[Guest post by DRJ]

The TARP Inspector General reports the Obama Administration’s handling of the GM and Chrysler car dealership terminations needlessly cost American jobs:

“Treasury made a series of decisions that may have substantially contributed to the accelerated shuttering of thousands of small businesses,” investigators said.

Those decisions resulted in “potentially adding tens of thousands of workers to the already lengthy unemployment rolls – all based on a theory and without sufficient consideration of the decisions’ broader economic impact,” the report said.“

Why worry about the lives of bitter, clingy Americans when you have a crisis going to waste?

— DRJ

The L.A. Times yesterday ran a front-page article purporting to be an analysis of whether it is an effective strategy to paint Republicans Meg Whitman and Carly Fiorina as rich women out of touch with common folk. In so doing, editors got to discuss at great length whether Republicans Meg Whitman and Carly Fiorina are rich women out of touch with common folk.

Isn’t it wonderfully coincidental how the requirements of Big Media news analysis mesh with the propaganda needs of the Democrat(ic) party?

The article is titled Wealth defines California’s Senate, gubernatorial campaigns. The article begins by exploring whether Republicans Meg Whitman and Carly Fiorina are rich women out of touch with common folk.

Their Democratic opponents are homing in on the women’s wealth and penchant for private planes and other perks as a way to paint them as being out-of-touch with everyday voters — a return to the class warfare that marks so many campaigns.

It then explores whether it is a good strategy to paint Republicans Meg Whitman and Carly Fiorina as rich women out of touch with common folk. (The balanced answer: it’s unclear!)

Whether Democrats Boxer and Brown have a “penchant” for “private planes and other perks” goes completely unexplored. (Boxer has a little penchant for private planes.) But in a pathetic attempt to seem balanced, editors do note Boxer and Brown’s own not inconsiderable wealth … at paragraph 26 of a 33-paragraph article.

A challenge the Democrats face is that although both have modest incomes compared to their opponents, they are well off compared to the average voter. Boxer is a millionaire; Brown and his wife, former Gap executive Anne Gust, have substantial stock and real estate investments, and he has come under fire for living in a $1.8-million Oakland Hills home while talking of frugality. Brown dismissed criticism of what he called a “modest little tree house.”

See if you can guess whether that information shows up on the front page. (Hint: it doesn’t.)

Editors don’t mention that Brown’s $1.8 million “modest little tree treehouse” was actually purchased for $2.68 million. Here is a description of Brown’s house that I found elsewhere. It doesn’t appear in the L.A. Times:

The three-bedroom home comes with bamboo floors, a spiral staircase, breathtaking views of the bay and roll-up family room windows that let the sea breeze wash in.

The office on the top floor has a private entrance. A spa level features a sauna and wetbar, while a dumbwaiter services every floor, making it easy to send a bottle from the wine cellar to the dining room.

When fog isn’t hovering over the bay, the home provides a view of the Golden Gate Bridge, according to a brochure of the home when it was on the market in 2007.

A description and photo of the five-level home is at the link.

Yes, there are a few things missing from the article.

Thank goodness the Democrat talking points are all there!

[Guest post by DRJ]

The mother and ex-wife of a Texas firefighter killed in a fire are challenging the right of the firefighter’s widow to inherit his estate because his widow was born a man:

“A lawsuit filed Monday seeks to dissolve the marriage of the Wharton volunteer firefighter who died battling the Maxim Egg Farm blaze, on the grounds his wife, Nikki, used to be a man.”

The plaintiffs argue the marriage is void and the widow cannot inherit.

The Texas Attorney General’s office is already considering the reverse case involving a marriage certificate sought by two women, one of whom was born a man. One problem is that multiple documents can be accepted when applying for a marriage license, but there is no guarantee those documents accurately list the applicant’s gender.

It’s a new world.

— DRJ

UPDATE 7/22/2010: Nikki and her attorney speak out.