Cuomo going after Madoff-connected financier

I'm sure someone from Washington was about to do this. Hold your breath and wait because it's going to happen any second now. In fact, it wouldn't surprise me if Geithner was leading the charge and begging for action to happen. Meanwhile, Cuomo goes to work again.

J. Ezra Merkin, a prominent New York financier whose private clients lost more than $2 billion in the collapse of Bernard L. Madoff’s Ponzi scheme, has been accused of fraud and deception in a civil lawsuit filed Monday by the New York attorney general, Andrew M. Cuomo.

The lawsuit, filed under state charity and securities laws, claims that Mr. Merkin improperly collected more than $470 million in fees from his clients, who included more than a dozen nonprofit organizations, by “falsely claiming he actively managed their funds” when in fact he simply handed their money over to Mr. Madoff, without adequate investigation or oversight.

The complaint did not accuse Mr. Merkin of knowing about Mr. Madoff’s vast fraud. But it charged that he had failed to carry out the diligent research and investigation he had promised, and in some cases had deliberately deceived clients about investing with Mr. Madoff.

Due diligence? What a quaint way of doing business and there's simply not enough time in this fast paced world to bother with such trifling affairs. It should be easy for the non-profits to raise money and besides, what's a few billion among friends anyway? Read More......

Socialist health care is the worst

Just because France has the WHO number one ranked health care system in the world, we all know the WHO is a socialist organization that hates American free enterprise. And yeah, France was the first to deliver a face transplant and now France just performed another amazing first, but do we really need to learn anything from a system that denies insurance companies the right to pillage at will and without repercussions? America does not need this kind of socialism, dare I say, communism!

Paris' Public Hospital authority says a team of doctors has performed the world's first simultaneous partial-face and double-hand transplant.

In a statement Monday, the authority said the recipient was a 30-year-old burn victim. The man, whose name was not released, was injured in a 2004 accident that left him with scars "preventing any social life."

French media reports have said the upper half of the face, including the scalp, forehead and eyelids, was transplanted. The statement did not provide such details.

It's much better to have a health insurance system that sits wedged in between global powerhouses Costa Rica and Slovenia. That's much more suitable for the wealthiest country on the planet. Read More......

Weird photo of the week

The Guardian published this Reuters photo of a Holy Week procession in Seville, Spain. In fact, Wikipedia also noted the comparison:

Origins of the Ku Klux Klan Costume

The origins of the use of the costume are unclear. Although the organization has no relationship with Spain, the contemporary white gown with a cone hat follows the Spanish Roman Catholic "Nazareno" tradition. Such garments have been traditionally used in festivities such as Holy Week, symbolizing the act of penance. In Spain and its former colonies, the pointed hat is called "Capirote".

Read More......

Kerry leads Senate delegation to Darfur

Dialogue - real dialogue - needs to be the first step in making progress so it's a positive development to see John Kerry in Darfur. Regardless of what Europe, UN and North America think about the government in Khartoum, the Sudanese government remains popular enough in the Arab world. If we have any hope to make progress there we are going to need to do a better job of reaching out to our partners in the region and even the government leaders in Sudan. We're also going to need to work on this issue with China, who remain influential in the country. Going in, guns a blazin' has been proven to be a costly and ineffective strategy for the US.

The chairman of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee, John Kerry, will lead a delegation to Sudan's Darfur region, U.S. officials said on Monday, in a possible sign of a growing willingness to engage with Khartoum.

"This is significant," a U.S. diplomatic source told Reuters. "It is the first Congressional delegation to Sudan we have had since 2007. Like the U.S. envoy's current visit, it is a new tack."

The new U.S. special envoy to Sudan, Scott Gration, who is currently touring the country, made an unusually positive statement on his arrival in Khartoum last week, telling reporters he was looking for friendship and cooperation from the Sudanese government.

Next up, Zimbabwe. I hope. Read More......

