Saturday, September 10, 2011
Too Small To Get Credit
If I were more conspiracy-minded I'd wonder if the plutocrats had agreed to starve all the little fish...
Try Being Nice To Your Customers
It's sad about the lost jobs, but as I said yesterday the sheer numbers of bank branches is confusing to me. Most of us should almost never have to walk into one.
Here's A Crazy Idea
How about giving free money to rich people?
Just trying to think outside the box.
Just trying to think outside the box.
We Did It Their Way
Fred Hiatt's crayon scribblers think the last decade has been pretty awesome. They should, we pretty much did everything they told us to do.
Friday, September 09, 2011
Pour Some Sugar On Me
Oy:
Moderate pace?
Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner said President Barack Obama’s $447 billion jobs plan would provide a “substantial” boost to the U.S. economy.
“I think we’ve got a good chance of continuing a moderate pace of growth coming out of this crisis,” Geithner said today in an interview with Bloomberg Television in Marseille, France. If Congress approves the plan, “it would dramatically reduce the risk of a long period of much weaker growth.”
Moderate pace?
The Mysteries Of Branch Banking
I'm so old I can remember years ago when it was CW that with all of the exciting new technology available (ATMs, online banking, etc.) banks would be able to save oodles of money by shutting down branches. Then branches seemed to multiply and proliferate everywhere. I get that they are, in part, advertising, but they're very expensive. My pet "I just made it up" theory is that in their zeal to find ways to skim lots of money off of new ways to do things (ATMs, money transfers, etc.) they forgot that they could save lots of money if people didn't need/want all of those branches.
But what do I know.
But what do I know.
Gonna Carry That 50" Teevee On The Choochoo
Stupid people everywhere.
One of the chief criticisms of the proposed light-rail line from Cumberland Mall to MARTA’s Art Center station in midtown Atlanta has been a concern that criminals will use the transit system to come into Cobb, a concern echoed by Lance Lamberton, president of the Cobb County Taxpayers Association.
Read more: The Marietta Daily Journal - State Sen Stoner is first Cobb lawmaker to give light rail public support
Rock Of Stupidity
I suppose the question is..would any result make these idiots change their minds?
Domestically, if I were the Republicans (not that I expect them to take my advice) I'd offer up enough votes to pass Obama's plan and then wrap it around his neck. Essentially the too little, too late gamble that the economy will still suck in November and make Obama totally own it.
George Osborne mounted a strong defence of his deficit reduction plan on Friday, hailing it as the "rock of stability" that will prevent Britain being wrecked by the global financial crisis.
The chancellor again refused to change direction in the face of poor economic news at home and abroad, in a speech in which he reiterated that Britain's deficit must be vigorously tackled. Otherwise, Osborne warned, Britain's homeowners and businesses would suffer.
Domestically, if I were the Republicans (not that I expect them to take my advice) I'd offer up enough votes to pass Obama's plan and then wrap it around his neck. Essentially the too little, too late gamble that the economy will still suck in November and make Obama totally own it.
The Great Casino
Good to see Bloomberg editors acknowledge what's going on.
Though I will add, that aside from the making money with no down side bets part, it's also culture. "Normal" banking is boring. Gambling is fun fun fun!
Though I will add, that aside from the making money with no down side bets part, it's also culture. "Normal" banking is boring. Gambling is fun fun fun!
Name Them
After months of hearing about this regulation crap, could any reporter be bothered to ask...which ones?
Thursday, September 08, 2011
Speechify
The official thread. Drink during all the usual appropriate drinking moments, then go watch grown men in armor throwing a ball around.
I Was Against The War In My Blogs
I'm just thinking about Bill Keller and the latest round of nobodycouldhavepredicted and Iwaswrongfortherightreasonswhiletheywererightforthewrongreasons.
So many years later, and all I can think is...face it, you got conned by really stupid people. What does that say about you?
