Olbermann speaks

He's not backing down. Good for him. Read the rest of this post...

Video: Deer jumps through the window of a bar

We've all been there.

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Banks lobbying to turn back the clock on Basel III regulations

In other words, it's either bonus cash for bankers or security for taxpayers who bailed out the banks. Nice job of playing the "remove regulations or we're all going to die" card, again. Why should anyone let the banks gamble again?

Some of the biggest trade finance providers, led by HSBC and Standard Chartered, are lobbying to have tough capital rules toned down, warning that if they are not, world trade could be severely hampered.

HSBC, among the banks that dominate the trade finance market, said last week that it was not prepared to forecast its future capital ratios under the Basel III regime, mainly because of the unfairness of the rules’ treatment of trade finance, one of its core businesses.

Most banks have begun detailing the impact that the rules – which increase assets’ risk weightings and narrow the definition of core capital – will have on capital ratios.

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Texas facing $25 billion budget gap

Remind me again why some are talking about a Governor Perry for 2012 campaign? How exactly does one run up such a massive financial problem with the Republicans in charge of the government? Are these the same Republicans who always have every answer for sound fiscal policy? Texas is about as bad as the GOP in Washington during the Bush years.

The Republicans are financial experts.

Texas faces a budget crisis of truly daunting proportions, with lawmakers likely to cut sacrosanct programs such as education for the first time in memory and to lay off hundreds if not thousands of state workers and public university employees.

Texas' GOP leaders, their eyes on the Nov. 2 election, have played down the problem's size, even as the hole in the next two-year cycle has grown in recent weeks to as much as $24 billion to $25 billion. That's about 25 percent of current spending.

The gap is now proportionately larger than the deficit California recently closed with cuts and fee increases, its fourth dose of budget misery since September 2008.

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Airports cashing in on 'express security' lanes

The idea is that you basically cut in the security line if you pay more money.  So far this hasn't come to the US (as far as I noticed) though it won't be a surprise if it does. This is a horrible idea.

At least eight have introduced the system and are charging travellers up to £5 to beat the queues.

A whistleblower security guard at Luton Airport, which adopted the system last year, claimed there is a deliberate policy to let the queues grow to encourage people to pay for the express lane.

The claim was made as travellers were warned to expect more stringent checks in the wake of the cargo plane terror plot emanating from Yemen.

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Dead coral near BP well may be connected to oil spill

Could the dead coral seven miles away from the worst oil spill in US history really be linked to the BP disaster? The suspense is killing me. Not to worry though because now that Joe "I apologize" Barton is planning to take up his leadership position with the House Energy Committee, there will be nothing other than new apologies. By the time he's finished, the dead coral will be apologizing to BP for stealing it's oil without payment.

A survey of the seafloor near BP’s blown-out well in the Gulf of Mexico has turned up dead and dying coral reefs that were probably damaged by the oil spill, scientists said Friday.

The coral sites lie seven miles southwest of the well, at a depth of about 4,500 feet, in an area where large plumes of dispersed oil were discovered drifting through the deep ocean last spring in the weeks after the spill.

The large areas of darkened coral and other damaged marine organisms were almost certainly dying from exposure to toxic substances, scientists said.

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Nicholas Kristof: 'Is our economic priority the jobless, or is it zillionaires?'

The answer with the incoming Congress is clear. It's all about the zillionaires.

And if Republicans are worried about long-term budget deficits, a reasonable concern, why are they insistent on two steps that nonpartisan economists say would worsen the deficits by more than $800 billion over a decade — cutting taxes for the most opulent, and repealing health care reform? What other programs would they cut to make up the lost $800 billion in revenue?

In weighing these issues, let’s remember that backdrop of America’s rising inequality.

In the past, many of us acquiesced in discomfiting levels of inequality because we perceived a tradeoff between equity and economic growth. But there’s evidence that the levels of inequality we’ve now reached may actually suppress growth. A drop of inequality lubricates economic growth, but too much may gum it up.

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Beating up journalists is apparently a new sport in Russia

This keeps happening. It's getting bad.

A reporter for a suburban Moscow paper was beaten up Monday, two days after another Moscow journalist was bludgeoned on the head, arms and legs in a brutal attack that was captured on video and has caused a national uproar.

No motivation for either attack has been determined, but both men wrote about efforts to stop developers from cutting down trees in forests around Moscow to build highways. In addition, an opposition activist also trying to protect the Khimki forest near Moscow had his skull fractured in assault last week.

