CNBC discovers its loves Obama

Anybody else think CNBC got orders to start making nice after Jon Stewart beat the crap out of them?

Read the rest of this post...

More on the snowy owl, from my nephew Andrew

Joe wrote on Saturday about a snowy owl that has taken up residence across the street from his condo. Well, my cousin Mark called today from Chicago to say that his son Andrew coincidentally just finished a first-grade report on the snowy owl, and Mark thought you might enjoy it. (Once you click the player, it pauses after each page - you can wait for the next page to start, or simply click the forward arrow.)



I do need to ask Mark how Andrew ended up with a Boston accent :-)

Read the rest of this post...

Arianna: What If Jon Stewart, Instead of John King, Interviewed Dick Cheney

Great concept, great article. Arianna was especially upset with the way CNN's John King couched his "hardest" questions for Cheney in terms like "some people say" that the economy was better before Bush took office (those people would be called "economists.") Here's Arianna:

"There are people..." "They would say..." "And they have some numbers to back up their case."

These are not some numbers that belong to some people being trotted to make their case. These numbers are actual data -- empirical evidence. It would be as if King were interviewing a flat-earther and asked him: "There are people on this planet, watching this interview right now, who would say that the earth is round. And they have some pictures taken from outer space to back up their case. So what would you say to someone out there who is saying that?"

King's desperate attempt to distance himself from the question would be laughable if it weren't so repellent. It's not him asking Cheney why we should listen to him. It's not him putting forward objective data. It's some strawman viewers, so please don't hold it against him. And please, please come back. And tell your friends.

This is the problem with King and too many in the Pontius Pilot traditional media: They are so caught up in the obsolete notion that the truth always lies in the middle, they have to pretend that there are two sides to every issue -- and even two sides to straightforward data.

Someone needs to kidnap King and take him to a deprogramming center -- preferably one run by Jon Stewart and his team.

Okay that made laugh. Read the rest of this post...

You do the math

December 23, 2008: American Express Will Get $3.39 Billion in TARP Funds

March 16, 2009: American Express paid CEO $27.3 million in 2008

(Hat tip to DU.) Read the rest of this post...

Europe with its head in the sand

Ah, Europe. Love em to death - in fact, some of my best family and cats are European. But Chris has been saying for a long time that European governments like to think of the economic crisis as an American problem that won't really affect them. I'd written the other day about the French Finance Minister scolding the US about being so late to the stimulus package game, and thus implying that France and Europe have the higher ground when it comes to confronting the economic crisis, and about how the minister suggested that the crisis was really an American problem.

It seems Nobel laureate in economics Paul Krugman n'est pas d'accord.

Krugman's article today walks you through Europe's handling of the crisis - shorter Krugman: they haven't done much, and have done a hell of a lot less than we have - and notes, repeatedly, that Europe's economic slump will be "at least" as bad as the US'. Krugman says that the European Central bank has refused to low interest rates sufficiently, and that monetary integration (adopting the Euro) has taken away the ability of individual countries to devalue their currency. What about stimulus? The European governments have spent far less, as a percentage of GDP, than we have, but just as bad, they have little incentive to spend any more. Because their economies are so interwoven, no government wants to be the lone actor paying for everyone else's stimulus (since France's stimulus, for example, would help Italy and Spain and Greece and everyone else in the EU). The other countries would be freeloaders. So, better to do nothing than offer your neighbors a little goodwill, or worse - eh gads! - actually put that "European nationality" to work and carve out a stimulus package with requirements for each EU country.

And of course, this affects us too. All of our economies are intertwined. A weak Europe will slow our recovery just as much as a weak American economy will slow the world. It seems the French Finance Minister, along with her Germany counterpart, are hell-bent on taking the rest of us down with them. I guess that's one way to reclaim your global leadership role - being at the front of the pack as we all plunge down the abyss. Read the rest of this post...

