I get so fed up with 3rd world types spending UN money

Until they understand the value of our hard earned money, we need to cut them off. And you know, the US pays more to the UN than any country in world...unless you add up the EU money, but hey, it's not a single country.

A former U.N. official who oversaw reconstruction funds in Afghanistan diverted half a million dollars from roads, schools and clinics to fund his luxury lifestyle, according to a confidential internal U.N. investigation.

The U.N. Procurement Task Force accused Gary K. Helseth, an American who headed the U.N. Office for Project Services (UNOPS) in Afghanistan from 2002 to 2006, in December of using the funds for lavish purchases, including first-class flights to Las Vegas and meals in posh restaurants in Copenhagen, Dubai, Florence and New York. Helseth oversaw more than $1 billion in reconstruction funds contributed by the United States and other international donors after the fall of the Taliban.

The probe is a cautionary tale about the risks of lax U.N. financial controls in Afghanistan as the Obama administration presses for a more central role for the United Nations in coordinating rebuilding efforts there.

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Manbabies

A bit adult in nature, but it's funny as hell. The dark-haired one is a son of one of our readers. Enjoy.

Manbabies - watch more funny videos

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100+ sick after eating at Applebee's

I get sick just thinking about that prefab, factory "food" "restaurant." Sounds like one of the few fresh items available may be the source. AP:

Health officials say more than 100 people reported getting sick after eating at an Applebee's restaurant near Syracuse.

The county health department says there are seven confirmed cases of Shigellosis among people who ate at the Applebee's in Camillus in early March. The bacterial infection is associated with consuming water or food contaminated with fecal matter.

Health officials advised about half of the more than 100 people who complained of illness to get tested for Shigellosis.

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Because we have nothing better to worry about

Patriotism is a lot like religion, in my view. If you have to flaunt it, it's not real. Why don't we just build a big statue of Lee Greenwood at Ground Zero and pipe in his hideous music through 100 story tall speakers 24 hours a day. Nothing says "I love America more than you" than that. Unless of course we name it Ronald Reagan Tower. Read the rest of this post...

BREAKING: UPS stops advertising on O'Reilly after he had ThinkProgress blogger stalked, and talked about assassinating MSNBC employees

This is good. Stalking women is something that most advertisers would probably draw the line at.

Join ThinkProgress' campaign. Here is Amanda's story of how O'Reilly had her stalked.

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Fourth Quarter 2008 - worst economic quarter since Depression

I know, let's play Larry Kudlow and cherry pick the small bits that on their own might suggest it wasn't so bad. To be fair to the Republicans who crafted this juggernaut, the unemployment numbers could have been worse. See? It wasn't a complete disaster. Just your run of the mill Republican economic disaster. And riots. There were no mass riots in the streets protesting years of failure. It's fair to say we can collectively turn that frown upside down because yeah, it could have been worse. How long before Kudlow and CNBC pounce on the leftover scraps and promote another round of "the best story never told" in a special edition? MarketWatch:

In terms of the things that matter most -- output, income, wealth, profits, foreclosures and job growth -- the fourth quarter was a disaster.

If you look at each of those categories in isolation, we may have seen worse on rare occasions, but when you examine the big picture, it was the worst since the Depression.
Aside from the creative destruction that will ultimately lead to a growing economy, just about the only positive development was the rapid decline in energy and commodity prices.

The Commerce Department reported Thursday that output fell at a 6.3% annualized rate in the fourth quarter, the biggest drop since 1982 and the third worst gross domestic product figure in the past 50 years.

Read the rest if you have the stomach for it. Corporate profits, individual expendable income, GDP, stock values, net worth, you name it, it all went down. It's no wonder the GOP is too embarrassed to show a real budget. Read the rest of this post...

What if you offered a budget that had no numbers in it?

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U.S. Representative Michelle Bachmann wants a revolution

Talking Points Memo, via Dump Bachmann, has the transcript of Congresswoman Michelle Bachmann calling for a revolution. Now, she wants an "orderly revolution," but a revolution nonetheless. As TPM notes, she's said it before, too.

Okay, in the United States of America, we have these orderly revolutions called elections. Barack Obama won. But, Bachmann isn't happy with that and seems to want to take this outside of the electoral process:

At this point the American people - it's like Thomas Jefferson said, a revolution every now and then is a good thing. We are at the point, Sean, of revolution. And by that, what I mean, an orderly revolution -- where the people of this country wake up get up and make a decision that this is not going to happen on their watch. It won't be our children and grandchildren that are in debt.

