Rock on.
Monday, June 30, 2008
Getting A Clark Mancrush
Statement from Wes Clark:
"There are many important issues in this Presidential election, clearly one of the most important issues is national security and keeping the American people safe. In my opinion, protecting the American people is the most important duty of our next President. I have made comments in the past about John McCain's service and I want to reiterate them in order be crystal clear. As I have said before I honor John McCain's service as a prisoner of war and a Vietnam Veteran. He was a hero to me and to hundreds of thousands and millions of others in Armed Forces as a prisoner of war. I would never dishonor the service of someone who chose to wear the uniform for our nation.
“John McCain is running his campaign on his experience and how his experience would benefit him and our nation as President. That experience shows courage and commitment to our country - but it doesn't include executive experience wrestling with national policy or go-to-war decisions. And in this area his judgment has been flawed - he not only supported going into a war we didn't have to fight in Iraq, but has time and again undervalued other, non-military elements of national power that must be used effectively to protect America But as an American and former military officer I will not back down if I believe someone doesn't have sound judgment when it comes to our nation's most critical issues.”
A Moment of Sanity?
Rachel Maddow hosting MSNBC this hour...and the panel includes 2 nominal liberals, one "straight reporter" and Tony Blankley. It's like opposite hour on cable news.
No We Can't
Getting close to 7 years later and still not much happening very fast at the WTC site. I don't have any strong opinions about what should be built there, but big empty lot doesn't seem to top the list.
Pony Power
Even the most optimistic aides can't predict a Bush bounce above 50.
In normal times I'd assume that there would be, as there was with Reagan, some end of presidency sentimentality modestly boosting poll numbers. I doubt it'll happen this time, and certainly not all the way to 45.
In normal times I'd assume that there would be, as there was with Reagan, some end of presidency sentimentality modestly boosting poll numbers. I doubt it'll happen this time, and certainly not all the way to 45.
The Village Idiots
Today the Village Idiots have all agreed to be united on a completely absurd premise, and are willing to crop and flat out lie to continue to bolster that premise.
Gonna be a long election season.
Gonna be a long election season.
What Went Wrong
ABC has an article up about what went wrong with the anthrax investigation.
Interestingly, though it does say a leaky investigation is a bad investigation, it doesn't bother to mention all of the links ABC received which connected anthrax to then-Hitler of the week Saddam Hussein.
Interestingly, though it does say a leaky investigation is a bad investigation, it doesn't bother to mention all of the links ABC received which connected anthrax to then-Hitler of the week Saddam Hussein.
Share
According to the Associated Press, Iraq hasn't signed oil contracts and the reason, according to the oil minister, is that "they refused to offer consultancy based on fees, as they wanted a share of the oil."
Indeed
Jesse:
Once upon a time in blogland, which was 3 million years ago in blogtime, back around the time when Howard Dean was ANGRY and all of his supporters were possessed by BUSH DERANGEMENT SYNDROME, completely blinded by irrational hatred and anger, there was a lot of talk about how assholes like me needed to be nicer and sweeter in order to reach out to those nice Midwestern folks who didn't read my sucky blog anyway. But the fact is that much of our politics has for some years been unrepentant dumbassery, even if much of it comes out of the mouths of leading mainstream media figures like Brian Williams and Maureen Dowd. There's no reasoning with it, no being nice to it. It isn't useful to simply throw up an argument or competing narrative.
As a fellow Middle American, let me step up and say this: if you believe that Obama is a Muslim, unpatriotic, a terrorist, not born in America, any of the various rumors floating around about him, you are an ignorant, bigoted asshole giving in to the worst temptations of society, no matter how coddled they are by people unwilling to offend you lest they seem like the sort of elitist who doesn’t obsess over whether or not Negroes with funny names are going to kill you in your sleep. Facts don’t seem to work, so I’m more than willing to try abject shame for being unrepentant dumbassery.
Once upon a time in blogland, which was 3 million years ago in blogtime, back around the time when Howard Dean was ANGRY and all of his supporters were possessed by BUSH DERANGEMENT SYNDROME, completely blinded by irrational hatred and anger, there was a lot of talk about how assholes like me needed to be nicer and sweeter in order to reach out to those nice Midwestern folks who didn't read my sucky blog anyway. But the fact is that much of our politics has for some years been unrepentant dumbassery, even if much of it comes out of the mouths of leading mainstream media figures like Brian Williams and Maureen Dowd. There's no reasoning with it, no being nice to it. It isn't useful to simply throw up an argument or competing narrative.
The road not taken
Pierce remembers:
Not Atrios
In 1990, while I was in the employ of a now-defunct all-sports daily newspaper, I went to Atlanta to work on a piece about Evander Holyfield, who was preparing to fight James (Buster) Douglas for the heavyweight champeenship of the woild (!). Anyway, one night, my hotel was hosting a fundraiser for a guy named David Worley, a lawyer who was running against Newt Gingrich. What the hell, I thought, maybe the hors d'oeuvres are good. I went down to the ballroom and, in the course of extensive freeloading, I talked to a number of people from the Worley campaign who were absolutely convinced that their guy could take Gingrich down. They were extremely frosted at the Democratic National Committee, which barely bothered to return their phone calls. By the end of the evening, they even had me convinced. Turns out they were right.Signed,
Not Atrios
Sunday, June 29, 2008
Mile 26
I realized recently that the problem with blogging during the McCain candidacy is that it's just repetition. The media coverage of McCain is so predictable, and it's all been described in this blog and others over the past few years in excruciating detail. It's like one long "I told you so - go read the archives." You even get the sense that the media have an awareness of what's wrong with how they cover McCain, but they don't actually give a shit.
long hard slog
long hard slog
That Didn't Happen Either
Maliki, November 2006.
Oh well.
WASHINGTON --Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said Thursday that his country's forces would be able to assume security command by June 2007 -- which could allow the United States to start withdrawing its troops.
"I cannot answer on behalf of the U.S. administration but I can tell you that from our side our forces will be ready by June 2007," Maliki told ABC television after meeting President Bush on Thursday in Jordan.
Oh well.
I Don't Think This Is Likely To Happen Either
From June 9, 2007.
This goal, drawn from recent interviews with more than 20 U.S. military officers and other officials here, including senior commanders, strategists and analysts, remains in the early planning stages. It is based on officials’ assessment that a sharp drawdown of troops is likely to begin by the middle of next year, with roughly two-thirds of the current force of 150,000 moving out by late 2008 or early 2009. The questions officials are grappling with are not whether the U.S. presence will be cut, but how quickly, to what level and to what purpose.
Oh Well
So much for that. June 8, 2007:
WASHINGTON - House Speaker Nancy Pelosi predicted Thursday that there would be “a drastic reduction in troops” in Iraq by the middle of 2008, saying Democratic opposition to the war had “changed the debate on Iraq in our country.”
In an interview airing Friday on MSNBC’s “Hardball,” Pelosi, D-Calif., told host Chris Matthews that while Democrats may have failed for now to force President Bush to agree to a timetable to withdraw U.S. troops, their agitation for disengagement from Iraq had backed the president into a corner.
Clueless
I usually think the "candidate doesn't know the price of a gallon of milk" type of stories are pretty stupid. But the price of gas, today, is a different issue. Unlike milk and similar, the price of gas is pretty much a staple of the news these days. Glance at a newspaper or flip on teevee news (local, cable, network, whatever), and you'll get the daily update of the price. This isn't just about a presidential candidate who obviously and understandably doesn't fill up his gas tank very often, it's about a presidential candidate who just isn't paying any attention to what's going on in the world.
I Hope They Sell Booze On The SUPERTRAIN
Not everybody drinks, of course, but lots of people do. And lots of the lots of people who drink don't live within reasonable walking distance of a drinking establishment. That has long mystified me.
Why Not A Pumpkin
The fondness of certain elites for undemocratic regimes where the normal people have limited freedom but elites get to play and are treated very well never ceases to surprise me for some reason.
More Infrastructure
While I recognize that there's a lag time between authorization and the potential for actually spending the money to repair bridges and build SUPERTRAINS, it would have been pretty nice if instead of a dumb "here's some money" stimulus authorized months ago we'd embarked on a massive infrastructure repair and building project. Since we failed to do that "free money for people" will again be a bit faster but it's also a bit short-sighted. And, hey, happy to do both. Whatever. Just give me my SUPERTRAIN.
Sunday Bobbleheads
Document the atrocities.
ABC's "This Week" — Rep. Rahm Emanuel, D-Ill.; Gov. Tim Pawlenty, R-Minn.; Ralph Nader, independent presidential candidate.
___
CBS' "Face the Nation" — Sen. Joe Lieberman, I-Conn.; retired Gen. Wesley Clark.
___
NBC's "Meet the Press" — Govs. Arnold Schwarzenegger, R-Calif., Dave Freudenthal, D-Wyo., and Bill Ritter, D-Colo.
___
CNN's "Late Edition" — U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker; Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.; Govs. Jon Corzine, D-N.J., and Bobby Jindal, R-La.; Terry McAuliffe, campaign chairman for Hillary Rodham Clinton.
