Sure. Make the climate a little less business-friendly.
Two Capitol developments suggest that Doyle and Democrats, who will control the Legislature for the next two years, will approve the so-called "combined reporting" tax structure for businesses next year. It would tax the profits of parent companies; Wisconsin now separately taxes each subsidiary company formed by those parent companies.
The last estimate said adopting combined reporting would amount to a $90-million tax increase on businesses, although two recent changes to the state tax code may lower that figure somewhat.
This year, businesses are expected to pay $720 million in taxes -- a one-year drop of 14% because of the lagging economy.
Umnnnhhhhh.....who is the.....ahhhh......blogger who insists that "businesses pay NO taxes in Wisconsin"?
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Saturday, November 29, 2008
Roggio's Analysis of Mumbai
Roggio's been there/done that/has several t-shirts.
A couple of excerpts:
The Mumbai attack is uniquely different from past terror strikes carried out by Islamic terrorists. Instead of one or more bombings at distinct sites, the Mumbai attackers struck throughout the city using military tactics. Instead of one or more bombings carried out over a short period of time, Mumbai is entering its third day of crisis.
An attack of this nature cannot be thrown together overnight. It requires planned, scouting, financing, training, and a support network to aid the fighters. Initial reports indicate the attacks originated from Pakistan, the hub of jihadi activity in South Asia. Few local terror groups have the capacity to pull of an attack such as this.
...An estimated 12 to 25 terrorists are believed to have entered Mumbai by sea. After landing, he attack teams initiated a battle at a police station, then fanned across the city to attack the soft underbelly of hotels, cafes, cinemas, and hospitals. Civilians were gunned down and taken hostage, while terrorists looked for people carrying foreign passports.
He doesn't think it's Al-Q:
The Mumbai attack differs from previous terror attacks launched by Islamic terror groups. Al Qaeda and other terror groups have not used multiple assault teams to attack multiple targets simultaneously in a major city outside of a war zone.
The attack on the local police station is key; that move temporarily KO'd police response to other (near-simultaneous) attacks on the soft targets: hotels, movies, shopping areas. Think of the analogy--attacking (say) the Greenfield PD HQ, allowing 10 minutes for the patrol-cars to respond to the HQ, then going into Southridge with grenades and AK's....
IOW, somebody used "western" thinking in assembling this terror.
A couple of excerpts:
The Mumbai attack is uniquely different from past terror strikes carried out by Islamic terrorists. Instead of one or more bombings at distinct sites, the Mumbai attackers struck throughout the city using military tactics. Instead of one or more bombings carried out over a short period of time, Mumbai is entering its third day of crisis.
An attack of this nature cannot be thrown together overnight. It requires planned, scouting, financing, training, and a support network to aid the fighters. Initial reports indicate the attacks originated from Pakistan, the hub of jihadi activity in South Asia. Few local terror groups have the capacity to pull of an attack such as this.
...An estimated 12 to 25 terrorists are believed to have entered Mumbai by sea. After landing, he attack teams initiated a battle at a police station, then fanned across the city to attack the soft underbelly of hotels, cafes, cinemas, and hospitals. Civilians were gunned down and taken hostage, while terrorists looked for people carrying foreign passports.
He doesn't think it's Al-Q:
The Mumbai attack differs from previous terror attacks launched by Islamic terror groups. Al Qaeda and other terror groups have not used multiple assault teams to attack multiple targets simultaneously in a major city outside of a war zone.
The attack on the local police station is key; that move temporarily KO'd police response to other (near-simultaneous) attacks on the soft targets: hotels, movies, shopping areas. Think of the analogy--attacking (say) the Greenfield PD HQ, allowing 10 minutes for the patrol-cars to respond to the HQ, then going into Southridge with grenades and AK's....
IOW, somebody used "western" thinking in assembling this terror.
More State Spending! Or Maybe Investment?
The State of Wisconsin already owns about 1/6th of the State's land-mass. However, State ownership of land has not been particularly productive up to now. So DNR has a proposal:
Let's go for a full fifth! And let's make it productive!
Fore a mere $650,000.00 or so, the State can acquire 64 acres of land just west of Harrington Beach, providing shrubs and grass for a bunch of birds such as meadowlark, bobolink, dickcissel and short-eared owl.
Bobolinks and short-eared owls are critical to fueling Wisconsin's economic growth over the next two decades and will replace such medieval entities as 'manufacturers,' 'mineral processors' and 'papermakers' in the economy.
Think $650K is too much? Well, I have a suggestion...
Wait until all those medieval economic entities give up and move out. Then the State can purchase the vacant factories, paper-mills, and quarries really, really, cheap.
Fill 'em up with owls and chickadees.
Then tax bird-seed.
Let's go for a full fifth! And let's make it productive!
Fore a mere $650,000.00 or so, the State can acquire 64 acres of land just west of Harrington Beach, providing shrubs and grass for a bunch of birds such as meadowlark, bobolink, dickcissel and short-eared owl.
Bobolinks and short-eared owls are critical to fueling Wisconsin's economic growth over the next two decades and will replace such medieval entities as 'manufacturers,' 'mineral processors' and 'papermakers' in the economy.
Think $650K is too much? Well, I have a suggestion...
Wait until all those medieval economic entities give up and move out. Then the State can purchase the vacant factories, paper-mills, and quarries really, really, cheap.
Fill 'em up with owls and chickadees.
Then tax bird-seed.
Tax Everything: The Democrat Solution
State spending is running wild, and the Governor is resorting to 3-card monte games to describe his "spending cuts." But that's hardly enough to feed the monster.
So the Democrat-led Legislature will extract more money from State residents. But it will be called 'taxing businesses,' not 'taxing citizens.'
Jauch (D-Poplar) has the most radical idea: Draft a bill that continues food and health-related exemptions, but apply the 5% tax to everything else.
"Put everything but food and medicine on the table, because everybody has to share the pain" of solving the deficit, Jauch said.
...Sen. John Lehman (D-Racine), who sits on the Joint Finance Committee, said he would be willing to explore eliminating some sales tax exemptions. Charging sales taxes on some services that are now exempt would make the system more fair, he said.
Current targets: legal fees, accounting fees, and barber/beauty fees. Likely additions: health clubs, bull-semen sales, and janitorial services.
Likely outcome: barber/beauty fees will remain exempt. Business services will become taxable (legal, accounting, IT consulting.)
This isn't hard to figure out, folks. It's an article of faith that all businesses are "evil." Imposing burdens on 'evil' is good!
Got that?
We thought so.
So the Democrat-led Legislature will extract more money from State residents. But it will be called 'taxing businesses,' not 'taxing citizens.'
Jauch (D-Poplar) has the most radical idea: Draft a bill that continues food and health-related exemptions, but apply the 5% tax to everything else.
"Put everything but food and medicine on the table, because everybody has to share the pain" of solving the deficit, Jauch said.
...Sen. John Lehman (D-Racine), who sits on the Joint Finance Committee, said he would be willing to explore eliminating some sales tax exemptions. Charging sales taxes on some services that are now exempt would make the system more fair, he said.
Current targets: legal fees, accounting fees, and barber/beauty fees. Likely additions: health clubs, bull-semen sales, and janitorial services.
Likely outcome: barber/beauty fees will remain exempt. Business services will become taxable (legal, accounting, IT consulting.)
This isn't hard to figure out, folks. It's an article of faith that all businesses are "evil." Imposing burdens on 'evil' is good!
Got that?
We thought so.
Friday, November 28, 2008
Picture of the Planned Barrenhood Gift Card
Supplied by The Curt Jester, following news reports that PP/Indiana is retailing these things.
AKA the Gift that Keep On Killing...
Nurse Judy's Little Proposal--UPdated
Maybe Nurse Robson Rached never read the Wisconsin Constitution.
State Sen. Judy Robson (D-Beloit) said Gov. Jim Doyle should include the statewide smoking ban they both support -- one of the most controversial issues in the Capitol in the last two years -- in the state budget proposal the governor will give the Legislature in February.
Robson said adding the smoking ban to the next budget is the quickest way for it to become law, since the Legislature must fix a $346-million deficit in the current budget by June 30.
However, the Constitution states that the budget bill should NOT contain "other" issues, such as banning smoking, requiring sunshine on weekends, or allowing marijuana-growing for Beloit.
UPDATE: Per comments, the Constitution forbids "local" issues, not "other" issues. My bad.
Doesn't change the below comment, though...
Doylie, of course, is happy to have these stories floating around. He needs a few bucks in his campaign fund (the campaign started about 2 weeks ago...)
State Sen. Judy Robson (D-Beloit) said Gov. Jim Doyle should include the statewide smoking ban they both support -- one of the most controversial issues in the Capitol in the last two years -- in the state budget proposal the governor will give the Legislature in February.
Robson said adding the smoking ban to the next budget is the quickest way for it to become law, since the Legislature must fix a $346-million deficit in the current budget by June 30.
However, the Constitution states that the budget bill should NOT contain "other" issues, such as banning smoking, requiring sunshine on weekends, or allowing marijuana-growing for Beloit.
UPDATE: Per comments, the Constitution forbids "local" issues, not "other" issues. My bad.
Doesn't change the below comment, though...
Doylie, of course, is happy to have these stories floating around. He needs a few bucks in his campaign fund (the campaign started about 2 weeks ago...)
Gableman Not Rolling Over
GOP3's Daniel Suhr has an interesting post on the Gableman affair.
Justice Gableman did not hire Bopp because they are both pro-life. He hired Bopp because Bopp is perhaps the best single attorney in the country for litigating judicial free speech claims. Bopp was counsel to the Republican Party of Minnesota in Republican Party of Minnesota v. White, 536 U.S. 765 (2002), the leading US Supreme Court decision on judicial free speech. Since then, Bopp has argued a number of other judicial free speech cases...
(The first sentence is in response to the silly and un-informed editorial run by the CapSlimes.)
Here's the meat of the matter:
The story is that Gableman hired a free speech fighter, rather than a Wisconsin ethics conciliator. Gableman could have hired a Wisconsin attorney who was an expert in Wisconsin legal ethics and sought a settlement with the Judicial Commission. He could have figured out a way to plead something like nolo contendere, maybe pay a fine and accept a reprimand, etc. Instead, Gableman hired a First Amendment fighter who is experienced in taking cases to the Supreme Court of the United States.
Looks like the Ethics Board is in for a little testing. That's a good thing.
Justice Gableman did not hire Bopp because they are both pro-life. He hired Bopp because Bopp is perhaps the best single attorney in the country for litigating judicial free speech claims. Bopp was counsel to the Republican Party of Minnesota in Republican Party of Minnesota v. White, 536 U.S. 765 (2002), the leading US Supreme Court decision on judicial free speech. Since then, Bopp has argued a number of other judicial free speech cases...
(The first sentence is in response to the silly and un-informed editorial run by the CapSlimes.)
Here's the meat of the matter:
The story is that Gableman hired a free speech fighter, rather than a Wisconsin ethics conciliator. Gableman could have hired a Wisconsin attorney who was an expert in Wisconsin legal ethics and sought a settlement with the Judicial Commission. He could have figured out a way to plead something like nolo contendere, maybe pay a fine and accept a reprimand, etc. Instead, Gableman hired a First Amendment fighter who is experienced in taking cases to the Supreme Court of the United States.
Looks like the Ethics Board is in for a little testing. That's a good thing.
Thursday, November 27, 2008
What's It Really Worth?
Liquidation sales, inventory dumping, retailer overstocks...
Find them here.
No, you don't want to buy the lots, but the prices are interesting, eh?
Find them here.
No, you don't want to buy the lots, but the prices are interesting, eh?
Another Bug-Laden State System
Actually, it's not "another" one. It's the premier example.
A poor economy means people are spending less. But the Miller Park stadium district is reporting that, through September, sales-tax collections are 2.73% ahead of last year's pace.
District officials reported this week that the November 2008 sales-tax distribution totaled $2,471,449. That amount is about 8% lower than the same period last year, but still represents the third highest sales-tax distribution in November since the 0.1% tax was first imposed in 1996.
...Mike Duckett, the district's executive director, said the latest numbers continue to reflect the volatility in the amount of sales-tax distributions the district receives each month. The November sales-tax distribution actually represents sales-tax collections from September.
What is perplexing to the district is that people have been spending less, yet the district has received about $532,000 more than it projected receiving so far this year
Something's screwy in the programming.
A poor economy means people are spending less. But the Miller Park stadium district is reporting that, through September, sales-tax collections are 2.73% ahead of last year's pace.
District officials reported this week that the November 2008 sales-tax distribution totaled $2,471,449. That amount is about 8% lower than the same period last year, but still represents the third highest sales-tax distribution in November since the 0.1% tax was first imposed in 1996.
...Mike Duckett, the district's executive director, said the latest numbers continue to reflect the volatility in the amount of sales-tax distributions the district receives each month. The November sales-tax distribution actually represents sales-tax collections from September.
What is perplexing to the district is that people have been spending less, yet the district has received about $532,000 more than it projected receiving so far this year
Something's screwy in the programming.
It Ain't the Now; It's the FutureNow
P-Mac notes that the "now" of the Obamamamama isn't what really counts.
He quotes from Crouse at the American Thinker:
“What Obama's critics are overlooking is that he is a former community organizer; he prefers to work under the radar, starting from the grassroots. Those who are looking at the top layer of the Obama Administration wanting to see a sign of the ‘second coming of Saul Alinsky’ (as one blogger put it), are going to be disappointed. Those who watched First Lady Hillary Clinton set up little fiefdoms in all the government agencies to push the policies of the Beijing Platform for Action and those who observed Senator Barack Obama utilize ACORN to build a political machine that spread from Chicago throughout the nation will recognize the strategy and tactics of master manipulators.”
“His minions who are actually carrying the water will be hard-core ‘progressives’ moving the leftist agenda forward largely out of the public's sight in the mid-level management positions of the government's sprawling bureaucracy. Much of the real action will happen behind the scenes in thousands of small decisions and initiatives that will remain nearly invisible until -- like the explosion in the number of mother-only families that followed from Lyndon Johnson's War on Poverty -- the transformation of their cumulative effects begins to emerge.”
Shorter-term, the Clintonian "triangulation" will be at work. In operation, the public will be presented with three options: the Alinsky/Stalin one being described as "left," the centrist-Dem/Pubbie option will be described as "rightist," and the Obama left/centrist will be described as "centrist." The MSM will parrot the regime's spinning, taking up their self-assigned role as 'useful idiots.'
As to the long-term--dealing with the "thousands of small decisions and initiatives that will remain nearly invisible"--the red-staters will consolidate in opposition.
Most of them already recognized the pattern. You don't really think all those gun sales were just for the hunting season, do you?
He quotes from Crouse at the American Thinker:
“What Obama's critics are overlooking is that he is a former community organizer; he prefers to work under the radar, starting from the grassroots. Those who are looking at the top layer of the Obama Administration wanting to see a sign of the ‘second coming of Saul Alinsky’ (as one blogger put it), are going to be disappointed. Those who watched First Lady Hillary Clinton set up little fiefdoms in all the government agencies to push the policies of the Beijing Platform for Action and those who observed Senator Barack Obama utilize ACORN to build a political machine that spread from Chicago throughout the nation will recognize the strategy and tactics of master manipulators.”
“His minions who are actually carrying the water will be hard-core ‘progressives’ moving the leftist agenda forward largely out of the public's sight in the mid-level management positions of the government's sprawling bureaucracy. Much of the real action will happen behind the scenes in thousands of small decisions and initiatives that will remain nearly invisible until -- like the explosion in the number of mother-only families that followed from Lyndon Johnson's War on Poverty -- the transformation of their cumulative effects begins to emerge.”
Shorter-term, the Clintonian "triangulation" will be at work. In operation, the public will be presented with three options: the Alinsky/Stalin one being described as "left," the centrist-Dem/Pubbie option will be described as "rightist," and the Obama left/centrist will be described as "centrist." The MSM will parrot the regime's spinning, taking up their self-assigned role as 'useful idiots.'
As to the long-term--dealing with the "thousands of small decisions and initiatives that will remain nearly invisible"--the red-staters will consolidate in opposition.
Most of them already recognized the pattern. You don't really think all those gun sales were just for the hunting season, do you?
Mumbai: Well-Planned and Intel'd
Still an open question whether it was Paki or Al-Quaeda affiliated...
Some heavy stuff brought in:
One commando was killed two others injured in the operation at Taj in which one rucksack full of plastic explosives, eight–nine loaded AK–47 magazines, large amounts of ammunition, hand grenades, detonators, batteries, wrist watches for IEDs, foreign currencies, fake credit cards, dry fruits and cash carried by the terrorists were recovered
The explosives were ID'd as RDX, a military-grade plastique.
At least some of the terrorists, said to be in their early twenties and armed with AK-47 assault rifles and hand grenades, landed on the coast of Mumbai’s commercial and entertainment neighbourhood in light and fast Gemini boats, powered by small outboard motors.
These inflatable dinghies, according to Indian navy sources quoted by the Headlines Today TV news channel, were launched from a larger vessel, the MV Alfa, which arrived near Mumbai sometime yesterday and anchored offshore a distance from India’s financial capital…
By this time the vessel had left the vicinity of Mumbai. When first reported by the news channel today, the MV Alfa was said to be off the Gujarat coast and heading towards Pakistan.
The Alfa was captured by the Indian navy, complete with all sorts of documentation and stuff.
It appears that Jewish people were a target (along with US and British.)
Why Mumbai/Bombay?
...the Indian approach to terrorism has been consistently haphazard and weak-kneed. When faced with fundamentalist demands, India’s democratically elected leaders have regularly preferred caving to confrontation on a point of principle. The country’s institutions and culture have abetted a widespread sense of Muslim separateness from the national mainstream. The country’s diplomats and soldiers have failed to stabilize the neighborhood. The ongoing drama in Mumbai underscores the price both Indians and non-Indians caught unawares must now pay.
Current dead approximates 200, but nothing firm on that for at least another day.
Some heavy stuff brought in:
One commando was killed two others injured in the operation at Taj in which one rucksack full of plastic explosives, eight–nine loaded AK–47 magazines, large amounts of ammunition, hand grenades, detonators, batteries, wrist watches for IEDs, foreign currencies, fake credit cards, dry fruits and cash carried by the terrorists were recovered
The explosives were ID'd as RDX, a military-grade plastique.
At least some of the terrorists, said to be in their early twenties and armed with AK-47 assault rifles and hand grenades, landed on the coast of Mumbai’s commercial and entertainment neighbourhood in light and fast Gemini boats, powered by small outboard motors.
These inflatable dinghies, according to Indian navy sources quoted by the Headlines Today TV news channel, were launched from a larger vessel, the MV Alfa, which arrived near Mumbai sometime yesterday and anchored offshore a distance from India’s financial capital…
By this time the vessel had left the vicinity of Mumbai. When first reported by the news channel today, the MV Alfa was said to be off the Gujarat coast and heading towards Pakistan.
The Alfa was captured by the Indian navy, complete with all sorts of documentation and stuff.
It appears that Jewish people were a target (along with US and British.)
Why Mumbai/Bombay?
...the Indian approach to terrorism has been consistently haphazard and weak-kneed. When faced with fundamentalist demands, India’s democratically elected leaders have regularly preferred caving to confrontation on a point of principle. The country’s institutions and culture have abetted a widespread sense of Muslim separateness from the national mainstream. The country’s diplomats and soldiers have failed to stabilize the neighborhood. The ongoing drama in Mumbai underscores the price both Indians and non-Indians caught unawares must now pay.
Current dead approximates 200, but nothing firm on that for at least another day.
You'll Guess Wrong (You Filthy-Minded....)
The mom in question works for the Home Despot, and is selling snow-shovels.
Dirty minds, eh?
HT: The Agitator
Sniper Extraordinaire
LawDog has the story.
On this day in 1939, the Soviet Red Army -- probably on direct orders from the Politburo -- shelled one of their own villages on the Karelian Isthmus and immediately began pointing fingers at Finland.
Four days of intense Soviet propaganda later, Iosif Vissarionovich Dzhugashvili -- in a tactic that had served him so well previously in Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia -- sent his troopies over the Finnish border.
Unfortunately, most of what Uncle Josef managed to do was severely irritate a large part of the population of Finland in general, and a certain five-foot, three-inch skinny little farmer in particular.
...the Finnish military (metaphorically-speaking. Sort of.) hauled off and place-kicked the Soviet Red Army right in the wedding tackle and kept on punting until they were dragged, kicking and screaming, to the peace table on March 12, 1940 -- 105 days after the Soviets started the whole thing -- to sign a brutal and dishonourable cessation of hostilities.
And that skinny farmer? Well, he picked up his iron-sighted Finnish copy of the Mosin-Nagant M28, sewed himself an oversuit of white bedsheets, and (with the occasional judicious application of a K31 submachine gun) proceeded to personally turf between 500 and 700 Soviet solders in front of Saint Peter's desk until 06MAR1940 when a Red counter-sniper got lucky and put Simo Häyhä out of the fight for the rest of the (all-too-brief) war.That averages out to about five enemy personnel a day for 100 continuous days. With iron-sights.
Yes, Finland lost, technically. But the Russki Army didn't think of it that way...
Iron sights!
On this day in 1939, the Soviet Red Army -- probably on direct orders from the Politburo -- shelled one of their own villages on the Karelian Isthmus and immediately began pointing fingers at Finland.
Four days of intense Soviet propaganda later, Iosif Vissarionovich Dzhugashvili -- in a tactic that had served him so well previously in Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia -- sent his troopies over the Finnish border.
Unfortunately, most of what Uncle Josef managed to do was severely irritate a large part of the population of Finland in general, and a certain five-foot, three-inch skinny little farmer in particular.
...the Finnish military (metaphorically-speaking. Sort of.) hauled off and place-kicked the Soviet Red Army right in the wedding tackle and kept on punting until they were dragged, kicking and screaming, to the peace table on March 12, 1940 -- 105 days after the Soviets started the whole thing -- to sign a brutal and dishonourable cessation of hostilities.
And that skinny farmer? Well, he picked up his iron-sighted Finnish copy of the Mosin-Nagant M28, sewed himself an oversuit of white bedsheets, and (with the occasional judicious application of a K31 submachine gun) proceeded to personally turf between 500 and 700 Soviet solders in front of Saint Peter's desk until 06MAR1940 when a Red counter-sniper got lucky and put Simo Häyhä out of the fight for the rest of the (all-too-brief) war.That averages out to about five enemy personnel a day for 100 continuous days. With iron-sights.
Yes, Finland lost, technically. But the Russki Army didn't think of it that way...
Iron sights!
Franken and Reid, the Thieves?
The hypocrisy of the (D) Party is unbounded.
Here's the summation from PowerLine, quoting Coleman's campaign manager, Cullen Sheehan:
"This is a stunning admission by the Franken campaign that they are willing to take this process away from Minnesotans if they fail to win the recount. It is even more stunning that the Democratic Senate leader would inject himself into the Minnesota election process. This says that Franken is fully prepared and armed to take this matter to the United States Senate and that the Senate will be receptive - even if Franken fails to succeed in winning the recount. This is a troubling new development. We call upon Al Franken to personally disavow his attorney's comments, and to commit to Minnesotans that he will not allow this election to be overturned by the leadership of the Democratic Senate. Al Franken owes it to the people of this state to reject any and all efforts to stop a Minnesota Senator from being sworn in on January 6th if Norm Coleman continues to be shown to have won this election after the recount."
(Cullen Sheehan was the campaign manager for Tim Michels' Senate campaign, if you don't remember.)
PowerLine comments, optimistically:
Most likely, though, this is just a trial balloon. I seriously doubt that the Democrats would risk seating Franken in the face of a Coleman electoral victory, followed by a recount victory, followed by victory in the Minnesota courts.
We shall see. Common sense and hubris are not generally found in the same place.
Here's the summation from PowerLine, quoting Coleman's campaign manager, Cullen Sheehan:
"This is a stunning admission by the Franken campaign that they are willing to take this process away from Minnesotans if they fail to win the recount. It is even more stunning that the Democratic Senate leader would inject himself into the Minnesota election process. This says that Franken is fully prepared and armed to take this matter to the United States Senate and that the Senate will be receptive - even if Franken fails to succeed in winning the recount. This is a troubling new development. We call upon Al Franken to personally disavow his attorney's comments, and to commit to Minnesotans that he will not allow this election to be overturned by the leadership of the Democratic Senate. Al Franken owes it to the people of this state to reject any and all efforts to stop a Minnesota Senator from being sworn in on January 6th if Norm Coleman continues to be shown to have won this election after the recount."
(Cullen Sheehan was the campaign manager for Tim Michels' Senate campaign, if you don't remember.)
PowerLine comments, optimistically:
Most likely, though, this is just a trial balloon. I seriously doubt that the Democrats would risk seating Franken in the face of a Coleman electoral victory, followed by a recount victory, followed by victory in the Minnesota courts.
We shall see. Common sense and hubris are not generally found in the same place.
A Brilliant Tax-Holiday Idea!
Not likely to be considered in Wisconsin, but hey!
The Nichols Store can sell you a rifle, shotgun or handgun any day it's open. But this Friday and Saturday, the outdoor emporium and its fellow gun dealers across South Carolina will be selling all of those items with a twist: Tax-free, under a new sales tax holiday devoted exclusively to guns.
Those Bitter Clingers take some things seriously. Like freedom, for example...
The Nichols Store can sell you a rifle, shotgun or handgun any day it's open. But this Friday and Saturday, the outdoor emporium and its fellow gun dealers across South Carolina will be selling all of those items with a twist: Tax-free, under a new sales tax holiday devoted exclusively to guns.
Those Bitter Clingers take some things seriously. Like freedom, for example...
ConLaw "Expert": Communal Responsibility for Torture?
Jonathan Turley showed up on MSNBC the other night...
Turley makes a critical point in the interview -- namely, that the moral burden of torture is on the backs of each one of us until these people are brought to justice.
"We have third world countries that when they have found that their leaders committed torture war crimes, they prosecuted them. But the most successful democracy in history is just, I think, about to see war crimes, do nothing about it. And that's an indictment not just of George Bush and his administration. It's the indictment of all of us if we walk away from a clear war crime and say it's time for another commission."
Really?
OK, Jonathan.
And when abortion is once again made a criminal act, shall the US citizens then indict, try, and imprison all those who facilitated or co-operated in it?
Be careful what you wish for, Professor Turley.
Turley makes a critical point in the interview -- namely, that the moral burden of torture is on the backs of each one of us until these people are brought to justice.
"We have third world countries that when they have found that their leaders committed torture war crimes, they prosecuted them. But the most successful democracy in history is just, I think, about to see war crimes, do nothing about it. And that's an indictment not just of George Bush and his administration. It's the indictment of all of us if we walk away from a clear war crime and say it's time for another commission."
Really?
OK, Jonathan.
And when abortion is once again made a criminal act, shall the US citizens then indict, try, and imprison all those who facilitated or co-operated in it?
Be careful what you wish for, Professor Turley.
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Bombay: Not Safe for Americans
This is very nasty.
80 dead and 200 wounded seem to be the most common figures at the moment (3:10 eastern) but it seems likely both will go up.
Top anti-terrorist cops have been wounded or killed. The army and navy have been put on alert to help the overwhelmed local cops and national anti-terrorist troops are moving in
...The reporter at the IBL stream (India TV network) just said that gunmen at one of the hotels attacked specifically demanded room numbers of Americans and that Americans are being held hostage
Earlier:
Terror struck the country's financial capital late on Wednesday night as coordinate serial explosions and indiscriminate firing rocked eight areas across Mumbai including the crowded CST railway station, two five star hotels--Oberoi and Taj-- leaving 16 persons dead and 50 injured.
Armed with AK-47 rifles and grenades, a couple of terrorists entered the passenger hall of CST and opened fire and threw grenades, Mumbai General Railway Police Commissioner A K Sharma said.
Apparently India has ordered its Army and Navy to deploy some troops to back up the national anti-terrorist forces. The commander of the Bombay (Mumbai) anti-terror unit was killed about 2 minutes after he went into action at the scene.
HT: Ace
80 dead and 200 wounded seem to be the most common figures at the moment (3:10 eastern) but it seems likely both will go up.
Top anti-terrorist cops have been wounded or killed. The army and navy have been put on alert to help the overwhelmed local cops and national anti-terrorist troops are moving in
...The reporter at the IBL stream (India TV network) just said that gunmen at one of the hotels attacked specifically demanded room numbers of Americans and that Americans are being held hostage
Earlier:
Terror struck the country's financial capital late on Wednesday night as coordinate serial explosions and indiscriminate firing rocked eight areas across Mumbai including the crowded CST railway station, two five star hotels--Oberoi and Taj-- leaving 16 persons dead and 50 injured.
Armed with AK-47 rifles and grenades, a couple of terrorists entered the passenger hall of CST and opened fire and threw grenades, Mumbai General Railway Police Commissioner A K Sharma said.
Apparently India has ordered its Army and Navy to deploy some troops to back up the national anti-terrorist forces. The commander of the Bombay (Mumbai) anti-terror unit was killed about 2 minutes after he went into action at the scene.
HT: Ace
Quip of the Week
McCain (not the Arizona Nut):
Let's face it, if Thanksgiving reminds us of nothing else, it reminds us that the Indians paid the price for having a weak immigration policy
Even More Humor--Thanksgiving Style
Picking on the bitter clingers...
You have a complete set of salad bowls and they all say 'Cool Whip' on the side.
Your stuffing secret ingredient comes from the bait shop.
The directions to your house include "turn off the paved road".
Your secret family recipe is illegal.
Plenty more where that came from...
Its a Redneck Thanksgiving - If...
You have a complete set of salad bowls and they all say 'Cool Whip' on the side.
Your stuffing secret ingredient comes from the bait shop.
The directions to your house include "turn off the paved road".
Your secret family recipe is illegal.
Plenty more where that came from...
Social Conservatism: Semi-Homeless
Deneen:
Social conservatives should understand that in American politics - and all modern politics, really - they will never have a true "party." Particularly in modernity, a time shaped to repudiate many of the basic commitments of conservatives (indeed, a time that gave rise to the peculiar beast called "conservatism") there will always be a degree of political homelessness. Conservatives should aim to achieve some political ends, but understand that those aims will always be partially or imperfectly reflected in the commitments of all modern parties, and should seek, where possible, to reinforce or extend those commitments where they can be found. There is an odd willfulness on the part of many so-called conservatives to damn every action and word of Obama even as they excuse the actions of Bush. This reflects, in my mind, the sad reality that the Will to Power has deeply infiltrated itself within some thoughtful people who ought rightly to be the greatest opponents of that Nietzschean ambition.
True, dat.
By the way, I'm in the middle of reading a lengthy essay which purports to demonstrate that the Founders (specifically Jefferson and Madison) were virtual anti-Christians, who adopted Locke/Hobbes' political theories into the 1A to prevent religious influence on governance.
Which might come as either a relief or a surprise to Nick.
Social conservatives should understand that in American politics - and all modern politics, really - they will never have a true "party." Particularly in modernity, a time shaped to repudiate many of the basic commitments of conservatives (indeed, a time that gave rise to the peculiar beast called "conservatism") there will always be a degree of political homelessness. Conservatives should aim to achieve some political ends, but understand that those aims will always be partially or imperfectly reflected in the commitments of all modern parties, and should seek, where possible, to reinforce or extend those commitments where they can be found. There is an odd willfulness on the part of many so-called conservatives to damn every action and word of Obama even as they excuse the actions of Bush. This reflects, in my mind, the sad reality that the Will to Power has deeply infiltrated itself within some thoughtful people who ought rightly to be the greatest opponents of that Nietzschean ambition.
True, dat.
By the way, I'm in the middle of reading a lengthy essay which purports to demonstrate that the Founders (specifically Jefferson and Madison) were virtual anti-Christians, who adopted Locke/Hobbes' political theories into the 1A to prevent religious influence on governance.
Which might come as either a relief or a surprise to Nick.
The "October Surprise" Actually Happened
At least, it happened if you believe the reports--and/or the Russkis.
Robert Parry of Consortium News is reporting that in 1992 the Russians turned over to the White House a secret report confirming that senior US officials and Reagan campaign staff met with Iranian officials in Europe during the summer of 1980. The meetings, since known as the October Surprise, were designed to delay the release of the American Embassy hostages in Iran until after the US elections, depriving President Jimmy Carter of a success that might have kept him in office.
I know for a fact that Henry Waxman’s committee on government ethics has hard evidence that the meetings did take place and that they were orchestrated by Reagan’s campaign manager Bill Casey. They were set up with the connivance of at least two CIA Chiefs of Station in Europe, in Rome and Paris.
One of the players was Robert Gates, the outgoing AND incoming SecDef.
HT: TAC
Robert Parry of Consortium News is reporting that in 1992 the Russians turned over to the White House a secret report confirming that senior US officials and Reagan campaign staff met with Iranian officials in Europe during the summer of 1980. The meetings, since known as the October Surprise, were designed to delay the release of the American Embassy hostages in Iran until after the US elections, depriving President Jimmy Carter of a success that might have kept him in office.
I know for a fact that Henry Waxman’s committee on government ethics has hard evidence that the meetings did take place and that they were orchestrated by Reagan’s campaign manager Bill Casey. They were set up with the connivance of at least two CIA Chiefs of Station in Europe, in Rome and Paris.
One of the players was Robert Gates, the outgoing AND incoming SecDef.
HT: TAC
Triggerfish
You don't need the telephone providers to track down a cellphone any more.
Triggerfish, also known as cell-site simulators or digital analyzers, are nothing new: the technology was used in the 1990s to hunt down renowned hacker Kevin Mitnick. By posing as a cell tower, triggerfish trick nearby cell phones into transmitting their serial numbers, phone numbers, and other data to law enforcement. Most previous descriptions of the technology, however, suggested that because of range limitations, triggerfish were only useful for zeroing in on a phone's precise location once cooperative cell providers had given a general location.
The ACLU got interested and under FOIA, found that:
As one of the documents intended to provide guidance for DOJ employees explains, triggerfish can be deployed "without the user knowing about it, and without involving the cell phone provider." That may be significant because the legal rulings requiring law enforcement to meet a high "probable cause" standard before acquiring cell location records have, thus far, pertained to requests for information from providers, pursuant to statutes such as the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act (CALEA) and the Stored Communications Act
IOW, using a triggerfish device gets around pen-register safeguards.
Hmmmmmm......
HT: Schneier
Triggerfish, also known as cell-site simulators or digital analyzers, are nothing new: the technology was used in the 1990s to hunt down renowned hacker Kevin Mitnick. By posing as a cell tower, triggerfish trick nearby cell phones into transmitting their serial numbers, phone numbers, and other data to law enforcement. Most previous descriptions of the technology, however, suggested that because of range limitations, triggerfish were only useful for zeroing in on a phone's precise location once cooperative cell providers had given a general location.
The ACLU got interested and under FOIA, found that:
As one of the documents intended to provide guidance for DOJ employees explains, triggerfish can be deployed "without the user knowing about it, and without involving the cell phone provider." That may be significant because the legal rulings requiring law enforcement to meet a high "probable cause" standard before acquiring cell location records have, thus far, pertained to requests for information from providers, pursuant to statutes such as the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act (CALEA) and the Stored Communications Act
IOW, using a triggerfish device gets around pen-register safeguards.
