Saturday, March 21, 2009
Deep Thought
So why can't I buy borrow money from the government to buy up a bunch of financial assets with no recourse loans?
How The Gamblers See Things
George Stephanopoulos from twitter:
Early read on Geithner plan from plugged in investment source asset managers he knows just won't play until sure WH can control Congress
Deep Thought
Anyone want to lend me $300 billion so I can go hit the roulette table in Atlantic City?
Not All Things Are Unknowable
As Jamie Galbraith says, there is actually information about the quality of the underlying mortgages and the expected future revenue stream. My guess is Timmeh is too scared to look behind the curtain.
Some Progress
I'd prefer newspapers just stop publishing horseshit altogether, but I think this not very polite demolishing of George Will in the Washington Post by Chris Mooney is at least a bit of progress.
A Cunning Plan
John Cole sums it up pretty well:
Larry Summers and Tim Geithner
-
The Illness- reckless and irresponsible betting led to huge losses
The Diagnosis- Insufficient gambling.
The Cure- a Trillion dollar stack of chips provided by the house.
The Prognosis- We are so screwed.
Larry Summers and Tim Geithner
Really Bad Ideas
Paulson kept proposing versions of this, but even he wasn't dumb enough. Sadly, Timmeh is.
As Dean says, if the reporting is accurate Timmeh is even dumber than I think he is.
Krugman has more. We are so screwed.
- The plan is likely to offer generous subsidies, in the form of low-interest loans, to coax investors to form partnerships with the government to buy toxic assets from banks. To help protect taxpayers, who would pay for the bulk of the purchases, the plan calls for auctioning assets to the highest bidders.
As Dean says, if the reporting is accurate Timmeh is even dumber than I think he is.
Krugman has more. We are so screwed.
Scapegoat
I actually don't think anyone should be treated like this, although it may be gratifying to read. Until you consider that the very people who made his actions possible are also responsible for the fact that many people are treated as badly or worse.
What this story says to me is not that Bernie Madoff is getting his just deserts, but that he either just made a really convenient scapegoat or somehow managed to piss off far greater Malefactors of great wealth. Or, more likely, both.
Signed,
Not Atrios
What this story says to me is not that Bernie Madoff is getting his just deserts, but that he either just made a really convenient scapegoat or somehow managed to piss off far greater Malefactors of great wealth. Or, more likely, both.
Signed,
Not Atrios
Friday, March 20, 2009
Sorry Alaska...
No education for you! "I said no to that bridge to the 21st century!"
Also, GOP grovelling fun! Tedisco latest to abase himself before the GOP Hutt.
Also, GOP grovelling fun! Tedisco latest to abase himself before the GOP Hutt.
The Mall Is Flat
And the empire crumbles.
NEW YORK, March 20 (Reuters) - A Louisiana court issued an order to seize and sell a General Growth Properties Inc GGP.N shopping center in a New Orleans suburb after the No. 2 U.S. mall owner failed to repay a $95 million loan, a Citigroup Inc (C.N) unit said on Friday.
The Oakwood Shopping Center in the town of Gretna is the fourth General Growth property seized in the last few days after the company failed to pay mortgage debt.
Driving Less
I'm curious if there are any trends in vehicle registrations as well, but my quick visit to the Google yielded no answers.
Less money also means fewer trips for shopping, entertainment and vacations.
Americans drove 7 billion fewer miles this January than in January the year before, according to a new report from the U.S. Department of Transportation.
Pennsylvanians drove 353 million fewer miles - a drop of about 4.5 percent.
Or We Could Just Do It
This is good from Bernanke...
And while I agree having procedure in place in advance, FDIC-like, is a good idea, it isn't clear why the lack of those procedures prevents us from "safely winding down a systemically important firm rather than keeping it operating." If Timmeh hadn't spent all those months chasing an idea that even Paulson knew was crap, we could have been doing just that.
"We have such a regime for insured depository institutions, but it is clear we need something similar for systemically important nonbank financial entities," he said in prepared remarks to a community bankers convention in Phoenix.