OMG, Obama is the most polarizing president EVER (if you believe the 30% of the country who think George Bush was a great president)

If they simply say a lie enough times, maybe someone will treat GOP lies as truth. It's happened before. (See "war, Iraq"). But this time, the lie is so preposterous, it shows a rather amazing amount of chutzpah, even for Republicans.

You see, we learned today from our Republican friends, including an adviser to George Bush (!), that President Barack Obama is the most polarizing president in American history!!!!! Even moreso than George Bush!!!!

Sigh.

What's next? That the man wasn't really born in Hawaii?

But yes, we have to write about this garbage, lest the traditional media start to repeat any of the lies, as they're wont to do. So here's the story....

PEW did a new poll. The poll showed that Republicans are refusing to embrace Obama as passionately as are Democrats (big surprise there). So what did Republicans do? They're now claiming that - OH MY GOD - Obama has polarized the nation! Democrat versus Republican! It's never been this way before! Until Obama became president we all loved each other, and we really really loved our president by the name of George Bush!!!!!!!!

Are these people freaking nuts? It was their president and their congress that so polarized the country over the past two decades. Many of us weren't even sure we recognized our country any more. Weren't even sure our country recognized us as citizens, let alone as human beings. After what the Republicans did, after what George Bush and his cohorts like Tom Delay did, after what FOX News did, to rip our country in two, to crap on our everything our flag stands for, to rip our Constitution in two, they've got some gall claiming that President Obama is somehow responsible for the fact that Democrats and Republicans hate each other's guts.

In fact, I overstate the case. Republicans hate. Democrats are far more charitable. Don't listen to me. What PEW found is that traditionally, Democrats are happy to give new Republican presidents a chance to prove themselves - a honeymoon, if you will. Republicans, on the other hand, are far less charitable, PEW found, and that's why so many Republicans are still not willing to embrace Obama - because they're mean-spirited, partisan zealots.

Interestingly, [PEW's] Dimock also said this phenomenon is partly caused by the recent tendency of Republicans to be less charitable towards new Presidents than Dems have been.

In contrast to the 27% of GOPers approving of Obama now, more than a third of Dems (36%) approved of George W. Bush at a comparable time in 2001. Before that, only 26% of Republicans approved of Bill Clinton at the same time in his presidency, while 41% of Dems approved of both George H.W. Bush and Ronald Reagan at comparable times.

So basically, they're asses, and that makes us the bad guys. It's a bit like extending your hand to a bully, he spits on you in response, and then run aways and tells the teacher that you were mean to him.

As I've said before, they always accuse us of being what they are, of doing what they've done. Read More......

Italian predicted earthquake

Though he sounds a bit the nutty professor:

According to Reuters, Mr. Giuliani “was reported to authorities for spreading panic among the population” because “vans with loudspeakers had driven around the town a month ago telling locals to evacuate their houses” after he first warned that a major earthquake would strike L’Aquila soon.

Read More......

Soros harsh on US economy, banks and recovery

If you are looking for some positive news from Soros, today is not the day. He's full of doom and gloom though he does think it will be China that will be the first country to emerge from the crisis. Reuters:

The U.S. economy is in for "a lasting slowdown" and won't recover this year, while "the banking system as a whole is basically insolvent," billionaire investor George Soros told Reuters Financial Television Monday.

While nationalization of banks is "out of the question," he said stress tests being conducted by the U.S. Treasury could be a precursor to a more successful recapitalization.

But he warned about the danger of watering down mark-to-market accounting rules, saying this creates conditions for prolonging the life of U.S. 'zombie' banks.

He goes on to say that the initial recovery will not be until 2010 though for the US he remains non-committal. Emerging from this cycle will be a lot more difficult than many believe, even with the lowered expectations. Read More......

Axelrod blasts Cheney - why is al Qaeda still around after 8 years?

Axelrod on Cheney.

"I find it supremely ironic, on a day when we were meeting with NATO, to talk about the continued threat from al Qaeda in Afghanistan and Pakistan, where they're still plotting against us eight years — or seven years later," he said. "I think the question for Mr. Cheney is, how could that be? How could this have gone so long? Why are they still in business?"

Bingo. Read More......