Even Republicans don't like Republican leaders: "The approval rating of GOP leaders among Republicans has plummeted 12 points in a month"

Greg Sargent took a look at the latest Pew Poll and found what two other recent polls, from Rasmussen and DailyKos, have also shown. Republicans don't like their Republican leaders:

The approval rating of GOP leaders among Republicans has plummeted 12 points in a month, down from 55% in February to a minority of 43% now. That’s striking.

Not only that, but approval of GOP leaders overall has dropped to 28% overall — the lowest rating for GOP leaders in 12 years of Pew polling.

In fact, approval of Republican congressional leaders has fallen from 34% in February to 28% currently, the lowest rating for GOP leaders in nearly 14 years of Pew Research surveys.

Why is this happening? Is it general lack of morale among Republicans? Is it that GOP voters are frustrated that their leaders haven’t succeeded in blocking Obama’s agenda? Or could it be that the Dem strategy of using Rush Limbaugh to drive a wedge between die-hard partisan Republicans and those who want to see Obama succeed is working? Something is turning Republicans against their own leadership — in big numbers.

Maybe even Republicans think taking money for nothing but talk is wrong. And, probably a few of them know that if Obama fails, the nation fails.

Read the rest of this post...

DC's AIDS crisis: "Our rates are higher than West Africa...They're on par with Uganda and some parts of Kenya."

AIDS is an epidemic in the capitol of the U.S. It's a very, very bad situation. This bleak news first appeared in the Washington Blade on Friday:

A report from the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention says Washington has the highest HIV death rate in the country, though the city’s infection rate improved slightly from 2006. The report, released last month, also says 871 new cases of HIV were reported in D.C. in 2007, the most recently completed calendar year the report considered.

Justin Goforth, head of the Whitman-Walker Clinic’s medical adherence unit, said the new data show that “here in D.C., we have an epidemic that’s out of control.”

Yesterday, it was front page in the Washington Post:

At least 3 percent of District residents have HIV or AIDS, a total that far surpasses the 1 percent threshold that constitutes a "generalized and severe" epidemic, according to a report scheduled to be released by health officials tomorrow.

That translates into 2,984 residents per every 100,000 over the age of 12 -- or 15,120 -- according to the 2008 epidemiology report by the District's HIV/AIDS office.

"Our rates are higher than West Africa," said Shannon L. Hader, director of the District's HIV/AIDS Administration, who once led the Federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's work in Zimbabwe. "They're on par with Uganda and some parts of Kenya."

"We have every mode of transmission" -- men having sex with men, heterosexual and injected drug use -- "going up, all on the rise, and we have to deal with them," Hader said.

The city needs to step up. The Federal government needs to step up. Sounds like DC may even need Bono to help focus attention on this tragedy.

While this crisis has been reaching epidemic proportions, Council Member David Catania has been on the attack against the Whitman-Walker clinic. It's apparently been going on for a couple months now and, frankly, that doesn't seem like the best use of anyone's time right now. This city is facing a very real crisis. The DC Council and Whitman-Walker need to stay focused on the real issues and not get distracted.

One of Whitman-Walker's newest board members, Justin Smith, has a blog, Justin's HIV Journal, where he uses facebook, youtube and other new media and social networking tools to educate younger people about HIV and AIDS.

Read the rest of this post...

Obama says NO to South Carolina Governor's stimulus scam

The Governor of South Carolina, Mark Sanford, trying to curry favor with the far right wing of the Republican Party (the ones who vote in presidential primaries and attend presidential caucuses, btw), wants to use federal stimulus dollars to pay his state's debt instead of rebuilding schools, for example.

Today, Obama, via OMB Director Peter Orszag, said NO to Sanford's scheme:

The Obama administration has rejected South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford's request to use $700 million in federal stimulus cash to pay down state debt.

