[Please see UPDATE to "Who's Cheating the District of Columbia," below.]
Devastating news for fans of the Cleveland Cavaliers tonight, as this leaked footage from this weekend's 60 Minutes interview between Steve Kroft and Cavalier star LeBron James. James, was drafted by Cleveland many years ago because he was widely thought to be the transformative player that would bring Hope and Change to the franchise's fortunes. Yet here he is, LAUGHING, as if he cannot even take the difficult task ahead of him seriously! Is he punch drunk? Tune in this weekend to find out.
In other news, the market reacted favorably to Zydrunas Ilgauskas' bank nationalization plan, but questions still remain.
Priorities, priorities: Speaking of sports, you'll be happy to know that in these times of uncertainty and stress, your Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Antitrust, Competition Policy and Consumer Rights are out there, eyes trained on the important issues.
Who's Cheating The District Of Columbia, Now?: UPDATE: Steve King's office has sent us the following from the Des Moines Register, which reads in part:
A clerical mistake by the property tax administration in Washington, D.C., allowed U.S. Rep. Steve King to receive a tax credit intended for people whose district property serves as their permanent residence, the agency's director said Thursday.
King, a four-term Iowa Republican, was named in a story in The Hill newspaper this week as one of four House members who wrongly received the credit.
[...]
King had said the agency made a mistake, and provided a letter Thursday from the department acknowledging it.
Records reflect that King's property "has been inadvertently receiving the homestead deduction," Richie McKeithen, director of the real property tax administration for the District of Columbia, said in a letter to King dated Thursday.
Phil Gingrey's office also tells us: "...the exemption on Rep. Gingrey's house was mistakenly carried forward - because the previous owner had claimed the deduction - and that neither the Congressman nor his wife ever applied to receive the deduction nor were they notified they were out of compliance with the policy."
Supporting paperwork backs up Gingrey on this. That updates our original item, which continues below:
Rep. Tom Petri (R-Wis.), Rep. Phil Gingrey (R-Ga.), Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) and Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Ala.) are named by Roll Call as taking advantage of a tax exemption to which they are not entitled. DCist's Martin Austermuhle says:
Rogers is off the hook, though, as the D.C. Office and Tax and Revenue has admitted that he never requested the exemption. Petri, who is listed as one of Congress' 50 richest members, has tried to weasel out of responsibility for claiming the exemption, stating that his wife does all the bookkeeping and has a D.C. drivers license. The problem? She's still registered to vote in Wisconsin. Oops. King comes out looking worst of the bunch -- not only is he seemingly cheating on his taxes, but he also helped stall the recent D.C. voting rights bill. Tsk tsk.
Fill In The Blanks: Kurt Andersen: Too _____________ To Fail.
The Long Good Bayh: Yglesias yanks a Bayh quote, in which the Indiana Senator seems incredulous that progressives would in any way fear what his new Hyper-Timid Incrementalist Bullshit Caucus has in store: "We literally have no agenda...How can they be threatened by a group that has taken no policy positions?" I think that's the point, though: watering down bills so that the earn votes is not a policy position, is it. Blindly lowering allocation amounts without giving a moment's thought as to what allocation level is effective is not a policy position. Constantly warning about "OMGZ TEH FILIBUSTERZ!!" is not a policy position. That this Bayh junta hasn't got any policy positions is the LEAST SURPRISING THING ABOUT THEM.
You Daily Dose Of Delight: Heck. Here's the part of the LeBron interview that's just plain mindblowing.
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