Federal Reserve doesn't understand what 'transparency' means

It's not a surprise that they used the annoying "Goldman Sachs model" that everyone hated. That's their point. Ask for details on how American taxpayers saved the bankers and heaven forbid you give simple answers. The Fed was forced to provide details on who borrowed to save their skin and this is what happens. An obnoxious dump of data. The Fed should not have even had to be forced into providing this data, but that's the type of crowd we have today in power. What genius thought it made sense to re-nominate Bernanke?

The disclosure came in the form of computer disks handed to reporters in Washington, DC. Those disks contained nearly 900 PDF files that must be individually opened and read. The files include tables with loans made by the Fed, as well as emails between Federal Reserve officials. The disks aren’t searchable and the Fed didn’t include an index.

The release of the data in such a user-unfriendly manner is reminiscent of the way Goldman Sachs dumped tens of thousands of documents on the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission. The commissioners publicly scolded the investment bank for the document “dump.”

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Damn you, Barack Obama, sounds like 'Osama'

I'm not entirely sure what genre of poetry this is, but damn it's good. It's from May of 2007, and just came across it in Annatopia's archives. It's always interesting to revisit the Obama hagiography of the early campaign. I'm not 100% convinced that this deserves that label. It's just interesting, and extremely well done. Enjoy.

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GoDaddy CEO 'scummiest CEO' after killing elephant in Zim

What a lowlife. The GoDaddy CEO is currently hiding behind the crop damage issue, which yes, can be an issue. The reality of Big 5 hunts is that they are targeted at ultra-wealthy types who pay tens of thousands of dollars to kill elephants, lions, buffalo, leopard and rhinos. When I was in Africa, I heard countless stories about people like this. If they were a bad shot (they often have this problem) then the safari crew will dope the animals so that they're easier to kill.

The fact that Bob Parsons chose Zimbabwe also says a lot. In an economy where inflation is out of control and the infrastructure is in chaos, they love people like Parsons who will pay cash to so whatever they want. That's why cowardly hunters choose Zim over a country such as South Africa. He was taking advantage of a poverty stricken region for her personal obsession with killing for bragging rights. Nobody else would sit on the elephant and take photos if it was anything else.

There really is no debate about killing an elephant like this. Elephants have a very structured society and killing the dominate female can destroy the entire community. (It may have been a male in musth by glancing at the photo.) They are extremely sensitive animals. PETA nailed it when they named him "the scummiest CEO." Read the rest of this post...

Video: 'Cheap Flights', the song

Very funny and well done, worth a listen.

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Livestream of Dylan Ratigan's energy town hall

Another in the series of town halls from CNBC's Dylan Ratigan. The embed isn't working, but you can go here to watch it. Read the rest of this post...

Capitol Hill rally expecting 'thousands of Tea Party activists' had crowd of around 100

Earlier this week, we posted the press release from the national teabagger group about their big rally here in DC today:

Tea Party Patriots, the nation’s largest grassroots organization, today announced that it will hold its first “Continuing Revolution Rally” outside of the U.S. Capitol challenging Congress and the members it helped sweep into power to take swift action on the budget. Tea Party stars in Congress such as Reps. Mike Pence and Michele Bachmann will join thousands of Tea Party activists to send a message to the rest of Washington. Thursday’s rally is co-sponsored by Let Freedom Ring, the Institute for Liberty, and Smart Girl Politics.

Yep. All the big names in teabagging were combining forces to show members of Congress how powerful they are. Thousands were expected. It was going to be HUGE.

This morning, the Moonie Times, the favorite paper of DC right-wingers, piled on. The paper headlined news that the teabaggers were coming to DC -- not just coming, they were going to storm Capitol Hill.

Oops.

It was a big bust. Pence and Bachmann were there. But, they weren't joined by "thousands of Tea Party activists." Not even close.

Think Progress tweeted from the event:

About 100 people at today's "major" Tea Party rally http://yfrog.com/gz1jgcrj #losingsteam

Over at DailyKos, Jed Lewison has a clip from FOX News, where they blamed the weather for the pathetic turnout. Seriously, the weather. I can report that it was cloudy and a little drizzly here in DC today. That's it. Jed notes:

Yeah, the weather really killed the rally. Just like the only reason the rallies were so big in Wisconsin was its gorgeous mid-winter weather (complete with sunny blue skies and palm trees!).

