Year: 2010

Economics Update

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Consumers are continuing to deleverage, (Thrift, Paradox of) with outstanding consumer debt falling for the 5th straight month, so people are still not spending.

On the brighter side, rail traffic increased in July YoY, though business productivity fell for the first time in 1½ years in the 2nd quarter. Additionally, this report shows that household income fell.….Not good.

It’s not surprising that the National Federation of Independent Business’s optimism index fell for the 2nd straight month.

Meanwhile, the June Job Openings and Labor Turnover (Jolts) report showed hiring slowing in June.

Finally, despite record breaking low rates, mortgage were flat this week.

Your Gibbs Update

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So, little Bobbie Gibbs has doubled down on his tantrum, refusing to offer anything beyond that he was “frustrated”, and then he went on to basically say that the liberal party base are nothing but a bunch of helpless co%$ suckers who have no where else to go, so they will show up to vote like the pathetic losers that you think that they are:

A day after the controversy over Gibbs’ remarks was seemingly been put to rest by a quick walk-back from the press secretary, Wednesday’s briefing seems likely to reignite the debate over the White House’s relationship with liberals. But if there was nervousness over base voters not heading to the polls, Gibbs didn’t show it:

“I don’t think [liberal voters won’t show up],” he said, “because I think what’s at stake in November is too important to do that.”

The translation here is, “Neener-neener you dweebs! What are you going to do, vote for Ralph Nader.“

That‘s really going to invigorate the base.

First, what The Rude Pundit said:

Finally, f%$# you, Mr. Press Secretariat, because you should be wooing the f%$# out of us. You should be trying to get in our underwear and hand job us with a smile on your face instead of treating us like a convenient punching bag because you don’t want to offend the precious “real America” or whatever bullsh%$ phrase politicians want to use to isolate and alienate us. Why? Because we’re the ones that made sure you are the Press Secretary.

(%$# mine)

And then we have Alan Grayson saying that he should be fired, and notes that he is frequently referred to as “Bozo the spokesman.”

If there is a lesson of the past 40 years in Politics, it is that dissing your base is a way to lose elections.

If this is how the Obama administration thinks it should win elections, I have no clue how the beat McCain in 2008.

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

Billy and Barry, That Lincoln Endorsement Worked Out Really, Didn’t It?

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The DSCC is looking at cutting off Arkansas Senator Blanche Lincoln, because with less than 3 months to go, she is down about 20 points in the polls.

These were her number before our current and former presidents went balls to the wall for her in the primary, and got a lot of money sent her way.

I don’t know why Barack Obama had decided on an unprecedented level of White House interference in primaries, I understand why Bill Clinton did, Lincoln is a protege of his, but the net results seem to be primary losses, weak candidates in the general, and a dispirited base.

I Don’t Know if Little Bobbie Gibbs Should Resign…

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But the White House press secretary certainly should go f%$# himself after this outburst:

During an interview with The Hill in his West Wing office, White House press secretary Robert Gibbs blasted liberal naysayers, whom he said would never regard anything the president did as good enough.

“I hear these people saying he’s like George Bush. Those people ought to be drug tested,” Gibbs said. “I mean, it’s crazy.”

The press secretary dismissed the “professional left” in terms very similar to those used by their opponents on the ideological right, saying, “They will be satisfied when we have Canadian healthcare and we’ve eliminated the Pentagon. That’s not reality.”

……

As a bit of fact checking, Canadian healthcare is actually a good thing, it has lower prices and better outcomes than we in the US achieve, and I can’t find anyone who supports abolishing the Pentagon, not even Dennis Kucinich, whose supporters Gibbs excoriates later in the interview.

For a senior adviser to the president, this is stupid and regrettable. For the press secretary, whose sole job is to cast administration policy in the most positive way, it is inexcusable.

This is not just beneath the behavior of a sentient being serving as press secretary, it’s beneath Dana Perino at her most addle-headed.

That being said, Paul Krugman makes a very good point, that, “What’s good for Obama is not necessarily good for his aides.” He calls it the “Principal Agent Problem,” which is economist wonk-speak for saying that people who work for someone may frequently advance their own agenda at the expense of those of their boss.

A classic case is overpaid executives who are nominally, “working for the shareholders,” when they are actually working to maximize personal gain, even at the expense of the viability of the corporation.

