Merrill Lynch preparing for a few billion more in write-downs

Well, at least their previous CEO Stanley O'Neil still has his $160 million thank-you gift for his efforts. It's only fair since he was at the helm during the period of massive failures by the bank. I'm sure that he is very, very, very sorry about your losses. With this new announcement, they are going to write-down at least $16 billion, probably more. See, in the banking industry, you are judged and compensated based on your success. You should have seen what O'Neil would have made if Merrill didn't lose billions! Fair is fair, after all. Read More......

Government regulation is too expensive

With Morgan Stanley announcing another $9.4 billion write-down, due to the subprime lending crash, the US Federal Reserve is extending $20 billion in loans to the banks. Europe is even worse, with $500 billion thrown in, though the US may be adding more as more losses hit the street.

As you can see, between the lives ruined when houses were lost, the healthy bonuses and exit packages based on voodoo economics, creating a real estate bubble and inflating prices, job losses in the tens of thousands and now more government intervention, this hands off policy is a real winner. Boy did we save money or what? The Republicans wanted laissez faire economics for decades and this is a direct result of those policies. Don't forget to thank Greenspan and the GOP for making this all possible. Read More......

Why I admire Ron Paul supporters

When I posted the news a couple days ago that Paul had raised $6 million in a day (at the time it was $5M, final count was $6M), several commenters wondered if I supported Ron Paul. The answer is, of course, goodlordNO. I generally agree with him on a single issue (albeit an important one), and virtually nothing else. I don't think he's "crazy" and by all appearances he has tremendous integrity, sticking to principle even when it's not at all expedient (unlike the person to whom he's unfairly compared, Kucinich, who is also generally right on a couple issues but who has a completely illiberal background and voting record). But I disagree with Paul on the issues, so no, I don't like him as a candidate.

You know who I do admire, though? His supporters.* (And I'll tell you why below the fold.)The reason is, they are super active, they commit time and resources to what they believe in, and they are actively participating in the democratic process. To an annoying extent, sometimes, but their passion and grassroots activism is something to evaluate -- and perhaps emulate, to some extent -- rather than scorn. Again, I totally disagree with the goals, but it takes some effort to act on what you believe, and his supporters are definitely doing that.

It reminds me a little of a fight I got into with a friend a couple months ago about the documentary film Jesus Camp, which follows kids and their families through as they attend an evangelical Christian camp. The ideas espoused by most of the people in the film are absolutely anathema to my political views, but they were taking action in the service of what they believe in. Whatever I think of those views, I think it's important to have a real marketplace of ideas, which is why I respect people who (appropriately and reasonably) advocate positions I don't believe in. Now, indoctrination makes me pretty uncomfortable, and the aspect of imposing a belief structure upon kids is sometimes troubling, which was the perspective of my friend, who was totally horrified by the film. I'd be a hypocrite if I said conservative parents shouldn't talk about their values to their kids while also thinking that this photo is one of the coolest things I've seen this cycle.

I want to *win* the debate of ideas, and I think that when people are able to see (and take part in!) the political dialogue, the kinds of things I think are right will ultimately be persuasive. But, sometimes not. Either way, though, a democracy requires participation and action, and Paul supporters certainly don't lack in that category. To participate is to be a patriot, no matter which side of the aisle you're on.

*There are occasional reports (rumors?) that some hate groups support Paul. Those aren't the people I'm talking about, though even that stuff I'd rather have out in the open for debate than hidden as an undercurrent -- the best way to kill a virus, after all, is sunlight. Read More......

THIS JUST IN: Reid to again block controversial Bush holiday recess appointments

Democratic Senate leader Harry Reid is on the Senate floor right now announcing that he will be keeping the Senate in a pro forma session throughout the Christmas and New Years holiday in order to block Bush from making recess appointments of controversial nominees that couldn't make their way through the appropriate Senate committees. Reid will, however, (I believe) be letting a large number of non-controversial Republican nominees be confirmed. This is good. It doesn't make up for being on the verge of passing a domestic spying bill and continuing to fund the war, but appointments are very important, and anything that can be done to stop Bush from thwarting the Senate's constitutional role in confirming presidential appointees is a good thing. (Reid's statement after the jump.)

Mr. President, I turn to the issue of nominations

I have been working with the White House over the past several days in an effort to reach an agreement that works for both sides.