Or here's another thought: maybe the tea party fizzle has something to do with the fact that the tea party isn't popular anymore.

That probably won't stop them from getting excessive media coverage, especially on FOX. But, I bet a lot of people on Capitol Hill are a lot less worried about the teabaggers today than they were yesterday.

One more thing: as we noted over at AMERICAblog Gay, the teabaggers in the House have abandoned the pretense that they are focused on fiscal issues. The House Republicans are working to end DC's same-sex marriage law. They just can't quit their legislative gay-bashing. And, they'd rather go after the gays than create jobs. Read the rest of this post...

TARP profits a fraction of what they should have been

Each time someone in Washington tries to talk about the enormous profit generated, it makes me think about the rest of the story that they've glossed over. For starters, the unemployment rate has skyrocketed and last time I checked, there's a heavy cost there. Between the hard times for families plus the lack of tax dollars being paid, the numbers are significant. Also, what about the trillions of free money handed out? Yes, TARP itself was $700 billion but that was only a part of what the government did to rescue the most arrogant and selfish people on the planet. The trillions lent out was a very big deal and they kept many banks afloat so that's another cost.

And now there's this. The TARP profits are around a third of what they could have been out in the real world. It's clear that when the tables are turned the banks will take full advantage of everyone else. ($5 ATM fees are the cherry on top.) What probably doesn't help the situation in "negotiations" between the government and Wall Street is the always spinning revolving door. A real negotiation where market profits are normal would ruin a job opportunity for the future so they will never happen.

The original first eight recipients received $165 billion in exchange for preferred stock and warrants. All eight banks have repaid their TARP funds.

The estimated annual rate of return on the government's investments in those banks was 10.5 percent, according to Dr. Linus Wilson, a finance professor at University of Louisiana at Lafayette.

While this is a far better return than TARP critics expected, it pales in comparison to what a private investor would have made. Private investors who bought preferred stock in the same eight banks during that period received returns of 38.5 percent, according to Wilson’s analysis.

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Okay, missed this one earlier in the Messina profile

From the Nation profile of former White House deputy chief of staff Jim Messina, and now Obama campaign manager, that I wrote about earlier:

When he worked for Baucus, Messina even kept a list of his political enemies on an Excel spreadsheet. “Ultra-paranoid behavior is very much a hallmark of Messina,” says Ken Toole.

That's a tad deranged. Sounds like a good FOIA request, however, notes Bob Brigham on Twitter. Read the rest of this post...

PETA asks SF to change name of 'Tenderloin' quarter of city

It's in the NYT, so I'm guessing this isn't an April Fool's joke. I'm not sure that this kind of gimmickry doesn't diminish the seriousness of PETA's cause.

It may never make it on the political menu, but the animal rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals is urging city leaders in San Francisco to change the name of its legendarily gritty Tenderloin to something with decidedly less gristle.

In a letter to Mayor Edwin M. Lee sent Tuesday, Tracy Reiman, the group’s executive vice president, suggested that city officials rename the neighborhood the Tempeh District, a homage to a soy-based meat substitute.

“San Francisco is now renowned for some of the best vegan cuisine in the world,” Ms. Reiman wrote. “And the city deserves a neighborhood named after a delicious cruelty-free food instead of the flesh of an abused animal.”

I happen to be partial to the cooked flesh of animals, but I don't begrudge PETA's work. I think it important that someone keep pressure on the food industry to better its practices, make them as humane as possible, etc. But is complaining about the Tenderloin district really worthy of PETA? What do you think? Read the rest of this post...

James O'Keefe says fake pimpin' ain't easy

Not sure if it needed to be made clear that this isn't really James O'Keefe. It's my friend Andy Cobb of Second City fame and his buddies spoofing O'Keefe.

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How Jim Messina, and the White House, brow beat liberal groups into submission

Interesting profile of former White House deputy chief of staff, and now Obama re-elect campaign director, Jim Messina by Ari Berman at the Nation. Joe covers the gay civil rights (DADT) aspects of the article over on AMERICAblog Gay. Here I wanted to highlight how Messina, on behalf of the White House neutered, and in some cases tried to neuter to no avail, liberal groups trying to push for more progressive, and better, legislation.

