Month: November 2008

The FDIC is Guaranteeing What???

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It looks like the FDIC will be guaranteeing store gift cards, according to their most recent release

  • The new General Counsel’s Opinion No. 8 addresses the issue of whether the funds underlying stored value cards and other nontraditional access mechanisms qualify as “deposits” as defined in the Federal Deposit Insurance Act.
  • Under the new opinion, the funds will be “deposits” to the extent that the funds have been placed at an insured depository institution. Consequently, the funds will be subject to assessments. Also, the funds will be insured (up to the insurance limit).
  • In applying the insurance limit to a pooled custodial account, the FDIC will recognize the holders of the stored value cards (or other access mechanisms) as the owners of the deposits if the FDIC’s standard requirements for “pass-through” insurance coverage have been satisfied. Otherwise, the card distributor or other named accountholder will be recognized as the owner.
  • The treatment of the funds underlying stored value products does not differ from the treatment set forth in the FDIC’s proposed rule published in August of 2005 (see FIL-83-2005 at http://www.fdic.gov/news/news/financial/2005/fil8305.html).

Let me be the first to say that this is fracking nuts.

Speaking of Insubordination

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How about Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Mike Mullen, who is now dissing the Iraqi status of forces agreement even before the ink is dry:

The withdrawal of US forces from Iraq, set to be completed by the end of 2011 under a proposed deal between Baghdad and Washington, should depend on the situation on the ground, US military chief Admiral Michael Mullen said on Monday.

“I do think it is important that this be conditions-based,” Mullen told reporters, referring to the eventual withdrawal of US forces from Iraq.

We have an agreement negotiated by the civilian leaders of both countries, and just now approved by the Iraqi cabinet, and he is already saying that he is opposed to the central feature of that agreement.

This is largely an artifact of the fact that Bush and His Evil Minions&trade politicized the military, and that Bill Clinton did not fire Colin Powell when he should have, which has emboldened his successors.

I Believe That This is Called Insubordination

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Well, we now have this report that the Pentagon is doing its level best to subvert the decision making capabilities of the incoming administration:

The uniformed services are trying to lock in the next administration by creating a political cost for holding the line on defense spending. Conservative groups are hoping to ramp up defense spending as a tool to limit options for a Democratic Congress and president to pass new, and potentially costly, social programs, including health care reform.

While it is the right of conservatives to weigh in on the defense budget, the actions of the, “Uniformed Services” appears to be a direct challenge to the idea of civilian control of the military.

Douglas MacArthur was fired for simply saying in a letter to a Congressman that he disagreed with the President’s policy, and these folks are trying to gaslight Obama.

This Will Only Hurt a Bit, Now Bend Over

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Well, it looks like public pressure is working, because that’s about the only reason that the seven top executives at Goldman Sachs would send a memo to the board of directors asking for no bonuses this year.

Hopefully, this will spread across the industry.

It’s also happening in Europe, where UBS will not pay bonuses to top staff in 2008.

In fact, it’s going further, to change the incentives for a quick buck:

Starting from 2009, top managers’ bonuses will be blocked for at least three years instead of being paid immediately and executives will receive variable pay if UBS results warrant.

Which means that the quest for a quick buck for a quick bonus has just become more difficult.

Iraqi Cabinet Approves SOF Pact

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So, now the status of forces agreement goes to the Iraqi Parliament.

Changes demanded by the Iraqi government and accepted by Bush and His Evil Minions™:

  • Requiring the U.S. to get Iraqi consent before searching homes.
  • Giving Iraqis authority over the international zone that houses the centers of American power in Baghdad.
  • Enabling Iraqis to search U.S. cargo.
  • Prohibiting Americans from conducting raids in other countries from Iraqi soil.
  • Eliminating the judicial immunity that applies to foreign contractors and to a lesser degree that of U.S. soldiers working in Iraq under the occupation’s current mandate.
  • A time line for leaving the country.

Basically, the Iraqis knew that Bush had to have this agreement, and so demanded, and got what they wanted.

Start by Firing Deborah Howell

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The Washington Post has a problem with reality.

