We Now Know Who the Next President Will Be - Bob Shrum
If Shrum ever tells me I'm lookin' good, I'll just walk down to the marble orchard and turn myself in.
Saturday, September 27, 2008
Obama Receives Kiss of Death!
If Shrum ever tells me I'm lookin' good, I'll just walk down to the marble orchard and turn myself in.
Saturday Emmylou Blogging
Sometimes ya has ta make a choice. Sometimes ya dasn't. Sometimes ya can't. I narrowed it down to these two after an agonizing (yeah, right!) hour watching videos posted this week. I think maybe I ain't the only person happily obssessed with this young lady.
Thank you to GainControlAgain whom you should go see.
Emmylou Harris & Dave Matthews - My Antonia
Emmylou with Albert Lee and Tammy Rogers - When I Was Yours
Thank you to GainControlAgain whom you should go see.
Friday, September 26, 2008
Debate prep ...
The Rude way:
Lehrer to Obama:
Obama's response:
That would be entertaining as a motherfucker. Unfortunately, Ol' Barry won't say that so I'm going to bed and catch the lowlights on the news at 0400.
Lehrer to Obama:
"How do you answer your critics who say you lack the experience necessary to be President?"
Obama's response:
...
"Now lemme say somethin' here directly to Johnny Maverick. Your America failed. Your version of this country, where we go and fight bullshit wars and where rich people are gonna be all generous with their money and where businesses will take care of themselves, that shit failed. It's done, Johnny Maverick. And this fuckin' wreckage is owned by the Republican president and the Republican Congress, and that includes you, motherfucker. You still stink of this shit, and no matter how hard you try to run, those gimpy little legs can't get you far enough away so that you don't smell like Uncle Sam just took a dump on you. You own this. You think you can just put it aside like some out-of-wedlock baby and wait for the DNA test to make you pay child support? No, motherfucker. You broke it, you bought it, you gotta carry it around with you. Every time you got down on those broken knees in front of George W. Bush and was first in line to take his dick in your mouth, you owned another piece of it, and now that he's come, you wanna spit? Fuck you. Swallow that shit, bitch.
...
That would be entertaining as a motherfucker. Unfortunately, Ol' Barry won't say that so I'm going to bed and catch the lowlights on the news at 0400.
Another one...
Not shown are the quart of French Vanilla ice cream and the bottle of Caramel Syrup.
Cake is from the Treat Box, owned by Lee who learned to bake in the Navy. Luckily he got over it.
Good News, Bad News
Mark Morford. Links at site.
No. My new vibrator is red & chrome and says 'Royal Enfield' on the gas tank.
Much more. Enjoy.
The good news: Proposition 8, the November initiative that would permanently congeal the state's lingering residue of homophobia and prohibit gays from ever getting married lest plagues of designer locusts and rainbow-colored frogs and sweet-natured gay math teachers who wink menacingly at your innocent virgin boy-child in algebra class rain down upon the land, appears to be failing.
Support now hovers somewhere around 38 percent of the state's sexually terrified and confused and old, most of whom live in Orange County and the farm belt and who, perhaps tellingly, say that they also support less reading in schools, an increase in half-off sales on week-old salami logs at Pepperidge Farm at the Northtown mall, and more shooting of those damn teenagers in the kneecaps for playing that gul-dang hippity-hop music so loud that it shakes the baby Jesus figurines right off the TV.
The bad news: Upon losing the election, John McCain himself will quickly retreat from the national spotlight, but there's a chance Palin will cause nightmares for years and decades to come (perhaps replacing hateful Ted Stevens as Alaska state senator), given how she's just young and intolerant enough to convince the hard right that they've finally found a "real" woman they can actually support, despite how she's basically Dick Cheney with a hair bun, and is about as friendly to the feminine cause as a reef shark to a menstruating mermaid.
The good news: The countdown of Bush's final 100 days in office begins October 11.
The bad news: The count-up of the years of savage economic, environmental, ethical and spiritual repercussions we are to suffer as a direct result of his administration's historic ineptitude is only just beginning. But hey, at least you have that new purple vibrator. Yes?
No. My new vibrator is red & chrome and says 'Royal Enfield' on the gas tank.
Much more. Enjoy.
Why Congress Is Failing America
Slate. Links at site.
The difference is simple: the bureaucrats just do their jobs. The pols are pandering all over the place to get re-elected.
The financial catastrophe and the WaMu collapse reveal that Washington bureaucrats can handle an emergency but politicians can't.
Last night, the troubled financial system had to absorb two fresh blows: the failure of Washington Mutual and the failure of the White House and Congress to reach a consensus on a proposed bailout package for banks like Washington Mutual. The big irony? The failure of a bank with $307 billion in assets, the largest bank failure ever by far, is causing the tiniest of ripples, while the failure of business as usual—who could have imagined that the Bush administration would be unable to bring along its allies in the House and Senate?—is inducing rage and panic among CNBC talking heads.
It is a tale of two systems. One system, the one used to process failed and faltering banks, works really well. It's been in place and evolving for 75 years, since the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. was founded (over the opposition of bankers, it must be added). Since then, not a penny of depositors' money has been lost, and the banks continue to insure themselves against their own incompetence. The FDIC insurance fund contains about $45 billion, and analysts had feared that the failure of a bank the size of WaMu (it had $188 billion in deposits) would swamp the fund. But the FDIC has a professional staff, run by a highly competent and intelligent manager, Sheila Bair. Having already handled a baker's dozen of failures this year, the FDIC has the drill down. There are also, thankfully, a few competent bankers left in the world. Many of them work at J.P. Morgan Chase, which has agreed to acquire WaMu's business. WaMu's failure will cause real dislocation—stockholders and many bold-holders are likely to be wiped out. But WaMu's depositors will be made whole. The FDIC won't have to dip into the insurance fund. J.P. Morgan Chase is assuming WaMu's troubled mortgage business. It will take a charge for those bad debts and raise new capital from the private sector to deal. It's a big headline and a big story, but in the scheme of things, a blip. A large boat slipping silently below the sea while all the passengers escape with their lives. This system is a force for order.
The other system—the process by which Congress and the White House make legislation—is an OK system in the best of times and a completely FUBAR one at the worst. It has many competent and well-meaning professionals in it. But it also has a bunch of incompetent malefactors. For the past week, this system has been lurching toward a proposal to bail out banks by raising taxpayer funds to purchase bad assets. The plan, released last Friday, was the brainchild of Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and was instantly endorsed by President Bush and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke. Last weekend, Congress got involved. And throughout the week, all parties involved gave the outward impression that they were moving toward an agreement. On Wednesday, a senior official involved in the talks assured a group of journalists that the grownups were in charge. Only they weren't. Democrats, who control Congress, were unwilling to pass what amounts to a massive tax increase on their own. Senate Republicans signaled their willingness to go along, but House Republicans said they wouldn't provide any votes. Nonetheless, Wednesday night President Bush addressed the nation, warning of dire consequences unless the bailout plan was passed. He proclaimed an era of good feeling—"there is a spirit of cooperation between Democrats and Republicans and between Congress and this administration"—but didn't seem to expend much effort whipping House Republicans in line. John McCain suspended his campaign and parachuted into Washington, forcing Obama to attend a staged meeting at the White House. Throughout Thursday, word was leaked that the contours of a deal had been agreed upon. The markets rallied. Last night, the word came that there was to be no deal. The evening ended with Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson begging House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to save the economy but conceding that the real problem was his fellow Republicans. This morning, the markets were emitting a primal scream. This system is a force for chaos.
The difference is simple: the bureaucrats just do their jobs. The pols are pandering all over the place to get re-elected.
What McNext?
Slate predicts McCain's next 10 Hail Mary stunts.
1. Returns to Vietnam and jails himself.
2. Offers the post of "vice vice president" to Warren Buffett.
3. Challenges Obama to suspend campaign so they both can go and personally drill for oil offshore.
4. Learns to use computer.
5. Does bombing run over Taliban-controlled tribal areas of Pakistan.
6. Offers to forgo salary, sell one house.
7. Sex-change operation.
8. Suspends campaign until Nov. 4, offers to start being president right now.
9. Sells Alaska to Russia for $700 billion.
10. Pledges to serve only one term. OK, half a term.
Do you have an idea for McCain's next campaign stunt? Send it to us at NextMcCainStunt@gmail.com, and we will publish the best ideas. E-mails may be quoted by name unless you indicate otherwise.
