The End is Near: Glenn Beck is the Voice of Reason

05 Wednesday May 2010

Posted by in Bill of Rights, Congress, Politics, Republicans, terrorism

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OK, it’s official, we are through the looking glass on the treatment of suspected terrorists. Glenn Beck is the voice of reason and sanity. Yes, you read that right, Glenn Beck, reason, and sanity all in the same sentence. On Fox and Friends yesterday, Beck said of Faisal Shahzad, the Pakistani-born American citizen arrested in the attempted Times Square bombing:

“He is a citizen of the United States, so I say we uphold the laws and the Constitution on citizens. If you are a citizen, you obey the law and follow the Constitution. He has all the rights under the  Constitution. We don’t shred the Constitution when it’s popular. We do the right thing.”

Vodpod videos no longer available.The award for the most extreme, knee-jerk (emphasis on jerk) reaction comes from Joe Lieberman. He proposes taking away the citizenship of those who are “affiliated” (whatever that means) with foreign terrorist organizations when they are “apprehended and charged.” 

My own Senator finds that “interesting”:

Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), the head of of the GOP’s Senate campaign arm, is open to Lieberman’s idea. “I’m interested in Senator Lieberman’s approach. He is one of our leading members when it comes to national security issues and I would be interested in exploring that. I think at some point an act of war is a treasonous act, which could be a basis for relinquishing one’s citizenship,” he said.

I propose that we take away the citizenship of those who advocate that we take away the citizenship of others. I think that might solve the problem.

McCain: Miranda Rights for U.S. Citizens a “Serious Mistake”

04 Tuesday May 2010

Posted by in Bill of Rights, Dick Cheney, McCain, Politics, Republicans, war on terror

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John McCain has taken the baton from Dick Cheney as drum major in the crazy parade. McCain said today it would have been a “serious mistake” to read the suspect arrested in connection with the May 1 attempted Times Square bombing his Miranda rights.

“Obviously that would be a serious mistake…at least until we find out as much information we have,” McCain said during an appearance on “Imus in the Morning” when asked whether the suspect, 30-year-old Faisal Shahzad, a naturalized American citizen from Pakistan.

“Don’t give this guy his Miranda rights until we find out what it’s all about,” McCain added.”

Sen. McCain, I know the suspect doesn’t have a good old ‘Murrican name like John, or Cindy…or even Sarah, but he is a United States citizen and he is entitled to Constitutional rights.

Scott Lemieux at Lawyers, Guns, and Money asks this:

“Did John McCain strenuously object when Scott Roeder was read his Miranda rights?   If not, I wonder what criteria McCain is using to determine which American terrorists are entitled to their constitutional rights and which aren’t?”

But the Arizona Senator didn’t stop there. He’s already assessed the death penalty—despite not knowing the charges:

“There’s probably about 350 different charges he’s guilty off — attempted acts of terror against the united States, attempted murder,” said McCain, cautioning that he’s not privy to the charges with which Shahzad might be charged. “I’m sure there’s a significant number to warrant the death penalty.”

And not to be outdone, New York Rep. Peter King also questioned the Justice Department with this:

“Did they Mirandize him? I know he’s an American citizen but still,” King said.”

I’ll leave it to your imagination what Rep. King was thinking but left unsaid.

“Toxic Magnification” of Subprime Mortgage Securities

04 Tuesday May 2010

Posted by in economy, Financial Crisis, Goldman Sachs, Politics, Wall Street

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How “investment” instruments that were allegedly designed to spread the risk ended up spreading the poison. From the Wall Street Journal via BooRadley at The Seminal:

“Even at its peak, subprime lending accounted for a relatively small portion of overall mortgage lending. Yet losses from these mortgages caused deep damage to the financial system.

Now, documents released by Senate investigators last week provide clues in understanding why the losses were so severe. The documents show how Wall Street banks packaged and repackaged the same risky bonds into securities that ultimately helped magnify the impact of defaulting subprime mortgages on the financial system.

