Category: White House

Paul Krugman Has a Very Good Point

No Comments

He usually does, but in this case, his point is good even by his standards.

Specifically, he says that the bank bailout that Timothy “Eddie Haskell” Geithner and His Evil Minions™ was so badly executed, and so without consequences to the people who made this mess, that it has completely soured the public on any further attempt by the government to fix the problem:

…..

So could the feds have negotiated a haircut? Yes. It might not have been that much money, but it would have had a lot of symbolic importance. And that matters.

Brad DeLong says that the loss of public trust due to the kid-gloves treatment of bankers has raised the probability of another Great Depression, because the public won’t support another round of bailouts even if it becomes desperately necessary. I agree — but I think the bigger cost is that we’ve greatly increased the chance of a Japanese-style lost decade, with I would now give roughly even odds of happening. Why? Because bank-friendly policies have squandered public trust in all government action: try talking to the general public about stimulus, and it’s all confounded in their minds with the deeply unpopular bailouts.

(emphasis original)

Krugman is talking about Geithner’s decision to pay off AIG’s swaps to the counter parties, like that great vampire squid wrapped around the face of humanity,* Goldman Sachs at 100¢ on the dollar, which was both stupid and highly unusual:

But Wall Street doesn’t work like that, and never has.

Big financial institutions are a small club, with a shared interest in sustaining the system. Ever since the days of JP Morgan it has been standard practice, in times of crisis, to get major players together in a room and get them to forgo short-term profit maximization on behalf of the industry interests. It happened in the Panic of 1907; it happened in the Latin American debt crisis of the 80s; it happened in the LTCM bailout, which was financed by private firms, not the feds.

I fear that these actions, amongst others, have completely soured the American public on the idea of any government bailout.

To quote a subordinate, who was speaking to Captain Tupolev as they were about to be sunk by their own torpedo, “You arrogant ass. You’ve killed us!”

Let me make this clear: This sad state of affairs is not Geithner’s fault. It would be absurd, and stupid to say, “If only the Czar knew.” This is going on, and continues to go on, because this is what Barack Obama wants.

He has people around him, like Paul Volker, who have been giving him contrary advice, and he chooses not to listen to them.

*Alas, I cannot claim credit for this bon mot, it was coined by the great Matt Taibbi, in his article on the massive criminal conspiracy investment firm, The Great American Bubble Machine.

Remember the White House Counsel Getting Fired?

No Comments

It only happened on Friday, and my comment at the time about Greg Craig’s replacement, Robert Bauer was, “Think Alberto “Abu” Gonzales writ small.”

Well Glenn Greenwald comes across an essay that Mr. Bauer wrote, where he supports the pardon of Scooter Libby, what’s more he does so in the crassest terms, by suggesting that Bush would harm himself more by pardoning Libby.

Keep this guy away from toilet paper, because he will sign anything.

Breaking: Greg Craig Out as White House Counsel

No Comments

This was the point man on closing down the gulag at Guantanamo, drafting the memo that called for closing it within a year, as well as the point man on releasing the Bush White House torture memos, and now he’s been fired (resigned) in a classic Friday afternoon bury the news tactic.

My guess is that this means that Barack Obama intends to “embrace and extend”, indefinite detention, probably at Bagram rather than Gitmo, show trials called military commissions, and torture, but YMMV.

In any case, replacing him will be Robert Bauer, who was Barack Obama’s personal attorney from 2005 onwards, as well as the general council for both the DNC and OFA, so I think that what we are getting here is someone who will be a providing justifications for actions, as opposed to reviewing them for legality.

Think Alberto “Abu” Gonzales writ small.

Pushback on Supporting Karzai

No Comments

It’s beginning to look like Obama has a problem in Afghanistan.

On one side, he has the military, which is pushing for an escalation, because too many of the senior officers are too invested in their theories of irregular warfare, and have lost sight of the regional goal, and so are looking for “victory” (McChrystal, Petraeus).

On the other side, which also includes military personnel, you have people see the real goals of Afghanistan as simply insuring that al Qaeda does not create another safe-haven there, and this side includes much of the state department, most of our European allies, and now, it appears, Karl Eikenberry, the US ambassador to Afghanistan, who has sent memos saying that an escalation would make things worse.

Note that Eikenberry is a retired general, and he commanded US forces there in 2007 and 2007, but until now he has scrupulously avoided comment on the military end of things:

Although Eikenberry’s extensive military experience and previous command in Afghanistan were the key reasons Obama chose him for the top diplomatic job there, the former general had been reluctant as ambassador to weigh in on military issues. Some officials who favor an increase in troops said they were surprised by the last-minute nature of his strongly worded cables.