"Improved resolution procedures for these firms would help reduce the too-big-to-fail problem by giving the government the option of safely winding down a systemically important firm rather than keeping it operating," he said.
And while I agree having procedure in place in advance, FDIC-like, is a good idea, it isn't clear why the lack of those procedures prevents us from "safely winding down a systemically important firm rather than keeping it operating." If Timmeh hadn't spent all those months chasing an idea that even Paulson knew was crap, we could have been doing just that.
The End Of Blogging Is Nigh
I've long been amused about the fact that people are endlessly predicting that political blogging will stop because there won't be anything to write about anymore, as if it's purely an election or opposition oriented thing. Got this a lot around the time of the 2004 election.
The world doesn't just stop.
The world doesn't just stop.
And Why Don't We Bail These People Out?
I'm kidding, of course, but when you go from bailing out the system to bailing out the players that's where the logic takes you.
With the recession hammering retail sales, empty curbside spaces abound along the suburban Connecticut thoroughfare, known as the Rodeo Drive of the northeast, and “For Rent” signs decorate vacant storefronts. Ann Taylor, Banana Republic and Borders have all closed their Greenwich Avenue locations.
As banks and hedge funds cut jobs or close down in the worst financial crisis since the 1930s, Greenwich merchants are suffering sales declines. Some stores are simply packing it in. Many are renegotiating rents, cutting inventory or offering cheaper products.
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Thread
The only nostalgia I have for the Reagan administration is, that was when Jay Leno was funny.
They Are Bastards
Which is the important point.
The issue is that Timmeh and friends never distinguished between bailing out the system and bailing out the players. There was a way to do that, and they didn't do it.
The issue is that Timmeh and friends never distinguished between bailing out the system and bailing out the players. There was a way to do that, and they didn't do it.
Pay No Attention To The Crooks You're Handing Your Money To
Yves:
It's a system which has proven itself to be incompetent at best and extraordinarily corrupt at worst. There's no reason to prop up the people who did this.
Now I have said repeatedly the reason no one wants to pursue this line of action is that it is likely to reveal fraud, including at high levels (remember, post Sarbox CEOs and CFOs are now required to certify financial statements) and Team Obama does not want to do anything that would jeopardize confidence in the financial system. But this is completely wrong-headed; the reason there is no trust is the public at large sees considerable evidence of malfeasance. So the confidence is already gone, and an organized process to root out at least the worst instances of rot would be salutary.
It's a system which has proven itself to be incompetent at best and extraordinarily corrupt at worst. There's no reason to prop up the people who did this.
The Mall Is Flat
Almost over.
Moody's Investors Service lowered its ratings on debt-laden mall owner General Growth Properties Inc. (GGP) and some of its subsidiaries to C, the last stop before default, after the company let a $395 million bond payment pass without a payment earlier this week.
Protection Money
What it's always been about.
"Nobody is going to give it back and then stay," said one of the firm's employees. "If they give back the money, then they will walk. And they will walk into the arms of AIG's counterparties."
And Auto Parts Suppliers
CNBC says Treasury is going to guarantee payments from auto manufacturers to parts suppliers.
Kudlow is very upset.
Kudlow is very upset.
Jamie Galbraith Is Insane
Well, not really, but to the Villagers he is. In any case, his long Washington Monthly piece is worth reading.
Geithner’s banking plan would prolong the state of denial. It involves government guarantees of the bad assets, keeping current management in place and attempting to attract new private capital. (Conversion of preferred shares to equity, which may happen with Citigroup, conveys no powers that the government, as regulator, does not already have.) The idea is that one can fix the banks from the top down, by reestablishing markets for their bad securities. If the idea seems familiar, it is: Henry Paulson also pressed for this, to the point of winning congressional approval. But then he abandoned the idea. Why? He learned it could not work.
Class Identification
Timmeh:
Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner is making his move to Washington D.C. official and is selling his New York home. The English Tudor style home has a Larchmont, New York address but is actually in the village of Mamaroneck. The five-bedroom brick home was built in 1931 and sits on .18 acres. It is listed at $1.635 million.
