Year: 2010
Building an Infrastructure for Tyranny in the UK
One of the peculiarities of Great Britain is that they have no constitution, so they can change what should be inalienable rights with a law.
A few years back, for example, they removed the right to remain silent in a criminal investigation, and so juries can now explicitly use non-testimony against the defendant.
Well, as part of the coalition deal the Tories and the Lib-Dems, they intend to
set a fixed 5 year term for the parliament.
The current state of parliamentary terms is a maximum of 5 years, but new elections can be called before then, and have to be called before then if there is a failure of a confidence vote.
Well, Conservative David Cameron, Liberal-Democrat Nick Clegg have decided to go with a fixed term of 5 years, requiring at least a 55% vote of Parliament to dissolve the institution.
It appears that this was done because Clegg is concerned about getting cut loose as soon as it is convenient for Cameron.
While this is understandable it is a major change in the way British governance works.
In the US, with the exception of the (thankfully rare) impeachment, terms are fixed, and state actors are controlled by checks and balances from competing branches of government.
This is not the case in a parliamentary system. The Prime minister has much greater powers, particularly in the UK, where there is no formal constitution.
What prevents excesses in government by the ruling party is the threat of government turnover at any time: the no-confidence vote can put the shoe on the other foot in very short order.
If you remove that, you remove many of the constraints on the behavior of the executive.
Clegg is being penny wise, and pound foolish.
Well, This Explains a Lot
It seems to me that this chart pr0n indicates a problem of modern times:
Paul Kedrosky used the timeline feature under the tools of Google search to generate this.
Oil Spill Update
Here’s a shocker, the US Government is likely understating the amount of oil flowing out of that busted well in the Caribbean by at least a factor of 10.
Also, they are starting to recover oiled birds on the Gulf coast.
We Have to Rely on Jon Stewart for Real Financial Journalism?
Here he notes that the big banks made their obscene profits, which justified their obscene bonuses, made their profits by taking their TARP money by lending it back to the government.
They borrowed at an interest rate lower than that of US treasurys, and then bought treasuries, and pocketed the difference.
Why do I have to listen to a comedian to get real financial news.
I love me that Jon Stewart, particularly his comment that, “Our government is the worst loan shark in history,” but I am really pissed off that he is the only one out in cable teevee land who is explaining this in the mass media.
OK, This is Cold
Josh Marshall has a Pennsylvania reader whose life-long Republican neighbor has changed his affiliation to Democratic so that he can vote against Specter in the primary.
Apparently, he feels the need not to miss the chance to vote against Arlen one last time.
When Life Resembles an Al Franken Funny Book…
Specifically, Tom Harkin is proposing a an amendment to the finance reform bill to limit ATM fees to 50¢.
I approve of the idea, particularly because it’s an in-your-face to the free market worshippers, but I’m not sure if it is a good idea for the finance reform bill.
As to the Al Franken book in question, it was the book Why Not Me?
Hw wrote his (fictitious) successful quest for the presidency using populist anger over ATM fees.
Employment Anecdotal Data
I’ve gotten a lot of calls regarding submittals for jobs this week.
With a bit of luck, I’ll find something before my Daughter’s Bat Mitzvah.
Wanker of the Day
William Jefferson “Bill” Clinton:
Former President Bill Clinton says it is “time to lower the rhetoric and talk about the facts,” in reference to the government’s scrutiny of Wall Street.
In an exclusive interview with Maria Bartiromo, Clinton noted that while many financial firms are being questioned by the Securities and Exchange Commission, he does not believe that Goldman Sachs or CEO Lloyd Blankfein did anything illegal, based on what he’s seeing.
You know, when your spouse is in the cabinet, it’s a good idea not to shoot your mouth like this, even if she is Secretary of state.
I always that he was a slimy corporatist prick who looked good only in comparison to the ratf%$#s who tried to impeach him.
I believe that my view is validated.
Telecoms Set to Mount Astroturf Campaign Against Net Neutrality
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
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
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
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!
Meta
Look at the bottom of the post.
I have added a “share this” icon at the bottom.
It loads quickly, and allows you to quote, or share with people more easily.
Economics Update (Early Afternoon, 1st Time This Week Edition)
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
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
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.
Jon Stewart on Miers/Kagan Comparisons
Jon Stewart nails the Harriet Miers/Elana Kagan comparison, and the whole Republican party, likening them to sleazy New Jersey used car dealers.
Release the Kagan, heh.
Idiocracy Was a Documentary
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
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.
