It was good. I heard it on the repeat.
Author: Matthew G. Saroff
It Coincides With the 2010 Election, Neh?
So, little Timmy Geithner has decided to extend the TARP program from December 31 of this year until the end of next October, which, oddly enough, is just 2 days before the elections.
It’s a neat political move, but it would have been better to not screw the pooch so badly to begin with.
Dump Geithner and Summers, for a start.
NPR Gets ½ a Clue
Well, it took them long enough to realize that by lending her to the partisan political operation known as Fox News, she is creating a credibility problem for the network:
Executives at National Public Radio recently asked the network’s top political correspondent, Mara Liasson, to reconsider her regular appearances on Fox News because of what they perceived as the network’s political bias, two sources familiar with the effort said.
Liasson refused, because she has a contract, and because, “she appears on two of the network’s news programs, not on commentary programs with conservative hosts,” except, of course that the agendas of these programs is set by those, “commentary programs with conservative hosts.”
See my earlier post, with a spot on Jon Stewart critique of Faux News here.
As to Liasson, she’s not quite as hacktacular as Barbara Bradley Hagerdy, who is literally in the pay of right wing Christo Fascists, but to hear the venom drip when she says the world “liberals,” is enough.
Another reason, in addition to their balls to the wall opposition to low power radio, for me not to give to them at pledge time.
Rep. Capuano Tells Fellow Dems: ‘You’re Screwed’
Bummer of a birth mark, Democratic Party
Representative Michael Capuano (D-MD-8) just finished a losing primary against Martha Coakley, and he when asked to share his experience on the campaign trail, ye was blunt:
You’re screwed
Capuano took to the microphone, looked out at his colleagues and condensed what he’d learned into two words. “You’re screwed,” he told his friends in the House, according to one attendee. The room’s silence was broken only by soft, nervous laughter.
Capuano confirmed the gist of the message — “I’m not sure of the exact wording,” he told HuffPost, chuckling — and said that he doubted his wisdom was anything they didn’t already know.
“I think I was just confirming stuff they already knew,” he said. “I focused on two things: the war in Afghanistan and jobs.”
Everywhere Capuano went in his state, he said, he was bombarded with demands that the government do more to create jobs. He was also greeted by deep skepticism about Obama’s escalation of the eight-year-old war in Afghanistan.
Capuano said he told the caucus that opponents of the war need to be given a chance to vote against funding for it on the House floor.
“If we do anything [on the war], we need to have a separate vote on it. People who can vote for it, can vote for it. But those of us who want to vote against it, [should] be given that opportunity, too,” he said. “But I focused mostly on jobs. People are tired of the promises of jobs. They need them now.”
There are some very real issues here.
The first is that Barack Obama’s “Wall Street before Main Street” policies just aren’t selling.
The second is that Afghanistan is unpopular.
What makes it worse is that the stimulus package will be tied to the Afghan war funding:
Rep. George Miller (D-Calif.), chairman of the Education and Labor Committee, told reporters Tuesday that short-term extensions of unemployment and COBRA will be attached to the defense bill.
In effect, that requires members of Congress to back a war they oppose in order to get funding for jobs, a bargain many are loath to make, but one they’ve made over and over since Democrats rook control of Congress following the 2006 midterm elections — which were decided largely by voters fed up with the war in Iraq.
Steny Hoyer is optimistic, because, well, he’s a pro-war, pro-bank bailout squish, and he wants the rest of the caucus voting with him.
We are seeing a disaster unwind in slow motion, and the only person who might make it better, Barack Obama, is spending too much time kissing the asses corporate interests that created the NAFTA driven political firestorm in 1994.
Not Like Vietnam At All…………
After all, we aren’t seeing bogus body counts.
In the Vietnam war, there was a statistical anomaly: numbers ending in 5 and 10 were conspicuously absent, to the tune of millions of times beyond what random chance, IIRC, and it was a lecture almost 30 years ago it was greater than 5σ.