White House Budget Director Peter Orszag (OHR'-zag) said in a letter to the Republican on Monday that the federal stimulus law doesn't allow President Barack Obama to make an exception for that cash. Sanford sought a waiver last week, asking to pay off debt rather than use the money to create jobs and avoid deep program cuts.

Don't mess with Orszag.

Now, keep in mind, Sanford pulled this stimulus stunt to garner attention. He got some of that attention in the form of an ad from the Democratic National Committee:

But that ad turned Sanford, the alleged tough guy who is standing up to Obama, into Sanford the whiny Governor who thinks the ad is mean and wants Obama to have it pulled. (Note to Governor Sanford: Toughen up. If you're this much of a baby now, Sarah Palin is going to make mincemeat out of you in the 2012 primaries.) Read the rest of this post...

Obama's pissed

He's going after AIG. Good.

President Obama publicly fumed today over plans by the bailed-out insurance giant AIG to reward it executives with $165 million worth of bonuses and asked his treasury secretary to "pursue every single legal avenue" to block them.

The insurance giant is paying out $165 million in retention bonuses to execs.

"This is a corporation that finds itself in financial distress due to recklessness and greed," the president said.

"Under these circumstances, it's hard to understand how derivative traders at AIG warranted any bonuses, much less $165 million in extra pay," Obama said today during a news conference announcing an aid program for small businesses. "How do they justify this outrage to the taxpayers who are keeping the company afloat?"

As my other friend Chris noted last night, if we just let AIG go bankrupt, then they won't have any of those pesky legal commitments to pay their staff hundreds of millions in bonuses. I'm not saying we dissolve the company - I'll leave it to wiser economic minds to determine whether that's safe for the rest of us. I'm talking put the company into bankruptcy and get rid of all of those pesky employee benefits contracts that Republicans love to rail against. Read the rest of this post...

Who does John Boehner think he is, AIG?

Must be nice being paid almost $200,000 a year to simply "communicate":

“As I told my colleagues, we don’t have enough votes to legislate,” said Representative John A. Boehner of Ohio, the Republican leader. “We are not in the majority. We are not kind-of in the minority; we are in a hole. They ought to get the idea out of their minds that they are legislators. But what they can be is communicators.”

The DNC has prepared a video response to Boehner:

Read the rest of this post...

AIG, outside of capitalism's reach

From Robert Reich:

Had AIG gone into chapter 11 bankruptcy or been liquidated, as it would have without government aid, no bonuses would ever be paid ... indeed, AIG's executives would have long ago been on the street ... This sordid story of government helplessness in the face of massive taxpayer commitments illustrates better than anything to date why the government should take over any institution that's "too big to fail" and which has cost taxpayers dearly. Such institutions are no longer within the capitalist system because they are no longer accountable to the market.

Read the rest of this post...

CNN's John King used far right wing paper to pose anti-Obama question to Cheney

Yesterday, I wrote about CNN's John King and his interview with Dick Cheney noting:

One should never expect much from John King when it comes to holding anyone from the Bush-Cheney administration accountable. That's why Cheney is on CNN with John King today.

It was even worse than expected. Yes, Cheney used the interview to bash Obama, but he was abetted in that effort by John King. To frame an anti-Obama question for Cheney, King actually used the far right-wing newspaper, Human Events, which, big surprise, had an anti-Obama headline. Seriously, that paper makes cult leader Rev. Moon's paper almost seem sane. But, CNN's star, John King, reads Human Events. He knows Dick Cheney does, too. Beyond pathetic. That screen capture below is something we'd expect to see in "The Onion." But, it's real. Media Matters caught the clip:

Or what Atrios says succinctly:

John King is so awful.

Read the rest of this post...

Public's anger at banks and Wall Street could end up hurting Obama's agenda

The growing (and well-deserved) backlash against the banking industry and Wall Street could hinder progress on other issue fronts -- that's a concern of Team Obama according to Adam Nagourney at the NY Times. AIG's bonuses sure don't help:

The Obama administration is increasingly concerned about a populist backlash against banks and Wall Street, worried that anger at financial institutions could also end up being directed at Congress and the White House and could complicate President Obama’s agenda.