Obama is not really harmed by criticism from his base, but this criticism might change just who Obama listens to, so this reaction is almost certainly a reflection of his staff’s insecurities more than it is a realistic concern for Barack Obama or his agenda.

I think that Krugman sees the point clearly, but that he does miss another one: This sort of reaction is a fairly common in the Obama White House, Google, “f%$#ing retarded,” for example, and it indicates a staff that is obsessed with their own positioning at the expense of the administration and Obama’s policy agenda (whatever the f%$# that is).

So, your press secretary probably deserves to be fired, and the counter productive venom expressed by your staff indicates that the staff are not being properly managed, which says something distressing about his chief of staff.

Here’s hoping that Obama won’t hang onto Rahm the way that Bush hung onto Rumsfeld, and yeah, dumping Vilsac and Salazar might be a good idea too.

The Jet Blue Guy is Not the Best Resignation Today

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Click for full size


Go and check out the rest, it gets better

You know, the one who quote by the emergency slide.

But that is far less classy, and less amusing than what one “Jenny” did.

She spent 2½ years as an assistant to one “Spencer” who apparently has a temper and bad breath, discovered that he let slip that he was keeping her around because she was a HOPA (Hot Piece Of Ass), and never intended to allow her to advance, so she turned in her resignation……

……With messages on a white board……

……On over 34 photographs……

……Which she emailed to everyone at the firm……

Brilliant

Primary Night

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Unfortunately, we just got money manager, and Corproatocrat Michael Bennet won the primary for Colorado Senate.

He’s bad on policy, and he was a money man who as superintendent, allowed the Denver School District in invest in disastrous interest rate swaps, when he should have known better, and that will be a real vulnerability.

In Connecticut, crotch kicker, and co-conspirator in steroid distribution, Linda McMahon won the GOP Senatorial primary, should make for a fun election.

Also, in the CT Governor’s race, Ned Lamont lost the primary to Dan Malloy, which makes me mildly disappointed, I still appreciate Lamont saving the Democratic Party in 2006 by showing that running against the Iraq war was a winner, but I really have not followed this race too closely.

In Minnesota, Keith Ellison, the only Moslem in the Congress, resoundingly wins renomination, good for the people of Minnesota.

Additionally, Bachmann ran unopposed, so we will have plenty we w the crazy from her as she continues to campaign.

Congress Passes State Aid Bill

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It would have been better if the Senate hadn’t dithered and watered this down, but this should keep a few thousand cops and teachers employed:

The US House of Representatives has passed an aid package that will provide cash-strapped states with $26bn (£16.4) for healthcare and education.

The bill, which cleared the Senate last week, is now set to be signed by President Barack Obama, three months before the mid-term elections.

The president had appealed for the passage of the legislation, while Republicans condemned it.

The House had been called back for an emergency session for the vote.

The House voted 247 to 161 in favour of the bill, which supporters say will help to save the jobs of 100,000 teachers.

The package also includes $16.1bn to extend funding for the Medicaid healthcare programme for low-income Americans.

This has been a very busy August news wise.

If There is the Slimmest Possibility of Making the Wrong Decision……

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Then you can be certain that soon to be former New York Governor David Paterson will be in favor of it:

Gov. David A. Paterson said Tuesday that he would consider offering state-owned property to the developers of a $100 million Muslim center and mosque if they decided to build it farther from ground zero.

The governor, wading into a fierce national debate over freedom of religion, said “there is no reason why” the center, known as Park51, should not be built as planned, two blocks from the former World Trade Center.

Well, let’s see. We have:

  • Appealing to the basest of bigoted demagogues.
  • Just how far from ground zero do you have to be?
  • Why is it OK for a strip club to be located less than a block away from the mosque sites.
  • This a blatantly unconstitutional engagement of religion by the government. It’s both a subsidy, and a ban based on a the religion of those involved.
  • OK, I’m a Jew, when does my shul get its free real estate on Manhattan?

Seriously, this guy almost makes McConnell and Boehner look good.

The Federal Open Market Committee Released its Statement Today

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They kept interest rates at effectively 0%, which is not a surprise.

What was a bit of a surprise, though they did telegraph is were the facts that their statement was significantly more downbeat, and they effectively put a halt to their gradual monetary tightening:

Federal Reserve officials made their first attempt to bolster the economy in more than a year, saying they will maintain their holdings of securities to stop money from draining out of the financial system.

