Since the media has now jumped to Rush's defense, let's revisit exactly what Limbaugh said

I'm reading more and more reporters making the ludicrous statement that Rush Limbaugh's words were taken out of context when we quote him saying he wants Obama to fail. Listen to Limbaugh for yourself. There are three different multi-minute audio selections of Limbaugh saying, outright, that he wants the stimulus package to fail. He says it repeatedly. He says it, not in a snippet - he says it in a multi-minute rant. You really need to hear this man speak - I know it sucks, but do it. Listen to the audio. Limbaugh is one of the leaders, if not the most prominent leader, of the Republican party. He outright says, repeatedly, that he wants Obama to fail, that he wants the stimulus package to fail. And yes, my reporter friends, it is despicable to suggest that anyone wants the stimulus package to fail when the stimulus' goal is to save 4 million jobs, and stop us from falling into a depression. When failure means possible economic collapse. The words aren't out of context, they're in context. And they are despicable. And typical, of the conservative wing that controls the Republican party today. For the corporate media to come running to Rush's defense, to claim that his comments are out of context, is beyond belief. Listen for yourself. Read More......

Why this economic crisis is different than 1982

From Media Matters:

Joe Scarborough stated during the March 3 edition of MSNBC's Morning Joe that "the average unemployment rate for 1984" was the "same that the unemployment rate is right now" and then added: "[A]nd ... 1975, it was nine [percent]; 1982, it was about 11 percent, and we didn't nationalize everything then and ... we didn't say we are going to put a stimulus bill out there to get people back to work right now and spend money we didn't have."

From Nobel economist Paul Krugman:

[I]n 1982, when the economy was deeply depressed, the Federal Reserve said, "OK, we've got to do something about this," and they cut interest rates from 13 percent to around 7 percent, and the economy took off. Right now, the interest rate is zero. The Fed can't rescue us this time, and that's why we can't do the things we did in the '80s. We have to have an approach that harks back to the things that worked very well in the first four years of the New Deal until Franklin Roosevelt was persuaded to go orthodox all over again.

Krugman has a nifty chart on his site, showing how interest rates were quite high in 1982, whereas they're practically zero now. Read More......

Hedge funds support regulation, as long as it's not for them

What a surprise. This group has had much too much influence with too little benefit and too much risk. Obama's move to have the hedge funds pay taxes like the rest of the country was a good first step and regulating these gamblers will be another positive move.

"Any regulator tasked with a systemwide focus would need broad authority to gather and disclose appropriate information ... and to take corrective action when necessary," the GAO said.

The Managed Funds Association, a hedge fund lobbying group, said it recognized that a systemic risk regulator needs access to information to be able to adequately assess potential risks to the financial system.

However the hedge fund industry said it was critical for such information to be kept confidential. The group said public disclosure of such information could be misleading.

"Public investors may be inclined to take action based on this data without fully understanding the information, which could lead to adverse consequences for those investors," the MFA said in prepared remarks to the Congressional panel.

Sure. Whatever you say. The public's understanding couldn't possibly be any worse than the hedge funds understanding of risk and overall understanding of the market. Read More......

"He looked more like a bouncer at a strip club who spent all his tips on one bad outfit."

Great essay in the NYT about Limbaugh:

Behold:

The sweaty, swollen man in the black, half-buttoned shirt who ranted for nearly 90 minutes Saturday at the Conservative Political Action Conference. He reiterated his desire to see the president of his country fail. He misstated the Constitution’s intent while accusing President Obama of “bastardizing” the document. He made fun of one man’s service in Vietnam, to laughter.

David Letterman compared him to an Eastern European gangster. But he looked more like a bouncer at a strip club who spent all his tips on one bad outfit. And for the Republican Party, Limbaugh has become very much a vice....

We are witnessing the worst debacle of unfettered capitalism in our lifetime brought on by — you got it, capitalism at its worst. It cannibalized itself. Government, sad to say, had nothing to do with it — except for criminal neglect of oversight.

Now that government has been forced to the rescue, just who is insisting on taxpayer bailouts? Who is in line for handouts? Who is saying that only government can save capitalism? The very leaders of unregulated markets who injected this poison into the economy, the very plutocrats that Limbaugh celebrates.