"Fox News Sunday" _ Gov. Ed Rendell, D-Pa.; former Rep. Rob Portman, R-Ohio; Bob Barr, Libertarian presidential candidate.
Sunday Morning
The thing about McCain and computers is not just about age. It's also about privilege. He has people to print out his email and highlight the important stuff, or, for that matter, read it to him slowly. Here's a stupid illustration of the same principle.
Saturday, June 28, 2008
A Peculiar American Phenomenon
Truly it is.
Cruising sounded like a really awesome idea when I was 13 and the known alternative was... sitting in my room doing nothing. But it is a rather poor way to interact with and meet people, which was always the point but rarely realized for obvious reasons.
- Perhaps the summer’s most visible change is occurring in the downtown strips of small towns where, for decades, cruising on Friday and Saturday nights has been a teenage rite of passage. It is a peculiarly American phenomenon — driving around in a big loop, listening to music, waving at one another and wasting gasoline.
“We’re not cruising around anymore, with gas costing $4.50 a gallon,” said Ewelina Smosna, a recent graduate of Taft High School in Chicago, as she hung out the other night at the Streets of Woodfield, an outdoor mall in Schaumburg. “We just park the car and walk around.”
According to police officers in towns like Elkhart, Ind.; Grand Haven, Mich.; and Mount Pleasant, S.C., traffic has dropped markedly on cruise nights.
Cruising sounded like a really awesome idea when I was 13 and the known alternative was... sitting in my room doing nothing. But it is a rather poor way to interact with and meet people, which was always the point but rarely realized for obvious reasons.
They Need Enemies
The behavior of Cheney and others only makes sense if that's the case.
Perhaps, as Mitt suggested, nuclear nonproliferation is just a liberal position.
Perhaps, as Mitt suggested, nuclear nonproliferation is just a liberal position.
Distress
And what happens if the recession really starts to hit (recognizing that in certain places it already has).
- When Congress started fashioning a sweeping rescue package for struggling homeowners earlier this year, 2.6 million loans were in trouble. But the problem has grown considerably in just six months and is continuing to worsen. More than three million borrowers are in distress, and analysts are forecasting a couple of million more will fall behind on their payments in the coming year as home prices fall further and the economy weakens.
Good Governance
I'm not even sure how this little bit of wingnuttery - that Katrina caused no oil spills - got into the conservative bloodstream. In any case, one would hope that the governor of Louisiana might be aware of such details.
Friday, June 27, 2008
Praise Jeebus For US News
Bringing us the finest in advertorial.
- Celebrities make a hobby of flaunting the newest, flashiest and most disgustingly expensive supercars. Outside of car magazines, names like Maybach, Bentley and Lamborghini are seldom heard -- unless they're in a sentence with the words "Paris" and "Hilton." But that doesn't mean you can't own one of your favorite celeb's rides. Check out our list of cars priced from $17-50K and driven by what are undoubtedly some of the more down-to-earth superstars.
Does Anybody Remember Anthrax?
Gov't paying over $5 million to Steven Hatfill to settle a claim due to gov't suggestion that he was somehow responsible for the anthrax attacks, sez MSNBC.
WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
DOW DROPS ON MARKET FEARS OF DEMOCRATIC VICTORY IN NOVEMBER.
Joking, but be prepared for those headlines in the Fall...
Joking, but be prepared for those headlines in the Fall...
Something Productive
If Jim Wallis wanted to do something which would genuinely reduce abortions instead of concern trolling Democrats, he could take the lead against conservatives who push abstinence only education and try to deny people access to contraception.
As Frances Kissling wrote:
We all want to reduce unplanned pregnancies. I don't personally care all that much about reducing abortions per se, but the latter follows pretty neatly from the former.
As Frances Kissling wrote:
In his attempts to seek "common ground" with others, Wallis focuses on the "too many abortions" argument. But his common ground is very shaky. It does not, for example, include contraception. Wallis has said he is in favor of contraception, but after a fairly extensive review of his writing and transcripts of speeches and sermons, I can find no reference to contraception as a common-ground means of reducing abortion rates. Wallis' common ground is abstinence-focused sex education, adoption reform (with no specifics on what kind of reform he thinks would lead to a significant number of women choosing to give birth and then give up their babies for adoption), and better economic benefits and social support for pregnant women to encourage them to continue their pregnancies.
A lengthy Op-Ed published in the New York Times on Aug. 4 was the first indication of where Wallis would go in terms of abortion law. While he repeatedly has said that Democrats need not change their position on abortion, just the way they talk about it (comments echoed by party chairman Howard Dean), Wallis is now out of the closet. He supports "reasonable restrictions" on legal abortion. Which ones, and how many, are unclear. Does he support a cutoff of federal Medicaid funds for poor women's abortions? Second-trimester abortions only when the pregnancies are likely to result in severe and long-lasting health consequences for the women or in dead children? Mandated scripts that lie about fetal development and the health consequences of abortion? Restrictions on access for adolescents unless their parents give consent? Waiting periods that make it hard for working women to get to clinics the several times required to prove they have "thought through" their decisions? Every restriction currently on the books adversely affects the poor women he claims to care about so much.
We all want to reduce unplanned pregnancies. I don't personally care all that much about reducing abortions per se, but the latter follows pretty neatly from the former.
And Manhattan
Commercial rents are beginning to decline there.
June 27 (Bloomberg) -- Manhattan office rents fell 2.2 percent in the second quarter, the first decline in the most expensive U.S. office market since 2005, according to real estate broker Studley Inc.
Last Throes
It was over 6 Friedmans ago that Dick Cheney said this.
Very serious.
The level of activity that we see today from a military standpoint, I think, will clearly decline. I think they're in the last throes, if you will, of the insurgency.
Very serious.
Insult Humor
Apparently Huggy Bear has even more in common with Bush. A staple of his comedy routine involves insulting people who work for him.
Good
The Philly Mayor has endorsed a sensible plan for doing something decent on the waterfront, moving away from perpetually seeking One Giant Development and instead, in spots, simply extending the city grid to the water, along with creating a path by it, and letting development happen more organically.
Not Very Confident
Quite pessimistic, in fact.
NEW YORK (Reuters) - consumer confidence fell more than expected in June, hitting another 28-year low as surging prices and mounting job losses sapped sentiment, according to a survey released on Friday.
...
The Surveys of Consumers said the final June reading for its index of confidence fell to 56.4 from May's 59.8.
The June reading is the lowest since 51.7 in May 1980, which was also the lowest reading ever. The index dates back to 1952, though the survey has been conducted since 1946.
Talking About It All The Time
McCain does talk about his POW experience all the time. And mentions it in his ads! By the standards of the last election this would provide the media license to have people come on and lie about McCain's war record for 2 months straight.
Parking Ruins Everything
I've been looking at this project, which is pretty near to the new Chez Atrios, thinking it looks pretty good but never being able to figure out where the parking is. Architect renderings are always good at hiding the bad stuff. Inga Saffron tells me that it's an interior surface lot, and that there's also a big driveway on Broad St.
Oh well. There are good things about the project, and it's certainly an improvement over the abandoned shells and empty lot it'll be replacing.
Oh well. There are good things about the project, and it's certainly an improvement over the abandoned shells and empty lot it'll be replacing.
Meanwhile
Over there.
BAGHDAD (AFP) - An Iraq Supreme Court judge was ambushed and gunned down in Baghdad as he drove home from work, a court spokesman and security sources said on Friday.
Morning Coffee
Whole bean? Maxwell House? Instant? (Does anybody drink instant anymore?)
Bought on the way to work?
Bought on the way to work?
Late Evening Thread
by Molly Ivors.
Contemplate.
Discuss.
Contemplate.
Half of my life is gone, and I have let
The years slip from me and have not fulfilled
The aspiration of my youth, to build
Some tower of song with lofty parapet.
Not indolence, nor pleasure, nor the fret
Of restless passions that would not be stilled,
But sorrow, and a care that almost killed,
Kept me from what I may accomplish yet;
Though, half-way up the hill, I see the Past
Lying beneath me with its sounds and sights, --
A city in the twilight dim and vast,
With smoking roofs, soft bells, and gleaming lights, --
And hear above me on the autumnal blast
The cataract of Death far thundering from the heights.
Discuss.
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Brownbackery
Even aside from the fact that Brownback himself worked with Obama on things, it's a bit weird for him to suggest that Obama only will "talk bipartisan" even as Brownback's Republican colleague, Gordon Smith, is running ads touting their record of working together.
Not that I personally care about bipartisanship, of course.
Not that I personally care about bipartisanship, of course.
Making Stuff Up
It really is hard to deal with a media system which simply fabricates facts and invents contradictions.
FISA Delayed
That's something I suppose.
...by email Christy says schedule is still in flux so not necessarily.
Objections by Sen. Russ Feingold (D-Wis.) will push back an overhaul of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) until after lawmakers return in July, Democratic leaders said Thursday. Feingold is strongly opposed to language that would likely give telephone companies that participated in warrantless surveillance retroactive immunity from lawsuits.
"It doesn't look like it," Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) said of taking up the FISA bill this week. "Sen. Feingold wants additional time and would like to postpone it until after the Fourth of July."
