Year: 2009

Reid Shows Sanaty on Healthcare, Rahmbo, on the Other Hand….

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It appears that Majority Leader Harry Reid just told finance chair Max Baucus to stop moving the bill to the right in an attempt to get Republican votes:

According to Democratic sources, Reid told Baucus that taxing health benefits and failing to include a strong government-run insurance option of some sort in his bill would cost 10 to 15 Democratic votes; Reid told Baucus it wasn’t worth securing the support of Grassley and at best a few additional Republicans.

This actually makes sense. Any healthcare reform that works will cripple the Republican Party for at least a generation, so accommodating the Republicans means that you are making sure that the plan will fail.

Meanwhile, on the other end of Pennsylvania Avenue, White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel is doing his best to kill a public option:

It is more important that health-care legislation inject stiff competition among insurance plans than it is for Congress to create a pure government-run option, White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel said.

“The goal is to have a means and a mechanism to keep the private insurers honest,” he said in an interview. “The goal is non-negotiable; the path is” negotiable.

President Barack Obama has campaigned vigorously for a full public option. But he’s also said that he won’t draw a “line in the sand” over this point. On Tuesday, the White House issued a statement reiterating his support for a public plan.

I think that Emanuel believes that a big war chest is the only determinant to winning elections, and he does not want to offend the deep pockets of the insurance industry.

His actions as the head of the DCCC, when he decided to ran the hapless Tammy Duckworth at the expense of Christine Cegelis in the Illinois Congressional 6th district, where he dumped hundreds of thousands of dollars into the primary, and over a million in the general, keeping a Republican in the seat, are a good example of why his “campaign funds trump everything,” philosophy is a complete lose.

A Real Progrom toi Help the Economy

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The minimum wage goes from $6.55/hr to $7.25/hr on July 24.

The linked article wrings it hands about the “stress” on the job market from the increase, but the reality is that no one has ever been able to find a correlation between increases in the minimum wage and unemployment, and getting more money into the hands of poor people, who spend the money more quickly, is the best way to get the economy moving.

Economics Update

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So much for green shoots. We now know that delinquencies in loans and credit cards have hit an all time high, and records for this have been kept for 35 years.

We’re also machine orders in Japan falling for the 3rd straight month.

So, we are seeing a continuing pullback in both manufacturing and consumers, so perhaps the focus on reviving the banking incumbents was a bit short sighted.

In real estate, we have the pending home sales rising slightly, and mortgage rates falling, though it must be noted on all home sales reports that the percentage of distressed sales, foreclosures and short sales, has been increasing, so any increase in sales reflects this phenomenon.

In any case, fears of a continued recession have pushed up the dollar and the Yen, while depressing the price of crude oil.

Liberal Advocacy Groups Tell Barack Obam to Go Cheney Himself

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A number of groups, most notably Moveon®, have been targeting pro-insurance industry members of Congress, most notably Mary Landrieu, for her opposition to the public option in the health care plan.

Well, Barack Obama, who I think is more motivated to have a health plan pass Congress than he is about getting a good health plan though Congress, because the risks for the latter is higher, has now told these groups to sit down and shut up:

President Obama, strategizing yesterday with congressional leaders about health-care reform, complained that liberal advocacy groups ought to drop their attacks on Democratic lawmakers and devote their energy to promoting passage of comprehensive legislation.

Well, it appears that at least some of the groups out here have realized that Barack Obama can be wrong just like the rest of us mere mortals:

A spokesperson for the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, one of the groups Obama reportedly complained about, confirms to me that the group is upping its buy with a new round of ads attacking moderate Dem Senators like Ben Nelson and Mary Landrieu this coming week. “If congressional staffers are complaining to the White House, that shows they are nervous and what we’re doing is working,” PCCC’s Stephanie Taylor says. “So we should just keep doing what we’re doing.”

Meanwhile, a second group, Change Congress, has not dropped plans for a coming campaign of ads attacking the Senators for taking contributions from health care special interests, Change Congress spokesperson Adam Green confirms. He urged the White House to consider a “good cop, bad cop approach,” suggesting Obama could hold positive rallies in the home states of moderate Dem Senators while Change Congress goes ahead with its ads.

This is a refreshing return to sanity.

Barack Obama has been running against the left to prove his “non-partisan” props for a while now, and it’s time to realize that he is at best an incrementalist, and by the standards of industrialized nations, a right of center incrementalist at that.