Well, we have another magic number in Afghanistan, 30* (also here and here):
Just how often has the U.S. and NATO killed the Taliban in groups of 30 during 2009? The answer may surprise you:
- Adnkronos, 12/07/2009: “Up to 30 suspected militants were killed in a NATO airstrike on a Taliban hideout in eastern Afghanistan close to the Pakistani border on Monday. The airstrike targeted the village of Sangar Dara in the mountainous Watapur district of Kunar province , the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said.”
- SF Chronicle, 12/04/2009: “Air strikes in two areas of the Mohmand border region killed 30 suspected militants, a military statement said. It said the strikes were “highly successful” but provided no further details, including whether any civilians were hurt.”
- Xinhua, 11/04/2009: “The military said that the troops have killed 30 more militants during the last 24 hours, bringing the total fatalities to 400, as the operation in the country’s tribal area steadily progressed towards the Taliban strongholds in South Waziristan.”
- Xinhua, 08/31/2009: “At least 30 bodies of suspected Taliban fighters were recovered in northwest Pakistan’s insurgency-hit Swat valley on Monday, witnesses said. The Pakistani army said they were killed in fighting with the security forces.”
- Calgary Times, 07/04/2009: “The attack included an attempted suicide truck bombing of the base in the Zirok district of southeastern Paktika province, local officials said. As many as 30 Taliban insurgents might have been killed when troops called in air strikes, they said.”
- Khaleej Times, 06/24/2009: “Thirty Taliban militants were killed in clashes with NATO and Afghan forces in separate incidents in southern Afghanistan, officials said Wednesday.”
- Straits Times, 06/15/2009: “Security officials in the region said that about 30 militants were killed in Mohmand agency, close to the provincial capital Peshawar.”
- Monsters and Critics, 05/28/2009: “In another incident, the Afghan Defence Ministry said Thursday that its troops, backed by international forces, killed 30 suspected militants in neighbouring Khost province Wednesday after the militants attacked their joint base.”
- Monsters and Critics, 05/14/2009: “At least 30 Taliban fighters were killed Thursday when government artillery fire destroyed their hideout in north-west Pakistan, residents and officials said, as concerns about the fate of thousands of refugees in the region grew amid an escalating humanitarian crisis. Up to 30 suspected militants were in the compound when it was hit, and the Taliban have moved the dead and injured to an undisclosed location, he said.”
- Reuters, 01 April 2009: “U.S. and Afghan forces have killed 30 Taliban fighters, including a local commander, in an operation in Afghanistan’s southern province of Helmand, the Interior Ministry said on Wednesday.”
- IRNA, 02/17/2009: “Suspected US drone fired missiles on a training camp of Taliban militants in a Pakistani tribal region on Monday, killing around 30 people, witnesses and official sources said.”
- New York Times, 01/01/2009: “On Wednesday, the Taliban came for revenge. A group of about 30 Taliban fighters swooped in on Mullah Salam’s house and opened fire. They killed at least 20 of his bodyguards, Afghan officials said. The Taliban claimed that they killed 32. Two of the attackers died.”
It appears that this is a holdover from Rumsfeld days:
We don’t know much about how it works, but in 2007, Marc Garlasco, the Pentagon’s former chief of high-value targeting, offered a glimpse when he told Salon magazine that in 2003, “the magic number was 30.” That meant that if an attack was anticipated to kill more than 30 civilians, it needed the explicit approval of then-Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld or President George W. Bush. If the expected civilian death toll was less than 30, the strike could be OKd by the legal and military commanders on the ground.
We let me quote a decent man who had a complete sh$# for a son, George Romney, Mitt’s dad, who described the misinformation handed to him by the military on Vietnam as “brainwashing.”
He was right, and Obama has allowed himself to buy into this crap.
*Yeah, there is also that whole #3 person on the chain of command of al Qaeda, who has a life span that rivals that of Ensign Liebowitz of star ship security on a landing party with Kirk, Spock, and McCoy.
It’s Official: France Taxes Banker Bonuses Too
50% Tax on bank bonuses above €27,500. ($40,000)
I’m not surprised about the tax, though I am surprised that it happened so quickly, and that the threshold is so low.