And, of course, let us never forget that the bailouts of banks and insurance companies were initiated by the Republican president Limbaugh defended for eight years.

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Wall Street trading firms settle with SEC for cheating their customers

Again, where are the Republicans who were so damned eager to ram Social Security through these pirates? It's bad enough 401K plans are relatively unregulated and Wall Street gouges clients but can you imagine the losses if they touched Social Security?

The Securities and Exchange Commission disclosed the allegations after negotiating settlements. The firms did not admit or deny the charges but agreed to pay a total of more than $69 million in forfeited profits and penalties.

The 14 firms named in the complaints are all “specialists,” trading firms that have a specific duty to maintain orderly markets by matching buyers and sellers and standing ready to conduct trades when buyers or sellers are scarce. They include units or subsidiaries of well-known Wall Street names, including E*Trade Capital Markets, Goldman Sachs Execution and Clearing, Knight Financial Products and TD Options.

Regulators said the firms had engaged in various types of “front-running,” which involves trading ahead of customer orders or timing their own trades to seize profits. For instance, specialists that had a big order to buy a stock would first buy it from a seller themselves and then illegally bid up the price moments before selling it to profit on the transaction.

Regulators say specialist firms made a total of $58.4 million, which should have gone to their customers.

If only this was the first time such swindling had occurred on Wall Street. Read More......

One out of three working Americans uninsured

It's even worse than previously expected. The proponents of the status quo are already dismissing the benefits of computerized records which of course they dislike because the US is one of the most backwards in the industrialized world in this. Sorry doc but scribbled notes and computer illiteracy is not going to bring benefits to patients. Been there, done that.

The status quo is also going to make a fuss about insurance companies but the last time I checked, insurance companies in France are doing just fine. France has basic national health care plus additional private insurance. The truth won't matter though to Republicans so get ready for the push back. Read More......

CNBC's Kudlow: Obama ignoring the recovery

It's like tag-team wrastlin' with CNBC. Each day, another misfit jumps into the ring to bash Obama. The most recent to dive in is Larry "Bush economy is the Greatest Story Never Told" Kudlow. Yippee! Forget about the 700,000 job losses last month or the revised figures for January that are even worse. Kudlow sees record affordable housing and an increase in consumer income. Uh huh. Maybe among Kudlow's buddies in the Wall Street bailout-sponger crowd, thanks to taxpayer bonuses, but people in the real world are becoming much more cautious about spending. People who have jobs are putting more money away in case their situation changes and fewer people are anxious to jump into long term credit, whether it's for a car or a house.

Better days are indeed ahead, but to suggest they are here today is not convincing. It's just another day at CNBC, and Kudlow's newest rant is as silly as his others. To his credit though, Kudlow somehow managed to avoid attacking minorities and the poor in this column. What progress! Read More......

Prop 8 court case underway in San Francisco

UPDATE 1:25 PM: Calchannel.com seems to be a overloaded. Via the Courage Campaign, I learned MSNBC and KGO in San Francisco are also livestreaming.
____________________
The cases challenging whether Prop 8 was constitutional are being argued before the California Supreme Court today. The court proceedings started at noon Eastern/9:00 am Pacific. There isn't any way to embed the live stream. You can watch it at calchannel.com

Today's San Francisco Chronicle editorializes about the case:

The central issue before the justices is whether the initiative represented an amendment or a revision of the state Constitution. It was presented to voters as an amendment, which can change the Constitution through the initiative process with a simple-majority vote of the people. A revision, however, would need to be placed on the ballot with a two-thirds vote of the Legislature. The only other potential avenue for a revision would be for it to arise during a state constitutional convention.

The distinction, in simple terms, is between the tinkering of the constitution (amendment) and an overhaul of its fundamental underpinnings (revision). The other main challenge to Proposition 8 is that it impedes the judiciary's authority to protect minority groups from discrimination.

Proponents of marriage equality should be realistic about the prospect of this challenge: It's a longshot . Analysts will be listening closely to the justices' questions in hopes of discerning their inclinations on these legal arguments.

After the case, those analysts will probably have a sense of what the decision will be, but one never really knows.

We should start gearing up for the next campaign. You can bet the Mormons are already planning.