Hmmmmmm......
HT: Schneier
What Happened to M&I?
Until.....oh.....90 days ago, the M&I Bank was regarded as the paragon of sound-lending practices. In fact, the only time M&I had hit the newspapers for a serious loan-loss was back in the 1970's (??) when they called Francis Schroedel's loans connected to his resort development--which remains controversial.
The joke was that M&I would lend you any amount you wanted, so long as you collateralized 100% with gold bars, placed in THEIR vault, thankyouverymuch.
Now we read this:
The debt ratings for Marshall & Ilsley Corp. have been placed under review for a possible downgrade by Moody’s Investors Service.
New York City-based Moody’s said Nov. 24 that it will focus on “ongoing weakness” in the Milwaukee bank holding company’s real estate portfolio. Moody’s said M&I’s risk concentration has worsened by a combination of acquisitions and organic growth the past few years.
In the event Moody’s decides to lower Marshall & Ilsley’s ratings, a one-notch downgrade is the most likely, Moody’s said. The ratings are for the Milwaukee financial firm’s bonds, securited stock and financial strength. The bank’s financial strength rating, is currently “B,” which is a high-yield rating
Maybe the Metavante earnings were shining so brightly in the M&I Boardroom that nobody noticed the large pile of pre-Milorganite raw materials in the corner...
And then they sold Metavante.
The joke was that M&I would lend you any amount you wanted, so long as you collateralized 100% with gold bars, placed in THEIR vault, thankyouverymuch.
Now we read this:
The debt ratings for Marshall & Ilsley Corp. have been placed under review for a possible downgrade by Moody’s Investors Service.
New York City-based Moody’s said Nov. 24 that it will focus on “ongoing weakness” in the Milwaukee bank holding company’s real estate portfolio. Moody’s said M&I’s risk concentration has worsened by a combination of acquisitions and organic growth the past few years.
In the event Moody’s decides to lower Marshall & Ilsley’s ratings, a one-notch downgrade is the most likely, Moody’s said. The ratings are for the Milwaukee financial firm’s bonds, securited stock and financial strength. The bank’s financial strength rating, is currently “B,” which is a high-yield rating
Maybe the Metavante earnings were shining so brightly in the M&I Boardroom that nobody noticed the large pile of pre-Milorganite raw materials in the corner...
And then they sold Metavante.
Humor Time
The Madam opened the brothel door to see a frail, elderly gentleman. "Can I help you?" the madam asked.
"I want Natalie," the old man replied
.
"Sir, Natalie is one of our most expensive ladies, perhaps someone else..."
"No, I must see Natalie." Just then Natalie appeared and announced to the old man that she charges $1,000 per visit. Without blinking, the man reached into his pocket and handed her ten $100 bills. The two went up to a room for an hour, whereupon the man calmly left.
The next night he appeared again demanding to see Natalie. Natalie explained that no one had ever come back two nights in a row and that there were no discounts...it was still $1,000 a visit. Again the old man took out the money, the two went up to the room and an hour later, he left.
When he showed up the third consecutive night, no one could believe it. Again he handed Natalie the money and up to the room they went. At the end of the hour Natalie questioned the old man:
"No one has ever used my services three nights in a row. Where are you from?"
The old man replied, "I'm from Philadelphia."
"Really?" replied Natalie. "I have family who lives there."
"Yes, I know," said the old man. "Your father died, and I'm your sister's attorney. She asked me to give this $3,000 to you."
"I want Natalie," the old man replied
.
"Sir, Natalie is one of our most expensive ladies, perhaps someone else..."
"No, I must see Natalie." Just then Natalie appeared and announced to the old man that she charges $1,000 per visit. Without blinking, the man reached into his pocket and handed her ten $100 bills. The two went up to a room for an hour, whereupon the man calmly left.
The next night he appeared again demanding to see Natalie. Natalie explained that no one had ever come back two nights in a row and that there were no discounts...it was still $1,000 a visit. Again the old man took out the money, the two went up to the room and an hour later, he left.
When he showed up the third consecutive night, no one could believe it. Again he handed Natalie the money and up to the room they went. At the end of the hour Natalie questioned the old man:
"No one has ever used my services three nights in a row. Where are you from?"
The old man replied, "I'm from Philadelphia."
"Really?" replied Natalie. "I have family who lives there."
"Yes, I know," said the old man. "Your father died, and I'm your sister's attorney. She asked me to give this $3,000 to you."
MSM Manipulation: Part 256,749
NewsBusters notes disparate treatment.
As the Christmas shopping season went into full swing in 2005, I sensed that journalists in general have a strong preference for using the term "holiday shopping" instead of "Christmas shopping" when covering business and commerce, but that when it came to people losing their jobs, they preferred to describe layoffs as relating to "Christmas."
My instincts have been proven correct, as you can see below from the results of three different sets of Google News searches in November and December in each of the last three years
IOW, there is no "Christmas" unless it's important to call up E. Scrooge.
As the Christmas shopping season went into full swing in 2005, I sensed that journalists in general have a strong preference for using the term "holiday shopping" instead of "Christmas shopping" when covering business and commerce, but that when it came to people losing their jobs, they preferred to describe layoffs as relating to "Christmas."
My instincts have been proven correct, as you can see below from the results of three different sets of Google News searches in November and December in each of the last three years
IOW, there is no "Christmas" unless it's important to call up E. Scrooge.
Housing Prices
Above is the price-to-rent ratio (Case-Schiller). Q1/97=1:1; you can see that home prices took off (broke the typical range) at the very end of 2001. Housing prices will continue to fall (or rents may rise) for a while--likely another 3-4 quarters.
In another chart, Calculated Risk shows Case-Schiller for Chicago and Minneapolis housing prices. They've dropped 12% and 17%, respectively, from their peaks; whereas Charlotte and Dallas are only off by about 4%.
This graph shows housing prices v. nominal median income--both are national, not local.
As you can see, the typical average was about 1:1 from 1987-2000; then it took off.
Calculated Risk suspects that the decline will continue for another couple of years before it hits the typical average, mostly because "nominal income" usually moves up.
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
The Minnesota Recount/Georgia Runoff
Quick update from the American Spectator blog:
I spoke to several Norm Coleman campaign representatives to get their perspective on the ongoing recount. Here are some of the things they emphasized:
-- They believed the current margin was somewhere in the middle of the 160 to 211 vote range.
-- They were confident that Franken did not make the gains he should have in the highly Democratic and populated Hennepin, Ramsey, and St. Louis counties. They said they were basing this claim on the hard count, not on the fact that Coleman challenges were removing more votes from the Franken stack.
-- Tomorrow, they said they anticpate a "circus" as there is a hearing before the state Canvassing Board, which will rule on whether to count up to 6,400 rejected absentee ballots. They said they anticipate that the Board will rule that the ballots will not be counted, and that the Franken campaign will eventually pursue further legal action on this matter.
-- "I have never seen the intensity in terms of upsetting the apple cart than I have seen on the Franken side," said one representative. "They are pulling out all the stops."
-- There is a chance that the Democratic Senate could get involved, by either declaring the seat vacant, or having Coleman appointed on a provisional basis, one official posited.
The Star Tribune has more from the Franken camp, including their charges of missing ballots and contention that the real margin is only 84 votes --Phil Klein
and in Georgia,
Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin will make multiple campaign appearances on behalf of Sen. Saxby Chambliss next week in Georgia, serving as the political closer for the GOP senator who is battling to win a second term.
This is Palin's first campaign appearance on behalf of another Republican candidate since losing her bid to become the nation's first woman to serve as vice president.Palin will attend a fundraiser on Sunday night, then appear at multiple campaign stops on Monday in an effort to rally the GOP base to turn out to vote for Chambliss. --R Stacy McCain
I spoke to several Norm Coleman campaign representatives to get their perspective on the ongoing recount. Here are some of the things they emphasized:
-- They believed the current margin was somewhere in the middle of the 160 to 211 vote range.
-- They were confident that Franken did not make the gains he should have in the highly Democratic and populated Hennepin, Ramsey, and St. Louis counties. They said they were basing this claim on the hard count, not on the fact that Coleman challenges were removing more votes from the Franken stack.
-- Tomorrow, they said they anticpate a "circus" as there is a hearing before the state Canvassing Board, which will rule on whether to count up to 6,400 rejected absentee ballots. They said they anticipate that the Board will rule that the ballots will not be counted, and that the Franken campaign will eventually pursue further legal action on this matter.
-- "I have never seen the intensity in terms of upsetting the apple cart than I have seen on the Franken side," said one representative. "They are pulling out all the stops."
-- There is a chance that the Democratic Senate could get involved, by either declaring the seat vacant, or having Coleman appointed on a provisional basis, one official posited.
The Star Tribune has more from the Franken camp, including their charges of missing ballots and contention that the real margin is only 84 votes --Phil Klein
and in Georgia,
Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin will make multiple campaign appearances on behalf of Sen. Saxby Chambliss next week in Georgia, serving as the political closer for the GOP senator who is battling to win a second term.
This is Palin's first campaign appearance on behalf of another Republican candidate since losing her bid to become the nation's first woman to serve as vice president.Palin will attend a fundraiser on Sunday night, then appear at multiple campaign stops on Monday in an effort to rally the GOP base to turn out to vote for Chambliss. --R Stacy McCain
LeftyWonzo "Argumentation", Distilled
P-Mac notices the general drift of the Left into .....insanity.
Yup. That passes as argument, to the Intellectualoids.
McIlheran provides two examples; here's another. Notice that the operative word in this finely constructed and elegant argument is "hate," which requires no proof. It's subjective, you see. So what Other Side declares to be "hate" is "hate."
When you get into the comments, you notice that there's no there there, in his responses; there can't be.
So back to "hate," which explains it all.
Rush wastes a lot of airtime with his "racist sexist homophobe" descriptors; he should simply stick to "I'm a hater."
Easier logic for the Left to follow....
"Youre a Poopy-Head."
Yup. That passes as argument, to the Intellectualoids.
McIlheran provides two examples; here's another. Notice that the operative word in this finely constructed and elegant argument is "hate," which requires no proof. It's subjective, you see. So what Other Side declares to be "hate" is "hate."
When you get into the comments, you notice that there's no there there, in his responses; there can't be.
So back to "hate," which explains it all.
Rush wastes a lot of airtime with his "racist sexist homophobe" descriptors; he should simply stick to "I'm a hater."
Easier logic for the Left to follow....
How Old IS America?
Interesting. Hadley Arkes has a friend who actually listened to Obama's victory speech in Chicago and he listened carefully.
The e-mail came the day after the election from my friend Jim Stoner, an accomplished professor of political philosophy: Did I notice that Obama, in his victory speech in Chicago, had used the number 221? Obama, on the night of his election, asked the nation to “to join in the work of remaking this nation the only way its been done in America for two-hundred and twenty-one years...
Yah, do the subtraction and you'll note that the O-and-Savior chose to ignore the Declaration of Independence (and the Revolution, and the Articles of Confederation....)
(!!!!) (Not mentioned by the MSM, of course....)
It was quite striking then that Barack Obama would look back and find the beginning of our nation only with the Constitution. He would conspicuously omit the Declaration, with its affirmation of natural rights, universal in their reach, and the equality of human beings...
Over the last 30 years it has become the fashion among academics on the left, and some notable black intellectuals, to reject the Declaration of Independence along with the American founding. The late Thurgood Marshall condemned the Founders for bringing forth a Constitution that cast protections around slavery.
...for the left, the Declaration has the deeper defect of claiming that the rights it proclaims rest on moral truths. “All men are created equal” was put forth as an axiomatic or “self-evident” truth, and the left will not brook such talk about moral truths. For the existence of moral truths establishes the ground for casting moral judgments on others, especially on those sexual freedoms that the left has come to regard now as the “first freedoms” in our inventory of rights. The left in our politics is always raising a moral cry over inequality, whether in the distribution of wealth, or in the disparities that affect women and racial minorities.
Let me guess...like, maybe, the immutable immorality of abortion?
And this guy claims to be a Con-Law professor? Educated at Ha'vahd? Cole-Ahm-beeYah??
We are not impressed.
The e-mail came the day after the election from my friend Jim Stoner, an accomplished professor of political philosophy: Did I notice that Obama, in his victory speech in Chicago, had used the number 221? Obama, on the night of his election, asked the nation to “to join in the work of remaking this nation the only way its been done in America for two-hundred and twenty-one years...
Yah, do the subtraction and you'll note that the O-and-Savior chose to ignore the Declaration of Independence (and the Revolution, and the Articles of Confederation....)
(!!!!) (Not mentioned by the MSM, of course....)
It was quite striking then that Barack Obama would look back and find the beginning of our nation only with the Constitution. He would conspicuously omit the Declaration, with its affirmation of natural rights, universal in their reach, and the equality of human beings...
Over the last 30 years it has become the fashion among academics on the left, and some notable black intellectuals, to reject the Declaration of Independence along with the American founding. The late Thurgood Marshall condemned the Founders for bringing forth a Constitution that cast protections around slavery.
...for the left, the Declaration has the deeper defect of claiming that the rights it proclaims rest on moral truths. “All men are created equal” was put forth as an axiomatic or “self-evident” truth, and the left will not brook such talk about moral truths. For the existence of moral truths establishes the ground for casting moral judgments on others, especially on those sexual freedoms that the left has come to regard now as the “first freedoms” in our inventory of rights. The left in our politics is always raising a moral cry over inequality, whether in the distribution of wealth, or in the disparities that affect women and racial minorities.
Let me guess...like, maybe, the immutable immorality of abortion?
And this guy claims to be a Con-Law professor? Educated at Ha'vahd? Cole-Ahm-beeYah??
We are not impressed.
FDR's NRA, Mussolini, and FDR's Depression
Bet you didn't know this.
Tugwell (who outlined them retrospectively for my Wharton class in 1974), designed several New Deal statist “reforms.” He had gone to Rome to interview a man early New Deal theorists thought was the man to copy in this country. His name: Benito Mussolini. Sitting down at Mussolini’s desk, Tugwell perfected the concept of the NRA (the National Recovery Administration) which he copied as a virtual stenographer taking notes dictated by Mussolini himself.
Tugwell was a member of the New Deal brain trust; Roeser knew him and they talked occasionally.
Il Duce... was hugely admired by New Deal statists in the early `30s. Tugwell was fascinated by the intellectual amalgam Mussolini was-part nationalist, corporatist, syndicalist, master of state propaganda and lord prosecutor of “subversives.”
As to the Depression's economic picture, Roeser relates
What Hoover and Roosevelt never understood…and economists of the day missed until Milton Friedman… was that the U. S. was in deflation, a money drought. The Fed was very young (having been formed in 1913) and the concept of open market economics, where government buys bond and sells bonds to soak up money from the economy was virtually unknown at the time
FDR failed spectacularly--but the crowd he attracted to Washington to help him were adjudged as brilliant, liberal, witty…and the more flops they created, the more the supine mainstream media loved him. Then an interesting thing happened-which just may repeat itself today.
The Depression went on so long…with joblessness averaging in the mid-teens …that people decided the condition would stay in perpetuity. Thus the American people accepted it as de rigeur and cheered his “innovations” as experiments no matter that they didn’t work. They wanted FDR to succeed. His ideas were so intricate, so cerebral, so exciting. John Maynard Keynes’ ideas were paramount: they were so more persuasive than old-hat economics. And Keynes’ ideas are back again…front and center…with Obama. We’re in for it, folks. Another round of failures ballooned into triumphs by the media fawning over an exciting presidential figure
The real possibility of deflation has been mentioned about these days, too.
How much a flop WAS Roosevelt? Look for yourself (numbers provided by A. Schlaes):
1929 the year of the stock market crash under Hoover, unemployment stood at 5%.
By 1931 under Hoover: 17.4%. Then the glory days of Franklin Roosevelt. 1933, the first year of FDR 22.9%...1934 under of FDR 21.2%...1935 FDR 21.3%...1936 FDR’s reelection 15.3% ...1937 FDR 15%...1938 FDR 17.4%...1940 FDR 14.6%..
Then FDR managed to get the Japanese to attack Pearl. Unemployment disappeared into uniforms...
How'd he manage to screw up that badly? Let us count the ways.
--Ordered the Fed to exchange all its gold with the Treasury for certificates, devaluing the dollar by 59%, hiking gold price to $35 an ounce which increased domestic prices;
--Rammed though Congress a new tax on business’ retained earnings in addition to hiking top individual income taxes at 79% prompting the rich to seek off-shore tax shelters, causing revenue which had started to rise in 1936 to plummet in 1937
--Mandated Treasury and the Fed to hike their reserves to guard against inflation, prompting commercial banks to do the same, cutting back on bank deposits and loans, forcing businesses to slash production and lay off workers
--Vowed to veto Social Security if businesses were allowed to individually give better than government benefits for their workers. He insisted his Social Security principle be not voluntary but government- mandated
(The above is particularly interesting in light of Obama's "health-insurance" machinations--especially coupled with the Lefties' 401(k)-jiggering proposal.)
--Applied Mussolini’s codes regulating business-the Tugwell brainstorm copied from Mussolini. The NRA, symbolized by a blue eagle affixed to all store windows with the slogan “We Do Our Part,” run by a crusty retired general negotiated 557 industrial codes ordering businesses to set minimum wages, maximum hours, child labor restrictions and occupational health and safety rules. (Interesting little bit of history here...) then: the Supreme Court invalidated the entire NRA…in retaliation for which Roosevelt vowed to pack the Court
--…Forced farmers to plow under their crops notwithstanding there was hunger abroad in the land-a favorite Tugwell scheme taken from Il Duce. Roosevelt sought to reverse a decade-long depression by forcing farmers to reduce their acreage under production, imposing taxes on food processors and paying subsidies to farmers who plowed under their crops and slaughtered their livestock and poultry. During its first three year farm income increased by 50% but all the increase resulted from the subsidy payments. The farm program is still with us.
You never waste a minute by reading Roeser's blog.
Tugwell (who outlined them retrospectively for my Wharton class in 1974), designed several New Deal statist “reforms.” He had gone to Rome to interview a man early New Deal theorists thought was the man to copy in this country. His name: Benito Mussolini. Sitting down at Mussolini’s desk, Tugwell perfected the concept of the NRA (the National Recovery Administration) which he copied as a virtual stenographer taking notes dictated by Mussolini himself.
Tugwell was a member of the New Deal brain trust; Roeser knew him and they talked occasionally.
Il Duce... was hugely admired by New Deal statists in the early `30s. Tugwell was fascinated by the intellectual amalgam Mussolini was-part nationalist, corporatist, syndicalist, master of state propaganda and lord prosecutor of “subversives.”
As to the Depression's economic picture, Roeser relates
What Hoover and Roosevelt never understood…and economists of the day missed until Milton Friedman… was that the U. S. was in deflation, a money drought. The Fed was very young (having been formed in 1913) and the concept of open market economics, where government buys bond and sells bonds to soak up money from the economy was virtually unknown at the time
FDR failed spectacularly--but the crowd he attracted to Washington to help him were adjudged as brilliant, liberal, witty…and the more flops they created, the more the supine mainstream media loved him. Then an interesting thing happened-which just may repeat itself today.
The Depression went on so long…with joblessness averaging in the mid-teens …that people decided the condition would stay in perpetuity. Thus the American people accepted it as de rigeur and cheered his “innovations” as experiments no matter that they didn’t work. They wanted FDR to succeed. His ideas were so intricate, so cerebral, so exciting. John Maynard Keynes’ ideas were paramount: they were so more persuasive than old-hat economics. And Keynes’ ideas are back again…front and center…with Obama. We’re in for it, folks. Another round of failures ballooned into triumphs by the media fawning over an exciting presidential figure
The real possibility of deflation has been mentioned about these days, too.
How much a flop WAS Roosevelt? Look for yourself (numbers provided by A. Schlaes):
1929 the year of the stock market crash under Hoover, unemployment stood at 5%.
By 1931 under Hoover: 17.4%. Then the glory days of Franklin Roosevelt. 1933, the first year of FDR 22.9%...1934 under of FDR 21.2%...1935 FDR 21.3%...1936 FDR’s reelection 15.3% ...1937 FDR 15%...1938 FDR 17.4%...1940 FDR 14.6%..
Then FDR managed to get the Japanese to attack Pearl. Unemployment disappeared into uniforms...
How'd he manage to screw up that badly? Let us count the ways.
--Ordered the Fed to exchange all its gold with the Treasury for certificates, devaluing the dollar by 59%, hiking gold price to $35 an ounce which increased domestic prices;
--Rammed though Congress a new tax on business’ retained earnings in addition to hiking top individual income taxes at 79% prompting the rich to seek off-shore tax shelters, causing revenue which had started to rise in 1936 to plummet in 1937
--Mandated Treasury and the Fed to hike their reserves to guard against inflation, prompting commercial banks to do the same, cutting back on bank deposits and loans, forcing businesses to slash production and lay off workers
--Vowed to veto Social Security if businesses were allowed to individually give better than government benefits for their workers. He insisted his Social Security principle be not voluntary but government- mandated
(The above is particularly interesting in light of Obama's "health-insurance" machinations--especially coupled with the Lefties' 401(k)-jiggering proposal.)
--Applied Mussolini’s codes regulating business-the Tugwell brainstorm copied from Mussolini. The NRA, symbolized by a blue eagle affixed to all store windows with the slogan “We Do Our Part,” run by a crusty retired general negotiated 557 industrial codes ordering businesses to set minimum wages, maximum hours, child labor restrictions and occupational health and safety rules. (Interesting little bit of history here...) then: the Supreme Court invalidated the entire NRA…in retaliation for which Roosevelt vowed to pack the Court
--…Forced farmers to plow under their crops notwithstanding there was hunger abroad in the land-a favorite Tugwell scheme taken from Il Duce. Roosevelt sought to reverse a decade-long depression by forcing farmers to reduce their acreage under production, imposing taxes on food processors and paying subsidies to farmers who plowed under their crops and slaughtered their livestock and poultry. During its first three year farm income increased by 50% but all the increase resulted from the subsidy payments. The farm program is still with us.
You never waste a minute by reading Roeser's blog.
Meyers-Briggs: Wrong
If you have little else to do, you can Meyers-Briggs your intertubularnetblogscrivening.
I did.
INTJ - The Scientists
The long-range thinking and individualistic type. They are especially good at looking at almost anything and figuring out a way of improving it - often with a highly creative and imaginative touch. They are intellectually curious and daring, but might be pshysically hesitant to try new things.
The Scientists enjoy theoretical work that allows them to use their strong minds and bold creativity. Since they tend to be so abstract and theoretical in their communication they often have a problem communcating their visions to other people and need to learn patience and use conrete examples. Since they are extremly good at concentrating they often have no trouble working alone
Somebody's having fun with random-letter generators...
I did.
INTJ - The Scientists
The long-range thinking and individualistic type. They are especially good at looking at almost anything and figuring out a way of improving it - often with a highly creative and imaginative touch. They are intellectually curious and daring, but might be pshysically hesitant to try new things.
The Scientists enjoy theoretical work that allows them to use their strong minds and bold creativity. Since they tend to be so abstract and theoretical in their communication they often have a problem communcating their visions to other people and need to learn patience and use conrete examples. Since they are extremly good at concentrating they often have no trouble working alone
Somebody's having fun with random-letter generators...
Offshore Drilling? Never.
The 9th Circus, once again attempting to discredit all judges, lawyers, and the Rule of Law...
Last Thursday, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals blocked a major drilling effort in the Beaufort Sea, ruling that federal officials failed to properly address environmental concerns when they granted permission to Shell Oil to drill there. The decision followed a temporary order issued last year that halted Shell's drilling at Sivulliq, 16 miles off the coast of northern Alaska (--IBD, cited by Gateway)
Don't look for any (D) pols to object.
Governor Palin had this to say about the Beaufort:
"There are even bigger sources of crude than ANWR . . . such as offshore areas like the Chukchi Sea and Beaufort Sea."
And when the Russkis get there first with slant-drilling, she'll be proven right.
Last Thursday, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals blocked a major drilling effort in the Beaufort Sea, ruling that federal officials failed to properly address environmental concerns when they granted permission to Shell Oil to drill there. The decision followed a temporary order issued last year that halted Shell's drilling at Sivulliq, 16 miles off the coast of northern Alaska (--IBD, cited by Gateway)
Don't look for any (D) pols to object.
Governor Palin had this to say about the Beaufort:
"There are even bigger sources of crude than ANWR . . . such as offshore areas like the Chukchi Sea and Beaufort Sea."
And when the Russkis get there first with slant-drilling, she'll be proven right.
Doylie Lied. (Ho-Hum)
Uh-huh.
Todd Berry, president of the non-profit Wisconsin Taxpayers Alliance, says Gov. Jim Doyle's new estimate of a $5.4-bllion budget deficit between now and mid-2011 is "unreal" and based on "double counting."
In an interview, Berry said the $5.4-billion number assumes that state agencies will get an additional $2.8 billion in spending they requested for the next two years -- a "fictitious" assumption.
And, Berry said, Doyle's scenario also assumes that the so-called "structural balance" -- the long-term imbalance between spending commitments and tax collections - remains at $800 million per year for each of the next two years. That's about $1.6 billion of Doyle's $5.4-billion deficit. Berry said.
The FIRST question one asks is "cui bono?"--that is, who benefits?
Berry said Doyle's $5.4-billion deficit estimate is "really the opening pitch in a multi-inning budget game. It's in the interest of the executive ... to get people to pay attention."
Another way to put it: if Doylie can convice the people that the deficit is 2x what it actually is, he has a better chance of raising taxes a LOT.
The same deception-theory exists behind the "no bonus, no merit raise" story of today, and the "10% of State positions are vacant" story of yesterday.
"O, woe is the State! How CAN we overcome this pestilence of not-enough-tax-revenue??"
I argue that the real "pestilence" is right where Doylie put it in his first campaign: about 10,000 extra State employees (hired by 'stick-it-to-'em Tommy').
Todd Berry, president of the non-profit Wisconsin Taxpayers Alliance, says Gov. Jim Doyle's new estimate of a $5.4-bllion budget deficit between now and mid-2011 is "unreal" and based on "double counting."
In an interview, Berry said the $5.4-billion number assumes that state agencies will get an additional $2.8 billion in spending they requested for the next two years -- a "fictitious" assumption.
And, Berry said, Doyle's scenario also assumes that the so-called "structural balance" -- the long-term imbalance between spending commitments and tax collections - remains at $800 million per year for each of the next two years. That's about $1.6 billion of Doyle's $5.4-billion deficit. Berry said.
The FIRST question one asks is "cui bono?"--that is, who benefits?
Berry said Doyle's $5.4-billion deficit estimate is "really the opening pitch in a multi-inning budget game. It's in the interest of the executive ... to get people to pay attention."
Another way to put it: if Doylie can convice the people that the deficit is 2x what it actually is, he has a better chance of raising taxes a LOT.
The same deception-theory exists behind the "no bonus, no merit raise" story of today, and the "10% of State positions are vacant" story of yesterday.
"O, woe is the State! How CAN we overcome this pestilence of not-enough-tax-revenue??"
I argue that the real "pestilence" is right where Doylie put it in his first campaign: about 10,000 extra State employees (hired by 'stick-it-to-'em Tommy').
The Fallacy in "Social Justice"
Gotta love Deneen.
...I am constantly struck by the strain implied in the combination of the words "social" and "justice." Justice, according to the ancient definition, is according to each what is due (whether desert or punishment). Justice thus - as the word suggests - requires judgment and discrimination. By this definition, justice is a thing pertaining to individuals - according to your actions you can and will be judged.
By contrast, adding the word "social" to justice implies that justice is a collective quality. Justice, it would seem, consists of treating everyone equally.
About 2o years ago, I was in a.....umnnnhhh..... discussion!!..... with a well-known senior priest (a good man, by the way, and orthodox) over precisely the confusion of which Deneen speaks. That priest, following JPII, was declaiming 'evil structures' in society. I demurred, objecting that 'structures' were not evil; only people could be evil.
Or perhaps better phrased, with the same end: a deficiency of "goodness" pertains only to people. Structures are easily defeated, or re-arranged, by good people for good ends. But those structures can remain obstacles only when good people choose to ignore the problem (or when bad people prevail.)
Here's the nub, articulated by Deneen:
Many... "justice issues" imply (without reflection on what justice is) that justice has the aim of achieving equality, particularly material equality. By implication, social justice incorporates the commitment to treating unlike things equally, and thus contradicts the classical definition of justice simpliciter. It's interesting to raise the question of what would be lost by removing the word "social" to the language of justice. It could be suggested that the addition of the word "social" allows one the appearance of a commitment to justice while in fact rejecting its substance
Of course it does. Marxist theory, feminist theory, "queer" theory, racial theory; all do precisely that. Whether rich/poor, female/male, homo/hetero...you get the idea.
It's just too much real WORK to work for "justice", rightly defined. (Even Plato couldn't resolve the question, as Deneen observes.) So rather than do all that hard work, just add "social"!!
That way, in the words of G K Chesterton, we can 'define the comparative without ever defining the superlative,' meaning that "justice" needs continual legislative and judicial refinement.
It's a jobs-program for politicians and judges, folks...
...I am constantly struck by the strain implied in the combination of the words "social" and "justice." Justice, according to the ancient definition, is according to each what is due (whether desert or punishment). Justice thus - as the word suggests - requires judgment and discrimination. By this definition, justice is a thing pertaining to individuals - according to your actions you can and will be judged.
By contrast, adding the word "social" to justice implies that justice is a collective quality. Justice, it would seem, consists of treating everyone equally.
About 2o years ago, I was in a.....umnnnhhh..... discussion!!..... with a well-known senior priest (a good man, by the way, and orthodox) over precisely the confusion of which Deneen speaks. That priest, following JPII, was declaiming 'evil structures' in society. I demurred, objecting that 'structures' were not evil; only people could be evil.
Or perhaps better phrased, with the same end: a deficiency of "goodness" pertains only to people. Structures are easily defeated, or re-arranged, by good people for good ends. But those structures can remain obstacles only when good people choose to ignore the problem (or when bad people prevail.)
Here's the nub, articulated by Deneen:
Many... "justice issues" imply (without reflection on what justice is) that justice has the aim of achieving equality, particularly material equality. By implication, social justice incorporates the commitment to treating unlike things equally, and thus contradicts the classical definition of justice simpliciter. It's interesting to raise the question of what would be lost by removing the word "social" to the language of justice. It could be suggested that the addition of the word "social" allows one the appearance of a commitment to justice while in fact rejecting its substance
Of course it does. Marxist theory, feminist theory, "queer" theory, racial theory; all do precisely that. Whether rich/poor, female/male, homo/hetero...you get the idea.
It's just too much real WORK to work for "justice", rightly defined. (Even Plato couldn't resolve the question, as Deneen observes.) So rather than do all that hard work, just add "social"!!
That way, in the words of G K Chesterton, we can 'define the comparative without ever defining the superlative,' meaning that "justice" needs continual legislative and judicial refinement.
It's a jobs-program for politicians and judges, folks...
Thinking Again About Para-Military Raids
Not a very nice ending here.
FBI agent, Samuel Hicks, was killed this week in Pittsburgh while serving an arrest warrant in a botched drug raid. He was 33. After the agent knocked on the suspect’s door and announced his intention, the suspect apparently proceeded to flush his stash of cocaine down the toilet. After the suspect didn’t answer, they were shot by the suspect’s wife when they came through the threshold.
May he rest in peace. He did his job and gave his life doing it.
But that should raise some questions, and The Agitator (a libertarian who thinks drug laws should be changed) essays on it.
It’s the paramilitary tactics that are the problem. These tactics carry a very low margin for error, on the part of both the police and the suspects they’re raiding. You’re waking people up, and while they’re groggy and fearful, you’re forcing them to process and evaluate an armed confrontation. I don’t care how much force you bring, that’s a needlessly dangerous situation, not just for suspects and innocent bystanders, but for police officers. And even if all of these raids went down exactly as planned, there’s the broader question of whether the image of armed men dressed as soldiers battering down American citizens’ doors some 40-50,000 per year, mostly for consensual crimes, is one that’s consistent with a free society. I’d argue it isn’t
This paramilitary stuff began (IIRC) during the Clinton Administration, in no small part because that Administration was handing out money for this like candy...
It was Korbe’s wife who shot and killed Agent Hicks. Christina Korbe had no prior criminal record. She had a legal permit for the gun she used. She was upstairs with her two children, ages 10 and 4, when the police tore down the door at 6 am. She plausibly says she had no idea they were police
...She says she didn’t hear the announcement, and thought her home was being robbed—not an unreasonable assumption. She says she fired at the men invading her home because she feared they might hurt her kids. More to the point, she was on the phone with a 911 operator during the raid. Now I’ll admit that I can’t easily assume the mindset of a cold-blooded cop killer, but it’s hard to imagine one who would knowingly kill a raiding police officer, then call the police to come investigate.
It remains to be seen whether Ms. Korbe is indicted and prosecuted for shooting the FBI agent.
FBI agent, Samuel Hicks, was killed this week in Pittsburgh while serving an arrest warrant in a botched drug raid. He was 33. After the agent knocked on the suspect’s door and announced his intention, the suspect apparently proceeded to flush his stash of cocaine down the toilet. After the suspect didn’t answer, they were shot by the suspect’s wife when they came through the threshold.
May he rest in peace. He did his job and gave his life doing it.
But that should raise some questions, and The Agitator (a libertarian who thinks drug laws should be changed) essays on it.
It’s the paramilitary tactics that are the problem. These tactics carry a very low margin for error, on the part of both the police and the suspects they’re raiding. You’re waking people up, and while they’re groggy and fearful, you’re forcing them to process and evaluate an armed confrontation. I don’t care how much force you bring, that’s a needlessly dangerous situation, not just for suspects and innocent bystanders, but for police officers. And even if all of these raids went down exactly as planned, there’s the broader question of whether the image of armed men dressed as soldiers battering down American citizens’ doors some 40-50,000 per year, mostly for consensual crimes, is one that’s consistent with a free society. I’d argue it isn’t
This paramilitary stuff began (IIRC) during the Clinton Administration, in no small part because that Administration was handing out money for this like candy...
It was Korbe’s wife who shot and killed Agent Hicks. Christina Korbe had no prior criminal record. She had a legal permit for the gun she used. She was upstairs with her two children, ages 10 and 4, when the police tore down the door at 6 am. She plausibly says she had no idea they were police
...She says she didn’t hear the announcement, and thought her home was being robbed—not an unreasonable assumption. She says she fired at the men invading her home because she feared they might hurt her kids. More to the point, she was on the phone with a 911 operator during the raid. Now I’ll admit that I can’t easily assume the mindset of a cold-blooded cop killer, but it’s hard to imagine one who would knowingly kill a raiding police officer, then call the police to come investigate.
It remains to be seen whether Ms. Korbe is indicted and prosecuted for shooting the FBI agent.
The Warmongers Forgot to Mention This--UPDATED
Remember "We're all Georgians now!!"--the war-whooping from the armchair warriors of AM radio waves and the Maverick?