OK, how about declaring himself the winner of tonight's debate before even announcing he will attend?
Yeesh. McMeltdown, and I'm positively enjoyin' the shit out of it.
Where Are the Grown-Ups?
This whole financial 'crisis' confuses the crap out of me. First, it's not a crisis if you see it coming as many did, it's the predicted end result of a failed Repuglican philosophy of unfettered greed. Do I want our treasury sacked to reward rapacious capitalists for poor judgment and utter mismanagement? No. Do I give a shit about the big financial firms that did this and their lackeys in Congress who let them? I wish they'd all die. Do I want to see Great Depression 2.0? No. Do I want to see the dirt shoveled in on top of the Repugs in the hole they've dug? Yes. Do I like being in the hole with them? I'd rather do the shoveling. Do I like the Bush/Paulson bailout plan? Of course not. Do I like the modified Dem plan? Not much. Do I like the House Repug 'more of the same' plan? Good grief, NO! Do I think something needs to be done? Yes, but what? Do I think politics is being played at our expense? Damn right I do and it sucks, but that's tough shit, that's the way it is. The cards have been dealt from a stacked deck. As usual.
Has this directly affected me? Yes. Mrs. G has a money market account for $55,000 that is locked down for the moment to prevent a run on the investment firm. Luckily, we don't need the money right now, but I know there are folks who do need their money who are unable to access it at present, so this is hurting people.
What to do, what to do? If it was up to me, I'd call in multiple air strikes on Wall St., K St., the Capitol, and the White House, and raise a new political/financial system out of the rubble. And hey, as long as the planes are in the air I'd direct the disposal of unexpended ordnance by dropping it on Dick Cheney just fer shits'n giggles. Sigh.
Until I figure this shit out and fix it, I'll just go with Paul Krugman.
And not likely to be any time soon if at all, and probably not in time. Please read the rest of Krugman's piece.
Basically, I think we're just plain screwed. The question is, how deep and how dry?
Update:
Sometimes ya speak of the devil and up he jumps with good news. About the time I hit 'publish', Mrs. G informed me her account is no longer frozen and that we are going today to the healthy French bank she just retired from and get it the fuck out of where it is and put it there.
Has this directly affected me? Yes. Mrs. G has a money market account for $55,000 that is locked down for the moment to prevent a run on the investment firm. Luckily, we don't need the money right now, but I know there are folks who do need their money who are unable to access it at present, so this is hurting people.
What to do, what to do? If it was up to me, I'd call in multiple air strikes on Wall St., K St., the Capitol, and the White House, and raise a new political/financial system out of the rubble. And hey, as long as the planes are in the air I'd direct the disposal of unexpended ordnance by dropping it on Dick Cheney just fer shits'n giggles. Sigh.
Until I figure this shit out and fix it, I'll just go with Paul Krugman.
Many people on both the right and the left are outraged at the idea of using taxpayer money to bail out America’s financial system. They’re right to be outraged, but doing nothing isn’t a serious option. Right now, players throughout the system are refusing to lend and hoarding cash — and this collapse of credit reminds many economists of the run on the banks that brought on the Great Depression.
It’s true that we don’t know for sure that the parallel is a fair one. Maybe we can let Wall Street implode and Main Street would escape largely unscathed. But that’s not a chance we want to take.
So the grown-up thing is to do something to rescue the financial system. The big question is, are there any grown-ups around — and will they be able to take charge?
It’s true that we don’t know for sure that the parallel is a fair one. Maybe we can let Wall Street implode and Main Street would escape largely unscathed. But that’s not a chance we want to take.
The bottom line, then, is that there do seem to be some adults in Congress, ready to do something to help us get through this crisis. But the adults are not yet in charge.
And not likely to be any time soon if at all, and probably not in time. Please read the rest of Krugman's piece.
Basically, I think we're just plain screwed. The question is, how deep and how dry?
Update:
Sometimes ya speak of the devil and up he jumps with good news. About the time I hit 'publish', Mrs. G informed me her account is no longer frozen and that we are going today to the healthy French bank she just retired from and get it the fuck out of where it is and put it there.
Quote of the Day
From a post by Steve Young entitled "Palin Suspends Vice Presidential Campaign: Rushes Back to Alaska to Keep an Eye on Russia":
In other suspended campaign news, while attempting to chew a piece of Doublemint gum, Republican Presidential candidate, John McCain stumbled and fell off the curb.
The real crisis ...
Is what the Rethugs are trying to do to the Dems:
Now that is the best explanation I've heard yet. Nothing but the usual, run-of-the-mill Rethug ratfucking.
Move along. Nothing to see here ...
...
Blinded by Wall Street contributions to [the Dems'] campaigns, they publicly declared that 'something must be done' and followed the lead of the most despised president ever like sheep.
They attached a bit of window dressing to the Paulson plan but left out any real issue progressives should care about like the mortgage modifications in bankruptcy courts.
Yesterday evening the Republicans pulled the rug and the deal is off.
These Republicans and McCain will now be able to tell their constituency that it was them who protected the taxpayer and that the Dems and Obama were indeed the people who wanted to throw money at Wall Street.
...
Now that is the best explanation I've heard yet. Nothing but the usual, run-of-the-mill Rethug ratfucking.
...
Karl Rove must be laughing his ass off.
Move along. Nothing to see here ...
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Your letter has been filed ...
It's nice to have a representative in Washington who's anxious for your input.
Cafferty: Don't cancel the debate
My curmudgeonly role model Jack Cafferty on the upcoming (maybe) debate and Bush's Chicken Little 2.0 speech on his hoped-for upcoming (maybe) Treasury heist:
That's exactly one of the reasons McCain wants to cancel the 'debate': the American electorate is liable to start paying attention and it'll take 'em about ten seconds to see he's got bupkis.
The other reason is that he would like to postpone this event until it can be scheduled in place of the veep 'debate'. McBimbo's got even less bupkis.
Cafferty asked: "Is he going to warn us about all the dire consequences if they don't do this the way he warned us about all the dire consequences if we didn't invade Iraq?
"With all due respect to the President, he couldn't sell snow in South Africa in the middle of July, I don't think. If this is another, you know, 'give us $700 billion to do with what we want because you should be very afraid that if you don't do it your world will come to an end,' I don't know how well that's going to play. He's done this before--he's done it for eight years. They've used fear to pressure and leverage the Congress and the public into getting whatever they wanted on a whole raft of issues."
"[McCain] hasn't cast a vote in Congress since April," Cafferty balked. "He's not going to be working on the legislation. The debate is scheduled between the two men who want the job of running the country. I don't understand the logic of saying 'let's cancel the debate.' I want to hear what these guys have to say about what they're going to do about the problem that the country has."
"The public wants to know which one of these men is capable of leading the country," he added. "They'll learn more about that by listening to them have a debate about the issues."
That's exactly one of the reasons McCain wants to cancel the 'debate': the American electorate is liable to start paying attention and it'll take 'em about ten seconds to see he's got bupkis.
The other reason is that he would like to postpone this event until it can be scheduled in place of the veep 'debate'. McBimbo's got even less bupkis.
I'm sorry. I couldn't resist...
SOUTH CHARLESTON, W.Va. - A man has been charged with battery on a police officer for allegedly passing gas and fanning it toward a patrolman.
If I'da done that, the cop wouldn'ta been in any shape to charge me with anything.
Lipstick on a pig is as nothing compared to...
Raw Story
I can dig the need for some touch-up. McCain's normal coloring is roughly the same as a spark plug reading indicating near-stoichiometry. That color is known to mechanics as 'Mortician Gray'. I think most of the money paid to that young lady went for Bondo. My own sanity rests* in not dwelling on what parts of him are rusted out...
*I was gonna say 'Depends', but that's another subject. See 'rusted out'.
Note to Johnny-boy: Save yourself some money. Go get a pre-paid funeral and get the guy to throw in some pre-need cosmetological service. Who knows, maybe you can go directly from the debate, if you show up, to the grave without any more makeup.
It's not cheap to get John McCain's 72-year-old face ready for prime-time.
John McCain, whose ads skewer Barack Obama for his "celebrity" status, has his own close ties to show business, the new issue of Us Weekly reports exclusively.
The 72-year-old was recently made TV-ready by makeup artist Tifanie White who's worked on So You Think You Can Dance and American Idol.
