By jbholston on September 22, 2008 7:44 PM
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1. We have to make a move 2. The salaries of those who will manage the new Resolution Trust Corp (or whatever it ends up being called) are completely irrelevant. Arguing about caps on those salaries just means we'lll get less adept people to deal with this and waste more time which makes the situation more precarious 3. The Wall Street executives who are 'guilty' of getting us into this mess are only part of the problem -- and have lost more proportionately than the rest of us will in higher taxes the next decade. It's popular to deride them as evil fat cats -- the reality is their reputations and wealth have been crushed. Move on. 4. Plenty of blame to go around -- culture of excess but mostly that capital flows during the last twenty years have completely outpaced the regulatory system that exists -- in the context of right-wing vehement anti-regulation. 5. Finance is at heart a confidence game. It's much more important to restore confidence now so we can continue to play the game than to assign blame. 6. Barney Frank has a smart insight -- well-managed, the assets taken up by the new RTC over time may well be worth much more than their purchase price. Net cost to taxpayer in that event? Less than zero. 7. Put Bloomberg in charge of the new RTC -- he gets it, is independent, doesn't need the money, cares about New York...
Everyone needs to take a step back and a deep breath, get this done this week with reasonable oversight and controls, and get back to business.
Oh, and throw out the idiotic GOP which is more responsible, over 25 years of ignorance and malfeasance, for creating the mess than any other entity... and do NOT let John McCain, Mr. Economic Igorance at An Advanced Age, or Ms. Sarah Palin, Ms ... ???? ... anywhere close to the joint...
WHITEHOUSE: Gentlemen, we're in the middle of a
near total mortgage system meltdown in this country. We have a health
care system that burns 16 percent of our GDP, in which the Medicare
liability alone has been estimated at $34 trillion. We're burning $10
billion a month in Iraq.
This administration has run up $7.7 trillion in national debt, by
our calculation. And there is worsening evidence every day of global
warming, with worsening environmental and national security
ramifications. In light of those conditions, do any of you seriously
contend that drilling for more oil is the number one issue facing the
American people today?
By jbholston on September 14, 2008 9:41 AM
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Guiliani tells Brokaw on "Meet the Press" that Palin is ready on foreign policy because the most vital attribute for foreign policy leadership is 'executive experience'.
That of course disqualifies McCain entirely, and also says Bush, who had much more 'executive experience' as Governor of Texas (and, they argued, as one of the owners of the Texas Rangers -- remember all that??) was one of our most-prepared-for-foreign policy leaders ever... ... .
How's he managed?
The one thing he has had to manage entirely on his watch, from the choice to launch to today, is his Iraq adventure.
After ordering the invasion, the president spent three years in denial
and then delegated a strategy review to his national security adviser.
Bush was intolerant of confrontations and in-depth debate. There was
no deadline, no hurry. The president was engaged in the war
rhetorically but maintained an odd detachment from its management. He
never got a full handle on it, and over these years of war, too often
he failed to lead.
Woodward goes on to characterize Bush' management of the war since 2006; 'He's kind of wringing his hands'.
Another striking Palinesque note -- when Pelosi reached out to Bush privately to try to find some way to work together and asked "Can't we find a way to end this diviseness and work together?' he responded with 'My views are known and unalterable'.
The universe of the mayor of Wasilla is sharply circumscribed even by
the standards of small towns, which limited Palin's exposure to issues
such as health care, social services, the environment and education.
With so many government services in the state
subsidized by oil revenue, and with no need to provide for local
schools, Wasilla has also made do with a very low property tax rate --
cut altogether by Palin's successor -- sparing it from the tax battles
that localities elsewhere must deal with. Instead, the city collects a
2 percent sales tax, the bulk of which is paid by people who live
outside town and shop at its big-box stores.The
mayor oversees a police department created three years before Palin
took office; the public works department; the parks and recreation
department; a planning office; a library; and a small history museum. ... ...When Palin was mayor, the population was just 5,500.
...Palin limited her duties further by hiring a deputy administrator to
handle much of the town's day-to-day management. Her top achievement as
mayor was the construction of an ice rink, a project that landed in the
courts and cost the city more than expected.