In one case, a $38 million subprime-mortgage bond created in June 2006 ended up in more than 30 debt pools and ultimately caused roughly $280 million in losses to investors by the time the bond’s principal was wiped out in 2008, according to data reviewed by The Wall Street Journal….

In effect, the documents said, Wall Street was “copying and pasting” what turned out to be the worst-performing securities of the mortgage boom. Such activity helped multiply opportunities for hedge funds and traders who wanted to short the housing market, but magnified the losses of those on the other side of the trades.”

In graph form:


“God’s work,” no doubt.

Gulf Oil Spill “Worse Than the Exxon Valdez”

02 Sunday May 2010

Posted by in Politics, Uncategorized

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From the Hufington Post:

“The Gulf Coast spill will have eclipsed the Exxon Valdez in terms of total gallons of oil before the weekend is over — making it the largest oil spill in U.S. history — according to calculations made by oceanographer Ian MacDonald after studying aerial Coast Guard photos taken earlier in the week.

MacDonald, a professor at Florida State University who counts “oil and gas development” among his areas of expertise, stopped short of comparing the Deepwater Horizon spill to that of the Alaskan oil tanker, but said Saturday, “The spill is growing. I’m comfortable saying that the size and extent of this slick is 10 million gallons.”

Given that just over a million gallons are leaking into the Gulf per day, according to MacDonald’s calculations, the spill will shortly top the Exxon Valdez’s estimated 11-million-gallon spill.”

With that in mind, consider that the effects of the Valdez spill are still being felt—20 years later:

“The amount of Exxon Valdez oil remaining substantially exceeds the sum total of all previous oil pollution on beaches in Prince William Sound…This Exxon Valdez oil is decreasing at a rate of 0-4% per year, with only a 5% chance that the rate is as high as 4%. At this rate, the remaining oil will take decades and possibly centuries to disappear entirely.

…surveys outside Prince William Sound have documented lingering oil also on the Kenai Peninsula and the Katmai coast, over 450 miles away.”

Now take this:


And multiply it by this X 10,000:


How’s that drill, baby, drill workin’ out for ya?

Oligarchs of a Feather Stick Together

02 Sunday May 2010

Posted by in economy, financial reform, financial regulation, Goldman Sachs, Politics, too big to fail, Wall Street

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Buffett defends Blankfein:

OMAHA, Neb.— Warren Buffett offered a vigorous defense of Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Saturday, saying the embattled firm hadn’t engaged in improper activity and shouldn’t be blamed for the losses of its clients.

[…]

Mr. Buffett’s comments—which came early in the day at Berkshire Hathaway Inc.’s annual shareholders meeting—offer a powerful vote of confidence in Goldman, which has seen its shares slide since the SEC announced the investigation on April 16. Goldman’s stock fell 9.4% on Friday alone after it emerged that the Manhattan district attorney’s office was conducting a preliminary criminal probe into its mortgage-trading activities.

[…]

The billionaire investor said he fully supported Goldman CEO Lloyd Blankfein. Asked if he could choose a successor for Mr. Blankfein, Mr. Buffett said: “If Lloyd had a twin brother I’d go for him.”

But he does, Mr. Buffett, he does.

The Short-Lived “New Era of Openness”

01 Saturday May 2010

Posted by in economy, financial reform, Obama, Politics

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January 21, 2009:

“On his first full day in office, President Barack Obama signed an executive order and two presidential memoranda heralding what he called a “new era of openness.”…President Obama said that “every agency and department should know that this administration stands on the side not of those who seek to withhold information, but those who seek to make it known.”

April 30, 2010:

“The Senate is getting ready to kick its financial reform debate into high gear next week when they start voting on amendments on all kinds of issues from both parties.

Obama administration officials have declined to weigh in on any specific amendments, with one exception: a move by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.) to give the government more power to audit certain operations at the Federal Reserve. Fed and administration officials have signaled they would fight to stop it at all costs.”