Also, I should have put this video up earlier, because this is what is really at stake today -- Ken Starr and his right wing allies, including the Mormons, breaking up families. That's so Christian, isn't it? The video is from our friends at the very kickass Courage Campaign:

"Fidelity": Don't Divorce... from Courage Campaign on Vimeo.

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Jed exposes the "Red Lie Express" brought to you by Jindal, FOX and the rest of the Right Wing

Jed Lewison has a new video which demolishes one of the lies that started with Bobby Jindal and spread through the right wing lie machine -- with help from FOX, of course:

It all started when Republican Gov. Bobby Jindal falsely accused Democrats of inserting an earmark calling for an $8 billion rail line between Disneyland and Las Vegas. Now, the Fox News-GOP propaganda machine is claiming the nonexistent Disney-Vegas rail line goes straight from Disneyland to the door of the Moonlite Bunny Ranch brothel in Nevada.

The problem is, even if the fictitious Fox News-GOP rail line actually existed, it wouldn’t even get you halfway to the Bunny Ranch, which located 422 miles from Las Vegas.

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Looking more like that newly appointed New York Senator Gillibrand will be facing a primary challenge

Gillibrand was a bad choice for Senator, but what else could we have expected from David Paterson? From all reports, she wanted it. She worked very hard to get the appointment. She even flipped on a number of key issues (gay marriage, guns, immigration), which actually showed that she's a political opportunist with no core values. New York has a lot of very good progressives -- and the chance to be a U.S. Senator doesn't come along very often. Gillibrand is going to be challenged in the Democratic primary:

In a sign that Kirsten E. Gillibrand, the newly appointed United States senator, has yet to win over her party’s base downstate, the Manhattan borough president said Wednesday that he was considering challenging her in the Democratic primary next year.

Scott M. Stringer, the Manhattan borough president, said he has been talking with political advisers about whether to take on Ms. Gillibrand, a former congresswoman from the Albany area.

“I think the reason we have elections is to exchange ideas on the important issues of our time,” said Mr. Stringer, a former state assemblyman who has served as borough president since 2006. “Voters have an expectation for a Senate seat held by Kennedy, Moynihan, that there will be a discussion of these issues through the electoral process.”

The number of potential challengers considering a run against Ms. Gillibrand, who was appointed by Gov. David A. Paterson in January, is growing, underscoring not only Ms. Gillibrand’s perceived vulnerability but also the governor’s inability, so far, to gather support for her.

Seems like the progressive politicos in New York are going to be savvy and strategic about how they move forward:

“No one knows who’s going to go; that’s why we’re having discussions, but we don’t we have a timetable yet,” Mr. Stringer said.

That can't make Gillibrand very comfortable. She's running out of issues to flip-flop on, too. You get the sense that if it's politically expedient, she'll start flipping back.

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Mormons on their mission in Maine blame Catholics for Prop 8.

Say what you will about them, but the Mormons have their ant-gay talking points down in California and Illinois and Maine. I got this email from an AMERICAblog reader who was visited by Mormon missionaries recently. Seems like all the Mormons have been schooled on how to respond to Prop 8 questions -- and laying blame on the Catholics is part of the Mormon spin:

Last week, two young women knocked on my door to talk with me about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Mind you, I live on the Portland peninsula in one of the most liberal neighborhoods, probably, in the country. I think our precinct voted close to 95% for Obama. So, it’s interesting to me that these two women were even venturing into this area.

They started out with their typical rhetoric asking about my beliefs. I told them I was Catholic. In the past, that’s been enough to get them to move on. But, not this time. When they finally paused from their script, it was my turn. I told them that, while I respect their right to their beliefs, I would never support the Mormon Church because of its stand on gay rights and its actions in California. The younger woman immediately responded “the Catholics supported that, too.” I told them I disagreed vehemently with the Catholic Church as well and explained that this issue is critically important and deeply personal so there was no way I would ever support their church. They persisted, telling me that, like most religions, I don’t have to agree with the Mormon Church on all issues. They said that a lot of people supported the repeal of Prop 8, including the Catholic Church.

Clearly, they’re ready to respond to concerns about the Mormons’ support of Prop 8 and aren’t backing down when the issue is raised. After all that, they still left a card in case I want to get more information on their church.