Perhaps they are too embarrassed to report on the news.
...the official report of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe on the August war. According to The New York Times, the OSCE found, consistent with Moscow’s claims, that Georgia “attacked the isolated separatist capital of Tskhinvali on Aug. 7 with indiscriminate artillery and rocket fire, exposing civilians, Russian peacekeepers and unarmed monitors to harm.”
PJB also reports the following:
...a second signal came last week that Russia does not want the Cold War II that the departing neocons wish to leave on his plate.
Moscow offered Spain and Germany use of Russian territory to supply NATO troops in Afghanistan. As our supply line from the Pakistani port of Karachi through the Khyber Pass to Kabul grows perilous, this has to be seen as a gesture of friendship by a Russia that shares, as a fellow victim of Islamic terror, the U.S. detestation of al-Qaida.
Of course, Spain and Germany are not, shall we say, ....enthusiastic... participants in the Afghani venture, but logistics is logistics.
Senior US military types are interested in the Russki-Resupply route:
McKiernan faces obstacles in making his plan work. A Washington Post article of November 19 detailed these obstacles, focusing on Taliban attacks on the supply route into Afghanistan from Pakistan. But that's only a part of the problem. The other was caused by the Bush administration.
"We should have alternative supply routes through the north and not have to rely on the roads from Pakistan," a senior serving army officer says, "but we can't get a northern route because the Bush administration pissed off the Russians in Georgia." Negotiations with the Russians over a northern resupply route that would be place the 67,000 US and NATO soldiers at the end of "a secure tether" have been stalled, according to this officer.
"This is typical of the White House, they can't see beyond tomorrow. They have never been able to plan ahead, to think through the consequences of their actions. They're so proud of themselves, and we're the ones who suffer."
(Cited by Douthat)
So who's suffering? The very same soldiers that are supposed to 'win' the WOT in Afghanistan.
"We're all Georgians now!!" indeed...
Perhaps they are too embarrassed to report on the news.
...the official report of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe on the August war. According to The New York Times, the OSCE found, consistent with Moscow’s claims, that Georgia “attacked the isolated separatist capital of Tskhinvali on Aug. 7 with indiscriminate artillery and rocket fire, exposing civilians, Russian peacekeepers and unarmed monitors to harm.”
PJB also reports the following:
...a second signal came last week that Russia does not want the Cold War II that the departing neocons wish to leave on his plate.
Moscow offered Spain and Germany use of Russian territory to supply NATO troops in Afghanistan. As our supply line from the Pakistani port of Karachi through the Khyber Pass to Kabul grows perilous, this has to be seen as a gesture of friendship by a Russia that shares, as a fellow victim of Islamic terror, the U.S. detestation of al-Qaida.
Of course, Spain and Germany are not, shall we say, ....enthusiastic... participants in the Afghani venture, but logistics is logistics.
Senior US military types are interested in the Russki-Resupply route:
McKiernan faces obstacles in making his plan work. A Washington Post article of November 19 detailed these obstacles, focusing on Taliban attacks on the supply route into Afghanistan from Pakistan. But that's only a part of the problem. The other was caused by the Bush administration.
"We should have alternative supply routes through the north and not have to rely on the roads from Pakistan," a senior serving army officer says, "but we can't get a northern route because the Bush administration pissed off the Russians in Georgia." Negotiations with the Russians over a northern resupply route that would be place the 67,000 US and NATO soldiers at the end of "a secure tether" have been stalled, according to this officer.
"This is typical of the White House, they can't see beyond tomorrow. They have never been able to plan ahead, to think through the consequences of their actions. They're so proud of themselves, and we're the ones who suffer."
(Cited by Douthat)
So who's suffering? The very same soldiers that are supposed to 'win' the WOT in Afghanistan.
"We're all Georgians now!!" indeed...
Holiday Hazards
LawDog instructs on the fine art of un-corking bottles of bubbly.
Ladies and gentlemen, nothing takes the sparkle out of a celebration quite like an errant champagne cork ground-zeroing in your hostesses heirloom crystal stemware collection, prized Ming vase or -- worst case scenario -- impacting amidships of Fluffy, and causing said family feline to take a high-velocity lap or six through various displayed pretties.
Plus -- and here I speak to my fellow knuckle-draggers -- as gentlemen, we strive to avoid offering unintended insults or creating unintended awkward situations.
And nothing says "Awkward Situation" quite like the random ricochets of your champagne stopper terminating in the dècolletage of another gentleman's date.
The correct "how-to" is at the link.
Ladies and gentlemen, nothing takes the sparkle out of a celebration quite like an errant champagne cork ground-zeroing in your hostesses heirloom crystal stemware collection, prized Ming vase or -- worst case scenario -- impacting amidships of Fluffy, and causing said family feline to take a high-velocity lap or six through various displayed pretties.
Plus -- and here I speak to my fellow knuckle-draggers -- as gentlemen, we strive to avoid offering unintended insults or creating unintended awkward situations.
And nothing says "Awkward Situation" quite like the random ricochets of your champagne stopper terminating in the dècolletage of another gentleman's date.
The correct "how-to" is at the link.
Rangel: Crooked, or ....?
I don't think there's an option to "crooked."
Representative Charles B. Rangel’s legal team is reviewing his tax records to determine whether the congressman received a homestead exemption on a house he owned in Washington while living in several rent-stabilized apartments in New York City.
The situation is potentially troublesome for Mr. Rangel, a Harlem Democrat who is already the subject of a wide-ranging internal House investigation stemming from an assortment of ethical concerns
This is in ADDITION to his offshore-living tax problems.
What a buffoon.
HT: RedStates
Representative Charles B. Rangel’s legal team is reviewing his tax records to determine whether the congressman received a homestead exemption on a house he owned in Washington while living in several rent-stabilized apartments in New York City.
The situation is potentially troublesome for Mr. Rangel, a Harlem Democrat who is already the subject of a wide-ranging internal House investigation stemming from an assortment of ethical concerns
This is in ADDITION to his offshore-living tax problems.
What a buffoon.
HT: RedStates
8 to 1? No Problem for USMC
Don't mess with the Marines.
In the city of Shewan, approximately 250 insurgents ambushed 30 Marines and paid a heavy price for it.
Shewan has historically been a safe haven for insurgents, who used to plan and stage attacks against Coalition Forces in the Bala Baluk district.
..."Our vehicles came under a barrage of enemy RPGs (rocket propelled grenades) and machine gun fire. One of our 'humvees' was disabled from RPG fire, and the Marines inside dismounted and laid down suppression fire so they could evacuate a Marine who was knocked unconscious from the blast."
The vicious attack that left the humvee destroyed and several of the Marines pinned down in the kill zone sparked an intense eight-hour battle as the platoon desperately fought to recover their comrades
...During the battle, the designated marksman single handedly thwarted a company-sized enemy RPG and machinegun ambush by reportedly killing 20 enemy fighters with his devastatingly accurate precision fire.
...At the end of the battle, the Marines had reduced an enemy stronghold, killed more than 50 insurgents and wounded several more.
"I didn't realize how many bad guys there were until we had broken through the enemies' lines and forced them to retreat. It was roughly 250 insurgents against 30 of us," the corporal said. "It was a good day for the Marine Corps. We killed a lot of bad guys, and none of our guys were seriously injured."
HT: PowerLine
In the city of Shewan, approximately 250 insurgents ambushed 30 Marines and paid a heavy price for it.
Shewan has historically been a safe haven for insurgents, who used to plan and stage attacks against Coalition Forces in the Bala Baluk district.
..."Our vehicles came under a barrage of enemy RPGs (rocket propelled grenades) and machine gun fire. One of our 'humvees' was disabled from RPG fire, and the Marines inside dismounted and laid down suppression fire so they could evacuate a Marine who was knocked unconscious from the blast."
The vicious attack that left the humvee destroyed and several of the Marines pinned down in the kill zone sparked an intense eight-hour battle as the platoon desperately fought to recover their comrades
...During the battle, the designated marksman single handedly thwarted a company-sized enemy RPG and machinegun ambush by reportedly killing 20 enemy fighters with his devastatingly accurate precision fire.
...At the end of the battle, the Marines had reduced an enemy stronghold, killed more than 50 insurgents and wounded several more.
"I didn't realize how many bad guys there were until we had broken through the enemies' lines and forced them to retreat. It was roughly 250 insurgents against 30 of us," the corporal said. "It was a good day for the Marine Corps. We killed a lot of bad guys, and none of our guys were seriously injured."
HT: PowerLine
Monday, November 24, 2008
Thinking About Doing Biz in Milwaukee? Think Again--Hard
Well, AlderThief Bob Bauman of Milwaukee just cleaned a restaranteur for about $65K
That was what the guy put into renovating a business before the AlderThief literally yanked his license out from under him.
McIlheran went to the License Committee meeting Court of Star Chamber grand larceny proceedings and reports as follows:
Bauman, who isn’t on the committee but who showed up at the extraordinarily long meeting -- the matter took up something like five hours of the committee's time -- to argue against Khan, says that it doesn’t matter that Khan wasn’t the problem before, doesn’t matter that Khan had nothing to do with the hot-dog stand when it was a crime magnet, doesn’t matter that Khan appears to have fixed up the problems in the kitchen that got the place closed.
What matters, Bauman said, was this (I’m going to paraphrase):
Khan didn’t spruce up the parking lot.
Khan didn’t go through the requisite back-scratching and ego-petting of aldermen, neighborhood groups and other area interests before opening up. Quite possibly, he had no idea this was even necessary and expected in Milwaukee these days. But, hey, once you give the fellow a license, it’s much harder to shut him down if your beef with him is that you don’t want a hot dog stand -- so, best stop him from opening. In fact, a lot of the meeting was taken up by testimony from neighbors who seemed to be arguing against the way the previous -- and urelated -- operator ran the stand.
The place and the product are the problem. Bauman said it’s just “inherently” problematic to run “a hot-dog dispensary,” as he put it. Such places are just naturally trouble, no matter who runs them. You’ve heard of the “broken-windows” theory of crime? This, I think, we can term the “pickle relish made them wicked” theory
One alderman even apologized before voting to steal this guy's retirement money--but stole it anyway.
The City of Milwaukee doesn't need higher taxes to kill itself off. All it needs is Bob Bauman.
That was what the guy put into renovating a business before the AlderThief literally yanked his license out from under him.
McIlheran went to the
Bauman, who isn’t on the committee but who showed up at the extraordinarily long meeting -- the matter took up something like five hours of the committee's time -- to argue against Khan, says that it doesn’t matter that Khan wasn’t the problem before, doesn’t matter that Khan had nothing to do with the hot-dog stand when it was a crime magnet, doesn’t matter that Khan appears to have fixed up the problems in the kitchen that got the place closed.
What matters, Bauman said, was this (I’m going to paraphrase):
Khan didn’t spruce up the parking lot.
Khan didn’t go through the requisite back-scratching and ego-petting of aldermen, neighborhood groups and other area interests before opening up. Quite possibly, he had no idea this was even necessary and expected in Milwaukee these days. But, hey, once you give the fellow a license, it’s much harder to shut him down if your beef with him is that you don’t want a hot dog stand -- so, best stop him from opening. In fact, a lot of the meeting was taken up by testimony from neighbors who seemed to be arguing against the way the previous -- and urelated -- operator ran the stand.
The place and the product are the problem. Bauman said it’s just “inherently” problematic to run “a hot-dog dispensary,” as he put it. Such places are just naturally trouble, no matter who runs them. You’ve heard of the “broken-windows” theory of crime? This, I think, we can term the “pickle relish made them wicked” theory
One alderman even apologized before voting to steal this guy's retirement money--but stole it anyway.
The City of Milwaukee doesn't need higher taxes to kill itself off. All it needs is Bob Bauman.
Obama's "Civil Rights": To Hell With the 1A
Evidently there are a lot of new "rights" which have to be made enforceable.
Citing what they call America’s “promise of equality,” the Obama administration plans to push for homosexual rights by including protections of sexual orientation, “gender identity” and “gender expression” as civil rights. His office proposes expanding hate crimes statues and the adoption rights of homosexuals while supporting full civil unions for “LGBT couples” to give them “legal rights and privileges equal to those of married couples.”
The proposals are announced under the Civil Rights section of their agenda presented at Change.gov, the web site of the Obama campaign’s self-described “Office of the President-elect.”
It's interesting that the promises do not explicitly mention gay "marriage." "Civil unions" are already in existence (here in Milwaukee, for example.)
As to 'expanding hate crimes statutues,' this will be a feeeeeeelllllll-good infringement on the 1st Amendment, aimed specifically at religious folks--just as the "protections" of SO/GI/GE will be.
What fun!
HT: Caveman
Citing what they call America’s “promise of equality,” the Obama administration plans to push for homosexual rights by including protections of sexual orientation, “gender identity” and “gender expression” as civil rights. His office proposes expanding hate crimes statues and the adoption rights of homosexuals while supporting full civil unions for “LGBT couples” to give them “legal rights and privileges equal to those of married couples.”
The proposals are announced under the Civil Rights section of their agenda presented at Change.gov, the web site of the Obama campaign’s self-described “Office of the President-elect.”
It's interesting that the promises do not explicitly mention gay "marriage." "Civil unions" are already in existence (here in Milwaukee, for example.)
As to 'expanding hate crimes statutues,' this will be a feeeeeeelllllll-good infringement on the 1st Amendment, aimed specifically at religious folks--just as the "protections" of SO/GI/GE will be.
What fun!
HT: Caveman
On RC Congressional Votes for FOCA
Ed Peters, the reliable Canonist, has a few thoughts for the Bishops--some of whom have resident Catholic politicians who will vote for FOCA.
As I see it, bishops have four options for dealing with Catholic legislators who support FOCA:
1. Canon 915. Make plain, by public announcement and/or private contact, that a legislator's support for FOCA qualifies as (probably formal, but certainly proximate material) cooperation with objective grave evil and that such conduct, in this case, would render one ineligible for reception of holy Communion under Canon 915.This option requires little or no technical groundwork to be laid, carries immediate, visible, and salutary consequences (withholding of holy Communion from the publically unworthy and protecting the faithful from classical scandal), and, because it is a sacramental disciplinary norm and not a canonical penalty, it requires no formal process for imposition; finally, it leaves open the possibility of speedy reconciliation by a suitable expression of repentance.
(That is the Arb. Burke solution.)
2. Canon 1369. Warn Catholic legislators that their support for FOCA appears to be using "a public show or speech [or] published writing . . . [to] gravely injure good morals", and that as such they would be liable to "a just penalty" under Canon 1369. The sanction need not be specified in advance, and contempt for any earlier sanctions can result in escalating penalties under 1983 CIC 1393.This option requires little or no technical groundwork to be laid (no prior warning is necessary, but it might be pastorally prudent to offer same), and it carries visible and salutary consequences (ones flexible in nature, but which could eventually include excommunication). Because Canon 1369 is a penal norm, it would require a formal process (1983 CIC 1314, 1342) for imposition of the penalty. Canon 1369 can also be enforced by penal precept (1983 CIC 49, 1319, 1339).
3. Canon 455. Enact at the episcopal conference level (though individual bishops are free to act here as well, per 1983 CIC 1315 et seq.) a "general decree" (1983 CIC 29, 455) making legislative support for FOCA a canonical offense and specifying a penalty or range of penalties.This option requires that considerable groundwork be laid and, even if Roman authorization were forthcoming for conference action (I suspect it would be), there is probably not enough time to enact specific penal legislation before FOCA becomes an issue
These actions, says Peters, are not mutually exclusive, either.
As I see it, bishops have four options for dealing with Catholic legislators who support FOCA:
1. Canon 915. Make plain, by public announcement and/or private contact, that a legislator's support for FOCA qualifies as (probably formal, but certainly proximate material) cooperation with objective grave evil and that such conduct, in this case, would render one ineligible for reception of holy Communion under Canon 915.This option requires little or no technical groundwork to be laid, carries immediate, visible, and salutary consequences (withholding of holy Communion from the publically unworthy and protecting the faithful from classical scandal), and, because it is a sacramental disciplinary norm and not a canonical penalty, it requires no formal process for imposition; finally, it leaves open the possibility of speedy reconciliation by a suitable expression of repentance.
(That is the Arb. Burke solution.)
2. Canon 1369. Warn Catholic legislators that their support for FOCA appears to be using "a public show or speech [or] published writing . . . [to] gravely injure good morals", and that as such they would be liable to "a just penalty" under Canon 1369. The sanction need not be specified in advance, and contempt for any earlier sanctions can result in escalating penalties under 1983 CIC 1393.This option requires little or no technical groundwork to be laid (no prior warning is necessary, but it might be pastorally prudent to offer same), and it carries visible and salutary consequences (ones flexible in nature, but which could eventually include excommunication). Because Canon 1369 is a penal norm, it would require a formal process (1983 CIC 1314, 1342) for imposition of the penalty. Canon 1369 can also be enforced by penal precept (1983 CIC 49, 1319, 1339).
3. Canon 455. Enact at the episcopal conference level (though individual bishops are free to act here as well, per 1983 CIC 1315 et seq.) a "general decree" (1983 CIC 29, 455) making legislative support for FOCA a canonical offense and specifying a penalty or range of penalties.This option requires that considerable groundwork be laid and, even if Roman authorization were forthcoming for conference action (I suspect it would be), there is probably not enough time to enact specific penal legislation before FOCA becomes an issue
These actions, says Peters, are not mutually exclusive, either.
Stalin v. Hitler: Another Look
Very interesting stuff. The author of the book is an ex-Soviet mil-intel analyst who bailed to England. Summarized, he makes two pertinent points.
...Stalin was planning to invade Germany in early July of 1941, a few days after Germany instead invaded the USSR. His argument is simple: the USSR was well-prepared for war, but it was not prepared for a defensive war; ...the Soviet military was trained, equipped, and, in June of 1941, positioned for an offensive war. (E.g., huge masses of Soviet troops, equipment, ammunition, and other supplies were stationed right by the border
...this was all part of Stalin's grand design to conquer Europe (and, eventually, the entire world). He helped Hitler re-arm the German military, expecting him to attack Western Europe, thus acting as "the icebreaker of the revolution"; signed the 1939 non-aggression pact, which was supposed to allay Hitler's fears of being attacked by Stalin, while also creating a common border where there was none before; waited for Hitler to invade Poland first, so that Hitler would be forever known as the villain who started the war; then, he was to strike at Hitler from behind, defeat him, and "liberate" all of Europe (i.e. install Communist puppet regimes throughout, or perhaps even annex it). Hitler somehow got wind of this, and, out of desperation, attacked the USSR first
Now THAT'S a different picture, eh?
You'll be shocked! SHOCKED!! to learn that Stalin was a double-dealing murderous bastard.
HT: Ace
...Stalin was planning to invade Germany in early July of 1941, a few days after Germany instead invaded the USSR. His argument is simple: the USSR was well-prepared for war, but it was not prepared for a defensive war; ...the Soviet military was trained, equipped, and, in June of 1941, positioned for an offensive war. (E.g., huge masses of Soviet troops, equipment, ammunition, and other supplies were stationed right by the border
...this was all part of Stalin's grand design to conquer Europe (and, eventually, the entire world). He helped Hitler re-arm the German military, expecting him to attack Western Europe, thus acting as "the icebreaker of the revolution"; signed the 1939 non-aggression pact, which was supposed to allay Hitler's fears of being attacked by Stalin, while also creating a common border where there was none before; waited for Hitler to invade Poland first, so that Hitler would be forever known as the villain who started the war; then, he was to strike at Hitler from behind, defeat him, and "liberate" all of Europe (i.e. install Communist puppet regimes throughout, or perhaps even annex it). Hitler somehow got wind of this, and, out of desperation, attacked the USSR first
Now THAT'S a different picture, eh?
You'll be shocked! SHOCKED!! to learn that Stalin was a double-dealing murderous bastard.
HT: Ace
On That Poly Sci Quiz: It's Worse Than You Think
A while back, the ISI poly-sci-cum-econ test was hot stuff. Dedicated inter-tube-bloglodytes took it--and a lefto (Jay) actually scored 100%!
For the record, a couple of HS seniors of my acquaintance took it, too, and between them managed to come up with a 54+% score; respectable, but not brag-able.
Heh. They did better than one OTHER class:
US elected officials scored abysmally on a test measuring their civic knowledge, with an average grade of just 44 percent, the group that organized the exam said Thursday. Ordinary citizens did not fare much better, scoring just 49 percent correct on the 33 exam questions compiled by the Intercollegiate Studies Institute (ISI).
You knew there was something prevailing in Congress and the Legislature--now you can put a name on it.
IGNORANCE.
The worst part is that they are both ignorant AND vain about it...
For the record, a couple of HS seniors of my acquaintance took it, too, and between them managed to come up with a 54+% score; respectable, but not brag-able.
Heh. They did better than one OTHER class:
US elected officials scored abysmally on a test measuring their civic knowledge, with an average grade of just 44 percent, the group that organized the exam said Thursday. Ordinary citizens did not fare much better, scoring just 49 percent correct on the 33 exam questions compiled by the Intercollegiate Studies Institute (ISI).
You knew there was something prevailing in Congress and the Legislature--now you can put a name on it.
IGNORANCE.
The worst part is that they are both ignorant AND vain about it...
Think Twice About Geithner
A good think-piece here. Some excerpts:
...If you look at how the Fed and Treasury have handled the bailouts of Bear Stearns and AIG, a reasonable conclusion might be that the Paulson/Geithner model of political economy is rule by plutocrat. Facilitate a Fed bailout of the speculative elements of the financial world and their sponsors among the larger derivatives dealer banks, but leave the real economy to deal with the crisis via bankruptcy and liquidation. Thus Lehman, WaMu, Wachovia and Downey shareholders and creditors get the axe, but the bondholders and institutional counterparties of Bear and AIG do not
...By embracing Geithner, President-elect Barack Obama is endorsing the ill-advised scheme to support AIG directed by Hank Paulson et al at Goldman Sachs and executed by Tim Geithner and Ben Bernanke. News reports have already documented the ties between GS and AIG, and the backroom machinations by Paulson to get the deal done. This scheme to stay AIG’s resolution cannot possibly work and when it does collapse, Barak Obama and his administration will wear the blame due through their endorsement of Tim Geithner.
(I'm not sure that Obama & Co. will have to take the blowback. But Paulson certainly won't, if he can help it.)
The bailout of AIG represents the last desperate rearguard action by the CDS dealers and the happy squirrels at ISDA, the keepers of the flame of Wall Street financial engineering.
...many of these CDS contracts were written two, three and four years ago, at annual spreads and upfront fees far smaller than the 90 plus percent payouts that will likely be required upon a GM default. That’s the dirty little secret we peripherally discussed in our interview last week with Bill Janeway, namely that most of these CDS contracts were never priced correctly to reflect the true probability of default. In a true insurance market with capital and reserve requirements, the spreads on CDS would be multiples of those demanded today for such highly correlated risks. Or to put it in fair value accounting terms, pricing CDS vs. the current yield on the underlying basis is a fool’s game
The author is affiliated with Institutional Risk Analytics.
HT: Ritholtz
...If you look at how the Fed and Treasury have handled the bailouts of Bear Stearns and AIG, a reasonable conclusion might be that the Paulson/Geithner model of political economy is rule by plutocrat. Facilitate a Fed bailout of the speculative elements of the financial world and their sponsors among the larger derivatives dealer banks, but leave the real economy to deal with the crisis via bankruptcy and liquidation. Thus Lehman, WaMu, Wachovia and Downey shareholders and creditors get the axe, but the bondholders and institutional counterparties of Bear and AIG do not
...By embracing Geithner, President-elect Barack Obama is endorsing the ill-advised scheme to support AIG directed by Hank Paulson et al at Goldman Sachs and executed by Tim Geithner and Ben Bernanke. News reports have already documented the ties between GS and AIG, and the backroom machinations by Paulson to get the deal done. This scheme to stay AIG’s resolution cannot possibly work and when it does collapse, Barak Obama and his administration will wear the blame due through their endorsement of Tim Geithner.
(I'm not sure that Obama & Co. will have to take the blowback. But Paulson certainly won't, if he can help it.)
The bailout of AIG represents the last desperate rearguard action by the CDS dealers and the happy squirrels at ISDA, the keepers of the flame of Wall Street financial engineering.
...many of these CDS contracts were written two, three and four years ago, at annual spreads and upfront fees far smaller than the 90 plus percent payouts that will likely be required upon a GM default. That’s the dirty little secret we peripherally discussed in our interview last week with Bill Janeway, namely that most of these CDS contracts were never priced correctly to reflect the true probability of default. In a true insurance market with capital and reserve requirements, the spreads on CDS would be multiples of those demanded today for such highly correlated risks. Or to put it in fair value accounting terms, pricing CDS vs. the current yield on the underlying basis is a fool’s game
The author is affiliated with Institutional Risk Analytics.
HT: Ritholtz
Accountability for Thee, but Not for Me!!
As usual, Shoebox points to a glaring disparity.
First, he quotes Queen Nancy Pelosi:
“I am very optimistic and hopeful that they have gotten the message that they just can’t come and say, ‘Give us this,’ ” Pelosi said Friday. “How do we tell the American taxpayer it was worthwhile to put this in not as a life support for a few more months and then they are back again, but as an investment in their viability?”
“In return for their additional burden, taxpayers also deserve to see top automobile executives making significant sacrifices and major changes to their way of doing business.”
Then he recites the horrible US deficit/debt numbers run up by Congress and the Bush Incompetency...roughly, $120 trillion...
Then he asks:
When will Congress set the same limits and expectations on their pay, benefits, perks as they are demanding the auto execs do? When will Congressional leaders put their “skin in the game?” When will Congress eliminate the ability to gain any future income from their time in Congress and remake the Representative and Senator roles into the public servant, not public fleecing roles that they were intended to be?
'60's rockers had that answer, Shoebox.
The Twelfth of Never.
First, he quotes Queen Nancy Pelosi:
“I am very optimistic and hopeful that they have gotten the message that they just can’t come and say, ‘Give us this,’ ” Pelosi said Friday. “How do we tell the American taxpayer it was worthwhile to put this in not as a life support for a few more months and then they are back again, but as an investment in their viability?”
“In return for their additional burden, taxpayers also deserve to see top automobile executives making significant sacrifices and major changes to their way of doing business.”
Then he recites the horrible US deficit/debt numbers run up by Congress and the Bush Incompetency...roughly, $120 trillion...
Then he asks:
When will Congress set the same limits and expectations on their pay, benefits, perks as they are demanding the auto execs do? When will Congressional leaders put their “skin in the game?” When will Congress eliminate the ability to gain any future income from their time in Congress and remake the Representative and Senator roles into the public servant, not public fleecing roles that they were intended to be?
'60's rockers had that answer, Shoebox.
The Twelfth of Never.
Citi's Pig in the Poke: Nuclear Waste
Congratulations!!
You, the taxpayer, now own a New York Bank!
Here's the fine print you haven't seen in the dismally-useless MSM reports:
Citigroup...has about 200 million accounts in more than 100 countries. Its balance sheet has $2 trillion in assets. They also have more than $1 trillion in off-balance sheet assets. (The latter are of great concern because they’re not subject to the same reserve and capital requirements as the normal stuff.)
The red-highlight is the key. Recall the reading assignment I gave you yesterday. Follow the NYT link; the story mentions the "off-balance-sheet" stuff.
By and large, that OBS stuff is nuclear waste.
Don't expect to see Robert Rubin strung up from any lightpoles, although it would be appropriate. After all, Rubin is a Clintonista.
You, the taxpayer, now own a New York Bank!
Here's the fine print you haven't seen in the dismally-useless MSM reports:
Citigroup...has about 200 million accounts in more than 100 countries. Its balance sheet has $2 trillion in assets. They also have more than $1 trillion in off-balance sheet assets. (The latter are of great concern because they’re not subject to the same reserve and capital requirements as the normal stuff.)
The red-highlight is the key. Recall the reading assignment I gave you yesterday. Follow the NYT link; the story mentions the "off-balance-sheet" stuff.
By and large, that OBS stuff is nuclear waste.
Don't expect to see Robert Rubin strung up from any lightpoles, although it would be appropriate. After all, Rubin is a Clintonista.
The Death of the MSM: It's Suicide
The above is an actual screenshot of a poll taken by the Philadelphia Inquirer (decidedly MSM organ.)
Somebody who has an IQ greater than their belt-size eventually removed RFK from the lineup.
HT: Moonbattery
Torinus Becomes Special Pleader
John Torinus suddenly thinks a lot less of the free market.
...For me and 250 co-workers at Serigraph who make auto parts, it's not an academic or political debate.
The same goes for thousands of other employees at numerous auto parts companies in Wisconsin. They are watching the political gamesmanship in Washington, D.C., with a high level of dismay and disgust.
If the politicos can dole out $700 billion to their buddies on Wall Street and to bankers who bought and sold undercollateralized, high-risk investment instruments, what's the issue with $50 billion to try to save the three American companies in the biggest industry in the country?
Yup. Torinus has his own skin in the game--which kinda had a negative impact on the "Free Market" yapping he's been doing for years.
And of course, he slobbers a lot of red-paint into the picture, hoping that invocations of "Apocalypse Now" and "Starving Workers" will turn the trick (so to speak).
Relax, John. When the Big 2.0000000012 go into BK, you'll have an opportunity to claim some money. More important, John, the industry is not going to disappear from the face of the Earth; it will still be around, maybe with different owners/managers (thank God!) and maybe with better supply-chains.
Meantime, you'd best be writing down your A/R's from the auto industry--no matter WHAT happens in D.C.
...For me and 250 co-workers at Serigraph who make auto parts, it's not an academic or political debate.
The same goes for thousands of other employees at numerous auto parts companies in Wisconsin. They are watching the political gamesmanship in Washington, D.C., with a high level of dismay and disgust.
If the politicos can dole out $700 billion to their buddies on Wall Street and to bankers who bought and sold undercollateralized, high-risk investment instruments, what's the issue with $50 billion to try to save the three American companies in the biggest industry in the country?
Yup. Torinus has his own skin in the game--which kinda had a negative impact on the "Free Market" yapping he's been doing for years.
And of course, he slobbers a lot of red-paint into the picture, hoping that invocations of "Apocalypse Now" and "Starving Workers" will turn the trick (so to speak).
Relax, John. When the Big 2.0000000012 go into BK, you'll have an opportunity to claim some money. More important, John, the industry is not going to disappear from the face of the Earth; it will still be around, maybe with different owners/managers (thank God!) and maybe with better supply-chains.
Meantime, you'd best be writing down your A/R's from the auto industry--no matter WHAT happens in D.C.
Bail Out the Home Builders?
This one takes the cake.
The builders' lobby is ramping up its sales pitch for a $250 billion stimulus package called "Fix Housing First," arguing that financial markets won't recover until home prices stop falling. They are calling for a generous tax credit for home purchases and a federal subsidy that would lower a homeowner's mortgage rate.
..."The basic asset that is underlying all the financial problems that we're experiencing is highly unstable, and it's causing an ongoing hemorrhaging in the financial system," said David Ledford, who oversees housing finance and policy for the National Association of Homebuilders. "It's starting to snowball."
No kidding.
But what the homebuilders conveniently forget is the Bubble they've enjoyed for the last 10+ years. The price of housing increasd, and the main measure of housing prices (the income/price ratio) is now about 4-to-1, instead of the historical average of 3-to-1.
That's "Easy Al" Greenspan's fault--he pumped money into the system which caused the dotcom bubble/bust, and now the home price bubble/bust. The deficit-happy Bush Administration didn't help, of course--but monetary policy was just awful under Greenspan.
The homebuilders who over-extended, along with the Realtors, began to believe their own line of bull that "housing and land will never, never, never go down in price."
They were wrong, too.
The builders' lobby is ramping up its sales pitch for a $250 billion stimulus package called "Fix Housing First," arguing that financial markets won't recover until home prices stop falling. They are calling for a generous tax credit for home purchases and a federal subsidy that would lower a homeowner's mortgage rate.
..."The basic asset that is underlying all the financial problems that we're experiencing is highly unstable, and it's causing an ongoing hemorrhaging in the financial system," said David Ledford, who oversees housing finance and policy for the National Association of Homebuilders. "It's starting to snowball."
No kidding.
But what the homebuilders conveniently forget is the Bubble they've enjoyed for the last 10+ years. The price of housing increasd, and the main measure of housing prices (the income/price ratio) is now about 4-to-1, instead of the historical average of 3-to-1.
That's "Easy Al" Greenspan's fault--he pumped money into the system which caused the dotcom bubble/bust, and now the home price bubble/bust. The deficit-happy Bush Administration didn't help, of course--but monetary policy was just awful under Greenspan.
The homebuilders who over-extended, along with the Realtors, began to believe their own line of bull that "housing and land will never, never, never go down in price."
They were wrong, too.
Sunday, November 23, 2008
Greed and Stupidity: Citibank
If you believe the story in the NYTimes (and I do, but with some reservations,) then it was greed and stupidity which caused the End of Citibank.
Which element was prevalent is a matter of flipping a coin.
Names to remember: Chuck Prince (ex-CEO), Robert Rubin (ex-Clintonista) and a dweeb named Maheras.
Which element was prevalent is a matter of flipping a coin.
Names to remember: Chuck Prince (ex-CEO), Robert Rubin (ex-Clintonista) and a dweeb named Maheras.
Move Over, Charlie: The Bloggers Are Next
Well, only in Washington State...for the time being.
”Blogger beware? State regulators are wondering whether online political activism amounts to lobbying, which could force Web-based activists to file public reports detailing their finances.”
“In a collision of 21st century media and 1970s political reforms, the inquiry hints at a showdown over press freedoms for bloggers, whose self-published journals can shift between news reporting, opinion writing, political organizing and campaign fundraising.”
Doesn't look like it's going anywhere soon.
But don't be surprised if one of Doylie's henchmen puts out something similar (hint: it's spelled G A B. (That's short for "Decripit Old Judges With Virulent Legal Positivism Syndrome Given a Job by Doyle.")
HT: Ace
”Blogger beware? State regulators are wondering whether online political activism amounts to lobbying, which could force Web-based activists to file public reports detailing their finances.”
“In a collision of 21st century media and 1970s political reforms, the inquiry hints at a showdown over press freedoms for bloggers, whose self-published journals can shift between news reporting, opinion writing, political organizing and campaign fundraising.”
Doesn't look like it's going anywhere soon.
But don't be surprised if one of Doylie's henchmen puts out something similar (hint: it's spelled G A B. (That's short for "Decripit Old Judges With Virulent Legal Positivism Syndrome Given a Job by Doyle.")
HT: Ace
FrankenSquirrel(s), the Final Chapter
A while back I posted about the FrankenSquirrel.
Honestly, it was a horrible sight; the fur around the eyes, ears, and butt had disappeared and the skin (where the fur used to be) was a mottled red/white, and bulging--almost to the point where his eyes were 'hooded' by the skin.
An alert reader pinged his wife, who diagnosed the FrankenSquirrel as having the mange, a contagious and always-fatal disease.
What makes this a little interesting is that I have seen literally hundreds (maybe thousands) of squirrels, here in suburbia and in the city of Milwaukee, not to mention all the other places one normally travels. NONE of them had this condition.
