Judge Blocks ACORN De-Funding
A federal judge has blocked the congressional effort to de-fund the anti-poverty group ACORN. On Friday, Judge Nina Gershon sided with ACORN’s argument that a measure stripping its federal funding amounted to an unconstitutional “bill of attainder.” The congressional vote followed the release of videos appearing to show ACORN offering advice to two right-wing activists posing as a pimp and prostitute. ACORN has long been a target of right-wing scorn for its work helping poor people with voter registration, tax problems and foreclosures.


House OKs Overhaul of Financial Regulation
In other news from Washington, the House has passed the largest overhaul of financial regulation since the Great Depression. On Friday, Congress members approved a sweeping package that would create a Consumer Financial Protection Agency, increase oversight over derivatives and hedge funds, and establish a mechanism to dismantle large failed companies. No Republicans voted with the Democratic majority. The bill’s chief sponsor, Democratic Congress member Barney Frank, criticized Republican opposition.
Rep. Barney Frank: “The American people, we’re told, have said no more expansion of government—not in the area, certainly, of financial regulation. Their view that the American people want no more restraints on Wall Street is wrong.”

The measure was approved after Democrats with close financial industry ties weakened several provisions. The final bill includes safeguards ensuring federal laws can override state banking regulations, which are often more robust. The Senate is expected to take up its version of the bill next year.


Lieberman Opposes Expanding Medicare Eligibility
The Senate healthcare bill is in limbo following a new reversal from Independent Senator Joseph Lieberman. Last week, Democratic leaders brokered a deal that would hand the pubic option over to insurance companies while expanding eligibility for Medicare. But on Sunday, Lieberman said he would oppose the measure unless Democrats exclude both the Medicare provision and any form of government-backed insurance plan.


US “Categorically Rejects” Climate Reparations
Here in Copenhagen, the US has rejected calls for the payment of climate reparations to poorer countries for the devastation wrought by global warming. Reparations advocates say the US and other industrialized nations owe a debt to poorer countries for the effects of decades of emissions. On Wednesday, the lead US negotiator, Todd Stern, said he “categorically rejects” the principle of climate debt.

Todd Stern: “We absolutely recognize our historic role in putting the emissions in the atmosphere up there that are—you know, that are there now. But the sense of guilt or culpability or reparations, I just—I categorically reject that.”


African Delegates Protest Over Kyoto Dispute
The dispute between rich and poor nations at the Copenhagen climate summit is widening after a weekend of historic protest. Earlier today, the main negotiation session was temporarily suspended after African delegates led a protest over a dispute on the fate of the Kyoto protocol. The African bloc has accused richer nations of trying to abandon Kyoto by merging it with a separate negotiating track on a new agreement. Last week the chair of the Group of 77 bloc of developing nations, Lumumba Stanislaus Di-Aping, said U.S. proposals to cap global temperature increases at two degrees Celsius—3.6 degrees Farenheit—would condemn Africa to a new holocaust. Referring to the head U.S. climate negotiator, Di-Aping said: “Is Todd Stern saying that destroying Africa…is acceptable to him? Is he telling us that the world will put Africa into a furnace? He is basically condemning Africa to death.” Developing nations want temperature increases capped at a maximum 1.5 degrees Celsius, which is 2.7 degrees Farenheit.


Mayors: 26% Rise in Food Aid Needs
The demand for food aid in the United States has seen its largest increase in nearly two decades. In a report this week, the US Conference of Mayors says cities reported an average 26 percent rise in hunger assistance requests, the highest since 1991.


US Prison Population Hits All-Time High
New figures meanwhile show the US prison population has reached an all-time high. According to the Justice Department, 2.3 million people were behind bars last year. The prison population continues to grow at less than one percent, down from an annual six percent growth during the previous decade.


Houston Becomes Largest US City to Elect Openly Gay Mayor
Voters in Houston have made history by becoming the largest US city to elect an openly gay mayor. City controller Annise Parker was elected Saturday with a more than 11,000-vote margin over opponent Gene Locke. Parker’s candidacy had come under fierce opposition from homophobic groups. A mailer sent out to Houston voters denounced Parker for “homosexual behaviour” and her backing from the “gay and lesbian political caucus.” Campaign records show two key members of Locke’s financial committee each donated $20,000 to the group behind the mailer. Parker will replace outgoing Houston Mayor Bill White, who is seeking the Democratic nomination for Texas governor.


Schwarzenegger: Property-Damaging Education Protest a “Type of Terrorism”
And in California, scores of people have been arrested over the last several days in protests against education cuts and rising tuition fees. Twenty-three people were detained Thursday after barricading themselves inside a building at San Francisco State University. On Saturday, sixty-six people were arrested after police broke up a four-day occupation of a building at the University of California, Berkeley. Later in the day, eight people were arrested after damaging property at the home of UC Berkeley Chancellor Robert Birgeneau. Police say the protesters broke lights, planters and at least two windows. No injuries were reported. In a statement, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger denounced the property damage as an act of “terrorism.” Schwarzenegger said, “California will not tolerate any type of terrorism against any leaders, including educators.”


Report: Blackwater Played Key Role in Rendition, Iraq-Afghanistan Raids
New details have surfaced about the private military firm Blackwater’s extensive role in US operations abroad. The New York Times is reporting Blackwater forces have taken part in armed CIA raids in Iraq and Afghanistan. Blackwater is said to have played a “central” role in almost daily “snatch and grab” operations in Iraq between 2004 and 2006. Former Blackwater guards say they also assisted CIA “rendition” flights transporting prisoners for imprisonment and torture abroad. The guards say their involvement was so extensive that it became difficult to distinguish Blackwater operations from those of the CIA or US military.


Cuba Arrests US Contractor
In Cuba, a US contractor has been arrested on apparent charges of unlawful contact with Cuban opposition groups. The contractor’s company, Development Alternatives, is working under a State Department contract for so-called “democracy enhancement” in Cuba. The New York Times reports the contractor had traveled to Cuba on a tourist’s visa but then handed out cell phones and laptops to Cuban opposition groups.


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