McCain paid the 2002 beauty-school grad $5,583.43 for her services, according to the Federal Election Commission.
I can dig the need for some touch-up. McCain's normal coloring is roughly the same as a spark plug reading indicating near-stoichiometry. That color is known to mechanics as 'Mortician Gray'. I think most of the money paid to that young lady went for Bondo. My own sanity rests* in not dwelling on what parts of him are rusted out...
*I was gonna say 'Depends', but that's another subject. See 'rusted out'.
Note to Johnny-boy: Save yourself some money. Go get a pre-paid funeral and get the guy to throw in some pre-need cosmetological service. Who knows, maybe you can go directly from the debate, if you show up, to the grave without any more makeup.
Saving the wealthy with socialism, conservative-style
Thomas F. Schaller, Baltimore Sun
The 'trickle up' may turn into a flood, accompanied by a sucking sound from our grandchildren's wallets.
Like it or not, we're all socialists now. You can thank those free-market conservatives and their deregulatory idol, George W. Bush, for that. Conservatives love to wield the word socialism like some all-purpose, liberal-slaying sword. Redistribution to the poor, the right to unionize and affirmative action are decried as anti-market, unfair advantages for filthy socialists who can't compete and fail to appreciate the almighty, equalizing power of self-determination and an unfettered market. To social conservatives, Darwinism is merely an unproven "theory" about how our species evolved. But "social Darwinism" is an ineluctable fact: The smart and hardworking prosper, while the stupid and lazy fail. Yet notice how those same chest-thumping capitalists of talk radio and at the corporate-funded think tanks often fall silent in the face of fixed markets, no-bid contracts, bailouts and subsidies for the very corporations that demand less government oversight when things are going well, then turn to Washington when things go horribly wrong. The hypocrisies abound.
Those of us who work hard and pay our taxes are getting screwed. Our Christmas bonus this year? The privilege of covering the tab for greedy executives in the deregulated insurance and mortgage industries who scoff at safety nets for you but demand a safety trapeze for themselves.
As I said, we're all socialists now. Too bad all that filthy, pinko socialist redistribution is moving up, rather than down, the economic food chain.
The 'trickle up' may turn into a flood, accompanied by a sucking sound from our grandchildren's wallets.
Microsoft Announces Merger With McDonald’s, Christianity
Red Tractor - USA
Ever so much more. Go read about the future.
In what is being hailed as the end of the free world, Microsoft, McDonald’s, and Christianity have joined forces to form a single $300 billion/1.9 billion adherent corporate-religious entity known as McRosoftianity. The resulting mega-church/corporation is projected to manage virtually every aspect of the global economy and culture in just a few short months.
“We are absolutely thrilled because together we can control the world in ways that any one of us could have only dreamed of,” said Bill Gates, now high chairman-priest of McRosoftianity. “Our goal is to bring people together by making McRosoftianity the world’s sole provider of food, technology, and spirituality.”
“To assure quality, your food will be compiled by only the fastest processors, and any misinterpretations of your order will be addressed by our patented Stained Glass Windows Updater as the Crucial-Fixes become available,” continued Gates. “Version 3:16 should be very stable, but if problems persist, simply offer a McPrayer to the Lord and MS Paint some RAM’s blood over your doorpost.”
Ever so much more. Go read about the future.
Good ideas and lies
Pauk Krugman
Paulson and Bush's Chicken Little plan for the bailout didn't panic Congress into passing his plan quick enough. Maybe they've learned something since falling all over themselves to let Bush start his criminal war:
Fool me once, shame on you.
Fool me twice, shame on me.
Daniel Davies, in one of the great blog posts of this era, laid down a key principle:Good ideas do not need lots of lies told about them in order to gain public acceptance.
He was talking about the selling of the Iraq war, but it applies more generally.
So, this morning Hank Paulson told a whopper:
We gave you a simple, three-page legislative outline and I thought it would have been presumptuous for us on that outline to come up with an oversight mechanism. That’s the role of Congress, that’s something we’re going to work on together. So if any of you felt that I didn’t believe that we needed oversight: I believe we need oversight. We need oversight.
What the proposal actually did, of course, was explicitly rule out any oversight, plus grant immunity from future review:
Sec. 8. Review.
Decisions by the Secretary pursuant to the authority of this Act are non-reviewable and committed to agency discretion, and may not be reviewed by any court of law or any administrative agency.
I’m not playing gotcha here. This is telling: if Paulson can’t be honest about what he himself sent to Congress — if he not only made an incredible power grab, but is now engaged in black-is-white claims that he didn’t — there is no reason to trust him on anything related to his bailout plan.
Paulson and Bush's Chicken Little plan for the bailout didn't panic Congress into passing his plan quick enough. Maybe they've learned something since falling all over themselves to let Bush start his criminal war:
Fool me once, shame on you.
Fool me twice, shame on me.
Dear Fellow Americans ...
For the past 8 years, I, along with the rest of the folks who walk around with their eyes open, have suffered through the lies, obfuscation, and overt bullshit from the Bush administration.
For the past 4 1/2 years, we here at the Brain (along with about a thousand other bloggers) have been running around with our hair on fire, warning anyone who would listen how bad things would be once the Chimp was done screwing up the country.
In '04, we had to sit and watch as you assholes voted for the moron once again, gullible motherfuckers swayed by Rovian bullshit; bullshit that should have been obvious to anyone with two working brain cells - it should have been obvious in '99. You fell for all the crap ("you don't change horses mid-race" - even though the rider was one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse), even Democrats ("you don't change leaders in the middle of a war", "I just don't like John Kerry"), they wanted you to fall for.
Do me a favor this time. Don't fall for it again just because the Loser-in-Chief came on the TV last night and told you this is 9/11 and Katrina rolled into one. He is lying. The Bush administration is lying like they have since Day One and I demand you idiots don't fall for it again. My esteem for you is inversely proportional to the contempt I have for you all. Try to bring it up a few notches.
My fellow Americans have disappointed me dearly over the past 8 years and have turned this country over to a group of criminals whose only goal is to get away with as much as they can. They tried to get Iraqi oil by force and failed, the cost (a trillion dollars into the Big Catbox, 4000-odd American lives wasted, and tens of thousands changed irrevocably) borne by you and me. Now, after manipulating the markets to their own benefit, they come calling on us with their hand out. Don't fall for it. It is a lie.
They are doing this now because they are worried the guy on deck is more inept than the current batter. They are doing this because even if he does get elected, he will either fuck up so royally it'll hurt the fat cats too, or that he'll die in office and that brainless twit will take over. They want their payoff now.
Please, please, do not fall for this current ploy by John McCain. It is all part of The Big Republican Lie. It is a grandstand stunt that hopefully will not work, unless you let it. If you fall for this crap, both from the Chimp and McCain, again, you deserve what you'll end up with. John McCain is not a war hero. He got shot down because of his own arrogance and was locked up for 5 years. Brutal treatment? Yes, and I won't take his suffering away from him, but that in no way qualifies him to be the President of the United States. He is a hypocrite and a pandering liar. He is no better than the current moron and probably worse.
Bottom line: Stop falling for The Lie.
Back to sanding ...
For the past 4 1/2 years, we here at the Brain (along with about a thousand other bloggers) have been running around with our hair on fire, warning anyone who would listen how bad things would be once the Chimp was done screwing up the country.
In '04, we had to sit and watch as you assholes voted for the moron once again, gullible motherfuckers swayed by Rovian bullshit; bullshit that should have been obvious to anyone with two working brain cells - it should have been obvious in '99. You fell for all the crap ("you don't change horses mid-race" - even though the rider was one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse), even Democrats ("you don't change leaders in the middle of a war", "I just don't like John Kerry"), they wanted you to fall for.
Do me a favor this time. Don't fall for it again just because the Loser-in-Chief came on the TV last night and told you this is 9/11 and Katrina rolled into one. He is lying. The Bush administration is lying like they have since Day One and I demand you idiots don't fall for it again. My esteem for you is inversely proportional to the contempt I have for you all. Try to bring it up a few notches.
My fellow Americans have disappointed me dearly over the past 8 years and have turned this country over to a group of criminals whose only goal is to get away with as much as they can. They tried to get Iraqi oil by force and failed, the cost (a trillion dollars into the Big Catbox, 4000-odd American lives wasted, and tens of thousands changed irrevocably) borne by you and me. Now, after manipulating the markets to their own benefit, they come calling on us with their hand out. Don't fall for it. It is a lie.