Oh, now the Republicans are worried about the debt -- like George Bush had nothing to do with it. And, this:

Right now I'm a member of Congress. And I believe that my job here is to be a foreign correspondent, reporting from enemy lines. And people need to understand, this isn't a game. this isn't just a political talk show that's happening right now. This is our very freedom, and we have 230 years, a continuous link of freedom that every generation has ceded to the next generation. This may be the time when that link breaks. And I'm going to do everything I can, I know you are, to make sure that we keep that link secure.

This is very incendiary talk for a member of Congress. She's calling the elected government of the U.S. her "enemy." It sounds like the rantings of one of the hard-core militia nuts. Those guys are willing to take up arms against their country. Sounds like Bachmann is willing to join them. I think there are laws against this kind of behavior.

The traditional media doesn't hold Bachmann accountable for her rantings. They think she's crazy. But, Bachmann means it and she speaks for her party. You don't see any Republicans reining her in. It's the same subtle call to violence that Palin used during the campaign. This shouldn't be dismissed.

And, yes, there is a law: 18 U.S.C. § 2385. Advocating overthrow of Government. Here's how it starts:

Whoever knowingly or willfully advocates, abets, advises, or teaches the duty, necessity, desirability, or propriety of overthrowing or destroying the government of the United States or the government of any State, Territory, District or Possession thereof, or the government of any political subdivision therein, by force or violence, or by the assassination of any officer of any such government; or

Whoever, with intent to cause the overthrow or destruction of any such government, prints, publishes, edits, issues, circulates, sells, distributes, or publicly displays any written or printed matter advocating, advising, or teaching the duty, necessity, desirability, or propriety of overthrowing or destroying any government in the United States by force or violence, or attempts to do so; or

Whoever organizes or helps or attempts to organize any society, group, or assembly of persons who teach, advocate, or encourage the overthrow or destruction of any such government by force or violence; or becomes or is a member of, or affiliates with, any such society, group, or assembly of persons, knowing the purposes thereof—

Shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than twenty years, or both, and shall be ineligible for employment by the United States or any department or agency thereof, for the five years next following his conviction.

You know damn well that if a Democrat had called for a revolution during the Bush years, we'd never hear the end of it. There would be press conferences and floor speeches and editorials. There would probably be an indictment. You know it. But, Bachmann just foments revolution without being held accountable. Read the rest of this post...

Another mixed bag economic report

Spending up, income down. I thought Larry Kudlow told us incomes were up, so we didn't need the stimulus. Just another chapter in the Kudlow story to be filed next to the Goldilocks Economy and the Greatest Story Never Told. And CNBC extended his contract?

U.S. consumer spending rose for a second straight month in February, while incomes reversed the previous month's gains, government data showed on Friday.

The Commerce Department said spending increased by 0.2 percent, after rising by a revised 1 percent in January, previously reported as a 0.6 percent increase. However, after adjusting for inflation, consumer spending in February fell 0.2 percent.

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House Republicans mocked for their "No budget" photo op

Yesterday, the House Republicans unveiled their long awaited budget. But, there really was no budget. It was just a photo op to tell Obama that they did have a budget, when they didn't.

Since then, the leaders of the GOP have faced enormous mocking -- as they should. In an article that seems to be everywhere, Politico reports that there is a big GOP cat fight underway over the debacle:

The 19-page document, prepared by Pence's office, was distributed two days after President Obama criticized Republicans for trashing his detail-crammed 142-page budget outline without producing a credible alternative.

“In his egocentric rush to get on camera, Mike Pence threw the rest of the Conference under the bus, specifically Paul Ryan, whose staff has been working night and day for weeks to develop a substantive budget plan," said a GOP aide heavily involved in budget strategy.

"I hope his camera time was gratifying enough to justify erasing the weeks of hard work by dozens of Republicans to put forth serious ideas," the person added.

NBC's First Read blatantly and brutally mocks:

Dude, where’s my budget? Let’s be honest: Yesterday’s House Republican budget rollout was a P.R. disaster for the GOP. “Here it is, Mr. President” was the title of the GOP Leader blog touting that they had answered Obama’s dare to produce a budget. The problem -- their budget rollout didn’t contain any hard budget numbers or deficit projections. They say those hard numbers will come out next week. But now we learn that Reps. Eric Cantor and Paul Ryan objected to unveiling yesterday’s “blueprint,” but were overruled by Reps. John Boehner and Mike Pence....Also, this episode could end up creating a rift in the GOP over how to combat the Obama White House. After all, Senate Republicans wanted nothing to do with an alternative, and now Mitch McConnell, et al are either laughing at their House GOP colleagues, furious at them, or both.