Durbin said: "We can't leave until we finish Medicare and the supplemental."
...by email Christy says schedule is still in flux so not necessarily.
Distressed
Got a long way to go.
I asked the Realtors how much of these sales are “distressed” properties, that is, short sales (where the seller works with the lender to sell at a price below the mortgage value--that way the seller and the lender avoid foreclosure, which usually ends in bigger losses) and REO sales which are bank-owned properties (homes that have already gone through foreclosure).
According to the Realtors, a full one third of sales are distressed properties. Think about that. Five million home sales expected this year and of those about 1.65 million will be homes that a seller couldn’t afford to keep.
Bad Bill, Bad People
I think it's easy to think that crazy internet bloggers were unreasonably obsessed about the immunity provision without caring about the fact that the FISA bill is just generally a very bad bill. Immunity became the hook when Dodd said he'd fight any bill with immunity in there, but it isn't the only thing to object to. The point was to use immunity as a way of derailing the rest of the thing. Immunity is bad, but the rest of the bill is bad too, as are the people who support it.
Not change we can believe in, my friends.
Not change we can believe in, my friends.
5-4, 5-4...
Millionaire's amendment in campaign finance law knocked down, and individual gun rights affirmed.
Personally no strong opinions on either the actual constitutional questions or the real world outcomes, though I don't yet know how much the gun ruling still allows some gun regulation. YMMV.
Personally no strong opinions on either the actual constitutional questions or the real world outcomes, though I don't yet know how much the gun ruling still allows some gun regulation. YMMV.
Interest Reserves
There's a big ticking time bomb for smaller banks which issue a lot of commercial real estate/construction loans.
Regulators are increasingly worried about a lending practice that allows real-estate developers to delay paying construction-loan interest but can mask problems at the banks that made the loans.
Small banks, which are more exposed relative to bigger banks, have $280 billion of outstanding construction loans overall, mostly to condominium developers and home builders. When the loans were made, the banks calculated the interest that would be paid and put that money aside in "interest reserves." In essence, the banks pay themselves until the loan becomes due or the property generates cash flow.
That's A Lot Of Cars!
But it isn't true.
50,000 members. Not 50,000 vehicles.
Ithaca Carshare plans to add more vehicles, though it's not likely to reach the numbers of Philly Carshare, which has 50,000 vehicles.
50,000 members. Not 50,000 vehicles.
Thursday Is New Jobless Day
Still high.
In the week ending June 21, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 384,000, unchanged from the previous week's revised figure of 384,000. The 4-week moving average was 378,250, an increase of 2,250 from the previous week's revised average of 376,000.
The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 2.4 percent for the week ending June 14, an increase of 0.1 percentage point from the prior week's unrevised rate of 2.3 percent.
The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending June 14 was 3,139,000, an increase of 82,000 from the preceding week's revised level of 3,057,000. The 4-week moving average was 3,103,250, an increase of 7,500 from the preceding week's revised average of 3,095,750.
Meanwhile
Over there.
BAGHDAD - At least 15 people were killed Thursday when a suicide bomber detonated an explosive belt inside an Iraqi municipal council headquarters during a meeting of tribal sheiks.
Col. Fawzi Fraih, civil defense director of Anbar province, said the sheiks were members of a group opposed to al-Qaida in Iraq and were meeting with Americans when the attack occurred in Karmah, about 20 miles west of Baghdad. At least 17 people were wounded.
Not A Time Of War
I guess the folks at Barrons really are hermetically sealed from the rest of the universe.
Thread
Terrible lighting in the video, but the lyrics to this one are about right as a Shorter Last Eight Years: "All my songs used to end the same way/"Everything's gonna be OK"/ But you fuckers make that impossible to say..."
"You Blanks," Portastatic, from Be Still Please.
"You Blanks," Portastatic, from Be Still Please.
Late Night Thread
I've been seeing some people expressing concern that maverickyness may permit McCain to pull this out. Please note:
1) He's a terrible candidate. He's undisciplined, incoherent, ill-tempered and can't read a teleprompter.
2) They're running a terrible campaign. They haven't picked a logo or a slogan yet, and lime green jello is still in the running as their color scheme.
3) He's way behind, already, and right track/wrong track is at 14/80.
The media is going to desperately try to make this a horse race. Don't be fooled. Think Bob Dole. Or Chevy Chase as Gerald Ford. Jay Newton-Small will always find a weird cross-tab, and Richard Cohen will always say being a POW justifies every bit of incoherent babbling.
They're wrong.
1) He's a terrible candidate. He's undisciplined, incoherent, ill-tempered and can't read a teleprompter.
2) They're running a terrible campaign. They haven't picked a logo or a slogan yet, and lime green jello is still in the running as their color scheme.
3) He's way behind, already, and right track/wrong track is at 14/80.
The media is going to desperately try to make this a horse race. Don't be fooled. Think Bob Dole. Or Chevy Chase as Gerald Ford. Jay Newton-Small will always find a weird cross-tab, and Richard Cohen will always say being a POW justifies every bit of incoherent babbling.
They're wrong.
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Blogger Ethics Panel
Because mainstream media outlets would never fail to inform you about the financial interests of their guests.
Osama
Maybe it isn't all that important, but I think one of the things you pay people on the teevee for is the ability to not make idiotic verbal screwups.
Restive
According to Google news, the following Iraqi cities and provinces are described as "restive":
Diyala
Mosul
Baquba
Nineveh
Sadr City
Salahaddin
Also:
"the Sunni minority"
Restive:
Diyala
Mosul
Baquba
Nineveh
Sadr City
Salahaddin
Also:
"the Sunni minority"
Restive:
restive \RES-tiv\, adjective:
1. Impatient under restriction, delay, coercion, or opposition; resisting control.
2. Unwilling to go on; obstinate in refusing to move forward; stubborn.
Documents
One would be surprised at the lack of attention McCain's lawbreaking has gotten compared with the perfectly legal and sensible opt-out of public financing by Obama if one failed to understand that McCain is a straight talking maverick with a noble soul who can do no wrong.
David Plouffe brought a prop to his briefing with reporter: a copy of John McCain's signature on a state election document in which he attested that he'd be taking public financing.
"John McCain is spending tens of millions of dollars, we believe, unlawfully,' he said, waving the document.
The details of the argument over whether McCain used an acceptable or unacceptable loophole to secure a loan with the possibility of public financing is now before a court in a DNC lawsuit and subject to the FEC's consideration.
"John McCain signed his name, 'John McCain," Ploufe said. "He got on the ballot attesting he would be in the primary system."
It's Amazing What One Senator Can Do
Who knew one senator can block legislation when they want to?
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Senate progress toward approving a sweeping housing rescue plan was delayed on Wednesday by the objections of a Republican lawmaker who wants to attach an amendment dealing with renewable energy.
Nevada Sen. John Ensign -- whose state is among the hardest hit by a deep housing market slump -- was refusing to allow the housing bill to proceed without a vote on extending tax incentives for renewable energy technologies.
Please Stop
If I were the benevolent dictator, I would make it capital offense for members of the punditocracy to opine ignorantly about the tastes and habits of "regular people," who apparently have comfort zones no larger than their footprints, and who are unwilling to vote for anyone who doesn't live their lives exactly like they (are imagined to) do. Unless that person is a obscenely rich Republican, of course.
People Who Should Not Be On Transit System Boards
People like this.
The vote represented an end to the highly publicized hubbub that started late last month, when Mr. Cuomo warned that the authority’s practice of extending free travel benefits violated state law, which requires that board members serve without compensation.
Board members at first threatened to go to court to defend the free travel privileges, but facing mounting public pressure, the board backed down and said it would change its policies.
That seemed to end the matter. But then, last week, some board members said they had second thoughts and defended the free travel as an important part of their jobs overseeing the region’s mass transit system. “Why should I ride and inconvenience myself when I can ride in a car?” asked David S. Mack, a board vice chairman who represents Nassau County. The comment, which was widely reported in the news media, drew scorn from officials.
Countrywide
I don't really have any sense if such a lawsuit is warranted.
We do know that at some point the product that mortgage companies were selling essentially flipped. They went from providing mortgages to people, to providing bundled mortgage securities to Wall Street. While it's quite possible that there was actual fraud going on with respect to mortgage borrowers, the greater fraud might have been perpetrated against the investors which eagerly bought up their chunks of big shitpile. Obviously I sympathize less with the latter who are paid big money to, you know, have some idea what they're doing.
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - California Attorney General Jerry Brown sued Countrywide Financial Corpand two top officers on Wednesday to stop the mortgage loan company from allegedly perpetrating a scheme to "mass produce loans for sale on the secondary market."
Countrywide made one in six U.S. mortgage loans last year and is closely associated with the collapsed housing bubble.
Brown's office said the lawsuit, filed in Los Angeles Superior Court, also seeks unspecified restitution for homeowners who were allegedly conned into risky, costly loans they did not understand by brokers desperate to meet unrealistic production goals.
