Citibank hands out pay raises to executives

Why? Again, because they can get away with it. Let's not even bother rolling out the "so they can keep good talent" argument because that's nonsense. These are the same idiots who got the world into this recession. There can be absolutely no justification for paying bonuses at a time like this. So will anyone decide to take a hard line against this or will the corporatist machinery in Washington roll over, as they tend to do?

The announcement Friday by Citi, which remains weaker than most of the large American banks two years after the meltdown, raised questions among experts on corporate governance.

By paying the raises in company stock, not cash, Citi has decided to follow previously issued guidelines that limited salaries to $500,000 for the top 25 executives at financial institutions still receiving large amounts of federal help.

"The question is do they deserve higher salaries, and are they evading rules to avoid losing talent?" asked Charles Elson, director of the Weinberg Center for corporate governance at the University of Delaware.

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Robert Reich on the Super Rich Getting Richer While Everyone Else Gets Poorer

At least we have a White House that understands the problem since he's a Democrat and not just another run of the mill corporatist who is part of the problem. More from Robert Reich.

The super-rich got even wealthier this year, and yet most of them are paying even fewer taxes to support the eduction, job training, and job creation of the rest of us. According to Forbes magazine’s annual survey, just released, the combined net worth of the 400 richest Americans climbed 8% this year, to $1.37 trillion. Wealth rose for 217 members of the list, while 85 saw a decline.

For example, Charles and David Koch, the energy magnates who are pouring vast sums of money into Republican coffers and sponsoring tea partiers all over America, each gained $5.5 billion of wealth over the past year. Each is now worth $21.5 billion.

Wall Street continued to dominate the list; 109 of the richest 400 are in finance or investments.

From another survey we learn that the 25 top hedge-fund managers got an average of $1 billion each, but paid an average of 17 percent in taxes (because so much of their income is considered capital gains, taxed at 15 percent thanks to the Bush tax cuts).

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The fierce urgency of defending Obama

A piece Peter Daou wrote in August.

[N]ever have I seen a more fierce reaction than from fellow Democrats when I criticize President Obama. It is a visceral anger, deeply personal, and sadly, it is directed at progressives who set party aside and critique the White House on principle.

I’ve finally realized the crux of the problem: it’s that many of Obama’s defenders are ignoring the difference between campaign mode and governance mode. In campaign mode, my job as a Democrat is to cheer my candidate on, to work overtime to get them elected.

On the day he took office, I switched from campaign cheering mode to fulfilling Obama’s request that we “hold him accountable.” I take those words and that duty seriously. It’s my job as a citizen. Since 2008, I’ve used the written word to tug at the administration from the left.

I truly respect and admire Obama. I’ve worked in past campaigns with a number of his staffers. I know they are good and decent people trying to improve their country and working tirelessly under extreme stress. There’s no denying that they’ve racked up an impressive list of accomplishments and they deserve credit for it. But that doesn’t mean I should set aside the things I’ve fought for my entire adult life. It doesn’t mean I should stay silent if I think the White House could do a better job promoting a progressive vision. And it doesn’t mean I should stand aside if I think mistakes are being made. Sure, I’m just one individual with an opinion, but why the fierce urgency of defending Obama whenever I express it?

Bill Maher calls it the "defending your boyfriend" mode. In essence, during the campaign Barack Obama is your boyfriend. After he's elected, he's more like someone who works for you. The former can do no wrong (mostly) and you'd better not criticize him, while the latter had better do his job or there's no point in having paid him that large advance.

Some people get stuck in boyfriend mode. Idolatry overtakes ideology, and as Peter notes, it's not like you give up your ideals when you vote for President. The President is supposed to help further your ideals, not take the place of them. So it's not disloyal to try to hold the President accountable to his promises. In fact, I'd argue that you're being disloyal to yourself, to your own principles, and to the entire reason you got into politics in the first place, when you don't. Read the rest of this post...

Senator Durbin calls out Coburn and the Party of No on food safety

Great find on DailyKos. The GOP never has any ideas but they're always ready to say "no" to everything. In this case, industry and consumer groups all agree to the plan but Coburn is more interested in saying "no" as he always does. Read the rest of this post...

92% of Americans prefer socialism over US system

With numbers like that, it's no wonder Democrats are cautious about being labeled "anti business" or "socialist." Wait, what?

