Rough day for economic news

Considering the positive movement in the market on OK news, the downside today could have been much worse, though there has been a good amount of selling today. The ADP jobs report shows that unemployment remains stubbornly high and that will be the key number to watch as we move out of the worst of the recession. On top of that factory orders were down and the dollar and oil have recovered a little but they're still in bad territory. And then there was Bernanke talking about the need to start addressing deficits. It's true but it's tough to tackle that problem when there are so many other fires to put out. Maybe some good news is out there waiting to stop the bleeding tomorrow.

Worse-than-expected data on factory orders and the services industry triggered a sell-off in stocks Wednesday following four days of gains.

Many analysts said a pullback was due after such a strong rise this week, which sent the Standard & Poor's 500 index and Nasdaq composite to their highest levels this year.

Market indicators fell at least 1.4 percent, including the Dow Jones industrial average, which lost more than 120 points.

Stocks have surged more than 30 percent since early March on encouraging signs in banking, the housing market and consumer confidence, but many analysts say investors need to see more convincing signs of growth before sending stocks back up again.

Read the rest of this post...

Rush upset with Newt for retracting "racist" claim about Sotomayor

When even the far-right extremist running the GOP start to disagree with themselves, you know the party is truly in trouble. Read the rest of this post...

Congressman snarls traffic at DC's National Airport, hundreds stuck waiting on planes

An unknown congressman decided he wanted to get off his flight after it left the gate. The plane turned around, pulled back into the gate, blocked our plane from pulling in, and inconvenienced nearly 200 people stuck on the Tarmac for the past hour as a result. Imagine if you or I demanded they turn around a plane and make 200 people sit for an hour. Absolutely amazing. Read the rest of this post...

Betty Bowers explains traditional marriage

Betty Bowyers is America's greatest Christian. She's a fabulous creation, and this video is actually rather interesting, in addition to rather hysterical. Betty walks us through the Bible's definition of traditional marriage. (H/t JoeMyGod)

Read the rest of this post...

Margaret and Helen crack me up

Reader Fiona sent me a link to a blog called "Margaret and Helen." It's a blog (allegedly) by two American women in their 80s, best friends for sixty years, who then moved apart, and one of their grandsons figured a great way for them to stay in touch - blog together. The blog is hysterical. It's extremely well written, but the thing that hooked me is that it has that direct, forthright, no holds barred and no bs American style of speaking and writing that I love so much. Do check it out. I mean, who else could get away with calling Dick Cheney and Sarah Palin a bitch in the same paragraph, other than a feisty 80 year old grandma?

Let me share with you a bit of their current top post:

Let me tell you a little story about my shit for brains nephew who actually does live in California. He was married ten years and had two children. Sadly, it didn’t work out. Honestly she was horrible, but you never really want to see a marriage end. So we were all a little sad when she left and he fell apart. Eventually he got his shit together, picked up the pieces and met another girl. I don’t like her much, but she makes him happy so what do I care if they want to get married? However, the Catholic church cared a great deal. You see, he was still married in the eyes of the church even though his moron of an ex-wife had been gone 4 years. And the new one is also divorced… and (oh my) a Baptist.

Problem? Not for long. Two annulments later and wallah – they were never married. Never mind the kids. Bastards all of them I guess. Funny but I didn’t know the Catholic church could annul a Baptist marriage, but you live and learn.

I’ve lived a long time and I have learned many things. For instance, I now know that even if the marriage is annulled, you don’t get your wedding gift back. I also learned that the previously married then divorced then never really married and now newly engaged couple can actually have the gall to print on their invitation where they are registered. As if that blender I purchased for the first wedding was annulled as well. But I digress…

Brilliant stuff. Read the rest of this post...

