Rock on.
Saturday, March 07, 2009
Deep Thought
What the world needs is limitless easy credit. I really can't imagine how we could go wrong with that.
Yelling At Clouds
One day I hope members of the press finally realize that McCain's a grumpy grandstanding know-nothing. I won't hold my breath for that moment, however.
Cell Phone Follies
I pointed to Malcolm's idiocy yesterday, but Jesse has more. You regularly see this kind of nonsense, especially from older people, about poor people generally. You know, stuff like "how can they be poor if they have a teevee!" even though non-flat screen televisions can be gotten on craigs list for the price of hauling it away. People are slow to adjust to the idea that the price of new technologies tumble very fast, so they still see cell phones as some expensive luxury item even though the phones themselves are basically free and the cheapest pay as you go plans are, you know, cheap. And that's even aside from the general cluelessness about the fact that it might be pretty high priority for someone without a fixed address to have a fixed telephone number.
1 in 7
The vacancy rate is stunning.
- Across the nation, 19 million houses and apartments — nearly one out of every seven — are vacant, the highest percentage since the 1960s. But only about six million of those homes are for sale or for rent. That means millions more could still flood onto the market, depressing prices further.
Lloyd's Banking Group PLC Gets EATED
The British government is very hungry.
- LONDON (AP) -- The British government has become a majority shareholder in Lloyds Banking Group PLC in exchange for insuring more than 260 billion pounds ($367 billion dollars) in risky assets, the bank said Saturday. The deal raises the government's interest in the group from 43.5 percent to at least 65 percent. As a condition of the deal, the bank promised to increase lending by 28 billion pounds ($39 billion) over the next two years, the majority to businesses.
Worst. Apocalypse. Ever.
Dan:
We don't even get zombies. Bummer.
If civilization collapses over credit default swaps I am going to be pissed.
We don't even get zombies. Bummer.
Friday, March 06, 2009
Useful Idiocy
Upyernoz:
I'm in fact myself in favor of the "Democrat Party" coinage -- if someone makes a point of using it, it's a useful way of figuring out right away that they're a douchebag and you don't have to pay attention to them anymore. It's a time saver!
(See also Susie)
i realize that a lot of bloggers have written about this issue, but i honestly don't care if anyone calls it the "democrat party." i don't see how what some people call the party makes any difference to anything.
and even if we assume that it is intended to be an insult, it's a pretty lame-ass insult. is this issue really worth so much spilled ink?
I'm in fact myself in favor of the "Democrat Party" coinage -- if someone makes a point of using it, it's a useful way of figuring out right away that they're a douchebag and you don't have to pay attention to them anymore. It's a time saver!
(See also Susie)
Dr. Doom Gets Gloomier
Kinda scary.
History will not be kind to Geithner. Or his boss, unless he changes directions quickly.
- March 6 (Bloomberg) -- The global recession may continue until the end of 2010 as the response by governments to rectify it is “too little, too late,” said Nouriel Roubini, the New York University professor who predicted the financial crisis.
...
The situation can be improved by appropriate policies, including governments taking over insolvent banks, cleaning them up and re-selling them to private investors, he said. The Group of Seven and the Group of Twenty economies “must act together to get out of this mess,” Roubini said.
History will not be kind to Geithner. Or his boss, unless he changes directions quickly.
Run, Newt, Run!
Though like Steve I don't think it's very likely. He likes attention, but I'm not sure he'd like the attention and scrutiny that a presidential campaign will bring him.
We can dare to dream, however.
We can dare to dream, however.
Jobs
Well, I just barely won the under bet. -651K. And unemployment hits 8.1%
The broader measure of unemployment, U6, jumps from 13.9 to 14.8%.
The broader measure of unemployment, U6, jumps from 13.9 to 14.8%.
"Behavior Issues"
I guess there are electability issues, too, but one wonders just how nutty he is given the Senate's general willingness to tolerate their, uh, "eccentric" members.
- While the Democrats are preoccupied with Senator Roland W. Burris and his ties to a tainted Illinois governor, the Republicans are trying to rid themselves of Senator Jim Bunning of Kentucky, the former baseball star who clearly has little use for some colleagues and party leaders, and who keeps exhibiting what one senator calls “behavior issues.”
Key Republicans are gently (or not gently enough) trying to dissuade Mr. Bunning from seeking re-election in 2010 out of concern that his paltry fund-raising, declining approval ratings and irascible conduct have made him something between vulnerable and unelectable.