In these and other communications with Washington, Eikenberry has expressed deep reservations about Karzai’s erratic behavior and corruption within his government, said U.S. officials familiar with the cables. Since Karzai was officially declared reelected last week, U.S. diplomats have seen little sign that the Afghan president plans to address the problems they have raised repeatedly with him.

When I made comparisons to the mistakes made following the assassination of Diem in Vietnam, I had no idea that people who have Obama’s ear were of like mind.

Karzai is there because the US installed him, and could only gain legitimacy through the quality of his governance, hence he has no legitimacy in Afghanistan.

With all that is going on, and there are now official statements from the White House saying that, “Our commitment is not open-ended,” which implies people are starting to get a clue, and aren’t being hawkish because they think that it will help in 2012.

Rahm Emanuel is a Such a Pissant

No Comments

So, after Barack Obama went full throttle in supporting Former Goldman Sachs CEO Senior Partner John Corzine, who got beaten handily, Anthony Weiner (D-NY-9) suggested, given the unexpected closeness of the NY Mayor’s race that, “Maybe one of those Corzine trips could have been better spent in New York. Who knows?”

The response, from a anonymous White House source responded, “Maybe Anthony Weiner should have manned-up and run against Michael Bloomberg.

That would be Rahm, or someone who speaks just like him, and he is being such a bitch.

Evil: A Cheney Family Traditon

No Comments

Yesterday, I mentioned Obama’s trip to Dover to pay his respects to the dead whose caskets were coming back that day.

I figured that at some point, some prominent Republican would try to cast it ad evil and sinister, and out of the gate comes Liz Cheney, on the John Gibson Show:

“I think that what President Bush used to do is do it without the cameras. And I don’t understand sort of showing up with the White House Press Pool with photographers and asking family members if you can take pictures. That’s really hard for me to get my head around…It was a surprising way for the president to choose to do this.”

Only, neither George W. Bush or…You know….Her Father ever went to pay their respects to the dead.

In fact, they were they supporessed any and all photographs, whether the family assented or not.

Elections Make a Difference: Labor Regulations

No Comments

It appears that people who want to treat their employees like so much excrement are distressed that Barack Obama is not vociferously anti union, and that under his watch union leaders have access to, and information from, the White House, and that sensible rules have been established:

Delta Air Lines, the world’s largest carrier, would be more likely to lose union elections sought by flight attendants and machinists if a proposal by the AFL-CIO is approved.

The workers asked the National Mediation Board in July and August to clear the way for an election. Last month, the AFL-CIO petitioned the board to revise procedures and allow a union if most of those voting approve, instead of a majority of all workers in the class.

The board plans to announce a proposal in coming days to advance the union request on voting rules, people familiar with the matter said. Seven Republican senators said in a Sept. 30 letter that the board was delaying a decision on the union election while it considers the new vote-counting method.

Yes, under the old system, a non-vote was counted as a no vote, so you could lose because someone got the sniffles, or just didn’t want to be bothered to vote.

What’s more, they are appointing people who are not management toadies to boards. In the case of the National mediation board, you have a former flight attendent union official replacing a former lobbyist for Northwest (now a part of Delta), and the President of Delta Airlines is pissed about it:

“You have two former heads of AFL-CIO unions at the NMB and they really are politicizing the process,” Delta CEO Richard Anderson said on a conference call with investors last week.

My heart bleeds borscht for you sadistic equestrian necrophiliac…But that’s beating a dead horse.

Even more shocking, the head of OSHA decided to, “replace pictures of OSHA managers displayed in a conference room with photos of workers who had been killed on the job.”

It gives one the vapors.

I’m not sure how deep the support for labor is in the Obama White House, but what is going is a welcome change form the vociferous hostility exhibited by Bush and His Evil Minions&trade.

New York Times Calls Out Obama on Torture

No Comments

Their editorial board just called out Obama as Bush II on torture and secrecy.

OP/EDs generally don’t mean much, but I think that the Times, at least in its unsigned editorials, is a barometer of a certain segment of the population, or at least that segment that doesn’t live inside the DC Beltway, and as such, this could mean a trend.

I’d give it about 5 to 1 against it being a trend, but a week ago, I would have said 20 to 1.

Change I Don’t Believe In

No Comments

So, it now appears that the Obama administration is promising to restrict pay for senior executives at the big banks that got TARP bucks:

Responding to the growing furor over the paychecks of executives at companies that received billions of dollars in federal bailouts, the Obama administration will order the companies that received the most aid to deeply slash the compensation to their highest paid executives, an official involved in the decision said on Wednesday.