At any rate, the backyard is filled with the damn bird-seed-pigs, all of whom were at risk of getting this disease and, for that matter, spreading it to the local red-fox population, the feral and domestic cats, and the local pooches.
Didn't take much to make the decision. Took him out.
Sure enough, he'd already infected another squirrel--who is also now enjoying 72 squirrel-virgins.
I hope that's the end. They are pests, but fun to watch, particularly as they fight over a stash of birdseed...
Honestly, it was a horrible sight; the fur around the eyes, ears, and butt had disappeared and the skin (where the fur used to be) was a mottled red/white, and bulging--almost to the point where his eyes were 'hooded' by the skin.
An alert reader pinged his wife, who diagnosed the FrankenSquirrel as having the mange, a contagious and always-fatal disease.
What makes this a little interesting is that I have seen literally hundreds (maybe thousands) of squirrels, here in suburbia and in the city of Milwaukee, not to mention all the other places one normally travels. NONE of them had this condition.
At any rate, the backyard is filled with the damn bird-seed-pigs, all of whom were at risk of getting this disease and, for that matter, spreading it to the local red-fox population, the feral and domestic cats, and the local pooches.
Didn't take much to make the decision. Took him out.
Sure enough, he'd already infected another squirrel--who is also now enjoying 72 squirrel-virgins.
I hope that's the end. They are pests, but fun to watch, particularly as they fight over a stash of birdseed...
Russ Decker: Hubris? or Stupid?
Naturally, the $5Bn (?) $6Bn (?) (who really knows?) Wisconsin deficit gives the mice a chance to play.
So Russ Decker (D) has declared that the Federally-mandated Real ID program should be delayed. Maybe just scrapped entirely.
He has other plans for the money:
"I think we're going to need that cash to put people to work."
Oh, really Russ? YOU are going to 'put people to work'? On the State payroll?
Get over yourself, Russ.
Just as a reminder, under the Federal law, if you don't have a Real ID, you don't get to fly anyplace on an airplane.
THAT will stimulate commerce, Russ! Think of all those business-types, driving to their meetings in Omaha, New York, L.A., and thinking "Gee. There are a lot of other places I could move my business to...." as they cruise along in their cars.
Perhaps you should start thinking before you talk, Russ.
So Russ Decker (D) has declared that the Federally-mandated Real ID program should be delayed. Maybe just scrapped entirely.
He has other plans for the money:
"I think we're going to need that cash to put people to work."
Oh, really Russ? YOU are going to 'put people to work'? On the State payroll?
Get over yourself, Russ.
Just as a reminder, under the Federal law, if you don't have a Real ID, you don't get to fly anyplace on an airplane.
THAT will stimulate commerce, Russ! Think of all those business-types, driving to their meetings in Omaha, New York, L.A., and thinking "Gee. There are a lot of other places I could move my business to...." as they cruise along in their cars.
Perhaps you should start thinking before you talk, Russ.
The First Assault on Heller: Tonight on MSNBC
Or, as Rush would have it: PMS-NBC.
Weatherman Roker (not to be confused with real Weathermen--like Bill Ayers and his Milwaukee-born terrorist wife, Ms. Dohrn) will present the first of what will likely be several anti-gun opinion pieces.
Someone from BATFE, an agency in the running for being the most incompent bunch of bureaucrats anywhere in the USA, will guide Roker through a gun store.
Should be a real hoot to watch...
Weatherman Roker (not to be confused with real Weathermen--like Bill Ayers and his Milwaukee-born terrorist wife, Ms. Dohrn) will present the first of what will likely be several anti-gun opinion pieces.
Someone from BATFE, an agency in the running for being the most incompent bunch of bureaucrats anywhere in the USA, will guide Roker through a gun store.
Should be a real hoot to watch...
Saturday, November 22, 2008
A LOT of Talents
I didn't know that Hugh Laurie was good at a lot of things artistic....
Here's Laurie foreshadowing Obama (wait for it---)
Here's Laurie foreshadowing Obama (wait for it---)
Mash Notes for HRC; Eastasia Rising
The American Conservative notes the trend.
The neocon surge towards Hillary as Secretary of State, a position which she reportedly has accepted, has already begun. The current Weekly Standard features two puff pieces on her lauding her “conservative” credentials. One, describing her as a real hawk, is by Michael Goldfarb. Goldfarb is the former McCain campaign staffer who notoriously claimed on national television that there are a number of anti-Semitic associates of Barack Obama, though he declined to name them. Apparently Hillary, though a Democrat, passes the sniff test.
It's become de rigeur to mention "1984" when discussing the Obamaplans; usually, the concentration is on domestic affairs.
Largely forgotten, however, is the perma-war on Eastasia.
The neocon surge towards Hillary as Secretary of State, a position which she reportedly has accepted, has already begun. The current Weekly Standard features two puff pieces on her lauding her “conservative” credentials. One, describing her as a real hawk, is by Michael Goldfarb. Goldfarb is the former McCain campaign staffer who notoriously claimed on national television that there are a number of anti-Semitic associates of Barack Obama, though he declined to name them. Apparently Hillary, though a Democrat, passes the sniff test.
It's become de rigeur to mention "1984" when discussing the Obamaplans; usually, the concentration is on domestic affairs.
Largely forgotten, however, is the perma-war on Eastasia.
The Question Jim Doyle Can't Answer
From Random 10:
Not that Doyle gives a rip; his interest is in power, not facts.
If carbon dioxide traps heat, then how is cold beer possible?
Not that Doyle gives a rip; his interest is in power, not facts.
The Definitive Riposte to the Palin/Turkey Frenzy
The New Order: "In" and "Out"
To go with the automotive news (below), Planet Moron has the Style section list.
Food:
Out: Eating out six times a week.
In: Eating six times a week.
Transportation:
Out: Sweetheart discounted lease on a BMW 335i.
In: Sweetheart discounted bus pass for the crosstown metro.
Investments:
Out: One hundred shares of IBM Stock that yield $50 in cash dividends.
In: One pallet of canned beans that yield 3840 servings of canned beans
Environment:
Out: Paying a little bit more for green energy because, goshdarnit, that’s just how much you care about the environment.
In: Gathering old garden mulch, leftover paint thinner and the leaves that blew in from your neighbor’s yard and burning them in your fireplace because, goshdarnit, that’s just how much you care about not freezing to death
Yes, of course he has more at the link....
Food:
Out: Eating out six times a week.
In: Eating six times a week.
Transportation:
Out: Sweetheart discounted lease on a BMW 335i.
In: Sweetheart discounted bus pass for the crosstown metro.
Investments:
Out: One hundred shares of IBM Stock that yield $50 in cash dividends.
In: One pallet of canned beans that yield 3840 servings of canned beans
Environment:
Out: Paying a little bit more for green energy because, goshdarnit, that’s just how much you care about the environment.
In: Gathering old garden mulch, leftover paint thinner and the leaves that blew in from your neighbor’s yard and burning them in your fireplace because, goshdarnit, that’s just how much you care about not freezing to death
Yes, of course he has more at the link....
Coming to a Showroom Near You...
Iowahawk, again.
...All new for 2012, the Pelosi GTxi SS/Rt Sport Edition is the mandatory American car so advanced it took $100 billion and an entire Congress to design it. We started with same reliable 7-way hybrid ethanol-biodeisel-electric-clean coal-wind-solar-pedal power plant behind the base model Pelosi, but packed it with extra oomph and the sassy styling pizazz that tells the world that 1974 Detroit is back again -- with a vengeance.
...Inside, a luxurious all-velour interior designed by Barney Frank features thoughtful appointments like in-dash condom dispenser and detachable vibrating shift knob. A special high capacity hatchback holds up to 300 aluminum cans, meaning fewer trips to the redemption center. And the standard 3 speaker Fairness ActoPhonic FM low-band sound system means you'll never miss a segment of NPR again
...With an MSRP starting at only $629,999.99, it's affordable too. Don't forget to ask about dealer incentives, rebates, tax credits, and wealth redistribution plans for customers from dozens of qualifying special interest groups. Plus easy-pay financing programs from Fannie Mae.
It's always difficult to determine which parts are fiction, and which are not.
...All new for 2012, the Pelosi GTxi SS/Rt Sport Edition is the mandatory American car so advanced it took $100 billion and an entire Congress to design it. We started with same reliable 7-way hybrid ethanol-biodeisel-electric-clean coal-wind-solar-pedal power plant behind the base model Pelosi, but packed it with extra oomph and the sassy styling pizazz that tells the world that 1974 Detroit is back again -- with a vengeance.
...Inside, a luxurious all-velour interior designed by Barney Frank features thoughtful appointments like in-dash condom dispenser and detachable vibrating shift knob. A special high capacity hatchback holds up to 300 aluminum cans, meaning fewer trips to the redemption center. And the standard 3 speaker Fairness ActoPhonic FM low-band sound system means you'll never miss a segment of NPR again
...With an MSRP starting at only $629,999.99, it's affordable too. Don't forget to ask about dealer incentives, rebates, tax credits, and wealth redistribution plans for customers from dozens of qualifying special interest groups. Plus easy-pay financing programs from Fannie Mae.
It's always difficult to determine which parts are fiction, and which are not.
Some Good News in Economics
A straw in the wind? A false flag? Or a harbinger?
Calculated Risk picks the indicators. These are Friday's numbers:
The three month LIBOR increased slightly to 2.16% from 2.15%. (October it was 4.81+)
The TED spread: 2.13. (slightly worse) (October it was 4.6+)
The A2P2 spread decreased to 4.16 from a record (for this cycle) 4.83
The two year swap spread from Bloomberg: 107.5, up slightly from 103.0 (October was 165+)
In addition, some ARM's have DOWNWARD interest adjustments.
...60% of ARMs are tied to a LIBOR index, about 25% to various treasuries, and the remaining 15% to the 11th District Cost of Funds Index
It appears ARMs tied to the COFI and treasuries will be non-bombs. The other 60% of loans tied to LIBOR might reset at a higher rate, although with the 3-month LIBOR down to 2.16% (it was 5.02% one year ago), even these 60% aren't bombs
Not exactly clear skies and fair winds, but compared to October's numbers (and the forecasts of cataclysmic ARM-reset rates) it's not horrific.
Calculated Risk picks the indicators. These are Friday's numbers:
The three month LIBOR increased slightly to 2.16% from 2.15%. (October it was 4.81+)
The TED spread: 2.13. (slightly worse) (October it was 4.6+)
The A2P2 spread decreased to 4.16 from a record (for this cycle) 4.83
The two year swap spread from Bloomberg: 107.5, up slightly from 103.0 (October was 165+)
In addition, some ARM's have DOWNWARD interest adjustments.
...60% of ARMs are tied to a LIBOR index, about 25% to various treasuries, and the remaining 15% to the 11th District Cost of Funds Index
It appears ARMs tied to the COFI and treasuries will be non-bombs. The other 60% of loans tied to LIBOR might reset at a higher rate, although with the 3-month LIBOR down to 2.16% (it was 5.02% one year ago), even these 60% aren't bombs
Not exactly clear skies and fair winds, but compared to October's numbers (and the forecasts of cataclysmic ARM-reset rates) it's not horrific.
Friday, November 21, 2008
Fun, Fun on the Range
Spent a pleasant hour and a half with the Badger today.
Got to play with his new toy, which works very well, indeed; and managed to hit paper with my old toys, too.
Nothing like the smell of cordite, even in the afternoon!
Got to play with his new toy, which works very well, indeed; and managed to hit paper with my old toys, too.
Nothing like the smell of cordite, even in the afternoon!
Blind Squirrel Meets Nut: Liturgy Makes a Difference
Terry Berres found this...
It's good liturgy that keeps people coming back.--Rev. Alan Jurkus, September 12, 2007
(It's up to you to determine the proper placement of "blind squirrel" and "nut" as applied to the above quote...)
Anyhoo,
It's a startling development not because declining Mass attendance is news. What's startling is liturgists discussing it...the decline apparently has reached the point where even parish liturgists had to consider the possibility that their jobs were connected in some way to parishioners in the pews
There's a parish which had a vibrant, faithful, "say the black, do the red" Mass on Sundays; it attracted a large crowd (400 or so every week) from all across the Archdiocese.
Recently, the maxim "say the black, do the red" has been abrogated by a new pastor. Attendance is now crashing, and the financial situation got nasty LONG before the nukes hit Wall Street.
Not only is it in the newspaper; it's also true!
It's good liturgy that keeps people coming back.--Rev. Alan Jurkus, September 12, 2007
(It's up to you to determine the proper placement of "blind squirrel" and "nut" as applied to the above quote...)
Anyhoo,
It's a startling development not because declining Mass attendance is news. What's startling is liturgists discussing it...the decline apparently has reached the point where even parish liturgists had to consider the possibility that their jobs were connected in some way to parishioners in the pews
There's a parish which had a vibrant, faithful, "say the black, do the red" Mass on Sundays; it attracted a large crowd (400 or so every week) from all across the Archdiocese.
Recently, the maxim "say the black, do the red" has been abrogated by a new pastor. Attendance is now crashing, and the financial situation got nasty LONG before the nukes hit Wall Street.
Not only is it in the newspaper; it's also true!
Timberlake Is Here from the State to Help You!
Uh huh.
BadgerChoice, a program under development at the state Department of Health Services, would connect small business owners and their employees with other small businesses to buy private health insurance as one large group in order to qualify for lower premiums.
The program would affect businesses with 50 or fewer employees. Whether businesses that size would be required to participate or whether individuals would be required to buy the health benefits has not yet been decided. However, Karen Timberlake, secretary of the Wisconsin Department of Health Services, said it is her preference that the program be mandatory of small businesses with 50 or fewer workers.
Mandatory.
You WILL spend $1200/month/family or $500/month/single coverage for each of your employees if you do business in Wisconsin.
Und you vill Like It!! Seig!
BadgerChoice, a program under development at the state Department of Health Services, would connect small business owners and their employees with other small businesses to buy private health insurance as one large group in order to qualify for lower premiums.
The program would affect businesses with 50 or fewer employees. Whether businesses that size would be required to participate or whether individuals would be required to buy the health benefits has not yet been decided. However, Karen Timberlake, secretary of the Wisconsin Department of Health Services, said it is her preference that the program be mandatory of small businesses with 50 or fewer workers.
Mandatory.
You WILL spend $1200/month/family or $500/month/single coverage for each of your employees if you do business in Wisconsin.
Und you vill Like It!! Seig!
Love Poem to You LeftoWackies
From a friend:
No Hard Feelings...
The election day is over,
The talking is done.
My party lost, your party won.
So let us be friends,
Let arguments pass.
I'll hug my elephant,
You kiss your ass
No Hard Feelings...
The election day is over,
The talking is done.
My party lost, your party won.
So let us be friends,
Let arguments pass.
I'll hug my elephant,
You kiss your ass
Please!! Hand Me the Phone Book!
This could be a very, very, very long 4 years.
Barack Obama (Columbia, Harvard Law) will take the oath of office as his wife, Michelle (Princeton, Harvard Law), looks on proudly. Nearby, his foreign policy advisers will stand beaming, including perhaps Hillary Clinton (Wellesley, Yale Law), Jim Steinberg (Harvard, Yale Law) and Susan Rice (Stanford, Oxford D. Phil.).The domestic policy team will be there, too, including Jason Furman (Harvard, Harvard Ph.D.), Austan Goolsbee (Yale, M.I.T. Ph.D.), Blair Levin (Yale, Yale Law), Peter Orszag (Princeton, London School of Economics Ph.D.) and, of course, the White House Counsel Greg Craig (Harvard, Yale Law)…
HT: The Other McCain
Barack Obama (Columbia, Harvard Law) will take the oath of office as his wife, Michelle (Princeton, Harvard Law), looks on proudly. Nearby, his foreign policy advisers will stand beaming, including perhaps Hillary Clinton (Wellesley, Yale Law), Jim Steinberg (Harvard, Yale Law) and Susan Rice (Stanford, Oxford D. Phil.).The domestic policy team will be there, too, including Jason Furman (Harvard, Harvard Ph.D.), Austan Goolsbee (Yale, M.I.T. Ph.D.), Blair Levin (Yale, Yale Law), Peter Orszag (Princeton, London School of Economics Ph.D.) and, of course, the White House Counsel Greg Craig (Harvard, Yale Law)…
HT: The Other McCain
Strangling the Big Three
Some points you have seen before--but worth re-iterating.
What killed Detroit was Washington, the government of the United States, politicians, journalists and muckrakers who have long harbored a deep animus against the manufacturing class that ran the smokestack industries that won World War II.
...Washington imposed a minimum wage higher than the average wage in war-devastated Germany and Japan. The Feds ordered that U.S. plants be made the healthiest and safest worksites in the world, creating OSHA to see to it. It enacted civil rights laws to ensure the labor force reflected our diversity. Environmental laws came next, to ensure U.S. factories became the most pollution-free on earth. It then clamped fuel efficiency standards on the entire U.S. car fleet. Next, Washington imposed a corporate tax rate of 35 percent, raking off another 15 percent of autoworkers’ wages in Social Security payroll taxes State governments imposed income and sales taxes, and local governments property taxes to subsidize services and schools.
The United Auto Workers struck repeatedly to win the highest wages and most generous benefits on earth--vacations, holidays, work breaks, health care, pensions--for workers and their families, and retirees.
Now there is nothing wrong with making U.S. plants the cleanest and safest on earth or having U.S. autoworkers the highest-paid wage earners. That is the dream, what we all wanted for America. And under the 14th Amendment, GM, Ford and Chrysler had to obey the same U.S. laws and pay at the same tax rates.
Outside the United States, however, there was and is no equality of standards or taxes.
So what?
...when America was thrust into the Global Economy, GM and Ford had to compete with cars made overseas in factories in postwar Japan and Germany, then Korea, where health and safety standards were much lower, wages were a fraction of those paid U.S. workers, and taxes were and are often forgiven on exports to the United States.
With the exceptions forced onto the foreign manufacturers by Ron Reagan, of course....but those were hardly enough due to the reality:
Japan, China and South Korea do not believe in free trade as we understand it. To us, they are our “trading partners.” To them, the relationship is not like that of Evans & Novak or Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. It is not even like the Redskins and Cowboys. For the Cowboys only want to defeat the Redskins. They do not want to put their franchise out of business and end the competition—as the Japanese did to our TV industry by dumping Sonys here until they killed it.
While we think the Global Economy is about what is best for the consumer, they think about what is best for the nation.
It's called "mercantilism."
In the 1950s, we made all our own toys, clothes, shoes, bikes, furniture, motorcycles, cars, cameras, telephones, TVs, etc. You name it. We made it.
Things change:
We no longer build commercial ships. We have but one airplane company, and it outsources. China produces our computers. And if GM goes Chapter 11, America will soon be out of the auto business.
And, by the way, Harnischfeger's corporate HQ is no longer in the USA. Bucyrus (Erie) is building plants offshore like there's no tomorrow to shift production capacity (partly for shipping reasons, granted). Maytag is closing its appliance factories around the US. Not just shifting production--but closing them.
Do you blame them?
What killed Detroit was Washington, the government of the United States, politicians, journalists and muckrakers who have long harbored a deep animus against the manufacturing class that ran the smokestack industries that won World War II.
...Washington imposed a minimum wage higher than the average wage in war-devastated Germany and Japan. The Feds ordered that U.S. plants be made the healthiest and safest worksites in the world, creating OSHA to see to it. It enacted civil rights laws to ensure the labor force reflected our diversity. Environmental laws came next, to ensure U.S. factories became the most pollution-free on earth. It then clamped fuel efficiency standards on the entire U.S. car fleet. Next, Washington imposed a corporate tax rate of 35 percent, raking off another 15 percent of autoworkers’ wages in Social Security payroll taxes State governments imposed income and sales taxes, and local governments property taxes to subsidize services and schools.
The United Auto Workers struck repeatedly to win the highest wages and most generous benefits on earth--vacations, holidays, work breaks, health care, pensions--for workers and their families, and retirees.
Now there is nothing wrong with making U.S. plants the cleanest and safest on earth or having U.S. autoworkers the highest-paid wage earners. That is the dream, what we all wanted for America. And under the 14th Amendment, GM, Ford and Chrysler had to obey the same U.S. laws and pay at the same tax rates.
Outside the United States, however, there was and is no equality of standards or taxes.
So what?
...when America was thrust into the Global Economy, GM and Ford had to compete with cars made overseas in factories in postwar Japan and Germany, then Korea, where health and safety standards were much lower, wages were a fraction of those paid U.S. workers, and taxes were and are often forgiven on exports to the United States.
With the exceptions forced onto the foreign manufacturers by Ron Reagan, of course....but those were hardly enough due to the reality:
Japan, China and South Korea do not believe in free trade as we understand it. To us, they are our “trading partners.” To them, the relationship is not like that of Evans & Novak or Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. It is not even like the Redskins and Cowboys. For the Cowboys only want to defeat the Redskins. They do not want to put their franchise out of business and end the competition—as the Japanese did to our TV industry by dumping Sonys here until they killed it.
While we think the Global Economy is about what is best for the consumer, they think about what is best for the nation.
It's called "mercantilism."
In the 1950s, we made all our own toys, clothes, shoes, bikes, furniture, motorcycles, cars, cameras, telephones, TVs, etc. You name it. We made it.
Things change:
We no longer build commercial ships. We have but one airplane company, and it outsources. China produces our computers. And if GM goes Chapter 11, America will soon be out of the auto business.
And, by the way, Harnischfeger's corporate HQ is no longer in the USA. Bucyrus (Erie) is building plants offshore like there's no tomorrow to shift production capacity (partly for shipping reasons, granted). Maytag is closing its appliance factories around the US. Not just shifting production--but closing them.
Do you blame them?
An Idea for Doyle!
Well, yah, because Jim Doylie (and his leggie pals) don't bother with such things as "reserves," or "prudence" when writing up their Dream Spending plans, the State is potentially a walking bankruptcy.
But there's hope!!
The United States has asked four oil-rich Gulf states for close to 300 billion dollars to help it curb the global financial meltdown, Kuwait's daily Al-Seyassah reported Thursday.
Quoting "highly informed" sources, the daily said Washington has asked Saudi Arabia for 120 billion dollars, the United Arab Emirates for 70 billion dollars, Qatar for 60 billion dollars and was seeking 40 billion dollars from Kuwait.
Al-Seyassah said Washington sought the amount as "financial aid" to face the fallout of the financial crisis and help prevent its economy from sliding into a painful recession.
Fortunately, there's a lot left over for Doylie.
The four states are estimated to have amassed close to 1.5 trillion dollars in surplus in the past six years
..so $500Bn or so would be pocket change!
But there's hope!!
The United States has asked four oil-rich Gulf states for close to 300 billion dollars to help it curb the global financial meltdown, Kuwait's daily Al-Seyassah reported Thursday.
Quoting "highly informed" sources, the daily said Washington has asked Saudi Arabia for 120 billion dollars, the United Arab Emirates for 70 billion dollars, Qatar for 60 billion dollars and was seeking 40 billion dollars from Kuwait.
Al-Seyassah said Washington sought the amount as "financial aid" to face the fallout of the financial crisis and help prevent its economy from sliding into a painful recession.
Fortunately, there's a lot left over for Doylie.
The four states are estimated to have amassed close to 1.5 trillion dollars in surplus in the past six years
..so $500Bn or so would be pocket change!
Cerberus' Offset to Chrysler Losses
This story continues to grow.
"I could sell a hundred ARs an hour, if I had them."
That was the word from the man behind the counter at my local gun shop yesterday afternoon when I stopped in. As if to put an exclaimation point on his claim, two men added their names to an ever-growing waiting list to purchase AR-15 carbines within minutes of my entering the store.
Two months ago, the first two racks of rifles to great you as you entered Fuquay Gun & Gold would be bristling with AR15 carbines, AK-pattern rifles, and a smattering of SKS carbines. Today, those same worn racks are almost bare except for misfits from the Island of Misfit Martial Toys—a pair of Saiga Ak-pattern shotguns, a .22 caliber AR-clone, and a nearly $900 VZ-58 with the ugliest stock I've ever seen
Although Cerberus is likely to lose its collective ass on Chrysler, they are doing just dandy with DPMS and Bushmaster--two domestic AR manufacturers...
Of course, that could change, too.
HT: Confederate Yankee
"I could sell a hundred ARs an hour, if I had them."
That was the word from the man behind the counter at my local gun shop yesterday afternoon when I stopped in. As if to put an exclaimation point on his claim, two men added their names to an ever-growing waiting list to purchase AR-15 carbines within minutes of my entering the store.
Two months ago, the first two racks of rifles to great you as you entered Fuquay Gun & Gold would be bristling with AR15 carbines, AK-pattern rifles, and a smattering of SKS carbines. Today, those same worn racks are almost bare except for misfits from the Island of Misfit Martial Toys—a pair of Saiga Ak-pattern shotguns, a .22 caliber AR-clone, and a nearly $900 VZ-58 with the ugliest stock I've ever seen
Although Cerberus is likely to lose its collective ass on Chrysler, they are doing just dandy with DPMS and Bushmaster--two domestic AR manufacturers...
Of course, that could change, too.
HT: Confederate Yankee
Holder's Lie on Guns
We already mentioned Eric Holder (soon to be US AG) and his virulent antipathy to guns.
Kopel adds a bit of info at Volokh:
He also promoted the factoid that "Every day that goes by, about 12, 13 more children in this country die from gun violence"--a statistic is true only if one counts 18-year-old gangsters who shoot each other as "children."
As usual, the biggest lies are disguised as statistics...
Kopel adds a bit of info at Volokh:
He also promoted the factoid that "Every day that goes by, about 12, 13 more children in this country die from gun violence"--a statistic is true only if one counts 18-year-old gangsters who shoot each other as "children."
As usual, the biggest lies are disguised as statistics...
High Tech Tax Methods? Or Just Spying-by-Gummint?
Coming soon to a road near you...
Two hundred Triangle drivers will be recruited this fall to road-test a satellite-technology system that might be used one day to collect highway taxes on every mile we drive … The $16.5 million Road User Charge Study will enlist drivers in six states to determine whether the technology works, and whether Americans would accept a new mileage tax. Volunteers will be asked how they feel about technology that collects information about their driving.
Of course, before implementing the "road-use tax," legislatures will zero out the gasoline tax, no?
Frankly, while the tax-effort deserves resistance, the "I know where you drive every day" part is even more ......ahhhhh.......intriguing. Nothing like having some DOT twerp knowing exactly where you traveled every day of your life...
HT: Moonbattery
Two hundred Triangle drivers will be recruited this fall to road-test a satellite-technology system that might be used one day to collect highway taxes on every mile we drive … The $16.5 million Road User Charge Study will enlist drivers in six states to determine whether the technology works, and whether Americans would accept a new mileage tax. Volunteers will be asked how they feel about technology that collects information about their driving.
Of course, before implementing the "road-use tax," legislatures will zero out the gasoline tax, no?
Frankly, while the tax-effort deserves resistance, the "I know where you drive every day" part is even more ......ahhhhh.......intriguing. Nothing like having some DOT twerp knowing exactly where you traveled every day of your life...
HT: Moonbattery
The "D" Word, and the UAW
Deflation: A persistent decrease in the level of (consumer) prices or a persistent increase in the purchasing power of money because of a reduction in available currency and credit
Need an example?
Back in 2005, during the boom, the company sold a used hydraulic dirt excavator for $309,000. That same excavator changed hands Tuesday for just $50,000
That would be in San Diego, CA.
This will have an impact on Deere, CNH, JLG, Gehl, and Cat, folks.
By the way--there are a lot of UAW workers in the above-named companies. Expect to hear "bailout" from them in the next 12 months.
HT: Calculated Risk
Need an example?
Back in 2005, during the boom, the company sold a used hydraulic dirt excavator for $309,000. That same excavator changed hands Tuesday for just $50,000
That would be in San Diego, CA.
This will have an impact on Deere, CNH, JLG, Gehl, and Cat, folks.
By the way--there are a lot of UAW workers in the above-named companies. Expect to hear "bailout" from them in the next 12 months.
HT: Calculated Risk
Do We Get the $25Bn Back?
OK. So Paulson gave Citigroup $25Bn.
Next chapter:
Executives at Citigroup ... began weighing the possibility of auctioning off pieces of the financial giant or even selling the company outright ...Citigroup's board of directors is scheduled to have a formal meeting Friday to discuss the options ...
In addition to pondering a move to sell the entire company to another bank, executives have started exploring the possibility of selling off parts of the firm, including the Smith Barney retail brokerage, the global credit-card division and the transaction-services unit, which is one of Citigroup's most lucrative and fast-growing businesses, the people said.
What happens to the $25Bn?
Another landmark institution gets swallowed by the porcelain god...
HT: Calculated Risk
Next chapter:
Executives at Citigroup ... began weighing the possibility of auctioning off pieces of the financial giant or even selling the company outright ...Citigroup's board of directors is scheduled to have a formal meeting Friday to discuss the options ...
In addition to pondering a move to sell the entire company to another bank, executives have started exploring the possibility of selling off parts of the firm, including the Smith Barney retail brokerage, the global credit-card division and the transaction-services unit, which is one of Citigroup's most lucrative and fast-growing businesses, the people said.
What happens to the $25Bn?
Another landmark institution gets swallowed by the porcelain god...
HT: Calculated Risk
Elmbrook District "Blew the Budget"
What the hell is this?
To make up for a $4.5 million mechanical systems budget overage, officials might strip as much as $1.8 million in features and design flourishes from proposed renovation plans for Brookfield East and Central high schools
Oh, really? Why?
Heating and cooling systems at both schools have been doing most of that taking, said John Foster of construction manager C.G. Schmidt.
“There’s no doubt that we blew the budget when we budgeted at referendum time,” Foster said. “We had no plans (with which) to base our numbers off of at pre-referendum.”
So are you telling us that the Board of Education went to referendum with a Stupid Wild-Ass Guess?
Perhaps Board members should be asked a few hard questions, eh?
To make up for a $4.5 million mechanical systems budget overage, officials might strip as much as $1.8 million in features and design flourishes from proposed renovation plans for Brookfield East and Central high schools
Oh, really? Why?
Heating and cooling systems at both schools have been doing most of that taking, said John Foster of construction manager C.G. Schmidt.
“There’s no doubt that we blew the budget when we budgeted at referendum time,” Foster said. “We had no plans (with which) to base our numbers off of at pre-referendum.”
So are you telling us that the Board of Education went to referendum with a Stupid Wild-Ass Guess?
Perhaps Board members should be asked a few hard questions, eh?
Doyle Points to Man Behind the Tree
Doylie is admitting to the truth, but only $400 million at a time.
Gov. Jim Doyle said Thursday that state government faces a budget deficit of nearly $5.4 billion through mid-2011, $400 million more than he estimated only days ago
First thing to do: raise taxes!
Doyle said he will ask lawmakers early next year to approve a new tax on hospital revenue, which would bring in $200 million more a year in federal Medicaid aid. Hospitals support the assessment, saying it would give them the first rate increase in years.
Doyle repeated his support for a tax on oil companies, which the state Department of Transportation says could raise $393 million by mid-2011. Doyle wants to bar oil companies from passing the tax on to consumers, but critics argue there is no way to do that
...and there isn't. One thinks of the Commerce Clause immediately...
Doylie's arrow-catcher is next, reading from Jim's personally-written script:
"This is the worst deficit in the state's history," state Administration Secretary Mike Morgan said in a report.
The report documents falling tax collections expected through mid-2011 and state agency budget requests for $62.3 billion over that period - requests that cannot be met.
"For the first time in decades, revenue collections are expected to fall in two consecutive fiscal years," Morgan said
Umnnnhhhh....what was the name of that economics-consulting firm you paid to tell you all about the future when you wrote your budget in the first place, Doylie? Did you ask for a refund?
...state government will collect $509 million less in taxes through the budget year that ends June 30.
If you're lucky. That includes turnip-blood, and you're not even going to get that in a lot of cases. Don't forget: food and utility-rates have escalated sharply in the last year, thanks to your sellout to ADM and the Corn-A-Hole boyzzzz.
It may be better to look at simply closing State offices for two weeks around Christmas and then running 3-day weeks for next year.
Gov. Jim Doyle said Thursday that state government faces a budget deficit of nearly $5.4 billion through mid-2011, $400 million more than he estimated only days ago
First thing to do: raise taxes!
Doyle said he will ask lawmakers early next year to approve a new tax on hospital revenue, which would bring in $200 million more a year in federal Medicaid aid. Hospitals support the assessment, saying it would give them the first rate increase in years.
Doyle repeated his support for a tax on oil companies, which the state Department of Transportation says could raise $393 million by mid-2011. Doyle wants to bar oil companies from passing the tax on to consumers, but critics argue there is no way to do that
...and there isn't. One thinks of the Commerce Clause immediately...
Doylie's arrow-catcher is next, reading from Jim's personally-written script:
"This is the worst deficit in the state's history," state Administration Secretary Mike Morgan said in a report.
The report documents falling tax collections expected through mid-2011 and state agency budget requests for $62.3 billion over that period - requests that cannot be met.
"For the first time in decades, revenue collections are expected to fall in two consecutive fiscal years," Morgan said
Umnnnhhhh....what was the name of that economics-consulting firm you paid to tell you all about the future when you wrote your budget in the first place, Doylie? Did you ask for a refund?
...state government will collect $509 million less in taxes through the budget year that ends June 30.
If you're lucky. That includes turnip-blood, and you're not even going to get that in a lot of cases. Don't forget: food and utility-rates have escalated sharply in the last year, thanks to your sellout to ADM and the Corn-A-Hole boyzzzz.
It may be better to look at simply closing State offices for two weeks around Christmas and then running 3-day weeks for next year.
Weakland Teamed With Sklba in Coverups, Passes the Buck
Doh.
The ex-Archbishop of Milwaukee, Rembert Weakland OSB, tells the camera that yes, indeed, the current auxiliary Bishop of Milwaukee, Richard Sklba, was a 'close adviser' and was 'in the know' about the game of hop/skip/jump-transferring ephebophile priests.
No kidding. And water runs downhill.
More interesting is his attempt to deflect some blame to the Vatican.
Weakland testified that he held a local church trial - a formal internal proceeding that he said had not been done elsewhere - to get rid of two abusive priests in the 1990s. The priests appealed to the Vatican their removal from the ministry.
In 1998, Weakland testified, he went to the Vatican and met with officials in the Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith, a top church office then headed by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, who is now Pope Benedict XVI.
"I pleaded that even though (one abusive priest) was retired and in ill health, that he be reduced to the lay state to bring some kind of closure . . . ," Weakland testified. "And instead it dragged on and he died about six months later."
Laicizing a priest is a highly technical matter, and pursuing laicization as a remedy to criminal misbehavior is the approximate equivalent of the Al Capone pirouette: using the tax code because direct criminal prosecution was not available to the Feds.
But, of course, criminal prosecution WAS available; Weakland and Sklba chose not to go that route. Rita MacDonald is dead-on:
Rita McDonald, a Marquette University emeritus professor of psychology who was long involved in archdiocesan affairs, was critical of Weakland for spreading the blame to others.