We do know that at some point the product that mortgage companies were selling essentially flipped. They went from providing mortgages to people, to providing bundled mortgage securities to Wall Street. While it's quite possible that there was actual fraud going on with respect to mortgage borrowers, the greater fraud might have been perpetrated against the investors which eagerly bought up their chunks of big shitpile. Obviously I sympathize less with the latter who are paid big money to, you know, have some idea what they're doing.
Bad Cyclists
I've noticed an uptick and bad cyclist behavior recently here in Philly. I'm one who thinks that it's often okay for cyclists to, say, make a turn on a red light even if it isn't allowed, or go up on the sidewalks at times. But such behavior is only okay if they aren't creating a hazardous situation for cars and pedestrians, respectively. Lately it seems like there are more cyclists cruising fast around corners on sidewalks, going the wrong way down one way streets, shooting through red lights, etc. Annoying.
The Liberation of Iraq
Tom Friedman, in 2003, explained what it was "really" about.
Silly sad and mad Iraqis.
Silly sad and mad Iraqis.
Little Tommy Friedman
Little Tommy Friedman, age 9, is busy performing amateur mass psychology on the nation of Iraq. He seems to think the Iraqis are sad and mad because we liberated them instead of letting them liberate themselves. It's nice that Tommy Friedman likes this happy rhetoric of liberation, though it's a bit different from the days when he was saying we invaded Iraq so our soldiers could go door to door telling Iraqis to Suck. On. This. I don't know how much our soldiers actually did this, but in any case Little Tommy Friedman can't get himself to understand that maybe Iraqis are sad and mad because we invaded and occupied their country and then hundreds of thousands of people died. And over 5 years later they still don't have security or sufficient electricity.
I was struck by this bit in particular.
It's a pretty wild world in Tommy Friedman's head, one where Iraqis could have taken "ownership" of Viceroy Bremer's CPA, a division of the US Department of Defense.
But more than that, we may remember that many Iraqis did, in fact, fight for it. They didn't fight for it in the way Tommy Friedman imagines they should have, which I think involves having a staring contest or something. They fought for it by killing a lot of people and blowing a lot of things up.
War is awesome! Thanks Tommy! SUCK ON THIS!
And New York Times? You SUCK ON THIS too!
(ht JCN)
I was struck by this bit in particular.
That also helps explain why Iraqis initially never took ownership of their governing institutions, like the Coalition Provisional Authority, or C.P.A. They never fought for it.
It's a pretty wild world in Tommy Friedman's head, one where Iraqis could have taken "ownership" of Viceroy Bremer's CPA, a division of the US Department of Defense.
But more than that, we may remember that many Iraqis did, in fact, fight for it. They didn't fight for it in the way Tommy Friedman imagines they should have, which I think involves having a staring contest or something. They fought for it by killing a lot of people and blowing a lot of things up.
War is awesome! Thanks Tommy! SUCK ON THIS!
And New York Times? You SUCK ON THIS too!
(ht JCN)
Reading Blogs While You Commute
This really is the kind of thing which will pull people out of their cars.
I finally broke down and got wireless broadband, but it isn't something most people have obviously.
Commuters can now read and respond to e-mail and work on their way to the office, aboard the MBTA's 11 commuter boats that travel to Boston, Hingham, Hull, Quincy, and Logan Airport.
..
He said the response to a pilot WiFi program, which the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority started early this year on the Worcester-Framingham commuter line, proves that people want wireless.
"This is something you can't do in your car," he said.
I finally broke down and got wireless broadband, but it isn't something most people have obviously.
And A Movement Is Born
My fellow citizens are bringing a tear to my eye.
SAN FRANCISCO — Reagan has his highways. Lincoln has his memorial. Washington has the capital (and a state, too). But President Bush may soon be the sole president to have a memorial named after him that you can contribute to from the bathroom.
From the Department of Damned-With-Faint-Praise, a group going by the regal-sounding name of the Presidential Memorial Commission of San Francisco is planning to ask voters here to change the name of a prize-winning water treatment plant on the shoreline to the George W. Bush Sewage Plant.
Meanwhile
Over there.
BAGHDAD — Three U.S. soldiers and an interpreter were killed by a roadside bomb in Ninewa Province on Tuesday night in the second large explosion to strike the Mosul region in a day and further evidence that Sunni Arab guerrillas remain very active in the northern city despite recent Iraqi military operations.
Mickey Tax
Yes this is a horrible idea. Perhaps just make customs and immigration a bit more pleasant instead?
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Maybe
Get your dialing fingers ready, because this is just more reason to turn the heat up tomorrow.
All good senators should be putting a stick into the spokes at every opportunity. And not just on FISA. They should be gumming up the works on everything until FISA is off the calendar.
Senator Reid just informed his colleagues on the Senate floor that, because of all the other bills in the queue (like the housing bill, and the Iraq supplemental), FISA may not get a vote until after the July 4 holiday recess.
All good senators should be putting a stick into the spokes at every opportunity. And not just on FISA. They should be gumming up the works on everything until FISA is off the calendar.
No One Wants To Live In The City
It's too expensive.
Despite my own obvious preferences, people like the burbs. It's going to take more than the stick of high gas prices for there to be any kind of radical change. It's an opportunity for a place like Philadelphia, where there are still plenty of inexpensive places to live. But transportation needs to be improved, crime rates cut, schools improved, and city services generally need to be better. Now is the moment...
As the realization takes hold that rising energy prices are less a momentary blip than a restructuring with lasting consequences, the high cost of fuel is threatening to slow the decades-old migration away from cities, while exacerbating the housing downturn by diminishing the appeal of larger homes set far from urban jobs.
In Atlanta, Philadelphia, San Francisco and Minneapolis, homes beyond the urban core have been falling in value faster than those within, according to analysis by Moody's Economy.com.
In Denver, housing prices in the urban core rose steadily from 2003 until late last year compared with previous years, before dipping nearly 5 percent in the past three months of last year, according to Economy.com. But house prices in the suburbs began falling earlier, in the middle of 2006, and then accelerated, dropping by 7 percent the past three months of the year.
Despite my own obvious preferences, people like the burbs. It's going to take more than the stick of high gas prices for there to be any kind of radical change. It's an opportunity for a place like Philadelphia, where there are still plenty of inexpensive places to live. But transportation needs to be improved, crime rates cut, schools improved, and city services generally need to be better. Now is the moment...
WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
Broder's boy bounces all the way to 23% in LA Times/Bloomberg poll.
The survey found public approval of President Bush's job performance at a new low for the Times/Bloomberg Poll: only 23% approved of the job Bush is doing, and 73% disapproved.
This Is Excellent News For Rudy Giuliani
Or something.
WASHINGTON -- -- Buoyed by enthusiasm among Democrats and public concern over the economy, Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) has captured a sizable lead over Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) at the opening of the general election campaign for president, the Los Angeles Times/Bloomberg Poll has found.
In a two-man race between the major party candidates, registered voters chose Obama over McCain by 49% to 37% in the national poll conducted last weekend.
Less Gas
People actually aren't using as much of the stuff.
Now would be a good time for Campbell Scott to introduce his SUPERTRAIN.
June 24 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. gasoline demand fell 2.7 percent last week, a sign motorists are cutting back on vacation plans as pump prices touch records, a MasterCard Inc. report today showed.
Now would be a good time for Campbell Scott to introduce his SUPERTRAIN.
The Old Ways
As Ezra suggests, the bizarre lengths to which long time newspaper people defend The Way Things Are Done because That's The Way Things Are Done are really kind of weird. And we don't have to talk about more fundamental issues like false balance/"objectivity" as a lot of it is simply stylistic and doesn't really involve any deeper (right or wrong) principles.
Toss all the old conventions out the window. Do not want.
Toss all the old conventions out the window. Do not want.
Indiana
I'm trying to resist the temptation to do the election season "all polls all the time" thing but I suppose I won't always be able to resist them.
Survey USA says it's even in Indiana.
Bush got 60% in 2004.
Survey USA says it's even in Indiana.
Bush got 60% in 2004.
Get Off My Lawn
It's hard, I think, to communicate to the kids today just how transformative some new technologies are (cell phones, internet, awesome new internet applications, mp3s, etc.) I'm adaptable enough that I generally get around to using and understanding new technologies - an adopter if not an early adopter - but unlike the kids today I can remember life before them.
I don't need the younger generation understand my "it's actually really hard to find out if your favorite band is going on tour" teenage years, but for some reason I kind of want them to understand how things have changed. Or maybe that's the same thing. Turn that music down!
I don't need the younger generation understand my "it's actually really hard to find out if your favorite band is going on tour" teenage years, but for some reason I kind of want them to understand how things have changed. Or maybe that's the same thing. Turn that music down!
Deep Thought
Swampland is so predictable I wonder if they read my mind, see what I imagine they're going to write about and what they'll say about it, and then post it up on the blog.
Documents Destroyed
Once upon a time it seemed like the Villagers couldn't get too upset by the crime, but would get a bit excited by the cover up at least. Now, probably, not so much.
