7/1 Roundup: The Honorable Al Franken, GOP Feuding, Awesome Clouds

Submitted by Sam duPont on 7/1/09

Leader: The Honorable Al Franken

- The Minnesota Supreme Court roundly rejected former Senator Norm Coleman's arguments against the validity of the vote count from November's election, and he finally conceded defeat, eight months later. Al Franken, the former comedian and author, will, this time for real, become the new junior senator from Minnesota, and could be seated as soon as Monday. Franken will be the 60th Democrat in the Senate, giving the Dems, if only theoretically, the power to overcome the filibuster.

- Politico sees two basic reasons that Norm Coleman had to give up: he was running out of money, and the courts had rejected every one of his arguments. The Hill runs an article on a separate subject that gains new relevancy from Franken's accession: In the House, a big Democratic majority means more defections. Might the same be true in the Senate?

Politics

- The Treasury Department unveiled legislation yesterday that would establish the Consumer Protection Agency that President Obama described last week. Banks have immediately made the destruction of this proposed agency a top priority.

- The WaPo and the NY Times both run pieces chronicling the Supreme Court's slant to the right since Roberts took over the court. It seems unlikely that President Obama will have the chance to replace a conservative justice with a liberal one, so this trend will likely continue for years.

- Todd Purdum published a massive profile of Sarah Palin in the latest Vanity Fair. I blogged about it yesterday. The article has apparently set off feuding among GOP leaders.

Economy

- Walmart has come out in support of President Obama's plan to overhaul health care. The nation's largest private employer supports the concept of requiring employers to provide health care for all their employees.

- Planned layoffs at U.S. firms hit their lowest level in June since March 2008. This is the fifth consecutive month planned layoffs have fallen.

International

- The Prime Minister of Zimbabwe, Morgan Tsvangirai, the chief political rival of President Robert Mugabe, said yesterday that an official he had appointed within the government had negotiated a deal with China for nearly $1 billion in loans. Zimbabwe needs about $8 billion to rebuild its economy, but Western governments have been loath to pony up while President Mugabe remains in power, perpetrating the human rights abuses he is so famous for.

- Sweden takes over the helm of the European Union today, and has some big challenges in the coming months. On the top of their agenda is keeping the Lisbon treaty alive, and they'll also be trying to bring the U.S. and China into a global carbon emissions reduction scheme at December's Copenhagen climate summit.

- Argentina has declared a Swine Flu emergency, after at least 26 people have died from the disease in recent days.

New From NDN

- Michael Moynihan notes two recent announcements from the Department of Energy that indicate the Administration is on the smart grid case.

- Simon and Morley had a knockout session at the Personal Democracy Forum on Monday. Keep your eye on this space for a recap, possibly with pictures and things!