Summers continues to be a toxic asset

Millions for one day a week? And we are somehow to believe he was nothing more than a sounding board and remote observer? Summers continues to do an excellent job as one of the most arrogant re-heated Clinton team hires in Washington. Who else but Summers could convince themselves that the public is so stupid to believe his story? If trust is important to the economy, we're doomed as long as he sticks around.

Mr. Summers and Shaw executives say his role there was to be a sounding board for Shaw’s traders. But interviews with friends and former colleagues suggest that Mr. Summers’s role at D. E. Shaw was wider and more complex.

Mr. Summers, these people say, was a marquee hire, a prized spokesman for Shaw. He routinely made himself available for private consultations with Shaw’s clients, an attractive perk for investing with the firm, as one client put it.

Mr. Summers, who taught economics and public policy at Harvard while advising Shaw, also met with investors in the United States, as well as in the cash-rich Middle East and Asia. He spoke at industry conferences, mixing with officials from public pension funds, endowments and other large institutions with many billions of dollars to invest.

While at Shaw, Mr. Summers also peered into the inner workings of the $2 trillion hedge fund industry, which the Obama administration is now relying on to buy billions of dollars of worrisome assets from the nation’s beleaguered banks.

If we play nice, I'm sure the hedge fund industry will be our friends. These are the people who have benefited enormously from paying long term capital gains taxes instead of normal taxes like everyone else. Many people believed that when Obama talked about removing lobbyist influence from the White House, examples such as this would be gone. This is precisely what people are fed up with so something needs to change sooner than later. Read More......

"The new Oprah, with a dash of Princess Di"

Europe is ga-ga for Michelle Obama. Which is rather interesting, since just two weeks ago the American press was asking if she was doing too much. It appears they were wrong.

She was careful never to overshadow him, but many observers noted that she seemed to resonate with the public in a way that even the popular president did not. To writer Tina Brown, Michelle Obama became “the inspirational It Girl and iconic female African-American role model” — the new Oprah, with a dash of Princess Di....

Her voice broke with emotion, and her aides said that she saw herself in the faces of the students. Afterward, she practically dove into the crowd, kneeling at the edge of the stage to dole out hugs. “People identify with her, even here, she is seen as a woman of the people,” said Crystal Fleming, who is affiliated with the Institut d’Etudes Politiques in Paris. “The French magazine Le Point dubbed her ‘the princess of the people,’ which is pretty impressive when you think about it. She’s an African American woman.”

Fleming said that for non-Americans, Michelle Obama, even more so than her husband, “incarnates how far African-Americans have come. She’s the descendant of slaves, Barack is not, and that is really a source of inspiration that she is in the White House. She is seen as a symbol of progress and source of pride.”

Read More......

Anti-choice activists apoplectic that Republicans haven't stopped Sebelius

The hard core anti-choice forces are a determined lot. They seem to think they have complete control over Republican Senators (and that's probably true in some cases). But the GOP Senators are letting down these single issue zealots by not blocking the nomination of Kathleen Sebelius for Secretary of Health and Human Services:

Conservative groups that oppose Sebelius’s confirmation are displeased with their erstwhile allies in the Senate – and say they will make their voices heard while lawmakers are in their home states for the current two-week recess.

“I think it’s appalling,” said Marjorie Dannenfelser, the president of the Susan B. Anthony List, a fundraising operation for candidates who oppose abortion. “I think this is why Republicans are in the minority.”

“They know we care and still there was nothing said,” Dannenfesler said. “Mum was the word.”

Wendy Wright, president of Concerned Women for America, described the GOP’s silence on Sebelius’s pro-abortion-rights record as “baffling” and said senators have shown they have a “tin ear” to concerns of the anti-abortion movement.

“We’ve not gotten a good answer about why they’re being negligent,” Wright said. “What I hate more than anything is pretending an issue doesn’t exist,” said Dannenfelser.

Interestingly, another GOP puppet master, Grover Norquist disses the anti-choice activists by throwing a little reality on the situation:

Republican senators may be keeping their powder dry because Democrats have enough votes in the Senate to confirm Sebelius regardless of their opposition, Norquist said.