They are doing this now because they are worried the guy on deck is more inept than the current batter. They are doing this because even if he does get elected, he will either fuck up so royally it'll hurt the fat cats too, or that he'll die in office and that brainless twit will take over. They want their payoff now.
Please, please, do not fall for this current ploy by John McCain. It is all part of The Big Republican Lie. It is a grandstand stunt that hopefully will not work, unless you let it. If you fall for this crap, both from the Chimp and McCain, again, you deserve what you'll end up with. John McCain is not a war hero. He got shot down because of his own arrogance and was locked up for 5 years. Brutal treatment? Yes, and I won't take his suffering away from him, but that in no way qualifies him to be the President of the United States. He is a hypocrite and a pandering liar. He is no better than the current moron and probably worse.
Bottom line: Stop falling for The Lie.
Back to sanding ...
Quote of the Day
POP:
Indeed!
...
Remember over the years we have talked about george bush failing at everything he tried and his dad or his dad’s friends always bailed him out of his poor business decisions. We have even wondered who would save his ass after the debacle he has created these past eight years. Well now we know the answer to that question. Your money and mine has been summoned to do just that.
Indeed!
Walking and chewing gum ...
Seems McLame can't do two things at once:
You want this bastid running the show?
I missed it at first, but McCain is actually suspending his campaign, not just skipping the debate. That reeks of desperation, and indicates that his campaign and the candidate are unable to deal with multiple problems simultaneously. When you are losing in the polls on the economy, and your opponent is lashing you for your support of the policies and employment of the people who got us into this mess, perhaps it looked smart for McCain to run and hide from the next haymaker.
The guy hasn't made a roll call vote in five months, but suddenly wants to come back to Capitol Hill and inject himself into a debate that didn't need him? [my em]
...
You want this bastid running the show?
On second thought ...
Maybe I'm wrong:
Maybe we should get all this crap out into the light of day? Let all the shit float to the surface so we can skim it off.
The director of the Congressional Budget Office said yesterday that the proposed Wall Street bailout could actually worsen the current financial crisis.
During testimony before the House Budget Committee, Peter R. Orszag -- Congress's top bookkeeper -- said the bailout could expose the way companies are stowing toxic assets on their books, leading to greater problems.
"Ironically, the intervention could even trigger additional failures of large institutions, because some institutions may be carrying troubled assets on their books at inflated values," Orszag said in his testimony. "Establishing clearer prices might reveal those institutions to be insolvent."
...
Maybe we should get all this crap out into the light of day? Let all the shit float to the surface so we can skim it off.
Great thanks to Oliver Willis for the link.
This is why ...
This bailout shouldn't go forward. Dday:
Basically, I don't trust them as far as I can piss into a Force 9 gale.
...
Basically, gimme gimme gimme or the economy gets it. And while Bush appeared to accede to a lot of the steps sought by Congress - vague limits on executive compensation, some ability for taxpayers to cash in on the upside potential, and some manner of oversight - he drew the line at any re-regulation of the companies who got us into this mess, saying that it could "come later." And indeed, most of the talk was about the failure of borrowers to pay their bills, not the predatory practices of lenders to shuttle people into loans without explaining the circumstances (and through yield spread premiums, actually getting bonuses for that). [my em]
...
Basically, I don't trust them as far as I can piss into a Force 9 gale.
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Attention: New Yorkers
The lovely, talented, and wonderful Encino Lady (we're cousins by marriage ... somehow) alerts me to a rally in NYC tomorrow. If you're close, go there. The email is reprinted below - F.:
This week the White House is trying to push through the biggest financial theft in world history with nary a stitch of debate. They're asking for a blank check for over 1 trillion dollars to bail out George Bush's Wall Street cronies who created this economic crisis in the first place.
If this passes, we can forget about any money for environmental protection, to counter global warming, for education, for national healthcare, to rebuild our decaying infrastructure, for alternative energy.
This is a historic moment. We need to act now while we can influence the debate.
Let's rally against the bailout in the heart of the financial district!
Gather at 4pm, this Thursday, Sept. 25 in the plaza at the southern end of Bowling Green Park in New York City, which is the small triangular park that has the Wall Street bull at the northern tip.
(Not in New York City? Organize a rally in your neck of the woods.)
What: Say NO to the Wall Street bailout
When: Thursday, September 25: 4pm
Where: Southern end of Bowling Green Park, in the plaza area
What to bring: Banners, noisemakers, signs, leaflets, etc.
Do whatever you can for this historic event and contact all your groups and friends. This proposed financial bailout is without precedence and we have to stop it!
We have everything we need to create a large, peaceful, loud demonstration.
Together, let's get started.
- Seriously yours,
Billionaires For Bush
This week the White House is trying to push through the biggest financial theft in world history with nary a stitch of debate. They're asking for a blank check for over 1 trillion dollars to bail out George Bush's Wall Street cronies who created this economic crisis in the first place.
If this passes, we can forget about any money for environmental protection, to counter global warming, for education, for national healthcare, to rebuild our decaying infrastructure, for alternative energy.
This is a historic moment. We need to act now while we can influence the debate.
Let's rally against the bailout in the heart of the financial district!
Gather at 4pm, this Thursday, Sept. 25 in the plaza at the southern end of Bowling Green Park in New York City, which is the small triangular park that has the Wall Street bull at the northern tip.
(Not in New York City? Organize a rally in your neck of the woods.)
When: Thursday, September 25: 4pm
Where: Southern end of Bowling Green Park, in the plaza area
What to bring: Banners, noisemakers, signs, leaflets, etc.
Do whatever you can for this historic event and contact all your groups and friends. This proposed financial bailout is without precedence and we have to stop it!
We have everything we need to create a large, peaceful, loud demonstration.
Together, let's get started.
- Seriously yours,
Billionaires For Bush
He is a uniter ...
Avedon says the Chimp did something right ... for once ... sorta ...
A uniter at last - Bush has finally brought us together, and we all agree that things are not getting better - it's post-partisan!
The best news ...
I've heard all week.
They are talking about kicking Connecticut Junior Senator Joe neocon Lieberman to the curb tonight ...
Breaking: John McCain to suspend campaign
Channel 15, ABC News, Phoenix
Gee, d'ya think McCain knows Obama is gonna blow his ass outta the water if they 'debate'?
Actually, it ain't so much McCain 'going to Washington to work on the bailout' as it probably is his campaign staff who are needed to lobby desperately for it, leaving ol' Johnny-boy with no one to hold his hand or mis-inform him as to what to do.
Suspend away, old man. It's a good career move. Your moron base can fumble along just fine without you and the bimbo, and neither of you will have to answer any questions for a while.
Besides, I'm sick of lookin' at the both of yas and listening to your lies. Thanks for the break.
Republican presidential candidate John McCain is reportedly suspending his campaign to return to Washington, D.C. for bailout talks, according to FOX News and NBC News.
FOX News reports McCain is asking for Friday's presidential debate in Oxford, Mississippi to be postponed to help focus on the domestic front and is asking Obama to suspend his campaign as well.
Gee, d'ya think McCain knows Obama is gonna blow his ass outta the water if they 'debate'?
Actually, it ain't so much McCain 'going to Washington to work on the bailout' as it probably is his campaign staff who are needed to lobby desperately for it, leaving ol' Johnny-boy with no one to hold his hand or mis-inform him as to what to do.
Suspend away, old man. It's a good career move. Your moron base can fumble along just fine without you and the bimbo, and neither of you will have to answer any questions for a while.
Besides, I'm sick of lookin' at the both of yas and listening to your lies. Thanks for the break.
The great bailout: Paulson plan is ‘reverse criminal action’
Cursor
...Treasury's plan for Wall Street,' which is likened to "a reverse criminal action where you give restitution to the criminals and put the victims in jail,"...
The Minnesota Independent
For some consumer-rights advocates, the great Wall Street bailout is starting to look like a heist for the ages (my em). Prentiss Cox, a professor of law at the U of M and former assistant attorney general, calls Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson’s bill “outrageous.” Wall Street was the cause of the problem, he says. “And now they want a bailout completely on their terms? It serves the very wealthy and completely ignores the homeowners victimized by this. It is appalling.”
My Way
The FBI is investigating four major U.S. financial institutions whose collapse helped trigger a $700 billion bailout plan by the Bush administration, The Associated Press has learned.
