James Joyner at OTB, this morning brings news abot the latest action of Eric Holder’s Justice Dept:

Attorney General Eric Holder has dropped the case against Ted Stevens, NPR’s Nina Toalatenberg reports.

A jury convicted Stevens last fall of seven counts of lying on his Senate disclosure form in order to conceal $250,000 in gifts from an oil industry executive and other friends. Stevens was the longest-serving Republican in the Senate, however, he lost his bid for an eighth full term in office just days after he was convicted. Since then, charges of prosecutorial misconduct have delayed his sentencing and prompted defense motions for a new trial.

According to Justice Department officials, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder has decided to drop the case against

I found this article today on RealClearMarkets.com, but Caroline Baum.  It bears reading in its entirety.  Here’s the link:

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601039&refer=columnist_baum&sid=a5UrNNsvQepQ

Someday, Chairman Frank will be exposed for the creep he clearly is.…

I sit here this evening watching a lovefest between 60 Minutes correspondent Leslie Stahl and Barney Frank.  This is, in my opinion, not what I would consider to be an objective portrayal of Rep. Frank.  For starters, Ms. Stahl not once, but twice, suggested he’s the smartest man in Congress.  That really doesn’t say much for the rest of Congress, unless she’s suggesting he’s a savant.

Rep. Frank is the presiding chairman of the House Committee on Banking and Finance.  He’s been a member of this committee for years and can be credited with stopping legislation in committee to limit the power and authority of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in 2004, 2005 and 2006, as reported in a series of articles in the Wall …

Today’s Wall Street Journal contains an op/ed by Brian Wesbury, one of the more level-headed and highly respected economists in the country.  His recommendation is that Congress suspend mark-to-market accounting rules, because investors refuse to put money into companies that may not be around because of phantom valuations of their securities portfolios.

He’s right, and this is an easy and less-costly fix than the one presently being floated around Capitol Hill.  However, since it’s both easy and cheaper and will actually solve the crisis, I guarantee you that Congress will not propose the obvious.

In fact, over the last two weeks I have never seen so much pomposity, arrogance, narrow-mindedness and lack of common sense in Washington.  Senator Chris Dodd (I nearly mis-typed his name–Dodo!) …

At 6:00 this morning I was in the middle of my daily 15 minute workout routine, watching CNBC’s Squawk Box and trying to get a read on the markets.  If you’re unfamiliar with this show, it’s hosted by Joe Kernan, Becky Quick and Carl Quintinilla.  If my local cable provider would broadcast Fox Business, I’m sure I’d watch that, but as it is, I’m stuck with CNBC.

It’s your typical morning talk show, except with a business twist.  Mr. Kernan tends to be the conservative of the three and while I generally agree with his viewpoint, every once in a while I’m reminded that this is the sister network to MSNBC and NBC.  Today was my reminder.

They were discussing yesterday’s congressional hearings and testimony …