"He accepted some responsibility for what happened, but he never called the police," McDonald said. "There was always that caveat: 'You have to understand how things were back then.'
That's not a caveat, Ms. MacDonald. That's a whine.
Weakland even has the temerity to blame Mike McCann:
Weakland also blamed the criminal justice system for abusive priests, decrying a probation sentence ordered by one judge and the decision by a district attorney not to prosecute a case if an abuser was removed from his county.
"It was the priest's individual lawyer who was working with the D.A., and it was that lawyer who then reported to me what that conversation was all about and what was expected of me," Weakland testified
I'll agree that McCann was approximately useless. That's something that McCann has to answer for--but he won't.
Weakland also seems to have forgotten his bullying and threatening (and wholesale firings) of people who stood up to his and Sklba's protection-racket. I wonder why...
You can view the video here. Have a puke-bucket nearby.
The ex-Archbishop of Milwaukee, Rembert Weakland OSB, tells the camera that yes, indeed, the current auxiliary Bishop of Milwaukee, Richard Sklba, was a 'close adviser' and was 'in the know' about the game of hop/skip/jump-transferring ephebophile priests.
No kidding. And water runs downhill.
More interesting is his attempt to deflect some blame to the Vatican.
Weakland testified that he held a local church trial - a formal internal proceeding that he said had not been done elsewhere - to get rid of two abusive priests in the 1990s. The priests appealed to the Vatican their removal from the ministry.
In 1998, Weakland testified, he went to the Vatican and met with officials in the Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith, a top church office then headed by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, who is now Pope Benedict XVI.
"I pleaded that even though (one abusive priest) was retired and in ill health, that he be reduced to the lay state to bring some kind of closure . . . ," Weakland testified. "And instead it dragged on and he died about six months later."
Laicizing a priest is a highly technical matter, and pursuing laicization as a remedy to criminal misbehavior is the approximate equivalent of the Al Capone pirouette: using the tax code because direct criminal prosecution was not available to the Feds.
But, of course, criminal prosecution WAS available; Weakland and Sklba chose not to go that route. Rita MacDonald is dead-on:
Rita McDonald, a Marquette University emeritus professor of psychology who was long involved in archdiocesan affairs, was critical of Weakland for spreading the blame to others.
"He accepted some responsibility for what happened, but he never called the police," McDonald said. "There was always that caveat: 'You have to understand how things were back then.'
That's not a caveat, Ms. MacDonald. That's a whine.
Weakland even has the temerity to blame Mike McCann:
Weakland also blamed the criminal justice system for abusive priests, decrying a probation sentence ordered by one judge and the decision by a district attorney not to prosecute a case if an abuser was removed from his county.
"It was the priest's individual lawyer who was working with the D.A., and it was that lawyer who then reported to me what that conversation was all about and what was expected of me," Weakland testified
I'll agree that McCann was approximately useless. That's something that McCann has to answer for--but he won't.
Weakland also seems to have forgotten his bullying and threatening (and wholesale firings) of people who stood up to his and Sklba's protection-racket. I wonder why...
You can view the video here. Have a puke-bucket nearby.
Paul Ryan: Wrong Turn on 'Roadmap'
Ryan must have had a few too many after his re-election.
U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., said Wednesday he would favor assisting the ailing American automakers immediately, using the $25 billion Congress set aside previously for development of more fuel-efficient vehicles
...Ryan said he would use the already-allocated energy efficiency money now, and deal with the issue of if or how to replace it later.
Congressional Democrats, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California, oppose that plan, deeming it environmentally shortsighted. Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Wis., has endorsed drawing from the Wall Street bailout account, while Sen. Herb Kohl, D-Wis., has only said any assistance should come in the form of a loan.
Ryan better get new batteries in his GPS. He's going in the wrong direction. I expect that from Feinie and Herbivore, not from Mr. Roadmap.
U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., said Wednesday he would favor assisting the ailing American automakers immediately, using the $25 billion Congress set aside previously for development of more fuel-efficient vehicles
...Ryan said he would use the already-allocated energy efficiency money now, and deal with the issue of if or how to replace it later.
Congressional Democrats, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California, oppose that plan, deeming it environmentally shortsighted. Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Wis., has endorsed drawing from the Wall Street bailout account, while Sen. Herb Kohl, D-Wis., has only said any assistance should come in the form of a loan.
Ryan better get new batteries in his GPS. He's going in the wrong direction. I expect that from Feinie and Herbivore, not from Mr. Roadmap.
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Be Very Afraid!! WEnergies Is Killing You!!!
The usual spin-laden and almost meaningless emissions from the Environmental Energy Project:
The state of Wisconsin is home to two of the top 50 most-polluting power plants in the country, according to a new report from the nonprofit Environmental Integrity Project.
The report lists and ranks U.S. power plants by the amount of the dangerous neurotoxin mercury emitted by the plants. Milwaukee-based Wisconsin Energy Corp.'s 1,200-megawatt plant in Pleasant Prairie ranked 40th in total mercury emissions in 2007 with 535.5 pounds, while Madison-based Alliant Energy Corp.'s 500-megawatt Columbia generating station in Portage ranked 48th with 487 pounds of mercury emitted in 2007. Compared with 2006 emissions, the Pleasant Prairie plant's emissions fell by 27 percent, while the Portage plant's emissions rose by 5.25 percent.
Umnnnhhh....
A meaningful "report" would list the plants not by total emissions, but by emissions/MW. It's not hard to see that WE's plant emits far less/MW than does Alliant's.
Secondly, while the presser says "most-polluting," it ignores any OTHER sort of pollution besides mercury. So are we to take it that no other emissions are important, or that there ARE no other emissions besides mercury?
This, of course, is all "for the chil'ruhn"....
Mercury is a highly toxic metal that, once released into the atmosphere, settles in lakes and rivers, where it moves up the food chain to humans.
The Centers for Disease Control has found that roughly 6 percent of American women carry mercury concentrations at levels considered to put a fetus at risk of neurological damage, the nonprofit group said.
Note well that the Project's presser does not get into details about the actual levels of mercury 'carried by 6% of women' (what about MEN, hey?), nor whether CDC's 'risk' assessment is empirically demonstrated.
But hey! This is a Doyle-Ite engineering job.
Electricity is just too damn dangerous to be sold to the peasants.
The state of Wisconsin is home to two of the top 50 most-polluting power plants in the country, according to a new report from the nonprofit Environmental Integrity Project.
The report lists and ranks U.S. power plants by the amount of the dangerous neurotoxin mercury emitted by the plants. Milwaukee-based Wisconsin Energy Corp.'s 1,200-megawatt plant in Pleasant Prairie ranked 40th in total mercury emissions in 2007 with 535.5 pounds, while Madison-based Alliant Energy Corp.'s 500-megawatt Columbia generating station in Portage ranked 48th with 487 pounds of mercury emitted in 2007. Compared with 2006 emissions, the Pleasant Prairie plant's emissions fell by 27 percent, while the Portage plant's emissions rose by 5.25 percent.
Umnnnhhh....
A meaningful "report" would list the plants not by total emissions, but by emissions/MW. It's not hard to see that WE's plant emits far less/MW than does Alliant's.
Secondly, while the presser says "most-polluting," it ignores any OTHER sort of pollution besides mercury. So are we to take it that no other emissions are important, or that there ARE no other emissions besides mercury?
This, of course, is all "for the chil'ruhn"....
Mercury is a highly toxic metal that, once released into the atmosphere, settles in lakes and rivers, where it moves up the food chain to humans.
The Centers for Disease Control has found that roughly 6 percent of American women carry mercury concentrations at levels considered to put a fetus at risk of neurological damage, the nonprofit group said.
Note well that the Project's presser does not get into details about the actual levels of mercury 'carried by 6% of women' (what about MEN, hey?), nor whether CDC's 'risk' assessment is empirically demonstrated.
But hey! This is a Doyle-Ite engineering job.
Electricity is just too damn dangerous to be sold to the peasants.
Medicare for Union Retirees? Watch the Bouncing Ball!
P-Mac's column poses the interesting question.
McArdle writes, “Insofar as health care is the fundamental problem here, the problem is with retiree health care, not health care for current workers. In other words, with people who are already mostly covered by America's universal healthcare system, Medicare. Why have the Big Three provided extremely expensive health benefits for retirees for decades, when there was a really very generous government program available? Because that's what the union wanted, and it had enough muscle to get it.”
There's far more to this than just a tussle between the UAW and the Big 2.00000011.
Think for a moment: if UAW retirees can be forced to join Medicare, what about WEAC retirees of MPS? Or Milwaukee County retirees?
The yawning black-hole silence about switching UAW folks to Medicare (except here, surprisingly enough) is mostly because of the implications for other union agreements which specify lifetime super-bennies.
After all, the Big 2.000000009 are not the ONLY entities in danger of bankruptcy.
McArdle writes, “Insofar as health care is the fundamental problem here, the problem is with retiree health care, not health care for current workers. In other words, with people who are already mostly covered by America's universal healthcare system, Medicare. Why have the Big Three provided extremely expensive health benefits for retirees for decades, when there was a really very generous government program available? Because that's what the union wanted, and it had enough muscle to get it.”
There's far more to this than just a tussle between the UAW and the Big 2.00000011.
Think for a moment: if UAW retirees can be forced to join Medicare, what about WEAC retirees of MPS? Or Milwaukee County retirees?
The yawning black-hole silence about switching UAW folks to Medicare (except here, surprisingly enough) is mostly because of the implications for other union agreements which specify lifetime super-bennies.
After all, the Big 2.000000009 are not the ONLY entities in danger of bankruptcy.
AlGore Officially Unhinged
Not that there was ever much doubt about Al.
But here's his latest proof-texting for eliminating human breathing (the principal cause of CO2), found on the GoreBlog:
A new study suggests the Mayan civilization might have collapsed due to environmental disasters:
"'These models suggest that as ecosystems were destroyed by mismanagement or were transformed by global climatic shifts, the depletion of agricultural and wild foods eventually contributed to the failure of the Maya sociopolitical system,' writes environmental archaeologist Kitty Emery of the Florida Museum of Natural History in the current Human Ecology journal."
As we move towards solving the climate crisis, we need to remember the consequences to civilizations that refused to take environmental concerns seriously.
Frankly, my history coursework never mentioned Mayan SUV's...
HT: Gateway
But here's his latest proof-texting for eliminating human breathing (the principal cause of CO2), found on the GoreBlog:
A new study suggests the Mayan civilization might have collapsed due to environmental disasters:
"'These models suggest that as ecosystems were destroyed by mismanagement or were transformed by global climatic shifts, the depletion of agricultural and wild foods eventually contributed to the failure of the Maya sociopolitical system,' writes environmental archaeologist Kitty Emery of the Florida Museum of Natural History in the current Human Ecology journal."
As we move towards solving the climate crisis, we need to remember the consequences to civilizations that refused to take environmental concerns seriously.
Frankly, my history coursework never mentioned Mayan SUV's...
HT: Gateway
Thinkers Favor Bankruptcy for GM
Ritholtz cannot be accused of being a Conservative Squawker, politically.
So when he highlights this sort of opinion, it's because it makes sense.
I meant to get to this fantastic article on GM yesterday in the NYT by Andrew Ross Sorkin
"First, let’s recognize that G.M. doesn’t need life support. What it needs is Chapter 11. The bankruptcy process is not a bad thing — indeed, it should be embraced. Bankruptcy allows companies to do tough things they could never do in the normal course of business. It has helped many companies turn themselves around and come out even stronger.
"Bankruptcy would give G.M. enormous leverage with its debt holders — and, perhaps more important, with the U.A.W., whose gold-plated benefits are one reason G.M. is no longer competitive. A bankruptcy filing would also give G.M. the cover to close plants, rid itself of unprofitable brands and shed dealerships. In fact, unless G.M. files for bankruptcy, state laws would make it prohibitively expensive to shut dealerships.
"So, first, the government would force G.M into a prepackaged bankruptcy now — even before policy makers may think it needs to be. As an inducement, the government would allow the merger with Chrysler to go forward. (There’s a lot of resistance to saving Chrysler too, but we need to look at the industry as a whole. And don’t worry: Cerberus, the private equity firm that owns Chrysler, would have its equity wiped out too.) . . .
"The automobile industry has argued that bankruptcy will be a disaster for the industry; that people won’t buy vehicles while they’re in bankruptcy for fear that the warranty won’t mean anything. There’s a fix for that too. The government should establish a warranty insurance fund that would insure the warranties of all G.M. and Chrysler vehicles bought while the combined company is still operating under bankruptcy protection. The cost to taxpayers should be next to nothing, assuming the company survives and can takeover the warranty obligations.
Sadly, Herb Kohl (D-WI), with real-life business experience in his background, has ascribed to the "bailout mentality" instead of to the common-sense solution: BK.
Sorkin endorses Chapter XI, and postulates that the Feds should pop for the debtor-in-possession financing, allowing the merger with Chrysler, and dumping the GMC, Saturn, Pontiac, labels--as well as dumping a LOT of dealerships.
He also postulates that the package should require "green-car" development; which actually does have a lot of merit, insofar as petroleum is not reproducing itself (so far...).
But to argue (as does Kohl, implicitly) that continuing the farce-in-Detroit is the better solution--that's just crazy.
So when he highlights this sort of opinion, it's because it makes sense.
I meant to get to this fantastic article on GM yesterday in the NYT by Andrew Ross Sorkin
"First, let’s recognize that G.M. doesn’t need life support. What it needs is Chapter 11. The bankruptcy process is not a bad thing — indeed, it should be embraced. Bankruptcy allows companies to do tough things they could never do in the normal course of business. It has helped many companies turn themselves around and come out even stronger.
"Bankruptcy would give G.M. enormous leverage with its debt holders — and, perhaps more important, with the U.A.W., whose gold-plated benefits are one reason G.M. is no longer competitive. A bankruptcy filing would also give G.M. the cover to close plants, rid itself of unprofitable brands and shed dealerships. In fact, unless G.M. files for bankruptcy, state laws would make it prohibitively expensive to shut dealerships.
"So, first, the government would force G.M into a prepackaged bankruptcy now — even before policy makers may think it needs to be. As an inducement, the government would allow the merger with Chrysler to go forward. (There’s a lot of resistance to saving Chrysler too, but we need to look at the industry as a whole. And don’t worry: Cerberus, the private equity firm that owns Chrysler, would have its equity wiped out too.) . . .
"The automobile industry has argued that bankruptcy will be a disaster for the industry; that people won’t buy vehicles while they’re in bankruptcy for fear that the warranty won’t mean anything. There’s a fix for that too. The government should establish a warranty insurance fund that would insure the warranties of all G.M. and Chrysler vehicles bought while the combined company is still operating under bankruptcy protection. The cost to taxpayers should be next to nothing, assuming the company survives and can takeover the warranty obligations.
Sadly, Herb Kohl (D-WI), with real-life business experience in his background, has ascribed to the "bailout mentality" instead of to the common-sense solution: BK.
Sorkin endorses Chapter XI, and postulates that the Feds should pop for the debtor-in-possession financing, allowing the merger with Chrysler, and dumping the GMC, Saturn, Pontiac, labels--as well as dumping a LOT of dealerships.
He also postulates that the package should require "green-car" development; which actually does have a lot of merit, insofar as petroleum is not reproducing itself (so far...).
But to argue (as does Kohl, implicitly) that continuing the farce-in-Detroit is the better solution--that's just crazy.
The "D" Word? There's Not Enough Buying Goin' On...
Cianfrocca brings it up at RedStates.
Yesterday, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the overall level of consumer prices declined by about 1% in October. The so-called “core inflation rate” declined by 0.1%, the first such decline in more than twenty-five years
The problem of deflation in the economy is not a one-month phenomenon. Financial assets (stocks and bonds other than US Treasury bonds) and real estate values have been falling for more than a year now.
The problem with deflation is that it makes the real cost of being in debt far harder to bear. Now you’ve heard me and many others go on and on in recent months about how hard it is for consumers and businesses to get a loan. That speaks to disruptions in the supply of credit, and also to the increased cost of credit intermediation.
Stop for a second and think of the implications of the red-highlighted sentence above for the State of Wisconsin, whose debt is, ah, monstrous. Yah, Californicate's situation is worse. So what?
And he mentions something that I have been discussing with Shoebox.
But one of the dark clouds in my mind over the last several days has been the other side of the equation. What if some (or much) of the current slowdown in credit formation is due to weak demand for credit?
The Big Three's problem is not just white- and blue-collar labor costs. It is, rather, that people are NOT BUYING CARS. Industry sales-numbers tell us that auto purchases will be one-third less this year than last.
Hmmmmm!
...if deflation turns out to be real and sustained? The next danger signal you’d see is a decline in wages. Now we’re already seeing something like that as unemployment ticks up. That’s basically normal for a recession. But what if people who keep their jobs start getting smaller raises, not getting incentive pay, get fewer hours to work, or indeed have to take reductions in pay?
Now you get to the scary part of deflation, because deflation bites everyone that owes money. And millions of Americans have mortgages and student loans on which they pay a fixed amount every month. If your compensation falls (through unemployment, underemployment, or wage reductions), then all of a sudden your mortgage is a lot less affordable, and you’re closer to the point at which you start having to decide whether to buy food, clothing or fuel in any given month
That, folks, is a no-brainer. Debt repayment will come last, clothing second-last, and food will be first (along with certain medications--but not ALL medications.)
Liquor may move up towards the top, too...
"Fixing it" may not be too easy, either.
Financial-market participants and investment professionals have learned a very hard lesson about risk, that they won’t ever want to repeat. Everyone who went through this will be very wary about taking risk for the rest of their careers. And that’s why there is a near-permanent deflationary undertow in the world’s financial system.
Cianfrocca mentions Japan as the "anti-model" of repairing the system. But he does NOT mention a very, very significant difference between Japan and the US: population growth. Japan's population is NOT growing, and hasn't been for several years (we've mentioned it.)
At least the US has the population-growth asset. Not from the WASP crowd, nor from whites (or blacks) in general--but from illegal immigration!
Hmmmmmm, again....
Yesterday, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the overall level of consumer prices declined by about 1% in October. The so-called “core inflation rate” declined by 0.1%, the first such decline in more than twenty-five years
The problem of deflation in the economy is not a one-month phenomenon. Financial assets (stocks and bonds other than US Treasury bonds) and real estate values have been falling for more than a year now.
The problem with deflation is that it makes the real cost of being in debt far harder to bear. Now you’ve heard me and many others go on and on in recent months about how hard it is for consumers and businesses to get a loan. That speaks to disruptions in the supply of credit, and also to the increased cost of credit intermediation.
Stop for a second and think of the implications of the red-highlighted sentence above for the State of Wisconsin, whose debt is, ah, monstrous. Yah, Californicate's situation is worse. So what?
And he mentions something that I have been discussing with Shoebox.
But one of the dark clouds in my mind over the last several days has been the other side of the equation. What if some (or much) of the current slowdown in credit formation is due to weak demand for credit?
The Big Three's problem is not just white- and blue-collar labor costs. It is, rather, that people are NOT BUYING CARS. Industry sales-numbers tell us that auto purchases will be one-third less this year than last.
Hmmmmm!
...if deflation turns out to be real and sustained? The next danger signal you’d see is a decline in wages. Now we’re already seeing something like that as unemployment ticks up. That’s basically normal for a recession. But what if people who keep their jobs start getting smaller raises, not getting incentive pay, get fewer hours to work, or indeed have to take reductions in pay?
Now you get to the scary part of deflation, because deflation bites everyone that owes money. And millions of Americans have mortgages and student loans on which they pay a fixed amount every month. If your compensation falls (through unemployment, underemployment, or wage reductions), then all of a sudden your mortgage is a lot less affordable, and you’re closer to the point at which you start having to decide whether to buy food, clothing or fuel in any given month
That, folks, is a no-brainer. Debt repayment will come last, clothing second-last, and food will be first (along with certain medications--but not ALL medications.)
Liquor may move up towards the top, too...
"Fixing it" may not be too easy, either.
Financial-market participants and investment professionals have learned a very hard lesson about risk, that they won’t ever want to repeat. Everyone who went through this will be very wary about taking risk for the rest of their careers. And that’s why there is a near-permanent deflationary undertow in the world’s financial system.
Cianfrocca mentions Japan as the "anti-model" of repairing the system. But he does NOT mention a very, very significant difference between Japan and the US: population growth. Japan's population is NOT growing, and hasn't been for several years (we've mentioned it.)
At least the US has the population-growth asset. Not from the WASP crowd, nor from whites (or blacks) in general--but from illegal immigration!
Hmmmmmm, again....
The NRA and Heller: No Guts, No Glory
In a lengthy (and copyrighted) article, Brian Doherty 'splains Heller.
And he shows the NRA to have been on the wrong side.
...The Heller case quickly found a powerful opponent in the National Rifle Association. This surprises nearly every layman I discuss the case with, most of whom assume the NRA was behind the lawsuit in the first place. The Parker lawyers received backroom visits from allies of the NRA before their case was filed, discouraging them from going forward. The Supreme Court (which still had Sandra Day O’Conner back then) would not reliably deliver a victory, they argued, and an authoritative statement from the Supremes that the Second Amendment did not protect an individual right could prove devastating to the long-term cause.
This was an intellectually respectable objection, the Levy team thought, but ultimately too fearful. If no one would fight for the Second Amendment qua Second Amendment in a relevant case, then its supposed paladins were as complicit in its irrelevance as were the most rabid partisans for the idea that the Second Amendment only applied to militias and is thus a dead letter.
There were a lot of other twists and turns, some of which will assist the Obama Administration in making gun purchase/possession more difficult.
Read the whole thing.
HT: Of Arms and the Law
And he shows the NRA to have been on the wrong side.
...The Heller case quickly found a powerful opponent in the National Rifle Association. This surprises nearly every layman I discuss the case with, most of whom assume the NRA was behind the lawsuit in the first place. The Parker lawyers received backroom visits from allies of the NRA before their case was filed, discouraging them from going forward. The Supreme Court (which still had Sandra Day O’Conner back then) would not reliably deliver a victory, they argued, and an authoritative statement from the Supremes that the Second Amendment did not protect an individual right could prove devastating to the long-term cause.
This was an intellectually respectable objection, the Levy team thought, but ultimately too fearful. If no one would fight for the Second Amendment qua Second Amendment in a relevant case, then its supposed paladins were as complicit in its irrelevance as were the most rabid partisans for the idea that the Second Amendment only applied to militias and is thus a dead letter.
There were a lot of other twists and turns, some of which will assist the Obama Administration in making gun purchase/possession more difficult.
Read the whole thing.
HT: Of Arms and the Law
Frankie Busalacchi's Big Problem
Below is a picture of US vehicle-mileage (year-over-year, 12 month rolling average):
...vehicle miles driven are off 3.0% YoY, and the decline in miles driven is worse than during the early '70s oil crisis - and about the same as the 1979-1980 decline. As the DOT noted, miles in September 2008 were 4.4% less than September 2007, so the YoY change in the rolling average will probably get worse
Frankie (the Fixer) Busalacchi over at Wisconsin's DOT has a problem. That fuel tax ain't shoveling money into DOT's pockets like it used to...
HT: Calculated Risk
Breske Admits Truth
Breske can't possibly find 10% in budget cuts.
Railroad Commission Secretary Roger Breske said such a cut would reduce his office to a “dog-and-pony show.”
Pssst....Roger.....it already IS a 'dog and pony show.' We want you to give up the pony.
Railroad Commission Secretary Roger Breske said such a cut would reduce his office to a “dog-and-pony show.”
Pssst....Roger.....it already IS a 'dog and pony show.' We want you to give up the pony.
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
BK the Better Option for Big 2.00015
Given the Barney Frank plan (below) or bankruptcy, which would YOU choose?
Long-Term Restructuring Plan – Not later than 3/31/09, loan recipients must submit to Treasury acceptable restructuring plan for long-term viability and international competitiveness, including fuel efficiency standards and advanced technology vehicle manufacturing, rationalization of costs, and proposals for restructuring existing debt.
• Oversight Board The Financial Stability Oversight Board (Oversight Board) established under EESA will provide oversight of the loan program, and will have four additional members for purposes of the loan program (Secretaries of Energy, Labor and Transportation and the EPA Administrator) in addition to the five existing members (Fed Chairman, Treasury Secretary, FHFA Director, SEC Chairman, and HUD Secretary).
[snip]
• Warrants – Treasury must obtain warrants from each loan recipient (or economic equivalent in the case of a privately held firm) equal to 20% of the loan or such greater percentage as may be determined by Treasury in consultation with the Oversight Board.
• Executive Compensation and Corporate Governance – All executive compensation restrictions from EESA apply to loan recipients for the duration of the loan plus the following additional restrictions:no bonuses to employees making more than $200,000 (which Treasury will adjust for inflation). no golden parachutes under any circumstances. no compensation plan that could encourage manipulation of reported earnings to enhance compensation.
• Ability to Prohibit Transactions, Oversight of Financial Condition – For duration of the loan, Treasury in consultation with the Oversight Board will have the authority to review and prohibit any asset sale, investment, contract, or commitment proposed to be entered into by the recipient valued in excess of $25 million.
If you think that having Barney Frank as the de facto Chairman/CEO of GM, FoMoCo, and Xler is a recipe for success, you deserve whatever you get.
Anyone with the common sense of a rabbit, however, will choose bankruptcy. Or water-torture.
By the way, Barney envisions at least $100 Bn in loans, not $25 Bn.
Long-Term Restructuring Plan – Not later than 3/31/09, loan recipients must submit to Treasury acceptable restructuring plan for long-term viability and international competitiveness, including fuel efficiency standards and advanced technology vehicle manufacturing, rationalization of costs, and proposals for restructuring existing debt.
• Oversight Board The Financial Stability Oversight Board (Oversight Board) established under EESA will provide oversight of the loan program, and will have four additional members for purposes of the loan program (Secretaries of Energy, Labor and Transportation and the EPA Administrator) in addition to the five existing members (Fed Chairman, Treasury Secretary, FHFA Director, SEC Chairman, and HUD Secretary).
[snip]
• Warrants – Treasury must obtain warrants from each loan recipient (or economic equivalent in the case of a privately held firm) equal to 20% of the loan or such greater percentage as may be determined by Treasury in consultation with the Oversight Board.
• Executive Compensation and Corporate Governance – All executive compensation restrictions from EESA apply to loan recipients for the duration of the loan plus the following additional restrictions:no bonuses to employees making more than $200,000 (which Treasury will adjust for inflation). no golden parachutes under any circumstances. no compensation plan that could encourage manipulation of reported earnings to enhance compensation.
• Ability to Prohibit Transactions, Oversight of Financial Condition – For duration of the loan, Treasury in consultation with the Oversight Board will have the authority to review and prohibit any asset sale, investment, contract, or commitment proposed to be entered into by the recipient valued in excess of $25 million.
If you think that having Barney Frank as the de facto Chairman/CEO of GM, FoMoCo, and Xler is a recipe for success, you deserve whatever you get.
Anyone with the common sense of a rabbit, however, will choose bankruptcy. Or water-torture.
By the way, Barney envisions at least $100 Bn in loans, not $25 Bn.
Germantown to Remain Tax-Farm for MATC Leech
Surprise!!
The Wisconsin Technical College System Board voted 12-0 today to reject a request from the Germantown School District to secede from the Milwaukee Area Technical College District.
The secession would have resulted in a tax reduction for Germantown School District property taxpayers because Germantown would have affiliated with the lower-taxing Moraine Park Technical College District.
...MATC President Darnell Cole stressed that the vast majority of Germantown residents who go to technical college attend MATC and that MATC would lose $5.7 million per year in property tax revenue if the secession were allowed. He said that includes $4.7 million in annual operating revenue, or the equivalent of 80 full-time positions at MATC.
Several members of the state board, which is meeting today in Pewaukee, said Germantown had not made a case for why secession would be better for students. They also said that revenue from Germantown School District property taxpayers should continue to go to MATC given that three times as many Germantown residents attend MATC as attend Moraine Park
Fuggedabout all the BS. It's the money, honey.
The Wisconsin Technical College System Board voted 12-0 today to reject a request from the Germantown School District to secede from the Milwaukee Area Technical College District.
The secession would have resulted in a tax reduction for Germantown School District property taxpayers because Germantown would have affiliated with the lower-taxing Moraine Park Technical College District.
...MATC President Darnell Cole stressed that the vast majority of Germantown residents who go to technical college attend MATC and that MATC would lose $5.7 million per year in property tax revenue if the secession were allowed. He said that includes $4.7 million in annual operating revenue, or the equivalent of 80 full-time positions at MATC.
Several members of the state board, which is meeting today in Pewaukee, said Germantown had not made a case for why secession would be better for students. They also said that revenue from Germantown School District property taxpayers should continue to go to MATC given that three times as many Germantown residents attend MATC as attend Moraine Park
Fuggedabout all the BS. It's the money, honey.
Why We Hate Jim Doyle
Doyle-ie, kissing the butts of the Unions, doesn't want Wisconsin tax law to conform with Federal tax law on health savings accounts.
So here's the easy solution!
Wisconsin personal income tax guidance previously issued by the Department of Revenue regarding the state's lack of conformity with federal health savings account provisions (see CCH PAYROLL MANAGEMENT GUIDE Newsletter Issue 2031, dated February 26, 2008) has been updated with respect to the use of Wisconsin Schedule I to adjust for differences between the state and federal treatment. The guidance now specifies that when completing Part II of Schedule I, it will be necessary to complete a revised federal Schedule A to determine the allowable medical expenses for use in determining the Wisconsin itemized deduction credit. Medical expenses paid from the health savings account are included in line 1 of the revised federal Schedule A as a medical expense. All medical expenses are then reduced by 7.5% of federal adjusted gross income. (News for Tax Practitioners, Wisconsin Department of Revenue, November 4, 2008.).
Got that? It shouldn't take more than an hour or two to re-jigger all that shit.
--CCH newsletter
So here's the easy solution!
Wisconsin personal income tax guidance previously issued by the Department of Revenue regarding the state's lack of conformity with federal health savings account provisions (see CCH PAYROLL MANAGEMENT GUIDE Newsletter Issue 2031, dated February 26, 2008) has been updated with respect to the use of Wisconsin Schedule I to adjust for differences between the state and federal treatment. The guidance now specifies that when completing Part II of Schedule I, it will be necessary to complete a revised federal Schedule A to determine the allowable medical expenses for use in determining the Wisconsin itemized deduction credit. Medical expenses paid from the health savings account are included in line 1 of the revised federal Schedule A as a medical expense. All medical expenses are then reduced by 7.5% of federal adjusted gross income. (News for Tax Practitioners, Wisconsin Department of Revenue, November 4, 2008.).
Got that? It shouldn't take more than an hour or two to re-jigger all that shit.
--CCH newsletter
What About Those "Social Conservatives"?
Some would have it that the (R) Party should jettison the 'social conservatives'--the "bitter clingers" of Obama-in-San-Francisco fame.
But not this guy.
I’m hardly the most religious guy you’d ever want to meet. My last church service was my wedding, some four years ago. And that was a Unitarian service. Really, my main concern in politics is maintaining my freedom. And, in practical, definable terms, the daily threats to my liberty are not being pushed by religious conservatives. It wasn’t religious conservatives who’ve told me I’m breaking the law if I light up in a bar. It wasn’t religious conservatives who’ve forbidden me from buying food made with trans fats. It wasn’t religious conservatives who pushed speech codes on our college campuses and dictate hate crimes laws. It wasn’t religious conservatives who’ve made it a bureaucratic journey to buy a gun to protect my home and family. It isn’t religious conservatives I see trying to revive the fairness doctrine to specifically silence their political opposition. It wasn’t religious conservatives to gave us “campaign finance reform”. It isn’t the religious conservatives who have told me that I have to separate my trash, even to the point of removing individual trashcans in my office building.
Put bluntly, I can’t help but feel I’m being sold a bill of goods here. Progressives, with the full consent of moderates,…chip away consistently and unabashedly at my freedom. All the while, telling me how scared I should be of the religious conservative bogeyman hiding under the bed. Do I think there’s some religious conservatives who go over the top? Sure. But, marginalizing the religious conservatives en masse is a surefire way to empower just those religious conservatives who do go over the top. Moreover, I’m getting a little more than tired of being told to be scared about the threat to my liberty posed by my allies by people whose own behavior tells me they want nothing more than to restrict my freedom.
Quoted by CrankyCon.
But not this guy.
I’m hardly the most religious guy you’d ever want to meet. My last church service was my wedding, some four years ago. And that was a Unitarian service. Really, my main concern in politics is maintaining my freedom. And, in practical, definable terms, the daily threats to my liberty are not being pushed by religious conservatives. It wasn’t religious conservatives who’ve told me I’m breaking the law if I light up in a bar. It wasn’t religious conservatives who’ve forbidden me from buying food made with trans fats. It wasn’t religious conservatives who pushed speech codes on our college campuses and dictate hate crimes laws. It wasn’t religious conservatives who’ve made it a bureaucratic journey to buy a gun to protect my home and family. It isn’t religious conservatives I see trying to revive the fairness doctrine to specifically silence their political opposition. It wasn’t religious conservatives to gave us “campaign finance reform”. It isn’t the religious conservatives who have told me that I have to separate my trash, even to the point of removing individual trashcans in my office building.
Put bluntly, I can’t help but feel I’m being sold a bill of goods here. Progressives, with the full consent of moderates,…chip away consistently and unabashedly at my freedom. All the while, telling me how scared I should be of the religious conservative bogeyman hiding under the bed. Do I think there’s some religious conservatives who go over the top? Sure. But, marginalizing the religious conservatives en masse is a surefire way to empower just those religious conservatives who do go over the top. Moreover, I’m getting a little more than tired of being told to be scared about the threat to my liberty posed by my allies by people whose own behavior tells me they want nothing more than to restrict my freedom.
Quoted by CrankyCon.
Cops and Risk-of-Duty: More Money is Fine!
For a bazillion years or so, police (and firefighter) unions have used the "we're in danger, so we need better benefits" line to secure damn good taxpayer-funded benefits and wages.
Wrong. They'll take the money, AND the money, thank you!
An Eau Claire police officer who was injured while attempting to arrest an underage drinker can sue the youth and his mother's insurance carrier for his injuries, the 3rd District Court of Appeals said in a decision released today.
...The appellate court, sitting in Wausau, disagreed. The court reversed Proctor when it found "there is no rule that categorically exempts police officers from bringing negligence claims when injured in the line of duty."
Well, there's a surprising reversal in public policy-t0-date...
Wrong. They'll take the money, AND the money, thank you!
An Eau Claire police officer who was injured while attempting to arrest an underage drinker can sue the youth and his mother's insurance carrier for his injuries, the 3rd District Court of Appeals said in a decision released today.
...The appellate court, sitting in Wausau, disagreed. The court reversed Proctor when it found "there is no rule that categorically exempts police officers from bringing negligence claims when injured in the line of duty."
Well, there's a surprising reversal in public policy-t0-date...
Why Buy the Guns Now?
Why buy the guns now?
Two words:
Eric Holder (the next US AG.)
Here's the short version, courtesy Ace.