Lighting A Pile Of Money On Fire
I don't know if these people are corrupt or fools, but they're just shoveling money out the door as fast they can.
They Fucked Everything Up, So Obviously They Can Fix Things
Anyone else see a small problem with this idea?
They made bad bets when they at least theoretically thought they could incur losses. Now the cunning plan is to hope they make good bets even though...no chance of losses!
This is all going to end really badly.
-
The government is seeking to resuscitate the nation's crippled financial system by forging an alliance with the very outfits that most benefited from the bonanza preceding the collapse of the credit markets: hedge funds and private-equity firms.
The initiative to revive the consumer lending business, outlined by officials this week, offers these wealthy investors a new chance to make sizable profits -- but, thanks to the government, without the risk of massive losses.
They made bad bets when they at least theoretically thought they could incur losses. Now the cunning plan is to hope they make good bets even though...no chance of losses!
This is all going to end really badly.
Shitpile: Actually Really Shitty
As Krugman explains, someone really needs to sit Geithner down and explain to him that all those pieces of shitpile are indeed really shitty. This fantasy of undervalued assets is just a fantasy.
-
Here’s how the pattern works: first, administration officials, usually speaking off the record, float a plan for rescuing the banks in the press. This trial balloon is quickly shot down by informed commentators.
Then, a few weeks later, the administration floats a new plan. This plan is, however, just a thinly disguised version of the previous plan, a fact quickly realized by all concerned. And the cycle starts again.
Why do officials keep offering plans that nobody else finds credible? Because somehow, top officials in the Obama administration and at the Federal Reserve have convinced themselves that troubled assets, often referred to these days as “toxic waste,” are really worth much more than anyone is actually willing to pay for them — and that if these assets were properly priced, all our troubles would go away.
Inquiry
It's hard to know exactly how to read these stories as there's this kind of pass the buck game going on between BoA and Merrill.
-
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — One Merrill Lynch trader apparently gambled away more than $120 million in the currency markets. Others seemingly lost hundreds of millions on tricky credit derivatives.
But somehow all this red ink did not spill into plain view until after Merrill earmarked billions for bonuses and staggered into the arms of Bank of America.
Thursday, March 05, 2009
Undisclosed Location Blogging
Due to the crazy time zone thing, especially over the next couple of days, blogging will be not so normal.
Not Just Us
I haven't yet figured out if it's comforting or disturbing that much of the rest of the world fucked everything up right along with us.
- March 5 (Bloomberg) -- Bank of England Governor Mervyn King will take the unprecedented step of printing money to buy assets after cutting the interest rate by a half point to almost zero, the latest move by officials to combat the recession. The bank said it will pump money into the economy by purchasing as much as 150 billion pounds ($211 billion) in government and corporate bonds, sparking a rally across the debt market. The central bank’s nine-member panel also reduced the benchmark interest rate to 0.5 percent, the lowest since the bank was founded in 1694.
GM
It's never been clear to me if they had any chance of surviving or not without a perpetual subsidy.
- NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- General Motors Corp. said Thursday that it hopes to get additional loans from the government and that there is "substantial doubt" about the automaker's ability to remain a "going concern." GM hopes to receive an additional $7.7 billion in federal aid, which would bring its total debt to the government to $30 billion by 2011, the company said in its annual report.
Thursday Is New Jobless Day
Down a bit, but still in holy crap (academic economist jargon) territory.
Monthly report comes out tomorrow. Consensus forecast says -650K jobs. I'll take the under bet, betting job losses will be higher.
The Labor Department said initial claims for state unemployment insurance benefits fell by 31,000 to a seasonally adjusted 639,000 in the week ended Feb. 28 from an upwardly revised 670,000 the prior week. Analysts had forecast new claims at 650,000 last week.
Monthly report comes out tomorrow. Consensus forecast says -650K jobs. I'll take the under bet, betting job losses will be higher.
Rush
It's been funny. Rush makes more money when Republicans are out of power. Seems like he's working to make that a permanent state of affairs.
Wednesday, March 04, 2009
Go, John Galt
Righteous Bubba informs us that there are "SEVENTEEN videos dramatizing the Galt speech" from Atlas Shrugs on You Tube. "It's a long speech, so who the fuck knows how many videos are yet to be realized." Indeed.
The punchline: "Views for part one? 72140 as of this writing. 361 for part 17."
Perhaps there is a lesson here.
The punchline: "Views for part one? 72140 as of this writing. 361 for part 17."
