Author: Matthew G. Saroff

They Do This Because They Believe that Minorities Should Not Vote

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I have to invoke this when discussing the travails of anyone named “Kirk”.


In any case, let’s roll tape*

That is why Republicans like Mark Kirk spend enormous amounts of time and effort trying to keep minorities from voting.

The difference is that this time, he got caught on tape:

In a private phone conversation that was secretly recorded, Mark Kirk, the Republican U.S. Senate candidate in Illinois, told state Republican leaders last week about his plan to send “voter integrity” squads to four predominately African American neighborhoods of Chicago “where the other side might be tempted to jigger the numbers somewhat.”

Kirk’s campaign confirmed the candidate was secretly taped last week as he was talking about his anti-voter fraud effort.

Someone taped this discussion, and then released it into the wild.

There are some values of the Republican party that have been present since its founding, like opposition to organized labor, and there are some that are the product of the politically expedient decision to embrace the white racist portion of the electorate with the “Southern Strategy.”

It started with Barry Goldwater, was embraced and extended by Nixon, and finally came to full fruit under Ronald Reagan, who did his best to make bigotry look cool.

In the process, the bigots subsumed the party.

Thus we are left with the Republican definition of “vote fraud”: to them, it means allowing n*gg*rs to vote.

*The “tape” is actually illegal, as Illinois, like Maryland is a 2 party consent state, but that is largely irrelevant to the fact that a rock got turned over, and the slime beneath was revealed.

What Atrios Said:

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When Atrios notes that Barack Obama had nearly complete freedom in designing the Home Affordable Modification Program. The money was allocated largely without strings, and he was free to do anything short of throwing it from a helicopter, or as he so pithily notes, “This program did not require President Snowe to sign off.

Still, as David Dayen at FDL notes, the program was designed to benefit banks and loan servicers, and in fact paid for the sort of foreclosure abuses and law-breaking at the expense of home owners in peril.

This is more than a policy failure, it is a deliberate betrayal of the basic ideals of liberalism, and an embrace of Bush/Cheney style crony capitalism.

If anything comes from the current foreclosure implosion, it will be in spite of the Obama administration, not because of it.

Judge Enjoins Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, Obama Defends DOMA

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A month ago, Judge Virginia Phillips ruled Don’t Ask Don’t Tell unconstitutional, and today, she issued a permanent injunction against the policy, forbidding the military from conducting investigations or proceeding with separations:

A federal judge in California issued a permanent ban Tuesday on the Pentagon’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy on gays and lesbians in the military, ordering the Defense Department to immediately halt any efforts to remove personnel because of their sexual orientation.

The government has 60 days to appeal the ruling, which gives the administration until after the midterm election next month to make a decision. But it also presents a problem for President Obama as he tries to rally his Democratic base.

As a presidential candidate, Obama said he would work to do away with the policy. But should the Justice Department appeal the ruling, it could anger many of the president’s liberal supporters, something Obama and congressional Democrats can ill afford.

In a separate case that posed a similar problem, the administration decided Tuesday to appeal two court rulings in Massachusetts that found unconstitutional the federal definition of marriage as between a man and a woman.

The administration filed a notice of appeal to protect the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act, or DOMA, which bars gay marriages, although Obama opposes the law. A Justice Department spokeswoman told the Associated Press that the administration was obligated to defend federal laws when challenged in court.

So we know where this is going. On November 3, when there is no immediate electoral consequence, the DoJ will file an appeal, because, to paraphrase Kanye West, Barack Obama doesn’t care about gay people,

If Congress wants to change the law, there will be no support from the White House, and we know this because there has been no support from the White House, but rest assured he’ll probably sign a repeal if it hits his desk, because it’s the easy thing to do.

Well, This is Nice…

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Now if only he would continue his attacks on corrupt Republicans after the election:

The White House intensified its attacks Sunday on the powerful U.S. Chamber of Commerce for its alleged ties to foreign donors, part of an escalating Democratic effort to link Republican allies with corporate and overseas interests ahead of the November midterm elections.

………

David Axelrod, a top Obama adviser, said on CBS’s “Face the Nation” that secret political donations to the chamber and other groups pose “a threat to our democracy.”

Axelrod also took the unusual step of calling on the chamber to release internal documents backing up its contention that foreign money is not being used to pay for U.S. political activities. Democrats have seized on a report by a liberal blog alleging that dues from chamber-affiliated business councils could be used in that way.

“If the chamber opens up its books and says, ‘Here’s where our political money’s coming from,’ then we’ll know,” Axelrod said. “But until they do that, all we have is their assertion.”

The chamber has vehemently denied the allegations, characterizing them as part of a desperate strategy to stave off a GOP takeover of Congress. The business lobby has vowed to spend up to $75 million on the midterm elections, primarily in favor of Republicans.

On November 3, Obama will be back to kissing their asses.

They should be beating this drum every day.

