This may be a negotiating ploy because while they have announced plans to activate regiment of RS-24 missiles with MIRVs, they are also saying that they want to negotiate a new arms control agreement.
Not sure how much is solid plans, and how much is gamesmanship.
21 March 2009
US Submarine and LPD Collide in Strait of Hormuz
Potential Rafale Sale to Libya
It makes sense.
Khaddafi has signed a deal for 6 months exclusive negotiations for the Rafale.
This purchase actually makes sense for Libya, because they have a reasonable chance of being able to continue to operate the aircraft even in the face of an embargo by the US, such as the sort that grounded the Venezuelan F-16s, and the competitors, the Eurofighter Typhoon, and SAAB Gripen, both have significantly more US content.
This would be the first foreign sale of the Rafale, and I'm sure that the French foreign ministry and Dassault are both drooling at the prospect.
Khaddafi has signed a deal for 6 months exclusive negotiations for the Rafale.
This purchase actually makes sense for Libya, because they have a reasonable chance of being able to continue to operate the aircraft even in the face of an embargo by the US, such as the sort that grounded the Venezuelan F-16s, and the competitors, the Eurofighter Typhoon, and SAAB Gripen, both have significantly more US content.
This would be the first foreign sale of the Rafale, and I'm sure that the French foreign ministry and Dassault are both drooling at the prospect.
The Navy is Doing This Because the USAF Can't Be Bothered
After years of ground troops begging for something lower, slower, and with more short field capability, it is the US Navy that is considering a solution, the Super Tucano turboprop trainer configured for the light attack mission.You could probably buy 50 of these aircraft for the price of one JSF, and it can loiter over the battle area for a much longer period of time, and spot things that the fast movers would miss.
Shades of the A-1 Skyraider, which wasn't a USAF idea either.
Naval aviation is fighting it, because, well, has a propeller and all, but it looks like this will actually be used, because it's what the guy on the ground needs.
Yadda, Yadda, Yadda
Another flying car. This one from Terrafugia.It appears to be very much on the "roadable plane" side of the roadable plane/flying car divide, and I rather expect that it will be like the rest: single digit production followed by an exit of the business.
In any case, here is a vid of their first flight.
It really appears to love the ground a lot, but that may be because of its relatively long wheel base relative to dedicated aircraft, requiring more force to rotate.
Worldwide War Pigs: Drop Tank IRST Tests Well For Supers
About 1 ¾ years ago, I wrote about how Boeing was looking into putting an Infra-Red Search and Track (IRST) on the F/A-18 E/F Super Hornet by fitting it to the front half of a center-line drop tank.Well, Boeing has completed successful flight tests on the system, which is supplied by Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control*.
There hasn't been an aircraft in the US inventory with an IRST for air-to-air since the F-14 Tomcat was retired, but Russian and European fighters have embraced this technology.
The advantages of going passive are real, though I would wonder about the reliability of the system under the very turbulent and vibration laden environment beneath the Super Bug.
My original post on this.
H/t Worldwide War Pigs
*Full disclosure, I worked at Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control in the late 1990s.†
†Yes, I have worked everywhere. Maybe I can't hold down a job, but more likely this has been my role as "technical hit man", where you are parachuted in to take care of a specific need.
China’s Chengdu J-10 Modified
It appears that there have been some upgrades and/or fixes to China’s Chengdu J-10 canard-delta fighter.If you look at the top (newer) image it appears that an Infra-Red Search and Track (IRST) unit has been added just forward of the cockpit, and that the inlet has been modified from the original aircraft (bottom).
Douglas Barrie thinks that there may have been vibration or air flow instability issues with the original inlet, but it looks to me more like an attempt to reduce RCS in the forward aspect.
Or maybe it's a buff with photoshop.
Them Rooshans Make Good Bang Seats
Watch this crash of an SU-24 at what I think is an Iranian air show, and you will believe, as Stephen Trimble notes, that the performance of their ejection seats in impressive (crash at about 1m30s):
Trippy Helo Concept
It's a coaxial tilt rotor, and Baldwin Technology is pitching it as a cargo UAV capable of carrying a 3000 lb capacity pallet.