Perhaps there is a lesson here.
Our Dumb Discourse
Having watched Cramer over the last several days, I'm pretty sure he doesn't actually believe this crap. Whether that makes him a better or worse person I don't know.
Banksters Gone Wild
Funny.
- Asked about Geithner’s comments and his decision regarding opening the discount window to Wall Street after Bear had been sold for $2 a share and not earlier, Jimmy Cayne became spitting angry.
“The audacity of that p—k in front of the American people announcing he was deciding whether or not a firm of this stature and this whatever was good enough to get a loan,” he said. “Like he was the determining factor, and it’s like a flea on his back, floating down underneath the Golden Gate Bridge, getting a h–d-on, saying, ‘Raise the bridge.’ This guy thinks he’s got a big d–k. He’s got nothing, except maybe a boyfriend. I’m not a good enemy. I’m a very bad enemy. But certain things really—that bothered me plenty. It’s just that for some clerk to make a decision based on what, your own personal feeling about whether or not they’re a good credit? Who the f–k asked you? You’re not an elected officer. You’re a clerk. Believe me, you’re a clerk. I want to open up on this f—-r, that’s all I can tell you.”
Dowdy
There's a lot of stupid in Dowd's column, though most of all her apparently belief that Barack Obama has to keep John McCain's campaign promises.
Registering My Disgust Throughout The World.
Yes it's cool to sneer at comic book readers, which is really kind of odd.
I'll let the president speak:
I'll let the president speak:
"Contrary to the rumors you have heard, I was not born in a manger," Obama said. "I was actually born on Krypton and sent here by my father Jor-El to save the planet Earth."
They Were Dumb And Crazy A Few Years Ago, Too
It's interesting thinking about the wingnutosphere and how in the year 2009 it looks pretty batshit crazy. Of course it was pretty batshit crazy a few years ago, too, but their batshit craziness was validated by the fact that their team ran the country.
Oh, and conservatives? Thanks for giving Obama the power to tap your phones! bwahahaha
Oh, and conservatives? Thanks for giving Obama the power to tap your phones! bwahahaha
697K
That's the private estimate of the number of jobs the government will report were lost on Friday.
There really is a growing disconnect between the world portrayed on the teevee and reality. For most people getting booted out of their homes and losing their jobs, or just being underemployed, is a far bigger deal than a crashing stock market.
There really is a growing disconnect between the world portrayed on the teevee and reality. For most people getting booted out of their homes and losing their jobs, or just being underemployed, is a far bigger deal than a crashing stock market.
Doesn't Anyone Remember Anthrax?
Apparently Rush Holt does.
And let's remember ABC's "reporting" linking the anthrax to Saddam Hussein...
And let's remember ABC's "reporting" linking the anthrax to Saddam Hussein...
The Great Recession
Probably a decent enough term.
Unlike the last two recessions — earlier this decade and in the early 1990s — this one is causing much more job loss among the less educated than among college graduates. Those earlier recessions introduced the country to the concept of mass white-collar layoffs. The brunt of the layoffs in this recession is falling on construction workers, hotel workers, retail workers and others without a four-year degree.
The Great Recession of 2008 (and beyond) is hurting men more than women. It is hurting homeowners and investors more than renters or retirees who rely on Social Security checks. It is hurting Latinos more than any other ethnic group. A year ago, a greater share of Latinos held jobs than whites. Today, the two have switched places.
Tuesday, March 03, 2009
Community Health Centers
Some ideas make too much sense.
So much sense that I get puzzled why hospitals haven't banded together more to create them themselves given the emergency room issues.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Barack Obama has been vague about details of his healthcare reform efforts, but he provided a hint on Monday of one direction he could take -- community health centers.
As he announced the nominations of his two top health executives, Obama highlighted the allocation of $155 million to 126 community health centers as part of the $787 billion economic stimulus package.
"These health centers will expand access to care by helping people in need -- many with no health insurance -- obtain access to comprehensive primary and preventive health care services," Obama told a news conference.
So much sense that I get puzzled why hospitals haven't banded together more to create them themselves given the emergency room issues.
Do They?
I guess I'm actually curious if the people working for ABC have any idea how the income tax works or not. Some times I can't tell if media outlets are playing stupid or if they are stupid.
Time To Light Some More Money On Fire
Burn, baby, burn!
March 3 (Bloomberg) -- Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke said policy makers may need to expand aid to the banking system beyond the $700 billion already approved and take other aggressive measures even at the cost of soaring fiscal deficits.