Even fellow Republicans are probably laughing at them. Classic. And, there's further proof. Even the reliably Republican Moonie Times chastized the House GOPers:

Days after being chided by President Obama for offering no alternative to his $3.6 trillion budget, House Republicans on Thursday released their own spending plan that proved light on numbers and specific policy proposals.

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My trip to the White House

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Wednesday I was invited to the White House to attend a reception that President Obama and the Greek archbishop were hosting for Greek Independence Day. I'll walk you through my observations of what it's like to visit the White House, along with a few photos. You can see more of my photos via the cool little widget I posted above - and if you click on one, it will take you to my Flickr page that contains the rest of the photos (or click here).

You can scan through my photos from yesterday's White House celebration of Greek Independence Day, I've got 32 photos, and I'll post a few here.

So, I got a phone call last Friday or so, inviting me to the Greek Independence Day reception at the White House. They asked if I might be interested in going. Uh, yeah. Now, I'll admit up front that I'm probably going to gush a bit when talking about the day. I know, a real reporter wouldn't gush. Well, that's the advantage of being a blogger. We get to be real people too. And when a real person gets to go the White House to meet the President, he gushes (unless he's an idiot or dead, well, or perhaps meeting George Bush).

Anyway, I raided my closet hours before heading out, hoping that I'd finally uncover a matching shirt and tie after the move to the new condo, and ran down the corner to grab a cab. It's funny, but standing on the corner, waiting to go see Obama, it felt an awful lot like an episode out of Stargate SG-1 (the one where Dr. Wehr is outside her place trying to grab a cab to go to the White House for the first time). I wondered if I was going to get into a fight with someone trying to steal my cab, and whether I'd have to pull the "I'm going to see the president, what are you doing?" line. Fortunately, the cab ride was uneventful, I got out just north of Lafayette Park, so as to avoid the traffic, and walked towards the White House, past the crazy protesting people. Don't get me wrong. I have nothing against protesters. But the folks who permanently set up shop to protest outside the White House are certifiable.



So I walked by the crazy people and made my way to the nearest gate. I was supposed to go the southeast gate, but over the years they apparently blocked off the sidewalk between the White House and the Treasury building to the east (it used to be open). So I asked the guard if I had to walk around, and he had a guest list readily available (even though it wasn't the right gate), and let me in (odd observation: he was wearing cologne, which I found kind of funny, and hot, for Secret Service). I walked up to the nearest entrance, and was waiting to talk to the guard, when the woman in front of me turned around and asked what the nearest street was to the east, going north-south. I told Diane Sawyer that it was 15th Street. She was very gracious. It was now my turn, and I found out that this was the wrong entrance. The guard gave me a "how did you get in here?" look. I was like, uh, hot cologne guy over there let me in. So he directed me to yet another entrance, further south.

Another entrance, another name check, and I was quickly inside going through the metal detector, and bam, you're in the White House. After you're cleared, at least in the East Wing, you're pretty much on your own. It was actually rather odd. Lots of staff standing at attention and smiling, but no clear sense of where you're supposed to head, or whether you'll be shot for attempting to go through the wrong door. I though it best to follow mom's etiquette advice for using that odd piece of silverware at a formal dining table - watch what everybody else is doing.



So I followed the sea of dark blue suits and a spattering of spouses (the Greek-American political/business class is decidedly male) down a long hall, where we dropped off our coats in a room with beautiful red comfy chairs aligned in perfect rows. It sure looked an awful lot like the White House's family theater (let's face it, they can't really go to the local cinema). We weren't permitted to use cameras here, or possibly it was closer to the entrance, so no shots of the comfy chairs.

Finally, we walked up some steps, and I could hear Greek music (which was terribly odd - the music was great, just odd being in the WH and hearing Greek music). Even odder was the Greek language coming out of every other person once I reached the top of the steps. Greekapalooza was on.


(Georgia10 from Dkos and me, in that first room, looking ethnic)

I entered what looked like a rather French kind of formal room. Tall ceilings, swirly trim everywhere, beautiful portraits of the presidents on the walls (Clinton's, which was very nice, was facing us as you walk in), and a military band, in red, a quartet I think, in the middle, playing a familiar Greek tune from my childhood.