So many years later, and all I can think is...face it, you got conned by really stupid people. What does that say about you?
Small Improvements
It isn't a revolution, but even small improvements are welcome to the area around 30th St. Station (the urban hellhole's Amtrak station), which is currently completely unfriendly to pedestrians and to people who naively think that there might be an obvious way - or even a direct connection! - to travel from the 30th st. train station to the 30th st. subway/trolley station.
Just Imagine If He'd Auctioned Off The Right To Push The Button
Or stabbed someone to death on stage live?
We shouldn't be surprised by wingnuts who love it when "bad guys" get killed. This is nothing new!
We shouldn't be surprised by wingnuts who love it when "bad guys" get killed. This is nothing new!
Double Dippery
There's a weird debate floating around out there between the double dip bears and the no double dip bulls. It doesn't matter. +.2% GDP versus -.2% GDP growth is mostly (though not entirely) meaningless. Unemployment that isn't dropping it a reasonable clip is a problem either way. Not entering into another recession as measured by GDP is not actually a success.
Also, too, maybe somebody should do something.
Also, too, maybe somebody should do something.
8/09/2011 - Economic recovery appears to have come close to a halt in the major industrialised economies, with falling household and business confidence affecting both world trade and employment, according to new analysis from the OECD. Growth remains strong in most emerging economies, albeit at a more moderate pace.
“Growth is turning out to be much slower than we thought three months ago, and the risk of hitting patches of negative growth going forward has gone up,” OECD Chief Economist Pier Carlo Padoan said during a presentation of the OECD’s latest Interim Economic Assessment.
Economic growth in the G7 economies excluding Japan will remain at an annualised rate of less than 1% in the second half of 2011.
Reality Show Run
I'm not sure about the independent part, but I've long assumed that's what Palin will do. She will pretend to run, or pretend to be going to run, for as long as possible, as the teevee shows dutifully follow her around.
Grifters gotta grift.
Grifters gotta grift.
Wednesday, September 07, 2011
GOP Debate Coverage
According to the GOP contenders:
TSA agents maul people.
We need a fence!
FEMA sucks.
Watch it live
*UPDATE
Science destroys the economy.
Three cheers for the death penalty!!!
TSA agents maul people.
We need a fence!
FEMA sucks.
Watch it live
*UPDATE
Science destroys the economy.
Three cheers for the death penalty!!!
WTC
Cliff captures it.
He doesn't write about what happened here, afterwards. New Yorkers came together. And, of course, leaving the City, fleeing in fear, was not an option. Supporting our neighbors was our response.
He does write about the threat to the Republic that bin Laden sought, and so far, attained.
Deep Thought
The most reasonable guy in the room would probably do something about 9.1% unemployment.
Afternoon Thread
Having a crappy everything going wrong and being too hard to fix day. Not in a bloggy mood.
The Pointlessness Of Presidential Discourse
Floating around out there are the ideas that presidential speechifying can't get stuff through Congress and that no amount of speechifying can impact the election which is going to be driven almost entirely by the economy.
Well, ok.
Well, ok.
A Little Knowledge Is A Dangerous Thing
Anecdotal, but it's this kind of thing which has long worried me. People who bite the bullet and spend a bit of time actually watching Charlie Rose and reading the New York Times op-ed pages, before they've come to understand that Tom Friedman is a buffoon and the things Maureen Dowd thinks are important actually aren't, end up stupid.
You See, It's All Just A Liquidity Problem
The ATM at the Great Casino broke, that's all.
Just need a bit of extra cash for the daily operations...
But questions continue to mount about the ability of Europe’s banks to ride out the crisis, as some are having a harder time securing loans needed for daily operations.
Just need a bit of extra cash for the daily operations...
Tuesday, September 06, 2011
City Car
I've never been very optimistic that these types of things would ever catch on in the urban hellholes of the US. Basically they need to be really cheap, way below what an entry level 'real car' costs, as well as meeting whatever requirements for them to be street legal.