We know that there is not one simple answer, and we know that there is nothing we can do that will prevent every single crime or act of violence. But we also know that there are some common-sense things that we can do and that we must do. And so I want to add my voice to those who are calling on Congress to finally -- to finally -- pass these very common-sense gun measures:
* First, to require child safety locks for all handguns that are sold.
* Second, to ban violent juveniles from ever having the ability to own guns.
* Third, to pass the president's handgun licensing proposal, which requires safety certification for all handgun purchasers.
* Fourth, to support research in smart gun technology which can limit a gun's use to its authorized owner.
And finally, to close the gun show loophole by requiring a background check for all gun purchases at gun shows.
The provisions highlighted in red are....ahhhh......troublesome.
As to "banning violent juveniles from ever....", I suggest that Mr. Holder spent far too many weeks at Disney's "Fantasyland." But, hey, that's Liberal education protocol, right? I mean, what does actual real-life experience teach us that's worth remembering?
As to "research...smart gun technology," good luck with that. We note that he's very careful, specifying 'support....[of] research', which means that he'll be handing out grant-moneys to the usual suspects. Understand this: the objective is not necessarily to develop the technology. The objective is to put money into the Correct Hands.
(By the way, think for....oh....5 seconds, Mr. Holder. You purchase a handgun for home-defense purposes. You are the "authorized owner." You leave town to prosecute Dick Cheney for owning a company. Your home is invaded during your absence. ****Pause*** Your wife cannot use the handgun, so she is raped and murdered and your home is plundered. ***Pause*** Good thinking.)
Finally, we get to the politically possible (if un-Constitutional) "certification" provision. Obviously, the folks who wrote the 2A were idiots. They forgot to insert "safety-certified" in that phrase which began with "the right to keep and bear arms." This allows you (along with a compliant SCOTUS majority) to correct the egregious stupidity of the Founders; and I'm sure that the "certification" process will be very challenging.
In fact, it might be extremely challenging.
It might even be impossible to become "certified."
All for the children, of course.
Two words:
Eric Holder (the next US AG.)
Here's the short version, courtesy Ace.
We know that there is not one simple answer, and we know that there is nothing we can do that will prevent every single crime or act of violence. But we also know that there are some common-sense things that we can do and that we must do. And so I want to add my voice to those who are calling on Congress to finally -- to finally -- pass these very common-sense gun measures:
* First, to require child safety locks for all handguns that are sold.
* Second, to ban violent juveniles from ever having the ability to own guns.
* Third, to pass the president's handgun licensing proposal, which requires safety certification for all handgun purchasers.
* Fourth, to support research in smart gun technology which can limit a gun's use to its authorized owner.
And finally, to close the gun show loophole by requiring a background check for all gun purchases at gun shows.
The provisions highlighted in red are....ahhhh......troublesome.
As to "banning violent juveniles from ever....", I suggest that Mr. Holder spent far too many weeks at Disney's "Fantasyland." But, hey, that's Liberal education protocol, right? I mean, what does actual real-life experience teach us that's worth remembering?
As to "research...smart gun technology," good luck with that. We note that he's very careful, specifying 'support....[of] research', which means that he'll be handing out grant-moneys to the usual suspects. Understand this: the objective is not necessarily to develop the technology. The objective is to put money into the Correct Hands.
(By the way, think for....oh....5 seconds, Mr. Holder. You purchase a handgun for home-defense purposes. You are the "authorized owner." You leave town to prosecute Dick Cheney for owning a company. Your home is invaded during your absence. ****Pause*** Your wife cannot use the handgun, so she is raped and murdered and your home is plundered. ***Pause*** Good thinking.)
Finally, we get to the politically possible (if un-Constitutional) "certification" provision. Obviously, the folks who wrote the 2A were idiots. They forgot to insert "safety-certified" in that phrase which began with "the right to keep and bear arms." This allows you (along with a compliant SCOTUS majority) to correct the egregious stupidity of the Founders; and I'm sure that the "certification" process will be very challenging.
In fact, it might be extremely challenging.
It might even be impossible to become "certified."
All for the children, of course.
Music-Accompanied Warthog Work
I never knew that Warthogs (A-10's) had soundtrack-mixing abilities.
As a side-note, around 1:15 or so you will learn just how fast those machine guns actually fire.
HT: Ace
As a side-note, around 1:15 or so you will learn just how fast those machine guns actually fire.
HT: Ace
The Real Big Three Bankruptcy? Executive Brainpower
Sykes just brought this up...
The CEOs of the big three automakers flew to the nation’s capital yesterday in private luxurious jets to make their case to Washington that the auto industry is running out of cash and needs $25 billion in taxpayer money to avoid bankruptcy.
The CEOs of GM, Ford and Chrysler may have told Congress that they will likely go out of business without a bailout yet that has not stopped them from traveling in style, not even First Class is good enough.
All three CEOs - Rick Wagoner of GM, Alan Mulally of Ford, and Robert Nardelli of Chrysler - exercised their perks Tuesday by flying in corporate jets to DC. Wagoner flew in GM’s $36 million luxury aircraft to tell members of Congress that the company is burning through cash, asking for $10-12 billion for GM alone.
It gets worse.
Alan Mulally hasn’t flown commercial since beginning his stint at Ford. He refused to relocate to Michigan from Detroit, [sic] so his contract with Ford includes the unlimited use of a private jet. He commutes every weekend from Seattle to Detroit for his job.
I suppose that the UAW is behind this, somehow... /sarcasm
As a very smart someone said, "It's the Culture, Stupid!!"
And the Big Three's culture is bankrupt, just like the brain-power of their CEO's.
Don't let the door hit your asses, boys, as you leave the buildings.
The CEOs of the big three automakers flew to the nation’s capital yesterday in private luxurious jets to make their case to Washington that the auto industry is running out of cash and needs $25 billion in taxpayer money to avoid bankruptcy.
The CEOs of GM, Ford and Chrysler may have told Congress that they will likely go out of business without a bailout yet that has not stopped them from traveling in style, not even First Class is good enough.
All three CEOs - Rick Wagoner of GM, Alan Mulally of Ford, and Robert Nardelli of Chrysler - exercised their perks Tuesday by flying in corporate jets to DC. Wagoner flew in GM’s $36 million luxury aircraft to tell members of Congress that the company is burning through cash, asking for $10-12 billion for GM alone.
It gets worse.
Alan Mulally hasn’t flown commercial since beginning his stint at Ford. He refused to relocate to Michigan from Detroit, [sic] so his contract with Ford includes the unlimited use of a private jet. He commutes every weekend from Seattle to Detroit for his job.
I suppose that the UAW is behind this, somehow... /sarcasm
As a very smart someone said, "It's the Culture, Stupid!!"
And the Big Three's culture is bankrupt, just like the brain-power of their CEO's.
Don't let the door hit your asses, boys, as you leave the buildings.
Is Piracy So Difficult to Remedy?
You have a $10 million, $50 million, $100 million cargo.
You have a large capital investment: an oceangoing ship.
You have a couple of dozen men operating the ship.
Labor investment/capital investment? About 1 to 100 (depending on a few factors...)
Cost to add 5 men with the ability to use rockets, 50-cal machine guns, and AR-15's? Not so much, even when you add in the cost of the hardware.
This is called a "no-brainer."
You have a large capital investment: an oceangoing ship.
You have a couple of dozen men operating the ship.
Labor investment/capital investment? About 1 to 100 (depending on a few factors...)
Cost to add 5 men with the ability to use rockets, 50-cal machine guns, and AR-15's? Not so much, even when you add in the cost of the hardware.
This is called a "no-brainer."
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
We Need Better Rants About Automotive Bailout
Ahhhhh....it's frustrating.
The PM RadioMouth went into full-bore/screaming rant over the Big 2.0034 Bailout today.
A couple of notes:
1) While the UAW pension/healthcare deal gets a lot of notice, it escapes the attention of the self-proclaimed "expert" on automotive matters that the white-collar retirees get basically the very same deals as do the blue-collar folks.
2) The very same self-proclaimed "expert" on automotive matters demonstrated his "expertise" by remarking that (if there is a loan of some sort and GM goes away), 'all that's left is a bunch of old buildings in Detroit.'
Even allowing for the rhetorical "Detroit" error (GM has old buildings from coast to coast and from Canada through Texas, not to mention overseas), that offhand comment is remarkably inane.
The dies, molds, jigs, fixtures, casting machines, molding machines, finishing apparatus, testing and calibration equipment, CAD and Pro-E systems, mainframe computers, woodworking and maintenance tools, transfer lines, and MRO supplies necessary to run any ONE of the Big 2.0003 is collectively worth more money than all the radio station equipment in the entire USA.
Period. No questions asked.
Further, any venture capitalist with an IQ greater than room-temperature would be standing in line, naked, for 7 days straight in a Detroit winter to purchase those items just so he could make and sell the spare parts for Chevrolets currently on the roads. Forget the Caddies, 'Vettes, GMCs, and Pontiacs; just the Chevy parts (engines and body panels) would be lucrative almost beyond the dreams of avarice.
Yah. Those secured debtors would really be sorry-ass losers, alright.
The PM RadioMouth went into full-bore/screaming rant over the Big 2.0034 Bailout today.
A couple of notes:
1) While the UAW pension/healthcare deal gets a lot of notice, it escapes the attention of the self-proclaimed "expert" on automotive matters that the white-collar retirees get basically the very same deals as do the blue-collar folks.
2) The very same self-proclaimed "expert" on automotive matters demonstrated his "expertise" by remarking that (if there is a loan of some sort and GM goes away), 'all that's left is a bunch of old buildings in Detroit.'
Even allowing for the rhetorical "Detroit" error (GM has old buildings from coast to coast and from Canada through Texas, not to mention overseas), that offhand comment is remarkably inane.
The dies, molds, jigs, fixtures, casting machines, molding machines, finishing apparatus, testing and calibration equipment, CAD and Pro-E systems, mainframe computers, woodworking and maintenance tools, transfer lines, and MRO supplies necessary to run any ONE of the Big 2.0003 is collectively worth more money than all the radio station equipment in the entire USA.
Period. No questions asked.
Further, any venture capitalist with an IQ greater than room-temperature would be standing in line, naked, for 7 days straight in a Detroit winter to purchase those items just so he could make and sell the spare parts for Chevrolets currently on the roads. Forget the Caddies, 'Vettes, GMCs, and Pontiacs; just the Chevy parts (engines and body panels) would be lucrative almost beyond the dreams of avarice.
Yah. Those secured debtors would really be sorry-ass losers, alright.
2,000 Years, No Progress
Evidently Rome's Senate resembled ours.
"The budget should be balanced, the Treasury should be refilled, public debt should be reduced, the arrogance of officialdom should be tempered and controlled, and the assistance to foreign lands should be curtailed lest Rome become bankrupt. People must again learn to work, instead of living on public assistance."~ Cicero - 55 BC
That should shut up the Evolutionists, don'cha think?
HT: Cavey
"The budget should be balanced, the Treasury should be refilled, public debt should be reduced, the arrogance of officialdom should be tempered and controlled, and the assistance to foreign lands should be curtailed lest Rome become bankrupt. People must again learn to work, instead of living on public assistance."~ Cicero - 55 BC
That should shut up the Evolutionists, don'cha think?
HT: Cavey
National Health Care? How About Catholic Health Care/?
Food for thought from James Capretta in First Things:
...Catholic hospitals remain, by and large, strong and vibrant institutions, and they have earned the gratitude of the communities they serve. Today, 615 hospitals in the United States—or about one of every nine—are sponsored by the Catholic Church. These facilities employ 725,000 workers and serve 5.5 million overnight patients annually, and many millions more on an outpatient basis
The author then discusses the soon-to-be-implemented assault on Catholic values, which will come from the Administration and its Congressional allies. Frankly, it is entirely possible that Catholic-sponsored hospitals will cease providing health-care under Obama's regime.
Can anything be done?
Perhaps, although there is no easy solution here. One promising initiative was pioneered by Robert F. Vasa, now the Bishop of Baker, Oregon...He chose to pull as many people as he could into a single, church-sponsored plan, which would self-insure. The church, not a private insurer, would decide what was and was not covered. With full control, the diocese was able to design an insurance plan consistent with Catholic principles
Consider, for instance, the Archdiocese of Chicago. There are 364 parishes, 217 parochial schools, and 40 secondary schools in Chicago. There are five colleges and universities with a combined faculty of about 3,500, not including staff. All in all, the archdiocese directly employs around 14,000 people, not counting the employees of the twenty-one Catholic hospitals in the region
Actuarially significant, and not un-attractive.
The drumbeat for submission to the dominant, secular healthcare culture will only get louder in the years ahead. Given the threat, now is a good time to investigate all available alternatives.
"Make haste slowly..."
...Catholic hospitals remain, by and large, strong and vibrant institutions, and they have earned the gratitude of the communities they serve. Today, 615 hospitals in the United States—or about one of every nine—are sponsored by the Catholic Church. These facilities employ 725,000 workers and serve 5.5 million overnight patients annually, and many millions more on an outpatient basis
The author then discusses the soon-to-be-implemented assault on Catholic values, which will come from the Administration and its Congressional allies. Frankly, it is entirely possible that Catholic-sponsored hospitals will cease providing health-care under Obama's regime.
Can anything be done?
Perhaps, although there is no easy solution here. One promising initiative was pioneered by Robert F. Vasa, now the Bishop of Baker, Oregon...He chose to pull as many people as he could into a single, church-sponsored plan, which would self-insure. The church, not a private insurer, would decide what was and was not covered. With full control, the diocese was able to design an insurance plan consistent with Catholic principles
Consider, for instance, the Archdiocese of Chicago. There are 364 parishes, 217 parochial schools, and 40 secondary schools in Chicago. There are five colleges and universities with a combined faculty of about 3,500, not including staff. All in all, the archdiocese directly employs around 14,000 people, not counting the employees of the twenty-one Catholic hospitals in the region
Actuarially significant, and not un-attractive.
The drumbeat for submission to the dominant, secular healthcare culture will only get louder in the years ahead. Given the threat, now is a good time to investigate all available alternatives.
"Make haste slowly..."
Sykes, Shelley, Murphy & Controversy: Not a Lawfirm
Dan Shelley, ex-news-director at WTMJ Radio (did he really make a difference?) writes a souffle-weight criticism of Sykes.
Sykes responds.
Murphy, the editor at Milwaukee Magazine, responds to Sykes' response. Skip all the happy-talk; here's the core of Murphy's response to Sykes' response....
What’s striking about Sykes’ blogged response to Shelley’s essay is how unresponsive it is. Sykes doesn’t directly address or deny that conservative talk radio hosts (1) perpetuate the notion that listeners are victims and the host is the vehicle by which they are empowered; (2) use an us-versus-them approach that regularly targets Democrats, “Republicans in Name Only” and the mainstream media; (3) refuse to do an even-handed discussion of issues; (4) belittle callers when the argument can’t be won on the merits; (5) strategically find occasions to disagree with the Republican leaders or conservative doctrine to give the impression of being an independent thinker; (6) won’t risk their credibility by backing a Republican candidate who has no chance of winning; (7) rely on the “you know what would happen if this was a liberal” line of attack; (8) use the “pre-emptive strike” to immediately accuse the media of overplaying a budding news story that might make conservatives look bad; (9) selectively use facts to support their position and ignore any that don’t; (10) pound away on an issue, hour after hour, day after day, to motivate listeners to contact their public officials in support of a particular policy; (11) use a double standard on such issues as the line-item veto, perjury and activist judges (all three are great if they help Republicans or conservatives, but bad if used in support of Democrats)
Ho-hum.
Want that in one sentence? Here it is:
Sykes is an entertainer who pokes at Liberal Orthodoxy for a living.
End of sentence.
You want "reasoned and measured debate"? Ain't gonna happen on talk radio, although Sykes and Limbaugh are far more inclined to discuss issues than the afternoon guy.
You want both sides? Read the blogs, lefty and righty. I do.
Sykes responds.
Murphy, the editor at Milwaukee Magazine, responds to Sykes' response. Skip all the happy-talk; here's the core of Murphy's response to Sykes' response....
What’s striking about Sykes’ blogged response to Shelley’s essay is how unresponsive it is. Sykes doesn’t directly address or deny that conservative talk radio hosts (1) perpetuate the notion that listeners are victims and the host is the vehicle by which they are empowered; (2) use an us-versus-them approach that regularly targets Democrats, “Republicans in Name Only” and the mainstream media; (3) refuse to do an even-handed discussion of issues; (4) belittle callers when the argument can’t be won on the merits; (5) strategically find occasions to disagree with the Republican leaders or conservative doctrine to give the impression of being an independent thinker; (6) won’t risk their credibility by backing a Republican candidate who has no chance of winning; (7) rely on the “you know what would happen if this was a liberal” line of attack; (8) use the “pre-emptive strike” to immediately accuse the media of overplaying a budding news story that might make conservatives look bad; (9) selectively use facts to support their position and ignore any that don’t; (10) pound away on an issue, hour after hour, day after day, to motivate listeners to contact their public officials in support of a particular policy; (11) use a double standard on such issues as the line-item veto, perjury and activist judges (all three are great if they help Republicans or conservatives, but bad if used in support of Democrats)
Ho-hum.
Want that in one sentence? Here it is:
Sykes is an entertainer who pokes at Liberal Orthodoxy for a living.
End of sentence.
You want "reasoned and measured debate"? Ain't gonna happen on talk radio, although Sykes and Limbaugh are far more inclined to discuss issues than the afternoon guy.
You want both sides? Read the blogs, lefty and righty. I do.
China Is Our Friend, Part 98,547
If GWB's anti-terrorism work is his best legacy (and it will be), then his conscious and willful blindness to Red China's butcher-Government will be his worst.
Falun Gong [is] the strange Chinese spiritual movement that so enrages the Communists. The Falun Gong practitioners are in prisons. They get taken for medical exams, but strange ones – their eyes are checked, but only the corneas, not the vision function. Unusual amounts of blood are drawn – the way you would for tissue matching. Doctors check their kidneys and little else.
The fact is that China is known to harvest organs from executed prisoners, writes Gutmann. The spectacular allegation is that it sells organs it harvests from political prisoners – Falun Gong practitioners or untamed Christians – who are killed because their organs are needed. The harvest is the cause, not the byproduct, of executions
There is no way to "pretty this pig up some" for normal human beings.
One wonders if the O-and-Savior will address this (and the slave-labor) issue...
HT: P-Mac
Falun Gong [is] the strange Chinese spiritual movement that so enrages the Communists. The Falun Gong practitioners are in prisons. They get taken for medical exams, but strange ones – their eyes are checked, but only the corneas, not the vision function. Unusual amounts of blood are drawn – the way you would for tissue matching. Doctors check their kidneys and little else.
The fact is that China is known to harvest organs from executed prisoners, writes Gutmann. The spectacular allegation is that it sells organs it harvests from political prisoners – Falun Gong practitioners or untamed Christians – who are killed because their organs are needed. The harvest is the cause, not the byproduct, of executions
There is no way to "pretty this pig up some" for normal human beings.
One wonders if the O-and-Savior will address this (and the slave-labor) issue...
HT: P-Mac
Steering Obama's Agenda
No big surprises here, but some G-2 links if you want them.
Bloomberg today reported that the Soros-funded Far Left think tank Center for American Progress is helping to shape the Obama Administration's agenda.
(Quoting Discover the Networks):
Robert Dreyfuss reports in the March 1, 2004 edition of The Nation: "The idea for the Center began with discussions in 2002 between [Morton] Halperin and George Soros, the billionaire investor. … Halperin, who heads the office of Soros' Open Society Institute, brought [former Clinton chief of staff John] Podesta into the discussion, and beginning in late 2002 Halperin and Podesta circulated a series of papers to funders.
"Soros and Halperin recruited Harold Ickes -- chief fundraiser and former deputy chief of staff for the Clinton White House -- to help organize the Center. It was launched on July 7, 2003 as the American Majority Institute. The name was changed to Center for American Progress (CAP) on September 1, 2003. The official purpose of the Center was to provide the left with something it supposedly lacked -- a think tank of its own
Some of the group's recommendations already have been adopted by the president-elect. These include the center's call for a gradual withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq and a buildup of forces in Afghanistan, a plan for universal health coverage through employer plans and proposals to create purchasing pools that allow small businesses to spread the cost among a larger group of workers. Obama has endorsed much of a CAP plan to create ``green jobs'' linked to alleviating global climate change.
...To help promote its ideas, CAP employs 11 full-time bloggers who contribute to two Web sites, ThinkProgress and the Wonk Room; others prepare daily feeds for radio stations. The center's policy briefings are standing-room only, packed with lobbyists, advocacy-group representatives and reporters looking for insights on where the Obama administration is headed
Uh-huh.
By the way, the color red is not just for highlighting...
HT GatewayPundit
Bloomberg today reported that the Soros-funded Far Left think tank Center for American Progress is helping to shape the Obama Administration's agenda.
(Quoting Discover the Networks):
Robert Dreyfuss reports in the March 1, 2004 edition of The Nation: "The idea for the Center began with discussions in 2002 between [Morton] Halperin and George Soros, the billionaire investor. … Halperin, who heads the office of Soros' Open Society Institute, brought [former Clinton chief of staff John] Podesta into the discussion, and beginning in late 2002 Halperin and Podesta circulated a series of papers to funders.
"Soros and Halperin recruited Harold Ickes -- chief fundraiser and former deputy chief of staff for the Clinton White House -- to help organize the Center. It was launched on July 7, 2003 as the American Majority Institute. The name was changed to Center for American Progress (CAP) on September 1, 2003. The official purpose of the Center was to provide the left with something it supposedly lacked -- a think tank of its own
Some of the group's recommendations already have been adopted by the president-elect. These include the center's call for a gradual withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq and a buildup of forces in Afghanistan, a plan for universal health coverage through employer plans and proposals to create purchasing pools that allow small businesses to spread the cost among a larger group of workers. Obama has endorsed much of a CAP plan to create ``green jobs'' linked to alleviating global climate change.
...To help promote its ideas, CAP employs 11 full-time bloggers who contribute to two Web sites, ThinkProgress and the Wonk Room; others prepare daily feeds for radio stations. The center's policy briefings are standing-room only, packed with lobbyists, advocacy-group representatives and reporters looking for insights on where the Obama administration is headed
Uh-huh.
By the way, the color red is not just for highlighting...
HT GatewayPundit
G-20 Results
Many of you wonder exactly what the G-20 meeting accomplished, aside from stuffing the faces of the delegates with tasty dinners that NONE of you will ever eat in YOUR lifetimes.
Planet Moron was able to obtain a copy of their Statement of Principles and we present it for you.
Statement of Principles
We held a meeting because things are bad.
We should probably do something about that.
Some people screwed up.
Other people also screwed up.
We’ve done some things to make it better.
But we need to do more.
Therefore, we agreed to continue doing what we’ve been doing.
But also promise to do some other good-sounding stuff.
To accomplish this, we adhere to common principles of good-sounding stuff.
Specifically, we have charged our people with reviewing things.
We’ll meet again in six months to review the progress being made on these reviews.
We think the free market is still nifty.
Free trade is nifty too.
Helping poor countries is also nifty.
We are still committed to all the other important stuff going on.
This will probably work.
Yup.
Planet Moron was able to obtain a copy of their Statement of Principles and we present it for you.
Statement of Principles
We held a meeting because things are bad.
We should probably do something about that.
Some people screwed up.
Other people also screwed up.
We’ve done some things to make it better.
But we need to do more.
Therefore, we agreed to continue doing what we’ve been doing.
But also promise to do some other good-sounding stuff.
To accomplish this, we adhere to common principles of good-sounding stuff.
Specifically, we have charged our people with reviewing things.
We’ll meet again in six months to review the progress being made on these reviews.
We think the free market is still nifty.
Free trade is nifty too.
Helping poor countries is also nifty.
We are still committed to all the other important stuff going on.
This will probably work.
Yup.
"Food Police", V. 3.1
Yup. Another crusade.
In a closed-door gathering at Gracie Mansion late last month, health experts and food-industry representatives were told about Mayor Bloomberg's next crusade — an effort to reduce the salt in processed food by 20 percent over the next five years.
Salt is a preservative (except on pretzels.)
Of course, given the economic situation, you won't need all those preservatives; you won't have too much food in the refrigerator in the first place.
HT: Moonbattery
In a closed-door gathering at Gracie Mansion late last month, health experts and food-industry representatives were told about Mayor Bloomberg's next crusade — an effort to reduce the salt in processed food by 20 percent over the next five years.
Salt is a preservative (except on pretzels.)
Of course, given the economic situation, you won't need all those preservatives; you won't have too much food in the refrigerator in the first place.
HT: Moonbattery
Doh! Really??!!! Killers Like "No-Gun" Zones!
Factoid gathered from research on Columbine-type killers:
The other statistic that emerged from a study of active killers is that they almost exclusively seek out "gun free" zones for their attacks.
In most states, concealed handguns are prohibited at schools and on college campuses even for those with permits. Many malls and workplaces also place signs at their entrances prohibiting firearms on the premises.
Now tacticians believe the signs themselves may be an invitation to the active killers.
The psychological profile of a mass murderer indicates he is looking to inflict the most casualties as quickly as possible. Also, the data show most active killers have no intention of surviving the event.
They may select schools and shopping malls because of the large number of defenseless victims and the virtual guarantee no on the scene one is armed.
As soon as they're confronted by any armed resistance, the shooters typically turn the gun on themselves.
HT: Cramer
The other statistic that emerged from a study of active killers is that they almost exclusively seek out "gun free" zones for their attacks.
In most states, concealed handguns are prohibited at schools and on college campuses even for those with permits. Many malls and workplaces also place signs at their entrances prohibiting firearms on the premises.
Now tacticians believe the signs themselves may be an invitation to the active killers.
The psychological profile of a mass murderer indicates he is looking to inflict the most casualties as quickly as possible. Also, the data show most active killers have no intention of surviving the event.
They may select schools and shopping malls because of the large number of defenseless victims and the virtual guarantee no on the scene one is armed.
As soon as they're confronted by any armed resistance, the shooters typically turn the gun on themselves.
HT: Cramer
No Bailout of Big Three: What Happens?
If the Big 2.014 do not get bailed out by the taxpayers, what happens?
Bankruptcy.
So what?
It sounds worse than it is. Under Chapter XI (the most likely scenario), the automakers will reorganize, meaning that they will continue to operate but many of their contractural obligations will be re-worked--such as those with the UAW (and, correspondingly, with their white-collar employees).
But manufacturing, parts-distribution, etc., will continue.
Shareholders will get clobbered, temporarily. There will be some grinding of the gears. There will be staff cuts. And it's entirely possible that some operations will be under new ownership and/or management after a few years.
Think of it as an interlude in a hospital. There will be surgery, and sutures. There will be a recovery period. Painful, but necessary.
Another set of points, here from RedStates:
The issue comes down fundamentally to this: should the taxpayers throw an enormous of money that is unlikely ever to be repaid into General Motors, to keep them operating in their current bloated state? They have far too much production capacity, their labor costs are far too high, and they have far too many dealers.
GM needs to shut down some capacity, renegotiate with the UAW, and change their production mix to more fuel-efficient vehicles. And in all candor, they’ve known this for decades. Rather than complete these reforms over time (which would have exposed them to market risk), they instead very effectively negotiated with Congress for an endless parade of market-distorting regulations that shielded them from competition.
The case to provide an emergency bridge loan for GM is basically this: they expect that sales will recover quickly from October’s extremely depressed levels. And they also expect that the North American market will rebound to at least 16 million vehicles sold per year by 2010
(Note well, however: GM was barely profitable from AUTOMOTIVE OPERATIONS even at 16 million vehicles-sales rate.)
And news:
...GM announced today that they’re postponing by a month the incentive payments that they owe their dealers for sales made in October. Outside estimates are that about half a billion dollars are being withheld from dealers.
This of course is being presented as a cash-preserving move. It also has the surely-unintended side-effect of causing GM’s dealers some very direct pain. Those dealers are all burning up the phone lines to their Congressmen right now, threatening to dump lots of employees on the street right before the holidays unless GM gets their bailout
For some reason, RedStates' essayist mentioned Chapter VII, but not Chapter XI.
Bankruptcy.
So what?
It sounds worse than it is. Under Chapter XI (the most likely scenario), the automakers will reorganize, meaning that they will continue to operate but many of their contractural obligations will be re-worked--such as those with the UAW (and, correspondingly, with their white-collar employees).
But manufacturing, parts-distribution, etc., will continue.
Shareholders will get clobbered, temporarily. There will be some grinding of the gears. There will be staff cuts. And it's entirely possible that some operations will be under new ownership and/or management after a few years.
Think of it as an interlude in a hospital. There will be surgery, and sutures. There will be a recovery period. Painful, but necessary.
Another set of points, here from RedStates:
The issue comes down fundamentally to this: should the taxpayers throw an enormous of money that is unlikely ever to be repaid into General Motors, to keep them operating in their current bloated state? They have far too much production capacity, their labor costs are far too high, and they have far too many dealers.
GM needs to shut down some capacity, renegotiate with the UAW, and change their production mix to more fuel-efficient vehicles. And in all candor, they’ve known this for decades. Rather than complete these reforms over time (which would have exposed them to market risk), they instead very effectively negotiated with Congress for an endless parade of market-distorting regulations that shielded them from competition.
The case to provide an emergency bridge loan for GM is basically this: they expect that sales will recover quickly from October’s extremely depressed levels. And they also expect that the North American market will rebound to at least 16 million vehicles sold per year by 2010
(Note well, however: GM was barely profitable from AUTOMOTIVE OPERATIONS even at 16 million vehicles-sales rate.)
And news:
...GM announced today that they’re postponing by a month the incentive payments that they owe their dealers for sales made in October. Outside estimates are that about half a billion dollars are being withheld from dealers.
This of course is being presented as a cash-preserving move. It also has the surely-unintended side-effect of causing GM’s dealers some very direct pain. Those dealers are all burning up the phone lines to their Congressmen right now, threatening to dump lots of employees on the street right before the holidays unless GM gets their bailout
For some reason, RedStates' essayist mentioned Chapter VII, but not Chapter XI.
Monday, November 17, 2008
Stupid Crooks, Milwaukee Style
Channel 4 ran a videotape of an armed robbery tonight.
The one with the gun is 15 years old (he's already been taken into custody by the MPD.)
He uses the "Hollywood Horizontal" weapon-holding technique, which is guaranteed to miss a moose at 3 yards.
But even stupider: the thumb of his hand was wrapped around the rear of the slide of his semi-auto. If he'd pulled the trigger, the dumbass would have lost his thumb in a can of birdseed somewhere in that store.
It would have been fun to watch--except some poor clerk in that store might have been hurt, I suppose.
The one with the gun is 15 years old (he's already been taken into custody by the MPD.)
He uses the "Hollywood Horizontal" weapon-holding technique, which is guaranteed to miss a moose at 3 yards.
But even stupider: the thumb of his hand was wrapped around the rear of the slide of his semi-auto. If he'd pulled the trigger, the dumbass would have lost his thumb in a can of birdseed somewhere in that store.
It would have been fun to watch--except some poor clerk in that store might have been hurt, I suppose.
The Baltic Dry and the S&P
There's a little something of interest, no?
The Baltic Dry Index is, basically, shipping rates for dry goods. It has nothing to do with the Baltics; it's been around since 1774 (!!) and it is not subject to, .....ahhhhh......policital "adjustments," ....as are other typical US Gummint economic measures. (Recession, anyone?)
Since the number of ships at sea is relatively constant, the Index is (virtually) a perfect supply/demand curve demonstration.
As to the drop: some state that it is a factor of the liquidity crisis; that letters of credit are no longer as easily negotiated as they used to be.
Another factor has to be the demand side. I've yet to see an article which describes "demand ex-Letters of Credit" --or which, in other words, shows the effect of demand, pure (or letters of credit, pure.)
Intellectualoid Creeds and Starvation
The always-provocative Deneen:
It was our Nobel prize winning economists who argued aggressively on behalf of NAFTA, and were unwilling to seriously consider that one of its effects - intended as it turned out - was to displace thousands upon thousands of small Mexican farmers who had little choice but to seek illegal employment in the United States. Since they would be producing more and better products, the problem of inciting illegal immigration was irrelevant. It was our Nobel prize winning economists who extolled the virtues of outsourcing and globalization, wholly uncognizant of the impact and effect on the "ordinary Joes" and its effects of family, community, and civil society. It is our Nobel prize winning economists who actually argue that global warming - if it does indeed come to pass - will not adversely impact the worldwide GDP other than having an adverse effect on agricultural production. Such declines in agricultural output, they argue, will be nugatory since other industries and economic activities will be needed and will compensate any overall GDP loss in the agricultural realm. The fact that this decline will manifest itself as hunger and starvation doesn't really show up in the models, it seems (though, I'm willing to bet that a plumber or a builder would understand the implications pretty quickly). Don't believe me? Read this lecture by Herman Daly (particularly pp. 13-14), a bonafide economist, who names names, including a Nobel prize winning economist.
OK. Let's read PP 13-14 and see what we find.
...So in the full world, good economics becomes much more important, and erroneous economics becomes much more costly.
I think that humanists, physical scientists, philanthropists, and agrarians should not trust
economists with these increasingly difficult choices. Economists have an unfortunate tendency to
reduce all value to the level of personal taste, matters about which consensus is really neither
necessary nor desirable. It’s good to avoid conflict whenever possible – who can object to that?
But if there really are true values by which individual preferences can themselves be judged to begood or bad, and if people know and hold these values, then it would be very good if they asked more aggressive questions of blinkered economists
...And if we do leave it to the economists, how does agriculture fare? Well, I’ll try to answer that with three quotations
...Sterling Professor of Economics at Yale, William Nordhaus: “Agriculture, that part of the economy that is sensitive to climate change, accounts for just three percent of national output. That means there is no way to get a very large effect on the US economy.” (Pause.) In case that went by too fast (laughter), what he’s saying is that climate change affects only agriculture. Agriculture is only three percent of GNP. Therefore, we don’t have to worry about climate change; it can’t hurt the economy.
Uh-huh.
Oxford economist Wilfred Beckerman, in his small 1995 book entitled Small Is Stupid: Blowing the Whistle on the Greens, also tells us that greenhouse gas-induced climate change is no worry because it affects only agriculture, and agriculture is only three percent of GNP. But he then goes on to elaborate a little bit. “Even if net output of agriculture fell by 50 percent by the end of next century, this is only a 1.5 percent cut in GNP.”
It's only food, mind you...
Thomas Schelling, former president of the American Economic Association and in 2005 a Nobel laureate: “In the developed world, hardly any component of the national income is affected by climate. Agriculture is practically the only sector of the economy affected by climate, and it contributes only a small percentage – three percent in the United States – of national income. If agricultural productivity were drastically reduced by climate change, the cost of living would rise by one or two percent, and at a time when per capita income would likely have doubled.”
Now, of course, these Very Smart Economists were attempting to debunk the hysteria over 'global warming.' And that is a sensible thing to do.
But if, in order to do so, these Very Smart Economists dismiss FOOD-PRODUCTION as a virtual irrelevancy, we might be led to question: "Who gave you your Very Smart Economist credentials?"