There were men walking around with trays of champagne, a small bar in the corner, and a number of staff, everywhere, smiling and just waiting for you to show an ounce of confusion. I don't remember now what I was thinking at the time, but I was wondering about something, and must have had a quizzical look on my face. Immediately a White House staffer came up to me to see if she could help. Rather amazing. She proceeded to tell me that we could walk through any of the four or five rooms, and that there was food in two of the rooms.

Food?

In the White House?

Died.

Heaven.

I adore food. Probably the Greek in me. And the White House is renowned for its food. We were gonna have food. Yippee! I can't believe now that I didn't take pictures of the desserts in particular. A well known Greek chef from NYC, who runs the restaurant Anthos, was there, and he along with his pastry chef prepared everything. OMG. It was basically a fusion between classic Greek food and very modern, very fancy... something. Goat. Moussaka (kind of). Lamb chops that literally melted off the bone. Some kind of seafood with orzo (that I didn't try, because I had no idea how to eat it politely - the shrimp were, as best as I could tell, still in their shells). And the desserts. Small, gorgeous, and every single one of them was to die for (and I'm picky about my food). The pastry chef was standing by the dessert table, so I got to quiz him for a good 15 minutes about every detail. Too much fun.

This is the dessert room, so to speak:


(Click photo to see larger sizes)

But before I dove in to the first table, which contained all sorts of finger-sized fish dishes in separate porcelain mini-spoon/boats, I had a bit of an etiquette dilemma. It wasn't entirely clear what we were supposed to do with the little porcelain spoon/boats once we finished eating the bite-ful of food. There were big metal bowls in the center of the table, but they were empty, and I didn't really want to be the first one to take a stab at using the fine silver bowls as refuse. So, I asked the nearest WH employee, since they appeared to be all-knowing and insanely helpful. He told me I could probably just put it in the silver bowl. I said "probably?" I don't plan on being known as the guy at the WH reception who used Mrs. Madison's silver as a garbage can. So he directed me to "George," the guy in charge.

George had a hefty accent and looked like ten of my uncles. He might have been Greek, it was hard to tell, but I presented my etiquette dilemma to George and asked him what to do with the dish-spoons. George told me that I couldn't take the dish-spoons home with me as they had to go back to the kitchen. I was mortified. He thought I was asking to steal the damn things. I should have just used Dolly Madison's silver and been done with it.

The room we were in now, it quickly became clear to me, was the East Room - the room where Obama held his prime time press conference Tuesday night, and the online town hall yesterday. It's also the room in which Kennedy and Lincoln laid in state. I turned around and there behind me was the big red hallway he walks down as he approaches the lectern. The room with the desserts was the room he's waiting in before he turns into the hallway.

Your first impression on being in the White House is a mix between being in that black and white photo of John Kennedy walking under the White House pillars, and being in the TV show the West Wing. It's oddly familiar, and surreal. And a total adrenaline rush. The view out every window reminds you of some famous memory of something. You can't quite place it, but every view makes you go "oh right, that view."

Like this view from the dessert room:



And this view from the Red Room right next to it:



Some of the rooms, like the Red Room (below), don't look familiar at all. Well, that is unless you're filthy rich and grew up in 200 year old mansions.



I found out this about the Red Room from the White House Web site:

Very shortly after her husband's inauguration in 1933, First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt hosted the first of many press conferences for women reporters in the Red Room. Because women reporters were excluded from the president's press conferences, Mrs. Roosevelt's press conferences erased a social barrier. Though originally Mrs. Roosevelt discussed cooking and housekeeping topics, as her involvement in social issues and her rate of travel increased, the subject matter at these press conferences turned to discussions of domestic policies.

I ran into Georgia10 from DKos, which was a good thing, since I didn't really know that many people, and I wasn't going to join the throng trying to shake hands with Stephanopoulos. At 445pm, people started gathering around the podium in the East Room for Obama's arrival. Being good Greeks, everyone was slowly jockeying for a better position, which pretty much entailed slyly moving ahead of the person who was either in front of you or beside you, as if they wouldn't notice, or fight back. Georgia and I got up to the side of the stage and didn't move. Fifteen minutes later, Obama came in with Biden and Greek Archbishop Demetrios, and Obama preceded to stand about three feet away from me. Excellent. Georgia grabbed my camera and shot a photo of my big head near Obama.