Wouldn't It Be Great If It Was All Different
Theda Skocpol:
Obviously I can't know if this describes all of those in the reform community, but there's definitely a set in Washington like this. There's a strain of elitism which is concerned about the power of money, but not so concerned about the power of... elites, or at least the right kind of elites. It was truly freaky coming in contact with people who were genuinely concerned that ordinary people could one day (this was pre-You Tube) make political videos! And people on the internets could watch them! And this must be regulated because... well just because!
Mugwump type reformers -- and the current public finance reformers who are their descdenants -- think that the key to good politics in America is getting money out. These reformers (I called them neo-Mugwumps in Diminished Democracy) want minimually financed elections and believe that calm discussions among educated people are the way to go; such reformers have never been interested in expanding popular involvement in politics. But the other model, the popular civic model, realizes that widespread citizen passion and engagement are more important. Getting a lot of people into politics is more important than trying to get money out. And involving millions is worth more than winning a few arguments in the editorial pages of the New York Times.
Obviously I can't know if this describes all of those in the reform community, but there's definitely a set in Washington like this. There's a strain of elitism which is concerned about the power of money, but not so concerned about the power of... elites, or at least the right kind of elites. It was truly freaky coming in contact with people who were genuinely concerned that ordinary people could one day (this was pre-You Tube) make political videos! And people on the internets could watch them! And this must be regulated because... well just because!
WHEEEEEEEEEEEE
Consumer confidence low.
And the stock market has really tanked over the past week, validating my decision some months ago to put my vast portfolio into FCOJ and Egyptian cotton futures.
U.S. consumer confidence fell in June to its lowest in 16 years as high inflation continued to sap confidence and pushed expectations for the future to a record low, the Conference Board said on Tuesday.
The Conference Board, an industry group, said its inflation expectations gauge matched the record-high 7.7 percent it hit in May, which will keep Federal Reserve policy makers concerned over price growth as they meet to decide rates on Tuesday and Wednesday.
And the stock market has really tanked over the past week, validating my decision some months ago to put my vast portfolio into FCOJ and Egyptian cotton futures.
Legacy
President Obama will have to deal with these people.
High-ranking political appointees at the Justice Department labored to stock a prestigious hiring program with young conservatives in a five-year-long attempt to reshape the department's ranks, according to an inspector general's report to be released today.
The report will trace the effort to 2002, early in the Bush administration, when key advisers to then-Attorney General John D. Ashcroft moved to exert more control over the program to hire rookie lawyers and summer interns, according to two people familiar with the probe.
..
Critics in the department had argued that hundreds of high-quality applicants had been rejected because of their ties to left-leaning nonprofit groups or clerkships with Democratic judges and lawmakers, according to correspondence at the time. One Harvard Law School graduate said that when he applied for the honors program a few years ago he was warned by professors and fellow students to remove any liberal affiliations from his résumé.
Bible Wars
According to the AP, Dobson says that Obama is distorting the Bible. This type of stuff is an inevitable consequence of injecting religion into politics once you understand that the actual details of religious beliefs do matter and that religious people, even if you limit that group to Christians, actually disagree about a lot of stuff. I'm not sure why a nonbeliever like me seems to understand this more than the various religious political consultants.
Dowdy
One thing I've realized about people like Maureen Dowd is that it doesn't really matter that for years dirty fucking hippies on the internet and elsewhere have been criticizing the appalling misogynistic horror show that is her column. But it does matter if she gets criticized within her bubble, in the place where her friends and colleagues might actually read it.
Meanwhile
Over there.
A bomb has exploded at a local council office in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, killing 10 people, including four American nationals.
The United States military says two soldiers and two civilians were killed in the blast.
Facts Are Stupid Things
And neither Pawlenty nor Blitzer nor the most trusted name in news want you to get anywhere near them.
Monday, June 23, 2008
What some people know about the economy
Fortune magazine asked McCain and Obama, "What do you see as the gravest long-term threat to the U.S. economy?
They said:
Not Atrios
They said:
Obama: If we don't get a handle on our energy policy, it is possible that the kinds of trends we've seen over the last year will just continue. Demand is clearly outstripping supply. It's not a problem we can drill our way out of. It can be a drag on our economy for a very long time unless we take steps to innovate and invest in the research and development that's required to find alternative fuels. I think it's very important for the federal government to have a role in that process.Signed,
McCain: Well, I would think that the absolute gravest threat is the struggle that we're in against Islamic extremism, which can affect, if they prevail, our very existence. Another successful attack on the United States of America could have devastating consequences. You've been a supporter of climate-change legislation that would essentially impose a penalty on the use of fossil fuel.
Not Atrios
I Don't Know That Guy
I guess he's supposed to be James Bond's asshole evil twin or something. But, okay, you don't actually have to really know "someone like that" to appeal to social archetypes that people feel they know and understand. But, no, I don't even think that works here. Karl's getting old.
Press Releases
I get a lot of press releases about stuff I don't really care about, but this reaches new levels of donotgiveashit.
LOS ANGELES (June 23, 2008) – Today, Pajamas Media (www.pajamasmedia.com), an online media company providing news coverage, analysis and political opinion, announced that blogger Richard Fernandez of the Belmont Club has moved to Pajamas Media and will be contributing to the site as a PajamasXpress blogger.
Deep Thoughts From John McCain
This is a repeat, but it's really quite stunning what the Villagers consider to be a man with very serious foreign policy experience.
"One of the things I would do if I were president," McCain told a group of wealthy contributors, "would be to sit the Shiites and the Sunnis down and say, 'Stop the bullshit.'"
In Defense of John McCain
He does have a point. A grave threat to the economy is the reaction of people like John McCain to what they perceive as a threat, spending hundreds of billions of dollars attacking Bolivia in response to Pearl Harbor.
Nobody Could Have Predicted
That the Bush administration would spend a lot of money to start an Arab TV network, have it be run by people who didn't speak Arabic and had no idea what was being broadcast, and end up broadcasting things which encouraged sectarian divisions in Iraq...
Actually, admittedly, even I would have had a hard time predicting that one as message control seems to be the one thing they're obsessed with. Still I suppose that "allergic to anyone who actually might speak Arabic" trumped that.
Actually, admittedly, even I would have had a hard time predicting that one as message control seems to be the one thing they're obsessed with. Still I suppose that "allergic to anyone who actually might speak Arabic" trumped that.
Atrios 2.0
It's coming!
According to the company, the new Atrios include improvements in several areas culled from the feedback of its user base including musicians, engineers, producers, production companies and consumers.
Just Because
What's amazing about all of this bomb Iran talk is that there doesn't seem to be any genuine (if crazy) military goal as commonly understood. Sure there's talk of bombing the nuclear program, but basically the bombing talk is about bombing for its own sake to prove that we can and to demonstrate that people still listen to John Bolton. I suppose there's some sort of tiny penis psychology going on here, such that the point of bombing them is to prove to the world that we do have a big swinging dick and then those silly Persians will be so awed by it that they'll do anything we want.
But this is, you know, morally obscene and criminal. Welcome to Bush America!
But this is, you know, morally obscene and criminal. Welcome to Bush America!
The War On Curb Cuts
David Alpert continues it.
I believe in at least some areas here in Philadelphia there's been a change of attitude towards them. From what I understand it's still easy to get a curb cut if you're on a block which already has a lot of them, but if there aren't many on your block already they're much less likely to grant permission. Hard to find info on this stuff though, which is why I don't write a blog called "Greater Greater Philadelphia."
In the city this micro stuff really matters. A few too many curb cuts can really destroy a block.
...curb cuts are when you cut the curb of the sidewalk so that a property owner/builder can put in a garage or a parking spot in the front of the house. Generally takes away one public on street parking spot and replaces it with a private one. Decreases pedestrian and automobile safety, and makes a street much less aesthetically pleasing (the garages and parking spaces that result, not the cut curb itself).
I believe in at least some areas here in Philadelphia there's been a change of attitude towards them. From what I understand it's still easy to get a curb cut if you're on a block which already has a lot of them, but if there aren't many on your block already they're much less likely to grant permission. Hard to find info on this stuff though, which is why I don't write a blog called "Greater Greater Philadelphia."
In the city this micro stuff really matters. A few too many curb cuts can really destroy a block.
...curb cuts are when you cut the curb of the sidewalk so that a property owner/builder can put in a garage or a parking spot in the front of the house. Generally takes away one public on street parking spot and replaces it with a private one. Decreases pedestrian and automobile safety, and makes a street much less aesthetically pleasing (the garages and parking spaces that result, not the cut curb itself).
Not For Everyone
The Shrill One makes what should be the obvious point that home ownership isn't for everyone. I previously pointed out that Miserable Failure had failed to increase home ownership, something which was long a centerpiece of his domestic economic accomplishments, but I don't really consider it to be a failure that matters.
I don't object to all policies tilted towards home owners. There are some good reasons to have policies in place which make it possible for people to, if they want to, buy homes. But some people are mobile, some people don't want to deal with the additional responsibilities, etc.
I don't object to all policies tilted towards home owners. There are some good reasons to have policies in place which make it possible for people to, if they want to, buy homes. But some people are mobile, some people don't want to deal with the additional responsibilities, etc.
Priorities
Obviously the people in charge know what they're doing.
That's crazy talk from Ms. Gotthardt.
