ThinkFast: October 21, 2008

After watching conservatives usher in the biggest expansion of government since FDR, the Washington Times asks, “Is limited government passe?” The concern for some conservatives “is that America may no longer care about the government’s size, scope and role.”

Yesterday, U.S. Special Counsel Scott Bloch announced his intention to resign when his term ends in January. Bloch, tasked with protecting federal whistle-blowers, is currently under investigation for retaliating against “employees who opposed his policies.” The FBI raided his home and office last year “amid allegations that he destroyed evidence and potentially lied to Congress.”

“Despite his stated desire to close the American prison at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, President Bush has decided not to do so, and never considered proposals drafted in the State Department and the Pentagon that outlined options for transferring the detainees elsewhere.” Bush is assuming that Guantánamo will remain open not only for the rest of his presidency, “but also well beyond.”

“More families with children are becoming homeless as they face mounting economic pressures, including mortgage foreclosures, according to a USA TODAY survey of a dozen of the largest cities in the nation.” Local authorities report an increase in families needing help in Atlanta, Boston, Denver, Minneapolis, and New York, among others.

14 days to go: Barack Obama holds rallies in Lake Worth and Miami, FL. John McCain is in Bensalem, Harrisburg and Moon Township, PA.

Sen. Ted Stevens (R-AK) “admitted during his corruption trial that he used his Senate staff for personal duties, a possible violation of ethics rules according to experts.” Stevens and his wife Catherine said that one of his aides “coordinated the couple’s finances, paid their bills and helped monitor the home remodeling project central to the charges against him.”

The majority of states are now either in or are “dangerously close to recession.” Mark Zandi of Moody’s Economy.com says that 27 states are in recession and another 14 are near recession.

“John McCain’s campaign has directed $175,000 to the firm of a Republican operative accused of massive voter registration fraud in several states.”

A federal appeals court Monday blocked the release of 17 Chinese Muslims from Guantanamo Bay into the United States, saying it needed to hear further arguments. On Oct. 7, a federal judge had ordered the immediate release of the detainees, who the Bush administration no longer considers to be enemy combatants, and who have been held at the prison for seven years.

Even though the new GI Bill passed by Congress is called the “Post-9/11 GI Bill,” the new legislation “won’t take effect until Aug. 1, 2009 — eight years after” the 9/11 attacks. By that time, some who served in Iraq or Afghanistan will have already graduated from college. “And because the bill is not retroactive, it won’t help [them] at all.”

And finally: In recent weeks, conservatives have been aggressively attacking the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN), saying that it is “destroying the fabric of democracy.” However, Roll Call notes that “the effects of those attacks have been spilling over to other similarly named groups.” Five local papers near Los Angeles, known as the “Acorn newspapers” after the oak tree nut, “even had to write an editorial clarifying that they’re not THAT Acorn.”

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