New Media

First the bad news: a growing number of economists suggest the U.S. has significant chance of falling into another recession -- and today's GDP numbers aren't much comfort.

The good news, however, is that not every prominent economist shares that view. Ross Devol, the Executive Director of Economic Research, at the Milken Institute, a non-partisan think tank based in Santa Monica, California, believes "a return to modest but sustainable growth is close at hand."

In light of Devol's lamentations over the "volume and vitriol" that "bleeds over into the realm of economic forecasting" contained in his latest paper "From Recession to Recovery: Analyzing America's Return to Growth", we'll keep this brief, and let his most recent predictions do the talking.

Among Devol's forecasts include a strong recovery in business investment in equipment, particularly in IT and software, more robust U.S. exports driven by emerging-market demand and policy, a more upbeat consumer and record low long-term interest rates. All of which, according to Devol, will induce the U.S. to add 3.1 million jobs in 2011 and another 2.6 million in 2012, translating into real GDP growth of 3.7 percent in 2011, and then 3.8 percent in 2012.

Devol paints a pretty picture. Here it is, in chart-form. And because, as Robert Shiller points out, "fear of a double-dip recession could cause one," enjoy these slides and think positive.

More on The Recession

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama on Friday called ethics charges against Democratic Rep. Charlie Rangel "very troubling" and said he hopes the longtime lawmaker can end his career with dignity. Several House Democrats went further, flat-out urging the New York congressman to resign.

"He's somebody who's at the end of his career," Obama said in an interview that aired Friday on "CBS Evening News with Katie Couric." "I'm sure that what he wants is to be able to end his career with dignity. And my hope is that it happens."

Obama, speaking on the issue for the first time, praised the 20-term Rangel for serving his constituents well but called the more than one-dozen tax and disclosure charges against him "very troubling."

It was hardly an endorsement for the veteran lawmaker, but fell well short of the calls for resignation Rangel received on the eve of the House's August recess. As House Democrats headed home, they wrestled with how to handle the matter in their districts ahead of the midterm elections.

Republicans, meanwhile, raced ahead with plans to make Rangel the face of corrupt Washington under the rule of Democrats who had vowed to clean up Congress.

For his part, Rangel met with perhaps his staunchest supporters, members of the New York state delegation, in the stately Capitol parlor named for the Ways and Means Committee that he headed until March.

"He indicated there was some sloppiness" in his official papers, Rep. Edolphus Towns, D-N.Y., told reporters, "but, you know, there's no criminality here."

House rules and credibility – not criminality – were the reasons cited by more than a half dozen House Democrats known to have called for Rangel's resignation by late afternoon Friday.

A House panel on Thursday made public for the first time 13 charges of misusing his office and tax and disclosure violations against Rangel, 80, as it opened the trial phase of the ethics proceedings against him. If Rangel and the ethics committee do not settle the case, it goes to a public trial this fall, at the height of an election season in which every member of the House, 36 in the Senate and the Democratic majorities of both chambers are on the line.

Either conditionally or outright, Democrats calling for Rangel's resignation included Rep. Walter Minnick of Idaho, Betty Sutton of Ohio, John Yarmuth of Kentucky, Zack Space of Ohio, Ann Kirkpatrick of Arizona and Mary Jo Kilroy of Ohio.

"Too many politicians, both Democrats and Republicans, have fallen victim to the idea that they are 'different' than regular folks and nothing could be further from the truth," Kirkpatrick said in a statement.

"It is our job as members of Congress to hold each other accountable to a higher standard regardless of party," she added. "If the serious charges against (Rangel) are accurate, he needs to resign."

Rangel denies the charges and says the indictment released Thursday contains factual errors.

"We've heard Charlie in the Ways and Means Committee, and he's addressed these charges. He never denied they happened. He always has an explanation. You can excuse one or two, but not 13," Yarmuth told the Louisville Courier-Journal in an interview published Friday. "I don't see how he can stay if they're true. I believe they are."

Back home in Rangel's Harlem district, he remains revered and could well win reelection if his political career survives the ethics probe. One constituent said Friday she had mixed feelings after reading news accounts of the allegations against him.