The first is more the test models, the 2nd more operational concept.
The first is more the test models, the 2nd more operational concept.
20 March 2009
Oh Lord, Won't You Buy Me a Mercedes Benz (Zimbabwe Edition)
So it now appears that foul play has been ruled out in the Tsvangerai crash, and MDC official Roy Bennett has been released from custody.
That being said, Mugabe's attempts to maintain his political power have gotten truly surreal:
I'm an optimist, and see this as a sign of weakness.
Mugabe had previously dismissed the MDC entirely, and how he is trying to bribe them.
That being said, Mugabe's attempts to maintain his political power have gotten truly surreal:
On his first day as education minister in a government so broke that most schools were closed and millions of children idle, David Coltart said he got a startling invitation.(I would have offered him silver, or metallic blue, myself.)
“Come and get your brand-new white Mercedes,” an official told Mr. Coltart, a veteran opposition politician, as President Robert Mugabe peered down from a portrait on the minister’s office wall.
The offer of an E-Class Mercedes to every minister in the month-old power-sharing government was vintage Mugabe, an effort to seduce his political enemies with the lavish perks he has long bestowed on loyalists.
I'm an optimist, and see this as a sign of weakness.
Mugabe had previously dismissed the MDC entirely, and how he is trying to bribe them.
Great Googly Moogly: Larry Summers Wants to be Fed Chairman
It appears that Barney Frank and Chris Dodd have differences in the future course of regulation.
Specifically, Frank favors giving the Federal Reserve the job of managing "systemic risk" under any new regulations, and Dodd thinks that the Fed, with its history of unresponsiveness and opacity is ill suited to the task.
Well, it now appears that much of the smear campaign against Dodd may have come from Larry Summers, who would be first in line to be Federal Reserve chairman if Obama does not reappoint Bernanke, and so he went after Dodd in order to strengthen Frank's hand in making the Fed the chief regulator.
I'm beginning to think that anyone who has "friend of Robert Rubin" on their resume should be barred from any position of authority.
Un-dirtyword-believable.
Specifically, Frank favors giving the Federal Reserve the job of managing "systemic risk" under any new regulations, and Dodd thinks that the Fed, with its history of unresponsiveness and opacity is ill suited to the task.
Well, it now appears that much of the smear campaign against Dodd may have come from Larry Summers, who would be first in line to be Federal Reserve chairman if Obama does not reappoint Bernanke, and so he went after Dodd in order to strengthen Frank's hand in making the Fed the chief regulator.
I'm beginning to think that anyone who has "friend of Robert Rubin" on their resume should be barred from any position of authority.
Un-dirtyword-believable.
The Stupid, It Burns Us!!!!!
It looks like Senate Republicans have decided to do whatever is possible to slow the AIG bonus bill.
Why?
I'm not sure, but never stop your opponent from stepping on his own dick.
Why?
I'm not sure, but never stop your opponent from stepping on his own dick.
Former Head of AIG CDS Terrorists Hires Lawyer
It looks like US and British authorities are investigating possible criminal activity.
Here's hoping they find some, and send him away for a very long time.
Here's hoping they find some, and send him away for a very long time.
The Cemeteries of the World are Full of Indispensable Men*
The former chief economist of the IMF has an Op-Ed in the New York Times, and he makes the point that removing the "geniuses" who created the problem has to be the first step of fixing the problem:
*Charles de Gaulle, a man not known for his own sense of personal dispensablity, coined this bon mot.
A.I.G. can hardly claim that its generous bonuses attract the best and the brightest. So instead, it defends the payments by arguing they’re needed to retain employees who are crucial for winding down transactions that are “difficult to understand and manage.” In other words, only the people who stuck the knife into the American International Group can neatly extract it for a decent burial.The longer that we put this off, the worse it will be.
There is no reason to believe this.
Similar arguments made during the 1997 Asian financial crisis, when currencies and stock markets collapsed in much of Southeast Asia, turned out to be a smokescreen to protect the executives who were partly responsible for the mess. Recovery from that crisis required Indonesia, South Korea and Thailand to close or consolidate banks. In all three countries, bankers protested, claiming that their connections with borrowers were critical to recovery.