I was struck by this bit, also:
Is this really what new residents want? If so, there's a giant mismatch between a tremendous amount of exurban development over the past decade and what people want.
Klepac and other newcomers to Prince William County were drawn there during the housing boom because they thought it would be a cheaper version of Fairfax County, with its upscale subdivisions, good schools and plentiful shopping. Yet a year after Klepac moved in, the Potomac Club subdivision is still not completely built, and promised amenities have yet to materialize.
As their home values plummet and their taxes go up, some of the new arrivals, many of whom are 30-somethings with families, are beginning to sour on Prince William, which has the highest number of foreclosures in Virginia.
"We're stuck," Klepac said. "I don't think I would have moved to Prince William County. I felt I was getting into a brand-new community with all these luxuries. They haven't delivered."
...
Even so, Fuller said it's going to be a "slow cure," in part because the county's actions to curb illegal immigration have "damaged its image as a good place to do business."
Katherine M. Gotthardt said she thinks it's a waste of time and money for police to check the legal status of arrested criminal suspects. She would rather see the county invest in fire department staffing, affordable housing and schools.
That's crazy talk from Ms. Gotthardt.
I was struck by this bit, also:
"It was like the land got eaten up by these subdivisions," she said. "They've added to that climate of everyone being divided. There's no town center."
Despite the rapid growth, Prince William is still a bedroom community. Roughly two-thirds of its residents work outside the county. When it's time to shop or go out for an upscale meal, they get in their cars and drive to shopping centers in the region. What new residents want is an urban experience, with shopping and dining within the comforts of their suburban community, developers say.
Is this really what new residents want? If so, there's a giant mismatch between a tremendous amount of exurban development over the past decade and what people want.
Sunday, June 22, 2008
Resizing
Not a happy week ahead for some.
The story later uses the word "resizing," which I guess it the new "downsizing."
June 22 (Bloomberg) -- Citigroup Inc., the bank that's lost more than any other in the collapse of the U.S. mortgage market, plans to fire as much as 10 percent of the about 65,000 employees worldwide in its investment-banking division, the Wall Street Journal reported.
The story later uses the word "resizing," which I guess it the new "downsizing."
Pool Problems
Foreclosure fun:
Either deliberately or just due to the overwhelming volume of foreclosures to process, banks aren't legally taking ownership of properties very fast which leaves the cities responsible for dealing with this kind of stuff.
What fun!
KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Some nights Terry and Carrie Madden won't even step onto their patio -- the stench and mosquitoes from the abandoned swimming pool next door are overpowering.
The Maddens' cash-strapped neighbors moved out in August, and the lender on the now-vacant house let it fall into disrepair. The pool is slime-green. The grass is knee-high. Once Carrie Madden had to call police to chase away burglars.
Either deliberately or just due to the overwhelming volume of foreclosures to process, banks aren't legally taking ownership of properties very fast which leaves the cities responsible for dealing with this kind of stuff.
What fun!
There's Another Shitpile Over Here
And we have other problems.
Late payments and defaults in every other major category of consumer debt also rose in the first quarter, the American Bankers Association reported. Auto loans issued through car dealers have a delinquency rate of 3.13 percent, the highest since at least 1990, according the ABA.
"The rise in consumer credit delinquencies is consistent with a rapidly slowing economy," said James Chessen, the ABA's chief economist. "Stress in the housing market still dominates the story, but it's a broader tale of an overall weak economy."
Businesses are also feeling the pain of relying too much on credit. Construction and development loans, a specialty of regional and local banks, hit a delinquency rate of 7.18 percent at the end of March, the highest in 14 years, according to the FDIC. In October, the rate was 3.22 percent.
Brokaw to MTP
Not perfect, but I think better than anyone else from the list of reasonable possibilities.
Mines
During the last few months of the Bush administration, the elves will be busy putting metaphorical mines everywhere in the executive branch which will explode when President Obama takes office.
I hope people are thinking and worrying about this stuff.
I hope people are thinking and worrying about this stuff.
Meanwhile
Over there.
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - At least 15 people were killed and 35 wounded when a female suicide bomber blew herself up among policemen having lunch north of Baghdad on Sunday, Iraqi police and hospital sources said.
The attack took place in Baquba, capital of multi-ethnic Diyala province, where Sunni Islamist al Qaeda militants have sought to stoke tensions despite a succession of military offensives that have put the group on the back foot.
Stupid
I don't like "fuel surcharges." Companies should just raise their prices and explain why, instead of tacking on an additional temporary-seeming charges, but this is just dumb.
A per-mile charge covers more than fuel, obviously. No such cost could perfectly cover the exact per-mile marginal cost of driving a mile, of course, but the implicit cost of driving a mile has involves more than just gas. And the 9 cents per mile price has for some time been even lower than the actual price of gas.
But last week, PCS added a new 7 cents per mile "surcharge" to its price structure. Once again, this was misleading advertising - drivers are now paying 16 cents per mile for service, as the "surcharge" was simply added to the 9 cents a mile that PCS customers were already paying. Naturally, PCS justified this sudden 78 percent markup as a necessary response to gasoline prices that now exceed $4 a gallon.
The math, however, tells a different story.
Pooling all the data on PCS's Web site (www. phillycarshare.org) regarding its fleet and averaging each car's city and highway miles-per-gallon ratings, it turns out that the average PCS car gets 39.85 miles per gallon. This impressive figure is the result of the large number of Toyota Priuses in PCS's fleet - hybrid cars that, according to PCS's Web site, get 51 to 60 miles per gallon. With gasoline at $4.10 a gallon, it appears that the average cost of driving all of PCS's cars is about 10.3 cents per mile - again, less than PCS's new prices.
A per-mile charge covers more than fuel, obviously. No such cost could perfectly cover the exact per-mile marginal cost of driving a mile, of course, but the implicit cost of driving a mile has involves more than just gas. And the 9 cents per mile price has for some time been even lower than the actual price of gas.
Sunday Bobbleheads
Document the atrocities.
Meet the Press Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), Joseph R. Biden Jr. (D-Del.). Panel: John Harwood, Andrea Mitchell. Moderator: Brian Williams.
This Week With George Stephanopoulos McCain supporter Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Texas); Obama supporter Rep. Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.). Red Cavaney, the American Petroleum Institute. Jeffrey Sachs, the Earth Institute at Columbia University. Panel: Donna Brazile, Matthew Dowd, Cokie Roberts, Sam Donaldson.
Fox News Sunday With Chris Wallace Obama advisor former Sen. Tom Daschle (D-S.D.) and McCain supporter former Gov. Tom Ridge (R-Penn.). Kathleen Rogers, Earth Day Foundation. Panel: Brit Hume, Nina Easton, Bill Kristol, Juan Williams.
Late Edition With Wolf Blitzer The economy: Obama supporter Gov. Bill Richardson (D-N.M.). The economy: McCain supporter Gov. Tim Pawlenty (R-Minn.). Offshore oil; the economy: Obama supporter Rep. Robert Wexler (D-Fla.); McCain supporter Rep. Eric Cantor (R-Va.). The economy: Obama advisor former Secretary of Labor Robert Reich; McCain advisor Douglas Holtz-Eakin. The hunt for Bin Laden; Iraq: Pakistani journalist-author Ahmed Rashid ("Descent Into Chaos"); Peter Bergen. Panel: Gloria Borger, Amy Walter, Ed Henry.
Face the Nation Obama vs. McCain: McCain advisor Carly Fiorina; Obama supporter Gov. Bill Richardson (D-N.M.); John Harris, Politico.
Saturday, June 21, 2008
Correct
Wilkinson:
My brush with the "reformers" made me realize they had disturbing desire to regulate for regulation's sake, a belief that all politics must be kept in a little box where they could keep an eye on it. If the small donor model actually works then there isn't much need for public financing, and there certainly isn't a need to demand that candidates pointlessly participate in such a program.
- Ever since Watergate, the ideal of campaign finance reform has been to replace a system fueled by special interests and big money with either full public financing or a system of civic-minded small donors. The former is abhorred by much of the public while the latter looks remarkably like barackobama.com. In effect, the Obama campaign has come closer to achieving the ideals of campaign finance reform than 30-plus years of regulation. To condemn the campaign’s departure from the system is to elevate rules over the principle that gave birth to the rules in the first place.
My brush with the "reformers" made me realize they had disturbing desire to regulate for regulation's sake, a belief that all politics must be kept in a little box where they could keep an eye on it. If the small donor model actually works then there isn't much need for public financing, and there certainly isn't a need to demand that candidates pointlessly participate in such a program.
So Sorry
It is really an accountability-free profession. Having said that, I'm not really entirely sure what outside speaking fee and similar rules should be for journalists, though in Broder's case the hypocrisy (given that he'd sanctimoniously railed against the practice previously) was enough to merit comment. Still, rules are rules and perhaps they should be followed?
Regret
As I've written before, Democrats will regret embracing the expansion of executive power because a President Obama will find his administration undone by an "abuse of power" scandal. All of those powers which were necessary to prevent the instant destruction of the country will instantly become impeachable offenses. If you can't imagine how such a pivot can take place then you haven't been paying attention.
