We are all IMF-Americans

Formerly gay House member Barney Frank got into a snit yesterday over President Obama's use of a signing statement to ignore Congress' legislative directions regarding the IMF. Barney even threatened to cut off the administration's money:

“I was asked by the administration and worked hard to get that money for the IMF with some reasonable conditions,” Frank said during yesterday’s debate. “The notion that the administration can take the money and pick and choose what it wants to do with the conditions is unacceptable.”

“So let me say, as chairman of the committee that authorizes these and as someone who works closely with the appropriators in doing it, if the administration does not withdraw this claim that they can ignore conditions we put on it, then they will have nothing to ignore because there won’t be any conditions and there won’t be any money,” Frank said. “And that’s right there in the Constitution.”

Contrast that with Barney Frank giving the Obama administration cover for its anti-gay DOMA brief, the one that compared gay marriage to incest and pedophilia. Maybe we should rename ourselves IMF-Americans, then perhaps Barney would defend us too. Read the rest of this post...

Insurance insider spills the beans on Bill Moyers' show

Jacki has the goods.

Former Insurance Industry Executive Wendell Potter was on Bill Moyers Journal last night. I cannot recommend this hour enough. Wendell exposes the insurance industry for all its despicable behavior and behind-the-scenes tactics to influence Congress and thwart real reform.

He talks about Cigna's handling of the Nataline Sarkisyan case and the insurance industry's media and political strategies to discredit Michael Moore's "Sicko."

Read the rest of this post...

Wall Street fights regulation of derivatives

Apparently regulating the casino culture will squash "innovation" in their industry. When they say "innovation" what they really mean is the modern innovation of shoveling over their billions and trillions in losses over to taxpayers so they can continue to pay themselves royally. They really are a selfish bunch but they've had plenty of supporters in Congress to get here. Somehow there still remains enough support for Wall Street that there is even going to be a debate over whether or not to regulate. A ruined global economy isn't enough apparently. Calling AIG...

Geithner was to appear before the House Financial Services Committee and the House Agriculture Committee, which share jurisdiction of derivatives. It will be his first appearance in the House since President Barack Obama laid out his plan to overhaul the regulatory framework governing the financial system. Geithner testified before the Senate Banking Committee in June.

Since then, the proposal has run up against much of the financial industry, which says it would raise costs and squash innovation.

Some lawmakers and federal regulators say they are skeptical, too. They question whether Obama wants to give too much power to the Federal Reserve.

Under the plan, which requires Congress' blessing, the Fed would be put in charge of keeping large, influential institutions in check. A new consumer protection agency also would be created.

Additionally, Obama wants to regulate for the first time derivatives that are being privately traded "over the counter," or away from an exchange.

Derivatives are financial instruments whose value are derived from something else, such as a mortgage-backed security or a commodity like oil.

Read the rest of this post...

Claire McCaskill is against a second stimulus

Obama said today that a second stimulus bill isn't needed. Krugman disagrees with him. And other administration officials have been hinting that a second stimulus will be needed (which is awfully confusing, considering what Obama said today, and what Joe Biden said last week). As Ben notes, it's going to be an uphill climb selling the country on a second stimulus bill, in my view because the administration hasn't made much of an effort to defend the first bill, until now. Read the rest of this post...

Yet another fact-checker says Boehner is lying about the stimulus

It's good to see that the administration is now actively defending the first stimulus package. Biden is traveling around the country, going after GOP critics of the stimulus. CNN did a good job showing that Boehner, who says he can't find a single job that the stimulus bill helped save or create, actually has numerous jobs in his own district.

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Obama talked of colonialism and moving forward in Africa

The President had some strong but good words today during his first visit since taking office. I wouldn't completely dismiss the ongoing negative impact of post-colonialism since it does still exist but it's also good to start moving the discussion in a new direction. Another US leader may not be able to be as blunt and still have an impact so glad to hear what he had to say today. Obama, from Ghana:

Obama spoke of the indignities visited upon Africans from the era of European rule. He said his grandfather, a cook for the British in Kenya, was called "boy" by his employers for much of his life despite his being a respected village elder. He said it was a time of artificial borders and unfair trade.