Perhaps the scariest quote of all from the piece;
"People said, 'What are you doing to my city? I liked it better when we
didn't have government,' '' said Richard Deuser, the city attorney at
the time. "And Sarah really pandered to that resentment, that
resistance to change. Sarah became their person."
And...
..."Sarah always did and still does surround herself with people she gets
along well with," she said. "They protect her, and that's what she
needs. She has surrounded herself with people who would not allow
others to disagree with Sarah. Either you were in favor of everything
Sarah was doing or had a black mark by your name."
The abuse of power investigation against Gov. Sarah Palin, the
Republican vice presidential candidate, took a potentially ominous turn
for her party today when state lawmakers voted to subpoena her husband.
Republican efforts to delay the probe until after the Nov. 4 election
were thwarted when GOP state Sen. Charlie Huggins, who represents
Palin's hometown of Wasilla, sided with Democrats. "Let's just get the
facts on the table," said Huggins, who appeared in camouflage pants to
vote during a break from moose hunting.
By jbholston on September 10, 2008 4:25 PM
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Obama should schedule prime time to deliver a massive 'Campaign'
speech analogous to his race speech delivered in response to the Reverend Wright noise this summer.
Deliver a
magnificent oration on politics in the 21st century -- what it needs to
be vs. what McPain would have us think it has to be.
Reframe the debate
to the 'bigger issue', just as he did around race.
Make it about
healing divisions vs. driving stakes between us.
Put McPain on the defensive -- force them to talk about why their divisive campaign of hate is the way forward for America today -- force them to respond to his frame and rhetoric vs. continuing to paint their spokesmodel as a victim...
By jbholston on September 9, 2008 11:08 PM
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Post flabbergasted at pace and volume of lies from GOP this year. Bottom line; they will say or do anything to retain power -- immoral, unethical, un-American. (One of Bush-in-Lipstick's top 23 lies featured below -- her taking $230 mill of taxpayer money for the Bridge to Nowhere)
Will America continue to be led to the slaughter by the party of lies, slander and hate?
The media have an obligation to point out when a politician is lying about a matter of fact, but the right-wing attack machine has so cowed some of them you can almost hear them moo.
By jbholston on September 9, 2008 5:39 PM
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Will the country stand for it? Mainstream media lining up directly behind hate-filled GOP, whihc has mandated 'no questions!' for Palin. She'll have one puffball celebrity interview at home with Charlie Gibson of ABC -- that's it.
Rest of corporate media standing up and cheering for Palin 'phenomenon' -- in spite of fact she cannot and will not address questions; has been shown to have lied on every significant 'achievment' she claims; ran every small government office she's had to date as if she were emperor; and would have the most powerful job in the world behind a 72 year-old 4 time melanoma sufferer. Her position on issues? Ask her Pentacostal pastor...
Can you spell FannieMae/Freddie Mac, Sarah?
We'll never know of course.
Americans -- are you better off today than 8 years ago? Is America's position stronger in the world?
McCain is older and less adept than Bush, and Palin is an immature wingnut.
Folks, you have no idea how bad off you will be in four years if you support this ticket spewed from the cuckoo's nest.
By jbholston on September 4, 2008 11:33 PM
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... so he seems more human.
And an actual maverick as compared to the GOP's pit bull with hairpiece.
To make sure we're clear, here, the GOP :
1. fears and hates black people (that's what they meant with their 'community organizer' code word)
2. thinks women are useless objects to prop up to deliver hate speech for political purposes (best quote -- Palin is the GOP's 'new pretty face of hate'). On the self-absorbed, utterly un-self-aware Palin;
Sarah Palin's arrogance is a sanctified, self-satisfied presumptuousness that flows from sheer naïveté about oneself and the world and manifests itself in giddy ambition.
3. stuffed their convention with the oldest, whitest, richest bunch of delegates ever (NYT source but just look at your TV screen -- they were getting very sleepy during John's talk).