Geithner, who already lives in Washington may not make much of a profit on his home due to falling real estate prices. The AP found the property records which show that Geithner and his wife, Carole Sonnenfeld Geithner paid $1.602 million for the home back in 2004.
Our Elite Monsters
As Scott says, the worldview of those who have entrusted themselves to rule over our elite discourse (fortunately its influence wanes), is truly ugly.
Thursday Is New Jobless Day
Still in holy crap territory.
However, the number of people filing new claims for jobless benefits fell to a seasonally adjusted 646,000 in the week ended March 14, the Labor Department said, still at levels consistent with a distressed labor market. The prior week's number was revised up to 658,000 from 654,000.
...
The number of people staying on the benefits roll after drawing an initial week of aid surged 185,000 to 5.47 million in the week ended March 7, the latest week for which the data is available, from 5.29 million the previous week.
This was the highest on record and pushed the insured unemployment rate to 4.1 percent from 3.9 percent the week before, the highest since June 1983.
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Deep Thought
MSNBC is so liberal that they have two hours of original programming hosted by self-described liberals and three hours of original programming hosted by a conservative Republican.
Big Shitpile
Is Timmeh just going to keep shoveling cash until all the bets are paid off?
Liddy also offered lawmakers a hard number that's long been the subject of speculation. He said the face value of the transactions made by its Financial Products division that still haven't been unwound — or paid off — is $1.6 trillion. That dwarfs the roughly $100 billion of taxpayer money that flowed back through to investment banks, hedge funds and other financial players to pay off bad bets by AIG.
Oh Boy
AIG could be one giant of house of shit.
Thomas Gober, a former Mississippi state insurance examiner who has tracked fraud in the industry for 23 years and served previously as a consultant to the FBI and the Department of Justice, says he believes AIG's supposedly solvent insurance business may be at least as troubled as its reckless financial-products unit. Far from being "healthy," as state insurance regulators, ratings agencies and other experts have repeatedly described the insurance side, Gober calls it "a house of cards." Citing numerous documents he has obtained from state insurance regulators and obscure data buried in AIG's own 300-page annual reports, Gober argues that AIG's 71 interlocking domestic U.S. insurance subsidiaries are in hock to each other to an astonishing degree.
Most of this as-yet-undiscovered problem, Gober says, lies in the area of reinsurance, whereby one insurance company insures the liabilities of another so that the latter doesn't have to carry all the risk on its books. Most major insurance companies use outside firms to reinsure, but the vast majority of AIG's reinsurance contracts are negotiated internally among its affiliates, Gober says, and these internal balance sheets don't add up. The annual report of one major AIG subsidiary, American Home Assurance, shows that it owes $25 billion to another AIG affiliate, National Union Fire, Gober maintains. But American has only $22 billion of total invested assets on its balance sheet, he says, and it has issued another $22 billion in guarantees to the other companies. "The American Home assets and liquidity raise serious questions about their ability to make good on their promise to National Union Fire," says Gober, who has a consulting business devoted to protecting policyholders. Gober says there are numerous other examples of "cooked books" between AIG subsidiaries. Based on the state insurance regulators' own reports detailing unanswered questions, the tally in losses could be hundreds of billions of dollars more than AIG is now acknowledging.
Propping Up Corrupt Stakeholders
Harold Meyerson:
But Geithner's indulgence of bankers' indulgences is fast becoming the Obama administration's Achilles' heel. The AIG debacle is the latest in a series of bewildering Geithner decisions that threaten to undermine the administration's efforts to restart the economy. So long as it's Be Kind to Bankers Week at Treasury -- and we've had eight straight such weeks since the president was inaugurated -- American banking, and the economy it is supposed to serve, will remain paralyzed. The Geithner plan to restart the banks provides huge taxpayer subsidies to hedge funds, investment banks and private equity companies to buy the banks' toxic assets without really having to assume the risk. That's right -- the same Wall Street wizards who got us into this mess, using the same securitization techniques that built mountains of debt within a shadow financial system that remains unregulated, are the saviors whom Geithner has anointed to extricate us -- with our capital, not theirs -- from the mess that they created.
