Senator Durbin Cashes Out After Meeting with Bernanke and Paulson

From Bloomberg News:

As U.S. stock markets plummeted last September, the Senate's No. 2 Democrat, Dick Durbin, sold more than $115,000 worth of stocks and mutual-fund shares and used much of the money to invest in Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc.

The Illinois senator's 2008 financial disclosure statement shows he sold mutual-fund shares worth $42,696 on Sept. 19, the day after then-Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke urged congressional leaders in a closed meeting to craft legislation to help financially troubled banks. The same day, he bought $43,562 worth of Berkshire Hathaway's Class B stock, the disclosure shows.

Altogether, Durbin sold investments worth $116,000 in September. By Oct. 2, he had invested $98,046 in Omaha, Neb.-based Berkshire Hathaway, the form shows.

I have nothing to add. As Moe Szyslak once said: "Choking on my own rage here."

Link.

This Doesn't Bode Well

California Unemployment Rate Reaches 10.1%

Chicago Tea Party

I never thought I'd say this about anyone on any NBC affiliate, but this is fucking beautiful...

California's Budget

So the republicans in the state senate caved and voted for the tax hikes. Another reason I'm not sad to have left the party last year. At least it wasn't my senator that cast the final "aye."

$12 billion dollars in tax increases from a 1% increase in state sales tax (going to be 8.25% for me, now), increase in vehicle registration fees and a surcharge on state income tax. How the fuck can the state impose a surcharge on income tax?

To top it all off, I still haven't received my state tax refund or my I.O.U. I did get my federal refund, though. A chunk of that is going for a Mossberg 500/590 to supplement the old 28" Savage Shotgun and/or a Glock 30 SF. The immediacy of the Glock 30 purchase depends on whether or not the state is going to resume sending welfare checks.