That’s what Bush and His Evil Minions™ are threatening over offshore drilling, that they will either filibuster or veto the spending bills unless they get their favor for their buddies in big oil.
Author: Matthew G. Saroff
Another Reason Why Unemployment Statistics are Junk
Because they count people involuntarily cut to part time status as fully employed.
We need to fix government statistics.
Trent Lott May Be Involved in Witness Tampering
It’s tied into the Ricky Scruggs case, and a deposition where Zack Scruggs, Lott’s nephew, took the 5th in response to the question, “Has it been your custom and habit in prosecuting litigation to have Senator Lott contact and encourage witnesses to give false information?”.
It’s nice that Scruggs and Lott got along so well…I would have figured some tension, as Scruggs was a big Democratic Party supporter in Mississippi.
Economics Update
Well, we have a big bit of information to lead with today, it turns out that the revised GDP numbers for the 4th quarter of 2007 show a contraction of 0.2% in the economy, which means that as numbers come in, that might very well be the start of the economy, particularly given the fact that the inflation numbers used to generate “real” GDP growth are bogus.
According to the most recent figures, the US economy grew in the 2nd quarter of 2008, but it grew less than forecast, 1.9% as versus 2.3%, but given what happens in revisions, I expect the number to get worse over time.
Employment is grim too, with weekly jobless claims up 44,000 to 448,000, though part of this is the effect of people going back on unemployment because of the 13 week extension.
While the weekly number is noisy, the trend has been toward increasing unemployment, and I agree with Calculated Risk, “Labor related gauges are at best coincident indicators, and this indicator suggests the economy is in recession.”
That’s not to say that there is no data pointing in the other direction, as the Chicago Purchasing Managers’ Index Increased to 50.8, and any number above 50 points toward expansion.
That being said, the currency market saw the clouds, not the silver lining, with the dollar falling, though the fact that Euro zone inflation hit an all time high of 4.1%, which points toward rate increases by the ECB, could be a factor in there too.
In real estate, mortgage rates fell this week, which is probably an artifact of the reduced inflation fears from moderating oil prices.
The bit I found interesting though is that Freddie Mac is doubling the payments it makes to loan servicers for foreclosure prevention activities, which strikes me as a sort of a “hail Mary” play to keep more of their mortgage backed paper from going bad.
And our old friend, “The trouble with the monoliner insurers,” is back, with Financial Guaranty Insurance Co. (FGIC) being cut to junk bond status by Fitch.
In energy, both oil and gasoline are down.
Finally, a reason, as if you needed one, not to watch the Fox Business Chennel:
This just buggers the mind.
Number of Illegal Aliens Declines
The Center for Immigration Studies report suggests that stepped up enforcement may be the cause, but my guess is that most of this is from a sputtering US economy and dollar, which makes the US less attractive to would be illegals.
Judge: Bush Aids Must Comply with Congressional Subopoenas
It should be noted that U.S. District Judge John Bates is Bush appointee, and generally considered conservative and friendly to executive power, but even he found the broad claims of executive privilege to be unsupportable.
I still say Pelosi should send out the Sergeant at arms and drag these folks off to the Capitol basement jail cell.
Our Mercenary Pentagon
Chalmers Johnson has an excellent essay on how the privatization of our Pentagon is both dysfunctional and a threat to democracy.
Go read.
Simple Answers to Simple Questions
And why is it that the more Obama tacks to the right, the dicier things seem to get? Could it be that it’s a mistake for the (predicted) Democratic nominee to court the right at the expense of the Democratic base?
Yes.
This has been another episode of simple answers to simple questions.
House passes bill to regulate tobacco
A bill allowing the FDA to regulate tobacco just passed the House.
It wouldn’t allow a ban, but it would regulate things like adulterants added to the tobacco and the manipulation of nicotine levels.
Bush and the Republicans are opposed, no surprise, though no veto is (yet) promised.
I don’t think they need to threaten a veto, it will never make it through the Senate.
McCain Loses St. Petersburg Times (Florida)
From ‘straight talk’ to smear campaign.
I see a parallel between 2008 and 1992, where the press realized how badly they were played by GHW Bush against Dukakkis in 1988, and were careful not to be played again in 1992.