Obama wants public option in health care bill -- and wants it done by October

Following up on yesterday's White House health care reform strategy session with a group of Democratic Senators, today, the President sent a letter to Senators Kennedy and Baucus reiterating his support for the public option. We got a copy of the letter:

The plans you are discussing embody my core belief that Americans should have better choices for health insurance, building on the principle that if they like the coverage they have now, they can keep it, while seeing their costs lowered as our reforms take hold. But for those who don't have such options, I agree that we should create a health insurance exchange -- a market where Americans can one-stop shop for a health care plan, compare benefits and prices, and choose the plan that's best for them, in the same way that Members of Congress and their families can. None of these plans should deny coverage on the basis of a preexisting condition, and all of these plans should include an affordable basic benefit package that includes prevention, and protection against catastrophic costs. I strongly believe that Americans should have the choice of a public health insurance option operating alongside private plans. This will give them a better range of choices, make the health care market more competitive, and keep insurance companies honest.

I want health care like members of Congress and their families have. Actually, if members of Congress and their families had health insurance like most of us have, this system would have been changed years ago. But, we are where we are. And, we're ready for real health care reform legislation to pass.

According to The Hill, this progress on the public option should make us liberals happy:

By plunging into the details of the reform rather than cheering from the sidelines, as he has done for months, Obama raises the political stakes for the summer’s big legislative battle, and will hearten liberals who have yearned for his intervention to put a public sector option on the table.

Health Care for America Now (HCAN) liked Obama's letter:

We are thrilled to see President Obama's strong, unambiguous commitment to reform that includes the choice of keeping private health insurance or joining a new public health insurance option. The choice of a new public health insurance plan is the only way to control costs, guarantee coverage, ensure quality and transparency, and set a benchmark by which patients will know whether their private health insurance is truly giving them what they're paying for.

There is tremendous unity among President Obama, key committee leadership in both the House and the Senate, the broad coalition represented by Health Care for America Now, and the American people for reform based on the choice of private or public health insurance plans. It is now clearer than ever that this choice will be a fundamental part of the reform sent to the President's desk this year.

Okay. Let's get this moving NOW. The public option is going to send the insurance industry into a lobbying frenzy. But, it has to be part of the package.

Obama wants the legislation on his desk by October. Congress better get it done. And, better not screw it up. There's such great potential for that. Read the rest of this post...

And New Hampshire makes six: House and Senate pass revised same sex marriage law. Governor Lynch will sign it tonight.

UPDATE @ 5:49 PM: It's official. The Governor of New Hampshire signed the same-sex marriage bill into law.
________________
Major progress today in the quest for equality. A big win in New Hampshire finally comes through:

The New Hampshire House has approved a bill to strengthen legal protections for religious organizations related to same-sex marriage, and the governor says he will sign same-sex marriage into law.

The House approved the measure on a vote of 198-176. Supporters of same-sex marriage erupted in cheers and applause as the total was announced.

Gov. John Lynch announced that he would sign the same-sex marriage bill into law on Wednesday evening.

The House vote followed the Senate approving the bill on a 14-10 party-line vote.

Congrats to everyone who worked so hard and diligently to make this happen.

And, this just give more impetus to our friends at the White House to re-think their out-dated strategy on marriage equality. Read the rest of this post...

"Average, every-day white guy" Lindsey Graham is still peeved about Sotomayor's comments

I am not going to make any snarky remarks about Lindsey Graham calling himself "an average, every-day white guy." I'm not. But, Lindsey isn't happy right now. And, he can be a real drama queen when he's mad. I bet lot of "average, every-day white guys" could find some distinctions with Senator Graham:

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said he remained concerned about Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor's 2001 remark that a "wise Latina" might make a better judge than a white male, even after meeting her for more than 30 minutes this afternoon.

"My criticism about her comment and the speech that she gave wasn't that I think this lady is a racist," Graham said, later continuing: "There is no evidence of that, but this statement is troubling and I did tell her this, 'If I said it, it would be over for me. No matter how well-intentioned I was and no matter how much I tried to put it in context, that would be it.' And you all know that."

He added, "being an average, every-day white guy ... that does not exactly make me feel good hearing a sitting judge say that."