The central bank will reinvest principal payments on mortgage assets it holds into long-term Treasuries after judging that “the pace of economic recovery is likely to be more modest in the near term than had been anticipated,” the Federal Open Market Committee said in a statement after meeting today in Washington.

So, as opposed to simply retiring their securities, they will roll them over, though I would differ with their characterization of 2-year treasuries are “long term”.

It’s a mild improvement on their earlier position of gradual tightening, but I’m with Paul Krugman:

I know: it’s a heck of a way to make policy. In a better world, the Fed would look at the state of the economy and do what was right, not the minimum necessary. But wishing for that kind of world is like wishing that Ben Bernanke were running the place.

Heh.

Krugman worked with Bernanke at Princeton, and because of this, he has been rather gentle with him, but I think that he is losing patience.

Full statement after break:

Press Release
Federal Reserve Press Release

Release Date: August 10, 2010

For immediate release

Information received since the Federal Open Market Committee met in June indicates that the pace of recovery in output and employment has slowed in recent months. Household spending is increasing gradually, but remains constrained by high unemployment, modest income growth, lower housing wealth, and tight credit. Business spending on equipment and software is rising; however, investment in nonresidential structures continues to be weak and employers remain reluctant to add to payrolls. Housing starts remain at a depressed level. Bank lending has continued to contract. Nonetheless, the Committee anticipates a gradual return to higher levels of resource utilization in a context of price stability, although the pace of economic recovery is likely to be more modest in the near term than had been anticipated.

Measures of underlying inflation have trended lower in recent quarters and, with substantial resource slack continuing to restrain cost pressures and longer-term inflation expectations stable, inflation is likely to be subdued for some time.

The Committee will maintain the target range for the federal funds rate at 0 to 1/4 percent and continues to anticipate that economic conditions, including low rates of resource utilization, subdued inflation trends, and stable inflation expectations, are likely to warrant exceptionally low levels of the federal funds rate for an extended period.

To help support the economic recovery in a context of price stability, the Committee will keep constant the Federal Reserve’s holdings of securities at their current level by reinvesting principal payments from agency debt and agency mortgage-backed securities in longer-term Treasury securities.1 The Committee will continue to roll over the Federal Reserve’s holdings of Treasury securities as they mature.

The Committee will continue to monitor the economic outlook and financial developments and will employ its policy tools as necessary to promote economic recovery and price stability.

Voting for the FOMC monetary policy action were: Ben S. Bernanke, Chairman; William C. Dudley, Vice Chairman; James Bullard; Elizabeth A. Duke; Donald L. Kohn; Sandra Pianalto; Eric S. Rosengren; Daniel K. Tarullo; and Kevin M. Warsh.

Voting against the policy was Thomas M. Hoenig, who judges that the economy is recovering modestly, as projected. Accordingly, he believed that continuing to express the expectation of exceptionally low levels of the federal funds rate for an extended period was no longer warranted and limits the Committee’s ability to adjust policy when needed. In addition, given economic and financial conditions, Mr. Hoenig did not believe that keeping constant the size of the Federal Reserve’s holdings of longer-term securities at their current level was required to support a return to the Committee’s policy objectives.

1. The Open Market Desk will issue a technical note shortly after the statement providing operational details on how it will carry out these transactions. Return to text

Ted Stephens is Dead

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He died in a small plane crash in Alaska.

He was an SOB, and he reveled in it, though I think that he would argue that he was Alaska’s SOB.

My take on his career is that he was not a benefit to the United States, and at best mixed for Alaska, which he was largely responsible for making into a corrupt petro-state.

Additionally, I agree with Zachary Roth, that it is far too likely that we will see a full blown hagiography which ignores the fact that he was actually very corrupt, deriving significant personal benefit from his position, whether or not the government could have successfully retried him after he won a dismissal on prosecutorial misconduct.

How to Save the US Post Office

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It turns out that the USPS makes much of its money from junk mail, and
Zac Bissonnette has a brilliant way to use this to make the big banks bankroll the Post Office, which is a good way to support Saturday service, and its flat rate for anywhere in the country:

Almost daily, I receive at least one pre-approved credit card offer from a big national bank that received bailout money from U.S. taxpayers. I hate big banks, and I hate bailouts, and I really hate it when my bailout money is used to send me junk mail I didn’t ask for and don’t want.