4. is completely and immorally confused. They call their own VP pick 'cynical gimmickry'. As John Stewart so artfully shows, their biggest pundits use the exact same language to praise Palin that they used to attack Hillary. http://www.thedailyshow.com/video/index.jhtml?videoId=184086 Check out Rove on Palin's Wasilla mayoral experience, vs. Tim Kaine's experience as Mayor of Richmond, VA. "If you were to pick Governor Kaine (as Veep) it would be an intensely political pick which would say you know what I'm first and foremost not concerned with is this person capable of being President of the United States"
Obama's convention ended with 90,000 people from all walks of life inspired to bring America forward into the future. (Check out the speeches the ordinary folks delivered at the DNC -- compare any one of those to any diatribe at the RNC)...
Rove's week ended with a bunch of tired old rich white folks nodding off after imbibing a bit too much hate, vitriol, attack, smear, and fear. Smathered with an oozing layer of big fat lies.
Pretty simple choice -- go forward together or leave America in the arthritic clutch of the radical right?
By jbholston on September 4, 2008 5:57 PM
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Why would the Republicans spend a whole night of their convention attacking ordinary people?
With the nation watching, the Republicans mocked, dismissed, and actually laughed out loud at Americans who engage in community service and organizing.
Our convention was different. We gave the stage to everyday Americans who hunger for change and stepped up to make phone calls, knock on doors, and raise money in small amounts in their communities.
You may have missed it, but we also showed the country a video with the faces and voices of those organizers, volunteers, and donors from every corner of the country.
What you didn't hear from the Republicans at their convention is a single new idea about how to make the healthcare system work, get our economy moving for the middle class, or improve education.
Just attacks -- on me, and on you.
But what the McCain attack squad doesn't understand is that people like you -- who devote part of their busy lives to organizing and building their communities -- have the power to change this country.
With your help, that's exactly what we're going to do.
The GOP candidate for vice president, Gov. Sarah Palin, may be facing yet another ethics investigation back in her home state of Alaska. An ethics complaint obtained by NBC News was filed Wednesday by the police officers union in Alaska, requesting a probe into possible wrongdoing by the governor or her office. It was brought on behalf of state trooper Mike Wooten, an ex-brother-in-law of Palin who is at the center of the "Troopergate" scandal.
The complaint alleges that the governor or her staff may have have improperly disclosed information from Wooten's personnel records. The complaint alleges "criminal penalties may apply."
John Cyr, director of the union that filed the complaint, told NBC News, "It seems obvious to us somebody has improperly accessed [Wooten's] personnel file."
By jbholston on September 3, 2008 9:00 PM
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Babel crumbling! Noonan is chief conservative editorialista for WSJ; Murphy is primary strategist for party;
Chuck Todd: Mike Murphy, lots of free advice, we'll see if Steve Schmidt and the boys were watching. We'll find out on your blackberry. Tonight voters will get their chance to hear from Sarah Palin and she will get the chance to show voters she's the right woman for the job Up next, one man who's already convinced and he'll us why Gov. Jon Huntsman.
(cut away)
Peggy Noonan: Yeah.
Mike Murphy: You know, because I come out of the blue swing state governor world: Engler, Whitman, Tommy Thompson, Mitt Romney, Jeb Bush. I mean, these guys -- this is how you win a Texas race, just run it up. And it's not gonna work. And --
PN: It's over.
MM: Still McCain can give a version of the Lieberman speech to do himself some good.
CT: I also think the Palin pick is insulting to Kay Bailey Hutchinson, too.
PN: Saw Kay this morning.
CT: Yeah, she's never looked comfortable about this --
MM: They're all bummed out.
CT: Yeah, I mean is she really the most qualified woman they could have turned to?
PN: The most qualified? No! I think they went for this -- excuse me-- political bullshit about narratives --
CT: Yeah they went to a narrative.
MM: I totally agree.
PN: Every time the Republicans do that, because that's not where they live and it's not what they're good at, they blow it.
MM: You know what's really the worst thing about it? The greatness of McCain is no cynicism, and this is cynical.
CT: This is cynical, and as you called it, gimmicky.
Palin's nomination for vice president and her desire to allow drilling in the Alaskan wilderness "reminded me of a lunch I had three and half years ago with one of the Russian trade attachés," global trade consultant Edward Goldberg said to me. "After much wine, this gentleman told me that his country was very pleased that the Bush administration wanted to drill in the Alaskan wilderness. In his opinion, the amount of product one could actually derive from there was negligible in terms of needs. However, it signified that the Bush administration was not planning to do anything to create alternative energy, which of course would threaten the economic growth of Russia."