Moreover, Norquist said, the GOP knows that the Department of Health and Human services commands vast sums of money senators want spent in their states. “If you’re a Republican, why throw a punch at her when she has all the funding to throw around?”

That sounds like the anti-tax Republicans aren't too keen on the social issue conservatives. Grover's quotes make the anti-choicers sound like naive nitwits who really don't get it. A battle between those two factions in the Republican party would be a battle worth watching. Read More......

Blogger Judd Legum, founder of ThinkProgress, is running for office in Maryland

Judd Legum, who founded ThinkProgress, served as Hillary Clinton's national research director during the presidential campaign, and has been a longtime friend of AMERICAblog, is running for state delegate in the Annapolis area of Maryland. Joe and I hope you won't mind us asking if you can help Judd's campaign with a donation. He is spectacular.

Judd Legum (MD-HD-30)
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Judd is targeting a Republican named Ron George, who is one of the most right-wing members of the Maryland House of Delegates. George is a co-sponsor of "Maryland's Marriage Protection Act," a state constitutional amendment that's widely viewed as Maryland's version of Proposition 8. The bill would not only write discrimination against gays and lesbians into the Maryland constitution, it would "affect the ability of the State and local governments to extend benefits to partners of the same sex," such as hospital visitation.

George is also the co-sponsor of a constitution amendment that "would define anything from a fertilized egg through a full-term fetus as a person... a strategy for effectively outlawing abortion" no matter what the circumstance.

If Judd is elected we can replace this far-right nut with a new generation of progressive leadership. Judd wants to take the values he learned as a progressive blogger -- accountability, transparency, inclusiveness -- and bring them to the state house.

But he's going to need your help. Judd's opponent is not only a prolific fundraiser, but is independently wealthy, dumping $50,000 of his own money into his last election. If you can, please help Judd out and donate a few bucks via his ActBlue page. Joe and I have known him for years. He's the real deal. Below is some info Judd sent on his bio and views.

And if anyone wants to volunteer or otherwise help with the campaign, you can contact Judd directly here: judd@juddlegum.com

+++++++++++++++

Who is Judd Legum?

-- Annapolis native. Born and raised in the district.

-- Lawyer. Cum laude graduate of Georgetown University Law Center. Currently in private practice in Annapolis.

-- Policy wonk. Three years at the nation's premiere progressive think tank, the Center for American Progress, as research director.

-- Political expert. National research director for Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign. Helped prepare Sen. Clinton for 20+ debates.

-- Blogger. Created one of the most highly trafficked progressive political blogs, ThinkProgress. Currently blogs on Maryland policy and politics here.

What is Judd running for?

State delegate in Maryland's 30th district. The election is in 2010. Map here.

There are three delegates for District 30: Speaker Mike Busch (D), Virginia Claggett (D) and Ron George (R). George is in his first term and won in 2006 by just a few dozen votes. He is one of the most conservative delegates in the General Assembly.

You can view the previous results (2006) here.

What's Judd's agenda?

-- Clean Government. He's not accepting money from Maryland lobbyists or corporate PACs. He will crack down on lavish parties for legislators financed by special interests. In a recent 90 day session, lobbyists spent $1 million wining and dining members of the General Assembly.

-- Clean Bay. The 25-year, multi-billion dollar effort to restore the Bay has been a failure. If we don't act quickly, the Bay will soon pass the point of no return. This means standing up to powerful special interests such as agribusiness, which remains the number one source of pollution in the Bay. This is more than an environmental issue, it's an economic issue. Much of Maryland's economy is dependent upon the health of the Bay.

-- Clean Energy. Maryland faces an energy crisis. Absent policy changes the state will face rolling blackouts starting in 2011. Marylanders have also seen their energy bills skyrocket. We need to move aggressively on three fronts: 1) energy efficiency programs, which can reduce the need for new generation and reduce costs for consumers, 2) investment in transmission which will allow more power to flow into the state at reduced costs. 3) new sources of clean energy including wind, solar and biofuels.