It's Just Paper
3-4 days of solid CNBC watching led me to a similar conclusion
For people in that world, the real economy doesn't exist. It's all about numbers on the big board. It's weird.
“Clearly, this was not a concern to the Bush Administration,” said Mallach. “The question is whether Treasury will do anything about it now. But some of the people Obama has put in the Treasury Department aren’t all that different. They have the same Wall Street backgrounds, the same high finance backgrounds. All this stuff looks like paper to them. It’s not about people’s lives and neighborhoods. It’s just paper.”
For people in that world, the real economy doesn't exist. It's all about numbers on the big board. It's weird.
Monday, March 02, 2009
Later Monday
If I hadn't spent the day watching CNBC it's possible I would have the energy to see if Jonah Goldberg said anything stupid today. Presumably he did, and presumably we could make fun of it. Let's just stipulate that and move on.
Stupid
If true, really really stupid...
oops, link killed Blog. Anyway, was news that sounded like the Daily News was being shuttered but apparently it's just going to be rebranded as an "edition" of the Inquirer to cut some costs and do joint ad sales but otherwise not much will change.
...try the link again.
oops, link killed Blog. Anyway, was news that sounded like the Daily News was being shuttered but apparently it's just going to be rebranded as an "edition" of the Inquirer to cut some costs and do joint ad sales but otherwise not much will change.
...try the link again.
Run, Toomey, Run
Time for Arlen to go.
HARRISBURG -- A new statewide poll shows 53 percent of Pennsylvanians -- and 66 percent of Republicans -- want someone to replace Sen. Arlen Specter.
Asked whether they think Specter, a Philadelphia Republican, has done his job well enough to win re-election or whether they'd prefer a "new person" in that job, registered voters by a 53-38 percent margin said it's time to give someone else a chance, according to the poll by Susquehanna Polling and Research. Eight percent were undecided.
Who's The Big Spender?
Jared Bernstein's the crazy liberal who might want to spend a few bucks on social programs. Meanwhile Larry and Tim are shoveling cash into the Banksters' pockets as fast as they can. But, you know, they're the ones who are "serious" about the deficit.
Shrewd Investor
That decision to convert preferred shares into common at $3.25/share was a good call by Geithner, given that Citi's now at $1.20.
Supporting The Banksters
Our discourse is so absurd when such people are termed "moderates."
In 2010 if the economy hasn't turned around, savvy Republicans will easily be able to run with faux Dobbs/Santelli "populism" against such "moderates."
In 2010 if the economy hasn't turned around, savvy Republicans will easily be able to run with faux Dobbs/Santelli "populism" against such "moderates."
Crazy Numbers
CNBC guy just now:
European banks have $24 trillion of toxic assets on their balance sheets.
Wasn't Actually Kidding
Kudlow and Santelli are actually making sense on CNBC today. All the financial companies, and investors, are just waiting for the next government action... and the next... and the next... the value of anything is dependent on what the government might do and they've still failed to set out a basic template for what's going to happen going forward.
Why Would Anyone Do Business With These People?
This is the bit that I think Geithner and the gang are missing. They destroyed their companies! Why would anyone have anything to do with them?
We Just Think You're Funny
As Oliver says, we're... laughing at you because you're absurd. I'm ready for a period of Democratic rule, and hopefully a period of progressive Democratic rule, but I also do hope the Republican party pulls it together at some point because long term uncontested one party rule isn't a good thing.
Though for now... thanks for the laughs!
Though for now... thanks for the laughs!
Bad Democrats
Contact Ellen Tauscher's office and communicate your support for bankruptcy cramdown legislation.
Over the weekend Rep. Brad Miller discussed the cramdown legislation over at Blue NC. A key point is that people with vacation homes and investment properties, including flippers, can already go to bankruptcy court and have their loan terms modified. It's just people with primary residences who can't.
...more on Tauscher.
(ht americablog)
Tomorrow, the House will vote on Representative Conyer's bankruptcy cram down. The whip count is unclear right now, but some Blue Dogs and New Democrats, including Melissa Bean (D-IL), Dennis Moore (D-KS), and New Democratic chair Ellen Tauscher (D-CA), are working on behalf of the financial services industry to water down the legislation. Tauscher in particular is problematic, both because of her leadership role in one of the ideological caucuses, and also because rumors are that she has organized up to two dozen members thus far. It is about time that Tauscher, and the Representatives she is organizing, stop listening to industry lobbyists who do not have the public interest in mind.