Two law enforcement officials said Tuesday the FBI is looking at potential fraud by mortgage finance giants Fannie Mae (FNM) and Freddie Mac (FRE), and insurer American International Group Inc. (AIG) Additionally, a senior law enforcement official said Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. (LEH) also is under investigation.
Over the past year as the housing market cratered, the FBI has opened a wide-ranging probe of companies across the financial services industry, from mortgage lenders to investment banks that bundle home loans into securities sold to investors. Mueller has previously said the FBI's hunt for culprits in the nation's subprime mortgage crisis focused on accounting fraud, insider trading, and failure to disclose the value of mortgage-related securities and other investments.
The investigations revealed Tuesday come as lawmakers began considering whether to approve emergency legislation that would give the government broad power to buy up devalued assets from troubled financial firms.
This may turn out to be the biggest RICO case ever. Let's hope.
FBI probes finance giants for fraud
Raw Story
Heh. No wonder Paulson wants the $700B so fast with no questions. His Wall St. bros need the money quick! For legal fees/getaway money!
Also no wonder that these assholes absolutely need McCain to get elected so they can shut down the investigation. His campaign manager Rick Davis was getting paid by Freddie Mac until a few weeks ago.
This is sounding more and more like an inter-related criminal conspiracy by the Bush administration, Treasury, Wall St., and the McCain campaign to sack our treasury and make sure it stays sacked with no recourse for us.
You needn't go read this since he's backing Paulson's plan, but Warren Buffett is calling the meltdown 'an economic Pearl Harbor'. Very apt analogy.
Let me assign a few roles here: The investment banks are taking the role of Kido Butai, the strike force of aircraft carriers that launched the attacking planes, represented by their employees, the loan marketers, secondary marketers, bundlers, leveragers, and the janitor. Paulson is, of course, Admiral Yamamoto who planned the attack, for right now, although this part has rotated amongst several bad actors.
The people who foresaw the upshot of the attack on our financial system take the roles of the two radar operators on the North Shore of Oahu who saw the planes coming. In right-on and spectacular typecasting, Congress and the regulatory agencies play the military leaders who ignored them until it was too late, the difference being that this time they were told to ignore them by Bush and lobbyists.
The bailout plan is the second wave.
The US Federal Bureau of Investigation confirmed Wednesday that it is probing allegations of fraud by 24 Wall Street firms, without naming investment giants believed to be under investigation.
US media said late Tuesday that the FBI has set its sights on investment titan Lehman Brothers, mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and insurer AIG.
The wide-reaching inquiry comes as lawmakers rush to agree a 700-billion-dollar government bailout of the troubled US financial sector.
Heh. No wonder Paulson wants the $700B so fast with no questions. His Wall St. bros need the money quick! For legal fees/getaway money!
Also no wonder that these assholes absolutely need McCain to get elected so they can shut down the investigation. His campaign manager Rick Davis was getting paid by Freddie Mac until a few weeks ago.
This is sounding more and more like an inter-related criminal conspiracy by the Bush administration, Treasury, Wall St., and the McCain campaign to sack our treasury and make sure it stays sacked with no recourse for us.
You needn't go read this since he's backing Paulson's plan, but Warren Buffett is calling the meltdown 'an economic Pearl Harbor'. Very apt analogy.
Let me assign a few roles here: The investment banks are taking the role of Kido Butai, the strike force of aircraft carriers that launched the attacking planes, represented by their employees, the loan marketers, secondary marketers, bundlers, leveragers, and the janitor. Paulson is, of course, Admiral Yamamoto who planned the attack, for right now, although this part has rotated amongst several bad actors.
The people who foresaw the upshot of the attack on our financial system take the roles of the two radar operators on the North Shore of Oahu who saw the planes coming. In right-on and spectacular typecasting, Congress and the regulatory agencies play the military leaders who ignored them until it was too late, the difference being that this time they were told to ignore them by Bush and lobbyists.
(Wiki) The first wave was to be the primary attack, while the second wave was to finish whatever tasks remained
The bailout plan is the second wave.
Bailout as Nigerian scam
Raw Story
As retrieved from the Washington Post and numerous other sources, a satirical e-mail frames the proposed $700 billion Wall Street bailout as a Nigerian 419 scam. The author is unknown:
Dear American:
I need to ask you to support an urgent secret business relationship with a transfer of funds of great magnitude.
I am Ministry of the Treasury of the Republic of America. My country has had crisis that has caused the need for large transfer of funds of 800 billion dollars US. If you would assist me in this transfer, it would be most profitable to you.
I am working with Mr. Phil Gram, lobbyist for UBS, who will be my replacement as Ministry of the Treasury in January. As a Senator, you may know him as the leader of the American banking deregulation movement in the 1990s. This transactin is 100% safe.
This is a matter of great urgency. We need a blank check. We need the funds as quickly as possible. We cannot directly transfer these funds in the names of our close friends because we are constantly under surveillance. My family lawyer advised me that I should look for a reliable and trustworthy person who will act as a next of kin so the funds can be transferred.
Please reply with all of your bank account, IRA and college fund account numbers and those of your children and grandchildren to wallstreetbailout@treasury.gov so that we may transfer your commission for this transaction. After I receive that information, I will respond with detailed information about safeguards that will be used to protect the funds.
Yours Faithfully Minister of Treasury Paulson
I think comparing the proposed bailout scheme to a Nigerian scam is pretty close to the mark. Too bad Congress doesn't have much of a spam filter.
Daddy doesn’t know best
When me'n Fixer are PrezOTUS (We'll do alternating days. Kickin' that much ass is tiring.). Mr. Krugman is liable to be SecTreas.
Paul Krugman
Note to Congress: Do something different. The sky is not falling.
Paul Krugman
I’ve had more time to read the Dodd proposal — and it is a big improvement over the Paulson plan. The key feature, I believe, is the equity participation: if Treasury buys assets, it gets warrants that can be converted into equity if the price of the purchased assets falls. This both guarantees against a pure bailout of the financial firms, and opens the door to a real infusion of capital, if that becomes necessary — and I think it will.
Can this be done? Can the Paulson juggernaut be stopped? I’m starting to think yes. Paulson displayed a lot of arrogance here — he basically marched in and said Daddy knows best, don’t worry your pretty little heads about the details. He offered no, zero, zilch explanation of how the plan was supposed to work — just “it’s a crisis and we need to act now.” And he overreached, especially with that demand for immunity from any review.
Now we’ve had a lot of pushback from economists and financial analysts, and the realization has sunk in that this particular daddy has shown very little sign of knowing best. So there’s a real chance to do something quite different.
Note to Congress: Do something different. The sky is not falling.
How's this?
Instead of giving the $700 bln to the assholes who mismanaged and gambled it away, how about paying off the bad mortgages for the folks who are being foreclosed or in danger of it?
Seems to me, it'll be the lesser of two evils and the little guys will finally benefit. Mind you, I'm not happy about giving that kind of money away, but I'd rather Joe Sixpack got a mortgage amnesty (here's your house, free and clear, just don't fuck up again) than some mortgage broker making a profit on it.
It'll also free up a lot of cash these people are currently forking over to these predatory scumbags. Also, it'll have the effect of shredding the worthless paper (I don't care what that nut Kramer says these packaged loans are worthless) instead of buying it from the sharks (probably at inflated prices).
With proper oversight of the industry once the deed is done (so this crap doesn't happen again), I have a good feeling it would work but what do I know, I'm just a mechanic?
Seems to me, it'll be the lesser of two evils and the little guys will finally benefit. Mind you, I'm not happy about giving that kind of money away, but I'd rather Joe Sixpack got a mortgage amnesty (here's your house, free and clear, just don't fuck up again) than some mortgage broker making a profit on it.
It'll also free up a lot of cash these people are currently forking over to these predatory scumbags. Also, it'll have the effect of shredding the worthless paper (I don't care what that nut Kramer says these packaged loans are worthless) instead of buying it from the sharks (probably at inflated prices).
With proper oversight of the industry once the deed is done (so this crap doesn't happen again), I have a good feeling it would work but what do I know, I'm just a mechanic?
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Hats off to Yogi ...
As a New Yorker, it's a capital crime not to love Yogi Berra. As our hero would say, "deja vu all over again":
The Rude One has a few more.
When the Chimp says something has to be done right away, you know it can't be good.