It's only food, right?
It's been said that economics is really a social science, not a 'real' science. It can be said that its practitioners are dilettantes, based on the above quotations.
Beware the Intellectualoids and their creeds--no matter what "side" they support...
It was our Nobel prize winning economists who argued aggressively on behalf of NAFTA, and were unwilling to seriously consider that one of its effects - intended as it turned out - was to displace thousands upon thousands of small Mexican farmers who had little choice but to seek illegal employment in the United States. Since they would be producing more and better products, the problem of inciting illegal immigration was irrelevant. It was our Nobel prize winning economists who extolled the virtues of outsourcing and globalization, wholly uncognizant of the impact and effect on the "ordinary Joes" and its effects of family, community, and civil society. It is our Nobel prize winning economists who actually argue that global warming - if it does indeed come to pass - will not adversely impact the worldwide GDP other than having an adverse effect on agricultural production. Such declines in agricultural output, they argue, will be nugatory since other industries and economic activities will be needed and will compensate any overall GDP loss in the agricultural realm. The fact that this decline will manifest itself as hunger and starvation doesn't really show up in the models, it seems (though, I'm willing to bet that a plumber or a builder would understand the implications pretty quickly). Don't believe me? Read this lecture by Herman Daly (particularly pp. 13-14), a bonafide economist, who names names, including a Nobel prize winning economist.
OK. Let's read PP 13-14 and see what we find.
...So in the full world, good economics becomes much more important, and erroneous economics becomes much more costly.
I think that humanists, physical scientists, philanthropists, and agrarians should not trust
economists with these increasingly difficult choices. Economists have an unfortunate tendency to
reduce all value to the level of personal taste, matters about which consensus is really neither
necessary nor desirable. It’s good to avoid conflict whenever possible – who can object to that?
But if there really are true values by which individual preferences can themselves be judged to begood or bad, and if people know and hold these values, then it would be very good if they asked more aggressive questions of blinkered economists
...And if we do leave it to the economists, how does agriculture fare? Well, I’ll try to answer that with three quotations
...Sterling Professor of Economics at Yale, William Nordhaus: “Agriculture, that part of the economy that is sensitive to climate change, accounts for just three percent of national output. That means there is no way to get a very large effect on the US economy.” (Pause.) In case that went by too fast (laughter), what he’s saying is that climate change affects only agriculture. Agriculture is only three percent of GNP. Therefore, we don’t have to worry about climate change; it can’t hurt the economy.
Uh-huh.
Oxford economist Wilfred Beckerman, in his small 1995 book entitled Small Is Stupid: Blowing the Whistle on the Greens, also tells us that greenhouse gas-induced climate change is no worry because it affects only agriculture, and agriculture is only three percent of GNP. But he then goes on to elaborate a little bit. “Even if net output of agriculture fell by 50 percent by the end of next century, this is only a 1.5 percent cut in GNP.”
It's only food, mind you...
Thomas Schelling, former president of the American Economic Association and in 2005 a Nobel laureate: “In the developed world, hardly any component of the national income is affected by climate. Agriculture is practically the only sector of the economy affected by climate, and it contributes only a small percentage – three percent in the United States – of national income. If agricultural productivity were drastically reduced by climate change, the cost of living would rise by one or two percent, and at a time when per capita income would likely have doubled.”
Now, of course, these Very Smart Economists were attempting to debunk the hysteria over 'global warming.' And that is a sensible thing to do.
But if, in order to do so, these Very Smart Economists dismiss FOOD-PRODUCTION as a virtual irrelevancy, we might be led to question: "Who gave you your Very Smart Economist credentials?"
It's only food, right?
It's been said that economics is really a social science, not a 'real' science. It can be said that its practitioners are dilettantes, based on the above quotations.
Beware the Intellectualoids and their creeds--no matter what "side" they support...
Are You Really a Bigot?
The Other McCain addresses the sure-to-earn-backlash behavior of militant homosexual "marriage" advocates, and offers background.
Seizing on the triumphant narrative of the black civil-rights movement, liberals adopted the habit of framing political debates in terms of minority "rights" versus majority "discrimination." That this tactic involves a species of moral and emotional blackmail should be obvious. To disagree with a liberal, to oppose his latest policy proposal, is to invite comparisons to Bull Connor and Orval Faubus, so long as the liberal can make "rights" the basis of his argument.
"Rights talk" allowed liberals a means of preemptively delegitimizing their opponents and thereby to avoid arguing about policy in terms of necessity, utility and efficacy. If all legal and political conflicts are about "rights," there is no need to argue about the specific consequences of laws and policies. Merely determine which side of the controversy represents "rights" and the debate ends there
Of course, the right NOT to be called a bigot does not exist under this regime. Anyhoo,
Tolerance, safety and freedom are not the same as equality, however, and equality is the freight that liberals seek to smuggle into arguments via "rights talk." Gay activists do not construe their "rights" in terms of liberty, but in terms of radical and absolute equality. They insist that same-sex relationships are identical to -- entirely analogous to and fungible with -- traditional marriage.
The upshot: "rights-talk" in absentia Dei will be successful. IOW, without God, anything is permissible, as more than a few bright folks have observed. And of course, that path leads to madness--either accept anarchy or the Oceania of Orwell. There is no third alternative.
Seizing on the triumphant narrative of the black civil-rights movement, liberals adopted the habit of framing political debates in terms of minority "rights" versus majority "discrimination." That this tactic involves a species of moral and emotional blackmail should be obvious. To disagree with a liberal, to oppose his latest policy proposal, is to invite comparisons to Bull Connor and Orval Faubus, so long as the liberal can make "rights" the basis of his argument.
"Rights talk" allowed liberals a means of preemptively delegitimizing their opponents and thereby to avoid arguing about policy in terms of necessity, utility and efficacy. If all legal and political conflicts are about "rights," there is no need to argue about the specific consequences of laws and policies. Merely determine which side of the controversy represents "rights" and the debate ends there
Of course, the right NOT to be called a bigot does not exist under this regime. Anyhoo,
Tolerance, safety and freedom are not the same as equality, however, and equality is the freight that liberals seek to smuggle into arguments via "rights talk." Gay activists do not construe their "rights" in terms of liberty, but in terms of radical and absolute equality. They insist that same-sex relationships are identical to -- entirely analogous to and fungible with -- traditional marriage.
The upshot: "rights-talk" in absentia Dei will be successful. IOW, without God, anything is permissible, as more than a few bright folks have observed. And of course, that path leads to madness--either accept anarchy or the Oceania of Orwell. There is no third alternative.
Hot Ass!
I suppose that headline will get some readership numbers...
Dianne Moller, a raptor rehabilitator from Milton, was mystified when the burned hawks started showing up about eight years ago.
The feathers on the big red-tailed hawks had been scorched. Over the last several years, other large raptors with burn injuries also showed up, including two great horned owls. Moller nursed them back to health, a long and involved process because of the extent of the injuries.
"It's painful for the birds," Moller noted. "And probably more so psychologically. They don't understand they can't fly; they just keep trying."
And Moller started asking questions. Turns out it's the local landfill.
For a while, she thought the birds were somehow being electrocuted. But the injuries didn't seem to match. Then she heard from another rehabilitator who turned her attention toward pipes used to burn off the methane gas that collects beneath landfills.
Moller found two tall pipes at the landfill. The pipes ignite intermittently to burn off the gas. Working with other rehabilitators around the country who have treated birds with similar burns, Moller figured out that the raptors were perching on the tall, 30-foot pipes to scan the landfill for prey. When the pipes flared with no warning, the birds were caught in the flames.
OWIE!
Not to worry. It's been fixed.
Working with the landfill operators, Moller and others came up with a solution that is likely to be used at other landfills — stainless-steel spikes attached to the pipe that prevent the birds from perching. Mandy Bonneville, the assistant operations manager of the landfill, said the solution was welcome.
"We want the hawks," Bonneville said. "They help control the rodent populations."
Win-win. The birds kill off the rats and mice which are indigenous to landfills. If I were the landfill folks, I'd put up a couple more of those pipes--not connected to anything--to keep the raptors where they want them.
Dianne Moller, a raptor rehabilitator from Milton, was mystified when the burned hawks started showing up about eight years ago.
The feathers on the big red-tailed hawks had been scorched. Over the last several years, other large raptors with burn injuries also showed up, including two great horned owls. Moller nursed them back to health, a long and involved process because of the extent of the injuries.
"It's painful for the birds," Moller noted. "And probably more so psychologically. They don't understand they can't fly; they just keep trying."
And Moller started asking questions. Turns out it's the local landfill.
For a while, she thought the birds were somehow being electrocuted. But the injuries didn't seem to match. Then she heard from another rehabilitator who turned her attention toward pipes used to burn off the methane gas that collects beneath landfills.
Moller found two tall pipes at the landfill. The pipes ignite intermittently to burn off the gas. Working with other rehabilitators around the country who have treated birds with similar burns, Moller figured out that the raptors were perching on the tall, 30-foot pipes to scan the landfill for prey. When the pipes flared with no warning, the birds were caught in the flames.
OWIE!
Not to worry. It's been fixed.
Working with the landfill operators, Moller and others came up with a solution that is likely to be used at other landfills — stainless-steel spikes attached to the pipe that prevent the birds from perching. Mandy Bonneville, the assistant operations manager of the landfill, said the solution was welcome.
"We want the hawks," Bonneville said. "They help control the rodent populations."
Win-win. The birds kill off the rats and mice which are indigenous to landfills. If I were the landfill folks, I'd put up a couple more of those pipes--not connected to anything--to keep the raptors where they want them.
A Little More Peter Schiff
Most of you have seen the video assemblage at Badger. If you haven't, you should. Peter Schiff was Ron Paul's house-economist during the campaign. If nothing else, watch the video to find out who the real jackasses were in the last couple of years--the ones laughing at Schiff.
Now that you've returned from that, here's a bit more from Schiff:
Before the current economic crisis became apparent to all, the most popular fable used to describe America’s uncanny economic resiliency was the story of Goldilocks. It was argued that our economy was skipping down a sunny path of moderate growth, low inflation and rising asset prices. However, a much better parable for our economy over the last decade would have been the story of Humpty Dumpty: a bloated, fragile shell perched on the top of a dangerously high stone wall...
With the Big Three auto makers now in a plainly visible death spiral, the automotive bailout debate is kicking into overdrive. The disagreement hinges on whether a bailout is necessary to support an important industry or whether the unprofitable dinosaurs of the past should be allowed to fail as America focuses on an information-age, service sector, and alternative energy future.
As usual, both sides have it wrong. The government should let the Big Three fail not because we no longer need an auto industry, but because we desperately do. What we do not need is the bloated, inefficient auto industry that we have today. By allowing the Big Three to fail, their capacity will be turned over to new owners who will be able to acquire the means of production at fire sale prices and hire workers at globally competitive wages. The result will be a more efficient auto industry making cars that people around the world actually want to buy at prices they can afford
That will be done, of course, over the dead bodies of the Big 2.1075's most vociferous boosters: their own (comatose) managements, their UAW spoils-takers, and their partners-in-crime, the Auto Dealers' Associations.
...This week, the bankruptcy filing by Circuit City and a profit warning from Best Buy, served as proof positive that America’s national shopping spree is over. As I have long said, the business model of importing cheap goods for Americans to buy with credit cards was unsustainable. We were told to “Shop till we dropped,” and we did
...home equity extractions and unlimited credit card availability, have been shut down. With only dwindling paychecks to rely on, Americans are justifiably economizing. As a result, many more retailers will file for bankruptcy over the next few years,...
Have a kid footing college on loans? Use your credit cards a lot?
Paulson observed that “illiquidity is raising the cost and reducing the availability of car loans, student loans, and credit cards”, “creating a heavy burden on the American people” and reducing jobs. While all of this is true, this is precisely what needs to happen
Although Congress loves to grandstand about oversight, it has thus far shown no courage to interfere, or even question, the change in strategy. Paulson claims that he is simply rolling with the punches. The truth however, is that the original plan was flawed from inception, as I clearly pointed out in a string of commentaries following his proposal. How could the Treasury Department, with all its funding and PhD’s, not make similar predictions? Paulson is either a liar or completely incompetent. My guess is he is both.
Personally, I'm a bit more forgiving. I think Paulson is attempting to push a cooked spaghetti-noodle up a hill. People are NOT spending because they do not WANT to spend. No amount of "repair" is going to fix that.
Here's the scary part:
As the remnants of America’s shattered economy continue to ooze out over the pavement, look for even more bizarre, draconian, unworkable, and downright dangerous policies to emerge from Washington
Yah. Buy more ammo....
One more thing: if you think your Gummint job is "safe," think again. Taxpayers have been known to revolt.
Now that you've returned from that, here's a bit more from Schiff:
Before the current economic crisis became apparent to all, the most popular fable used to describe America’s uncanny economic resiliency was the story of Goldilocks. It was argued that our economy was skipping down a sunny path of moderate growth, low inflation and rising asset prices. However, a much better parable for our economy over the last decade would have been the story of Humpty Dumpty: a bloated, fragile shell perched on the top of a dangerously high stone wall...
With the Big Three auto makers now in a plainly visible death spiral, the automotive bailout debate is kicking into overdrive. The disagreement hinges on whether a bailout is necessary to support an important industry or whether the unprofitable dinosaurs of the past should be allowed to fail as America focuses on an information-age, service sector, and alternative energy future.
As usual, both sides have it wrong. The government should let the Big Three fail not because we no longer need an auto industry, but because we desperately do. What we do not need is the bloated, inefficient auto industry that we have today. By allowing the Big Three to fail, their capacity will be turned over to new owners who will be able to acquire the means of production at fire sale prices and hire workers at globally competitive wages. The result will be a more efficient auto industry making cars that people around the world actually want to buy at prices they can afford
That will be done, of course, over the dead bodies of the Big 2.1075's most vociferous boosters: their own (comatose) managements, their UAW spoils-takers, and their partners-in-crime, the Auto Dealers' Associations.
...This week, the bankruptcy filing by Circuit City and a profit warning from Best Buy, served as proof positive that America’s national shopping spree is over. As I have long said, the business model of importing cheap goods for Americans to buy with credit cards was unsustainable. We were told to “Shop till we dropped,” and we did
...home equity extractions and unlimited credit card availability, have been shut down. With only dwindling paychecks to rely on, Americans are justifiably economizing. As a result, many more retailers will file for bankruptcy over the next few years,...
Have a kid footing college on loans? Use your credit cards a lot?
Paulson observed that “illiquidity is raising the cost and reducing the availability of car loans, student loans, and credit cards”, “creating a heavy burden on the American people” and reducing jobs. While all of this is true, this is precisely what needs to happen
Although Congress loves to grandstand about oversight, it has thus far shown no courage to interfere, or even question, the change in strategy. Paulson claims that he is simply rolling with the punches. The truth however, is that the original plan was flawed from inception, as I clearly pointed out in a string of commentaries following his proposal. How could the Treasury Department, with all its funding and PhD’s, not make similar predictions? Paulson is either a liar or completely incompetent. My guess is he is both.
Personally, I'm a bit more forgiving. I think Paulson is attempting to push a cooked spaghetti-noodle up a hill. People are NOT spending because they do not WANT to spend. No amount of "repair" is going to fix that.
Here's the scary part:
As the remnants of America’s shattered economy continue to ooze out over the pavement, look for even more bizarre, draconian, unworkable, and downright dangerous policies to emerge from Washington
Yah. Buy more ammo....
One more thing: if you think your Gummint job is "safe," think again. Taxpayers have been known to revolt.
Globaloney Warming Crap
Not only did the NASA's Goddard center report erroneous numbers for October's "global-warming" propaganda...
...there's also some question about the Russki numbers that go beyond 'which month is this?'
...at Watts Up With That, mentioned above, weather anomalies from Russia are getting a long look. Let's just say that questions have been raised - this is taken from Watts Up:
In most Russian cities, district-level combined heat and power plants (Russian: ТЭЦ, Тепло-электро централь) produce more than 50 % of the nation’s electricity and simultaneously provide hot water for neighbouring city blocks.
And that heat is passed around the city by above-ground steam pipes, not all of which are insulated. Hence, it is *possible* that warm weather anomalies in Russian reporting are simply picking up man-made heat. From Watts Up:
Maybe it’s the steam pipes. We need to send somebody to Russia to find out. Of the many station lat/lons I looked at, Verhojansk was the only one I found with enough Google Earth resolution to see the steam pipes. Maybe the heart of our Russian temperature anomaly lies in central heating.
(HT: Just One Minute)
If the GloboWarming Industry were to collapse based on actual scientific facts, it would be a Good News Collapse.
But you can bet Dollar Jim/Diamond Jim Doyle will not go down without a helluva fight.
...there's also some question about the Russki numbers that go beyond 'which month is this?'
...at Watts Up With That, mentioned above, weather anomalies from Russia are getting a long look. Let's just say that questions have been raised - this is taken from Watts Up:
In most Russian cities, district-level combined heat and power plants (Russian: ТЭЦ, Тепло-электро централь) produce more than 50 % of the nation’s electricity and simultaneously provide hot water for neighbouring city blocks.
And that heat is passed around the city by above-ground steam pipes, not all of which are insulated. Hence, it is *possible* that warm weather anomalies in Russian reporting are simply picking up man-made heat. From Watts Up:
Maybe it’s the steam pipes. We need to send somebody to Russia to find out. Of the many station lat/lons I looked at, Verhojansk was the only one I found with enough Google Earth resolution to see the steam pipes. Maybe the heart of our Russian temperature anomaly lies in central heating.
(HT: Just One Minute)
If the GloboWarming Industry were to collapse based on actual scientific facts, it would be a Good News Collapse.
But you can bet Dollar Jim/Diamond Jim Doyle will not go down without a helluva fight.
Obama to Overrule Laws of 48 States?
Little-noted item:
Obama began revealing his true plans as soon as it became obvious that he would win. Just before the election he told an NPR reporter that while he believes in the 2nd Amendment, he intends to seek a federal law that would repeal state “right to carry” laws, thus letting leftist anti-gun groups know that he is with them. This was no doubt a promise made to these groups secretly far earlier and we can expect similar promises to be made public now that he’s won.
Forty-eight States allow law-abiding citizens to carry concealed weapons; only Wisconsin and Illinois do not.
Evidently the O-and-Savior thinks he knows better than the legislators and governors of those 48.
It's possible that he thinks his new law will be observed. Good luck with that!
Obama began revealing his true plans as soon as it became obvious that he would win. Just before the election he told an NPR reporter that while he believes in the 2nd Amendment, he intends to seek a federal law that would repeal state “right to carry” laws, thus letting leftist anti-gun groups know that he is with them. This was no doubt a promise made to these groups secretly far earlier and we can expect similar promises to be made public now that he’s won.
Forty-eight States allow law-abiding citizens to carry concealed weapons; only Wisconsin and Illinois do not.
Evidently the O-and-Savior thinks he knows better than the legislators and governors of those 48.
It's possible that he thinks his new law will be observed. Good luck with that!
Inhofe: Yank Paulson's Leash
Oklahoma (R) Senator Inhofe thinks Paulson should be stopped.
U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe said Saturday that Congress was not told the truth about the bailout of the nation's financial system and should take back what is left of the $700 billion "blank check'' it gave the Bush administration.
"It is just outrageous that the American people don't know that Congress doesn't know how much money he (Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson) has given away to anyone,'' the Oklahoma Republican told the Tulsa World.
Inhofe makes a very good case:
Last week the Treasury secretary announced he was abandoning his plan to free up the nation's credit system by buying up toxic assets from troubled financial institutions. Instead, Paulson wants to take a more direct action on the consumer credit front. "He was able to get this authority from Congress predicated on what he was going to do, and then he didn't do it,'' Inhofe said.
Inhofe would make changes in the legislation during the lame-duck session, but he's not likely to get much support; the Bailout passed, 74-25.
Harry Reid had no comment. There's a reason: Reid would LOVE to stick this mess onto the Republicans.
U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe said Saturday that Congress was not told the truth about the bailout of the nation's financial system and should take back what is left of the $700 billion "blank check'' it gave the Bush administration.
"It is just outrageous that the American people don't know that Congress doesn't know how much money he (Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson) has given away to anyone,'' the Oklahoma Republican told the Tulsa World.
Inhofe makes a very good case:
Last week the Treasury secretary announced he was abandoning his plan to free up the nation's credit system by buying up toxic assets from troubled financial institutions. Instead, Paulson wants to take a more direct action on the consumer credit front. "He was able to get this authority from Congress predicated on what he was going to do, and then he didn't do it,'' Inhofe said.
Inhofe would make changes in the legislation during the lame-duck session, but he's not likely to get much support; the Bailout passed, 74-25.
Harry Reid had no comment. There's a reason: Reid would LOVE to stick this mess onto the Republicans.
Sunday, November 16, 2008
Confusion in Charleston
My, what a .....ahhhh...... mess.
When Father Scott Newman instructed his parishioners that they should make a good Confession before receiving Communion if they had voted for a pro-abortion candidate, he received both kudos and criticism. The most pointed criticism came from the administrator of the diocese, Msgr. Martin Laughlin, who announced: "Father Newman's statements do not adequately reflect the Catholic Church's teachings. Any comments or statements to the contrary are repudiated."
OK--Mgr. Laughlin's statement is not exactly nuanced, but neither was Fr. Newman's.
Here's the fun part: when Fr. Newman made that statement, here's what the Diocese had to say:
...the administrator of the diocese of Charleston, Msgr. Martin T. Laughlin, supports him fully, said diocesan spokesman Steve Gajdosik.
"I think it's fair to say that Father Newman's letter echoes the sentiments of Father Laughlin," he said
But there's more!
On November 12, for example, Father Newman received this [email] message:
Thank you for your statement. I wish the bishops would have been as forthright. Why did they not speak before the election?
Guess who sent that?
That email message was sent to Father Newman by... are you ready?... Msgr. Laughlin
Only took 2 days for a 180-degree 'to the rear, march!' to emanate from the good Monsignor.
In case you're wondering, the difference between "remote" material cooperation and "proximate" material cooperation is significant in this case. Fr. Newman's statement should have been more carefully worded to reflect that difference--albeit he was/is correctly motivated. (See the combox here and note the comment from Ed Peters, a very respectable Canon lawyer.)
Then again, that applies to the 11/12 email from Mgr. Laughlin.
HT: Diogenes
When Father Scott Newman instructed his parishioners that they should make a good Confession before receiving Communion if they had voted for a pro-abortion candidate, he received both kudos and criticism. The most pointed criticism came from the administrator of the diocese, Msgr. Martin Laughlin, who announced: "Father Newman's statements do not adequately reflect the Catholic Church's teachings. Any comments or statements to the contrary are repudiated."
OK--Mgr. Laughlin's statement is not exactly nuanced, but neither was Fr. Newman's.
Here's the fun part: when Fr. Newman made that statement, here's what the Diocese had to say:
...the administrator of the diocese of Charleston, Msgr. Martin T. Laughlin, supports him fully, said diocesan spokesman Steve Gajdosik.
"I think it's fair to say that Father Newman's letter echoes the sentiments of Father Laughlin," he said
But there's more!
On November 12, for example, Father Newman received this [email] message:
Thank you for your statement. I wish the bishops would have been as forthright. Why did they not speak before the election?
Guess who sent that?
That email message was sent to Father Newman by... are you ready?... Msgr. Laughlin
Only took 2 days for a 180-degree 'to the rear, march!' to emanate from the good Monsignor.
In case you're wondering, the difference between "remote" material cooperation and "proximate" material cooperation is significant in this case. Fr. Newman's statement should have been more carefully worded to reflect that difference--albeit he was/is correctly motivated. (See the combox here and note the comment from Ed Peters, a very respectable Canon lawyer.)
Then again, that applies to the 11/12 email from Mgr. Laughlin.
HT: Diogenes
Worth Hiding, Eh?
The WSJ's "Washington Wire" reports on omissions.
Tom Donilon’s listing as a co-leader of President-elect Barack Obama’s transition team for the State Department caught our eye.
The brief biography mentions that he’s a partner at law firm O’Melveny & Myers, and had held high positions at the State Department during the Clinton administration. It doesn’t include his tenure at mortgage giant Fannie Mae, an early casualty of the financial crisis that has been taken over by the government. Donilon was Fannie’s general counsel and executive vice president for law and policy from 1999 until the spring of 2005, a period during which the company was rocked by accounting problems.
The guy eliminated SIX YEARS of his resume. My, my. And "General Counsel," no less.
Donilon’s co-leader for the State Department review, Wendy Sherman, also has ties to Fannie Mae that weren’t mentioned in her Obama-Biden Web site bio. A fellow veteran of the Clinton State Department, Sherman headed up Fannie Mae’s charitable foundation from 1996-1997. The short bio covers her time with the Albright group, an international advisory firm, and her stint as a special adviser to the secretary of state
Seems that Fannie associations are like contagious diseases to the Obamamamama-ites.
Tom Donilon’s listing as a co-leader of President-elect Barack Obama’s transition team for the State Department caught our eye.
The brief biography mentions that he’s a partner at law firm O’Melveny & Myers, and had held high positions at the State Department during the Clinton administration. It doesn’t include his tenure at mortgage giant Fannie Mae, an early casualty of the financial crisis that has been taken over by the government. Donilon was Fannie’s general counsel and executive vice president for law and policy from 1999 until the spring of 2005, a period during which the company was rocked by accounting problems.
The guy eliminated SIX YEARS of his resume. My, my. And "General Counsel," no less.
Donilon’s co-leader for the State Department review, Wendy Sherman, also has ties to Fannie Mae that weren’t mentioned in her Obama-Biden Web site bio. A fellow veteran of the Clinton State Department, Sherman headed up Fannie Mae’s charitable foundation from 1996-1997. The short bio covers her time with the Albright group, an international advisory firm, and her stint as a special adviser to the secretary of state
Seems that Fannie associations are like contagious diseases to the Obamamamama-ites.
Saturday, November 15, 2008
$226+K For This
HT: The Other McCain. You'll have to click through to find out WHY this car sold for that amount of money--but you will get it if you do.
Bits and Pieces of the RE Bust, and Whom the Schools SHOULD Sue
HT Random 10, a couple of interesting little grafs from a long, long, article by JILee--basically, an interview of another Street-er, who made massive profits from The Bust.
If you read the entire article, you will notice that "Gummint Forcing Banks to Lend" doesn't come up at all. Rather, you find 'scumsucking private enterprises' such as Countrywide and WaMu (not to mention the brokers...) You'll also note that one of the rating-agencies (Moody's) was (is?) 1/3rd owned by .....Warren Buffet. Interesting, no?
There’s a simple measure of sanity in housing prices: the ratio of median home price to income. Historically, it runs around 3 to 1; by late 2004, it had risen nationally to 4 to 1. “All these people were saying it was nearly as high in some other countries,” Zelman says. “But the problem wasn’t just that it was 4 to 1. In Los Angeles, it was 10 to 1, and in Miami, 8.5 to 1
Describing his company's new investment policy (going short on BBB tranches), he shows how easy it was:
The juiciest shorts—the bonds ultimately backed by the mortgages most likely to default—had several characteristics. They’d be in what Wall Street people were now calling the sand states: Arizona, California, Florida, Nevada. The loans would have been made by one of the more dubious mortgage lenders; Long Beach Financial, wholly owned by Washington Mutual, was a great example. Long Beach Financial was moving money out the door as fast as it could, few questions asked, in loans built to self-destruct. It specialized in asking homeowners with bad credit and no proof of income to put no money down and defer interest payments for as long as possible. In Bakersfield, California, a Mexican strawberry picker with an income of $14,000 and no English was lent every penny he needed to buy a house for $720,000.
The 'outsiders' were abysmally stupid:
“I didn’t understand how they were turning all this garbage into gold,” he says. He brought some of the bond people from Goldman Sachs, Lehman Brothers, and UBS over for a visit. “We always asked the same question,” says Eisman. “Where are the rating agencies in all of this? And I’d always get the same reaction. It was a smirk.” He called Standard & Poor’s and asked what would happen to default rates if real estate prices fell. The man at S&P couldn’t say; its model for home prices had no ability to accept a negative number. “They were just assuming home prices would keep going up,” Eisman says
(Just like Global Warming...)
Recently, a number of Wisconsin school districts sued a purveyor of RE-based high-yield bonds. They shoulda sued the ratings agencies...
“You have to understand this,” he says. “This was the engine of doom.” Then he draws a picture of several towers of debt. The first tower is made of the original subprime loans that had been piled together. At the top of this tower is the AAA tranche, just below it the AA tranche, and so on down to the riskiest, the BBB tranche—the bonds Eisman had shorted. But Wall Street had used these BBB tranches—the worst of the worst—to build yet another tower of bonds: a “particularly egregious” C.D.O. The reason they did this was that the rating agencies, presented with the pile of bonds backed by dubious loans, would pronounce most of them AAA. These bonds could then be sold to investors—pension funds, insurance companies—who were allowed to invest only in highly rated securities. “I cannot f[*&^^%$#] believe this is allowed—I must have said that a thousand times in the past two years,” Eisman says.
As to AIG's business problem:
That’s when Eisman finally got it. Here he’d been making these side bets with Goldman Sachs and Deutsche Bank on the fate of the BBB tranche without fully understanding why those firms were so eager to make the bets. Now he saw. There weren’t enough Americans with shitty credit taking out loans to satisfy investors’ appetite for the end product. The firms used Eisman’s bet to synthesize more of them. Here, then, was the difference between fantasy finance and fantasy football: When a fantasy player drafts Peyton Manning, he doesn’t create a second Peyton Manning to inflate the league’s stats. But when Eisman bought a credit-default swap, he enabled Deutsche Bank to create another bond identical in every respect but one to the original. The only difference was that there was no actual homebuyer or borrower. The only assets backing the bonds were the side bets Eisman and others made with firms like Goldman Sachs. Eisman, in effect, was paying to Goldman the interest on a subprime mortgage. In fact, there was no mortgage at all. “They weren’t satisfied getting lots of unqualified borrowers to borrow money to buy a house they couldn’t afford,” Eisman says. “They were creating them out of whole cloth. One hundred times over! That’s why the losses are so much greater than the loans
If you think that $134Bn is enough to stabilize AIG, good luck, folks.
Here's a cute aphorism--with backup. Explaining why his hedge-fund had just shorted Merrill, Lynch...
“We have a simple thesis,” Eisman explained. “There is going to be a calamity, and whenever there is a calamity, Merrill is there.” When it came time to bankrupt Orange County with bad advice, Merrill was there. When the internet went bust, Merrill was there. Way back in the 1980s, when the first bond trader was let off his leash and lost hundreds of millions of dollars, Merrill was there to take the hit. That was Eisman’s logic—the logic of Wall Street’s pecking order. Goldman Sachs was the big kid who ran the games in this neighborhood. Merrill Lynch was the little fat kid assigned the least pleasant roles, just happy to be a part of things. The game, as Eisman saw it, was Crack the Whip. He assumed Merrill Lynch had taken its assigned place at the end of the chain.
Goldman was Hank Paulson's firm, by the way...
It all started with Gutfreund at Salomon Brothers.
John Gutfreund did violence to the Wall Street social order—and got himself dubbed the King of Wall Street—when he turned Salomon Brothers from a private partnership into Wall Street’s first public corporation...No investment bank owned by its employees would have levered itself 35 to 1 or bought and held $50 billion in mezzanine C.D.O.’s. I doubt any partnership would have sought to game the rating agencies or leap into bed with loan sharks or even allow mezzanine C.D.O.’s to be sold to its customers. The hoped-for short-term gain would not have justified the long-term hit.
There are lots of folks--pundits, talkers, and bloglodytes--who fall into the "man behind the tree" flytraps. While the Wall Street folks and their publicists, flaks, apologists, and spinners are perfectly happy to point fingers at CRA, the Clinton regime, Andy Cuomo, Chris Dodd, Barney Frank, and the GSE's, the Street gang somehow forget all about what's described above.
Sure, the above-named Gummint-types are complicit--and probably perps, too.
But they are not the only ones. Not by a long shot.
If you read the entire article, you will notice that "Gummint Forcing Banks to Lend" doesn't come up at all. Rather, you find 'scumsucking private enterprises' such as Countrywide and WaMu (not to mention the brokers...) You'll also note that one of the rating-agencies (Moody's) was (is?) 1/3rd owned by .....Warren Buffet. Interesting, no?
There’s a simple measure of sanity in housing prices: the ratio of median home price to income. Historically, it runs around 3 to 1; by late 2004, it had risen nationally to 4 to 1. “All these people were saying it was nearly as high in some other countries,” Zelman says. “But the problem wasn’t just that it was 4 to 1. In Los Angeles, it was 10 to 1, and in Miami, 8.5 to 1
Describing his company's new investment policy (going short on BBB tranches), he shows how easy it was:
The juiciest shorts—the bonds ultimately backed by the mortgages most likely to default—had several characteristics. They’d be in what Wall Street people were now calling the sand states: Arizona, California, Florida, Nevada. The loans would have been made by one of the more dubious mortgage lenders; Long Beach Financial, wholly owned by Washington Mutual, was a great example. Long Beach Financial was moving money out the door as fast as it could, few questions asked, in loans built to self-destruct. It specialized in asking homeowners with bad credit and no proof of income to put no money down and defer interest payments for as long as possible. In Bakersfield, California, a Mexican strawberry picker with an income of $14,000 and no English was lent every penny he needed to buy a house for $720,000.
The 'outsiders' were abysmally stupid:
“I didn’t understand how they were turning all this garbage into gold,” he says. He brought some of the bond people from Goldman Sachs, Lehman Brothers, and UBS over for a visit. “We always asked the same question,” says Eisman. “Where are the rating agencies in all of this? And I’d always get the same reaction. It was a smirk.” He called Standard & Poor’s and asked what would happen to default rates if real estate prices fell. The man at S&P couldn’t say; its model for home prices had no ability to accept a negative number. “They were just assuming home prices would keep going up,” Eisman says
(Just like Global Warming...)
Recently, a number of Wisconsin school districts sued a purveyor of RE-based high-yield bonds. They shoulda sued the ratings agencies...
“You have to understand this,” he says. “This was the engine of doom.” Then he draws a picture of several towers of debt. The first tower is made of the original subprime loans that had been piled together. At the top of this tower is the AAA tranche, just below it the AA tranche, and so on down to the riskiest, the BBB tranche—the bonds Eisman had shorted. But Wall Street had used these BBB tranches—the worst of the worst—to build yet another tower of bonds: a “particularly egregious” C.D.O. The reason they did this was that the rating agencies, presented with the pile of bonds backed by dubious loans, would pronounce most of them AAA. These bonds could then be sold to investors—pension funds, insurance companies—who were allowed to invest only in highly rated securities. “I cannot f[*&^^%$#] believe this is allowed—I must have said that a thousand times in the past two years,” Eisman says.
