Not entirely shameless

Bush just pulled the pardon he was going to give to the home-loan scam artist whose father gave the RNC $28,500.

Remember the pardon the Beloved Leader was going to give to a home-loan scammer whose father made his first political contribution ($28,500 to the RNC) earlier this year? Well, you can forget it, and so can the scammer. Once the papers started to pick up on it, the WH folded.

Official spin: The pardon seemed like a good idea at the time, but based on fresh information…

Whatever.

Author: Mark Kleiman

Professor of Public Policy at the NYU Marron Institute for Urban Management and editor of the Journal of Drug Policy Analysis. Teaches about the methods of policy analysis about drug abuse control and crime control policy, working out the implications of two principles: that swift and certain sanctions don't have to be severe to be effective, and that well-designed threats usually don't have to be carried out. Books: Drugs and Drug Policy: What Everyone Needs to Know (with Jonathan Caulkins and Angela Hawken) When Brute Force Fails: How to Have Less Crime and Less Punishment (Princeton, 2009; named one of the "books of the year" by The Economist Against Excess: Drug Policy for Results (Basic, 1993) Marijuana: Costs of Abuse, Costs of Control (Greenwood, 1989) UCLA Homepage Curriculum Vitae Contact: Markarkleiman-at-gmail.com