They're persistent.

Back in 2005, when I worked on the campaign to prevent the repeal of adding sexual orientation and gender identity to Maine's Human Rights law, we couldn't even send volunteers to knock doors in this same very liberal neighbhorhood, unless the household had already been identified as supporters. Yet, the Mormons send people into that same neighborhood who are unabashed about the anti-gay views of their church. That's chutzpah. But, it shows how determined and aggressive the Mormons are.

Bashing gays and blaming Catholics. That's quite a combo.

And, what a coincidence: The Maine Legislature is considering a marriage equality bill. So, are those Mormons really in Maine to do missionary work or are they there to do political work? Someone needs to find out if the church is undertaking political activity in Maine and possibly violating its tax-exempt status. Don't forget, the leaders of the Mormon Church lied repeatedly about all of their activity in California. That church needs to be monitored vigilantly because they don't miss a chance to gay bash.

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CNBC meets the Daily Show

We've been bashing CNBC a lot lately. Those blowhards, who purport to be experts in business, somehow missed the meltdown of our economy. They were too busy sucking up to corporate CEOs and in the case of Maria Bartiromo, flying around in Citigroup's corporate jet. Last night, CNBC got the Daily Show treatment. This is must see TV:

The Daily Show With Jon StewartM - Th 11p / 10c

CNBC Gives Financial Advice

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Thursday Morning Open Thread

Good morning.

Big health care summit at the White House today. The Washington Post reports that some industry types are liking what they see so far. That could be good, I guess -- but, it's suspicious. When the first person quoted is that sleazy former Congressman from Louisiana, Billy Tauzin, who now heads the drug company lobbying arm, I'll admit to being suspicious.

Yesterday, John nailed the lunacy of the D.C. press corps. They're all in a frenzy because top White House officials talked about Rush, seeming to forget that anyone who talked about Rush was answering a question posed by one of their colleagues in the press about Rush. Um, yeah. For example, Rahm Emanuel was asked about Rush by Bob Scheiffer:

Asked to comment on the status among conservatives of radio commentator Rish Limbaugh, who gave a keynote address at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington yesterday, White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel said, “He is the voice and the intellectual force and energy behind the Republican Party."

See, that "asked to comment" means one of your ilk asked. Same with Gibbs at the press briefings. Some of these people really do live in a bizarro world. And, some must see their world crashing around them as their relevance decreases by the day. They don't control the news like they used to. That may explain some of the nastiness, too.

What's new today?

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Cuomo subpoenas the Merrill $209 million team

At least someone is taking this seriously. Heaven forbid Congress does more than a TV event for one of the most disgusting displays in modern American economic history. Cuomo ought to be getting a lot more support from Washington, but some people seem more worried about their campaign finances rather than the finances of the country. CNBC:

New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo has issued subpoenas to seven top executives at Merrill Lynch -- executives who earned more than $200 million last year, according to sources familiar with the investigation.

The subpoenas, issued Wednesday, are part of Cuomo's investigation into whether Bank of America approved the bonus payments just ahead of its takeover of Merrill last year. Bank of America denies the charge, but has resisted Cuomo's efforts to get information about the bonuses, citing employee privacy.

Merrill Lynch lost $27.6 billion last year, more than half of it in the fourth quarter after the Bank of America takeover was announced. The deal closed on January 1, leaving Bank of America -- which received federal bailout money -- saddled with the huge losses.

The executives include Thomas Montag, former head of global trading for Merrill Lynch and now a top executive at Bank of America. He received $39 million in pay and millions in Merrill stock last year, according to a person familiar with Merrill Lynch's compensation. Also subpoenaed: investment banker Andrea Orcel, who received $33.8 million in 2008, a slight decline from the $36 million he received in 2007; David Sobotka, who ran the Merrill unit that included its mortgage-backed securities portfolio and suffered billions in writedowns in 2008, but collected $13 million in compensation last year; and former head of corporate strategy Peter Kraus.

Kraus was recruited from Goldman Sachs in May by former Merrill CEO John Thain, but did not start at Merrill until September, just before the Bank of America takeover was announced. Kraus received $29.4 million from Merrill in 2008, even though his job did not survive the merger.