Regulators Sell Out To Banks
This time, it’s international regulators, who have pushed back the so called Basel requirements on capitalization:
Global regulators will give banks a grace period before forcing them to implement stricter capital rules, three people said on Wednesday, easing concerns that lenders might need to issue massive amounts of shares in the near future.
……………
The committee is expected to publish proposals this week for stricter financial regulations in response to the credit crisis. There had been fears that if banks implement the new rules quickly, they would have to raise substantial capital.
The three people with knowledge of the matter said the committee would stick to its plan to gradually implement changes starting in 2012, but will give banks a transition period to help them adjust to the rules.
My bet is that in 2010, start will be pushed off to 2013, and in 2011, it will be pushed off to 2014.
Rinse……Lather……Repeat.
Did Nancy Pelosi Just Call Barack Obama a Bitch?
Why yes, I think that she did just call Barack Obama a bitch.
On a slightly more precise level, what she has said is that if Barack Obama wants Democrats in the house to support him on Afghanistan, that Pelosi will not use her position as speaker to whip votes:
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said President Barack Obama must press his own arguments for sending 30,000 more U.S. troops to Afghanistan because she won’t ask House Democrats to pay for the military escalation.
“The president is going to have to make his case,” Pelosi told reporters today in Washington.
The speaker said persuading House Democrats to approve a $106 billion spending bill in June to finance the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan was “definitely” the hardest vote of her tenure as speaker. She said she told Democrats her request for their support was the last time “I would ever ask them to vote for it.”
House Democratic leaders will provide briefings on funds for the additional troops, and members “will have the information” they need to make a decision, she said. “But this, for members, is a vote of conscience.”
I’m sure Steny Hoyer, 2nd in command as House Majority Leader, will continue to whip the vote, but this is a big deal.
I expect the bill to pass anyway, since the Republicans will always vote pro war, but much like during our private little war in South East Asia in 1968, it’s the Democrats who are opposing it, and much like that private little war in South East Asia in 1968, they are correct in their opposition to the this private little war in South Asia.
Economics Update
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Rent-price ratio h/t Calculated Risk
So, the Open Marked Committee of the Federal Reserve left rates unchanged, though they do seem set on ending their quantitative easing over the next few months:
In light of ongoing improvements in the functioning of financial markets, the Committee and the Board of Governors anticipate that most of the Federal Reserve’s special liquidity facilities will expire on February 1, 2010, consistent with the Federal Reserve’s announcement of June 25, 2009.
Full FOMC statement is after the break.
The bond markets responded with Treasurys falling, and yields rising.
We actually saw a non trivial inflation rate in November, with the Consumer Price Index rising 0.4% in November, though that was energy and food, the core rate was 0%.
There is a troubling data point in the data though, rent, and owners’ imputed rent both fell, which is not a problem in terms of inflation, but is in terms of real estate.
Basically, even with house prices having fallen in the past 2 years, they are still above the traditional price-to-rent ratio trend, and as rents, fall, homes have to fall further to get back to the traditional (and sane) range, so there is more pain in real estate.
In more real estate news, new home construction jumping 8.9% from October to November, though it is down 12.4% year over year, (PDF link) while mortgage applications, and the rate for a 30-year fixed mortgage, rose marginally last week.
The statements on the unwinding of quantitative easing pushed the dollar up.
In energy, oil rose again, on reports of falling inventories.
Press Release
Release Date: December 16, 2009For immediate release
Information received since the Federal Open Market Committee met in November suggests that economic activity has continued to pick up and that the deterioration in the labor market is abating. The housing sector has shown some signs of improvement over recent months. Household spending appears to be expanding at a moderate rate, though it remains constrained by a weak labor market, modest income growth, lower housing wealth, and tight credit. Businesses are still cutting back on fixed investment, though at a slower pace, and remain reluctant to add to payrolls; they continue to make progress in bringing inventory stocks into better alignment with sales. Financial market conditions have become more supportive of economic growth. Although economic activity is likely to remain weak for a time, the Committee anticipates that policy actions to stabilize financial markets and institutions, fiscal and monetary stimulus, and market forces will contribute to a strengthening of economic growth and a gradual return to higher levels of resource utilization in a context of price stability.