...
From the statement by President Bush on September 22, 2008 on the current economic crisis and the possible bailout: "Failure to act would have broad consequences far beyond Wall Street."
From Bush's speech explaining why he needed war authorization for Iraq, October 7, 2002: "Failure to act would embolden other tyrants, allow terrorists access to new weapons and new resources, and make blackmail a permanent feature of world events."
2008: "It would threaten small business owners and homeowners on Main Street."
2002: "He would be in a position to threaten America."
...
The Rude One has a few more.
When the Chimp says something has to be done right away, you know it can't be good.
Quote of the Day
The guy I wanted to be President:
Update:
Honorable mention to Krugman:
Dodd says the administration's $700 billion bailout proposal is not acceptable.
Thanks to Atrios for the link.
Update:
Honorable mention to Krugman:
...
I’m not playing gotcha here. This is telling: if Paulson can’t be honest about what he himself sent to Congress — if he not only made an incredible power grab, but is now engaged in black-is-white claims that he didn’t — there is no reason to trust him on anything related to his bailout plan.
"Sarah Palin is a symbol of everything that is wrong with the modern United States"
JAZZ from HELL
I'm glad to see Matt coming out of his shell. Heh. Can't wait to read the whole article.
In the latest (Oct. 2) issue of Rolling Stone, on sale now but not yet available online, writer Matt Taibbi calls out the American electorate in a major new piece called 'The Lies of Sarah Palin.' A snippet:
"Here's the thing about Americans. You can send their kids off by the thousands to get their balls blown off in foreign lands for no reason at all, saddle them with billions in debt year after congressional year while they spend their winters cheerfully watching game shows and football, pull the rug out from under their mortgages, and leave them living off their credit cards and their Wal-Mart salaries while you move their jobs to China and Bangalore.
"And none of it matters, so long as you remember a few months before Election Day to offer them a two-bit caricature culled from some cutting-room-floor episode of Roseanne as part of your presidential ticket. And if she's a good enough likeness of a loudmouthed Middle American archetype, as Sarah Palin is, John Q. Public will drop his giant sized bag of Doritos in gratitude, wipe the sizzlin' picante dust from his lips and rush to the booth to vote for her. Not because it makes sense, or because it has a chance of improving his life or anyone else's, but simply because it appeals to the low-humming narcissism that substitutes for his personality, because that image on TV reminds him of the mean brainless slob he sees in the mirror every morning.
"Sarah Palin is a symbol of everything that is wrong with the modern United States. As a representative of our political system, she's a new low in reptilian villainy, the ultimate cynical masterwork of puppeteers like Karl Rove. But more than that, she is a horrifying symbol of how little we ask for in return for the total surrender of our political power. Not only is Sarah Palin a fraud, she's the tawdriest, most half-assed fraud imaginable, 20 floors below the lowest common denominator, a character too dumb even for daytime TV – and this country is going to eat her up, cheering every step of the way. All because most Americans no longer have the energy to do anything but lie back and allow ourselves to be jacked off by the calculating thieves who run this grasping consumer paradise we call a nation."
I'm glad to see Matt coming out of his shell. Heh. Can't wait to read the whole article.
VA to increase benefits for mild brain trauma
USA Today
I'm glad the VA has updated their science. Getting yer brain scrambled from an IED is a little different than getting thrown off a horse during a cavalry charge. No hoofprints to prove injury.
Every little bit helps.
I would much rather see our tax money go to help the Vets injured in the service of Wall Street than to the CEOs who had Bush send them to an unnecessary war.
The government plans to substantially increase disability benefits for veterans with mild traumatic brain injuries, acknowledging for the first time that veterans suffering from this less severe version of the Iraq war's signature wound will struggle to make a living.
"We're saying it's real," said Tom Pamperin, a deputy director for the Department of Veteran Affairs, about the significance of the change to benefits in the regulation the VA plans to publish today.
Up to 320,000 troops who served in Iraq and Afghanistan suffered traumatic brain injury, a RAND Corp. study estimated this year. The vast majority of the cases are mild and came from exposure to an explosion, often from a roadside bomb. Most veterans with mild cases recover, Pamperin said, but some are left with permanent problems.
Compensation could reach $600 a month, the VA said. Currently, veterans with symptoms such as headaches, dizziness, sensitivity to light, ringing in the ears and irritability and insomnia collect $117.
More than 1.6 million U.S. troops have served in Iraq and Afghanistan. About half of those are now veterans, and slightly less than half of those veterans have sought health care from the VA (my em), records show. In the past year, the department has screened 190,000 of these veterans for brain injury. About 20% showed signs of a brain injury, but only about 5% were confirmed as suffering the wound.
The regulation modifies a 1961 rating schedule for mild brain trauma and brings compensation for this ailment into the 21st Century, said Lonnie Bristow, chairman of an Institute of Medicine committee that studied veterans' benefits.
The old regulation failed to recognize that wounds such as brain injuries from blasts — which do not show up on scans — are only understood by what patients say they are suffering, Bristow said.
"VA has been assessing their injuries based on outdated science," said Sen. Daniel Akaka, D-Hawaii, chairman of the Veterans Affairs Committee.
I'm glad the VA has updated their science. Getting yer brain scrambled from an IED is a little different than getting thrown off a horse during a cavalry charge. No hoofprints to prove injury.
Every little bit helps.
I would much rather see our tax money go to help the Vets injured in the service of Wall Street than to the CEOs who had Bush send them to an unnecessary war.
American CEOs, Take Note...
TimesOnline (UK)
I'm not condoning this of course, but it beats the shit out of organizing a union and waiting for it to do something other than be co-opted by management.
Imagine laid-off HP workers beating the crap out of Carly Fiorina, just as an example. Heh.
Corporate India is in shock after a mob of sacked workers bludgeoned to death the chief executive who had dismissed them from a factory in a suburb of Delhi.
Lalit Kishore Choudhary, 47, the head of the Indian operations of Graziano Transmissioni, an Italian-headquartered manufacturer of car parts, died of severe head wounds on Monday afternoon after being attacked by scores of laid-off employees, police said.
The incident, in Greater Noida, just outside the Indian capital, followed a long-running dispute between the factory's management and workers who had demanded better pay and permanent contracts.
I'm not condoning this of course, but it beats the shit out of organizing a union and waiting for it to do something other than be co-opted by management.
Imagine laid-off HP workers beating the crap out of Carly Fiorina, just as an example. Heh.
Bush To Put FEMA in Charge of Wall Street Rescue
Opinions You Should Have:
I have bupkis to add to that...
President Bush compounded widespread concern about a domestic economy on the verge of collapse today when he announced that FEMA would coordinate the 700 billion dollar bailout of Wall Street.
"We have our best people on it," Bush insisted, causing the market to slide two thousand points late this morning. Bush and his staff expressed surprise that Adminstration assurances have done little to buoy confidence in the economy. "None of the folks in charge of the bailout ever worked with horses or anything," said a perplexed White House staffer.
Circumstances on Wall Street remained dire today. Thousands of traders and bankers have been without money, gold ingots, or economic power for almost a week now, and conditions in hastily constructed "trailer banks" have been horrible. "There are hardly any bathroom attendants here at all," complained one temporary resident, Preston Brunswick III, a complex derivatives trader who "barely cleared a million" last year.
Compounding the crisis, trucks full of relief money have been mysteriously stalled in Alabama, and FEMA officials were at a loss to explain why it was so hard to get the "Benjamins" to New York, where they are so desperately needed.
"We need that money now! We're barely able to expense out our lunches," exclaimed worried A.I.G. executive Gwen Driscoll. Driscoll fretted that her corporate American Express Platinum card was "being strained to the breaking point."
Meanwhile, Republicans warned that the allegedly Democratic-controlled Congress would take too much time debating a relief bill. "We need a lack of oversight, and we need it now," said Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson. "Before anyone has a chance to think about it."
I have bupkis to add to that...
I was wondering ...
When it would happen. I heard some Republican twit yesterday (I had CNN on while I was sanding spackle) say (paraphrasing) that 'if it weren't for Bill Clinton's policies, we wouldn't be in this mess'.
Thankfully, and surprisingly, the Dem twit didn't let it stand, reminding everyone that Clinton left with the economy in good shape, riding a multi-billion dollar surplus.