"I don't think he is 100 percent honest, but he's no worse than other politicians," said Charynda Morez, a college student, who was buying groceries at a deli.

She said that she didn't know how he should be punished, but that Rangel should resign anyway. Rangel has four apartments "when there are people who don't have a home," she said, citing allegations that Rangel lived in four combined rent-stabilized apartments instead of one, in violation of New York City law.

Democratic leaders are urging their members to cast the election as one about a choice between their party, which under President Barack Obama has overhauled health care and Wall Street, and a GOP-tea party combination that wants to roll back Democratic accomplishments.

House Republicans relished using Rangel to change the subject – especially if he does not reach a settlement with the ethics committee. A public trial equates to a free media presentation of the misdeeds of one of the most senior Democrats in the House.

The House Republicans' campaign arm released a list of Democrats who have not returned campaign contributions they received from Rangel during their careers and said those lawmakers would face questions about the matter from constituents during the August break.

"It's very difficult for Democrats to make the case that this is a 'choice' election when the national headlines are focused around an ethics scandal that has clearly impacted the party in power," said Ken Spain, spokesman for the National Republican Campaign Committee.

Rangel retained many supporters Friday. The New York delegation and the Congressional Black Caucus, which was co-founded by Rangel, urged their colleagues not to rush to judgment. House leaders eager to avoid alienating black voters remained mum on what Rangel should do.

Some Democrats privately said they took a small measure of comfort in one revelation. Rep. Gene Green, the Texas Democrat who led the four-member bipartisan panel of investigators, told reporters that his committee recommended a relatively mild punishment for Rangel – reprimand, a statement of wrongdoing voted by the whole House that carries no other penalty.

But statements continued to trickle out that left no doubt that at some point, Democrats would have to look out for No. 1 - themselves.

"If at the trial's conclusion Mr. Rangel is found guilty by his peers, then he should incur the full punishment allowed by the House, including removal from office," said Rep. Bobby Bright, D-Ala.

___

Associated Press writers Larry Margasak and Ben Evans contributed to this report.

A weekly round-up of LA's biggest losers, click here to see the winners.

Oliver Stone: Hard to imagine what Stone was thinking during his interview with London's Sunday Times in which he condemned "Jewish domination of the media" for the bad wrap Hitler has gotten over the years. He did give perennial LA loser Mel Gibson a week off our list, however.

Robert Rizzo: The story of Bell's $800,000 man went from local outrage to national firestorm this week, as seen in this clip from MSNBC's Countdown. You can be certain many more casualties of this scandal will grace this list in coming weeks.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Lane Kiffin: Not an ideal start for the new USC coach, getting sued by the Tennessee Titans after signing their running back coach Kennedy Pola. Kiffin's theory that the Titans were motivated by their proximity to his former employer, the University of Tennessee (which incidentally would like Kiffin's head on a pike), is not likely to stand up in court. According to the AP, Titans coach Jeff Fisher isn't buying it either: Fisher is baffled at the idea that the Titans sued to pacify Volunteers fans. He says: "How one could think they would combine the two is absurd to me."

Steve McPherson: Amid rampant speculation in Hollywood regarding Steve McPherson's sudden resignation from ABC emerged reports that the former executive was under internal investigation for sexual harassment. McPherson has hired "pit bull litigator" Marty Singer to fight the charges.

Sen. Christopher Dodd approached Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Chairman Sheila Bair in recent days to gauge whether she would be interested in running the new consumer-protection agency, according to people familiar with the matter.

The chairman of the Senate Banking Committee's behind-the-scenes courtship of Ms. Bair suggests he is trying to find a nominee who might win favor in the Senate. It will be Mr. Dodd's job to move the nominee through a preliminary vote on his committee and then defend the person's record on the Senate floor.

WASHINGTON — Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg says judges can look to foreign law for good ideas without diminishing their ability to apply U.S. law faithfully.

Ginsburg told a meeting of international lawyers Friday that American judges can learn from their foreign counterparts when seeking solutions to "trying questions."