So, let's make Representative Tauscher listen to someone else right now. Contact Ellen Tauscher, and urge her to stop organizing other Democrats to water down HR 200. She needs to listen to homeowners, not to the financial industry that got us into this economic disaster:
Email form (California residents only)
D.C. office: 202.225.1880
Over the weekend Rep. Brad Miller discussed the cramdown legislation over at Blue NC. A key point is that people with vacation homes and investment properties, including flippers, can already go to bankruptcy court and have their loan terms modified. It's just people with primary residences who can't.
...more on Tauscher.
Tauscher's office also said she hasn't met with any bankers or lobbyists on the matter, and that may well be true. She doesn't have to. Adam Pase, the executive director of the New Democrat Coalition which Tauscher chairs, works directly out of her office.
Pase is is a former lobbyist for the Twenty First Century Group, whose client, the Coalition for Fair & Affordable Lending, is an astroturf group, financed by the banking industry, that lobbied on behalf of. . . you guessed it. . . sub-prime lenders.
(ht americablog)
Who are the Counter Parties?
More money on fire. $30 billion to AIG. A $62 billion quarterly loss. Where did that 62 billion go?
Sunday, March 01, 2009
AIG New Deal
I don't know enough to have any sense of whether this debt for equity swap is a bad deal for taxpayers or not. I think that unlike the Banksters, AIG actually had/has some moneymaking pieces which could be sold off, though whether there's any chance of getting a decent deal for taxpayers with the numbers they're talking about I have no idea.
...to be clear I don't think there's any chance this bailout is going to be a good deal for taxpayers, just talking about whether this new version of it is better or worse. AIG had real businesses, they just took the proceeds from them and threw them into Big Shitpile.
...to be clear I don't think there's any chance this bailout is going to be a good deal for taxpayers, just talking about whether this new version of it is better or worse. AIG had real businesses, they just took the proceeds from them and threw them into Big Shitpile.
Housing And Transit
This column makes the should be obvious point that mass transit projects are much more likely to be useful if development patterns, particularly around stations, are allowed to change. Too often people envision overlaying an existing area with a rail project without considering the possibility, or desirability, of changing development patterns. That's how you end up with stations with massive park-n-ride lots.
Basic Public Policy
Good news for Illinois seniors:
Seniors have health and mobility issues, and policies need to be shaped around those facts.
CHICAGO
Feb. 28 (UPI) -- Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn says he won't eliminate his impeached predecessor's program that provides free bus and train rides to senior citizens.
..
"I don't think I would sign such a bill that would limit it so drastically," Quinn told reporters. "I think free rides for seniors is a basic public policy that we can support and maintain even in tough economic times."
Seniors have health and mobility issues, and policies need to be shaped around those facts.
Sunday Bobbleheads
Document the atrocities.
ABC's "This Week" — Office of Management and Budget Director Peter Orszag; House Republican Whip Rep. Eric Cantor, R-Va.
___
CBS' "Face the Nation" — White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel.
___
NBC's "Meet the Press" — Secretary of Defense Robert Gates.
___
CNN's "State of the Union" — Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Adm. Mike Mullen.
"Fox News Sunday" _ Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Adm. Mike Mullen; Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., and Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis.
Morning Thread
by Molly Ivors
Up to my elbows in kitchen renovation, but Maureen Dowd is back on her game, and not in a good way.
Up to my elbows in kitchen renovation, but Maureen Dowd is back on her game, and not in a good way.
Red Scabs
So according to imbeciles of the Erick Erickson class, this shit from Ann Coulter is Funny:
What Coulter means is that Rachel Maddow is an out lesbian. To be blunt.
And fair enough!
Because, well, let's be blunt. In the future, the Rachel Maddow side will be the winning side, and the Ann Coulter side will be the losing side. Why? Because the Maddow side is the side of tolerance, class, intelligence, and the Ann Coulter side will be always be the Ann Coulter side.
Suck. On. That.
The crowd loves her. “I’ve bee[n] watching the MSNBC coverage of CPAC. Is there any other network where you know every host was at the alternative prom?”
What Coulter means is that Rachel Maddow is an out lesbian. To be blunt.
And fair enough!
Because, well, let's be blunt. In the future, the Rachel Maddow side will be the winning side, and the Ann Coulter side will be the losing side. Why? Because the Maddow side is the side of tolerance, class, intelligence, and the Ann Coulter side will be always be the Ann Coulter side.
Suck. On. That.
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