So I snapped some photos. Okay, I snapped about 200. Here are some of the ones I liked the most.







(An interesting aside about photographing Obama. He appears to be one of those people who's always making weird faces just when you try to snap the photo. I'm told former Secretary of State Warren Christopher was that way as well (as was former Planned Parenthood president Gloria Feldt). Not weird faces, per se, but they're always blinking, or fidgeting, or something just as you snap the shot. Photographers out there will know what I mean.)

After the talks by Obama, Biden and the Archbishop, we all mingled around for another hour. At one point, while standing with Georgia in the Green Room, just ogling every detail, one of the Air Force aides-de-camp of the president mentioned that, if we wanted, he could give Georgia10 and me a quick tour of some of the rooms. Uh yeah. So we learned that every room in the White House gets fresh cut flowers every day. It's a tradition going back to President Polk, I believe, and the death of his son.



We also learned that the Green Room has a painting that, I'm told, Laura Bush had put there (though later on I read that the Clinton's were the ones who acquired it), opposite the beautiful portrait of Benjamin Franklin.



It's the first painting to ever hang in the White House by an African-American painter. The artist is Henry Ossawa Tanner:

Sand Dunes at Sunset, Atlantic City (c. 1885 Oil on Canvas) hangs in the Green Room[13] at the White House; it is the first painting by an African-American artist to enter the permanent collection of the White House. The painting is a landscape with a "view across the cool gray of a shadowed beach to dunes made pink by the late afternoon sunlight. A low haze over the water partially hides the sun." It was acquired during the Clinton administration from Dr. Rae Alexander-Minter, grandniece of the artist, by the White House Endowment Fund for $100,000.

We also found out that the big silver tea-warmer-thing on the coffee table in front of us belonged to James Madison. (See, and you thought I was being silly worrying about putting the spoon-boat in the other silver thing.)

This is the Air Force guy who showed us around a bit, standing by the podium where Obama was about to speak:



Obama, Biden and the Archbishop spoke for about 20 minutes, then Obama turned to the people nearest him (that would be me), and started shaking hands. I was number three. When Obama shook my hand, he looked at me and said "God bless you." It was rather odd. I've never had someone say that to me when I wasn't sneezing. It became immediately evident that this is a guy who takes his faith seriously.

I just got blessed by the president. Gotta call mom.

Like I said, this isn't meant to be a NYT article about the White House. It's supposed to give you a glimpse into what it's like to be there. It was just an amazing afternoon. I totally understand why they say the Oval Office is the biggest home court advantage in the history of the world. Just being in the building, you reek of history. I think this woman's face exemplifies the feeling of all 170 guests that day:



It's funny, but later that evening, I was at a local restaurant with a gang of the younger Greek cabal from Chicago, and we were all terribly quiet for a bunch of Greeks at a loud bar in a big restaurant. One of the guys turned to me and said, "it's the adrenaline." He was right. We were only in the White House for 3 hours, but it felt like an entire day's adventure, and now we were coming down from our high. Even a flock of Greeks couldn't wake us up after an afternoon at the White House.

Oh, and don't worry. In spite of the fact that the entire visit still has me totally wowed, I'm still going to let Chris beat the crap out of Geithner.

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After 8 years of Republicans trashing the Constitution and illegally spying on Americans, now the GOP is suddenly worried about "rights"

Gingrich and Hannity think America is hurtling towards socialism, or worse, dictatorship.

Funny that Gingrich and Hannity sure didn't care when their Republican buddies in the White House and Congress spent the last eight years trashing the US Constitution and the rights of our citizens, all for the "greater good." That was okay. But trying to pass legislation to make it easier to forestall a depression, that's dictatorship.

So, in a nutshell: Taking rights away from citizens is patriotic, but taking rights away from corporations is dictatorship.

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Friday Morning Open Thread

Good morning.

This was kind of a raucous week. For awhile, it looked like the biggest laugh of the week was CNN's Ed Henry and his bizarre post about the presidential press conference. It's gotten tons of attention, none of it good for Henry. The best analysis came for Wonkette,"CNN’s Ed Henry Writes Worst Article In American History."

But, the truly biggest joke of the week was the GOP budget that wasn't a budget. It had no numbers, no plan, no nothing. The GOP leaders wanted a photo op and they got it. In the process, they've become a laughingstock, deservedly so. These are the people who want Obama to fail. And, they've just had a major fail of their own.