...
It's certainly not because Americans are dead set against bank nationalization: A Newsweek poll this month found that 56 percent of respondents supported it. Hell, Alan Greenspan supports it. But Geithner seems unable to imagine a banking system not run by its current leaders or owned by its current shareholders or engaged in the same arcane securitization practices that led to its collapse. An administration that is busily creating alternatives to our health-care system and our energy policies is being dragged down by a Treasury secretary who cannot conceive of an alternative to our catastrophic system of banking.
Being Wrong
Is the best way to get ahead in this world.
Heckuva job.
Lewis Alexander, who has been at Citigroup since 1999 and before that worked at the Federal Reserve, will head to the Treasury "to work on domestic financial issues," said the Citigroup memo, which was sent Tuesday.
...
Mr. Alexander's role as Citigroup's chief economist didn't entail significant management responsibilities. But his optimistic economic forecasts colored executives' views that the U.S. was unlikely to face a prolonged slump.
"I think that's not going to spill over more broadly into the economy, and so I think we're going to have a normal kind of housing cycle that's going to last through the middle of this year," Mr. Alexander said in a 2007 interview on PBS.
Heckuva job.
Shorter Ruth Marcus
The people who fucked everything up are the only ones who can fix it, and they should be compensated well for their efforts.
The Rapture
Ellen Tauscher might be thankfully raptured out of Congress.
Rep. Ellen Tauscher (D-Calif.) is under consideration to take a top State Department position under Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, according to reports.
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Will They Manage?
I've been sitting her for months wondering if Republicans would ever be able to get away from reflexively leg-humping Big Money and their general love of handing taxpayer money to rich people and start out-outraging and out-populisting Democrats about this bailout stuff.
Some signs today they might be going there. It's an obvious route, even if it means going against the money boys. Can they manage?
Some signs today they might be going there. It's an obvious route, even if it means going against the money boys. Can they manage?
Retention Bonuses
Uh-huh.
So these are the evil ones.
Mr. Cuomo did not name the recipients of bonuses but said one employee received more than $6.4 million. The top seven received more than $4 million each, and the top 10 received a combined $42 million. Eleven of those who received “retention” bonuses of $1 million or more are no longer working at A.I.G., including one who received $4.6 million, he said.
“A.I.G. made more than 73 millionaires in the unit which lost so much money that it brought the firm to its knees forcing a taxpayer bailout,” Mr. Cuomo wrote in the letter. “Something is deeply wrong with this outcome.”
So these are the evil ones.
Nice Work
Because they did such awesome work.
To be fair it's important to distinguish between AIG's various bits. AIGFG was where the evil was done. Not sure from this yet who these bonus recipients were.
AIG paid 73 employees bonuses of $1 million or more; 11 of whom are no longer there, according to NY Atty. Gen. Cuomo.
To be fair it's important to distinguish between AIG's various bits. AIGFG was where the evil was done. Not sure from this yet who these bonus recipients were.
Tax'Em
Wonder if this will actually go through.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid announced on the Senate floor Tuesday that the tax-writing Senate Finance Committee will pursue a legislative fix in such a way that the "recipients of those bonuses will not be able to keep all their money — and that's an understatement."
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Montana, will propose a special tax within the next 24 hours, Reid said.
"I don't think those bonuses should be paid," Baucus said Tuesday.
Wanker of the Day
John McCain.
And the man whose injuries prevent him from using a computer has since written:
And the man whose injuries prevent him from using a computer has since written:
@GStephanopoulos i would have never bailed out AIG, the real scandal is billions to foreign banks.
Post-Shame
It is, sadly, where we are. Elites don't take responsibility for the actions, and other elites, like the inane finger painters in Fred Hiatt's kindergarten class, rise to their defense. After a couple of decades of being lectured by these people on the subject of personal responsibility it's all a bit too much to take.