...
The lesson of all this is that when insiders have broken a financial institution, the most direct remedy is to kick them out. Traders are hardly in short supply, and you don’t need to rely on the ones who made the toxic trades in the first place. Companies must always plan around the potential departure of even their star traders, or they are certain to fail. A.I.G. does not need to keep all of its traders, especially since it takes far fewer people to unwind a portfolio than to build it up.
*Charles de Gaulle, a man not known for his own sense of personal dispensablity, coined this bon mot.
Cows...Barn Doors...And the US Government
So, we have the government looking to legislation giving them the authority that the FDIC does when it shuts down banks for not bank entities, such as bank holding companies and hedge funds.
And in related news, the FDIC is looking for additional authority to acutally write regulations, a function which is currently does not have.
It has strong enforcement powers, but, "but only the Federal Reserve, Office of Thrift Supervision and National Credit Union Administration can write the regulation it enforces."
It's about time.
And in related news, the FDIC is looking for additional authority to acutally write regulations, a function which is currently does not have.
It has strong enforcement powers, but, "but only the Federal Reserve, Office of Thrift Supervision and National Credit Union Administration can write the regulation it enforces."
It's about time.
What Prima Donnas
Well, it appears that Senator Evah Bahy's (DINO-IN) new moderate caucus is getting some pushback from their constituents, and they are crying like a bunch of "girlie men", to quote the governator.
It appears that Rachel Maddow covered this, and called them "conservadems", and they are getting some calls from voters in their states telling them to get with the program.
How many calls are they getting?
Seriously, these folks are used to obstructing progressive programs, and then getting a pat on the head from villagers inside the beltway, but now, with someone pointing them out as trying to stifle change, they get 20 phone calls and more than a dozen emails, and they are whining about how people are mean to them.
Listen, if you suck up to Wall Street, who destroyed our 401(k)s, and you suck up to large food processors, who put poison in our peanuts, because they contribute to your campaign, you deserve whatever flak that you catch.
Cry me a fracking river.
It appears that Rachel Maddow covered this, and called them "conservadems", and they are getting some calls from voters in their states telling them to get with the program.
How many calls are they getting?
Maddow's five-minute "conservadem" segment last Thursday provoked at least 20 calls Monday to Udall's office and more than a dozen e-mails to Democratic Party headquarters in Colorado.So now they are crying about how awful people are to them.
Seriously, these folks are used to obstructing progressive programs, and then getting a pat on the head from villagers inside the beltway, but now, with someone pointing them out as trying to stifle change, they get 20 phone calls and more than a dozen emails, and they are whining about how people are mean to them.
Listen, if you suck up to Wall Street, who destroyed our 401(k)s, and you suck up to large food processors, who put poison in our peanuts, because they contribute to your campaign, you deserve whatever flak that you catch.
Cry me a fracking river.
Economics Update
So, the commodities markets surged as a result of the Fed's quantitative easing, which means that they are expecting inflation there, which has, among other things, put oil at a 4-month high,
The fact that the 2009 US budget deficit has just been revised higher may also be contributing to traders' positions.
Of course, Bernanke is primarily interested in preventing deflation, so this is a good thing, though I wonder how effective he will be.
Case in point: investors requested only $4.7 billion out of $200 billion available for the Fed small business and consumer lending program, the TALF.
It's a confidence problem, and I really think that the first step to restoring confidence needs to be removing the malefactors in finance who screwed this up in the first place.
The dollar rose today, largely on the belief that yesterday's drop indicated a time for profit taking.
The fact that the 2009 US budget deficit has just been revised higher may also be contributing to traders' positions.
Of course, Bernanke is primarily interested in preventing deflation, so this is a good thing, though I wonder how effective he will be.
Case in point: investors requested only $4.7 billion out of $200 billion available for the Fed small business and consumer lending program, the TALF.
It's a confidence problem, and I really think that the first step to restoring confidence needs to be removing the malefactors in finance who screwed this up in the first place.
The dollar rose today, largely on the belief that yesterday's drop indicated a time for profit taking.
Let's Give Texas Back to Mexico
Bill Would Allow Texas School to Grant Master's Degree in Science for Creationism
Seriously, just how stupid are some Texas legislators.
