Banks raising fees, often without disclosure

Following the law is for chumps, the banks might say. When industry complains about the dreaded class action lawsuits (which have not yet been raised) they always skip around situations like this, where they are in violation of the law but don't really care. They collection millions, perhaps even billions and it's not as though they're going to cut their own bonus plans when there are millions of people out there who will pony up extra fees without even knowing about it. During the GOP Congress and Bush years, it's not as though anyone ever asked big business to follow the rule of law or think about consumers.

It would be great if Democrats in Congress can make progress on this issue but realistically, the banks are in one of their worst down turns in decades and are looking for every cent under every stone so it would be surprising to see them fall in line just by asking. Is it really so difficult for business to follow the laws they helped write in the first place? If regulators go too far (which I doubt they would, even if they wanted to) it will all come back to industry stonewalling previous attempts to be reasonable. Read More......

God destroyed New Orleans because of the gays, says McCain supporter John Hagee

McCain is refusing to renounce this influential evangelist's support. From Media Matters:

HAGEE: All hurricanes are acts of God, because God controls the heavens. I believe that New Orleans had a level of sin that was offensive to God, and they are -- were recipients of the judgment of God for that. The newspaper carried the story in our local area that was not carried nationally that there was to be a homosexual parade there on the Monday that the Katrina came. And the promise of that parade was that it was going to reach a level of sexuality never demonstrated before in any of the other Gay Pride parades. So I believe that the judgment of God is a very real thing. I know that there are people who demur from that, but I believe that the Bible teaches that when you violate the law of God, that God brings punishment sometimes before the day of judgment. And I believe that the Hurricane Katrina was, in fact, the judgment of God against the city of New Orleans.

More here. Read More......

The Clinton campaign finally develops a caucus strategy for Texas

Another Clinton supporter attacked the delegate selection process. Mind you, the Texas delegate selection plan was submitted in August of 2007. On November 7, 2007, the Texas Democratic Party announced that the DNC had approved its delegate selection plan. And, the TX Democratic Party put the approved plan on its website. But now, suddenly, we're to believe that the plan sucks.

But, wait. The Clinton campaign has come up with a strategy, via Burnt Orange Report:

The Dallas Morning News is reporting that Clinton campaign training materials regarding Tuesday night's caucuses ominously advise supporters to take control of caucus sign-in sheets and vote tallies especially "if our supporters are outnumbered."

[Clinton caucus training material] goes on to say, "If our supporters are outnumbered, ask the Temporary Chair if one of our supporters can serves as the Secretary, in the interest of fairness.

"The control of the sign-in sheets and the announcement of the delegates allotted to each candidate are the critical functions of the Chair and Secretary. This is why it is so important that Hillary supporters hold these positions."

Um, why is that? What do you plan on doing with those positions - in the interest of fairness, of course? Read More......

"Repulsive, insulting, and heartbreaking" Jews have brought on their own anti-Semitism, says McCain supporter Pastor John Hagee

McCain supporter Pastor John Hagee, who seems to have some kind of odd control over McCain - McCain refuses to renounce the man's endorsement - has some rather disturbing things to say about Catholics (they worship a "whore"), about gays (they're responsible for Katrina), and now Jews:

"It was the disobedience and rebellion of the Jews, God's chosen people, to their covenantal responsibility to serve only the one true God, Jehovah, that gave rise to the opposition and persecution that they experienced beginning in Canaan and continuing to this very day....

How utterly repulsive, insulting, and heartbreaking to God for His chosen people to credit idols with bringing blessings He had showered upon the chosen people. Their own rebellion had birthed the seed of anti-Semitism that would arise and bring destruction to them for centuries to come.... it rises from the judgment of God uppon his rebellious chosen people."

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Obama's campaign manager: "We are trying to grow the electorate"

Today's NY Times has an in-depth look at the spending practices of the Obama and Clinton campaigns for the upcoming week. I did get a chuckle out of Mark Penn's complaint about the Obama campaign: "they are dumping a lot of money there." Given the millions his firm has raked in -- and where it's gotten his candidate, Penn is the last person who should accuse anyone of dumping money.

But, that's not key point of the article. The key point for me actually didn't make the Times on-line version of the story, I read it in my print edition. It's about the Obama campaign's on-going efforts "to grow the electorate." I did find it on the Barre Times-Montpelier Argus website

Obama has been particularly aggressive in these contests in using Internet tools to identify and turn out supporters, building on tools they have developed throughout the campaign. For example, anyone using the search engine Google to look for Texas caucus locations will see an advertisement from Obama's campaign listing the caucus sites, and, after a click, inviting people to sign in with their names and e-mail addresses.

Visitors to the Web sites of The Houston Chronicle and The Cincinnati Enquirer were confronted with a moving advertisement that took up nearly half the screen that showed a video of Obama and urged voters to sign up and pledge their support to his campaign.

"We are trying to grow the electorate," said David Plouffe, Obama's campaign manager, referring to the Internet effort. "We have had almost 20,000 people come through our ads looking for their early vote location."