And the Obama Administration’s Response to the Widespread Foreclosure Fraud by the Banks Is…

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To take the side of the big banks who are ignoring the law, with Obama proxy David Axelrod on Face the Nation saying that he hopes that this, “moves rapidly and that this gets unwound very, very quickly,” meaning allowing the banks to continue breaking the law, while an “administration source is saying that, “the administration was also seeking the servicers’ help with modifying the home loans of millions of borrowers to help them avoid foreclosure.”

The translation here is that because the administration was perpetrating a fraud on homeowners on behalf of the banks with the HAMP, they couldn’t be expected to pursue them when they broke the law.

The most egregious quote is from Federal Housing Administration Commissioner David Stevens:

We believe freezing foreclosures for all banks in all states, whether we have reason to believe them to be in error or not, is simply not the prudent step to take in this fragile housing market

(emphasis mine)

So, even if the banks broke the law, it is the victims who have to pay for this, because the banks own Barack Hussein Obama.

I would suggest that you read Yves Smith here, here, and here. She touches all the bases, and does it better than I am.

This is Getting Ugly Fast…

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Bank of America just suspended all foreclosures nationwide:

Bank of America Corp. imposed a nationwide moratorium on foreclosures and the sale of foreclosed homes after it came under intense pressure from a government-run housing-finance giant worried about documentation problems, people familiar with the situation said.

The bank called the halt as concern mounted from legislators and state prosecutors about procedures used by lenders to foreclose on homes. Many banks use so-called robo signers, employees who sign hundreds of documents a day, without carefully reviewing their contents, when foreclosing on homes. Critics say that could result in improper foreclosures.

Freddie Mac, the government-run mortgage-finance company that along with Fannie Mae owns many of the mortgages serviced by banks, pressed Bank of America to expand its search for problems with the foreclosure documentation process, said the people familiar with the situation.

A year ago, I wrote about potential issues with MERS, and I figured that there might be a fair number of cases out there, but the developments of the past few weeks, which, credit where credit is due, were spotted and covered with far more detail and intellect by Yves Smith than by me, have been remarkable.

This is all falling apart at a far greater speed than did the collapses of Bear Stearns and Lehman Brothers in 2008.

We had low key mainstream coverage on the brokerage houses’ issues in 2007, but the first mainstream coverage of the mortgage debacle is from just a month ago.

I would further note, that what is going on now has NOTHING to do with MERS, which remains the elephant in the room.

This feels like the first few pebbles hitting us from an avalanche.

Economics Update

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Click for full size

The paradox of thrift continues

It’s jobless Thursday, and initial unemployment claims fell out of the 450K-485K sweet spot that they have been bouncing around in for most of the year. Initial claims fell by 11,000 to 445,000, better than forecast, with the 4-week moving average falling by 3,000 to 455,750, with continuing claims falling by 48,000 to 4.46 million, and emergency claims rising by 257K to 5.14 million.

So fewer people are losing work, but hiring has not picked, so overall unemployment has increased (257K – 48K – 11K = 198K more people collecting unemployment).

We also had good news on the retail front, with better than expected same store retail sales in September, though I am unclear how consumers are financing this, since wages are stagnant, and consumer credit fell in August. (See graph pr0n)

I guess that it could be that people took out their credit cards more in September, and that the conflicting figures are simply the result of month to month changes.

In Europe, both the Bank of England and the ECB held rates steady, and the BoE says that it will continue quantitative easing (printing money).

ECB bank president Jean-Claude Trichet went further full inflation idiot in statement to the press, tut-tutting other central banks easing moves, andstating that the ECB will be, “gradually phase out its non-standard liquidity measures.”

Yes, we are seeing more pronouncements from the pain caucus about austerity, and the most vocal of these folks, Tory PM David Cameron, has apparently succeeded in pushing UK house prices down by 3.6% in the month of September.

Note that I am not talking about a -3.6% annual rate, I am talking about a £6,000 drop in home prices in just that month. (!)
UK home prices -3.6% in a month (!)

Veto

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The White House has announced that Barack Obama is vetoing HR 3808, the Interstate Recognition of Notarizations Act, which created a South Dakota/Delaware credit card processing style race to the bottom, only this time with forged foreclosure paperwork.

They are actually claiming that it is a pocket veto, but they are also sending it back to Congress with a notice of disapproval, since the Senate is entering into pro forma sessions, making that whole “pocket veto” thing dicey, as you can only pocket veto a bill when Congress is in recess.

This is his second veto, his first was when he vetoed a stop-gap spending bill when the regular bill came in on time, so this is his first real veto, the last one was about cleaning up the bookkeeping.

I would note that there is an important lesson here: If you hold the White House’s feet to the fire, the Obama administration will do the right thing ……… at least occasionally.

It’s why the Fanboi who maintain that it’s all eleventy dimensional chess are so wrong.

Were it not for the firestorm that erupted in the past 72 hours or so, largely due to the efforts of Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner, not only would have Obama not vetoed it, but he probably would likely have seen it as an innocuous bill streamlining interstate commerce.