Under the plan, which will be announced in the next few days by the Treasury Department, the seven companies that received the most assistance will have to cut the cash payouts to their 25 best-paid executives by an average of about 90 percent from last year. For many of the executives, the cash they would have received will be replaced by stock that they will be restricted from selling immediately.

The devil is in the details, and I simply believe this to be political theater.

There will be loopholes large enough to drive a truck load of cash through. I do not know what they are, but I believe this to be the case.

Barack Obama and Geithner/Summers have been steadfast in their continued support of Wall Street fat cats, and I do not expect this to change.

Maybe it’s Not “No Balls”

No Comments

Yesterday, I posted that the folks in the White House had no balls because of their hands off attitude toward the public option in healthcare reform.

Scarecrow at FDL has an alternate theory, and current behavior does not make it seem far fetched, that the White House is actively opposed to a public insurance option, either because they cut a secret deal with the insurance companies, or because these people are profoundly afraid of real change:

It is hard to avoid the fear that this White House has now become a principal obstacle to getting meaningful health care reform. It claims it wants major cost reductions in Medicare, via a semi-autonomous cost-cutting commission. But the White House has already bargained away the savings it can achieve from most of the major providers: PhRMa ($80 billion), hospitals ($155 billion) so they can give it back to the doctors (for whom AMA is demanding $240+ billion more over ten years in relief from automatic Medicare reductions).

Why should we not also believe that the White House has a deal to shield insurers from competition by preventing the creation of a public option in exchange for the insurers agreeing to reforms on guaranteed issue and limited community ratings (with the flexibility Baucus provided) and to support this framework with tv ads? (Read Ignagni’s WaPo op-ed today; while defending the PwC study, she says they made a deal, but Baucus broke it; she didn’t say the deal’s off.)

The White House isn’t taking up most of the chairs in Harry’s Reid’s meetings just to watch him make decisions on his own. They’re there to make sure Harry Reid doesn’t undo the White House deals and wander off the reservation.

(emphasis mine)

If the White House sees healthcare reform as an electoral tool, i.e. that if Barack Obama signs a bill that he can call comprehensive healthcare reform, he can run on in in 2012.

The problem is that the natural result of this, forcing people to buy overpriced health insurance from the insurance parasites, will kill the Democratic Party for a generation.

Karl Rove did not manage to create a permanent Republican majority, but, if this analysis is accurate, it looks like Barack Obama might.

The Recent Pissing Contest Between Fox and the White House

No Comments

Well, for once, the White House was actually telling the truth when Anita Dunn said, “”Fox News often operates almost as either the research arm or the communications arm of the Republican Party…Let’s not pretend they’re a news network the way CNN is.”

That being said, it’s kind of like declaring that milk is white, and the sky is blue, so I find it uninteresting, and it really means little in the scheme of things.

No Balls

4 Comments

The word is that the Senate version of the healthcare reform bill will have the public option, but only if Barack Obama actually asks for it:

There is a growing sense on Capitol Hill that the White House’s refusal to weigh in more forcefully in the health care debate could come at the cost of a public option for insurance coverage.

Democratic aides said that a “handful” of senators who are skeptical of a public plan likely could be persuaded if not to support it then at least to oppose a Republican filibuster, if the administration were to apply a bit more pressure — or even guidance.

(emphasis mine)

Barack Obama has two problems here:

  • He is desperate to sign something, anything, as in keep him away from toilet paper, into law that he can call “healthcare reform”.
  • He still wants everyone, including the Republicans, to like him.

So he is snatching defeat from the jaws of victory because he does not have the guts to even try to win, even though it appears that Harry Reid is pretty much begging him for some backup on the public option.

I know that it is only 9 months into his term, but it’s already screaming “1 term wonder” in my ear.

Barack and Rahm Need to Get Over Themselves

No Comments

So, as a result of putting Republicans (Olympia Snow) and insurance whore DINOs in the driver’s seat in the Senate, the White House is getting flack from Gerry McEntee, the president of AFSME, and the Obama and His Stupid Minions™ are describing this behavior as, “gratuitous slaps.”

Tough noogies, kids. The Obama administration has been running the process on healthcare reform, and pretty much everything else as a war on the “Democratic Wing of the Democratic Party”, and somehow they are surprised when a Union President, would oppose what is literally a tax on his members just because Obama is desperate to put his name on something … anything … that he can call health care reform.