Oh Well
And another preznidential "accomplishment" fails.
Rate in 2001 Q1: 67.5%.
Rate in 2002 Q1: 67.8%
Bush at 2005 SOTU:
WASHINGTON — Driven largely by the surge in foreclosures and an unsettled housing market, Americans are renting apartments and houses at the highest level since President Bush started a campaign to expand homeownership in 2002.
The percentage of households headed by homeowners, which soared to a record 69.1 percent in 2005, fell to 67.8 percent this year, the sharpest decline in 20 years, according to census data through the end of March. By extension, the percentage of households headed by renters increased to 32.2 percent, from 30.9 percent.
Rate in 2001 Q1: 67.5%.
Rate in 2002 Q1: 67.8%
Bush at 2005 SOTU:
America's economy is the fastest growing of any major industrialized nation. In the past four years, we have provided tax relief to every person who pays income taxes, overcome a recession, opened up new markets abroad, prosecuted corporate criminals, raised home ownership to the highest level in history, and in the last year alone, the United States has added 2.3 million new jobs. When action was needed, the Congress delivered -- and the nation is grateful.
A Trouble With Amtrak
No easy solution.
You get a micro version of this at the state and local level. Getting transit funding involves getting more lawmakers on board, including ones who live in areas where mass transit makes much less sense. Bribing them with money for costly low ridership routes in order to get money for other things provides ammunition for the anti-mass transit crowd who get to squeal about how costly it is.
Here's our situation locally:
I'm not quite sure how that state of affairs evolved, though it obviously doesn't make any sense.
H. Glenn Scammel, a former head of staff of the rail subcommittee of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, said the railroad should give up on some of its cross-country trains and redeploy the equipment on relatively short intercity trips, where it could provide enough frequency to attract new business. (Providing one train a day in each direction will not draw many new business travelers.)
But the railroad’s labor contracts provide stiff penalties for dropping routes, and dropping states from its itinerary would hurt its political support, especially in the Senate, where thinly populated states are overrepresented relative to their population.
You get a micro version of this at the state and local level. Getting transit funding involves getting more lawmakers on board, including ones who live in areas where mass transit makes much less sense. Bribing them with money for costly low ridership routes in order to get money for other things provides ammunition for the anti-mass transit crowd who get to squeal about how costly it is.
Here's our situation locally:
Geopolitics is always a driving force on the board. SEPTA's board makeup gives the four Republican-dominated suburban counties more clout than Democrat-dominated Philadelphia, although the city provides most of the riders and most of the local subsidy.
I'm not quite sure how that state of affairs evolved, though it obviously doesn't make any sense.
Mall Payments
Certainly an innovative business model, on both sides.
...
3) Profit!
(via cr)
But some of the forces pushing Steve & Barry's growth were not tied to end-consumer demand, but the needs of mall owners in a softening commercial-real-estate market. Much of the company's earnings came in the form of one-time, up-front payments from mall owners. Those payments were designed to lure the retailer to take over vacated sites, say several people familiar with the company.
Without these payments, the stores are barely profitable, if at all, people familiar with the company's finances say. In recent weeks, the retailer has been seeking at least $30 million to fund operations through 2008. It has approached a number of financing sources, say these people.
...
3) Profit!
(via cr)
Do These People Even Live In Our Society?
Our news media has discovered the teen girls sometimes get pregnant. ABC just asked a principal if having child care services at a high school shows too much "leniency." What we need is more punishment!
Jenga
MBIA says it's still standing.
There will probably be some additional fallout from this.
June 21 (Bloomberg) -- MBIA Inc.'s five-level downgrade by Moody's Investors Service probably will force it to make $7.4 billion of payments and collateral postings.
MBIA has $15.2 billion of assets available to satisfy the requirements, the company said yesterday in a statement. That includes $4 billion in cash and short-term investments, $1 billion of unpledged collateral and $10.2 billion of other securities, MBIA said.
There will probably be some additional fallout from this.
Friday, June 20, 2008
They Run Ads
Well, a depressing end to a chaotic week. Elect more and better Democrats. Humiliate the bad ones (donate here). And organize, organize, organize...
More and Better Democrats
Good for Congressman, and Senate candidate, Udall.
Earned himself a spot on the Eschaton challengers list.
As did Jim Himes.
Earned himself a spot on the Eschaton challengers list.
As did Jim Himes.
What Saint McCain Really Means
CJR:
CJR obviously misunderstands the role of the press in this campaign, which is to explain what they "know" John McCain really meant in such a way as to excuse every gaffe and to minimize any potential damage to him. Since at this point he's been on all sides of just about every issue, this involves making sure voters understand that whatever they think about the issues, John McCain agrees with them!
If a candidate for president unwittingly revealed, at a widely attended press conference, that he either didn’t understand a basic element of one of his own key policy proposals, or wanted to fool the public about it, you’d think the mainstream press would treat it as news. Apparently, you’d be wrong.
CJR obviously misunderstands the role of the press in this campaign, which is to explain what they "know" John McCain really meant in such a way as to excuse every gaffe and to minimize any potential damage to him. Since at this point he's been on all sides of just about every issue, this involves making sure voters understand that whatever they think about the issues, John McCain agrees with them!
Who Was Preznit On 9/11 Again?
All the conservative fearmongering about a Democratic president is only possible because the media has always conveniently let Bush off the hook for failing to do his job. It's especially galling because it's the job Bush regularly claims is his most important one.
What did that say again? Oh yes.
Now watch this drive!
What did that say again? Oh yes.
Bin Laden determined to strike in U.S.
Now watch this drive!
The End of Public Finance
As long as donation caps are kept in place, I really don't think the death of general election presidential public financing is anything to cry about.
Requirements
Philly Mayor Nutter:
That's the issue explained very succinctly. If developments are designed around the requirements of automobiles then you cannot maintain a walkable and desirable city. That isn't to say that cars should be completely exclued or ignored, just that they cannot, as they have been for so long, be the primary consideration.
"We are a walkable city, increasingly home to bicycles," Nutter declared. "We want to preserve our urban form. We do not want the automobile and its design requirements to dominate the landscape."
That's the issue explained very succinctly. If developments are designed around the requirements of automobiles then you cannot maintain a walkable and desirable city. That isn't to say that cars should be completely exclued or ignored, just that they cannot, as they have been for so long, be the primary consideration.
I'd Like 5 More Rail Lines
Guess I'll have to move to Houston.
Claims they'll be done by 2012. I haven't spent much time in Houston so I have no sense of where these lines go and if they're good projects. Wikipedia has more information.
City Council approved an agreement Wednesday with the Metropolitan Transit Authority, giving permission for the agency to build five light rail lines on Houston streets, but also pledging to make sure Metro does the job right.
The 13-2 approval came after weeks of discussion and questions from council members — and after Metro officials said they would reconsider plans to put part of the University line on Wheeler Avenue.
Claims they'll be done by 2012. I haven't spent much time in Houston so I have no sense of where these lines go and if they're good projects. Wikipedia has more information.
And Another Jenga Piece Comes Out
Who will get caught holding the bag?
Moody's Investors Service on Thursday stripped the insurance arms of Ambac Financial Group and MBIA of their AAA ratings, citing their impaired ability to raise capital and write new business.
...
MBIA said Moody's action will give some holders of guaranteed investment contracts the right to terminate the contracts or to require that additional collateral be posted. The company said it has "more than sufficient" liquid assets to meet those requirements.
Toast
Bloomberg on the arrested Bear Stearns guys:
Blog time is so confusing, so I had to look up when in the basic housing bubble/credit crisis timeline this happened. It was right at the peak of the subprime implosion.
``The subprime market is pretty damn ugly,'' Tannin wrote in one e-mail to Cioffi. ``If we believe the [CDO report is] ANYWHERE CLOSE to accurate I think we should close the funds now. The reason for this is that if [the CDO report] is correct then the entire subprime market is toast.''
Tannin sent the e-mail from a personal account, not the Bear Stearns system, to the personal e-mail account of Cioffi's wife, according to the indictment.
That e-mail and others cited in the indictment ``are really absolutely the key,'' said Villanova University Law School Dean Mark Sargent, who read the indictment.
``They show that they knew the funds were cratering, that the bottom had dropped out of the subprime market, and their leverage was putting enormous pressure on the fund,'' Sargent said.
Blog time is so confusing, so I had to look up when in the basic housing bubble/credit crisis timeline this happened. It was right at the peak of the subprime implosion.
Thursday, June 19, 2008
I've Already Seen This Show
It was called "Flip This House" and every episode I saw (3-4) ended with the flippers being unable to sell the house at a price they expected.
Abu G
What a wonderful administration.
Former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, now under investigation for allegedly politicizing the Justice Department, ousted a top lawyer for failing to adopt the administration's position on torture and then promised him a position as a U.S. attorney to placate him, highly placed sources tell ABC News.
Gonzales, who was just taking over as attorney general, asked Justice Department lawyer Daniel Levin to leave in early 2005, shortly after Levin wrote a legal opinion that declared "torture is abhorrent" and limited the administration's use of harsh interrogation techniques.