But he said the West is not to blame "for the destruction of the Zimbabwean economy over the last decade, or wars in which children are enlisted as combatants." Nor for the corruption that is a daily fact of life for many, he said.

"Africa is not the crude caricature of a continent at perpetual war," he said. Yet for "far too many Africans, conflict is a part of life, as constant as the sun. There are wars over land and wars over resources. And it is still far too easy for those without conscience to manipulate whole communities into fighting among faiths and tribes.

"These conflicts are a millstone around Africa's neck."

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Saturday Morning Open Thread

Good morning.

The president and his family are in Africa, Ghana, to be specific. He did his weekly address this week on how the stimulus is helping -- and will help -- the economy.

A couple of haikus for the Obama administration from KarenMrsLloydRichards. On Palin:

Desperate housewife:
She's like Bree in hip waders--
She's not a quitter!

And on the economic recovery (or not):

Green shoots shrivel up,
So understimulated,
Will there be a crop?

Obama keeps telling us there will be a crop. There better be.

I'm heading out now for a longish run. We're doing 14 miles today. My running partner, Courtney, and I have done five marathons together. This year, we're doing the Marine Corps Marathon at the end of October. Courtney had a baby in January (and I'm his godfather.) I had bad asthma through the winter, then that annoying appendectomy at the end of March. So, both of us have been working to rebuild our endurance. But, I think we're on track. I'll know for sure in a couple hours.

Okay, let's get rolling here... Read the rest of this post...

The Pretenders

I can never quite remember whether The Pretenders or the Specials/Go-Go's/Oingo Boingo concert was my first event. Seeing The Pretenders two nights in a row back in 1979 (or was it 1980?) at the Tower Theater in Philly was a fantastic experience. Pity that guitarist James Honeyman-Scott died so young only to be followed a few months later by the bass player Pete Farndon. Listening to Honeyman-Scott live was impressive. So much talent lost to drugs and the band drifted from that early sound that I enjoyed so much. The video is kitchy in a funny way and it always cracks me up to see big American cars over this way. My heart stops just thinking of how much it must cost to fill those gas tanks when gas is anywhere between $4 to $6 per gallon. Read the rest of this post...

G8 falls short on 2005 financial aid

Not much of a surprise here. It's good to see Obama pushing the others on the subject of fulfilling their previous promises. There's nothing wrong with asking others to deliver what was publicly promised when the cameras were rolling.

The world's richest nations will fail to meet their landmark pledge made at the 2005 Gleneagles summit to double aid to the poorest countries.

Officials at the G8 summit in Italy said yesterday there was "little chance" the eight countries would keep the promises they made at the meeting four years ago to double their aid to $50bn (£30bn) a year by next year.

While Britain is on course to meet its target share, Italy and France are falling short. They resisted pressure at the G8 summit this week from leaders including US President Barack Obama and Gordon Brown to increase their contributions before next year's deadline. "We will keep our promises," one British source said, "but overall it's not going to happen".

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Developing countries ask G8 for more emissions cuts, sooner

Some of the developing countries will participate in the cuts though they're asking the G8 to do more cuts earlier and show leadership. Considering the historical failures (over-promising, under-delivering) it sounds like a perfectly reasonable request. Doing more and expecting more is what we should also be asking from our leaders.

Developing nations are prepared to make concessions on climate change targets if the G8 fulfils its side of the bargain in the run-up to the climate change talks in Copenhagen in December, a key negotiator told the Guardian today.

The developing countries want the G8 nations to sign up to a 40% cut by 2020, but that figure is off the radar of the EU and, given the unwieldy legislation laboriously passing through the senate, not a possibility for the US.

In important forward steps this week, the G8 agreed to cut its emissions by 80% by 2050 and said worldwide emissions should fall 50% by the same date.

However, the value of this pledge has been reduced by the lack of an agreed start date from which the emission cuts should be measured, making it a distant promise.

Read the rest of this post...

Why do we bother to save these companies?

When I read stories like this, it's hard to make any argument to save them from ruin or back off of crushing tax policies. Lowering the tax boom on them may be brutal, but aren't they? Read the rest of this post...