Dirty Tricks?

Things are getting very interesting here in my neck of the woods--I'm sure it can be easily explained; I'm sure there was no wrong-doing, but things are starting to stack up for Renacci and Mandel. Let's see what comes of the investigation . . .

The following comes courtesy of The Daily Kos Elections (which is free and arrives daily in your inbox). 

OH-Sen, OH-16: Buried deep in this new piece from The New Republic's Alec MacGillis is a potentially major detail about donations to two Republican candidates for federal office. MacGillis takes a close look at Ohio as it resumes its quadrennial role as a key presidential battleground state, and among other things, he revisits this Toledo Blade story from last year about workers at Canton-based Suarez Corp. who maxed out to Senate hopeful Josh Mandel and Rep. Jim Renacci. Many of these donors had never made political contributions before, and many also appeared to be of modest means, raising questions as to whether their employer, wealthy Republican donor Benjamin Suarez, had pushed them to donate and then reimbursed them—something which would be illegal.

MacGillis recanvassed the 17 employees on The Blade's list and this time, he found out something completely new: The wife of a Saurez copywriter who, together with her husband, gave $20,000 to Renacci and Mandel, said that the FBI had asked them questions about their donations. Another Suarez employee also said there was "an investigation," and even Renacci's chief-of-staff confirmed that the FBI asked them for their campaign finance records. Of course, the FBI isn't saying anything, and even if there is any wrongdoing here, it would be on Suarez's part, barring a new revelation. Still, it's not a the kind of thing either Mandel or Renacci wants to have to deal with this year.

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later Tweet from Occupy Chicago that caught my attention (big fan of WDM's YA Lit):
 

DSFcoach ‏@DSFcoach Can the city of Chicago please sell those riot helmets now and buy a CPS school some Walter Dean Myers books or something? #noNATO #oCHI

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this is an excerpt from an Elizabeth Warren campaign piece (I know, I know--but at least it has facts on its side).

trivia: who was in the White House when Glass-Steagall was repealed?  (answer below)

JPMorgan Chase revised its numbers.

Since announcing an incredible $2 billion trading loss 12 days ago, the megabank has now lost another $1 billion, and maybe more, in just a few days.

CEO Jamie Dimon is still claiming that it was just a sloppy mistake -- that JPMorgan doesn't need government oversight and accountability. But what if the next loss is $20 billion? Or more?

[ . . .  ]

For me, the basic idea is simple: banking should be boring.Checking accounts, savings accounts -- the things you and I rely on every day -- should be separated from the kind of risk taking that JPMorgan and the Wall Street traders want to take.

For decades, the Glass-Steagall Act acted as a wall to separate hedge funds and risky investment banking from ordinary commercial banking. But in 1999, Congress repealed Glass-Steagall. This past week has reminded us that Glass-Steagall is as important as ever.

answer: Bill Clinton (yep, a Democrat).