By jbholston on September 2, 2008 9:08 PM
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What are McCain's Alaska operatives doing to families up there?!?..What happened to Palin's 'plea for privacy'?? Where are the familiy values folks on this blatant political abuse of these kids?? .
WASILLA - The boyfriend of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's unwed, pregnant daughter will join the family of the Republican vice presidential candidate at the GOP convention in St. Paul, Minn.
Bristol Palin, 17, holds her brother, Trig, during a rally where her mother, Gov. Sarah Palin, was announced as the GOP vice presidential candidate.
Levi Johnston's mother said her 18-year-old son left Alaska this morning to join the Palin family at the convention where Sen. John McCain will officially receive the Republican nomination for president. The boy's mother, Sherry Johnston, said there had been no pressure put on her son to marry 17-year-old Bristol Palin and the two teens had made plans to wed before it was known she was pregnant...
.
..The young man's presence could set off a media frenzy around the young couple as photographers and cameramen scramble for pictures. On Monday, Palin and her husband, Todd, said Bristol planned to have the baby and asked the media to respect the couple's privacy as has been the tradition with children of candidates...
...Sherry Johnston said she was worried about her son dealing with all the attention. She said it is difficult enough for teenagers to deal with any pregnancy; having the entire nation watching makes it worse.
WASHINGTON -- GOP vice presidential pick Sarah Palin accepted at least $4,500 in campaign contributions in the same fundraising scheme at the center of a public corruption scandal that led to the indictment of Sen. Ted Stevens.
The contributions, made during Palin's failed 2002 bid to become Alaska's lieutenant governor, were not illegal for her to accept. But they show how Palin, a self-proclaimed reformer who has bucked Stevens and his allies, is nonetheless a product of a political system in Alaska now under the cloud of an ongoing FBI investigation.
It's the latest in a string of revelations that have forced John McCain's campaign to defend his choice and the thoroughness of the background check of Palin, 44, a little-known governor who is new to the national stage. Palin stunned delegates at the GOP convention Monday when she announced through the McCain campaign that her unmarried 17-year-old daughter, Bristol, is five months pregnant.
With the convention still abuzz, the list of potentially embarrassing details grew Tuesday:
_Palin sought pork-barrel projects for her city and state, contrary to her reformist image.
_Her husband once belonged to a fringe political group in Alaska with some members supporting secession from the United States.
_A private attorney has been authorized to spend $95,000 to defend her against accusations of abuse of power.
_She has acknowledged smoking marijuana in the past.
And this: Bristol Palin's boyfriend, Levi Johnston, plans to join the family of the Republican vice presidential candidate at the GOP convention, the boy's mother said. He left Alaska on Tuesday morning to join the Palin family in St. Paul, Minn.
All McCain's shown here is his egoism and utter disregard for America's future..
(what does it say about Palin's family values that she's willing to throw her daughter's boyfriend under the national bus like this?? That's just so wrong in so many ways...).
"I really hope McCain did his homework," said David Frum, a former speechwriter for President Bush. "I cannot stifle a growing sense of unease that he didn't."
A former McCain advisor, Mike Murphy, said Monday that it remained an open question whether "the running mate in a good or bad way becomes a window into the skills of the nominee."
Most dangerous of all, McCain's team does not seem to know what new development, if any, might grab the public's attention.
One Republican strategist with close ties to the campaign described the candidate's closest supporters as "keeping their fingers crossed" in hopes that additional information does not force McCain to revisit the decision. According to this Republican, who would discuss internal campaign strategizing only on condition of anonymity, the McCain team used little more than a Google Internet search as part of a rushed effort to review Palin's potential pitfalls. Just over a week ago, Palin was not on McCain's short list of potential running mates, the Republican said....
...Although grass-roots Republicans remain protective of Palin, the campaign has clearly moved from celebratory mode into a full defensive posture.
Meanwhile, the NY PostDaily News (Murdoch's) is in full blather, with photos, about the out-of-wedlock new father...