[on edit]
I don't mean to say that all Texas legislators are mind boggling stupid, just that when a Texas legislator decides to do "te stupid" he goes all Texas sized about it.
Seriously, just how stupid are some Texas legislators.
[on edit]
I don't mean to say that all Texas legislators are mind boggling stupid, just that when a Texas legislator decides to do "te stupid" he goes all Texas sized about it.
19 March 2009
Cuomo to Get Merrill Bonus Recipient Names
Andrew Cuomo just got a ruling to compel Bank of America to turn over all the names of Merrill Lynch big bonus recipients.
He's also looking to do the same with AIG.
As a matter of public policy, maybe any bonus or salary more than 40 or so times the median wage should be public information.
He's also looking to do the same with AIG.
As a matter of public policy, maybe any bonus or salary more than 40 or so times the median wage should be public information.
Because Samuel Clemens Was a Freaking Genius
Quoth Mark Twain:
In the first place, God made idiots. That was for practice. Then he made school boards.I wish that I had half his wit.
And Some Public Floggings Would Be Nice Too
Yves Smith at Naked Capitalism calls for aggressive criminal investigations, and I agree.
It's clear that there was a lot of outright criminality, and the broken window theory of law enforcement works with white collar criminals too:
After all, if they get caught, thrown in jail, and their assets,and possibly those of their spouses and perhaps their children's college funds, are forfeit, that's a lot more to lose than getting 3 to 5 in a prison when you had nothing before.
It's clear that there was a lot of outright criminality, and the broken window theory of law enforcement works with white collar criminals too:
Of course, it isn't clear whether deterrence works against white collar criminals, but the flip side is William Bratton style zero tolerance policing was successful in seemingly ungovernable New York. The theory was that allowing minor infractions, like window breaking, to go unpunished sent a very visible signal that misdeeds were tolerated. Of course, zero tolerance wasn't the only technique used by Bratton (he also was big on flexible deployment, shifting officers to neighborhoods that suffered an increase in crime), but it is considered to be an effective policing tool. And Wall Street is so far from having any meaningful policing that it's a joke.I would argue that the Wall Street crooks have more to lose than a corner dope dealer.
It seems anything short of regulatory or legal moves that limit career options (read future earning power) is an insufficient disincentive to risky trader and investor behavior.
After all, if they get caught, thrown in jail, and their assets,and possibly those of their spouses and perhaps their children's college funds, are forfeit, that's a lot more to lose than getting 3 to 5 in a prison when you had nothing before.
Ellen Tauscher Confirms that She Will Accept Foreign Service Post
She has accepted the offer to be the undersecretary of State for arms control and international security, and this means that a line is already forming for the special election.
This is a safe Democratic district, so let's hope that she is replaced by a member of the "Democratic Wing of the Democratic Party."
This is a safe Democratic district, so let's hope that she is replaced by a member of the "Democratic Wing of the Democratic Party."
Six Democrats to Run Serious Primary Challenges Against
Because they voted against taxing the AIG bonuses, and they are among the most right wing Democrats in the house of representatives:
- Melissa Bean (IL-08)
- Larry Kissell (NC-08)
- Walt Minnink (ID-01)
- Mike McMahon (NY-13)
- Harry Mitchell (AZ-05)
- Vic Snyder (AR-02)
Geithner Fesses Up
Well, I suppose that it's an improvement that we now have people in cabinet positions who, when caught in a bald faced lie, will, when absolutely forced to, tell the truth.
Compared to Dick Cheney, or Alberto Gonzalez, the fact that Timothy Geithner is now admitting that it was the Treasury that demanded the bonus loophole is a step forward.
Of course, this followed 24 hours of "pin the bonus on Chris Dodd," and only when people went back to contemporaneous news reports, and his fellow senators pushed back against the smear, did they change their tune, but considering the fact that Ari Fleischer accused Saddam Hussein of planning 911 just 6 days ago, this is a step forward, but still, Geithner needs to realize that he works for Barack Obama, who works for us, and not the banks.