Interesting how bad things keep happening to environmentalists in Russia. Read the rest of this post...

Glenn Greenwald 'debates' MSNBC's Lawrence O'Donnell

I don't want to say too much about this; I'll leave that to you, as you mutter your own reactions to yourself. But I think the following video is both instructive and a pointer to the future of MSNBC.

It features Glenn Greenwald and rising MSNBC star Lawrence O'Donnell on the Morning Joe program arguing: (1) What O'Donnell did or did not say about progressive losses on air on election night; (2) Whether Blue Dogs are necessary for a winning Dem coalition; and (3) What metric should be used to determine whether the country is left-leaning or right-ish.

There's also the question of tone, which in this case is part of the content. Watch:



Instructive: The clip lays bare the bones of the debate we always have about whether Blue Dogs types are a necessity (O'Donnell) or a roadblock (Greenwald).

The future of MSNBC: If I were the devil whispering in Comcast Bushie Steve Burke's ear, my mutterings would include O'Donnell's name.

Much to think about.

For a reference to what was actually said on election night, Greenwald has published excepts from the transcript at his Salon site. Greenwald's original comments on election night coverage, to which O'Donnell refers, are here. It's worth a click to read them.

GP Read the rest of this post...

Should Medicare pay $93,000 for a cancer treatment drug?

Certainly if a country can afford to fund Wall Street bonuses at a considerably greater cost, this should be a no-brainer. That said, this does bring up again the debate about drug costs and the extravagant pay in Big Pharma.

It remains a mystery why Washington - Democrats and Republicans alike - fail to negotiate with the pharmaceutical industry. In the real world and in my own experience with foreign national health care organizations, it simply does not work that way. When you are a major buyer, you negotiate price. Period. The US doesn't which is why the industry tends to charge twice the amount to US customers as they do for other global customers. Many times these drugs are developed overseas by foreign corporations so it's hard to explain why the US has the pleasure of paying the highest price.

While we're having this discussion, what about US insurance companies? When my father was dying from cancer (side effects, actually) his insurance company refused to pay for leading edge drugs though the doctor did point him towards a Big Pharma test that was kind enough to initially offer him the luxury of paying $27,000 out of his own pocket - no help from anyone - for being a guinea pig. They just as quickly then denied him that option when they determined he was not healthy enough to help them show strong results.

Medicare ought to negotiate and pay the damned bill. This is especially the case if this impacts African-Americans at a disproportionate rate. African-Americans have been hit hard enough with the last two recessions, so if offering a few more months is what they want, do it.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, which dictate what treatments the massive federal health-insurance program for the elderly will cover, is running a "national coverage analysis" of Provenge, the first vaccine approved for treating any cancer. The treatment costs $93,000 a patient and has been shown to extend patients' lives by about four months.

Although Medicare is not supposed to take cost into consideration when making such rulings, the decision to launch a formal examination has raised concerns among cancer experts, drug companies, lawmakers, prostate cancer patients and advocacy groups.

Provenge, which was approved for advanced prostate cancer in April, is the latest in a series of new high-priced cancer treatments that appear to eke out only a few more months of life, prompting alarm about their cost.

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Bill Maher: The right and the left aren't equally crazy

And finally, New Rule, if you're going to have a rally where hundreds of thousands of people show up, you might as well go ahead and make it about something. With all due respect to my friends Jon and Stephen, it seems to me that if you truly wanted to come down on the side of restoring sanity and reason, you'd side with the sane and the reasonable, and not try to pretend that the insanity is equally distributed in both parties.

Keith Olbermann is right, when he says he's not the equivalent of Glenn Beck. One reports facts, the other one is very close to playing with his poop.

And the big mistake of modern media has been this notion of balance for balance's sake, that the left is just as violent and cruel as the right, that unions are just as powerful as corporations, that reverse racism is just as damaging as racism. There's a difference between a mad man, and a madman.

Now, getting over 200,000 people to come to a liberal rally is a great achievement, and gave me hope. And what I really loved about it was that it was twice the size of the Glenn Beck crowd on the Mall in August! Although it weighed the same.
But the message of the rally, as I heard it, was that if the media would just stop giving voice to the crazies on both sides, then maybe we could restore sanity. It was all non-partisan, and urged cooperation with the moderates on the other side, forgetting that Obama tried that, and found out there are no moderates on the other side.

