Author: Matthew G. Saroff

Here’s Hoping for Some Real Gail Time

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I’ve been following the tussle between the Swiss Bank UBS and the IRS over account for information for some time, and the fact that there is now a settlement which involves handing over account information for about 4500 people, and that prosecutors are working on over 150 criminal tax evasion cases is a very good thing.

Even better is the fact that there is an amnesty deadline in September, and neither UBS nor the Feds are revealing which accounts have turned over, which is having the rich pig tax evaders running around like chickens with their heads cut off, wondering whether or not they are among those accounts turned over.

One of the effects of the tax amnesty program is that about a dozen more banks have now been fingered as having aided clients in evading taxes.

Let’s be clear, for this to have a meaningful effect, there need to be dozens of prosecutions, and a significant number of people both imprisoned and made paupers by this process.

That is the only way that repeat fraud will be deterred.

Well, Dr. Krugman, this Liberal Never Trusted Obama

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I figured that he would throw progressives and liberals under the bus since the entire Donnie McClurkin affair, when Obama deliberately threw gays under a bus to win the South Carolina primary.

He’s done it with:

  • Rapid withdrawal from Iraq.
  • Releasing torture photos.
  • His support of “fair trade”.
  • Stupid tax cuts in the stimulus package.
  • Pursuing war crimes by Bush and His Evil Minions™
  • Bailing out the banks.
  • Gays, particularly with Don’t Ask Don’t Tell.
  • The use of civilian courts to try terrorists.
  • Closing Guantanamo (with an assist from craven Congressmen).
  • Ra

So now, Paul Krugman notices that progressives have finally drawn a line in the sand on the public option:

It’s hard to avoid the sense that Mr. Obama has wasted months trying to appease people who can’t be appeased, and who take every concession as a sign that he can be rolled.

Indeed, no sooner were there reports that the administration might accept co-ops as an alternative to the public option than G.O.P. leaders announced that co-ops, too, were unacceptable.

So progressives are now in revolt. Mr. Obama took their trust for granted, and in the process lost it. And now he needs to win it back.

Gee, you think?

I’ve been saying this for over a year.

Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi Returns to Libya

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But was he guilty in the first place?

Normally, I’d put this sort of question firmly into the tinfoil hat category, but a number of people believe Libya was not the perpetrator of the bombing, with Iran and the PFLP-GC being the most frequently cited alternative, and it appears this release was a quid pro quo for his dropping his appeal of his conviction. (See also here)

My guess is that the reality is somewhere in between, that al-Megrahi is the one who done it, but that the prosecution was handled by a bunch of PR glory boys, who screwed up various parts of the trial, and there was a very real worry that he would embarrass the British courts on appeal, so they cut a deal.

That’s my guess anyway.

Michelle Bachmann is Pro Abortion Rights?????

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She was on Hannity’s show, and she was talking about Obama’s healthcare reform plan, and she said the following at about 5:35 in her interview:

“That’s why people need to continue to go to the town halls, continue to melt the phone lines of their liberal members of Congress,” said Bachmann, “and let them know, under no certain circumstances will I give the government control over my body and my health care decisions.”

You go girl!

Meanwhile, Back in Bizarro world

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Guess who is going to hold a fundraiser for the first Virginia Congressman who takes the pledge not to vote for a health plan without a public option?

Terry McAuliffe….Yes, that Terry McAuliffe, a man who has been repeatedly excoriated by lefty bloggers like me as a corporate stooge, and little more than bagman for political contributions from wealthy people and special interests.

In fact, I did a happy dance when he lost the primary race for VA governor for this reason.

But he is sponsoring this initiative:

Terry McAuliffe thinks it is time to “insist” on the public option. We couldn’t agree more. Terry’s agreed to host a fundraiser with Virginia and national bloggers who are insisting on a public option for the first Virginia Congressman who will take our pledge! This will be an awesome event to highlight and honor any Virginia Congressman who shows leadership on this issue. If you would like to be a part of the host committee for this event, shoot me an email at notlarrysabato@hotmail.com. Lowell and I are already on board, and I’m sure there will be many others!