Compared to Dick Cheney, or Alberto Gonzalez, the fact that Timothy Geithner is now admitting that it was the Treasury that demanded the bonus loophole is a step forward.
Of course, this followed 24 hours of "pin the bonus on Chris Dodd," and only when people went back to contemporaneous news reports, and his fellow senators pushed back against the smear, did they change their tune, but considering the fact that Ari Fleischer accused Saddam Hussein of planning 911 just 6 days ago, this is a step forward, but still, Geithner needs to realize that he works for Barack Obama, who works for us, and not the banks.
House Passes Bonus Tax Bill
Just over half of the 'Phants voted against it, and all but 6 Democrats (I'll post who and what should be done later) voted for a 90% tax on bonuses of companies getting bailed out by the government.
On some level I understand just how this is really a very small part of the bailout, but from news, to outrage, to bill passing the house is about 4 days, and it means something, though I'm not sure who gets that yet.
On some level I understand just how this is really a very small part of the bailout, but from news, to outrage, to bill passing the house is about 4 days, and it means something, though I'm not sure who gets that yet.
More Nails in Eddie Haskell's Coffin
I think that Geithner will be gone by June....He should have rented a house, because we now have a report that Treasury was informed of the bonuses two weeks before Geithner says that he knew, which makes him either a liar, or incompetent.
Me, I'll go with liar, as it is clear that the Obama administration is lying their asses off about Dodd's role in proposed bonus restrictions in the bailout legislation, and the logical people lying about it right now are all on the Geithner/Summers "axis of weasels":
What's more, the rest of the world does not have any confidence in Geithner either, as evidenced by the IMF criticizing his plan as "lacking detail."
The IMF never criticizes a Secretary of the Treasury, and the fact that they are now indicates that there are a number of foreign nations that are sick of him, and signed off on this statement.
We need someone who will hold the financial industry to account, and Geithner still has knee pads on.
Me, I'll go with liar, as it is clear that the Obama administration is lying their asses off about Dodd's role in proposed bonus restrictions in the bailout legislation, and the logical people lying about it right now are all on the Geithner/Summers "axis of weasels":
After the recent furor relating to the AIG payments, lawmakers returned to make a forensic examination of the provision seeking to assign blame for what some called a secret agreement to spare the tottering insurance giant, which has received more than $170 billion in federal aid. The provision and its genesis consumed Capital Hill Wednesday."Administration Officials" means someone under Geithner's or Summers' control here.
"The president goes out and says this is not acceptable and then some backroom deal gets cut to let these things get paid out anyway," said Sen. Ron Wyden, (D., Ore.), author of an earlier, alternative pay amendment, told the Associated Press.
The Obama administration had not tried to hide its concern about the moves to clamp down on executive compensation. Both Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and National Economic Council Director Lawrence Summers lobbied Mr. Dodd to make changes.
Administration officials said the Treasury didn't suggest any language or say how the amendment should be changed. They said they noted legal issues that could likely lead to challenges, but was the end of their involvement. The official said Mr. Dodd and Congress made the final changes on their own.
At issue were competing provisions in the stimulus bill that capped executive compensation for recipients of bailout funds. One, drafted by Sens. Wyden and Olympia J. Snowe (R, Maine), would have capped bonuses at $100,000, retroactive to 2008. Companies awarding bonuses above that level would face the choice of returning those funds to the Treasury or having them taxed at 35%.
What's more, the rest of the world does not have any confidence in Geithner either, as evidenced by the IMF criticizing his plan as "lacking detail."
The IMF never criticizes a Secretary of the Treasury, and the fact that they are now indicates that there are a number of foreign nations that are sick of him, and signed off on this statement.
We need someone who will hold the financial industry to account, and Geithner still has knee pads on.
I'd Say It's Self-Evident, Only Not
Nemo at Self Evident makes a convincing case that Bernanke and Geithner are not doing anything but trying to protect the incumbent banking giants.
I agree. While we need a functioning credit system, there is no need for the current banks to continue to exist in their current form, and the Fed and Treasury's frantic effort to keep these banks on life support is a detriment to the rest of the economy:
I agree. While we need a functioning credit system, there is no need for the current banks to continue to exist in their current form, and the Fed and Treasury's frantic effort to keep these banks on life support is a detriment to the rest of the economy:
If I were in charge and I wanted to prevent banks from failing at all costs, what might I do?Good point, and good snark.
