Month: May 2010

Telecoms Set to Mount Astroturf Campaign Against Net Neutrality

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Think Progress is all over it:

This morning, representatives from various front groups launched a new coordinated campaign to kill net neutrality. Speaking on Capitol Hill, these front groups took turns decrying the evils of the principle of a fair and unbiased Internet. LULAC, which is funded by AT&T, called Net Neutrality “Obamacare for the Internet.” (LULAC was not present at the press conference. The Hispanic Leadership Fund, another group funded by the telecom industry and opposed to net neutrality, spoke at the event. We apologize for the error.) Americans for Prosperity — a corporate front group founded by oil billionaire David Koch but also funded by telecom interests — unveiled a new ad smearing net neutrality as a “government takeover” (the initial ad buy is $1.4 million dollars). And Grover Norquist, representing his “Americans for Tax Reform” corporate front group, said net neutrality is like what China does, “putting policemen on every corner, on the street or on the Internet.” Watch it:

(Strikout original)

And once again, Declan McCullagh,* who can be relied on to take any lie from a telco industry lobbyist represent them them as truth, had published a gotcha article claiming that it was just a bunch of college kids, only he missed the following facts that his lobbyist friend sources neglected to tell him:

  • The person running the web site is not a student. She is professional paid staff of an astroturf lobbying group.
  • She used a professional PR service to track the distribution of the story.
  • The “students” met with Norquist and His Evil Minions™.
  • Norquist and His Evil Minions™ have been parroting the terms from the presentation word for word.

Fundamentally, if you read something from McCullagh that might have to bear on his rather extreme libertarian views, find a 2nd source to verify.

When push comes to shove, he will put forward the Cato Institute line ahead of the truth.

*No link this time, you can find the link at the Think Progress rebuttal. Mccullagh is, as Andrew Orlowsky notes, a “Draw by crayon libertarian,”†and so he quotes uncritically industry-funded astroturf groups in his article.
†He is also the guy who created the, “Al Gore claimed to have invented the Internet,” myth, and he remains proud of that bit of hackery.

Deep Thought

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This is an interesting take on the Star Wars story.

Of note, the changes that George Lucas has made since the original has come out have had the effect of dehumanizing the troops of the Empire, in the original cut of Episode IV, you had Stormtroopers screaming as the fell, but now they are just a bunch of clone automatons.

I think that his idea was to make it more family friendly,* but what it has really done is to remove any element of the basic costs and immorality of war from the story.

Now all the damage is done to robots and clones, who, after all, aren’t people.

This is why dumbed down child friendly pap is frequently not only, not child friendly, but actually immoral.
</Rant>

*Much like he did in the infamous Christmas special.

I Approve of this Filibuster Threat

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Byron Dorgan, who has not only been a strong advocate for financial reform, but predicted 15 years ago the clusterf%$# that would occur from Robert Rubin’s vision of finance, has proposed an amendment to the finance reform that would ban Naked (i.e. an insurance policy in which you bet on your neighbor‘s house burning down) Credit Default Swaps.

It appears now that the Senate leadership will not allow this amendment to be voted on, so the distinguished gentleman from North Dakota is threatening a filibuster:

In the Senate Democratic Caucus meeting today, Dorgan and other progressive senators pressed the leadership to allow their amendments to strengthen the bill to come to a vote. According to Dorgan, the leadership relented and said his amendment would be one of the ones to come to a vote.

But tonight, as Brian Beutler reports, when the list of amendments to be voted on was released, Dorgan’s was not among them. A frustrated Dorgan approached Dodd and Majority Leader Harry Reid on the floor this evening and told them he would filibuster financial reform if his amendment doesn’t get a vote. “I understand everybody thinks their amendment’s important, but the question of the unbelievable speculation in credit default swaps that have no insurable interest — if we can’t vote on something like that, given what we’ve seen in recent years, then it’s not really financial reform,” Dorgan told us.

I keep quoting the same article, which notes that specuilative insurance was recognized as a very bad thing 3264 years ago:

In 1746, Parliament passed the Marine Insurance Act, requiring anyone seeking to collect on an insurance contract to have an interest in the continued existence of the insured property. Thus was born the insured-interest doctrine. The indemnity doctrine, which precludes a buyer from insuring property for more than it’s worth, soon followed. The point of these rules is to limit insurance contracts to trading existing risks and not to create new risks by giving buyers of insurance incentive to destroy property. The doctrines have been part of insurance law in both England and the United States (which in 1746 were colonies under English common law) ever since.

