Day 320

Too Many to Choose

There is lots going on in the world today. 

• Sonia Sotomayor was confirmed by the senate yesterday afternoon and will be the first Hispanic Supreme Court Justice.  
  
• Pakistan's Taliban chief, Baitullah Mehsud, is thought to be killed in an attack which also claimed his wife.
• Filmmaker John Hughes dies at the age of 59. He is a sentimental favorite of mine- Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Breakfast Club, Pretty in Pink, and Sixteen Candles will always bring me back to my childhood. 
• More attacks targeting Shiites in Iraq.  Over 36 people reported dead.
• The Cash for Clunkers program gets $2 billion in new funding from Congress.  

Day 274

Voting Rights Act

The Supreme Court reversed a decision regarding Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 made by a lower federal court.  The ruling allows the Northwest Austin Municipal Utility District No. 1 to opt out of of the advanced approval requirement.  There was only one dissent by Justice Clarence Thomas who stated, 

"The violence, intimidation and subterfuge that led Congress to pass Section 5 and this court to uphold it no longer remains"

I learned an interesting fact about Texas while visiting a friend in Austin who works to pass environmental renewable energy legislation.  He told me that the state legislature only meets 6 months every two years.  Their session just ended a week or two ago- no more new legislation for the next two years.  How crazy is that!

Day 261

Ruth Bader Ginsberg

Ruth Bader Ginsberg

News that Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg has granted a stay on Chrysler's sale to Fiat makes a cameo appearance on the front page of the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, and theWashington Post. The surprise action caught even the creditors, led by three Indiana pension funds, off-guard. In months of arguments, "the Indiana funds [contended] that the sale trampled on their rights as senior lenders because they would recover less than junior lenders. The funds also claim that the manner of the sale did not comply with bankruptcy law, and that the Treasury illegally used billions from the federal Troubled Assets Relief Program, meant for financial institutions, to prop up Chrysler," the WP writes. Under the current deal, a United Auto Workers retiree health care trust got a 55 percent equity stake and $4.5 billion note, and Fiat stands to get an initial 20 percent stake. 

Day 247

Sonia Sotomayor- Supreme Court Nominee

Obama nominates Judge Sonia Sotomayor for the open slot left by Souter's retirement. If approved,  Sotomayor will be the third woman and first Latina in the Supreme Court.

Day 224

David Souter

Supreme Court Justice David Souter announced his retirement yesterday and the media is all abuzz about possible replacement nominees.  Obama has not made any announcements yet and already he is getting criticism.