While its news gathering operation is pretty good, its editorial outlook, which seems to be in a constant state of apology for having uncovered Watergate, seems to have no recognition of reality or truth

This is a problem, because truth, not balance, should be the goal of a journalistic enterprise.

Case in point, Ombudsman Deborah Howell, who is calling for political affirmative action in the news room:

Are there ways to tackle this? More conservatives in newsrooms and rigorous editing would be two. The first is not easy: Editors hire not on the basis of beliefs but on talent in reporting, photography and editing, and hiring is at a standstill because of the economy. But newspapers have hired more minorities and women, so it can be done.

She is calling for wingnut welfare (affirmative action), and this is wrong for a number of reasons:

  • She is implying that women and minorities were only hired because of affirmative action,
  • She is calling for the hiring of unqualified conservatives.
  • She is asking editors to vet new hires on their politics rather than their professionalism.

I have no clue what Ms. Howell does for a living, but it does not appear to be journalism.

Tom Friedman, Suck on This

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Tom Friedman, the New York Times Columnist, and blithering idiot, who is always suggesting that we should give the Iraq War, “Another 6 Months,” is having financial difficulties.

You see, he married into money, a lot of money. His wife is an heir to the General Growth Properties fortune, and since September, the value of the stock in the company in which the family wealth is held has fallen in value from a high of $51/share to 35¢ a share (See stock chart below), taking the value of the family fortune from $3.6 billion to $25 million.

In fact, GGP is warning of a potential bankruptcy.

As to my saying, “suck on this,” I am actually quoting Thomas Friedman, who, in an interview with Charlie Rose, suggested that it was imperative that we invade some Arab country to show that we were serius:

We needed to go over there, basically, um, and um, uh, take out a very big state right in the heart of that world and burst that bubble, and there was only one way to do it.

…

What they needed to see was American boys and girls going house to house, from Basra to Baghdad, um and basically saying, “Which part of this sentence don’t you understand?” You don’t think, you know, we care about our open society, you think this bubble fantasy, we’re just gonna to let it grow? Well, Suck. On. This.

(emphasis mine)

This places him in exactly the same position as the Rwandan radio broadcasters who were convicted of crimes against humanity, and any misfortune that he suffers for his continuing advocacy of an invasion that has cost hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians renders me incapable of feeling the smallest bit of sympathy.

I guess it makes me a bad person, but I haven’t had a hand in killing nearly a million Iraqis….Scratch that…We all had a hand in that as Americans, because it was done in our name, but he was cheer leading from his position atop the most respected news paper in the nation.

Here is the vid of the interview. Look at it, because this is what evil looks like.

Lieberupdate

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One of Lieberman’s frequent allies in the Senate, Tom Carper (D-DE), is saying that there should be real consequences to Lieberman’s behavior.

You think? Not only did Lieberman campaign for McCain, he campaigned for Republican candidates for the Senate, and he has publicly said that the Democratic Party breaking 60 Senators would be a catastrophe.

One interesting development in all this is that the caucus vote to decide this will be a secret ballot.

Secret ballot….Hmmmm…This means either that the Senators in the Democratic caucus can use this to avoid enmity* from Lieberman, or they can use it to avoid consequences with their constituents.

I do not know what way this will cut.

*Except to the degree that he has been vindictive, retributive, and evil son of a bitch towards Democrats ever since he got skunked in the 2004 Presidential primaries, so they will be the victims of his bile regardless of how they choose.

Paulson Won’t Ask For the Second $350B

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There is only 10 weeks left in the (mis)rule of Bush and Paulson and their Evil Minions™, and now they are saying that they do not want the 2nd half of the bailout package.

So Obama, and whoever is his SecTreas will get to make the decision on that chunk of change.

I can’t figure this one out. They are passing up an opportunity to reward friends, and to fiscally constrain the incoming administration.

My guess is that given the incompetence, opacity, and general corruption of Paulson, he realizes that the Congress will attach strings to the second half that will get his ass thrown in jail over what he did with the first $350 billion.