But the masters of the universe who nearly killed us all insist that they know better.

Well, they don’t and they should not be listened to, because their interest is purely in their creating ways for them to make money, and if they crash the financial system every 20 years, well, they’ve got theirs.

The reason that Dorgan is not getting his vote is because the reform is so transparently the right thing to do: Just ask the average voter if their neighbor, the creepy one who seems to have strange visitors, should be able to take out insurance on that average voter’s house, so that the creep gets paid when the voter’s house gets burnt down mysteriously.

They won’t allow the vote because the bankers do not want it, and because if it comes up for a vote, they will have to pass it, because it is so transparently the right thing to do.

It’s enough to make me root for the “medicine for chickens” lady to beat Harry Reid in his reelection bid.

I Love Me Some Viking Justice

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Much more satisfying than putting their photos on the urinals

Iceland, a tiny nation of only 317,593 souls has looked at its epic bank failures, and said, “Why yes, we do have to make a federal case out of this:

More than a year and a half after Iceland’s major banks failed, all but sinking the country’s economy, police have begun rounding up a number of top bankers while other former executives and owners face a two-billion-dollar lawsuit.

Since Iceland’s three largest banks — Kaupthing, Landsbanki and Glitnir — collapsed in late 2008, their former executives and owners have largely been living untroubled lives abroad.

But the publication last month of a parliamentary inquiry into the island nation’s profound financial and economic crisis signaled a turning of the tide, laying much of the blame for the downfall on the former bank heads who had taken “inappropriate loans from the banks” they worked for.

What a quaint and old fashioned idea. When people corruptly enrich themselves at your expense, investigate.

If you find that they broke the law, arrest them and try them.

I vote for going medieval on the bankers asses.

[on edit]

Perhaps the bankers should learn this old prayer, “A furore normannorum libera nos domine.”*

*From the fury of the Northmen deliver us, O Lord!

Economics Update (Early Afternoon, 1st Time This Week Edition)

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It’s jobless Thursday, and initial jobless claims fell from 448,000 to 444,000, though it should be noted that last week’s number of 448,000 was actually revised up from 444,000, meaning that the number is even flatter than the 4K change indicates.

That being said, the 4 week moving average fell by 9,000, which might indicate a slight trend downward in claims, if not for the fact that continuing claims rose, indicating that this may be less a matter of the economy picking up than it is a matter of employers simply running out of people to let go.

In terms of other metrics for the economy:

Consumer confidence, at least as surveyed by Investor’s Business Daily and TechnoMetrica Market Intelligence, has risen in May, from 48.7 from 48.4, though numbers below 50 indicate pessimism.

The National Federation of Independent Business’ optimism index rose to 90.6 in April from 86.8 in March, which is firmly in the class of, “better, but still pretty weak tea.”

In transport and trade, we have the trade deficit hitting a 15-month high, which, while normally not a good thing, is right now, because we are well into “paradox of thrift” territory.

Additionally, we have the always worthwhile Calculated risk reporting that Diesel fuel consumption fell slightly, and rail traffic rose slightly, in April.

In real estate, mortgage applications are up, but only because refinance is up, purchase applications are down, indicating that we are seeing people who are trying to lock in low rates on homes that they already own.

Finally, the Bank of England has decided to maintain its monetary policies, keeping its benchmark rate at ½% (effectively zero), and maintaining its quantitative easing via asset purchases.

The Incumbent Protection Racket in Action

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Remember when I said that Blanche Lincoln’s ambitious proposal to regulate banks was intended to fail?

I said that it was just a reelection ploy in a tight primary election.

Well, the US Senate is proving me right:

But they [Senate leadership, the Obama administration, etc.] may have gotten themselves stuck with it–at least for now. With their assent, the plan was authored by Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-AR), who designed it to guard her left flank against a somewhat formidable primary challenge, and has been boasting of it on populist grounds for weeks. And that according to Republican and Democratic Senate sources, has led Democrats to quietly agree to postpone any changes they decide to make to her proposal until After this Tuesday’s election has passed, to avoid embarrassing her in front of voters.

(emphasis original)

Lincoln pushed it out of committee knowing that it would be shredded by the Senate leadership.

She just wanted someone else to be the villain, preferably on Wednesday, May 19, or a few days after that.