And, the week's not even over yet... Read the rest of this post...

Swiss banks banning foreign travel for bankers

This does not sound good for the banks. The crackdown on hidden money is putting pressure on the notoriously secretive Swiss banks. At a minimum it confirms the secretive and shady business practices of banks that have angered so many around the world. Going after individuals is all fine and good but it would be a step in the right direction if the EU and US also thought about applying similar rules to business. Offshore/hidden businesses have been avoiding regulation and taxes without nearly as much attention. Two weights, two measures.

The head of one leading private bank in Geneva said the growing determination of countries such as the US and Germany to tackle tax evasion and secrecy meant banks felt they had to take extra measures to protect employees.

“Some banks have taken this precaution,” he said. “If today I go to Germany to visit two banks I deal with...German customs can take me in and question me.”

The travel bans, which have not been brought in by all banks, have focused on those visiting the US, following the detention there last year of a senior private banker from UBS, Switzerland’s biggest bank, as part of a federal tax investigation.

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Canary Warf in financial trouble

For those who aren't familiar with Canary Warf, it's the posh name given to what used to be known as Isle of Dogs in London. In this case, the historical name is much more fitting for the group who are based there today. It was Thatcher's business park dream where big finance would be based and until recently, was churning out massive profits, much of which were false as we now can see. Canary Warf is ugly in a "this looks like a US suburb with tall buildings instead of London" kind of look. Think Houston-like ugly, though at least without the heat. The London banksters - including AIG - are all out there though fortunately for Londoners, it's a bit of a hike to reach the area.

As the market boomed, this was the place to be and riches were flowing. Now that the market is tumbling, everyone is struggling including the property owner who bought out the original (failed) property owner. Seems like they are highly and on the brink of being called on it. If Songbirds Estates (the property owner) cross the limit, they have to quickly deliver a substantial amount of cash which they probably do not have available.

Songbird has fallen into the covenant trap that has caught British developers. They often borrow a high amount to invest in property, subject to a condition called a debt-to-value ratio covenant which sets a limit to debt on the company books, relative to the property's value. The drop in real estate prices has caused the value side of the ratio to fall, putting developers under pressure despite the fact few have been borrowing.

The company's loan-to-valuation ratio stands at 86.1 per cent, close to a covenant limit of 87.5 per cent set on a loan. The ratio is tested every three months. Tests in May and August will be based on the current property valuations so the company expects to pass, Songbird's chief executive, John Garwood, told The Independent.

But a November test will use updated valuations and if they are much lower. the company will be in breach of the covenants. It then has 60 days to resolve the problem. "So we wouldn't have a real issue until January," said Mr Garwood.

Looking at the market direction, it's unlikely there will be a major turnaround. If anything, the conditions for renting office space are likely to get worse as the year goes on.

On a side note, there remains a high concern about European banks who were even more highly leveraged than their American counterparts. To date their losses have been limited though many are keeping a close eye on Eastern Europe where euros were loaned. Those loans may present banking issues later in the year for the highly leveraged banks. Never a dull day in the world of big finance. Read the rest of this post...

Berlusconi goes back to the well

It's actually more of a sinkhole. What is the matter with this man and how does he manage to keep coming back in politics? Reuters:

Left-wing opponents branded Berlusconi racist in November for hailing Obama as "handsome, young and also suntanned" after he was elected the United States' first black president.

Berlusconi, 72 and a close ally of former U.S. President George W. Bush, said critics of his remark had no sense of humour.

Responding to a journalist's comment Thursday that his response to the economic crisis made him appear like Obama, Berlusconi quipped: "I'm paler, because it's been so long since I went sunbathing. He's more handsome, younger and taller."

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Cuomo moving beyond bonuses at AIG

Any chance we can get him in Washington? Maybe unload the dead weight at Treasury and get someone who wants to do something other than remaining friends with Wall Street. CNBC:

The new subpoenas concern the unwinding of billions of dollars worth of credit default swaps, the unregulated, insurance-like instruments that brought the company to the brink of collapse.

Investigators want to know why some of the purchasers of credit default swaps are being made whole by AIG, even though the company is the recipient of a $182 billion federal bailout.

Among the issues, according to a source close to the case: whether the contracts are being unwound "as arm's length transactions," and whether there were any improper incentives when the contracts were set up in the first place.

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