With substantial resource slack likely to continue to dampen cost pressures and with longer-term inflation expectations stable, the Committee expects that inflation will remain subdued for some time.
The Committee will maintain the target range for the federal funds rate at 0 to 1/4 percent and continues to anticipate that economic conditions, including low rates of resource utilization, subdued inflation trends, and stable inflation expectations, are likely to warrant exceptionally low levels of the federal funds rate for an extended period. To provide support to mortgage lending and housing markets and to improve overall conditions in private credit markets, the Federal Reserve is in the process of purchasing $1.25 trillion of agency mortgage-backed securities and about $175 billion of agency debt. In order to promote a smooth transition in markets, the Committee is gradually slowing the pace of these purchases, and it anticipates that these transactions will be executed by the end of the first quarter of 2010. The Committee will continue to evaluate the timing and overall amounts of its purchases of securities in light of the evolving economic outlook and conditions in financial markets.
In light of ongoing improvements in the functioning of financial markets, the Committee and the Board of Governors anticipate that most of the Federal Reserve’s special liquidity facilities will expire on February 1, 2010, consistent with the Federal Reserve’s announcement of June 25, 2009. These facilities include the Asset-Backed Commercial Paper Money Market Mutual Fund Liquidity Facility, the Commercial Paper Funding Facility, the Primary Dealer Credit Facility, and the Term Securities Lending Facility. The Federal Reserve will also be working with its central bank counterparties to close its temporary liquidity swap arrangements by February 1. The Federal Reserve expects that amounts provided under the Term Auction Facility will continue to be scaled back in early 2010. The anticipated expiration dates for the Term Asset-Backed Securities Loan Facility remain set at June 30, 2010, for loans backed by new-issue commercial mortgage-backed securities and March 31, 2010, for loans backed by all other types of collateral. The Federal Reserve is prepared to modify these plans if necessary to support financial stability and economic growth.
Voting for the FOMC monetary policy action were: Ben S. Bernanke, Chairman; William C. Dudley, Vice Chairman; Elizabeth A. Duke; Charles L. Evans; Donald L. Kohn; Jeffrey M. Lacker; Dennis P. Lockhart; Daniel K. Tarullo; Kevin M. Warsh; and Janet L. Yellen.
House Passes Jobless Benefits and COBRA Subsidy Extension
Both of these programs are so overwhelmingly popular that even Republicans voted for them, the vote was 395-to-34.
What the Hell are We Doing In Afghanistan Again?
Because Afghan President Hamid Karzai just gave a speech defending Kabul Mayor Abdul Ahad Sayebi, who was just sentenced to 4 years in prison at the Afghan anti-corruption conference:
Afghan President Hamid Karzai used a keynote anti-corruption speech on Tuesday to defend the most senior of his officials to be convicted of graft in years, a move that could anger Western backers who demand more accountability.
The president opened a three-day, anti-corruption conference, which had been billed by diplomats as a sign that Karzai took seriously the West’s concern over an issue seen as key to winning popular support against a resurgent Taliban.
That sound you hear is Eric Arthur Blair spinning in his grave at 4200 rpm.
Seriously, we need to get out now, because you can’t win hearts and minds with this corrupt ratf%$#.
Corruption Update: Another Bailout for Bob Rubin’s Old Firm
Seriously. The fact that the IRS, or let’s be clear about, Timothy Geithner’s Department of the Treasury is allowing Citi to get an additional $32 billion in tax breaks so that it can repay the TARP more quickly:
The Internal Revenue Service on Friday issued an exception to long-standing tax rules for the benefit of Citigroup and a few other companies partially owned by the government. As a result, Citigroup will be allowed to retain billions of dollars worth of tax breaks that otherwise would decline in value when the government sells its stake to private investors.
By way of comparison, the government invested $45 billion in Citi, which has, through various means, converted into common stock at above market valuations.