I will, however, include this excerpt from a post John wrote in December:

Now, I don't know if the unmarried Senator Graham is straight or gay. I do know that, as a gay man myself, Lindsey Graham makes me look straight. If someone put a gun to my head and made me guess whether Graham was straight or gay, I wouldn't hesitate to venture that he's a flaming homosexual because he looks and sounds like a flaming homosexual. And I've rarely met a straight man who flames, and then turns out to be actually straight.

And, I have to agree. Read the rest of this post...

Is Sears too big to survive?

I'm going to be writing tomorrow, once I get back to DC, about an ongoing conversation I'm having with Sears. I have a call in to Shirley Bicknell with their corporate communications folks today, so will add that to my piece for tomorrow. It's a long story, but it's part of the larger allegory of how corporate America has not only gotten too big to fail, but in some cases, like Sears, I worry that maybe they've gotten too big to survive. Meaning, companies like Sears have gotten so large, and so "corporate," that the customer no longer matters. And in the end, that will only make customers flee companies like Sears, simply out of the fear that the customer will have no redress if the product fails - partly because the company sends the message that it simply no longer cares about service, but also because the company may not be around for much longer. And that will only hasten Sears' demise. In this kind of economy, none of us can afford to buy products from companies that aren't willing, or able, to fully stand behind their products.

Much more tomorrow, including a new ad campaign I'll be launching about Sears' products and customer service. Suffice it to say, I'm pissed, and am more than happy to expose Sears' malfeasance in the slim hope that other customers in the future won't have to go through what I'm going with them right now. Stay tuned.

SNEAK PREVIEW: Don't even think of buying a bed from Sears. More tomorrow, but you've been warned. Read the rest of this post...

Air France received bomb threat on other South-America-to-Paris flight only days ago

Creepy, but it would be helpful to know how often airlines receive such threats. Is it a regular occurrence, a troubling rare coincidence, or more? Video from ABC as well. And more updates on the search. Read the rest of this post...

Glenn Beck, in his own words

The scene is fantasy. The words are verbatim from Glenn Beck's book. The actors are the wonderful Andy Cobb and Beth Farmer. We report, you decide whether incest is appropriate entertainment for a guy working for the family values network and the family values party.

Read the rest of this post...

Sen. Menendez: Some immigrants are more equal than others

In George Orwell's "Animal Farm," the animals have just taken over the farm and overthrown their human oppressors. And while at first it's a utopian paradise, the pigs slowly start to establish themselves as the dominant animals, to the detriment of all others. The animals initially live by the motto "All Animals are Equal." But then, one day, they wake up to find the motto has suddenly and mysteriously changed to:

All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.

Some in the immigration reform community are threatening to pull out of an immigration reform package unless Congress boots the gays. And judging by the Obama administration's seeming infatuation with everything Hispanic, and paranoid fear of anything gay, I'll leave you to consider whether the White House and the Congress will be defending us in this battle, or whether they'll let the bigots in the immigration reform community establish a precedent where some immigrants are more equal than others.

This is what happens when you try to build coalitions with bad people. The immigration reform community tried to get the Catholic church, and worse, the evangelicals on board. And what happens as a result? Now we're having Sophie's Choice discussions about which immigrants we should throw to the wolves. I would think that some in the immigration reform community wouldn't be so thrilled about putting the rights of specific immigrant communities up to a popular vote, because I doubt the gays would be the only ones booted if we asked the public which minorities we should let in and which we should keep out.

Advancing the gay rights language “will backfire exponentially” on the effort to win passage of immigration reforms, Rodriguez said. “Good luck trying to pass comprehensive immigration reform without the faith community behind you.”

Fine, then keep them all out. That's a much better alternative than, once again, having Congress and the Obama administration chuck the gays overboard.

Oh, and one more thing, the Democrats are already screwing us. Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ) has legislation that, of course, includes everyone but the gays. Menendez' excuse? We wouldn't want to create a new category of immigrant. Oh, why is that? Menendez then says that he doesn't need to include gays in a comprehensive bill because we're already included in a second, stand-alone bill that isn't going anywhere. I.e., go to hell.