We Want Your Immortal Soul

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Seriously, there is a Latvian banker who is demanding borrowers souls as collateral, Viktor Mirosiichenko of the Kontora loan company:

Clients have to sign a contract, with the words “Agreement” in bold letters at the top. The client agrees to the collateral, “that is, my immortal soul”.

Mirosiichenko said his company would not employ debt collectors to get its money back if people refused to repay, and promised no physical violence.

I hope that this is not the face of market reform in other parts of the former Warsaw Pact nations.

Major Suckage

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Srsly.

My contract with BD ended on Thursday, so I’m looking for work with unemployment (U-3) approaching 10%.

Tonight, we went down to Catonsville to see fireworks, and our car got towed.

We’re waiting for a cab to take us down to bail out our car.

July is not starting well.

Another Thought on Sarah Palin

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My thoughts on Sarah Palin surprise resignation remains that she quit to run for President.

Simply put, I have been receiving reports of her hubris and self-important behavior from my dad since before the election, and I think that she really believes that God wants her to be President, and with what shee sees as the increasingly vitriolic campaign of the Republican establishment against her, she feels the need to “talk directly to the people,” specifically the people of Iowa and New Hampshire.

I think that she honestly believes that if she can meet enough voters 1 on 1, then she can win the caucus and primary.

I should note that my position is not the consensus in the blogosphere, which is that there is either a major scandal or health issue about to rear its head.

Palin’s bizarre performance at her announcement would indicate something sudden, but both the recent very public push-back from the DC ‘Phants and a potential scandal falls in that category.

In either case, I long for the day when she goes on my They Who Must Not Be Named list.

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Lawsuit Alleges Faulty Stealth Coatings on F-22

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Darrol Olsen alleges that Lockheed-Martin covered up problems with the stealth coatings on the F-22. (See also here.)

Considering this guy’s pedigree, he worked on stealth coatings for the F-117 and B-2, and the considerable problems that the F-22 has had with its stealth coatings, it’s readiness and maintenance requirements have underperformed, I’m inclined to believe that there is some merit in the lawsuit.

My guess is that LM will eventually settle with him, and we will hear no more of this.

Boeing’s Looks at Re- Winging 777

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It appears that Boeing is concerned about the threat that the Airbus A350 might be in the market.

It’s larger than the 787, but is following Boeing’s lead on propulsion and structural technologies to lower operational costs, and so the Seattle (Chicago) based manufacturer is worried that they might be facing a repeat of the 767/A330 fight that they had over a decade ago, which the A330 won decisively.

So, Boeing is looking at a significant stretch to the 787, and at re-winging the 777 with a lighter weight composite structure. (paid subscription required)

I’m not clear if this is just some blue-sky thinking, or if Boeing is really spooked by the repeated delays, and the cancellation of orders, on its 787 Dreamliner.

A Wacky Tilt-Rotor Concept From DARPA

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It’s called the Folding Advanced Stopped Tilt Rotor (FASTR), and the basic idea is that you have some sort of variable cycle engine which powers tilt rotors on takeoff, and after you get to speed, the rotors are stopped, folded back, and the engines convert to turbojets.

I’m inclined to believe that this won’t amount to anything, as the weight penalties of a stop start folding rotor and variable cycle engine would likely make any advantages irrelevant, but it’s DARPA’s job to try out weird stuff like this, and see what happens.

Veto Threat on F-22 and F136 Authorizations

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President Obama has threatened a veto on both programs.

I’m of a mixed mind on the programs.

While it is clear that the F-22 is overpriced, and does not address foreseeable threats, the F136 alternate engine for the JSF seems like a good idea.

The P&W F100/GE F110 engine competition saved a lot of money, and produced more reliable engines.

What’s more, the F136 seems to have more growth potential than the F135, and this is needed, particularly for the STOVL F-35B.

Additionally, the funds to continue F136 development are about the cost of procuring just 2 more F-22s.

Well, This is a Weird 5-Way

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Justices Antonin Scalia, John Paul Stevens, David Souter, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Stephen Breyer formed the majority on “Cuomo vs. Clearing House Association, (Eliot Spitzer originally brought the case) where they affirmed a states right to enforce laws against unfair lending practices.

If you had told me that a 5-4 decision in the Supreme court would have this makeup, I would have thought that you were pulling my leg.

While the Supreme Court did limit the scope of state Attorneys General, they do not have the right to simply demand documents, as federal regulators do, they have to get a court order, this is a big victory for consumers, and Scalia authored it.

Reality is sometimes odd.