transition team

Here we go:

HOMELAND SECURITY ISSUES STATEMENT ON POTENTIAL OBAMA THREAT -- 1030 AM ET -- Statement from a Department of Homeland Security spokesman:

"The FBI, the Department of Homeland Security (including the USSS) and the intelligence community are coordinating with other law enforcement authorities to investigate and analyze recently received information about a potential threat on Inauguration Day. This information is of limited specificity and uncertain credibility. Authorities at all levels are vigorously pursuing any lead relating to this threat information. The Transition Team has been briefed and is fully integrated into the process.

There is an unprecedented level of security involving more than 58 federal, state and local agencies for this Inauguration, and related events. As we have previously said, Inauguration events could present an attractive target due to the large public gatherings and participation of many dignitaries. Authorities are constantly reviewing security measures in light of this threat information, as we would with any threat information.

We encourage the public attending Inauguration events to go about their normal plans. As always, we remind the public to be both thoughtful and vigilant about their surroundings, and to notify authorities of any suspicious activity. We also remind the public that they can expect very high levels of security at Inauguration events, and we ask for their patience and cooperation."

Is anyone surprised?

The Guardian is reporting that the Obama team has signaled they may open some low-level diplomacy with Hamas:

The incoming Obama administration is prepared to abandon George Bush's ­doctrine of isolating Hamas by establishing a channel to the Islamist organisation, sources close to the transition team say.

The move to open contacts with Hamas, which could be initiated through the US intelligence services, would represent a definitive break with the Bush ­presidency's ostracising of the group. The state department has designated Hamas a terrorist organisation, and in 2006 ­Congress passed a law banning US financial aid to the group.

The Guardian has spoken to three ­people with knowledge of the discussions in the Obama camp. There is no talk of Obama approving direct diplomatic negotiations with Hamas early on, but he is being urged by advisers to initiate low-level or clandestine approaches, and there is growing recognition in Washington that the policy of ostracising Hamas is counter-productive. A tested course would be to start ­contacts through Hamas and the US intelligence services, similar to the secret process through which the US engaged with the PLO in the 1970s. Israel did not become aware of the contacts until much later.

Change is awesome! The Obama transition team has launched a section on change.gov dedicated to healthcare reform. There are already close to 1,200 comments on it. Imagine a government letting people voice their opinion? I thought that was America’s principal, but wasn’t so sure after the last eight years. Well it looks like it may be our principal again.

But that isn’t all. John Conyers is working on a single payer healthcare package and now has a page dedicated to informing the public about it.

A core belief of the Democratic Party is starting to see life, and could become reality. How many times has that happened for the Republicans?

(updated and bumped)

Newsweek is reporting that D.C. power attorney Eric Holder is being tapped for Attorney General.

(Update 1)

NBC news is now reporting that Holder has accepted the position. Once confirmation comes out from the transition team, I will put him in the Cabinet 44 section.

(Update 2)

Via The Washington Independent, here is Holder on the detainees:

“We owe the American people a reckoning. It is our responsibility as citizens to preserve and protect our constitution… Let me be clear: I firmly believe that there is evil in the world, and that we still face grave dangers to our security. But our ability to lead the world in combatting these dangers depends not only on the strength of our military leadership but our moral leadership as well. … To recapture it, we can no longer allow ourselves to be ruled by fear. We must evaluate our policies and our practices in the harsh light of day and steel ourselves to face the world’s dangers in accord with the rule of law.”

Now that's a view I like!

Yesterday I posted that Obama had appointed some strong proponents of Net Neutrality to his transition team to oversee the FCC. Now we find out that another Democrat is working to bring actual Net Neutrality into law:

A lawmaker is bringing the issue of net neutrality back into the spotlight. Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.) plans to introduce a bill in January that would stop Internet service providers from blocking and managing certain Internet content.

The planned legislation follows a long battle between the Federal Communications Commission and cable-TV and Internet service provider Comcast. It would have the Internet Freedom Preservation Act bar cable and telephone companies from being Internet "gatekeepers" and keep the Internet open and free, according to Dorgan, who has introduced previous bills on net neutrality.

"He was the lead sponsor of net-neutrality bills for this session of Congress, which is about to end, and he will be introducing a bill in the next session of Congress," said Justin Kitsche, a spokesperson for Dorgan's office.

Of course the all powerful telecom industry is gearing up it’s opposition to the possibility of this new law:

"We don't believe legislation is necessary in this area and could harm innovation and investments," said Sena Fitzmaurice, Comcast's senior director of government affairs and corporate communications, in a phone interview. "We have consistently said that all our customers have access to content available on the Internet."

This is what happens when you have a President coming into office that understands the Constitution and doesn't treat it like a piece of toilet paper:

Transition advisers to President-elect Barack Obama have compiled a list of about 200 Bush administration actions and executive orders that could be swiftly undone to reverse White House policies on climate change, stem cell research, reproductive rights and other issues, according to congressional Democrats, campaign aides and experts working with the transition team.

A team of four dozen advisers, working for months in virtual solitude, set out to identify regulatory and policy changes Obama could implement soon after his inauguration. The team is now consulting with liberal advocacy groups, Capitol Hill staffers and potential agency chiefs to prioritize those they regard as the most onerous or ideologically offensive, said a top transition official who was not permitted to speak on the record about the inner workings of the transition.

In some instances, Obama would be quickly delivering on promises he made during his two-year campaign, while in others he would be embracing Clinton-era policies upended by President Bush during his eight years in office.

Besides the problems of war and economy, Obama has the huge challenge of undoing all the damage Bush has done. It's good to see they are already focusing on that. With a Democratically controlled government, hopefully we can see new mechanisms put into place the protect us from having to go through anything like the last eight years ever again.