Election Update

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Nothing yet on the Alaska Senate race, but in Minnesota, Al Franken’s move to count wrongly rejected absentee ballots before the official tally was released was denied, which was not unsurprising, as this is typically the sort of thing that is handled in a recount.

Frankin wanted to enter the recount with a lead, since there are always judgment calls, and even being ahead by one vote could effect an election judge’s view of a ballot.

Economics Update

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Well, in a case of stating the blatantly obvious, the Philadelphia Fed;s Survey of Professional Forecasters says that we are in a recession, and have been since Spring, though the Conference Board has not yet chimed in on this, so it’s not yet “official”.

In any case, Japan is officially in recession. I guess that they have better record keeping than we do.

In the mean time Calculated Risk’s Credit Crisis Indicator interest rate metrics are basically unchanged.

We also have some mixed numbers in industry, with post hurricane industrial production, but the New York Fed’s Empire State index of hitting its lowest level ever.

In the UK, they are seeing an explosion in jingle mail, where mortgage holders mail their keys back to the bank, either figuratively or literally.

In the US, pending sales are down from September to October, but up against last October, which Barry Ritholtz catches, it’s really a net up, who wants to buy a house in October, but the National Association of Realtors does not get.

In currency, then dollar is down on recession worries, though my guess is also that the G20 meeting being hosted by a drooling idiot did not help.

In energy, oil is at a 21-month low, and retail gasoline prices fell for 61st straight day, which does not surprise me, as I filled up for $1.979/gallon yesterday.

The South Fell This November

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Kevin Drum makes a very good point about the south, specifically from 1932 on, reactionary southerners have controlled much of American politics.

First, they were the tail wagging the dog for the Democratic party through until 1994, when they had completely become Republicans, and from 1968 or so through the present, they were, and are, the backbone of the Republican party.

This is the first time since at least the 1930s, and Kevin Drum argues that it’s since Reconstruction, when we have had a government in power which was not beholden to them.

I am sure that Democratic strategist, and advocate for capitulation to so-called Southern values, Dave “Mudcat” Saunders is crushed, but for the rest of us, and for the nation, the idea that a group of reactionary, bigoted, and small minded Neo-Confederate assholes are out of power is a very good thing.

Great, Now I’m Agreeing With A German Politician

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Former German Finance minister Oskar Lafontaine, now a member of the Left Party, is calling for an 80% income tax for people earning more than €600,000 a year.

While a maximum marginal income tax rate of 91%, which persisted through much of the Eisenhower administration, and was lowered to 77% under Kennedy, is probably excessive, the explosion in executive pay, and the falling real wages for the rest of us , largely correspond with the maximum tax rate falling to 50% in 1980, and below 40% from 1987 on (link).

Higher marginal tax rates, with greater limits in deductions would go a long way to fixing much of what is wrong with the US economy.

Joementum Update

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Well, now it appears that Senator Byron Dorgan (D-ND) has said that Lieberman’s behavior is unacceptable for a committee head:

As a chairman of one of our significant committees in the Senate, not just going off and supporting a presidential candidate of the other side but also criticizing the candidate on our side, and also involving himself in a couple of senate races on the other side. The question is, is that acceptable? The answer is no.

I think the thing that may tip the Senate is his campaigning for Republicans in Senate races.

While the only two Senators to explicitly call for his removal as chairman of the Homeland Security Committee, Dorgan, from North Fracking Dakota, comes pretty close to it.

So, Charlie Went on a Hike Today

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As a part of his being with Webelos, the last year of Cub Scouts. The whole family went with him.

I try to keep my involvement with the Boy Scouts to a minimum, the Supreme Court may have given them the right to be bigots, but it doesn’t mean that being a bigot is the right thing, so I don’t take an active role in the organization.

Basically I won’t ever do anything that would have me donning one of their insignia.

In any case, the hike was was three miles down the path that was once the NCR (North Central Railroad) line.

It’s ind of a pity to see rail lines torn up.

1½ miles each way, for a total of 3 miles heading south from Monkton. It was rather chilly.

At the end, there was a little sweet/coffee shop, and we had coffee (adults) and hot cocoa (kids), along with a sweet snack.

It was a nice afternoon.