I might relax mark-to-market accounting. This would allow assets to be carried at inflated valuations, both for purposes of regulatory capital requirements and for purposes of getting loans from the Fed.
I might provide non-recourse loans to private equity to create inflated marks where mark-to-market still applies.
I might try to convince the FDIC to exercise forbearance in seizing banks. Of course, the primary day-to-day mission of the folks at FDIC is to preserve the integrity of their insurance fund. So they might object to my suggestion. I might have to give them assurances that they will have the necessary resources should my great plan fail. A $500 billion credit line from the Treasury, say.
If the FDIC agreed, they might suddenly go from 3-4 bank seizures per week to 0-1 per week.
Once my plan leaked to certain troubled banks, they might suddenly halt their attempts to raise capital at $0.20/share.
And of course, once Wall Street got wind of it, shares in financial companies would rocket higher.
Let me know if you notice anything like this happening.
If These Guys Are So Smart, Why Are They Complete Morons?
It looks like Citi Chief Executive Officer Vikram Pandit and his merry band of stupids have decided to spend $10 million on redecorating their executive digs.
Hello, this is a clue!!!! Do you remember the name John Thain, the former head of Merrill until his gold plated office spending came out?
Hello, this is a clue!!!! Do you remember the name John Thain, the former head of Merrill until his gold plated office spending came out?
What Have They Got To Hide
In this case, it's the Federal Aviation Administration, which has a proposed rule to block public access to raw bird strike data:
More likely, they are covering something up, like certain airports being having a lot more problems with bird strikes, and the FAA, which is tasked with both regulating and promoting aviation, finds this information inconvenient.
The FAA says requests for data from the public "have typically been for specific data fields, individual airports or detailed portions of the database" and that responses from the agency "have addressed each request individually and adequately".So, they are saying that think that ordinary people are too stupid to understand the data.
However, the agency cautions public analysis of bits and pieces of the data could lead to inaccurate portrayals of airports and airlines, which could have a negative impact on their participation in reporting bird strikes.
More likely, they are covering something up, like certain airports being having a lot more problems with bird strikes, and the FAA, which is tasked with both regulating and promoting aviation, finds this information inconvenient.
Economics Update
Thursday is new jobless day, and the numbers suck with new claims falling to a still very high 646,000 and continuing claims hitting a new record of 5.47 million, which is a new record....Again.This implies that people are still unable to find jobs, but, for a while, at least, employers have run out of people to lay off....Delightful.
We also had the Leading Economic Indicators falling, though not as badly as the consensus prediction, and the Philadelphia Fed Business Outlook Survey for March remained awful, from -41.3 in February to -35.0 this month, so we are still seeing a contraction.
In the auto industry, the bailout has been extended to parts suppliers, to the tune of %5 billion.
In real estate, it looks like Moody's might cut the ratings on some $241 billion of debt for jumbo mortgages, which means that it must suck to live in a high cost real estate area right now.
In the world of the here and now, Moody’s did downgrade insurance company Prudential, and I'm wondering how long before the rest of the insurance industry looks like AIG.
In any case, it appears that the Fed's decision to start quantitative easing (printing money) is having an effect, with the cost of borrowing falling, with 30-year fixed mortgages falling to 4.98%.
The Fed has also driven the US dollar lower, with the dollar hitting $1.36:€1.00 for the first time since January.
We are also hearing rumors that Citi is considering a reverse stock split, my guess is that this is how they want to address the worry that they might become a penny stock.
In energy, oil broke $50/bbl for the first time this year, on the falling dollar and reports that OPEC members are more-or-less keeping to their quotas.
Have I Mentioned that I Love Barney Frank?
In a completely heterosexual kind of way, as the General would say.
In any case, the distinguished gentleman from Massachusetts asks, "Is There an Antidote to the Republican Amnesia?"
In any case, the distinguished gentleman from Massachusetts asks, "Is There an Antidote to the Republican Amnesia?"