If there is not vigorous criticism from liberals directed toward the White House, then they will continue to follow the path of least resistance and do the wrong thing when they can.

Full statement from the White Houseafter the break:

Why President Obama is Not Signing H.R. 3808
Posted by Dan Pfeiffer on October 07, 2010 at 01:15 PM EDT

Today, the White House announced that President Obama will not sign H.R. 3808, the Interstate Recognition of Notarizations Act of 2010, and will return the bill to the House of Representatives. The Interstate Recognition of Notarizations Act of 2010 was designed to remove impediments to interstate commerce. While we share this goal, we believe it is necessary to have further deliberations about the intended and unintended impact of this bill on consumer protections, including those for mortgages, before this bill can be finalized.

Notarizations are important for a large range of documents, including financial documents. As the President has made clear, consumer financial protections are incredibly important, and he has made this one of his top priorities, including signing into law the strongest consumer protections in history in the Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. That is why we need to think through the intended and unintended consequences of this bill on consumer protections, especially in light of the recent developments with mortgage processors.

The authors of this bill no doubt had the best intentions in mind when trying to remove impediments to interstate commerce. We will work with them and other leaders in Congress to explore the best ways to achieve this goal going forward.

Dan Pfeiffer is White House Communications Director

Politics Trumping Science In the Obama Administration

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Yet another Bush policy that Obama has doubled down on.

In this case, we now have a report showing that the Obama administration actively suppressed science based reports from the NOAA during the BP oil spill:

The White House blocked government scientists from warning the American public of the potential environmental disaster caused by BP’s broken well in the Gulf of Mexico, a report released by the national commission investigating the oil spill said yesterday.

The report, produced by a panel appointed by Barack Obama to investigate the spill, said that about two weeks after the BP rig exploded scientists from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) asked the White House for permission to release their models showing their worst case scenarios for the spill.

The White House office of management and budget, which is a traditional clearing house for decisions, turned down the request, the report said, quoting interviews with administration officials.

The report, one of four released today by the commission, provides the most compelling evidence to date of direct attempts by the White House to spin the BP oil spill disaster.

I’ve been a cynic about Barack Obama since he started embracing gay bashers in late 2007, but his full court press to embrace and protect BP is something that has managed to disappoint me, and my expectations for him are remarkably low.

Judge Says Torture Evidence Inadmissible

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Actually, he did not say torture, he said “harsh interrogation”, but he also said that any information arising from the CIA’s torture of Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani was inadmissible.

I believe that the term is “fruit of the poisoned tree,” and by harsh, he does not mean what Jon Steward did to Jim Cramer, he means torture:

In the months since Mr. Ghailani was brought to New York from Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, Judge Lewis A. Kaplan of United States District Court in Manhattan has rejected defense requests to dismiss the case because of violations of Mr. Ghailani’s right to a speedy trial and because of accusations he was tortured.

But just as the trial was to begin on Wednesday, Judge Kaplan ruled that he would not allow the witness to testify. He noted that the government had acknowledged that it had identified and located the witness through interrogation of Mr. Ghailani when he was earlier held in a secret overseas jail run by the Central Intelligence Agency. His lawyers have said he was tortured there.

Judge Kaplan said he was “acutely aware of the perilous nature of the world in which we live.”

“But the Constitution is the rock upon which our nation rests,” he went on. “We must follow it not only when it is convenient, but when fear and danger beckon in a different direction. To do less would diminish us and undermine the foundation upon which we stand.”

It really is remarkable how the torture fetish of Bush and His Evil Minions™ continues to f%$# up everything that it touches to this day.

This is why we need prosecutions of both the torturers and those who authorized torture, because when this sh%$ goes down, it hurts all of us, and without consequences for the criminals, more people will be encouraged to break the law.

And the Winner of the Economics Prize Is

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The executives and directors of Goldman Sachs, AIG,Lehman Brothers, Bear Stearns, Merrill Lynch, and Magnetar for creating and promoting new ways to invest money — ways that maximize financial gain and minimize financial risk for the world economy, or for a portion thereof.

They are, of course winners of the 2010 Ig Nobel Prize, who, in 2009, awarded the prize to, “The directors, executives, and auditors of four Icelandic banks The directors, executives, and auditors of four Icelandic banks — Kaupthing Bank, Landsbanki, Glitnir Bank, and Central Bank of Iceland — for demonstrating that tiny banks can be rapidly transformed into huge banks, and vice versa — and for demonstrating that similar things can be done to an entire national economy.”

I so want to get one of these prizes, but I think that I lack the requisite imagination.

Least Surprising News of the Day

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Former HHS Secretary nominee, and enthusiastic free rider Tom Daschle* has let slip that Obama cut a deal with pharma and insurers to kill the public option at the start of the healthcare reform process.

Eleventy dimensional chess, my ass. We are dealing with someone who has created faux reform because he does not want real reform.

*The great Matt Taibbi noted, when he talked about his lobbying activities, “Tom Daschle would suck off a corpse for a cheeseburger.'”