So I guess the definition of an “era” is now about 15 months.

“Put Up or Shut Up” Time on Too Big To Fail

01 Saturday May 2010

Posted by in bailout, Congress, economy, financial reform, financial regulation, Goldman Sachs, Politics, too big to fail, Wall Street

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Now that the Senate Republicans have abandoned their filibuster (after perusing the public opinion polls on Wall Street and observing the tap-dancing by Goldman Sachs execs at the Senate Subcommittee on Investigations hearings, I assume) financial reform legislation is set for debate.

Richard Eskow at the Huffington Post has a one-question test we can apply to our elected representatives to tell if they are serious about reforming the financial system or just being a posturing, pontificating blowhard—something that comes naturally to most politicians.

“This quick, easy-to-use test can be applied from the comfort of your own home (if you still have one), from that third job you’ve got to work every evening (too bad you can’t help the kids with homework anymore) … why you can even use it while you’re waiting on line to collect the last of your unemployment benefits!

As long as there’s a television droning away in the waiting area while you wait for that job interview, or a newspaper somebody left behind on that park bench, as long as you can learn how your politician voted, you can learn whether he’s really on your side or just another bank lackey.

Here’s the test: Will they vote to break up the big banks or not? It’s as simple as that … really.

…Yesterday Sens. Ted Kaufman and Sherrod Brown officially introduced an amendment that limits the size of banks and the amount of risk they can take. Under this amendment, no bank could become either so big or so leveraged that its collapse could threaten the economy… An identical amendment was introduced in the House by Reps Brad Miller, Keith Ellison, Steve Cohen, and Ben Chandler.

…What’s striking about the proposal is how simple and effective it is. No bank could hold more than 10% of the nation’s deposits, nor could it leverage (take risks with) sums that amount to more than 2% of the GDP.

What’s also striking is how few institutions it would affect. Only the three biggest banks would be affected by the size limit, and the cap on liabilities would only affect an estimate nine institutions or so.

These amendments offer our representatives in the House and Senate a simple choice: Support a safer and more rational banking system, or be counted among those whose votes are being swayed by the influence of Wall Street money. And they give the rest of us an invaluable tool. We’ll be able to see whether our leaders really means those words about “too big to fail” and “no more bailouts” by seeing whether or not they vote for these amendments.

If they do, they’ve passed the test. If they don’t, they’ve failed. Simple as that.

Here’s the greatest benefit this new test offers to frustrated voters everywhere. It lets us say to politicians, once and for all, on one of the most crucial issues of our day, those words every citizen longs to say to a long-winded public servant:

Put up or shut up.”

I Thought We Were “Looking Forward”

30 Friday Apr 2010

Posted by in Justice Department, Obama, Politics, torture, war on terror

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Wait a minute. I sense some inconsistency here. What happened to “look forward, not back?”:

“The Obama administration is seeking to compel a writer to testify about his confidential sources for a 2006 book about the Central Intelligence Agency, a rare step that was authorized by Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr.

The author, James Risen, who is a reporter for The New York Times, received a subpoena on Monday requiring him to provide documents and to testify May 4 before a grand jury in Alexandria, Va., about his sources for a chapter of his book, “State of War: The Secret History of the C.I.A. and the Bush Administration.” The chapter largely focuses on problems with a covert C.I.A. effort to disrupt alleged Iranian nuclear weapons research.”

John Cole at Balloon Juice makes the call:

“It’s just a damned shame Risen didn’t torture anyone. I’m serious- can’t Risen just claim he tortured someone to get the information, but destroyed the tapes? Then mumble something about a few bad apples.

Doesn’t that get you a pass under the current rules?”

Deeper Into the Afghanistan Quagmire

30 Friday Apr 2010

Posted by in Afghanistan, Politics

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Afghanistan has been off the national radar screen lately, but the fighting there goes on, and we get deeper and deeper into the quagmire. In spite of our escalation the Taliban’s strength and popularity among the civilian population is increasing, not diminishing. And the end is still not in sight.