Dear Rethugs,
It's been 8 years since Clinton was in the White House. You can't make that reach anymore and it just makes you look more ignorant than you actually are. Tough job, but if anyone can sink into the muck, it's the Rethuglicans.
Regards,
Fixer
PS: I still don't supprt the bailout, any bailout. Personally, I believe this is basically a major correction in the market. Coming out of a bubble of over-inflated home prices (artificial) and inflated stock prices, I get the feeling that if nothing is done the market will stabilize in the 7000 - 9000 range, probably where it should be. The only reason action is so "imperative" is to relieve the fat cats of their losses without pain to them. It does nothing for us.
Back to sanding ...
Thankfully, and surprisingly, the Dem twit didn't let it stand, reminding everyone that Clinton left with the economy in good shape, riding a multi-billion dollar surplus.
Dear Rethugs,
It's been 8 years since Clinton was in the White House. You can't make that reach anymore and it just makes you look more ignorant than you actually are. Tough job, but if anyone can sink into the muck, it's the Rethuglicans.
Regards,
Fixer
PS: I still don't supprt the bailout, any bailout. Personally, I believe this is basically a major correction in the market. Coming out of a bubble of over-inflated home prices (artificial) and inflated stock prices, I get the feeling that if nothing is done the market will stabilize in the 7000 - 9000 range, probably where it should be. The only reason action is so "imperative" is to relieve the fat cats of their losses without pain to them. It does nothing for us.
Back to sanding ...
Monday, September 22, 2008
Why and Who?
Soto looks at the timeline:
I smell a rat, a big one.
Something's up.
And if you give a shit about Taiwan (aside from being a place to sell arms), you'll be interested to know the Chimp just gave 'em up to the Chinese in order to cover our $700 bln (at the least) I-O-U:
Hmmm ... They got that all worked out already too.
So I wonder where all the loot's really going?
Update:
More reasons from Dave Johnson:
Scorched Earth maybe? It would explain the land in Paraguay:
It pays to have a place in a country that doesn't have an extradition treaty with the U.S.
And, if McCain gets elected, the Bushes (just like in 2000) will once again leave him holding the bag once he gives them enough cover to leave.
Adding to what Turkana and Mary have already posted on this subject, there is no way in hell the congressional Democrats should dance to Bush and Paulson's tune or timing with this corporate welfare scam. Anytime Bush calls for immediate congressional action on anything, Democrats should do the opposite. He has rammed through the Iraq war this way. He has rammed through domestic spying illegalities using phony terror threats this way. And now he and Paulson want Congress to hand the Treasury Secretary uncontested power on something they didn't tell Congress was an immediate need until last Thursday? I don't think so. [my em]
...
I smell a rat, a big one.
...
If the world economy is so fragile that it will melt down unless Wall Street is handed $700 billion immediately, then Paulson should be impeached for proposing what amounts to a criminal payoff, and Bernanke dragged to a hearing on why he has a job. And if foreign banks get bailed out by American taxpayers, especially by anything that Phil Gramm engineered, forget it. Gramm should be in jail.
...
Something's up.
And if you give a shit about Taiwan (aside from being a place to sell arms), you'll be interested to know the Chimp just gave 'em up to the Chinese in order to cover our $700 bln (at the least) I-O-U:
...
It is a nice, small but productive island Beijing wants to reunite with the fatherland for quite a while. Until now U.S. interests prevented that. But now things may have changed.
...
Translated from diplo-speech: "Give us Taiwan and you'll get the loan."
Taiwan will not be the only 'additional condition' in this deal but for China it is the premier one.
...
Hmmm ... They got that all worked out already too.
So I wonder where all the loot's really going?
Update:
More reasons from Dave Johnson:
The reason Congress MUST pass this bailout bill NOW is because in a short time an Obama administration might be taking over. THAT is the reason it has to be done NOW and uses up all the rest of the money the United States might be able to borrow, ever, instead of passing something that covers the problem for a few months. Otherwise there would be a chance for a sensible approach that follows the principles of one-person-one-vote democracy instead of one-dollar-one-vote Republicanism.
...
Scorched Earth maybe? It would explain the land in Paraguay:
An Argentine official regarded the intention of the George W. Bush family to settle on the Acuifero Guarani (Paraguay) as surprising, besides being a bad signal for the governments of the region.
Luis D Elia, undersecretary for the Social Habitat in the Argentine Federal Planning Ministry, issued a memo partially reproduced by digital INFOBAE.com, in which he spoke of the purchase by Bush of a 98,842-acre farm in northern Paraguay, between Brazil and Bolivia.
...
It pays to have a place in a country that doesn't have an extradition treaty with the U.S.
And, if McCain gets elected, the Bushes (just like in 2000) will once again leave him holding the bag once he gives them enough cover to leave.
Dear John McCain ...
Here's Barry's plan*:
Now shut the fuck up, you bitter old man.
*From an email from MoveOn.org.
Update:
And, regardless of what the old man says, with criminals like this running his campaign, a McCain administration would make Bush/Cheney fiscal policy look good.
...Here are the principles Obama laid out over the weekend:
No blank check. We must insist on independent accountability and oversight. Main Street, not just Wall Street. We need an emergency economic plan to help working families—a plan that would help folks cope with rising gas and food prices, create infrastructure jobs, etc. Help homeowners stay in their homes. We cannot have a plan for Wall Street banks that does not help homeowners stay in their homes and help distressed communities. Taxpayers should be protected. This should not be a handout to Wall Street. Rescue requires mutual responsibility. Institutions that benefit from taxpayer help must help protect American homeowners and the American economy. We cannot underwrite continued irresponsibility. Build a regulatory structure for the 21st Century. We should commit ourselves to new rules of the road for the 21st Century economy. A global response. The United States must lead, but we must also insist that other nations, who have a huge stake in the outcome, join us in helping to secure the financial markets
...
Now shut the fuck up, you bitter old man.
*From an email from MoveOn.org.
Update:
And, regardless of what the old man says, with criminals like this running his campaign, a McCain administration would make Bush/Cheney fiscal policy look good.
...
That would be the Rick Davis who runs the McCain campaign, the campaign that has tried to connect Obama to former Fannie Mae CEO Franklin Raines, even running ads to that effect. Contrary to McCain's lies, however, Raines is not an Obama advisor. (And even if he were, so what? McCain takes advice from the likes of Carly Fiorina, the failed former Hewlett-Packard CEO and now a top McCain surrogate. There wouldn't be anything wrong with Obama talking to an important figure like Raines.)
But Davis isn't just a McCain advisor, he's McCain's campaign manager. And he actively campaigned on behalf of those two mortgage giants against additional regulation. In other words, he wasn't just part of the problem, he was a high-paid lobbyist fighting attempts to solve the problem. And why did Fannie and Freddie pay Davis so much money?
...
Buy my shit ...
Hey, it works for Wall St. I guess somebody heard me this morning. Buy my shitpile. God, I love the interwebs ...
Great thanks to Watertiger for the link.
Hi Yo Civic, Away!
LATimes
Officials in northern Los Angeles County are putting an end to the car-tunes that are driving residents crazy.
Lancaster city officials said this week that they're paving over a quarter-mile strip of asphalt grooved to play the William Tell Overture when auto tires speed over its surface.
The road was completed earlier this month as part of an ad campaign for Honda. It's engineered to play the overture -- also known as the theme to the Lone Ranger -- at perfect pitch for motorists driving Honda Civics at 55 mph.
Oh, the irony...
Ironic Times
Eyes front, Shorty!
Actually, it worked all too well. It only collapsed because there's no more money for the Capitalists to steal.
That may explain why all these memories I don't remember don't fit. They're all clean though, dammit.
Guinness Trots Out Record Holders to Promote Latest Book
Shown: woman who speaks 133 languages with man who memorized pi to 240,000 places.
Eyes front, Shorty!
Capitalism Collapses
“Didn't work,” says expert.
Actually, it worked all too well. It only collapsed because there's no more money for the Capitalists to steal.
Bush Administration Acknowledges Economy a “Mixed Picture”
Points to positive signs in panhandling sector.
Five Former Secretaries of State Urge U.S. to Talk to Iran
McCain: All five “naive and inexperienced.”
Bank Crisis Benefits Some Companies
Simmons, Serta, Spring Air, Stearns & Foster, Sealy Posturepedic and Dux.
Breakthrough: Brain Cells Observed Retrieving a Memory
They work just like machines at dry cleaners that retrieve your clothes.
