6/11 Roundup: Violence at the HMM, Green Bay, Aggressive Birds

Submitted by Sam duPont on 6/11/09

Daily Roundup

Leader: Violence at the HMM

- An 88 year-old white supremacist opened fire with a .22 caliber rifle in the Holocaust Memorial Museum here in Washington yesterday, killing a security guard before other guards wounded him with gunfire. James von Brunn had published anti-Semitic and anti-black rants on the internet, and in 1983, had stormed into the Federal Reserve Board attempting to kidnap members of the Board, before being captured just outside the boardroom doors.

Politics

- President Obama will do a town-hall meeting in Green Bay today, and will talk about the need to rein in costs in our healthcare system. The choice of location, as always, has been carefully thought out. Green Bay is something of a success story in American healthcare, with a high quality of care delivered at a relatively low cost.

- The Fix covers the Republican Party in its three body parts-- the heart, the head, and the gut. Who do you think is which?

- Kenneth Feinberg, a "well-known Washington lawyer," has been appointed the "pay czar" of the White House, and will oversee compensation at the big banks that have received federal bailout money.

Economy

- The NY Times reports, somewhat unsurprisingly, that China's economy is now more dependant on domestic demand than ever, as exports are a less viable engine for growth.

- Foreclosures in May were 6% lower than in April, but it was still the third highest month in history. I'd like to point you back toward our working arguing that we must keep people in their homes.

International

- The Kyrgyz government reiterated its insistence that the US airbase in their country would be closing later this year. The airbase is generally considered to be essential to the U.S. war-fighting effort in Afghanistan.

- Four Chinese Muslims who were held in Guantanamo Bay have been resettled in Bermuda. Not to make light of a seriously situation, but I wouldn't mind being resettled in Bermuda right about now.

New From NDN

- Mike Hais released his first in what will be a weekly series of columns on polling. He wonders if there's any way the Dems can win without the support of Latinos, and if Millennials could be the key to such a victory.

- Rob Shaprio blogs from Stockholm, and says it's time to get serious about our financial mess. What happens now could affect our economy for decades to come.