Deeper and deeper:

“The Pentagon is sending 800 more American soldiers to Afghanistan in the coming weeks to work as trainers for the Afghan security forces. The contingent is needed because other NATO countries still haven’t fulfilled their pledges to send their own troops to train the Afghan army and police.

A battalion of the 82nd Airborne Division will be heading to Afghanistan soon. The soldiers will work as trainers for at least several months. The unit is beyond the 30,000 additional troops that President Obama already approved for Afghanistan this year.”

That doesn’t include private contractors:

“The latest Department of Defense numbers show there are more civilian contractors on the ground in Afghanistan than there are soldiers. The Pentagon reported 107,292 U.S.-hired civilian workers in Afghanistan as of February.”

The insurgency is getting stronger:

“A Pentagon report presented a sobering new assessment Wednesday of the Taliban-led insurgency in Afghanistan, saying that its abilities are expanding and its operations are increasing in sophistication, despite recent major offensives by U.S. forces in the militants’ heartland.

The report, requested by Congress, portrays an insurgency with deep roots and broad reach, able to withstand repeated U.S. onslaughts and to reestablish its influence, while discrediting and undermining the country’s Western-backed government.

The report concludes that Afghan people support or are sympathetic to the insurgency in 92 of 121 districts identified by the U.S. military as key terrain for stabilizing the country.”

The end is not in sight:

“British and other foreign troops deployed in Afghanistan face a “very tough” time ahead and can expect to be engaged in a combat role for three or four more years, NATO ‘s most senior civilian official in the country said today…Thereafter, they could be expected to remain in Afghanistan, training and mentoring local forces, for a further 10 to 15 years.”

Eric Martin at Obsidian Wings sums up:

“The only question that remains is just how much money will we blow through..and just how much blood will we spill in our stubborn refusal to acknowledge that America, like all foreign powers, is ill-equipped to impose a system of government on a foreign population. At least not within any reasonable measure of the costs and benefits in the current context.

[…]

This is not going well. This will not end well.  Our moral compass is severely off-kilter. We are sustaining significant damage to our fiscal soundness, military preparedness and overall standing…in the pursuit of a fool’s gambit that has become so vague and so ethereal that few can even articulate a realistic objective anymore.”

Incompetence and Regulatory Capture at Washington Mutual

29 Thursday Apr 2010

Posted by in bailout, Congress, Financial Crisis, financial reform, Politics, too big to fail, Wall Street

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Any questions about why financial reform legislation must have strict provisions for enforcement not left up to the discretion of the so-called “regulators” should be cleared up by David Heath’s extensive piece at the Huffington Post about incompetence, corruption, and regulatory capture at Washington Mutual:

“A recent Senate inquiry offered a rare peek into the secret world of bank examiners. What it revealed was that regulators had stopped regulating.

In the case of Washington Mutual, regulators found all sorts of trouble, from lax lending standards to high delinquency rates on loans, and yet failed to prevent the biggest bank failure in history.

Starting in 2003, examiners for the Office of Thrift Supervision found 545 problems at the bank. But the agency left it up to WaMu to track its own compliance with examiners’ recommendations, and took no formal action against the bank until it was too late.

[…]

A central lesson from the failure of Washington Mutual was that a system set up to prevent what happened utterly failed. For all the talk of reform, Congress isn’t addressing the problem of regulators who fail to do their job.

Regulators routinely deferred to bankers and market forces and engaged in petty squabbles over who had authority over the bank. So the question now is: Can Congress fix ineffective regulators themselves?

[…]

OTS’s own fortunes were heavily tied to Washington Mutual’s. The bank paid fees that amounted to 15 percent of OTS’s budget – more than any other financial institution under its watch. So it was in the OTS’s interest to make sure WaMu survived as a thrift, a bank that specializes in home mortgages.”

Can Congress fix it? Yes they can. Will they? Ay, there’s the rub.