AP 9/25

BOSTON – A Massachusetts assistant attorney general has moved to dismiss a case in which the state Republican Party is trying to block the swearing-in of the late Sen. Edward Kennedy's interim replacement.

Assistant Attorney General Peter Sacks said in a court filing Friday that Gov. Deval Patrick was within his authority to appoint Paul Kirk and make the appointment effective immediately.

He says the judge hearing the case cannot delay Patrick because of the separation of powers principle in government.

Lawmakers passed a bill this week giving Patrick the power to appoint an interim replacement. Laws usually take 90 days to go into effect, but Patrick signed an emergency letter.

Republicans allege he exceeded his constitutional authority.

Kirk was sworn in Friday.

KISIT: Ha Ha. Kirk was sworn in Friday. This is related to jamming the Health Care bill through quickly. The Dems wouldn’t use this political capital for a 3-4 month interim replacement if they didn’t need the vote.

Boston Globe

A large military spending bill moving through Congress contains a little-noticed outlay for Boston that has nothing to do with national defense: $20 million for an educational institute honoring late Senator Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts.

The earmark, tucked into the defense bill at the request of Senator John F. Kerry of Massachusetts, requires US taxpayers to help the Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the United States Senate realize its goal of building a repository for Kennedy’s papers and an accompanying civic learning center on the University of Massachusetts at Boston campus in Dorchester, next to the John F. Kennedy Library and Museum.

The item is drawing fire from fiscal watchdog groups, who assert that military funds should not be raided to pay for an institution that has nothing to do with improving military readiness.

Beyond raising questions about the practice of slipping earmarks into bills in Congress, the provision also presents a potential ethical question for Paul Kirk, the longtime Kennedy aide Governor Deval Patrick appointed to fill the late senator’s seat yesterday.

Kirk, who stepped down yesterday as chairman of the JFK Library Foundation, has also served as a member of the Edward M. Kennedy Institute board and has played a key role in helping plan and raise funds for the new center. If he casts a vote in favor of the defense bill, he also will be voting in favor of an institute to which he has had close personal and professional connections.

Using the national defense budget for such earmarks is considered a particular affront by those advocating for fiscal discipline in the midst of two wars that are straining Pentagon coffers. Overall, the Senate version of the bill includes 778 earmarks worth $2.65 billion, including a number that have little or nothing to do with military matters.

KISIT21 – I wonder why our soldiers are under funded and our government can’t control spending.

Two days after Obama said no country is better than another, the New York Times reports:

PITTSBURGH — President Obama and leaders of Britain and France accused Iran on Friday of building a secret underground plant to manufacture nuclear fuel, saying the country has hidden the covert operation from international weapons inspectors for years.

Obama also said: “those who used to chastise America for acting alone in the world cannot now stand by and wait for America to solve the world’s problems alone.” After eight years of President Bush’s unilateralism... maybe we’ll find out why Bush acted unilaterally.

Wall Street Journal

WASHINGTON -- A tiny car company backed by former Vice President Al Gore has just gotten a $529 million U.S. government loan to help build a hybrid sports car in Finland that will sell for about $89,000.

The award this week to California startup Fisker Automotive Inc. follows a $465 million government loan to Tesla Motors Inc., purveyors of a $109,000 British-built electric Roadster. Tesla is a California startup focusing on all-electric vehicles, with a number of celebrity endorsements that is backed by investors that have contributed to Democratic campaigns.