And just FYI, but Senator Menendez also heads the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. They're the group in charge of hitting you up for money so we can elect even more anti-gay Democrats to the Senate. Maybe it's time the gays told Mendendez that so long as he's going to side with anti-gay bigots, he can seek his money elsewhere. Maybe Menendez' new religious right buddies will him elect more Dems to Congress when the gays take a walk. Read the rest of this post...

The battle over Sotomayor rages -- within the GOP

The battle for the confirmation of Sonia Sotomayor isn't talking place in the U.S. Senate. Most people understand that she's going to get confirmed, probably this summer. Her nomination really isn't that controversial.

But, there is a battle raging over the nomination -- an intra-GOP battle.

In one corner are some GOP Senators who are trying to be politically pragmatic. One of them is Senator John Cornyn (R-TX), who has flip-flopped on whether or not to filibuster Sotomayor. Over the weekend, Cornyn "wouldn't rule out a filibuster." Yesterday, he switched to being against the filibuster:

“We don’t have enough Republicans to filibuster even if we wanted to, which I don’t think we do,” said Senator John Cornyn, Republican of Texas and a member of the Judiciary Committee.

Cornyn runs the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC), which is charged with electing more Republican Senators. Things haven't been going so well for the NRSC. Back in 2006, there were 55 members of the GOP caucus. Now, there are 40. So, Cornyn is trying to look beyond the narrow, extreme base. But, in the GOP, that's really not feasible.

In the other corner are the extreme, right wing activists in the GOP who want a filibuster -- and, right now, they seem to be running the party:

Conservative activists are pressing Senate Republicans to put up stiff opposition to Sotomayor.

The Third Branch Conference, a coalition of conservatives including David Keene, chairman of the American Conservative Union; Grover Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform; and Gary Bauer, president of American Values, signed a letter to GOP leaders urging them to consider a filibuster of Sotomayor. The effort was organized by Third Branch Chairman Manuel Miranda.

Throw in Rush and Newt and that's pretty much the leadership of GOP these days.

Miranda, used to work for the Senate Republicans, but got involved in a scandal, for which some of those Republican Senators ended up referring him to the Justice Department. Sounds like Miranda is bitter. Now, he's taken to calling GOP Senators "limp-wristed."

While Sotomayor proceeds towards her seat on the Supreme Court, the Republicans are waging a proxy battle for control of their party. My money in this fight is on the activists. They'll make the Republican Senators cave. They always do. Read the rest of this post...

Not the freaking point

From CNNMoney:

Perhaps the most controversial proposal tied to health care reform, Obama backs public insurance plans as an alternative to commercial plans, intended to offer coverage to those who currently can't afford insurance.

Wrong wrong wrong. Unless Congress can figure out how to force companies like Blue Cross to give us coverage that doesn't cost an arm and a leg, that doesn't go up in cost 25% a year, that doesn't cap prescription benefits at $1500 a year (and never increase), that doesn't set lifetime limits on your coverage (meaning, if you get really sick, you die) - unless all of that happens, then the public plan is about much more than helping the poor. It's about helping all of us who can't get comprehensive insurance at a decent price - nay, at any price. Read the rest of this post...

Dick Cheney couldn't get the GOP nomination in 2012. He's too gay-friendly.

CNN is reporting that there's no frontrunner for the 2012 GOP nomination (It is just mid-2009, but never too early to obsess.)

Over at US News.com, there's speculation that Dick Cheney is "testing the waters":

The sudden re-emergence on the political scene of former Vice President Dick Cheney is somewhat puzzling. Why would a man who has occupied positions of authority in Congress and the White House, been a success in business, and has a wife who works outside the home want to re-enter the arena when he didn't have to? Could it be that he is testing the waters for a 2012 run for the Republican presidential nomination?

Interesting. But, here's the thing. Cheney would sink. For the most part, the crazy Republicans love Cheney. But, he likes the gays and supports gay marriage. That's a deal breaker in today's Republican Party. The religious right would never allow it.