It's Always Morning In America
I've been thinking about the Politico article since it came out. If we look at the Scariest Chart ever, which admittedly contains some revisions which make things look a little bit worse than they did at the time, it's obvious that there was just never any reason for any confidence that the recovery was here.
Benen's graph might make this a bit more clear. Basically we had two ok but not awesome months and one good month in summer of 2010 (aka Recovery Summer) and then 3 ok but not awesome months this past Spring...and from that, everyone thought we could declare victory and go home.
Benen's graph might make this a bit more clear. Basically we had two ok but not awesome months and one good month in summer of 2010 (aka Recovery Summer) and then 3 ok but not awesome months this past Spring...and from that, everyone thought we could declare victory and go home.
Changing World
I don't have a perfect memory of my upbringing, but I do know that a 10-year-old on a bike wouldn't have raised any eyebrows back then in my neighborhood. When you were 10 you were supposed to do things like ride your goddamn bike. I had some freedom to wander around alone, or at least with my brother (2 years older) at age 6-7, and definitely at age 10, free roaming around the neighborhood, on foot or bike, was normal...
Insanity Everywhere
Plan A is destroying the economy, so...stick with it!
George Osborne has signalled that the government would stick to its hardline deficit reduction strategy despite being forced to revise down his growth forecasts for the economy following the slowdown of recent months.
Everybody Knows
There are several decades long narratives in American politics which people (with a perpetual Villager assist) have long internalized. Democrats are pacifist wimps who want to give all your money to undeserving poor people. Republicans love to cut taxes and to cut government spending. Democratic political consultants seem to be forever trying to fight against these narratives, without seeming to understand that it's very difficult to dislodge them. The problem that arises is that if you start beating the deficit drum, then you haven't made voters "trust you" on the deficit, you've made the case to voters that they should elect the Republicans who will be better on this very important issue.
Of course enlightened Eschaton blog readers know that Republicans are full of shit on spending and to a lesser extent taxes, but David Gregory is never going to explain that to the rest of the country. If you make the case that Republican issues are important, you're making the case for...Republicans.
But it's brilliant politics!!!
Of course enlightened Eschaton blog readers know that Republicans are full of shit on spending and to a lesser extent taxes, but David Gregory is never going to explain that to the rest of the country. If you make the case that Republican issues are important, you're making the case for...Republicans.
But it's brilliant politics!!!
Substance And Politics
Various people have tried to reassure me that the deficit two step is getting the politics right.
I guess The Village has now officially decided that the jobs issue "has become issue No. 1" even though, you know, it's been issue No. 1 for years now.
Public pessimism about the direction of the country has jumped to its highest level in nearly three years, erasing the sense of hope that followed President Obama’s inauguration and pushing his approval ratings to a record low, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll.
More than 60 percent of those surveyed say they disapprove of the way the president is handling the economy and, what has become issue No. 1, the stagnant jobs situation. Just 43 percent now approve of the job he is doing overall, a new career low; 53 percent disapprove, a new high.
I guess The Village has now officially decided that the jobs issue "has become issue No. 1" even though, you know, it's been issue No. 1 for years now.
Democracy Is Not The Problem
European leaders weren't elected to bail out banks and punish their population, the Euro and the economic/political integration of Europe was always an elite project with marginal public support, and while here in the US the tea partiers squawk about spending, they don't actually care about it.
This Tomato
The 7-Year-Old loves Neko. We had to gently break it to her that the actual lyric is not "this tomato loves you." Good kid.
Monday, September 05, 2011
Just Who Do They Think The Idiots Are?
With stuff like this the question is...who is the intended audience? Or, more specifically, which people are the people they imagine to be complete idiots, because they're the intended audience?
Or is the speaker the idiot?
Mysteries.
Not Comforting
You know, I appreciate one of our corporate overlords being against the corporate SuperPACs, but this isn't any better.