First, how the Campaign for America's future caved to the WH early on.

In March 2009 the Campaign for America’s Future, a top progressive group in Washington, launched a campaign called “Dog The (Blue) Dogs” to pressure conservative Blue Dog Democrats to support President Obama’s budget. When he heard about the effort, White House deputy chief of staff Jim Messina, who was regarded as the Obama administration’s designated “fixer,” called CAF’s leaders into the White House for a dressing down, according to a CAF official. If the group wanted to join the Common Purpose Project, an exclusive weekly strategy meeting between progressive groups and administration officials, CAF had to drop the campaign. We know how to handle the Blue Dogs better than you do, Messina said. Not wanting to sour its relationship with the White House at this early date, CAF complied, and the campaign quickly disappeared from its website. Despite Messina’s assurance, however, the Blue Dogs would remain a major obstacle to the realization of the president’s legislative agenda.

Next, HCAN.

“Messina wouldn’t tolerate us trying to lobby to improve the bill,” says Richard Kirsch, former national campaign manager for Health Care for America Now (HCAN), the major coalition of progressive groups backing reform. Kirsch recalled being told by a White House insider that when asked what the administration’s “inside/outside strategy” was for passing healthcare reform, Messina replied, “There is no outside strategy.”

It's not terribly clear that HCAN fought nearly hard enough for a better bill. Where were our Harry & Louise health care ads? But at least the next graf suggests that HCAN didn't totally kowtow to the White House:

“The aggressive suppression of outside pressure was done by Messina,” he adds. “I can’t imagine that the president knew about it.” Messina and his allies tried to stop HCAN from sending a letter to senators expressing displeasure with Baucus’s bill and also tried to prevent the group from running a TV ad praising the House version of the bill. HCAN’s organizer in Montana, Molly Moody, was banned from Baucus’s office and prevented from attending his public events. (Baucus’s office did not reply to a request for comment.) “This is something Messina did in Montana—any group that did any outside pressure on Baucus was iced out,” says Kirsch. “He did the same thing with HCAN in the White House.” When he worked for Baucus, Messina even kept a list of his political enemies on an Excel spreadsheet. “Ultra-paranoid behavior is very much a hallmark of Messina,” says Ken Toole.

Oh that the White House fought back nearly as hard against Republicans and conservative Democrats out to ruin their agenda. Read the rest of this post...

GOP House leader Eric Cantor calls for the end of Social Security and Medicare

Now that's rather straight-forward of him. From NPR Morning Edition (my emphasis):

[NPR reporter Audie] CORNISH: That's House Republican Majority Leader Eric Cantor at a recent speech at the Hoover Institution. Cantor tried to send a clear signal to key voters with concerns about the GOP's plans.

Rep. CANTOR: I mean, just from the very notion that it said that 50 percent of beneficiaries under the Social Security program use those moneys as their sole source of income. So we've got to protect today's seniors. But for the rest of us? For - you know, listen. We're going to have to come to grips with the fact that these programs cannot exist if we want America to be what we want America to be.

Said at a recent speech at the Hoover Institution. Synchronicity at work.

Just to be clear, this means exactly what it says. "If we want America to be what we want America to be" — programs like Social Security and Medicare must be abolished. Not "reformed" — abolished.

It's not about the people who need them. It's about a vision of the country; a Triangle Shirtwaist Factory vision, to be sure.

We owe him for being so plain about it.

You can still call each of your senators at 1-866-251-4044 and tell them to support the Sanders/Reid Social Security Protection Amendment. More here: StrengthenSocialSecurity.org/callcongress.

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So will the budget deal gut the EPA or not?

Last night there was a report that the White House was going to allow it. Today Sam Stein hears they may not.

House Republican aides have insisted that they won’t back a bill that is wiped clean of all of their policy declarations, such as defunding Planned Parenthood, restricting the amount of money used to implement health care reform, and stripping the Environmental Protection Agency’s capacity to regulate power plants.

Democratic officials have agreed to keep some of the riders in the bill, but not the bigger, more controversial items.