Even Dick Cheney isn't extreme enough for his party anymore. Read the rest of this post...

Wednesday Morning Open Thread

Good morning.

Your president is in Saudi Arabia today. He'll be delivering a major address to the Muslim world from Cairo tomorrow.

Yesterday, Obama had a meeting with Democratic Senators to talk about health care reform. I'm getting a little worried. Democratic Senators really have the capacity to screw this up. They get lost in their own little world up there on Capitol Hill. Keep an eye on Senator Max Baucus (D-MT). He's the chair of the Senate Finance Committee. Right now, seems like he's more obsessed with bi-partisanship than good policy.

Let's get it started... Read the rest of this post...

Oil surging on weak dollar

The Saudi forecast still sound too high but the trend with both the dollar and oil prices is not encouraging. Economy recovery seems like less of a factor in the oil price surge as opposed to the weakening dollar. When the government prints money, this is bound to happen and in general the effects of the stimulus plan have yet to be realized. Once they kick in the focus could easily then to the positive aspects of the US economy compared to the sluggishness of other economies. This is all assuming the US economy shows positive signs late this year or early 2010. Then we have to hope that inflation doesn't become the primary issue and lead the US down, again.

Oil prices hovered above $68 a barrel Wednesday in Asia near a seven-month high as investors sought a safe haven in commodities from a weaker U.S. dollar and inflation.

Benchmark crude for July delivery was up 9 cents to $68.64 a barrel by midday in Singapore in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. On Tuesday, the contract slipped 3 cents to settle at $68.55.

Oil prices have doubled since March amid signs that the worst of a severe recession in the U.S. may be over. Some investors are also concerned that the massive fiscal and monetary stimulus package unleashed this year will spark inflation and undermine the dollar, which has fallen sharply against the euro.

"This is not so much driven by the expectation of an economic recovery, but to new money seeking an inflation hedge," said Marius Botha, who helps manage a commodities hedge fund for London-based Threadneedle.

Read the rest of this post...

Australia avoids recession, for now

In this climate, this is very good news. Sure, imports have dropped and tough days are still ahead but quite a few countries would be willing to trade places today. Reuters:

Australia's economy expanded last quarter as the best trade performance in 48 years helped offset a slump in business and housing investment, putting it among the very few developed nations to have avoided a recession.

The Australian dollar hit eight-month highs as the economy's resilience was seen lessening the need for further easing from the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA).

"We've dodged the recession bullet for the time being," said Michael Blythe, chief economist at Commonwealth Bank. "It's stronger than the RBA was expecting, and it reinforces the 'on-hold for the time being' message."

Speaking of the dollar, the US greenback has been kicked hard lately. After strengthening for a while it's falling back against many currencies. Some suggest that the US dollar is suffering from the massive intervention by the government (the bailouts and rescue plan) though the US is not the only industrialized country with significant debt issues. When the economy turns this is likely to go away but in the near term the dollar looks soft. Read the rest of this post...

New Zealand rated safest in world

Sure, if you like peace and tranquility.

New Zealand is now officially your best bet for a risk-free destination, according to the new Global Peace Index (GPI), an annual ranking of the world's nations on the basis of how peaceful they are.

Despite the much-vaunted progress on security, Iraq remained bottom of the list, below Afghanistan, Somalia and Israel, which found itself listed as more dangerous than Sudan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. At the top, the usual Nordic suspects clustered below New Zealand: Denmark, Norway and Iceland came second, third and fourth, followed by Austria and then Sweden.

Britain was 35th: better than last year, and one position higher than Italy, but still below most of Europe and countries as diverse as Botswana, South Korea, Malaysia and Qatar.

The United States has clawed its way up six places to 83rd – still weighed down by two foreign wars, a high prison population and the general availability of guns. Its slight rise was attributed to the number of years since 9/11 that the country has avoided a terrorist attack, and the relative decline of other countries.

Read the rest of this post...

The latest on the Air France tragedy

This article seems to contain detailed descriptions of wreckage that must be the plane. Read the rest of this post...