Ginsburg said high court nominee Elena Kagan got it right when she told senators at her confirmation hearing that she was in favor of good ideas "wherever you can get them."

Ginsburg acknowledged that other justices, including Antonin Scalia, are sharp critics of the use of foreign law in Supreme Court decisions. Still, she predicted the high court will continue to look to courts in other democracies for occasional help.

More on Elena Kagan

President Obama was out and about on Friday night, stopping by DC's International Spy Museum with Michelle and Sasha. He was the most dressed-down we've seen him this summer, wearing a short-sleeved, white button-down shirt, jeans and mandals a.k.a. man sandals. Take a look:

More on Barack Obama

HOUSTON — Imprisoned for 27 years for a rape he didn't commit, Michael Anthony Green walked out of jail a free man on Friday and in the process was able to leave behind some of the anger that had fueled his survival behind bars.

Accompanied by his attorney, Green walked out of the Harris County Jail and into the arms of about 20 family members who cheered him.

"Live life," Green said, when asked what he is going to do now.

Green, 44, was released after the Harris County District Attorney's Office reopened his case and new DNA tests it commissioned showed he did not commit the 1983 rape of a woman who had been abducted. During a court hearing Friday, a judge ordered that Green be released on a $500 bond, allowing him to be free while the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals makes a final ruling on his innocence.

Asked what kept him going the last 27 years, Green said that in part it was his anger.

"I took and channeled my anger into studying the law," said Green, clutching a photograph of his mother, who died while he was in prison. "That's how I lived, day by day ... doing what I did. Get up in the law, try to find me a way out."

Some of the anger that Green had held onto for so many years came to the surface on Thursday, when he had been originally scheduled to be freed on bond. His release was delayed to give him time to calm down after he became upset that he was put in handcuffs and leg restraints one final time as he was taken from the county jail to the courthouse, said Bob Wicoff, his attorney. Green said he got upset because one of the deputies escorting him tightened his handcuffs and threatened him.

Wicoff called it a misunderstanding but said Green was justified in his anger as his life had been taken away. Green entered prison at age 18. Some of the nieces and nephews who greeted him on Friday hadn't been born when he was locked up.

Green said that while in prison, he didn't give up hope, writing to state lawmakers, the Harris County District Attorney's Office and others proclaiming his innocence and asking that his case be reviewed.

In 1983, four men abducted a woman from a pay telephone in north Houston, taking her to a remote location where three of them raped her. The men drove off, leaving the woman there, and were later chased by police. The men abandoned their car and fled on foot. Green was detained by officers that night as he walked in the area.

The victim could not identify Green in person when he was first detained but later picked him from a photo lineup as one of her attackers. Green was convicted of aggravated sexual assault and sentenced to 75 years in prison. He was the only person convicted in the case.

After District Attorney Pat Lykos was elected in 2008, she formed the Post-Conviction Review Section and it chose Green's case as one of the first to look at. The review team found the only remaining evidence in the case – clothing worn by the victim during the rape – and had it tested. The results excluded Green.

Authorities were able to identify the four men who abducted the women. But because the statute of limitations on the rape has run out, they cannot be prosecuted.

"The tragedy in the Green case is not only was an innocent man in prison, the victim was denied justice, society was denied justice and the real criminals were free," Lykos said Friday.

Lykos declined to criticize her predecessors when asked why it took so long for Green's case to be reviewed. She said DNA testing was not available when Green was convicted, it didn't come to the forefront until the 1990s and that even now Harris County – the country's third-largest county – doesn't have the resources to do all the testing it needs to do.

Green said he was grateful for the efforts by the district attorney's office.

He and his attorney blame bad police work for his wrongful imprisonment, saying improperly suggestive identification procedures that were used in photo spreads and a live lineup helped lead to the victim incorrectly identifying Green as one of her attackers.

Houston police have declined to comment on Green's case.

Wicoff said Green forgives the victim but is unsure if he will ever forgive the police.