I suspect that if this dominates the news for another full cycle the same GOP operatives who convinced McCain to give up Ridge or Lieberman will press him to throw Palin under the bus.
The Palins eloped on Aug. 29, 1988, and their first son, Track, was born eight months later, a fact that Maria Comella of the McCain campaign, declined to elaborate on.
...Up until midweek last week, some 48 to 72 hours before Mr. McCain introduced Ms. Palin at a Friday rally in Dayton, Ohio, Mr. McCain was still holding out the hope that he could choose a good friend, Senator Joseph I. Lieberman, independent of Connecticut, a Republican close to the campaign said. Mr. McCain had also been interested in another favorite, former Gov. Tom Ridge of Pennsylvania.
But both men favor abortion rights, anathema to the Christian conservatives who make up a crucial base of the Republican Party. As word leaked out that Mr. McCain was seriously considering the men, the campaign was bombarded by outrage from influential conservatives who predicted an explosive floor fight at the convention and vowed rejection of Mr. Ridge or Mr. Lieberman by the delegates.
Perhaps more important, several Republicans said, Mr. McCain was getting advice that if he did not do something to shake up the race, his campaign would be stuck on a potentially losing trajectory.
With time running out -- and as Mr. McCain discarded two safer choices, Gov. Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota and former Gov. Mitt Romney of Massachusetts, as too predictable -- he turned to Ms. Palin. He had his first face-to-face interview with her on Thursday and offered her the job moments later. Advisers to Mr. Pawlenty and another of the finalists on Mr. McCain's list described an intensive vetting process for those candidates that lasted one to two months.
"They didn't seriously consider her until four or five days from the time she was picked, before she was asked, maybe the Thursday or Friday before," said a Republican close to the campaign. "This was really kind of rushed at the end, because John didn't get what he wanted. He wanted to do Joe or Ridge."
We so don't need a CEO who takes decisions this way....
By jbholston on September 1, 2008 1:54 PM
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Palin is praised for taking it to big oil and increasing the tax on exploration in Alaska, such that the state is now sitting on a $12 bill tax windfall.
Apparently the issue up there was that big oil and its minions historically controlled politicians so as to make this impossible.
Wyoming has similarly successfully structured its tax breaks for oil and gas to compensate the citizenry sufficiently -- last I looked they were generating over $1 bill per year more in lease rents to the state than Colorado, for less lease volume.
Colorado is now trying to revise tax breaks for oil & gas exploration to generate a share for its citizenry more comparable to Alaska and Wyoming.
If I recall correctly, complexity in CO is TABOR -- the right wingnut's (Doug Bruce -- just google it for all the fun) gift to governance here which makes it impossible for elected officials to manage any component of the budget without a referendum.
By jbholston on September 1, 2008 12:07 PM
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GOP will ignore fact that Gustav had diminished to Category 2 by the time it made landfall.
Instead they'll take TV credit for less damange than Katrina based on their remarkable planning and super duper Bush/Cheney in a secret storm center location! good-ole boy Govnors gettin' help they need! Commander McCain on the seawall pontificating.!..
Wonder if mainstream media will downplay storm entirely now and e.g. not broadcast Bush' "Emergency Address to the Nation" (seriously -- the GOP's method of repositioning his intro speech at RNC today)?
"Mr. McCain and his advisers have worked aggressively to make the most of it."
I suspect most Americans will briefly click on the TV, see things look OK in the Big Easy, and go back to celebrating a much-needed day off...
This is just wrong in too many ways. McCain says he knew about his running mate's pending unwed grandchildness .... and is now telling the country in order to rebut stories about the girl's purported historical pregnancy??
Jerry Springer-ville.
Beside the obvious hypocrisy that right-wing abstinence-only zealots would have slain Joe Biden or Bill Clinton if a similar story were revealed about their kids post-selection... the timing and content here is all too strange.
Which means the announcement, and linking it to rumours, will now promote those rumours for a few more news cycles.
I'm sure the same National Enquirer team that hounded John Edwards is Motel Sixing it in Wasilla, Alaska right now....
The underlying issue here is of course McCain's judgment. Beyond the news itself, the timing and linkage of the report insure that we'll have more odd-angle focus on Palin, which can't be good news for McPainistas....
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