We were unable to reach such an agreement before the Thanksgiving holiday.

That led to my calling the Senate into pro forma sessions to avoid the President’s very objectionable recess appointments.

My hope was that I could avoid that prospect for the coming holidays. I tried to work with the President.

But he indicated he would still use the recess to appoint nominees who are completely objectionable on our side of the aisle.

Our only solution to prevent this is to call pro forma sessions again.

Mr. President, I thought, I could be a grinch.

I could tell the President that I would not move any nominations given his demand to make controversial recess appointments.

That would mean over 40 other Republican nominees would not move forward today.

A smaller number of Democratic appointments – 8 – would also not move.

But I’m not going to do that tonight, Mr. President.

I am not going to meet intransigence with intransigence.

We will confirm those appointments this evening.

And, I will keep the Senate in pro forma session to block the President from doing an end run around the Senate and the Constitution with his controversial nominees.

I, for one, hope for better in the New Year.

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Housing foreclosures up 68% compared to November 2006

Remember, industry can self-regulate and nothing at all could have been done to prevent this. At least, that's what the Republicans and Greenspan keep telling everyone. Read More......

Headlines that give a chuckle

Here's hoping Alex doesn't get pregnant before his book comes out. Read More......

US to improve auto fuel efficiency.... by 2020

How pathetic. And how typical. Dinosaur Democrat John Dingell wouldn't agree to anything that wasn't a fig leaf, so we can expect our fuel efficiency to stay crappy for another 13 years, and then it will only go up to 35 miles per gallon. We really are pathetic. And the really depressing thing is that this is it. Until Dingell goes to the great oil field beyond, the Dems won't be touching energy policy again for a long time. Read More......

Good news for me

I'm relieved to know that we can now be certain my book won't be the worst one published in 2008. Truly -- I mean, having read it about 42 times (for editing, rather than narcissistic, purposes), I'm a little sick of it, and I think most writers eventually get insecure about their stuff.

Still, no matter how crappy mine is, apparently it's virtually guaranteed that Jonah Goldberg's is worse.

Ezra has the details, my favorite of which is (via the comments) that the jacket of the book contains this gem: "The quintessential liberal fascist isn't an SS storm trooper; it is a female grade-school teacher with an education degree from Brown or Swarthmore." According to the commenter, neither of those schools actually *offers* a degree in education per se. So I guess there is no quintessential liberal fascist -- another relief!

As for mine, I have this EXCLUSIVE NEWS: I have brought Joe Klein and Glenn Greenwald to agreement for the first time ever. History is made: They both loved it. More on this after the new year, though. Developing, as they say . . .

. . . added, I should really explain this a little more. I've really only mentioned my book tangentially on the blog before, so here's the very abbreviated background: Before joining the august AMERICAblog community, I was an intelligence analyst for the Defense Intelligence Agency, essentially the spy arm of the DoD. After two years of work there, including a six month deployment to Baghdad, I resigned from the Iraq office because I felt the analysis continued to be manipulated and misrepresented due to a combination of ideology and incompetence.

I ended up writing a book about the experience, and through a very lucky chain of events, much of which is owed to the blogosphere, it was purchased for publication by Random House and will hit the shelves in February. Again, I'll have much more to say about it as we get closer to publication, but I think (hope!) that y'all will find it interesting and worth your time to check out. Read More......

So how many nationwide Christmas TV ads did Huckabee produce in previous years?

Huckabee would like us to believe that his new presidential campaign TV ad, invoking Christ by name and flashing a subliminal cross on screen behind his head, is not a campaign ad at all. You see, says Huckabee, it's simply his taking a break from the campaign and wishing America a Merry Christmas:

"If we are so politically correct in this country that a person can't say enough of the nonsense with the political attack ads could we pause for a few days and say Merry Christmas to each other then we're really, really in trouble as a country," Huckabee said.

Really? So this isn't a campaign ad? It's not an effort by Huckabee to woo voters, using Christmas, Christ and the crucifixion cross as the hook? Ok, I'm game. How many of these nationwide Merry Christmas television ads has Huckabee run in previous years? I mean, he's now claiming it's a Huckabee family apolitical Christmas tradition to run TV ads about Christ and the cross, so I assume he runs these every year, even when he's not running for president? Or did Huckabee only decide to wish Americans a very-public Merry Christmas the year he wanted to be president, meaning, this is a campaign ad and not a "pause" from the campaign, as Huckabee alleges?