A world where company policy can dictate how and where their executives send their political bucks isn't a very awesome world either.
President Obama's supporters have created a Super-PAC called Priorities USA. Cohen says he and other Comcast executives don't contribute to Super-PACs or so called 527 groups that shield donors.
"We participate actively in the process but we participate through candidate PACs through full disclosure (and) through party PACs and party committee PACs with full disclosure of our participation," Cohen said.
Cohen noted that he's also raised money for Republicans including House majority leader Eric Cantor, and he follows the same rule in those efforts.
A world where company policy can dictate how and where their executives send their political bucks isn't a very awesome world either.
When The Dust Settles
We'll all know that, once again, the hippies are too blame.
I'd love to write post after post about how Republicans suck and it's their fault for not implementing the president's agenda. Or if we want to maintain the fiction that all legislation emanates from Congress (yes the legislation does just not the impetus for it), we can write post after post about how the Democratic agenda, supported by the president, is being thwarted by the Republicans.
And that agenda is? Apparently reducing regulatory uncertainty.
ah.
I'd love to write post after post about how Republicans suck and it's their fault for not implementing the president's agenda. Or if we want to maintain the fiction that all legislation emanates from Congress (yes the legislation does just not the impetus for it), we can write post after post about how the Democratic agenda, supported by the president, is being thwarted by the Republicans.
And that agenda is? Apparently reducing regulatory uncertainty.
ah.
Too Dumb For Words
No, getting bumped to a higher tax bracket does not mean all of your income is taxed at that higher rate.
Remember Stupid Liberals
Everyone that mattered thought the Iraq war was an awesome idea.
So suck on that!!!
So suck on that!!!
Always Playing On Their Field
So weird.
AMANPOUR: Well, let me ask Carol on that in the last 30 seconds. This business of walking away from the EPA regulations, I mean, is that a vision for the future? Or is that just a one-off?
LEE: I think you're very likely to see more of these. The White House is -- the Republicans have been very effective at tagging the president as being very pro-regulation. This was clearly a move -- business welcomed it. The Republicans welcomed it. And if you talk to people in the White House, they say there's more of these to come.
Morning thought
If Obama wins the election, he has to spend four more years pretending to lead the country.
But if Obama loses, he gets to make speeches to rich people for a pile of money and maybe join the Carlyle Group or one of those other things that you get as a reward for making sure that no one saves your national economy.
So, if you're Obama, do you really want to win the next election?
If the answer is "No," his policies make a lot more sense.
Signed,
Not Atrios
But if Obama loses, he gets to make speeches to rich people for a pile of money and maybe join the Carlyle Group or one of those other things that you get as a reward for making sure that no one saves your national economy.
So, if you're Obama, do you really want to win the next election?
If the answer is "No," his policies make a lot more sense.
Signed,
Not Atrios
Sunday, September 04, 2011
Gotta Have People Who Care About Stuff
I get that in politics you're going to have a few likely useful people around who are basically sociopaths, whose job it is to win and who don't give a shit about anything or anybody else. These people should be listened and then frequently ignored. They are sociopaths after all.
Sunday Bobbleheads
Face the Nation has Bachmann and Huntsman.
Meet the Press has The Moustache of Understanding, Paul Gigot, Maxine Waters, and a double dose of Kearns Goodwins.
This Week has Krgthulu and Bernstein, DeMint, Jonathan Karl, Dana Loesch, Michael Gerson, Clarence Page, Holtz-Eakin, and Carol Lee. Sounds like a party!
Happy Labor Day!
Document the atrocities!
Meet the Press has The Moustache of Understanding, Paul Gigot, Maxine Waters, and a double dose of Kearns Goodwins.
This Week has Krgthulu and Bernstein, DeMint, Jonathan Karl, Dana Loesch, Michael Gerson, Clarence Page, Holtz-Eakin, and Carol Lee. Sounds like a party!
Happy Labor Day!
Document the atrocities!
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