We need more of what Mr. McEntee is doing, not less.

H/t AMERICAblog.

More Pigs Flying on Financial Regulation

No Comments

So, the politically connected academic who has made millions selling access to Wall Street banks, Larry Summers, has decided that real systemic regulation is necessary in the American financial system:

“Financial institutions that have benefited from government support can, should and must use this moment to think about what they can do for their country — by accepting the necessary regulation to protect the American people,” Summers said in remarks prepared for delivery at the Economist’s Buttonwood Gathering in New York. “There is no financial institution that exists today that is not the direct or indirect beneficiary of trillions of dollars of taxpayer support for the financial system.”

What’s more, his comments appear to be a part of deliberate push-back from the White House against the financial sector, where unnamed officials are describing themselves as “frustrated“.

Given who is working this issue *cough* Geithner and Summers *cough*, I have to conclude that this is being driven by political considerations, Obama has finally realized the depth and breadth of the anger against the banks and their lavish pay packages, and understands that there is a real political cost, one that will be born by the Democratic Party generally, and Barack Obama in particular, if the Wall Street banks continue to be what they are.

There is a Message to this Madness

No Comments

OK, so we have some anonymous adviser to Barack Obama saying that people who want more substantive action on LGBT rights are a pajama clad left wing fringe:

For a sign of how seriously the White House does or doesn’t take this opposition, one adviser told me those bloggers need to take off the pajamas, get dressed, and realize that governing a closely divided country is complicated and difficult.

There are a lot of people out there who are claiming that this is not official White House policy, and it’s an anonymous source, and maybe John Harwood is flat out lying.

It’s clear from the discussions that Harwood is a turd: The idea that moving in a direction that a majority of the country supports is dangerous, and that Obama has to fear Letterman, Leno, and O’Brien is ludicrous. (see video)

That being said, he did not just make this up from thin air while on the air. Harwood is standing by his statement, but does now offer that perhaps it was more about the people who want us out of Afghanistan.

Barack Obama and his people have done a very good job at keeping some groups on the reservation, to the degree that Andrew Sullivan describes the Human Rights Campaign as having “Battered Wife Syndrome”, and Glenn Greenwald correctly describes the administrations dealings with liberal organizations, particularly in the case or Rahm Emanuel, as being liberal veal pen.

So, the question here is what is going on, and I think that Steve M at No More Mister Nice Blog nails it: this is a deliberate attempt to send out contradictory messages:

The deliberate muddying of the message was the message.

That’s what’s going on now. Obama reached out to the gay community — and yet he wants to be seen as not being tight with gays or the angrier lefties. So a friendly journalist leaked this remark — this deniable remark — which has since been, um, denied. And now the message is muddied. The mixed signals are meant, I think, to confuse supporters of gay rights and wavering but potentially Democratic-voting non-liberal voters (including non-white social conservatives) in, oh, say, New Jersey and Virginia.

What is going on here is that Obama’s staff is populated by old Clintonistas, and if there was a defining characteristic of the Clinton Administration, it can be summed up in three words, Sister Souljah Moment.

You see Republicans prove how macho they are they attack their opponents, but Democrats, particularly those who came to politics under Bill Clinton, prove how macho they are by attacking their allies. They make a fetish of it.

There are people in the Obama White House who are terrified at what might happen if people started to think that the administration supported civil rights, because that would likely mean that they would lose the white male vote in the south….Never mind, already lost…Lose the white evangelical vote….Never mind, the Republicans have that one locked down…Lose the white evangelical vote….Never mind, the Republicans have that one locked down…Lose the foaming at the mouth bigot vote….Never mind, the Republicans have that one locked down…Lose the voters who want to criminalize abortion….Never mind, the Republicans have that one locked down…

Gee, I’m beginning to sense a pattern, and I think that it means that there some really stupid folks playing politics in Obama’s white house.

Alan Grayson Leans on Reid

No Comments

I’m really starting to like this guy.*

He’s just delivered a petition with over 90K signatures to Harry Reid telling him to do his f$#@ing job and lead:

I’m told Dem Rep. Grayson will hold a press conference this afternoon in D.C. to unveil a petition to Reid bearing more than 90,000 signatures, collected by the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, insisting that “any Democratic senators who support a Republican attempt to block a vote on health care reform should be stripped of their leadership titles.”

While it is clear that Harry Reid could not do this on his own, he would need backing from other people in the senate leadership, as well as the White House, if he can’t keep Democrats from filibustering healthcare reform, why should we pull the lever for Democrats?

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