The guy's a bit slippery. (And check out this new Huckabee spoof ad.) Read More......

Airlines suing to stop passenger bill of rights

Oh my gosh. Those crazy New Yorkers - Democrats and Republicans, alike - had the audacity to insist that airlines provide food, water, clean toilets and fresh air when passengers are stuck in planes for extended periods of time. The nerve!

The freeloading airline industry continues to lower the bar every year and now they are suing to maintain that right. This from the same industry who gladly gobbled up $15 billion from taxpayers only to lavish executives with millions and cut workers salaries and benefits, sometimes even while in bankruptcy. Read More......

White House closet burns

A closet is on fire at the White House. Was Larry Craig visiting? Lindsey Graham? Mitch McConnell? Mary Cheney? Ken Mehlman? I could go on. Read More......

Romney: Don't believe what I say when I run for office

What is it about Massachusetts?

"I think I've made it very clear. I was pro-choice, or effectively pro-choice, when I ran in 1994. As governor I'm pro-life and I have a record of being pro-life and I'm firmly pro-life today."

Read More......

Ask Huckabee: Who is hiding money in the Caymans?

On the Today Show this morning, Mike Huckabee sure sounded like he was accusing someone of hiding money in the Caymans. Who?
Read More......

"Angry, Angry man" Putin named Time Magazine's Person of The Year

Al Gore was the runner up, but Time named Vladimir Putin the 2007 Person of the Year. Time's Richard Stengel said of Putin, "He's not a good guy." Duh. Also, Putin is "an angry, angry man." A real charmer.
Read More......

Wednesday Morning Open Thread

Good morning.

Huckabee was on the Today Show this morning. After Meredith asked the Huckster about an attack from Rich Lowry at the National Review, Huck told us that he's not part of the "Wall Street to Washington axis, this corridor of power" -- and that he's the guy "that doesn't have some offshore mailbox and bank account in the Caymans hiding my money." Okay. So if Huckabee isn't the guy with the offshore mailbox and bank account in the Caymans, who is? Given the context, it sure sounded like Huckabee was aiming at that at his GOP rivals. Who is hiding money in the Caymans?

Okay. Read More......

27 million Americans will use credit to heat houses this winter

Don't worry though, because we can't afford to invest serious money or effort into alternative energy sources. Fighting wars for oil on behalf of Big Oil is a much better priority for America. In fact, why not extend the tax breaks for Big Oil while we're at it. Oh right, Congress just did. (How supportive were our presidential candidates on this? It's still is part of their day job, isn't it?)

The upside here is the Visa, MasterCard and Big Energy all thank you for your business. Their holiday parties this year will no doubt be luxurious, not to mention year end bonuses. Read More......

South Africa votes for change - Mbeki routed

Current South African president Mbeki is finishing his second (and final) term as president though he hoped to maintain control of the ruling ANC. Controlling the primary political party essentially means controlling the government in South Africa. Yesterday the ANC party members voted for the leadership role yesterday and Mbeki lost badly to Jacob Zuma. In recent years Zuma has faced trial for rape (he was acquitted) and has also faced charges of corruption. The corruption charges have not yet been put to rest and could come back to end his career.

Outside of South Africa, Mbeki is best known for his bizarre theories on HIV/AIDS. Internally, Mbeki was viewed as an unpleasant, technocrat who never managed to connect with the people. Years after apartheid, the problem of poverty is still very present though it is hard to deny the growth of the black middle and upper class. The problem has been the limits of that growth and the continuing misery of millions.

(More after the jump on Zuma and changes for South Africa.)
Zuma has his own strange beliefs on the subject of HIV/AIDS (just take a shower after sex) but he has been able to connect with the people around the country. Whether Zuma has the ability to grow the middle class, it's hard to say.

I spent half a year traveling around South Africa a few years ago and visited numerous "townships" across the country. What jumped out to me was that there were so many hard working people who lived in such poverty. We befriended a young South African who invited us to his house and meet the family in one particular township. His mother worked in a posh hotel, traveling by bus every day and working long hours, though she still had very little to show for her efforts.