………

Instead, a grassroots bailout — this time, of the post office. This time, paid for by the bailed-out banks. We can do it. Here’s how: From now on, don’t just throw out those credit card offers. Instead, put the paperwork in the “postage will be paid by addressee” envelope (first removing anything with your name on it) and drop it back in the mailbox. You’ve just transferred the cost of mailing that letter from the not-so-needy Chase/Citi/Bank of America to the oh-so-needy USPS. Who needs Robin Hood when we have postage-paid envelopes?

The U.S. has 307 million people. If each person received an average of just one credit card offer a month (most adults get more than that, while children get none) and mailed it back to the bank without a signed application, at a cost to the bank of 44 cents postage, U.S. consumers could transfer $135 million a month from the banks to the Postal Service.

Truth be told, the net for the USPS is less than that, but it’s probably at least a dime, since much of what we pay is for maintaining the the postal infrastructure.

I’m not suggesting that you use it to send a brick, that would be abusive, but it is a good way to generate some additional revenue for your Postal Service.

It also has the advantage of raising the cost to junk mailers to sending you this crap, which might make them send you less crap.

If They Believe It, It’s Wrong

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Because they are always wrong about everything:

The U.S. economy will improve slowly and another round of fiscal stimulus probably wouldn’t be effective, former Treasury secretaries Paul O’Neill and Robert Rubin said.

Truth be told, I haven’t followed Paul O’Neill closely, but Bob Rubin should be on trial for a long history of fraud, and should not be taken seriously since he drove Citi into the ditch.

Mo stimulus, Mo stimulus, Mo stimulus!

Seriously, these guys are the Washington Generals of finance.

Another Place Where Obama is Doubling Down on Bush Policies…

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Education, where the Bush era assault on public schools and teachers unions continues apace, so despite the demonstrated fact that charter schools do not produce better results, and despite the fact that the focus on testing has produced widespread fraud, Obama is doubling down with privatizing education in the same way the Dick Cheney privatized core military functions.

What’s more, a former George H.W. Bush Assistant Secretary of Education, Diane Ravitch, is now denouncing these policies:

DIANE RAVITCH: Well, I think that what happened in New York City is—shows that the direction he’s taking is wrong, because everything he is proposing in Race to the Top and also in his blueprint will rely on exactly the kinds of methods that led to a massive fraud in New York state—that is, that Race to the Top is requiring states to judge teachers by the student test scores, and we now know, based on this immense fraud in the city and in the state of New York, that the test scores are not reliable. So teachers will be judged by unreliable data, and we’re going to dismantle the teaching profession in pursuit of this mechanical fix that won’t work.

If there is lower class of scum than the war profiteers like Halliburton, who profit off our wars, it’s the Education profiteers like the Edison schools, who profit off our children.

There might be an excuse if this crap worked, but it doesn’t, and since No Child Left Behind was implemented, the racial and economic gaps between children have widened, because the educational reform establishment believes that the only thing that needs to be done to fix schools is to f%$# teachers.

Our Man in Afghanistan

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Afghan President Hamid Karzai is attempting to seize control of the anti-corruption probes in Afghanistan (also here):

Obama administration officials fear that a move by Afghan President Hamid Karzai to assert control over U.S.-backed corruption investigations might provoke the biggest crisis in U.S.-Afghan relations since last year’s fraud-riddled election and could further threaten congressional approval of billions of dollars in pending aid.

I wonder why? It couldn’t be that anyone that he knows, or is close to him, is corrupt, could it?

For this puke, we lost 3 soldiers today.

I Love General J. C. Christian*

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He has come up with Burn the Confederate Flag Day, to be held on September 12:

Burn The Confederate Flag Day


Burn the Confederate Flag Day is a protest against the right’s exploitation of racial prejudice for political gain. We urge you to burn the Confederate flag, a long-time symbol of racial hatred, on Sept 12, the date when the racially-divisive Tea Party holds its annual hate fest.

Brilliant.

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

Naomi Campbell Should Go to Jail

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I understand that she’s a model, and so I really don’t care all that much about her flirting with former Liberian dictator, and accused war criminal, Charles Taylor, and getting gifts, in this case blood diamonds, as a result.

That being said, she testified in front of the war crimes trial at the Hague about the diamonds, and what happened, and her former agent and actress Mia Farrow contradicted her on every point. (also here)

I’m sure that Ms. Campbell is embarrasses about (almost literally) playing footsie with a murderous dictator, but it’s clear that she is perjuring herself for no good reason.