Good for Terry McAuliffe….I cannot believe that I just said that.

I would also be remiss in mentioning that Act Blue has a page to donate to Congressmen who take the pledge not to support any bill that lacks a real public option, and it’s already raised nearly $300K.

I’ve added the link to my Act Blue page too.

I’m Shocked, Shocked To Find That Gambling Is Going On In Here!

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(Cue Captain Renault)

So, Tom Ridge tells us now that Bush and His Evil Minions™ manipulated terror alerts for political gain.

But he vehemently denied any such effort while he was in office, and delayed his resignation as head of DHS until after the election.

He knew that it was wrong, but he kept his mouth shut, and now he writes a book, and it’s supposed to make everything hunky dory….It does not.

Mr. Ridge, as I stated only yesterday, I do not take the term “treason” lightly, but it appears to me that your complicity in this affair, when you knew that it was happening, and you know that it was wrong, and you knew that it was damaging to the country, comes awfully close to that term.

Another Milestone In the Annals of Stupid and Corrupt

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Just when I think that Bush and His Evil Minions™ have left me so jaded that they can no longer shock me with their corruption and incompetence, I discover that not only did the CIA have assassination teams, but they outsourced these teams to Blackwater, USA (now Xe):

The Central Intelligence Agency in 2004 hired outside contractors from the private security contractor Blackwater USA as part of a secret program to locate and assassinate top operatives of Al Qaeda, according to current and former government officials.

Executives from Blackwater, which has generated controversy because of its aggressive tactics in Iraq, helped the spy agency with planning, training and surveillance. The C.I.A. spent several million dollars on the program, which did not successfully capture or kill any terrorist suspects.

This is not surprising. Blackwater’s mercenary division, Blackwater Security Consulting (BSC), was founded in 2002 with the obvious goal of cashing in on the paranoia bonanza post 911, and used that, along with the reputation earned by Eric Prince’s father as a reliable supporter of extreme right wing causes, to generate revenues.

Notwithstanding the caveat in the article:

It is unclear whether the C.I.A. had planned to use the contractors to actually capture or kill Qaeda operatives, or just to help with training and surveillance in the program. American spy agencies have in recent years outsourced some highly controversial work, including the interrogation of prisoners. But government officials said that bringing outsiders into a program with lethal authority raised deep concerns about accountability in covert operations.

I think that it’s more likely than not that there was a real intent by the CIA to hire outside contractors as hit-men.

If CIA paramilitary forces needed training, they could get that from any number of military organizations.

After all, as has been discovered in Iraq, Mercenaries are:

  • Not subject to US law.
  • Indemnified from the local law.
  • Not required to use the same reporting standards as government agents on either finance or notification.

So, the most incompetent and brutal of the mercenaries were chosen, probably on the basis of political payback for contributions and a shared Christo-Fascist world view, and the intent was to just turn them loose to kill people without the slightest indication of meaningful supervision.

Great googly moogly.

We need a special prosecutor now.

Economics Update

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Historical unemployment, courtesy Calculated Risk

Today is Jobless Thursday, and initial jobless claims unexpectedly rose by 15,000 to 576,000, (click pic for full size image) with the 4 week moving average, and the continuing claims were up marginally, to 6.241 million from 6.239 million, but it should be noted that as people move to extended benefits, or lose benefits completely, they are dropped from that number.

Closely related to this is the fact that mortgage delinquencies are rising, to 9.24% of all outstanding loans on 1-4 unit residences in the 2nd quarter, up .12% from the 1st quarter, and up 2.83% from last year, and loans overdue by more than 90 days, which is when foreclosure begins, are at an all time high of 7.97%.

Not surprisingly, “Helicopter” Ben Bernanke is on another buying binge, with Federal reserve assets up by 2.3% this week, buying treasuries, which is an how the Fed pumps up the stock market, and mortgage backed securities, which is how they are trying to cover up the increasing collapse in mortgages.

Still, there is good news, with the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia’s general economic index giving an unexpectedly strong showing of +4.2, well above the predicted -2.0, and this is a real indicator of growth, not just a decline in the rate of decline, and the cost of insuring corporate bonds fell, on the expectation of better growth.