Adrian Taylor, 50, Green's older brother, said he's disappointed it took so long for his brother to be released but now he wants to help him look to the future.

"I now have to get him to forgive, forgive and move on," Taylor said.

Earlier this week, HuffPost's Jason Linkins and Abe Sauer at The Awl reported that the Human Rights Campaign has been slow to respond to the $250,000 donation by corporate giants Target and Best Buy to anti-gay would-be Minnesota governor Tom Emmer.

Now, HRC is collecting signatures on an open letter demanding that Target and Best Buy "make it right" by donating another $250,000 "to support fair-minded candidates who will fight for equality."

The group says it plans to publish the letter as a full-page ad in the Minneapolis Star-Tribune. In the meantime, the letter's authors suggest delivering copies of it to local Target and Best Buy outlets.

READ the letter:

An Open Letter to Target and Best Buy

When lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender consumers -- not to mention our millions of supportive friends and family members -- used to think about Target and Best Buy, we saw two shining examples of corporations that respected the equality and dignity of every American. As nationwide retailers, both of your brands gave other corporations a standard to which they could aspire. In fact, your consistent ratings of 100 percent on the Human Rights Campaign Foundation's Corporate Equality Index were a solid signal of your commitment to a diverse workforce. As a community, we are grateful for that commitment and we fully expect it will continue.

Now, Americans are questioning their loyalty to your brands with word of significant contributions to the political action committee MN Forward that hopes to install one of the most strident opponents of equality in the Minnesota Governor's mansion. With these contributions, you have severely damaged those carefully cultivated reputations and violated the spirit of the gold standards bestowed on you. In fact, the long-term effects on families that shop at Target and Best Buy throughout Minnesota and the U.S. will be devastating.

At this critical time in Minnesotans' quest for equality, MN Forward and the candidates they are supporting would turn Minnesota backward, away from the promise of equal opportunity and fairness that we hold dear. No matter your motivations in making these donations, they didn't occur in a vacuum. Same-sex couples in your home state are denied the equality given to other couples in marriage and many state leaders are poised to right that inequity very soon. $250,000 in contributions to those who would stand in the way is a punch in the gut to those of us who want to see all families treated fairly. What may have sounded like a "good business decision" in the board room turns out to be a horribly short-sighted business decision when millions of consumers lose respect for your companies.

With the Supreme Court's decision in Citizens United, the landscape for political contributions has changed in ways that no one fully appreciates yet. Your foray into this uncharted water has proved choppy and should serve as a warning to other corporations mindful of the perceptions of LGBT and allied consumers. It's time to make things right. The very least you can do to begin rebuilding your image among fair-minded consumers is to make equivalent donations to groups that support candidates who will put all Minnesota families first and fulfill the promises of our highest ideals.

We're watching and we're waiting.

More on Gay Marriage

I have a feeling I know where this one is going, but for your consideration, I present to you the week's winners: To see the losers, click here.

Ryan Kavanaugh: Exactly a week after the LA Times declared Kavanaugh the newest studio mogul following Relativity Media's acquisition of Overture Films, he raises the ante with news of a venture with Virgin's Richard Branson for TV development, packaging and production.

Barbara Boxer's Hair: Polls in the California Senate race between Barbara Boxer and Carly Fiorina remain tight, but the news that sent shockwaves from Sacramento to the Beltway this week: voters prefer Boxer's hairstyle by a five point margin. However, with a whopping 67% undecided, it is still anybody's race to win.

Christina Hendricks: There are many things the stunning Ms. Hendricks could, and arguably should, have said in response to this trainwreck of an interview, but the "Mad Men" star maintained her decorum and handled it like a pro. Oh yeah, she's also nominated for an Emmy. Oh, what am I doing; you've already voted for her.
 

Rick Norsigian: Norsigian stumbled upon some negatives in 2000 that he purchased for $45. This week they were authenticated as the work of Ansel Adams, though Adams' family would beg to differ. Their estimated value? A cool $200 million. I tried to do the math on this and failed, though I suspect Norsigian got a better return on his investment than I will from the Dwight Gooden painting I bought at a yard sale.