Memory eventually fails us all, but apparently the decline strikes one party far more than the other.Brutal and very funny.
In recent weeks, my friends across the aisle have expended a lot of breath proclaiming that the Democrats caused the present financial crisis by failing to pass legislation to regulate financial services companies in the years 1995 through 2006.
There is only small one problem with this story -- throughout this entire period the Republicans were in complete charge of the House and for the most critical years they controlled the House, the Senate, and the Presidency.
In the House of Representatives, the majority party has almost unlimited power over the minority party. The majority party owns the committee chairmanships; it controls what bills come to a vote; and it is under no obligation to consider the ideas of the beleaguered minority. When the Republicans were in the majority they ruled with an iron first; it is no accident that Tom DeLay was known as "The Hammer."
That is why I find it particularly flattering the Republicans now claim that in the years 1995 to 2006 I personally possessed supernatural powers which enabled me to force mighty Republican leaders to do my bidding. Choose your comic book hero -- I was all of them.
.....
This is Absolutely Clueless
And both Rahm Emanuel and David Axelrod are now saying that the AIG bonus fiasco doesn't matter, and that the people don't care about it.
In the grand scheme of the bailout, it's not a lot of money, I get that, but to suggest that this is some sort of silly, media generated phony story is simply naive and stupid.
When did the Carter administration come back?
In the grand scheme of the bailout, it's not a lot of money, I get that, but to suggest that this is some sort of silly, media generated phony story is simply naive and stupid.
When did the Carter administration come back?
18 March 2009
China Moving to Shorter Term Treasuries
So, they are trading off return for the ability to get themselves out in relatively short order, or as the Asia Times puts it, "China inoculates itself against dollar collapse."
My take is that this may be the economic story that comes from "nowhere" to bite us in the butt in the next 18 months or so, but my predictive skilz suck, so YMMV.
My take is that this may be the economic story that comes from "nowhere" to bite us in the butt in the next 18 months or so, but my predictive skilz suck, so YMMV.
Well, Now We Know Why Greta Van Susteren Gushed Over Sarah Palin
It turns out that her husband, John Coale, is Palin's husband is a senior figure in Sarah Pac:
Ironically, just last week, Van Susteren decried people thinking she’s “so close to the Palin family.” “The only way that I’ve met them is by interviewing them,” she said, never mentioning her husband’s relationship to Palin.So not surprised.
Jeebus, AIG Again, Only This Time It's the Whole Company
If I'm reading Michael Hirsh right, the non financial products division part of AIG, the part that was supposed to be the well run real insurance company, may very well be insolvent too:
Thomas Gober, a former Mississippi state insurance examiner who has tracked fraud in the industry for 23 years and served previously as a consultant to the FBI and the Department of Justice, says he believes AIG's supposedly solvent insurance business may be at least as troubled as its reckless financial-products unit. Far from being "healthy," as state insurance regulators, ratings agencies and other experts have repeatedly described the insurance side, Gober calls it "a house of cards." Citing numerous documents he has obtained from state insurance regulators and obscure data buried in AIG's own 300-page annual reports, Gober argues that AIG's 71 interlocking domestic U.S. insurance subsidiaries are in hock to each other to an astonishing degree.Seriously, we need to start sending people to jail.
I Hope So
Word is that Congresswoman Ellen Tauscher has been tapped as undersecretary of state for arms control and international security, which means that the head of the New Democrat Caucus, and a shill for the banking industry would be replaced in a special election.
The fact that this DINO in a safe Dem district would be out would be a very good thing.
The fact that this DINO in a safe Dem district would be out would be a very good thing.
Ben Bernanke Dead Pool
Yeah, it does seem to be the day for dead pools.
In this case, we have AIG CEO saying tat Fed Chairman Bernanke and dhe Federal Reserve approved the bonuses some months ago.
While Bernanke is unfirable, I think that this is another nail in his reputation, and I think that we will start seeing increasing pressure for him to resign.
In this case, we have AIG CEO saying tat Fed Chairman Bernanke and dhe Federal Reserve approved the bonuses some months ago.
While Bernanke is unfirable, I think that this is another nail in his reputation, and I think that we will start seeing increasing pressure for him to resign.