As to AIG's business problem:
That’s when Eisman finally got it. Here he’d been making these side bets with Goldman Sachs and Deutsche Bank on the fate of the BBB tranche without fully understanding why those firms were so eager to make the bets. Now he saw. There weren’t enough Americans with shitty credit taking out loans to satisfy investors’ appetite for the end product. The firms used Eisman’s bet to synthesize more of them. Here, then, was the difference between fantasy finance and fantasy football: When a fantasy player drafts Peyton Manning, he doesn’t create a second Peyton Manning to inflate the league’s stats. But when Eisman bought a credit-default swap, he enabled Deutsche Bank to create another bond identical in every respect but one to the original. The only difference was that there was no actual homebuyer or borrower. The only assets backing the bonds were the side bets Eisman and others made with firms like Goldman Sachs. Eisman, in effect, was paying to Goldman the interest on a subprime mortgage. In fact, there was no mortgage at all. “They weren’t satisfied getting lots of unqualified borrowers to borrow money to buy a house they couldn’t afford,” Eisman says. “They were creating them out of whole cloth. One hundred times over! That’s why the losses are so much greater than the loans
If you think that $134Bn is enough to stabilize AIG, good luck, folks.
Here's a cute aphorism--with backup. Explaining why his hedge-fund had just shorted Merrill, Lynch...
“We have a simple thesis,” Eisman explained. “There is going to be a calamity, and whenever there is a calamity, Merrill is there.” When it came time to bankrupt Orange County with bad advice, Merrill was there. When the internet went bust, Merrill was there. Way back in the 1980s, when the first bond trader was let off his leash and lost hundreds of millions of dollars, Merrill was there to take the hit. That was Eisman’s logic—the logic of Wall Street’s pecking order. Goldman Sachs was the big kid who ran the games in this neighborhood. Merrill Lynch was the little fat kid assigned the least pleasant roles, just happy to be a part of things. The game, as Eisman saw it, was Crack the Whip. He assumed Merrill Lynch had taken its assigned place at the end of the chain.
Goldman was Hank Paulson's firm, by the way...
It all started with Gutfreund at Salomon Brothers.
John Gutfreund did violence to the Wall Street social order—and got himself dubbed the King of Wall Street—when he turned Salomon Brothers from a private partnership into Wall Street’s first public corporation...No investment bank owned by its employees would have levered itself 35 to 1 or bought and held $50 billion in mezzanine C.D.O.’s. I doubt any partnership would have sought to game the rating agencies or leap into bed with loan sharks or even allow mezzanine C.D.O.’s to be sold to its customers. The hoped-for short-term gain would not have justified the long-term hit.
There are lots of folks--pundits, talkers, and bloglodytes--who fall into the "man behind the tree" flytraps. While the Wall Street folks and their publicists, flaks, apologists, and spinners are perfectly happy to point fingers at CRA, the Clinton regime, Andy Cuomo, Chris Dodd, Barney Frank, and the GSE's, the Street gang somehow forget all about what's described above.
Sure, the above-named Gummint-types are complicit--and probably perps, too.
But they are not the only ones. Not by a long shot.
Insurers Get Into Bailout Line
They'll do it by buying a bank.
Four insurance companies on Friday asked the government to allow them to buy thrifts so they can qualify to receive federal money under the financial rescue program.
Hartford Financial Services Group Inc., Genworth Financial Inc., Lincoln National Corp. and Aegon NV, a Dutch company that owns U.S. insurer Transamerica, each asked the Office of Thrift Supervision for permission to acquire an existing savings and loan
Next: newspapers? Nope.
It will be States and municipalities. And it will be big, big dollars.
Four insurance companies on Friday asked the government to allow them to buy thrifts so they can qualify to receive federal money under the financial rescue program.
Hartford Financial Services Group Inc., Genworth Financial Inc., Lincoln National Corp. and Aegon NV, a Dutch company that owns U.S. insurer Transamerica, each asked the Office of Thrift Supervision for permission to acquire an existing savings and loan
Next: newspapers? Nope.
It will be States and municipalities. And it will be big, big dollars.
Hey Hey Ho Ho!
There will be a demonstration against the California (and Wisconsin) gay "marriage" bans in Milwaukee today at 12:30 in front of City Hall.
If you're planning on being in the area, traffic may be a bit tough.
If you're planning on being in the area, traffic may be a bit tough.
Friday, November 14, 2008
Democrats Cover Themselves in.....Glory?
More like s&^%.
Ohio Inspector General Tom Charles said his office is now looking at a half-dozen agencies that accessed state records on Samuel Joseph Wurzelbacher.
The Beacon Journal has learned that, in addition to the Department of Job and Family Services, two other state offices — the Ohio Department of Taxation and Ohio Attorney General Nancy Rogers — conducted database searches of Joe the Plumber.
Wait for it: the steaming pile gets deeper.
Kohlstrand said that the AG's office wanted access to the records so they could turn over to the national media lien information that was a public record in Lucas County. He said the national media did not have reporters in Toledo, so the attorney general's office was helping them out with public records.
This is the kind of corruption that inspires rebellions, you dumbasses.
And I'm certain that NOTHING of this sort ever occurs in Wisconsin. Ever. Never. Cross my heart....
Ohio Inspector General Tom Charles said his office is now looking at a half-dozen agencies that accessed state records on Samuel Joseph Wurzelbacher.
The Beacon Journal has learned that, in addition to the Department of Job and Family Services, two other state offices — the Ohio Department of Taxation and Ohio Attorney General Nancy Rogers — conducted database searches of Joe the Plumber.
Wait for it: the steaming pile gets deeper.
Kohlstrand said that the AG's office wanted access to the records so they could turn over to the national media lien information that was a public record in Lucas County. He said the national media did not have reporters in Toledo, so the attorney general's office was helping them out with public records.
This is the kind of corruption that inspires rebellions, you dumbasses.
And I'm certain that NOTHING of this sort ever occurs in Wisconsin. Ever. Never. Cross my heart....
Larison and Dan Shelley
Never thought you'd see those names with "and" between them, eh?
Here's the pertinent Larison cite:
Regardless of how one views Sarah Palin herself, the phenomenon of enthusiasm for Palin, like the grassroots mobilization for Mike Huckabee and Ron Paul we saw in the primaries, shows the powerful hunger in Middle America for someone to speak for them and defend their interests.
And here's the pertinent Shelley cite:
But the key reason talk radio succeeds is because its hosts can exploit the fears and perceived victimization of a large swath of conservative-leaning listeners.
It is interesting that Larison is flogging the (R) Party Poohbahs and Shelley is flogging Sykes--who often is a spokesman for the (R) Party Poohbahs.
Sykes would not be too pleased, I think, with the balance of Larison's column--so since Charlie took the week off, I'll give you a flavor:
On certain matters of policy, particularly concerning foreign policy and civil liberties, populist dissident conservatives are today at odds with most conservatives' views, but they have far more in common with them than "reformists" in their shared opposition to mass immigration, legal abortion, expansion of government and, most recently, the massive government intervention in the financial sector. The populists have also long anticipated popular dissatisfaction with the current "free trade" regime, and have advanced arguments against corporate power and collusion between corporations and government that are not only consistent with free market principles but which also resonate with the electorate far beyond the right.
We have often noted that the Free Trade bunch, of which Charlie is a part, are wrong in their doctrinaire stridency. Declaring that manufacturing is "so 19th Century" does not comport with the reality that manufacturing is very-much 21st Century--in China, anyway. And China has all our money, folks...
I suppose it took the collapse of the financial system to demonstrate that basing an economy on financial wizardry is not exactly prudent, but before you jump in and assert that this demands a bailout of GM, recall that GM is also losing a ton of money on financial "wizardry."
Here's the pertinent Larison cite:
Regardless of how one views Sarah Palin herself, the phenomenon of enthusiasm for Palin, like the grassroots mobilization for Mike Huckabee and Ron Paul we saw in the primaries, shows the powerful hunger in Middle America for someone to speak for them and defend their interests.
And here's the pertinent Shelley cite:
But the key reason talk radio succeeds is because its hosts can exploit the fears and perceived victimization of a large swath of conservative-leaning listeners.
It is interesting that Larison is flogging the (R) Party Poohbahs and Shelley is flogging Sykes--who often is a spokesman for the (R) Party Poohbahs.
Sykes would not be too pleased, I think, with the balance of Larison's column--so since Charlie took the week off, I'll give you a flavor:
On certain matters of policy, particularly concerning foreign policy and civil liberties, populist dissident conservatives are today at odds with most conservatives' views, but they have far more in common with them than "reformists" in their shared opposition to mass immigration, legal abortion, expansion of government and, most recently, the massive government intervention in the financial sector. The populists have also long anticipated popular dissatisfaction with the current "free trade" regime, and have advanced arguments against corporate power and collusion between corporations and government that are not only consistent with free market principles but which also resonate with the electorate far beyond the right.
We have often noted that the Free Trade bunch, of which Charlie is a part, are wrong in their doctrinaire stridency. Declaring that manufacturing is "so 19th Century" does not comport with the reality that manufacturing is very-much 21st Century--in China, anyway. And China has all our money, folks...
I suppose it took the collapse of the financial system to demonstrate that basing an economy on financial wizardry is not exactly prudent, but before you jump in and assert that this demands a bailout of GM, recall that GM is also losing a ton of money on financial "wizardry."
So...What Kind of Column is P-Mac's?
Stuff I didn't know.
The stout Doric columns... are traditionally associated with the form of men, and were used in ancient Rome for temples to warrior gods like Mars.
Another type of column, called the Ionic, is recognizable by the round scrolls in its capital. The slender proportions of these columns were understood in ancient times as imitating a motherly woman and so were identified with mothers and maternity.
Well. Time to be more observant of columnular proportionality, right?
The stout Doric columns... are traditionally associated with the form of men, and were used in ancient Rome for temples to warrior gods like Mars.
Another type of column, called the Ionic, is recognizable by the round scrolls in its capital. The slender proportions of these columns were understood in ancient times as imitating a motherly woman and so were identified with mothers and maternity.
Well. Time to be more observant of columnular proportionality, right?
A Better (R) Foreign Policy
Roeser describes one that worked, very well.
...the Republican party of the future should not echo the Bush policy of announcing we will eradicate all tyranny in the world to be replaced by democracy whether the inhabitants want democracy or not . This Wilsonian futility is self-evident.
Then what foreign policy should be adopted by the Republican party? I would say it is largely contained in A Foreign Policy for Americans written by Robert A. Taft circa 1951. He was not just a great constitutionalist but a skilled diplomat, having learned intelligent policies from his father, the 27th president who encouraged U.S. businesses to invest in under-developed nations (for the U.S.’s own good, thus it was called “dollar diplomacy”). Young Bob learned at his knee and served first-hand as a legal counselor at Versailles where he learned the folly of Wilsonian idealism. In his book he wrote, “Our traditional policy of neutrality and non-interference with other nations was based on the principle that this policy was the best way to avoid disputes with other nations and to maintain the liberty of this country without war.” But he made clear that “it has always opposed any commitment by the United States in advance to take any military action outside of our territory. It would leave us free to interfere or not interfere according to whether we consider the case of sufficiently vital interest to the liberty of this country. It was the policy of the open hand.”
Further, (not likely to be endorsed by the Dispensationalists at World Net Daily):
I have always been embarrassed by Republican candidates publicly pandering for Jewish votes here by threatening to engage in a Mideastern war solely to defend Israel and no other purpose. Here we were in 2008, at war in Iraq, at war in Afghanistan, on a rumble with Russia over Georgia, threatening to repulse Iran… and John McCain issuing yet another threat of war bearing on Israel’s survival. Almost like we are lashed together as one nation. Those who respect the policy of the free hand for U.S. involvement were and are genuinely disturbed with that talk...
Gee. Almost like as if US interests are considered first!
What would the Founders say?
...the Republican party of the future should not echo the Bush policy of announcing we will eradicate all tyranny in the world to be replaced by democracy whether the inhabitants want democracy or not . This Wilsonian futility is self-evident.
Then what foreign policy should be adopted by the Republican party? I would say it is largely contained in A Foreign Policy for Americans written by Robert A. Taft circa 1951. He was not just a great constitutionalist but a skilled diplomat, having learned intelligent policies from his father, the 27th president who encouraged U.S. businesses to invest in under-developed nations (for the U.S.’s own good, thus it was called “dollar diplomacy”). Young Bob learned at his knee and served first-hand as a legal counselor at Versailles where he learned the folly of Wilsonian idealism. In his book he wrote, “Our traditional policy of neutrality and non-interference with other nations was based on the principle that this policy was the best way to avoid disputes with other nations and to maintain the liberty of this country without war.” But he made clear that “it has always opposed any commitment by the United States in advance to take any military action outside of our territory. It would leave us free to interfere or not interfere according to whether we consider the case of sufficiently vital interest to the liberty of this country. It was the policy of the open hand.”
Further, (not likely to be endorsed by the Dispensationalists at World Net Daily):
I have always been embarrassed by Republican candidates publicly pandering for Jewish votes here by threatening to engage in a Mideastern war solely to defend Israel and no other purpose. Here we were in 2008, at war in Iraq, at war in Afghanistan, on a rumble with Russia over Georgia, threatening to repulse Iran… and John McCain issuing yet another threat of war bearing on Israel’s survival. Almost like we are lashed together as one nation. Those who respect the policy of the free hand for U.S. involvement were and are genuinely disturbed with that talk...
Gee. Almost like as if US interests are considered first!
What would the Founders say?
Can You Say "Really Dumb Response"?
Jerry Topczewski, attempting to put a high hard one past the faithful in the Archdiocese of Milwaukee:
"Archbishop Weakland is able to comment on what he knew, but many if not all of those involved in these cases are dead," Jerry Topczewski, speaking for the archdiocese, said Wednesday. "We'll never know fully what happened or the intent of these people and their actions that date back 20, 30 and 40 years."
"....the INTENT of these people [child-rapists]"?
The INTENT, Jerry?
HT: Terry Berres
"Archbishop Weakland is able to comment on what he knew, but many if not all of those involved in these cases are dead," Jerry Topczewski, speaking for the archdiocese, said Wednesday. "We'll never know fully what happened or the intent of these people and their actions that date back 20, 30 and 40 years."
"....the INTENT of these people [child-rapists]"?
The INTENT, Jerry?
HT: Terry Berres
"Unification"? Not So Fast!
Fr. Neuhaus:
...For all of President-elect Obama’s wafting language about bringing us together, healing divisions, and so on and so on, if he seriously intends to follow through on his extremist abortion views, we are headed for the intensification of an American version of the Kulturkampf that Bismarck came to rue. The focus is on FOCA, the Freedom of Choice Act, that Obama says he wants to sign on his first day in office. This act would eliminate the very modest restraints and regulations established by states, provide government funding for abortions, and in its present form, require religiously sponsored hospitals and clinics to perpetrate abortions or go out of business.
The aggressor in the opening phases of this Kulturkampf is the Obama administration. The initial response to the aggression was evident in the meeting of Catholic bishops this week in Baltimore.
...The Church is much more disposed toward conversion, providing moral guidance, and the transformation of culture. The Christ against culture model is never chosen, but sometimes there is no choice. Pushed to the wall by the Obama aggression, it seems evident that most of the Catholic bishops are, in the words of Paul to Timothy, prepared to “fight the good fight.”
In this contest of coming months and years, it seems certain that cooperation between Catholics and evangelical Protestants will be greatly strengthened. And their efforts will enlist the support of many other Americans who are only now awakening to the fact that the unlimited abortion license imposed by Roe v. Wade and its proposed expansion by its hardcore supporters is indeed unlimited.
If President-elect Obama does what he says he wants to do, this champion of national unity will preside over one of the most divisive periods in American history.
Kulturkampf, indeed. About time that Fr. N. catches up with PJB, who was talking about culture war back in 1992....
...For all of President-elect Obama’s wafting language about bringing us together, healing divisions, and so on and so on, if he seriously intends to follow through on his extremist abortion views, we are headed for the intensification of an American version of the Kulturkampf that Bismarck came to rue. The focus is on FOCA, the Freedom of Choice Act, that Obama says he wants to sign on his first day in office. This act would eliminate the very modest restraints and regulations established by states, provide government funding for abortions, and in its present form, require religiously sponsored hospitals and clinics to perpetrate abortions or go out of business.
The aggressor in the opening phases of this Kulturkampf is the Obama administration. The initial response to the aggression was evident in the meeting of Catholic bishops this week in Baltimore.
...The Church is much more disposed toward conversion, providing moral guidance, and the transformation of culture. The Christ against culture model is never chosen, but sometimes there is no choice. Pushed to the wall by the Obama aggression, it seems evident that most of the Catholic bishops are, in the words of Paul to Timothy, prepared to “fight the good fight.”
In this contest of coming months and years, it seems certain that cooperation between Catholics and evangelical Protestants will be greatly strengthened. And their efforts will enlist the support of many other Americans who are only now awakening to the fact that the unlimited abortion license imposed by Roe v. Wade and its proposed expansion by its hardcore supporters is indeed unlimited.
If President-elect Obama does what he says he wants to do, this champion of national unity will preside over one of the most divisive periods in American history.
Kulturkampf, indeed. About time that Fr. N. catches up with PJB, who was talking about culture war back in 1992....
AIG: The Gift That Never Stops Taking
WaPo:
American International Group plans to pay out $503 million in deferred compensation to some of its top employees, saying it must tap the funds to keep valuable workers from exiting the troubled insurance giant.
News of the payments to top AIG talent comes as the federal government has just put more money into saving the company from bankruptcy, beefing up the total public commitment to $152 billion.
Which "valuable employees"?? The ones who put the Company into the crapper?
Look, folks. If those "valuable employees" can find a better-paying job someplace else, let them go. If they know what "values" are in AIG, their next employer can purchase those "values" and pay down the debt to the US taxpayer, right?
And if those "valuable employees" can NOT find a better-paying job someplace else, well, then...we can infer a real 'value', no?
HT: TOMcC
American International Group plans to pay out $503 million in deferred compensation to some of its top employees, saying it must tap the funds to keep valuable workers from exiting the troubled insurance giant.
News of the payments to top AIG talent comes as the federal government has just put more money into saving the company from bankruptcy, beefing up the total public commitment to $152 billion.
Which "valuable employees"?? The ones who put the Company into the crapper?
Look, folks. If those "valuable employees" can find a better-paying job someplace else, let them go. If they know what "values" are in AIG, their next employer can purchase those "values" and pay down the debt to the US taxpayer, right?
And if those "valuable employees" can NOT find a better-paying job someplace else, well, then...we can infer a real 'value', no?
HT: TOMcC
Where's the Money? Ask Rahm Emanuel
Tim Carney is a fellow who should be sleeping with a pistol under his pillow. As I've mentioned before, if you really, really, really want to follow the money, Tim's likely to have written about it.
And if you think "crony capitalism" is the exclusive property of the Bushitler/Cheneyoil gang, you are very wrong. Matter of fact, Rahm Emanuel is a pretty good counter-example.
Emanuel left the Clinton White House in late 1998 with a job offer in hand from investment banker Wasserstein Perella & Co. Emanuel, with no experience outside of politics and no MBA, took a high perch as a managing director at Wasserstein Perella, and proceeded to get very rich.
Surely Emanuel’s work ethic, focus, and effectiveness were critical to his job success, but looking at the deals he worked on, it’s unarguable that government connections were what made him the best man for the job.
...One prototypical Emanuel client at Wasserstein Perella was Loral Space CEO Bernard Schwartz, a titan of the military-industrial complex. Schwartz was one of Clinton’s top two individual donors (giving the president more than $1 million in campaign contributions), and also beneficiary of Clinton’s executive decisions
(Yes, THAT Bernie Schwarz--the convicted Bernie Schwarz--who was extremely friendly with the ChiCom war-making department...)
When Rahm Emanuel entered the private sector and started looking for clients, Schwartz was among the first men he called. Schwartz hired him to execute some mergers or acquisitions
Hmmmm.
Another item:
But Bill Clinton’s Federal Communications Commission insisted that federal law required SBC to sell the security company. Clinton’s old right-hand man, Emanuel, happened to be working on behalf of a venture capital firm called GTCR Golder Rauner that wanted to buy SecurityLink from SBC. The government pressure helped Emanuel get his clients a good deal, as the Tribune tells the story:
“Under a regulatory deadline to divest itself of SecurityLink, SBC financed all but $100 million of GTCR’s $479 million purchase of the firm. Less than six months later, GTCR resold the company for $1 billion, earning a quick $500 million on its investment.”
Nice work, when you can get it with a little help from your friends...
Oh, well. S'pose Rahm has any good buddies in the Big Three?
And if you think "crony capitalism" is the exclusive property of the Bushitler/Cheneyoil gang, you are very wrong. Matter of fact, Rahm Emanuel is a pretty good counter-example.
Emanuel left the Clinton White House in late 1998 with a job offer in hand from investment banker Wasserstein Perella & Co. Emanuel, with no experience outside of politics and no MBA, took a high perch as a managing director at Wasserstein Perella, and proceeded to get very rich.
Surely Emanuel’s work ethic, focus, and effectiveness were critical to his job success, but looking at the deals he worked on, it’s unarguable that government connections were what made him the best man for the job.
...One prototypical Emanuel client at Wasserstein Perella was Loral Space CEO Bernard Schwartz, a titan of the military-industrial complex. Schwartz was one of Clinton’s top two individual donors (giving the president more than $1 million in campaign contributions), and also beneficiary of Clinton’s executive decisions
(Yes, THAT Bernie Schwarz--the convicted Bernie Schwarz--who was extremely friendly with the ChiCom war-making department...)
When Rahm Emanuel entered the private sector and started looking for clients, Schwartz was among the first men he called. Schwartz hired him to execute some mergers or acquisitions
Hmmmm.
Another item:
But Bill Clinton’s Federal Communications Commission insisted that federal law required SBC to sell the security company. Clinton’s old right-hand man, Emanuel, happened to be working on behalf of a venture capital firm called GTCR Golder Rauner that wanted to buy SecurityLink from SBC. The government pressure helped Emanuel get his clients a good deal, as the Tribune tells the story:
“Under a regulatory deadline to divest itself of SecurityLink, SBC financed all but $100 million of GTCR’s $479 million purchase of the firm. Less than six months later, GTCR resold the company for $1 billion, earning a quick $500 million on its investment.”
Nice work, when you can get it with a little help from your friends...
Oh, well. S'pose Rahm has any good buddies in the Big Three?
Holy Hot Iron!! More Guns Sold...
Clay Cramer reports in from the Great West.
I had heard that there was an increase in gun sales in the weeks before the election.
At least here in Idaho, it has exploded since the election. One of the gun stores here in the Treasure Valley sold $20,000 worth of guns on the Saturday after the election!
A friend who attended the gun show this last weekend tells me that there was a twenty minute wait to get inside, because of how long the line was. Guns that were going unsold for $350 at the previous gun show were snapped up at $450. People were buying cases of ammunition--and our local economy has been hit hard by layoffs the last several months.
A fair number of people are worried that we might be headed down the path that Allende's election took Chile. I think that's unlikely, although not impossible, when you consider the genocidal crazies that helped start Obama's career. But it is best to be prepared.
Semper Paratus, indeed.
I had heard that there was an increase in gun sales in the weeks before the election.
At least here in Idaho, it has exploded since the election. One of the gun stores here in the Treasure Valley sold $20,000 worth of guns on the Saturday after the election!
A friend who attended the gun show this last weekend tells me that there was a twenty minute wait to get inside, because of how long the line was. Guns that were going unsold for $350 at the previous gun show were snapped up at $450. People were buying cases of ammunition--and our local economy has been hit hard by layoffs the last several months.
A fair number of people are worried that we might be headed down the path that Allende's election took Chile. I think that's unlikely, although not impossible, when you consider the genocidal crazies that helped start Obama's career. But it is best to be prepared.
Semper Paratus, indeed.
The Clown-Chancellor: John Wiley
To think this intellectual pygmy will be teaching children...
We all know that John Wiley, ex-Chancellor of the UW, was.....ahhhh.......'liberally inclined.' And that's not a bad thing, altogether. But you'd think that a Big 10 Chancellor would have at least some intellectual firepower with which to support his argumentation.
And you'd be wrong.
Club for Growth obtained a bunch of Wiley's emails pertaining to his bilious screed against Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce. They amply demonstrate that the real man behind the "Chancellor" curtain is......well, you read it and judge.
Here he writes Judy Faulkner. She had asked for specific examples of 'why WMC's positions were bad for education.' Your assignment, class, is to find the 'specific examples' in Wiley's rant, reproduced here:
WMCs policies and practices are bad for education because they are bad for everything that is a part of, or that depends on, public (tax) support.
I am loathe to attribute motives to the things people do. All we really know is what they did - not why they did it. But everything WMC does is perfectly consistent with the philosophy that drove (and still drives) the Republican party's position in recent years, starting most clearly with the "Contract with America " campaign, led by Newt Gingrich. The simplest, clearest and most widely-quoted admission of that goal is attributed to its theoretical architect, Grover Norquist: "I don't want to abolish government. I simply want to reduce it to the size where I can drag it into the bathroom and drown It in the bathtub." You can learn more about Norquist at: You can learn more about Norquist at: http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Grover_Norquist
Or at the following Wikipedia entry which includes the quote I cited and also gives a reference to another cite where you can hear him say it in his own voice, (on National Public Radio, ironically): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grover_Norquist
Now, I can't prove that WMC and the three Jim s have adopted this philosophy as their own, but: everything they do is consistent without it. They Insist that all of Wisconsin's problems will go away If we just keep cutting taxes (all taxes, and every year), and eliminating. Government (an reQuiations, again year-after-year). They seem to truly believe that there is no, need for a public sector- that everything would be fine if we had a totally unregulated "free-market economy" and no government or public sector (except perhaps to maintain police, fire, and military services - I don't think: they would even concede the need for public -financing of roads. After all, roads could be built with private capital and financed by tolls.) They seem to believe social security is socialist theft public: employment is welfare; etc.
When it comes to education, they seem to believe this, too, should be private and be financed by tuition, period. When I've told WMC that their candidates were killing the university with their budget cuts with budget cuts they said we should just raise some more• "no problem, look how cheap you are compared, or Stanford, or Marquette. Isn't UW-Madison worth as mum as Marquette? In the Norquist refs above, you can learn that he believes the best K-12 schooling is home schooling. These people live in worlds of wealth and privilege, and they simply have, no concern at all for anyone who doesn't.
So, yes, WMC has been and is killing public education (at all levels) in Wisconsin. Enjoy Ireland! My stepdaughter did her study-abroad in Gallway and loved it.
John
Clearly, the Professor has forgotten most lessons from his Elementary Composition coursework (assuming he took such a course). I was struck by the use of the term "reQuiations", so I went to the online Oxford which, admittedly, is not the 'complete' Oxford. You, too, can check the results. So then I consulted with a friend who is a veritable walking lexicon. He couldn't figure it out, either, except to offer the possibility that the Professor cannot type very well...
I was also charmed by his knowledge of Ireland, so I looked up "Gallway" in Wikipedia, which Chancellor Riley uses as a factual and accurate repository of knowledge.
Here's what Wiki said: No page with that title exists
Not surprising, since the name is actually "Galway."
You'd think that for $300++K/year, plus a free house, that this poor fellow could afford an editor, or at least a Remedial Writing course at, say, Madison Area Tech College.
Club for Growth's article provides a number of other criticisms of Wiley's intellectual slovenliness; in the end, the ex-Chancellor shows himself to be the reductio ad absurdum, rather than the Republican Party which, along with WMC, he disdains.
Except that Chancellors are not supposed to be cartoons. Right?
HT: Sykes
We all know that John Wiley, ex-Chancellor of the UW, was.....ahhhh.......'liberally inclined.' And that's not a bad thing, altogether. But you'd think that a Big 10 Chancellor would have at least some intellectual firepower with which to support his argumentation.
And you'd be wrong.
Club for Growth obtained a bunch of Wiley's emails pertaining to his bilious screed against Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce. They amply demonstrate that the real man behind the "Chancellor" curtain is......well, you read it and judge.
Here he writes Judy Faulkner. She had asked for specific examples of 'why WMC's positions were bad for education.' Your assignment, class, is to find the 'specific examples' in Wiley's rant, reproduced here:
WMCs policies and practices are bad for education because they are bad for everything that is a part of, or that depends on, public (tax) support.
I am loathe to attribute motives to the things people do. All we really know is what they did - not why they did it. But everything WMC does is perfectly consistent with the philosophy that drove (and still drives) the Republican party's position in recent years, starting most clearly with the "Contract with America " campaign, led by Newt Gingrich. The simplest, clearest and most widely-quoted admission of that goal is attributed to its theoretical architect, Grover Norquist: "I don't want to abolish government. I simply want to reduce it to the size where I can drag it into the bathroom and drown It in the bathtub." You can learn more about Norquist at: You can learn more about Norquist at: http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Grover_Norquist
Or at the following Wikipedia entry which includes the quote I cited and also gives a reference to another cite where you can hear him say it in his own voice, (on National Public Radio, ironically): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grover_Norquist
Now, I can't prove that WMC and the three Jim s have adopted this philosophy as their own, but: everything they do is consistent without it. They Insist that all of Wisconsin's problems will go away If we just keep cutting taxes (all taxes, and every year), and eliminating. Government (an reQuiations, again year-after-year). They seem to truly believe that there is no, need for a public sector- that everything would be fine if we had a totally unregulated "free-market economy" and no government or public sector (except perhaps to maintain police, fire, and military services - I don't think: they would even concede the need for public -financing of roads. After all, roads could be built with private capital and financed by tolls.) They seem to believe social security is socialist theft public: employment is welfare; etc.
When it comes to education, they seem to believe this, too, should be private and be financed by tuition, period. When I've told WMC that their candidates were killing the university with their budget cuts with budget cuts they said we should just raise some more• "no problem, look how cheap you are compared, or Stanford, or Marquette. Isn't UW-Madison worth as mum as Marquette? In the Norquist refs above, you can learn that he believes the best K-12 schooling is home schooling. These people live in worlds of wealth and privilege, and they simply have, no concern at all for anyone who doesn't.
So, yes, WMC has been and is killing public education (at all levels) in Wisconsin. Enjoy Ireland! My stepdaughter did her study-abroad in Gallway and loved it.
John
Clearly, the Professor has forgotten most lessons from his Elementary Composition coursework (assuming he took such a course). I was struck by the use of the term "reQuiations", so I went to the online Oxford which, admittedly, is not the 'complete' Oxford. You, too, can check the results. So then I consulted with a friend who is a veritable walking lexicon. He couldn't figure it out, either, except to offer the possibility that the Professor cannot type very well...
I was also charmed by his knowledge of Ireland, so I looked up "Gallway" in Wikipedia, which Chancellor Riley uses as a factual and accurate repository of knowledge.
Here's what Wiki said: No page with that title exists
Not surprising, since the name is actually "Galway."
You'd think that for $300++K/year, plus a free house, that this poor fellow could afford an editor, or at least a Remedial Writing course at, say, Madison Area Tech College.
Club for Growth's article provides a number of other criticisms of Wiley's intellectual slovenliness; in the end, the ex-Chancellor shows himself to be the reductio ad absurdum, rather than the Republican Party which, along with WMC, he disdains.
Except that Chancellors are not supposed to be cartoons. Right?
HT: Sykes
Paulson: Here's the Problem
Henry Paulson can't figure out why banks are not lending.
Here's a hint, Hank:
The U.S. Census Bureau announced today that advance estimates of U.S. retail and food services sales for October, adjusted for seasonal variation and holiday and trading-day differences, but not for price changes, were $363.7 billion, a decrease of 2.8 percent from the previous month and 4.1 percent below October 2007. Total sales for the August through October 2008 period were down 1.3 percent from the same period a year ago.
Retail trade sales were down 3.1 percent from September 2008 and were 5.0 percent below last year
Comment from Calculated Risk:
Although the Census Bureau reported that nominal retail sales decreased 5.0% year-over-year (retail and food services decreased 4.1%), real retail sales declined by 8.8% (on a YoY basis). This is the largest YoY decline since the Census Bureau started keeping data
No buy, no borrow.
Get it?
Here's a hint, Hank:
The U.S. Census Bureau announced today that advance estimates of U.S. retail and food services sales for October, adjusted for seasonal variation and holiday and trading-day differences, but not for price changes, were $363.7 billion, a decrease of 2.8 percent from the previous month and 4.1 percent below October 2007. Total sales for the August through October 2008 period were down 1.3 percent from the same period a year ago.
Retail trade sales were down 3.1 percent from September 2008 and were 5.0 percent below last year
Comment from Calculated Risk:
Although the Census Bureau reported that nominal retail sales decreased 5.0% year-over-year (retail and food services decreased 4.1%), real retail sales declined by 8.8% (on a YoY basis). This is the largest YoY decline since the Census Bureau started keeping data
No buy, no borrow.
Get it?
Prop 8 Hate Directed at LDS
Oh, it's getting nasty out there.
Leaders and members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (LDS) across the country are suffering further retribution for the church's support for Proposition 8 in California.
Fred Karger, Founder of Californians Against Hate today filed a complaint with the Enforcement Division of the Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC), accusing the LDS Church of not adequately reporting numerous "non monetary" contributions to support Proposition 8, California's true marriage ballot measure.
Karger alleges that The Mormon Church was "highly secretive about its massive involvement," which included organizing phone banks, sending mail to voters, transporting people to California over several weekends, and other efforts. All of these actions, Karger claims, were geared toward nonmembers, leaving the church liable to IRS censure.
Seems to me that the Mormons have learned a lot from the AFL-CIO and ACORN. Whassamatta that?
Since the passage of Proposition 8, the Mormon Church has been made the primary scapegoat for homosexualists frustrated at the crippling loss. Protests have been staged at Mormon temples, not only in California, but even as far-flung as the opposite end of the country. A New York Mormon temple was besieged Wednesday with same-sex "marriage" supporters angry at the church's advocacy in favor of California's Proposition 8.
This behavior--including the violence and threats--is unconscionable. It will do nothing except create a backlash. The LDS and its members have not only a right, but a duty in conscience to speak out on matters involving morals. And the Mormons have plenty of friends in this particular matter.
Leaders and members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (LDS) across the country are suffering further retribution for the church's support for Proposition 8 in California.
Fred Karger, Founder of Californians Against Hate today filed a complaint with the Enforcement Division of the Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC), accusing the LDS Church of not adequately reporting numerous "non monetary" contributions to support Proposition 8, California's true marriage ballot measure.
Karger alleges that The Mormon Church was "highly secretive about its massive involvement," which included organizing phone banks, sending mail to voters, transporting people to California over several weekends, and other efforts. All of these actions, Karger claims, were geared toward nonmembers, leaving the church liable to IRS censure.
Seems to me that the Mormons have learned a lot from the AFL-CIO and ACORN. Whassamatta that?
Since the passage of Proposition 8, the Mormon Church has been made the primary scapegoat for homosexualists frustrated at the crippling loss. Protests have been staged at Mormon temples, not only in California, but even as far-flung as the opposite end of the country. A New York Mormon temple was besieged Wednesday with same-sex "marriage" supporters angry at the church's advocacy in favor of California's Proposition 8.
This behavior--including the violence and threats--is unconscionable. It will do nothing except create a backlash. The LDS and its members have not only a right, but a duty in conscience to speak out on matters involving morals. And the Mormons have plenty of friends in this particular matter.