Monday, January 25, 2010

How the Christmas Day Bomber Might Imperil Financial Reform

The conservative commentator Byron York is out with an opinion piece about the Christmas Day bomber, drawing upon a recent Associated Press analysis of the timeline starting with him going into custody (see the article for the link to AP).

Apparently he was interrogated by the FBI for all of 50 minutes before he was Mirandized and clammed up.

The opinion piece concludes with what is likely an informed prediction:

A few days ago, Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee and Homeland Security Committee asked questions that led to the disclosure that key national security officials were not consulted in the decision to treat Abdulmutallab as a civilian criminal, rather than as an enemy combatant, which would have allowed officials to interrogate him extensively without any assertion that Abdulmutallab had the right to remain silent. In light of these new revelations, it is likely that the GOP will step up its questions for Attorney General Eric Holder -- and for the president himself -- about why that decision was made.

Probably never has an unsuccessful terrorist attempt caused such trouble for an administration.

If the facts of the case put the president in a bad light, then his general prestige will likely further diminish.
Financial reforms will be that much tougher to accomplish, Tall Paul notwithstanding.

Yes, we are seeing how there can be gridlock with one-party rule.

It's looking less likely that controversial changes regarding financial regulation and assessment of fees will get through Congress as Barack Obama confronts the limits to his ambition for perhaps the first time.

If those issues were the sole cause of last week's sell-off, then stocks are a buy. Conventional wisdom says that is the case, as zero interest rates drive continued, resurgent speculation.

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