That may explain why all these memories I don't remember don't fit. They're all clean though, dammit.
New Piece by Mozart Found
Though musicologists skeptical about provenance of Gangsta Cantata in F.
The Coup Is Nearly Complete
Larisa Alexandrovna, links at site.
Please read the rest, and don't miss her 'Update'! It involves a troll who has been here. We told him to fuck off.
In 2000, the long fought for and long admired democracy of the United States of America began a slow and steady decline toward fascism - a Bush family tradition - with the installment of a president - a man the citizens overwhelmingly rejected (although the funny math told a still believed myth) - by a few corrupt judges on the US Supreme Court. That coup is now nearly complete and checkmate is all but unavoidable.
Let me first point you to the Bush administration's so-called Wall Street bailout bill, here, so that you can see for yourself that this treachery is being conducted in the light of day. Fascism is finally and formally out of the right-wing closet even if the F word is not yet openly being used (although it should be, and often).
Now, if you do not yet understand that the Wall Street crisis is a man-made disaster done through intentional deregulation and corruption, I have a bridge in Alaska to sell to you (or Sara Palin does anyway). This manufactured crisis is now to be remedied, if the fiscal fascists get their way, with the total transfer of Congressional powers (the few that still remain) to the Executive Branch and the total transfer of public funds into corporate (via government as intermediary) hands.
It seems this time around, the Bush family is trying the more subtle approach to open bloodshed: first create a crisis, then under the guise of addressing that crisis, overthrow democracy. Yes, it does sound terribly conspiracy-theory-esque when explained just this way. But what else does one call a criminal conspiracy to destroy Congressional powers permanently, alter Judicial powers permanently, and steal public funds?
Please read the rest, and don't miss her 'Update'! It involves a troll who has been here. We told him to fuck off.
Cash For Trash
Paul Krugman
Giving that much power to one man in a moment of panic is exactly what got this country into the mess it's in in Iraq.
Think about this: If, God forbid (do what you have to do, God...), McCain becomes the next president, he will make Phil "Mr. Enron" Gramm, the top dog author of the financial mess, his Secretary of the Treasury. That'd be like giving Voldemort the keys to Gringott's.
No matter what happens in this deal, it's another theft from future generations.
Some skeptics are calling Henry Paulson’s $700 billion rescue plan for the U.S. financial system “cash for trash.” Others are calling the proposed legislation the Authorization for Use of Financial Force, after the Authorization for Use of Military Force, the infamous bill that gave the Bush administration the green light to invade Iraq.
There’s justice in the gibes. Everyone agrees that something major must be done. But Mr. Paulson is demanding extraordinary power for himself — and for his successor — to deploy taxpayers’ money on behalf of a plan that, as far as I can see, doesn’t make sense.
But Mr. Paulson insists that he wants a “clean” plan. “Clean,” in this context, means a taxpayer-financed bailout with no strings attached — no quid pro quo on the part of those being bailed out. Why is that a good thing? Add to this the fact that Mr. Paulson is also demanding dictatorial authority, plus immunity from review “by any court of law or any administrative agency,” and this adds up to an unacceptable proposal.
I’m aware that Congress is under enormous pressure to agree to the Paulson plan in the next few days, with at most a few modifications that make it slightly less bad. Basically, after having spent a year and a half telling everyone that things were under control, the Bush administration says that the sky is falling, and that to save the world we have to do exactly what it says now now now.
But I’d urge Congress to pause for a minute, take a deep breath, and try to seriously rework the structure of the plan, making it a plan that addresses the real problem. Don’t let yourself be railroaded — if this plan goes through in anything like its current form, we’ll all be very sorry in the not-too-distant future.
Giving that much power to one man in a moment of panic is exactly what got this country into the mess it's in in Iraq.
Think about this: If, God forbid (do what you have to do, God...), McCain becomes the next president, he will make Phil "Mr. Enron" Gramm, the top dog author of the financial mess, his Secretary of the Treasury. That'd be like giving Voldemort the keys to Gringott's.
No matter what happens in this deal, it's another theft from future generations.
No, sir ...
Don't like it.
The more I hear about this bailout plan, the less I like it. It's basically a gift to the big houses without oversight, regulation, and accountability. It says, "we'll take your bad debt and leave you to go on, business as usual".
I won't support this schlock until there is a provision for those who dip into this 'slush fund' to dissolve their corporate boards and relinquish control to government oversight; no golden parachutes, no bonuses, nothing.
Until the people who caused this mess are removed, until there is strict oversight, and until there is a review and correction process over Mr. Paulson and his handling of said 'slush fund', it will never get my support.
As it stands now, the plan is junk. It's a blank check ($14,000 of it comes out my and the Mrs' pocket; you're all liable for $7000 of shitpile, by the way), for the big brokerage houses and the Bush administration (and we all know how well they did with the last 'blank check' we gave them).
Sadly, we all know Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi will cave and it'll be accepted without delay. I forget which blogger said it, but it's absolutely true. "The Dems suck as a minority party and suck even more when they're in the majority."
I urge you to call your reps this morning and advise them to send this shit back to the Chimp with a note to shove it up his ass. The onus is on the Dems in Congress to come up with a plan that provides protection for Americans' tax dollars, establishes strict oversight of Wall St. and the banking industry, and takes control of the fund away from the Bush administration.
Until then, it's just another form of Republican corporate welfare and I won't abide it.
And just an addendum: As a responsible taxpayer and user of credit, I take great umbrage to folks of any stripe getting a bailout for their bad decisions. When's someone gonna give me a bonus for paying my bills on time and making sound financial decisions? If folks are getting their debt erased, from mortgage houses to people who took out loans they knew they couldn't afford, I want something for not putting myself in that position, for not being a burden to my fellow taxpayers. Where's the payoff for me for being responsible? Why should I have to pay for other people's greed and stupidity? Just askin' ...
The more I hear about this bailout plan, the less I like it. It's basically a gift to the big houses without oversight, regulation, and accountability. It says, "we'll take your bad debt and leave you to go on, business as usual".
I won't support this schlock until there is a provision for those who dip into this 'slush fund' to dissolve their corporate boards and relinquish control to government oversight; no golden parachutes, no bonuses, nothing.
Until the people who caused this mess are removed, until there is strict oversight, and until there is a review and correction process over Mr. Paulson and his handling of said 'slush fund', it will never get my support.
As it stands now, the plan is junk. It's a blank check ($14,000 of it comes out my and the Mrs' pocket; you're all liable for $7000 of shitpile, by the way), for the big brokerage houses and the Bush administration (and we all know how well they did with the last 'blank check' we gave them).
Sadly, we all know Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi will cave and it'll be accepted without delay. I forget which blogger said it, but it's absolutely true. "The Dems suck as a minority party and suck even more when they're in the majority."
I urge you to call your reps this morning and advise them to send this shit back to the Chimp with a note to shove it up his ass. The onus is on the Dems in Congress to come up with a plan that provides protection for Americans' tax dollars, establishes strict oversight of Wall St. and the banking industry, and takes control of the fund away from the Bush administration.
Until then, it's just another form of Republican corporate welfare and I won't abide it.
And just an addendum: As a responsible taxpayer and user of credit, I take great umbrage to folks of any stripe getting a bailout for their bad decisions. When's someone gonna give me a bonus for paying my bills on time and making sound financial decisions? If folks are getting their debt erased, from mortgage houses to people who took out loans they knew they couldn't afford, I want something for not putting myself in that position, for not being a burden to my fellow taxpayers. Where's the payoff for me for being responsible? Why should I have to pay for other people's greed and stupidity? Just askin' ...
Sunday, September 21, 2008
I'm Gonna Be The Wind
Sometimes ya just need a fun song. Here's California girl Laurie Lewis. No info, but I recognize Sally Van Meter on resophonic guitar and Alan Munde on banjo.
Quote of the Day
Just overheard on TV from the other room. I paraphrase:
"This whole deal started when the financial industry stopped treating people like customers and started treating them like prey." - Elizabeth Warren.
And you thought ...
Al Gore was smart when he invented the interwebs? Seems McSame got him beat by a mile ...
Great thanks to the Misfit for the link.
Quote of the Day
Dennis Hartley:
...
It’s sad. “Stupidity” has become the buzzword in any examination of contemporary American cultural anthropology. It insidiously pervades all aspects of our lives-home life, work life, school life ...
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