That's one heck of a pay package for a few months work. Especially in 2008. Read More......

Brown speaks to Congress

Despite receiving as many standing rounds of applause as Tony Blair a few years ago, the Brown message hardly resonated with the US media. To be fair to Brown, he did raise a few good points including the high support for the US in Europe (and the world) and the opportunity to set the world economic platform. Bush had enormous sympathy and support after 9/11 and it was completely squandered. Obama continues to have high support overseas and it would be a missed opportunity if he did not use that to build a stronger coalition on the critical economic issues of the day. Even at home, it's a delicate time for the public and people are keen to see more leadership from the White House.

The economic problems across North America and Europe are quite clear, with the old system causing more losses and pain by the day. Gordon Brown is right, that the US has to get in front of this problem and not only lead for the sake of the US, but for the health of the global economy as well. So far it's been Brown and Europe who have been promoting most of the forward thinking. That's fine, but the US should be doing more and has more power to do more.

The Prime Minister, who flew back to Britain last night after a 48-hour visit to Washington that included talks with President Barack Obama, insisted that the warmest relations between the US and pro-American EU leaders in "living memory" provided an unprecedented chance for the world to come together.

"For a century, you have carried on your shoulders the greatest of responsibilities – to work with and for the rest of the world. And let me tell you that, more than ever, the rest of the world wants to work with you." He added: "No one should forget that it was American visionaries who over half a century ago, coming out of the deepest of recessions and the worst of wars, produced the boldest of plans for global economic co-operation."

He then insisted: "Sometimes the reality is that defining moments of history come suddenly and without warning... An economic hurricane has swept the world, creating a crisis of credit and confidence.

"History has brought us now to a point where change is essential. We are summoned not to just manage our times but to transform them."

His words were seen as a plea to conservative-minded members of Congress not to oppose President Obama's efforts to stimulate the American economy through massive investment and to support measures to overhaul the global financial system.

Downing Street believes that Mr Obama's arrival in the White House gives a new impetus to the fight against global warming.

Mr Brown predicted that an "historic" agreement on climate change will be clinched this year, adding: "We must commit to protecting the planet for generations that will come long after us."

He therefore called for bold investment in environmental technology to "end the dictatorship of oil" and to create millions of green jobs.

"The lesson of this crisis is that we cannot just wait for tomorrow today. We cannot just think of tomorrow today. We cannot merely plan for tomorrow today. Our task must be to build tomorrow today."

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UK investigating "mini-Madoffs"

The only surprise is that they have not surfaced yet, though it sounds like that will change soon. The Independent:

Detective Superintendent Bob Wishard, of the City of London Police fraud squad, said: "The growing number of frauds in the City and the deepening recession has prompted speculation that Britain could soon see its first £1bn fraud. I'm not aware of anything as big as £1bn, but there are undoubtedly some huge investment frauds going on – mini-Madoffs – that, in the fullness of time, will come to our attention."

Mr Alderman said the "ripple effect" of credit-crunch fraud was bringing misery to thousands. His organisation is investigating a range of financial crimes and is shortly expected to announce developments in cases involving investments, mortgages and fraudulent trading.

He added: "Some of them are ones where we have been asked to look at something that has gone on, and we are conducting a preliminary investigation. With others we are digging deeper. Some of it we have identified it ourselves. At least one [case] comes from a whistleblower. We are talking about quite large-scale fraud as a result of the credit crunch."

He promised to take tough action in cases that justified prosecution, and said: "This is the year in which I am expecting delivery. This calendar year is the year I want a lot of cases in the public domain out in court. Some corporates, some individuals, some cases involving individuals and corporates. I am expecting to send out some very strong messages as a result of what we are getting out into court."

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Services sector shrinks, but in line with forecasts

Baby steps...baby steps. At least it wasn't a bad surprise.

The Institute for Supply Management said its nonmanufacturing index came in at 41.6 in February versus 42.9 in January.

The level of 50 separates expansion from contraction in the index, which dates back to July 1997.

Economists had expected a reading of 41.0, according to the median of 69 forecasts in a Reuters poll ranging from 37.0 to 44.0.

The service sector represents about 80 percent of U.S. economic activity, including businesses such as banks, airlines, hotels and restaurants.

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