When Jon announced his rally, he said that the national conversation is dominated by people on the right who believe Obama's a socialist, and people on the left who believe 9/11 was an inside job. But I can't name any Democratic leaders who think 9/11 was an inside job. But Republican leaders who think Obama's a socialist? All of them! McCain, Boehner, Cantor, Palin, all of them! It's now official Republican dogma, like tax cuts pay for themselves, and gay men just haven't met the right woman.

As another example of both sides using overheated rhetoric, Jon cited the right equating Obama with Hitler, and the left calling Bush a war criminal. Except thinking Obama is like Hitler is utterly unfounded, but thinking Bush is a war criminal? That's the opinion of General Anthony Taguba, who headed the Army's investigation into Abu Ghraib.

You see, Republicans keep staking out a position that is further and further right, and then demand Democrats meet them in the middle, which is now not the middle anymore. That's the reason health care reform is so watered down; it's Bob Dole's old plan from 1994. Same thing with cap-and-trade; it was the first President Bush's plan to deal with carbon emissions. Now the Republican plan for climate change is to claim it's a hoax.

But it's not. I know that because I've lived in L.A. since '83, and there's been a change in the city: I can see it now. All of us who live out here have had that experience. Oh look, there's a mountain there! Government, led by liberal Democrats, passed laws which changed the air I breathe for the better. OK, I'm for them! And not for the party that is, as we speak, plotting to abolish the EPA. And I don't need to pretend that both sides have a point here. And I don't care what left or right commentators say about it; I only care what climate scientists say about it.

Two opposing sides don't necessarily have two compelling arguments. Martin Luther King spoke on that Mall in the capitol, and he didn't say, "Remember folks, those Southern sheriffs with the fire hoses and the German shepherds, they have a point too!" No, he said, "I have a dream, they have a nightmare!" This isn't Team Edward and Team Jacob. Liberals, like the ones on that field, must stand up and be counted, and not pretend that we're as mean or greedy or short-sighted or just plain batshit as they are. And if that's too polarizing for you, and you still want to reach across the aisle and hold hands and sing with someone on the right, try church!

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Banks under fire for failing to live up to terms of modified loans

It makes no sense at all for banks to agree to modified loan terms and then revert back to the original terms. Of course they're telling a different story but for obvious reasons there's little reason to believe them any more. They consistently play by whatever rules they find can benefit them the most and the federal government all too often allows them to get away with it. Fortunately a number of states are suing them and when you see the consistent problems across the country, it is hard to accept the story churned out by the banks.

How many more chances will the banks get before a grown up decides to step in and apply the rules? It's annoying that consumers continue to be treated differently than the banks.

Attorney Shennan Alexandra Kavanagh said several of the plaintiffs lost their homes after their payments reverted to their original sums that they were unable to pay. She said she believes tens of thousands of borrowers in Massachusetts alone could be covered by the suits if they get class-action status.

One of the lawsuits, against Bank of America Corp., was consolidated earlier this month with similar complaints in five other states, Kavanagh said.

Bank of America spokeswoman Shirley Norton said in an e-mail that the lender will continue aggressively defending itself against the cases.

More lawsuits have been filed against other lenders elsewhere.

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Obama expresses frustration, again, with Democrats who are disappointed in him

Obama on 60 Minutes:

Obama also expressed impatience with his liberal supporters for not understanding the deep divisions in the country – and that overcoming them was not simply a matter of a better message.

“I will say that when it comes to some of-- my supporters— part of it, I think, is-- the belief that if I just communicated things better, that I’d be able to persuade-- that half of the country that voted for John McCain that we were right and they were wrong.

“One of the things that I think is important for people to remember is that-- you know, this country-- doesn’t just agree with the New York Times editorial page. And, I can make some really good arguments-- defending the Democratic position. And there are going to be some people who just don’t agree with me. And that’s okay.”

Huh? Who asked you to explain anything to John McCain voters? Who cares what John McCain voters think? Did someone tell the President that we're disappointed with him because he hasn't gotten McCain voters on board? Hell, he's the only one whose mission in life is wooing people who are unwooable.  The majority of the country voted for Obama, they're the only ones he should be worried about convincing.

Second, when has this President defended the Democratic position on anything? He gives some speeches, occasionally, but launch an all-out "defense" of Democratic positions? Seriously? He thinks he's been doing that?  He honestly thinks he's fought as hard as he could for his promises?  Seriously?  Did I miss the part where the President asked for the full $1.5 to $2 trillion stimulus that the top economists told him we needed?  And even if the President believed he couldn't get the full stimulus, did I miss the part where he asked for the larger amount anyway, so he could blame the GOP for today's economic woes?  That certainly wasn't one of those moments in which the President now laments he was being too partisan.