What qualifies as a major or minor rider isn’t entirely clear. On the Hill, several Democrats fretted that language regarding Planned Parenthood and health care reform wouldn’t be in the final product but that the EPA language might. The aforementioned Senate aide, however, insisted that “the White House wouldn’t stomach that.”

Last night from AP (via Kevin Drum) we read this:

A Democratic lawmaker familiar with a meeting Wednesday between Obama and members of the Congressional Black Caucus said the administration made it clear that some House GOP proposals restricting the Environmental Protection Agency's regulatory powers would have to make it into the final bill....It's not clear which proposals the White House might accept, but those backed by Republicans would block the government from carrying out regulations on greenhouse gases, putting in place a plan to clean up the Chesapeake Bay and from shutting down mountaintop mines it believes will cause too much water pollution.

Let's hope Sam's sources are right. Read the rest of this post...

Evacuation zone around Fukushima plant to expand

Though it's not yet a done deal, it is likely to happen very soon. In more bad news, the radiation level in seawater is also increasing. Reuters:

Pressure mounted on Japan on Thursday to expand the evacuation zone around its stricken nuclear power plant while officials said radiation may be flowing continuously into the nearby sea, where contamination was now 4,000 times the legal limit.

Both the U.N. nuclear watchdog and Japan's nuclear safety agency said the government should consider widening the 20-km (12-mile) zone after high radiation was detected at twice that distance from the facility.

Oppositions politicians have lambasted Prime Minister Naoto Kan for sticking with the original exclusion area, nearly three weeks after an earthquake and tsunami sparked the world's worst nuclear crisis since Chernobyl in 1986.

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Assad blamed 'conspirators' like TV and internet sites

Paranoid much? Isn't this what every dictator says when people rise up? It's the flavor of the month with Robert Mugabe but they always try to pin the problem on anyone but themselves. Now that he fired his cabinet, let's see if anyone cares. Al Jazeera:

"I know that the Syrian people have been awaiting this speech since last week, but I was waiting to get the full picture ... to avoid giving an emotional address that would put the people at ease but have no real effect, at a time when our enemies are targeting Syria," he said.

During his speech, that lasted almost one hour, Assad took aim at social networking websites and pan-Arabic satellite television news channels but made no mention of any plans to lift the state of emergency.

Assad said he supported reform but offered no new commitment to change Syria's rigid, one-party political system.

"Staying without reforms is destructive to the country," Assad said, without elaborating on a pledge by his adviser Bouthaina Shaaban last week that the president would look into lifting the emergency law.

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Libyan foreign minister resigns after defecting to UK

Team Gaddafi is thinning out but it's not finished yet. Some are suggesting this could be a drawn out civil war that could last for months or even years. It's possible that in the west we're overplaying the significance of defections such as this. The information he can provide will no doubt be helpful but with dictators like Gaddafi or Assad, how much do people like this really know compared to the inner circle? The Guardian:

Kousa's defection provides Britain with a figure of unparalleled intelligence value in terms of understanding the situation within Gaddafi's inner circle. The move also provides a morale boost to the disorganised rebel forces who have again suffered major reverses at the hands of pro-Gaddafi forces in the past 48 hours.

The Foreign Office said last night: "He travelled here under his own free will. He has told us that he is resigning his post. We are discussing this with him and we will release further detail in due course.

"Mousa Kousa is one of the most senior figures in Gaddafi's government and his role was to represent the regime internationally – something that he is no longer willing to do."

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Ivory Coast capital falls with limited fighting

The election loser Gbagbo's troops fled though that's not to say it's over. He has been reportedly re-buidling his own army and may be planning a counter attack.

Rebel forces in Ivory Coast have taken control of the official capital, as power seems to be slipping away from the president, Laurent Gbagbo.

Residents and military sources said troops loyal to Gbagbo's rival, Alassane Ouattara, had entered Yamoussoukro, meeting little resistance as security forces fled. The port city of San Pedro also fell.

Yamoussoukro residents told how they braced themselves for conflict before sporadic gunfire erupted. Serge Kipre, who runs a small clothing store in the city, said: "The night before, we were all calling each other to make sure nobody went outside. In the morning, I saw loads of police with balaclavas and Kalashnikovs racing across town. The market closed, shops shuttered. Everybody seemed on edge."

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