contemplating a plea deal. It calls for 8 more years in prison and some are objecting saying it's not long enough. Reportedly, most of the additional prison time could be served in his home country, Canada, instead of Gitmo, if both Governments agree. Canada allows parole, the U.S. does not.

On "Medium" tonight, a fictional Sheriff Joe Arpaio and so far, it seems they are going to justly roast him.

This is an open thread, all topics welcome.

Attorney General Eric Holder announced today the Justice Department will continue to prosecute marijuana offenders in California, even if Proposition 19 passes.

The comments came during a joint press conference with Prop 19 foes, including Los Angeles District Attorney Steve Cooley and Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca, as well as former heads of the DEA and Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Cooley, who is running for state attorney general, has said he believes all medical marijuana dispensaries are illegal.

More on the press conference here. He gave the same response in a letter this week to the ex-Chiefs of the DEA who had written him in August requesting the Government stop Prop 19 from taking effect if it passes.

Marijuana Policy Project and Drug Policy Alliance respond. From DPA:

Under our system of government, states get to decide state law. There is nothing in the United States Constitution that requires that the State of California criminalize anything under state law. If California decides to legalize marijuana through the passage of Proposition 19, nothing in the Constitution stands in the way. In fact, Congress has explicitly left to the states wide discretion to legislate independently in the area of drug control and policy. States do not need to march in lockstep with the federal government or even agree with federal law.

[More...]

The Open Society Foundation has released a new report on detainee abuse by the U.S. military at a detention facility in Afghanistan:

The accounts by Afghans—who refer to the site as “Tor Jail” or “Black Jail”—are not in accordance with U.S. detention rules. The report, Confinement Conditions at a U.S. Screening Facility on Bagram Air Base, provides the first detailed account of detainee treatment at this classified site, which is different than the well-know Bagram detention facility.

Detainees state that they were held in excessively cold isolation cells; supplied inappropriate or inadequate food, bedding, and blanketing; denied exposure to natural light; unable to carry out their religious duties; restricted from exercise; and kept from meeting with the International Committee of the Red Cross.

[More...]

A new report by the Justice Policy Institute shows a lack of equal justice for Native Hawaiians:

In the first-ever investigation of the impact of the justice system on Native Hawaiians, researchers from the Justice Policy Institute, Georgetown University and the University of Hawai’i found that even when the criminal charges are the same, Native Hawaiians are sent to prison more often and for longer periods of time than most other racial or ethnic groups in Hawai‘i. Native Hawaiians are also more likely to have their parole revoked and be returned to prison compared to other racial or ethnic groups.

It's not just the offenders who suffer: [More...]