Publius

House Democrats only have a few more weeks in the majority. They don’t quite know what to do and don’t know how to transition. Expect more tantrums.

From Roll Call: The frustration with President Barack Obama over his tax cut compromise was palpable and even profane at Thursday’s House Democratic Caucus meeting. One unidentified lawmaker went so far as to mutter “f— the president” while Rep. Shelley

From the Associated Press: House Democrats voted Thursday to reject President Barack Obama’s tax deal with Republicans in its current form, but it was unclear how significantly the package might need to be changed. By voice vote in a closed

Today, in 2008, Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich was arrested by federal officials.

WASHINGTON (AP) – American Indians and black farmers will be paid $4.6 billion to address claims of government mistreatment over many decades under landmark legislation President Barack Obama signed Wednesday. The legislation “closes a long and unfortunate chapter in our

From a USDA employee with close to 30 years experience: Pigford was a nightmare. There was lots of money to be made–most of it by the trial lawyers. There were legitimate claims. It happens that people do sometimes discriminate and

In our report, we document two organizations, the Black Farmers and Agriculturists Association and the National Black Farmers Association. These two groups round up tens of thousands of Pigford litigants and then lobby politicians with promises of votes and campaign

The Dept. of Agriculture has claimed that there were only three cases of fraudulent claims filed for Pigford settlement money. Jimmy Dismuke, one of the original farmers who brought suit against the USDA, told Big Government that he was personally

From an anonymous source in the capitol: These are redacted Pigford applications that are all done by the same lawyer. All of the claimants come from Arkansas (two are related) and the stories they write on the application are clearly

Although the Pigford settlement story is a complex one that has major political implications, at the heart of it is a very simple question: does the settlement contain a significant amount of fraud? If the Obama administration is telling the

Today, in 1993, President Bill Clinton signed the North American Free Trade Agreement.

The following is based on an interview with a current employee at the U.S. Department of Agriculture: I’ve worked with the USDA for more than 25 years. The situation with Pigford has been horrible. There were cases of discrimination. Perhaps

This is a copy of a three-page letter between Michael Sitcov, Chief of the DOJ Federal Programs Branch, who is defending the government against the Pigford suit, and class action Pigford lawyer Al Pires. This letter shows Sitcov’s obvious anger

The following is based on an interview with a current US Department of Agriculture employee who has worked for more than 20 years for the USDA: It’s been ten years and I’ve really dealt with Pigford. It was a hard

Today, in 1941, the Japanese Imperial Navy attacked Pearl Harbor. It was a colossal mistake.

While we certainly hope the possibility of multi-billion dollar fraud was enough to pique your outrage, what may be the most frightening revelation from our research is that Pigford may be the proverbial tip of the farmer scam iceberg. Fox

On April 14. 1999, Judge Paul Friedman signed a Consent Decree in the class action law suit PIGFORD, BREWINGTON v GLICKMAN and the US Department of Agriculture. Following is a portion of the opinion written by Judge Friedman: Forty acres

The_Pigford_Shakedown_r4 –

President Obama is expected to sign legislation authorizing the taxpayer-funded Pigford II Settlement. In the 1990s, a group of black farmers were compensated for past discrimination from the USDA. Pigford II will compensate individuals, who may or may not have

Glenn Reynolds in today’s Washington Examiner: But I have a different character in mind. The more I watch this administration at work, the more I think we’re seeing the first Nigel Tufnel presidency. Nigel Tufnel, many will remember, was the

The latest revelations from the WikiLeaks cable-dump provide a revealing look into the world of climate alarmists. Surprise! It isn’t really about the climate, but crippling developed economies. Interesting that most of the revelations from WikiLeaks have simply confirmed what

Today, in 1783, George Washington bid farewell to his officers from the Revolutionary War.

Yesterday, Rep. Charlie Rangel became the first member of Congress to be censured in almost a quarter century.

From The Hill: Members of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) are complaining that legislation funding a settlement for discrimination against black farmers sets too high a bar for claimants. The lawmakers argue language added by the Senate, which is meant

President Obama dispatched former President Bill Clinton and, mysteriously available, Attorney General Eric Holder to Zurich to bolster the U.S.’s bid for the 2022 World Cup. They failed. The heretofore totally unknown Gulf State of Qatar beat us. (In Qatar,