So, it now appears that we are paying Citi to pay us back the TARP money, $32 billion in tax deductions, so that they can pay back the $20 billion that is still owed as debt, overpay their next CEO.
With the top corporate tax rate at 35%, this translates to about us paying them $11.2 billion to get back our $20 billion, which was earning us 8%, or $1.6 billion a year……Lovely deal, huh?
I’m calling corruption on this.
I’m not sure if anyone in the White House is personally getting rich on this, but, much like the recently deceased Yegor Gaidar in Russia, they are creating and maintaining a corrupt system.
I’m sure, like Gaidar, they see themselves as heroic, but they are looting the United States.
Berbanke is Time’s Man of the Year
Well, he’s certainly been influential, but so was Typhoid Mary.
[on edit]
Paul Krugman reminds us all what it means to be a cover subject for Time Magazine.
Deep Thought
Who Knew that Santa Drank Beer
Not Enough Bullets: Porsche Cayenne Turbo Edition
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SEC & DoJ need to fix this.
It should read: Sorry Ass in Jail!
So, Morgan Stanley Vice-Chairman Rob Kindler drives a Porsche Cayenne with the License Plate 2BG2FAIL.
Just delightful.
I need to figure out how to go long on pitch forks and torches.
And maybe some rabid ferrets, and ground beef, and honey, and really nasty stinging ants.
But no guns or rope: I oppose capital punishment.
H/t Matt Taibbi
Here is the Video of Howard Dean Disavowing the Senate Bill
I want him to be my president
Courtesy of the Big Orange Borg.
He makes it very clear: this is a tax on the American people that will be transferred to insurance companies.
He says that it’s not healthcare reform, or even that it’s not even insurance reform. He’s right.
He notes that reconciliation should have been used from the start, and he also notes that this bill will cause the Democrats to lose seats.
He also notes that this is about Joe Lieberman preening for attention.
The Washington press corps went after him hammer and tongs because, hell I don’t know why, in 2004, and he is so much better than anyone else on this it’s not funny.
Pwn36*
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They paid someone to do this?
So, the Republican Party comes up with a URL shortener, the idea being that they would send people to the site, but put banners top and bottom that would advertise themselves and pranksters use it to link to pr0n:
The Republican party took down its innovative link-shortening tool Tuesday for several hours after pranksters had a field day using the tool to associate the GOP with bondage sites.
Having used Tinyurl and bit.ly for almost a decade, this is “innovative” only in the sense that House Minority John Boehner has a “human” complexion.†
As part of its new media strategy, the Republican party launched a new site called GOP.am on Monday. It’s a URL shortener designed to make it easy for conservative web surfers to exchange links to web pages.
This is what happens when people try to be hip and cool when they have not the slightest inkling what it means to be hip and cool.
So quoth the engineer, who has no clue as to what it means to be either hip or cool.
*Owned.
†Truth be told, if I didn’t know that he’s had it for years, I would have tagged it as jaundice.
Oral Roberts Dead at 91
Here is his obituary.
There is a lot that I could say, but, on the theory that it’s classless to speak ill of the dead, let me add the following:
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VPR Audio: VPR News: Dean On Health Care: “Kill The Senate Bill”
The Plum Line is breaking the story that Howard Dean is calling for the Senate bill to be scrapped, and for the house to push through reform via reconciliation, which only requires 50 Senators (+ Joe Biden) to pass.
VPR has a transcript of the interview:
This is essentially the collapse of health care reform in the United States Senate. And, honestly, the best thing to do right now is kill the Senate bill and go back to the House and start the reconciliation process, where you only need 51 votes and it would be a much simpler bill.
Yeah, but Republicans will call it a “Nuclear Option,” and say bad things about Barack….You know?
Great googly moogly.
December is a Good Month for Fairy Dust
First the A400M, and now the 787 have completed their maiden flights.
It took off at 1:35 PM PST, and everything appears to have went well, though the flight was cut short by bad weather.
What stands out for me is the amount of wing flex as it flies.
I saw it in various computer renderings, but it’s a bit of surprise when you see it for real.