Oil and energy looked at the different numbers, with the dollar falling on the Philadelphia Fed data, which has people feeling less need for a safe haven, and oil falling on the new jobless numbers, which indicates that demand will still remain low for a while.

GM Sells Saab to Koenigsegg

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So it looks like the quirky cars are going to be around for a while (see here and here).

There is still the matter of financing, but this is pretty close to a done deal.

Koenigsegg is a serious (the body is completely carbon fiber, it weighs less than 1300 kg, and it does 0 to 100 km/h in under 3 seconds) supercar manufacturer (see pic), which implies that they will be doing more than just milking the brand name, and will actually look to keeping the Saab product line fairly cutting edge, perhaps migrating some of their existing tech down to Saab, which is good news.

In other Swedish car news, it looks like Ford is making some progress in selling Volvo automobile, with reports that a consortium named Konsortium Jakob AB, Volvo Trucks, and the Chinese auto companies Geely, Dongfeng, Beijing Auto, and Chongqing Changan, are all rumored to be bidding on the deal.

Senator Edward Kennedy (D-MA) Is Not Long for This World

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He knows that he is dying, and it sounds like he does not expect to make it toa vote on healthcare reform:

Senator Edward M. Kennedy, in a poignant acknowledgment of his mortality at a critical time in the national health care debate, has privately asked the governor and legislative leaders to change the succession law to guarantee that Massachusetts will not lack a Senate vote when his seat becomes vacant.

In a personal, sometimes wistful letter sent Tuesday to Governor Deval L. Patrick, Senate President Therese Murray, and House Speaker Robert A. DeLeo, Kennedy asks that Patrick be given authority to appoint someone to the seat temporarily before voters choose a new senator in a special election.
……

As an FYI, he was not well enough to make it to his sister’s funeral last week.

Mixed Emotions Here

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Representative Eric Massa (D-NY) described Senator Charles Grassley’s “Pull the plug on Grandma” talking point as “Treason” (0:41 on the video).

It’s refreshing to see someone pushing back on Republican rhetoric, but there is a reason that treason is the only offense specifically outlined in the Constitution: it’s there because the Kings of England repeatedly misused the charge to go after politically inconvenient people.

So it’s nice to see pushback, but I am far more comfortable with how Barney Frank handles it.

Of course, Massa is a Democrat, which means that he will likely apologize in the next few days.

Economics Update

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Well, mortgage applications rose this week as rates fell 23 basis points (0.23%), not too surprising.

The Architecture Billings Index, one of the leading indicators of future construction activity, rose in July, (click pic for full size) but remained below 50, indicating continued contraction roughly 12 months out.

Meanwhile, we are seeing near record drops in producer prices in Germany, adding more weight to the idea that the current concern should be deflation, not inflation.

Energy is kind of confusing, with prices falling below $69/bbl today, largely on a 5% drop in prices in Chinese stocks, but prices rise to nearly $72/bbl tomorrow on reports of shrinking inventories.

It’s an international dateline thing. The drop was at market close in New York, and the increase was from places where it is tomorrow.

Meanwhile, the dollar is down on optimism about the world economy.

Have I Mentioned that I Love Barney Frank*

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Here he is taking on some teabaggers, though I would suggest that people who think that Act Pink does any good listen to his comments toward the end, when he says that, “Disruption never helps your cause. It makes you look like you are afraid to have rational discussions. You just drive people away.”

*In a 110% purely heterosexual kind of way, of course, as the General would say.

Giving Blowjobs to Corpses for Cheeseburgers Since 2005*

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Time Magazine notes that Tom Daschle, failed nominee for head of HHS, and regular talking head on the Sunday shows regarding healthcare, is also extremely well paid by the health insurance industry.

The problem with corruption in Washington is not campaign donations, though they are a bit of an issue, it is the fact that anyone who is in Congress knows that if he sucks up to corporate interests, he can get a 7 figure a year gig lobbying or giving strategy advice when they leave office.

*Yep, it’s another of Matt Taibbi’s bon mots.