Political Tidbit

Three quick items:

Barack
Barack was asked if he would investigate and prosecute the outgoing administration in connection with the war on terror. He hedged and said that he'd need information within government, but that he'd look to remedy crimes committed.

First, anyone expecting a suit against a high-ranking official in the executive can forget about it. That will play as a witch hunt. Further, any suit would butt up against executive privilege arguments. Despite noises to the contrary, I believe deep down that the next president will capitalize on W's expansion of the executive, reigning it in a little, but not back to Clinton/Reagan levels. That plays two ways: either the desire to keep this power will prevent the new president from attacking the executive privilege or, to the contrary, will use the attack on the W administration as a mere show of cutting back on executive power.

Second, you can also forget any criminal prosecution of the military. That's handled by the courts marshall and they are far more restrictive regarding this kind of prosecution. I don't know enough about it to provide more context, but this is a place where following orders under the then-understood limits of the law should provide a defense.

Third, even if a case is brought, a new POTUS would (and should for political reasons) only seek to prosecute the most egregious case. That would require political vetting of the prosecutor's decision of who to target. Many have criticized the Bush administration for micro-managing/meddling at DOJ; for the next president to meddle this way would do nothing to stem the tide.

Finally, if the new president is seen by the country and world as turning over a new leaf of "hope," it is likely a far better move to ignore this and focus on future policy. I know that it let's wrong-doers off the hook, but that's politics.

John
John McCain proposed to alter the tax system by creating a new one and offering it as an alternative to the current system. We already have 2 systems, standard and Alternative Minimum Tax, thought by most Republicans to be a travesty for policy and pocketbook reasons. To create this additional, optional plan would make for bigger government, more hassle, etc.

I have to imagine this is a first step to replacing the old system...but isn't there a better way?

NRCC/DCCC
DCCC filed a claim with the FEC claiming that the NRCC was writing the ads for an independent group (a 523?), violating the groups independence and, by extension, federal election law and the revenue code. The group's rep claims that he didn't get NRCC docs, but rather pulled up an old Word ad template he had from his days at the NRCC and saved it as a new doc.

Seems plausible. I want to know who forwarded the doc to the DCCC.