The house was a very basic square (as you see in most townships) that did not include any modern conveniences in the kitchen and was sparsely filled. It was amazing to see such a hard working family have so little. It's not that I don't understand the local economics in such places, but in South Africa you constantly stumble upon such great discrepancies between rich and poor. Change can't happen overnight but the ANC has been in power since 1994 and it's not unreasonable to expect a little more.

Mbeki can be credited with maintaining a good economy and keeping foreign investment but times have changed and people want more. Hard working people have every right to expect that their lot in life improve if they put their nose to the grindstone. If anything, this is a healthy development that more people want to join the middle class.

The challenge in the future will be whether Zuma can maintain economic growth while expanding the middle class. The biggest fear among some is the possibility of expanding the old boy network, with all of the favors-to-friends that too often dominates politics. Of course, Zuma also needs to get beyond his existing corruption problems. Read More......

Is health care the issue and who will bring change?

As we head into 2008, what will the critical election issue be? Will it be health care or more the economy, or perhaps some of both? As much as I hear about the health care issue, I remain skeptical about the US voters wanting real change. Everyone talks about the issue, but then the next comment is something about how bad the "socialist" health care system is in Canada or the UK. This tells me that the Democrats continue to do a poor job explaining the issue, while the health care powers continue to do a great job of spreading fear. As I have said many times, I've used both the US and the French system and there is no way I would ever go back to the current system in the US. Even with taxes, it's much cheaper and better in France.

Krugman asserts here that health care is the pivotal issue in 2008 and that Edwards is the only person that can bring real change. While I tend to agree that Edwards is the only leading candidate who can bring change on this issue, I would also extend that and say he just might be the only leading candidate who can tackle the bigger issue of moving the country back to the middle.
(More on the special interests after the jump.)
I wholeheartedly agree with Krugman that the special interests, whether in health care or big business in general, will not just sit down and have an easy discussion and give up power. These are groups that sink millions upon millions of dollars into the lobbying system. Look just what happened a few weeks ago when the Democratic member of the FCC cooled off on the idea of competition within the cable TV industry. Look at the complete lack of action that we have witnessed from Congress on so many issues. It's nice that we are moving the Big Auto industry into the 1980s, but is this really a great accomplishment? Is this the best our political leaders can do? Is this what they consider compromise?

In recent years, including during the Clinton administration, we moved so far to the right in favor of every business special interest, "compromise" like we have been witnessing is just one baby step after another. Big deal, we moved the auto industry a few steps, though still decades behind the auto industry around the world. Yippee. It is precisely this kind of compromise that makes America a less competitive nation. China must be shaking in their boots.

Like Krugman, I have serious doubts about Obama taking on these special interests via consultation and simple discussion. And Hillary? I love the fight that she can deliver, heaven knows we could have used a more combative attitude in the build up to Iraq, but it didn't quite work out that way, did it? We could have used a strong voice even in recent months on critical battles in Congress (issues that are important to Democrats such as privacy, rule of law, etc) but she was occupied with her presidential campaign.

The special interests dominate DC and yes, they do rule the day. How many of us believe this is actually a good thing? Our traditional political leadership seems unable or unwilling to take any action without asking these groups for a hall pass to visit the bathroom. That goes for both sides of the isle.

Nobody is saying we need to trash the system and start over, but we are kidding ourselves if we think the powerful lobbyists will help American find a middle ground. Edwards is saying that to expect the powerful groups to give up that power (that they bought and paid for!) is "fantasy" and I completely agree. Groups and people use the power that they are given. We have handed over much too much power to business across the board in recent years and it's time to start taking some back.

Pick any special interest...Big Food, Big Auto, Big Oil, Big Finance, Big Pharma, Big Health Care...and ask yourself if their agenda matches your own personal/family agenda. Is it advantageous to have factory farms that continue to churn our e. coli and salmonella breakouts? Have we seen any changes in the policies that led to the problems? How about the price of gas at the pump? Any help from the Senate there? Those banking charges that pile up every month? How are they working out? Do you really see tremendous benefits from paying higher charges? What great benefits and cost savings are you seeing from your health insurance company? Lower costs?

I am for any Democrat that can defeat the GOP next year but I also want to see a Democrat that can bring real change and not just a change of party name. I like the big three Democrats and each candidate has qualities that will be good for the country but I do wonder which of those three will be a force for change. Which will move us back to the middle and offer fairness for average Americans? Who do you think can do this and will they be up for the task? Propping up special interests is soooooo 2007. Read More......