The administration’s sharp rebuke of the American International Group on Sunday for handing out $165 million in executive bonuses — Lawrence H. Summers, director of the president’s National Economic Council, described it as “outrageous” on “This Week” on ABC — marks the latest effort by the White House to distance itself from abuses that could feed potentially disruptive public anger.

“We’ve got enormous problems that need to be addressed,” David Axelrod, Mr. Obama’s senior adviser, said in an interview. “And it’s hard to address because there’s a lot of anger about the irresponsibility that led us to this point.”

“This has been welling up for a long time,” he said.

Mr. Obama’s aides said any surge of such a sentiment could complicate efforts to win Congressional approval for the additional bailout packages that Mr. Obama has signaled will be necessary to stabilize the banking system.

It's like an evil plot cooked up by the mad policy-makers in the Bush White House: Let's destroy the economy and ruin the banking system. We'll start to "fix" it in a way that won't work. Then, Obama will inherit the mess and when he tries to solve it, there will be a populist backlash and he'll never pass his agenda. The scariest thing is that it could work.

Read the rest of this post...

Monday Morning Open Thread

Good morning.

I think the three letters we'll be hearing most this week are: A, I and G. It's just phenomenal how tone deaf a lot of these business people are. We thought George Bush lived in a bubble. Apparently, the leaders of corporate America were in there with him...and together, they almost destroyed the economy of the U.S. -- and the world. And, while FOX gave constant cover to Bush and the GOP, CNBC did the same for corporate leaders.

It should be another interesting week...let's get it started. Read the rest of this post...

Latest victims of the credit crunch

North Atlantic right whales.

Monitoring for endangered right whales off New York harbor is ending because the project has lost financing in the current budget crunch.

Acoustic monitoring by Cornell scientists shows the rare right whales swimming off the harbor, where federal officials have recently lowered ship speed limits to help protect the slow-moving mammals during migrations from Florida to New England and Canada.

Officials say monitors that have recorded the whales' calls south of Long Island for a year are not being replaced.

Biologists estimate 300 to 400 North Atlantic right whales remain, having been fished to commercial extinction a century ago and vulnerable now to ship collisions and entanglement in fishing gear.

Read the rest of this post...

CEOs list US health care as liability in global market

Yet the GOP keeps telling us it's the best system in the world. Well, when they're not blaming everything on lawyers, because they know that insurance companies, pharmaceuticals and doctors have nothing to do with the problems.

The report from the Business Roundtable, which represents CEOs of major companies, says America's health care system has become a liability in a global economy.

Concern about high U.S. costs has existed for years, and business executives — whose companies provide health coverage for workers — have long called for getting costs under control. Now President Barack Obama says the costs have become unsustainable and the system must be overhauled.

Americans spend $2.4 trillion a year on health care. The Business Roundtable report says Americans in 2006 spent $1,928 per capita on health care, at least two-and-a-half times more per person than any other advanced country.

In a different twist, the report took those costs and factored benefits into the equation.

It compares statistics on life expectancy, death rates and even cholesterol readings and blood pressures. The health measures are factored together with costs into a 100-point "value" scale. That hasn't been done before, the authors said.

The results are not encouraging.

The United States is 23 points behind five leading economic competitors: Canada, Japan, Germany, the United Kingdom and France. The five nations cover all their citizens, and though their systems differ, in each country the government plays a much larger role than in the U.S.

The cost-benefit disparity is even wider — 46 points — when the U.S. is compared with emerging competitors: China, Brazil and India.

Not to pick on the many qualities of the emerging markets, but how pathetic is it to be losing to China, Brazil and India? Only the GOP could think that a little tweaking here and there could solve this embarrassing problem. Read the rest of this post...