Great Googly Moogly

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The latest poll has Sestak beating Arlen Specter by 9 points, 49%-40%.

the MOE is 4.9% with a 95% confidence.

Barring a herculean turnout from the minority community, Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter as well as other African American pols are working hard for him, he is toast.

Idiocracy Was a Documentary

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Idiocracy writ small

Yes, this an actual campaign ad in which a candidate is lambasted for believing in the independently observed fact that is evolution.

It’s actually a little more complex, because it’s an ad for a Republican primary, and intelligence and fact count for very little in that world.

Additionally, it may be the Alabama Education Association, the state branch of the NEA union, that is running the ad.

The AEA has had a number of long running battles with the candidate, Bradley Byrne, most prominently over his attempts to ban community college employees from holding public office.

Whether or not it’s the AEA funding this, the point is that they (probably correctly) see a person who understands the scientific method and proof as being vulnerable if this is exposed to the Republican party base.

It’s probably true, and it’s very sad.

It Ain’t Just Goldman

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You are no doubt aware of the SEC, and criminal, investigations of Goldman Sachs misleading investors by selling them bad CDOs, and then betting against the instruments.*

Well, it appears that practice may have been more common than previously understood, because Morgan Stanley is under criminal investigation for similar activities. (see also here and here)

The CDOs in question were named after dead presidents, James Buchanan and Andrew Jackson were two of the names, but they appeared to have been referred to generally as “Dead Presidents.”

Seriously, these guys watched the movie Wall Street, and they though that Gordon Gecko was a Christ figure.

*Earlier posts on Goldman Sachs’ alleged misdeeds here, here, here, here, here, and here.

Morons

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After all that has gone on with the Euro over the past year, and the fact that the Baltic Republic is suffering through a brutal recession, which its government has made worse by implementing an austerity program, Estonia has announced that it will adopt the Euro next year.

While I understand the issue here, national pride basically, anyone who joins the Euro now, when the state of the currency, and its central bank are currently in flux, is dangerously reckless.

Not A Surprise

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It turns out that 76% of the American public believe that we are still in a recession.

Considering that unemployment, even by the rather low U-3 number is around 10%, this is not surprising.

The reality is that we are still in a hole, and 2% annual won’t get us out of this hole for at least a decade.

Of course, the very serious people in Washington, DC think that the deficit is over, so now they are going to slam on the brakes to get the deficit down.

There have been persistent problems with lead levels in Washington, DC’s water supply.

While correlation does not prove causation, it does make one wonder.

Signs of the Apocalypse, Congress Edition

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If there is anything that you can depend on, it is that whatever bill goes through Congress, it will either be killed, or weakened significantly.

Well, it appears that the reform of financial regulation is actually getting better and stronger in the Senate, which has added:

Seriously, I think that people inside the DC Beltway are beginning to realize just how unpopular the finance industry is, and the Senate is moving this way, because it wasn’t quite so obvious when the House passed the bill.


Same as it ever was

That being said, there were still things that show that Washington, DC is still the same as it ever was, specifically that they are looking to create a carve out for an industry that is notorious for cheating consumers, car dealers:

A measure under consideration in the Senate would shield auto dealers from a package of proposed financial rules aimed at protecting consumers.

Currently auto dealers are regulated by a host of state and federal consumer protection rules that prohibit practices such as “bait and switch” lending and loans packed with undisclosed extras such as extended warranties.

This is hardly surprising.

Car dealers are, as a whole, perceived by the public as an unsavory and dishonest lot, and so they have have consciously inserted themselves into government and elections as much as is possible, spreading largess, and making them patrons of politicians from dog catcher to Senator.

To his credit, and my surprise, Barack Obama is against exempting car dealers from the consumer financial protection agency.

Gordo Out

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Gordon Brown has announced that he is stepping down as head of the Labour Party, which should improve Labour’s chances of forming a coalition with the Lib-Dems and the small fry parties:

Gordon Brown has announced he will step down as Labour leader by September – as his party opens formal talks with the Lib Dems about forming a government.

The PM’s continued presence in Downing Street was seen as harming Labour’s chances of reaching a deal.

Labour and the Tories are both trying to woo the Lib Dems with promises on electoral reform as the battle to run the country reaches its critical phase.

Still, we are in for a time of minority government, with either Labour or the Tories in the lead, and no small amount of instability.