Growing the electorate is why Obama wins. Traditionally, at this point in a campaign, the get-out-the-vote effort is aimed only at already confirmed supporters. Those folks get harassed over and over with multiple phone calls. That's what traditional campaigns do. Winning campaigns find new voters, too.

And, the Obama campaign keeps finding new voters. That's what adds to the numbers. It really is a new generation campaign. Plouffe, Steve Hildebrand and Paul Tewes (who is running Ohio after managing the Iowa victory) and that whole political/field/internet team deserve major kudos. They're redefining the ways Democrats campaign. They're using every tool to add support. And, that's how we'll win in the fall against McCain. Read More......

Sunday Talk Shows Open Thread

A rare day on the Sunday shows -- more Democrats than Republicans. ABC has the spokesmen for Obama and Clinton, which gives Howard Wolfson a wider audience for his increasingly vehement anti-Obama tirades. Clearly, team Clinton is angry and frustrated. You know McCain and the GOP are loving their every utterance.

Besides that, Russert has no real guests -- again. He's got one of those stupid round-tables with the ever painful Mary Matalin and the pretty useless Bob Shrum. There should be a very intense discussion about McCain's anti-Catholic supporters. There should be. I'm wondering if Tim does these shows so they are all about him. Real guests steal the spotlight.

The full line up is after the break.

Watch and provide the commentary. Any of us can do better than Matalin and Shrum:

ABC's "This Week" _ Howard Wolfson, campaign adviser for Hillary Rodham Clinton, and David Axelrod, campaign adviser for Barack Obama.

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CBS' "Face the Nation" _ Gov. Bill Richardson, D-N.M.; Sens. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., and Evan Bayh, D-Ind.

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NBC's "Meet the Press" _ Republican strategists Mary Matalin and Mike Murphy; Democratic strategists James Carville and Bob Shrum.

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CNN's "Late Edition" _ NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer; Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean; Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass.; Reps. Silvestre Reyes, D-Texas, and Roy Blunt, R-Mo.

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"Fox News Sunday" _ Sens. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., and Dick Durbin, D-Ill.

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Thank goodness, another "youth" bashing article

How about we have a weekly article out there called "Why do the children of Boomers act like Boomers on steroids?" The latest hit piece in the Post somehow manages to leave a gaping generation hole when describing generational attitudes.

Change in expectations is a generational thing, experts say. People who grew up during the Depression were happy to have a job and stuck with one for a lifetime. Many members of generations X and Y were raised in a different light. They expect a buffet of opportunities and are peeved when they don't materialize.

Oh, now what happened to that little group in between that was born between 1945-1964...hmmm, if only there was a name for that high growth period. Gosh, what would we call that baby boom period? Every generation complains about the next generation and saying this is the most extreme ever is rubbish. People can spin this story as much as they like - and they do, almost every week as Boomers just eat this up as much as a story glorifying their own generation - there's never any proper context.

The children of Boomers may have been showered with stuff from indulgent parents though the kids also witnessed a generation that increasingly worked more jobs with less job security. As they enter the working world, they receive much less compared to previous generations in terms of salary and benefits. (The peak of take home pay was in the early 1970s.) Are these kids supposed to sit back and be praiseworthy and accepting of these new dynamics? As much as I don't buy into the buy-your-way-to-happiness mentality that exists in America and Europe, it's not quite as simple as the weekly Boomer hit pieces suggest. Read More......

Warren Buffet discusses "financial folly" in annual letter

No wonder Republicans don't like Buffet. He makes a ton of money, supports Democrats and calls out the destructive policies of the Republican party. Unfortunately there are not enough people like him around that will speak in such a blunt manner but since when has honesty and ethics been a strong point in executive boardrooms?

He compared money managers who promise double-digit returns to the queen in “Alice in Wonderland,” who proclaimed, “Why, sometimes I’ve believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast.” Mr. Buffett added, “Beware the glib helper who fills your head with fantasies while he fills his pockets with fees.”

And a few choice words for the superstar CEOs who rake in millions upon millions. Stanley O'Neil of Merrill Lynch and Chuck Prince of Citigroup jump out to me. Both skated into retirement with tens of millions all based on shoddy business that has been wiped off the books.

“What is no puzzle, however, is why C.E.O.s opt for a high investment assumption: It lets them report higher earnings. And if they are wrong, as I believe they are, the chickens won’t come home to roost until long after they retire.”

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Open thread

So, I went to see "No Country For Old Men" tonight. Didn't love it. Javier Bardem was amazing. Creepy as hell, but amazing. Totally deserved the Oscar. Tommy Lee Jones was great. Really everyone was great. The casting was just perfect. The dialogue was interesting. And there were scenes that were great (and a bit bloody), but overall, it kind of fell apart in the second half. I'm told by a friend who read the book that the movie very closely follows the book - too closely in fact - and that's its downfall. But by the end, there were scenes that seemed totally superfluous, and by the very end you're kind of scratching your head and saying "that's it?" We weren't alone in thinking that. A lot of people left feeling a bit underwhelmed. Still, I didn't hate it. And the acting really was excellent. But this definitely wasn't the movie of the year, to me at least. Anybody else see it? Read More......