...
Levin took the NSC job in March 2005. The U.S. attorney position never materialized, and sources close to Levin say he never believed Gonzales was serious. He went on to take a job in private practice.
Cuts
Wonder why this dateline is Bangalore.
Down about 25% since 2005.
BANGALORE (Reuters) - Washington Mutual Inc (NYSE:WM - News) said on Thursday it eliminated 1,200 jobs, following mortgage losses that some analysts have said will keep the largest U.S. savings and loan from turning a profit before 2010.
The cuts affect roughly 3 percent of the thrift's employee base. Washington Mutual has said it ended March with 45,883 employees, down from 49,403 at year-end.
...
At the end of 2005, well before the housing crisis began to take hold, the thrift had employed more than 60,000 people.
Down about 25% since 2005.
Nixon's America
Congratulations, Steny Hoyer, for your efforts in restoring the monarchy.
1705 Longworth House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515
Phone - (202) 225-4131
1705 Longworth House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515
Phone - (202) 225-4131
IT'S ALL ABOUT OIL!!!!!!!!!
Inevitably when I do a post like the one below people jump in to assert I'm stupid or naive for suggesting otherwise. The Bush administration is not a monolith, it's made up of a large number of players. More than that, even to the extent that it's about money in broad terms, there's more than just oil. Remember that military industrial complex that dirty fucking hippie Eisenhower warned us about? Bush obviously had messianic delusions about the world being reshaped by the power of his mighty codpiece. And there were crazy people around who I think genuinely believe that Saddam has been behind every negative deed in the world in the past 15 years. Others, I think, simply believe in American hegemony and figured the Middle East was a reasonable place to expand it. Due in part, of course, to the presence of oil.
Absent oil or some other valuable resource that part of the world would be much less interesting to us. Oil's a big part of this story, but it isn't the only piece and even if one doesn't grant any genuinely positive motivations to those who brought us his disaster, there are still plenty of malevolent ones in addition to oil. Sure it's about oil, but it isn't the only thing going on here.
Absent oil or some other valuable resource that part of the world would be much less interesting to us. Oil's a big part of this story, but it isn't the only piece and even if one doesn't grant any genuinely positive motivations to those who brought us his disaster, there are still plenty of malevolent ones in addition to oil. Sure it's about oil, but it isn't the only thing going on here.
Kick Their Ass And Take Their Gas
As Yglesias suggests, I don't really think we went to war in Iraq for oil, or at least that wasn't the primary motive of a lot of the major players, but it is part (though again, not all) of the reason we'll stay there forever.
So we'll spend a hell of a lot of money and lose a lot of lives presiding over an occupation and using our military to provide security for the private security which will be guarding the commercial interests involved in oil extraction.
And since it's against Village etiquette to suggest that we we are engaged in an imperial colonial adventure, it will be almost impossible to debate the merits of our policies in Iraq or even have a vaguely honest discussion about what those policies are. Hiding behind peeance and freeance and a "desire for victory" and fears of the "inevitable" regional war if we leave to obscure just what it's all about.
So we'll spend a hell of a lot of money and lose a lot of lives presiding over an occupation and using our military to provide security for the private security which will be guarding the commercial interests involved in oil extraction.
And since it's against Village etiquette to suggest that we we are engaged in an imperial colonial adventure, it will be almost impossible to debate the merits of our policies in Iraq or even have a vaguely honest discussion about what those policies are. Hiding behind peeance and freeance and a "desire for victory" and fears of the "inevitable" regional war if we leave to obscure just what it's all about.
Thursday Is New Jobless Day
Still high, with 381K new lucky duckies. Continuing claims increased declined slightly..
No Public Financing
Obama's opting out officially, sez CNN.
Good. I've long been somewhat wary of public financing in general terms. It was a solution to a problem, but not the only one, not necessarily the best one, and definitely not a solution immune from exploitation such that it could eventually become part of the problem itself. That is, something incumbents could manipulate to their own advantage in various ways. Details matter.
Obama found another solution to the problem, demonstrating that it is possible to raise immense amounts of money from small (and larger, too, of course) donors. It's now part of what presidential candidates will have to figure out how to do to win, and there's nothing wrong with that. The problem was never money in politics, it was the concentration of big money.
Good. I've long been somewhat wary of public financing in general terms. It was a solution to a problem, but not the only one, not necessarily the best one, and definitely not a solution immune from exploitation such that it could eventually become part of the problem itself. That is, something incumbents could manipulate to their own advantage in various ways. Details matter.
Obama found another solution to the problem, demonstrating that it is possible to raise immense amounts of money from small (and larger, too, of course) donors. It's now part of what presidential candidates will have to figure out how to do to win, and there's nothing wrong with that. The problem was never money in politics, it was the concentration of big money.
No Bid
Nobody could've predicted, blah blah blah.
Now maybe all the serious people in Washington can acknowledge what the dirty fucking hippies have known all along. Just why do we need 58 bases in Iraq?
BAGHDAD — Four Western oil companies are in the final stages of negotiations this month on contracts that will return them to Iraq, 36 years after losing their oil concession to nationalization as Saddam Hussein rose to power.
...
There was suspicion among many in the Arab world and among parts of the American public that the United States had gone to war in Iraq precisely to secure the oil wealth these contracts seek to extract. The Bush administration has said that the war was necessary to combat terrorism. It is not clear what role the United States played in awarding the contracts; there are still American advisers to Iraq’s Oil Ministry.
Now maybe all the serious people in Washington can acknowledge what the dirty fucking hippies have known all along. Just why do we need 58 bases in Iraq?
Shorter Many Months Of Self-Righteousness
- You all thought Obama was liberal Jesus, and I tried to warn you that he's not!!!
Note that I'm quite happy for people to criticize Obama for failing to be whatever they want him to be, I'm just rather tired of the "I know you think/thought X but you are/were wrong!!!" construction. It'll be no shock to most of us if Obama is less than all we want him to be in many ways. Let's just hope he's more than we expect him to be in others.
Jenga
Keep waiting for this piece to be pulled out...
June 18 (Bloomberg) -- Bill Ackman was right: the world's largest bond insurers aren't worthy of a AAA credit rating and may be headed for the bottom of the scale.
Ackman, the 42-year-old hedge fund manager who says he stands to make hundreds of millions of dollars betting against MBIA Inc. and Ambac Financial Group Inc. if they go bankrupt, will tell investors at a conference in New York today that losses posted by bond insurers may threaten to breach the capital limits allowed by regulators, making them insolvent.
That once-unthinkable scenario would trigger clauses in $400 billion of derivative contracts written to insure collateralized debt obligations and other securities, allowing policyholders to demand immediate payment for market losses, which have reached $20 billion, according to company filings. Downgrades of the insurers would cause a drop in rankings for the $2 trillion of debt that the companies guarantee, wiping out the value of the CDO insurance held by Wall Street firms, analysts at Oppenheimer & Co. said.
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
And When You've Finished With That
Please remove the state of Florida from all US maps. Thank you.
They're everywhere, from the bare-breasted ladies who decorate the fountain at Dupont Circle to the peekaboo statue in the Justice Department's Great Hall to the countless nudes in our museums. But while those of us who live here hardly blink at the public nudity, it can shock some of our visitors. Such was the case for Robert Hurt, who last week tried to add the issue of artistic indecency in the nation's capital to the platform of the Texas GOP.
"You don't have nude art on your front porch," the Dallas Morning News quoted the delegate as telling the platform committee at the state party convention. "So why is it important to have that in the common places of Washington, D.C.?"
Hurt, 54, a Kerrville, Tex., rancher and father of 14, told us in a phone interview he first came to Washington a decade ago for a gathering of the evangelical Promise Keepers on the Mall. "It was probably not much different than 'The Beverly Hillbillies' going to Beverly Hills," he joked. At the National Gallery, he was appalled to see statues of unclothed people. "I found it very inappropriate," he said. Returning a few years later, he discovered Arlington Memorial Bridge, flanked by the bare-chested figures of Valor and Sacrifice.
Indicted
NPR sez form Bear Sterns hedge fund managers were probably/will probably be indicted today.
Big Shitpile
May be claiming another victim.
Thornburg Mortgage, the jumbo mortgage lender that lost $3.31 billion in the first quarter, said on Wednesday it has received subpoenas from U.S. securities regulators and its survival remains in doubt.
The disclosures reflect further problems for the Santa Fe, New Mexico-based lender, which was on the brink of bankruptcy in March before raising $1.35 billion of capital.
You Can't Say That About Saint Rudy
Except I think they just did. DNC:
"Democrats are not going to be lectured to on security by the mayor who failed to learn the lessons of the 1993 attacks, refused to prepare his own city’s first responders for the next attack, urged President Bush to put his corrupt crony in charge of our homeland security, and was too busy lobbying for his foreign clients to join the Iraq Study Group,” DNC spokeswoman Karen Finney said. “Rudy Giuliani, can echo the McCain campaign’s false and misleading attacks, but he can’t change the fact that John McCain is promising four more years of President Bush’s flawed and failed policies on everything from energy security and the economy to the war in Iraq."
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