If our 78-year-old dad ever dropped the line “pocket tweet” on us, we wouldn’t hesitate to commit him to an institution.

[via @daveweigel]

Correction of the Day, from wingnut Pajamas Media: “A previous version of this story mentioned that a source witnessed Cain[!] and the woman entering a taxi together. This was incorrect. The previous version also mentioned that the woman awoke in Cain[!]’s bed — the source only claimed that the woman awoke in Cain[!]’s apartment. The previous version incorrectly attributed comments from one source to the other source.” [via Weigel]

Today’s Herman Cain! roundup…

Strike One:

POLITICO has learned that one of the women who accused Herman Cain[!] of sexual harassment at the National Restaurant Association in the 1990s received a payout of about $45,000 as part of her settlement – significantly more than the two or three months’ salary Cain[!] initially recalled the woman obtained.

Read more »

Lawsuit of the Day: “And not only has Mr. Remis demanded to be repaid the $4,100 cost of the photography, he also wants $48,000 to recreate the entire wedding and fly the principals to New York so the celebration can be re-shot by another photographer.” The wedding took place in 2003. The happy couple since divorced. And the bride can’t be found. [NYT]

We’re astonished! that Herman Cain! has yet to solve the problem created by a rogue campaign member. At least we remain confident that, true to his principles, Cain! won’t go around blaming someone else for the situation.

Oh, fuck it. It’s fun to watch him twist in the wind, but he is and always was a joke candidate. It’s getting so bad, we’re finding ourselves wishing that Sarah Palin had run. Now there’s schadenfreude you can believe in!

If you’ve been toying with the idea of setting up your own Right-Wing “think tank” to rake in a few Koch dollars in these tough economic times, pay attention, because this is how it’s done:

…by increasing the costs to banks of doing business in distressed communities, the CRA makes banks likely to deny credit to marginal borrowers that would qualify for credit if costs were not so high.

Cato Instutite, 2003 Handbook for Congress

Some supporters claim that stricter Clinton administration CRA enforcement has reduced or ended discrimination. They note that between 1993 and 1997, mortgages made to all borrowers increased by 30 percent, while mortgages made to minority borrowers increased by 63 percent. But Chicago Fed economists Douglas D. Evanoff and Lewis M. Segal found that the increased rates of loans to poorer neighborhoods were about equal before and after 1992. Further, Federal Reserve Board economist Robert Avery found that in 1993 and 1997, institutions both not subject to and subject to CRA made about the same percentage of mortgages to lower-income borrowers and neighborhoods as they did to all borrowers.

Is it Time to Repeal the Community Reinvestment Act?” 1999 Cato Institute publication.

Now, flash forward exactly one housing market bubble collapse and a catastrophic economic implosion… Read more »

“I can tell you unequivocally he wasn’t drinking at the event and he hadn’t been drinking prior to the event. I was sitting with him, and I found him to be very engaging with all of the people he was talking with, he was very articulate.” —Organizer Kevin Smith (no, not that Kevin Smith), standing up for Rick Perry. [The Hill, via Political Wire]