Who is Judd's Republican Opponent? (Ron George)

George sponsored Maryland's version of Proposition 8. George is a co-sponsor of "Maryland's Marriage Protection Act," a state constitutional amendment that's widely viewed as Maryland's version of Proposition 8. The bill would not only write discrimination against gays and lesbians into the Maryland constitution, it would "affect the ability of the State and local governments to extend benefits to partners of the same sex," such as hospital visitation rights.

George sponsored constitutional amendment to ban abortion no matter what the circumstances. George is the co-sponsor of a constitution amendment that "would define anything from a fertilized egg through a full-term fetus as a person... a strategy for effectively outlawing abortion" no matter what the circumstance.

Campaigned on a pledge to clean environment, received 33% score from state's top enviro group. Ron George received a score of 33% from the Maryland League of Conservation Voters. Other Republicans from Anne Arundel County scored as high as 80%. Watch his campaign ad which features a pledge to provide the next generation a "truly clean environment" here. Read More......

Ban on media coverage of returning military caskets is over if families don't object

Yesterday, the media covered the return of the casket bearing Air Force Staff Sgt. Phillip Myers who was killed in action in Afghanistan. This marks a change in the policy banning such coverage. It's allowed only if the families of the fallen allow it:

The new Pentagon policy gives families a choice of whether to admit the press to ceremonies at Dover, home to the nation's largest military mortuary and the entry point to the U.S. for service personnel killed overseas.

Critics of the previous policy had said the government was trying to hide the human cost of war.

President Barack Obama had asked for a review of the ban, and Defense Secretary Robert Gates has said that the blanket restriction made him uncomfortable. The administration will let families decide whether to allow photographs.

For example, if several caskets arrive on the same flight, news coverage will be allowed only for those whose families have given permission.

Let's hope there aren't a lot of these ceremonies to cover in the future. Read More......

Monday Morning Open Thread

Good morning.

A new week begins. It's Holy Week for Christians (at least I think it is.) Passover starts Wednesday night.

Congress is out of session this week.

The President is still overseas. He's in Turkey today. Since Obama can't do it, Joe Biden gets to throw the first pitch at Camden Yards in Baltimore today. I guess that means baseball season is underway.

Let's get this blogging underway... Read More......

Bank executives put on notice by Geithner

I'll believe it when I see it. The problem continues to be that sure, we can probably all agree on this talk but look who is leading the charge. Until Geithner does something to gain credibility, it's only Geithner talking, so it's meaningless. If there's a person out there besides Obama (in public) who is impressed with him during these tricky times or even has faith in him getting the job done, I have yet to hear.

Critics of the Obama administration's move last weekend to force out the chairman of General Motors Corp., Rick Wagoner, as a condition for possible additional federal loans say that strong government intervention contrasts with measures placed on the financial industry in return for billions in infusions.

Geithner denied there was a double standard and put banks on notice that they may need to change leadership teams in exchange for accepting more money in the future.

"If, in the future, banks need exceptional assistance in order to get through this, then we'll make sure that assistance comes with conditions, not just to protect the taxpayer but to make sure this is the kind of restructuring necessary for them to emerge stronger," he told "Face the Nation" on CBS. "And where that requires a change of management of the board, we'll do that."

GM became a 98 pound weakling so they had sand kicked in their face. There are some banks out there, one in particular that immediately comes to mind, that deserve similar treatment but unfortunately, half of the economic team in Washington comes from that bank. Fat chance we will see any similar sand kicking. Read More......

A food name change that makes sense

Orange roughy, previously known as red roughy or Chilean sea bass (Patagonian toothfish) somehow took off with name changes and were marketing to the verge of collapse. Both fish develop slowly so the stocks have no time to recover in any normal business cycle. Funny how these fish live and die on their schedule and not the schedule of fish wholesalers.