Maybe I’m just an optimist though.
On a related note, John Weaver, who has been a close friend and confidant of McCain for years, is denouncing his current ad campaign as childish, “There is legitimate mockery of a political campaign now, and it isn’t at Obama’s. For McCain’s sake, this tomfoolery needs to stop.”
Mexican Oil Industry Legislation Update
I think that it’s fairly clear that the right wing PAN is attempting a back door privatization of Pemex, the state own oil producer, while the PRD sees any change as an theft from the Mexican people, and the PRI falls somewhere in between.
The problem is that Pemex has not been run well, and it is lacking resources as a result, so some sort of reform is necessary.
I still believe that purchasing the necessary expertise, as opposed to “risk sharing partnerships” that are a back door way of privatizing the system, are the way to go.
Food Crisis and Global Warming Boost Israeli Water/AG Industry
Since Israel has been getting the desert to bloom for about 60 years, it had developed a fair amount of expertise in water purification and desert agriculture, and it’s now befitting from a worldwide boom in demand.
Between trickle (also called drip) irrigation and various water purification technologies, the sector is experiencing a boom.
State of Connecticut Sues Ratings Agencies
They are suing over their giving lower ratings to government bonds than equivalent corporate bonds, which they actually call, “a secret Wall Street tax on Main Street”.
The disparities in ratings means either higher interest rates, or carrying monoliner insurance, both of which accrue to the benefit of Wall Street.
2.3 Million Jobs
That is what a report from the Economic Policy Institute said were the number of jobs lost due to the trade deficit with China.
What’s more, when they found new jobs, they made $8,146 less.
I’m not anti free trade agreements, but I’m anti bad free trade agreements.
It Must Be Nice to be a Republithug
Because you can live an Irony Free Life™.
As Senator Sam Brownback demonstrates by delcaring “shocked, shocked to find that Chinese authorities are demanding monitoring of internet activities by hotels of their guests,”after voting for exactly the same thing for the entire population of the United States.
Leave Claude Rains to Claude Rains.
Core of US Army Corroding
While the military press, and military experts, have been wringing their hands over the flight of junior officers from the military, I’m not concerned.
The US military has 1 officers for every 5 enlisted men, twice the historical rate of 1:10, so I think that there is plenty of margin there.
That being said, Salon’s report that the army is now being forced to promote unqualified soldiers to senior NCO positions to meet the challenges of the Iraq campaign is very troubling.
Senior NCOs are the heart and soul of the army, and when the NCO corps starts failing, the whole military does.
Iraqi Parliament Adjourns Without Election Law or Budget
They are in summer recess now, and because of a Kurdish walkout, they took no action on a $21 billion supplementary budget.
The provincial elections are still unresolved too, though there will be a special session to attempt to resolve this.
Heck of a job, Bushie.
Russia Gains Control of Turkomen Gas Exports
This development cements Gazprom’s position as the 800 lb gorilla in the world natural gas market.
It looks like they will sign similar projects with Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan.
An interesting note is that the deals appear not to be particularly good for Gazprom, it’s unlikely that they will make much money out of them, but what it does do is likely kill a gas pipeline on a southern route through Turkey, which the US had been pushing to minimize Russian influence in Europe.
Congress Looks to Decriminalize Pot
The proposed legislation would remove federal penalties for possession of less than 100g of marijuana.
Reps. Barney Frank and Ron Paul are sponsoring HR 5843.
I’m Matthew Saroff, and I approve this legislation.
The IOC: The First Bastards Up Against the Wall When the Revolution Comes
The IOC just meekly assented to allowing the Chinese government to filter internet access for the reporters at the games, despite promising otherwise just weeks ago.
What a bunch of losers.
That being said, ShaMao’er asks the question that immediately comes to mind, “The same old question… why are they so dumb?”
Meaning the Chinese government. They had to know that this would be found out in short order, and they had to know that the consequences of being found out would be worse than anything that a reporter pulled off Amnesty International’s web site.
My only guess is that is about a need to be in control trumped their need to get good foreign press.
A number of analyses have suggested that the primary audience that is being targeted by the PRC for the Olympics is internal, not external, and that would explain this action.