No one is asking President Obama to "make some really good arguments," like this is law school.  We're asking him to fight for something, anything at this point.

Things are not going to get better until the President understands the problem.  And he clearly doesn't. Read the rest of this post...

Obama's visit to India is about business deals and jobs

Heaven forbid Obama has the nerve to help US business generate revenue and create new jobs in America. The GOP worked itself into a frenzy with their usual insanity and odd conspiracies though the reality was ever so slightly different. Of course, from the GOP's perspective, if the administration is too timid to fight back once again, there's little reason to stop the bizarre claims. Without a serious plan to respond with force, we should expect to see much more of this. One of the biggest complaints that I heard during my recent visit to the US was disgust with Obama's failure to fight back. Does anyone honestly believe this is going to change?

Oh the humanity.

Budget airline SpiceJet will buy 30 B737 planes from US aircraft manufacturer Boeing in a deal worth $2.7 billion, which will form part of $10 billion pacts being sealed during US President Barack Obama's visit. "The order of 30 aircraft, the second of such order by SpiceJet, will enhance it's related stories India's low cost
market," said Bhulo Kansagra, Director and one of the promoters of SpiceJet at the US India Business Council meet.

Boeing India President Dinesh Keskar said the deal, announced today, was signed in late October after it received government approvals.

The deal is part of 20-odd pacts, worth USD about 10 billion, that are to be sealed during Obama's 3-day visit. The agreements are expected to create 50,000 jobs in the US.

OMG...another business deal too! The man is killing jobs. Read the rest of this post...

Monday Morning Open Thread

Good morning.

The President is still in India. He met today with Prime Minister Singh and will be addressing the Indian Parliament today. He's heading to Indonesia next. This is a job-creation trip. Got that?

HuffPost Hill sent out a "Special Sunday Night Leadership Drama Edition" last night, which documented the battle underway in the Democratic caucus. It's a contest for the number two spot between Steny Hoyer (MD) and James Clyburn (SC). Those intra-caucus battles are always the worst.

The chances of repealing "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" are looking less and less likely. Gee, no one could have predicted that. And, we didn't warn about delaying action over and over and over and over. John wrote last night:

The betrayal is pretty complete at this point. No DADT. No ENDA. NO DOMA. I really hate being right about these things, but Joe and I predicted this was going to happen, but HRC and the apologists told you they knew better.

Maddening. Just maddening.

To completely change the subject from politics, over the weekend, I went to Churchill, Manitoba, which is known as the "Polar Bear Capitol of the World." I had a big birthday this year and this trip was a birthday gift from my partner, Carlos. We spent Saturday on a Tundra Buggy watching polar bears. One of the first posts I ever wrote for AMERICAblog, back on November 14, 2004, was about polar bears. It was really amazing. Here's one of my videos:
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British Conservatives promote plan for unemployed to do hard labor for benefits

It's a surprise that the US right hasn't promoted such a plan yet but the day is still early. All we need now are debtor prisons and maybe a witch burning or two and we're fully back in the dark ages. I've worked full time or close to it since starting college and part time years before that but I can't see how it's fair to punish those left behind by this poor excuse for capitalism that we find today. Modern conservatism on both sides of the pond is increasingly all about being nasty and kicking those who are down. It offers nothing positive that can benefit society though there's little doubt hard labor will somehow help their business friends. BBC:

Chief Secretary to the Treasury Danny Alexander told the BBC the idea was not to "punish or humiliate" but to get people back into the habit of working.

But the Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams said the changes could drive people "into a downward spiral of uncertainty, even despair".

Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith is to unveil the plans this week.

Under the plan, claimants thought to need "experience of the habits and routines of working life" could be put on 30-hour-a-week placements.

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Voters in Myanmar avoid polls

It's hard to be enthusiastic about voting when you're life is being threatened and results are ignored. The Independent:

Burma's first election in 20 years was marked by low-turn out and reluctant voters yesterday as many people appeared to have decided there was little point participating in a poll considered skewed from the start.

In cities such as Rangoon, the former capital, turn-out may have been as little as 30 per cent, some sources said, despite threats from the military authorities that people could be jailed if they failed to vote. Armed police and troops were patrolling the streets.

As of last night, there was no word on the official turn-out or the result of the poll, simply that it would come "in time". In reality there was little to wait for; most observers have believed all along the polls would deliver a victory for two pro-establishment parties that have the backing of the military.

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