Now one retailer in the UK is playing the name change game to divert buyers from cod, another troubled fish stock, to pollock. For the Brits, it's the fish that you pass along to the cat but in France, where anything that swims, slithers, crawls, walks or generally moves is eaten, it's appreciated as a tasty fish and goes by the name of colin. We all know that the food in France is better than the food in the UK so the retailer is promoting a change from "fish and chips" (which uses cod) to "colin and chips" to avoid the pollock name.

The latest rebranding exercise follows that of the humble pilchard, which was rechristened the Cornish sardine by the local industry in an effort to regenerate the region's faltering economy. The campaign transformed an unfashionable tinned meal-of-last-resort into a popular national favourite.

Alison Austin, environment manager at Sainsbury's, said it was time to make pollack more appealing to British shoppers: "At Sainsbury's we're passionate about sustainable sourcing and protecting dwindling fish stocks. We want to help highlight that there are species to eat other than cod and haddock, which are just as tasty and often cheaper. Many people have said that they can't even tell the difference in taste between cod or pollack, so we urge everyone to try 'colin and chips' on a Friday."

Austin said that if Britons bought as much UK-sourced pollack as the French did, it could make a big difference in saving cod.

The chain's internal research showed that shoppers interested in pollack were embarrassed to have to ask for it by name. Celebrity chefs have lent their support to the fish, saying its relatively bland taste makes it versatile in recipes.

Pilchard, known to others as sardines, are actually very, very tasty. I grew up thinking of those revolting tins that my dad would eat when we were on the water. I've since discovered the beauty of fresh sardines cooked on the grill and can think of few fish that I would rather eat in the summer. Read More......

Did Karzai accept legal rape law for political purposes?

If so, he's much worse than previously thought. The law that legalizes rape better be scrapped or it's time to scrap Karzai. Afghanistan is not improving and steadily declined when Bush changed the focus to Iraq. This is why Laura Bush did fly-by visits inside secure US airbases, why Afghanistan sent a journalist student to prison for speaking about women's rights and why the drug trade and corruption have skyrocketed. The Independent:

Last night it emerged that the United Nations was quietly seeking emergency funds from donors to provide bodyguards, cars and safe houses to protect MPs who had dared to speak out against the legislation. Wenny Kusuma, the head of the UN Development Fund for Women in Afghanistan, said a number of activists had already received death threats. "There's no other country in the world where working for women's rights puts you at a higher risk of death," she said.

Analysts believe Mr Karzai signed the legislation to win support from Afghanistan's minority Shia leaders, but instead he scored a spectacular own goal as talk of its draconian clauses dominated Nato's 60th anniversary summit in Strasbourg, alienating his already-weary Western backers.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown said the issue had been raised in no uncertain terms with Mr Karzai. "I made it absolutely clear to the president that we could not tolerate that situation. [Karzai] responded by saying this law would not be enacted in the way it has been presented," he told Sky News.

Afghan women who campaigned against the legislation said they would keep up the pressure. MP Shinkai Karokhail, who described the law as "worse than the Taliban", said: "I get around 12 calls a day threatening me, but I don't even listen. I don't care. I have been branded a bad Muslim. I have been accused of being against Shias. It's not true. I am a woman and an MP."

Read More......

Sarkozy has his moments

How could Obama possibly turn down an offer for a bise? Sarkozy may not normally be known for proper etiquette but in this case, he was right in telling Obama to accept the greeting.

As they approached the crowd to shake hands, Dervogne called out and asked for a kiss, but Obama had to be encouraged by the French President before submitting.

"I said in slightly hesitating English... 'A kiss for me?'" Dervogne told i-tele television. "He showed me his bodyguards, who were surveying everything. I think there was a security gap we were supposed to keep to," she said.

"And there was Sarkozy who re-insisted and said: 'What, you're not going to give her a kiss?' so he offered his cheek timidly and I gave him a kiss."

Obama is wildly popular in France, in contrast to his predecessor George W. Bush, but he appeared slightly at sea with the complicated customs regarding the "bise," the kiss on the cheeks often given as a greeting even between relative strangers.

I'm not entirely sure about the claim of being used as a greeting between strangers but what the heck? Here's a link to the photos.

What a difference an election can make. Read More......