More interesting than that, the report says, is that the respondents (a randomly selected 5,522-person sample, reflecting the country's ideological, economic and gender demographics, surveyed in December 2005) believed the top 20 percent should own only 32 percent of the wealth. Respondents with incomes over $100,000 per year had similar answers to those making less than $50,000. (The report has helpful, multi-colored charts.)

The respondents were presented with unlabeled pie charts representing the wealth distributions of the U.S., where the richest 20 percent controlled about 84 percent of wealth, and Sweden, where the top 20 percent only controlled 36 percent of wealth. Without knowing which country they were picking, 92 percent of respondents said they'd rather live in a country with Sweden's wealth distribution.

As a reminder, in the US today, 1% of the population owns 24% of the wealth. This is considerably higher than during the Robber Barron years when the richest 1% owned 18% of the wealth. Read the rest of this post...

How the far-right is perverting the judicial system

The far right that now controls the Republican party can't stand our system of government. They claim to love the Constitution, but they detest the bill of rights (other than the part dealing with guns). They have no respect whatsoever for the judicial branch, and if a judge ever tried to actually enforce the Constitution in court, Republicans brand that judge an activist who simply must be stopped.

The latest move by Republicans is supremely un-American, and ought to scare the hell out everyone. They're trying to get rid of judges who they simply disagree with. But it's really more than that, and they admit it. They're trying to scare judges into not siding with the Constitution. If the judges fear for their careers, the activists think, maybe they won't decide certain cases certain ways, even if they think the law requires it.

Now think about that again. The Republican party wants judges to decide court cases not based on the law, but rather based on a well-founded fear of retribution should they decide in a manner that Republicans don't like.

What part of this is any different than the Soviet Union or any other two-bit dictatorship?  And why aren't Democrats going ballistic over this?

From the NYT:

After the State Supreme Court here stunned the nation by making this the first state in the heartland to allow same-sex marriage, Iowa braced for its sleepy judicial elections to turn into referendums on gay marriage.
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The three Supreme Court justices on the ballot this year are indeed the targets of a well-financed campaign to oust them. But the effort has less to do with undoing same-sex marriage — which will remain even if the judges do not — than sending a broader message far beyond this state’s borders: voters can remove judges whose opinions they dislike.

Brian S. Brown, executive director of the National Organization for Marriage, which has spent $230,000 on television ads criticizing the Iowa judges, said he understood that removing the three judges would not change the same-sex marriage ruling. (It was a unanimous ruling by the state’s seven justices.) But Mr. Brown said he hoped the judges’ ouster would help prevent similar rulings elsewhere by making judges around the nation aware that their jobs are on the line.

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Christine O'Donnell asks: 'Why aren't monkeys still evolving into humans?'

She is the future of the GOP.

Last night, Bill Maher showed another Christine O'Donnell clip. She said, "Evolution is a myth." I think her proof is in her question: "Why aren't monkeys still evolving into humans?"

And, let's talk about GOP evolution. McCain inflicted Palin on the world. And, Palin gave us O'Donnell, among others.
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Saturday Morning Open Thread

Good morning.

It's been quite a week.

Congratulations to Major Margaret Witt on her victory in court yesterday. Her DADT discharge was unconstitutional. She's going to be reinstated in the US Air Force.

Yes, we lost on DADT in the Senate, but we are winning on DADT in the courts.

The Obama administration didn't help lobby the DADT legislation in the Senate, but is vigorously defending DADT in the Courts.

And, then, there's John McCain:
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Allman Brothers, Dreams

This is a really great live recording from 1970.

I'm still recovering from a big lunch this week prepared by a neighbor. She's 87 years old and used to run a brasserie in St. Germain and wow, she can still prepare an incredible meal. Friends from Halifax, Canada were in so it was a week of eating, finished off with the big lunch prepared by our neighbor. We have a breather for a few months when we can work off the meals but then have another party in December to celebrate our neighbors birthday. The Canadian friends are coming over to celebrate and will be delivering Canadian lobsters for the event. It's really time to get on the bike. Read the rest of this post...

Neanderthals more advanced than previously thought

It gives hope that even Teabaggers can evolve into thinking people. BBC:

Neanderthals were keen on innovation and technology and developed tools all on their own, scientists say.

A new study challenges the view that our close relatives could advance only through contact with Homo sapiens.

The team says climate change was partly responsible for forcing Neanderthals to innovate in order to survive.

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