Not An Urban Theme Park
I mentioned being somewhat stunned by this column yesterday, though it actually reflects fairly common sentiment. The city doesn't just exist as a parking lot for a commuters and day trippers, and its policies aren't and shouldn't be overly oriented towards such people. Maintaining its desirability as a place to live by, you know, not charging for amenities that local residents enjoy is also quite important.
TV Journalists
CNN's Heidi Collins just said, "Growing up, you probably remember your mother going to the supermarket with coupons..." I'm sure the popularity of coupons waxes and wanes somewhat, but I'm also quite sure that for plenty of CNN viewers their use isn't just some cute childhood memory.
Silly Jamison
Richard Cohen knows funny, and knows when the kids should get off his lawn.
And also when to harass his female employees. Just sayin'.
And also when to harass his female employees. Just sayin'.
Monday, March 16, 2009
Where Are The Liberal Economists?
I left academia for a variety of reasons, but one of them was the fact that more people read my shitty blog in about the first 3 weeks than would ever read any of my academic papers. And a related reason was that I thought the culture of the profession, at least in this country, worked against outspoken liberals. In my experience (this is anecdote, not survey), the majority of economists I knew were Democrats, if not especially liberal ones, but still they were generally more comfortable with economist public intellectuals who were right wing cranks than they were with left wing public intellectuals. Paul Krugman is shrill and whatnot.
Anyway, the point is... The Left needs more "respectable" economists who are willing to put themselves out there in public discourse space. You know, blogging, op-ed pieces, radio, teevee, etc. I was asked recently to list them and I didn't come up with many. Stand up and be heard!
Anyway, the point is... The Left needs more "respectable" economists who are willing to put themselves out there in public discourse space. You know, blogging, op-ed pieces, radio, teevee, etc. I was asked recently to list them and I didn't come up with many. Stand up and be heard!
Deep Thought
How dare Obama's press secretary mock Dick Cheney just hours before his wife is hospitalized.
The Mall Is Flat
Suck on this, bondholders.
The financial condition of General Growth Properties Inc. became even more precarious as the mall giant let a Monday due date for $395 million in bonds pass without payment.
General Growth, which is trying to coax its bondholders into a nine-month extension, is betting that holders of the past-due bonds will forego filing an involuntary bankruptcy petition against it and instead allow it to restructure its $27 billion debt load out of court.
And How Many Others
How many other rich assholes - crooks or otherwise - owe the IRS far more money than I'll earn in my lifetime? And what's taking the IRS so long to collect?
Accused billionaire swindler R. Allen Stanford and his wife owe the IRS $226.6 million in back taxes, according to a new court filing by the IRS. A lien filed in Stanford's divorce records indicated he owed $114 million, but the new IRS filing shows the total debt is nearly twice that figure.
I'm Miffed
Barack Obama did not attend my birthday party, and did not buy me that new bicycle that I wanted.
Gonna Pull That Jenga Piece
Emptywheel is right that AIG basically threatened to pull the whole house down.
Time to nationalize their personal belongings, preferably with little Tommy Friedman yelling "Suck On This" through a bullhorn as it happens.
Time to nationalize their personal belongings, preferably with little Tommy Friedman yelling "Suck On This" through a bullhorn as it happens.
Stepping In It
I'd like to believe AIG did, but I'm not optimistic anything will happen.
If I were an editor with some spare reporters I'd get them on a feature series of "Lifestyles of the New Welfare Recipients." Name and shame...
If I were an editor with some spare reporters I'd get them on a feature series of "Lifestyles of the New Welfare Recipients." Name and shame...
Vince Fumo Is Having A Bad Day
From my twitter feed:
Meaningless to outsiders, but he's a former state senator and one of the giant local power brokers for the last couple of decades...
...even worse:
...final tally: guilty on 137 of 137 counts. Impressive!
# cbs3Fumo has been found guilty on the first 52 counts ...3 minutes ago from web
# WHYY's It's Our CityItsOurCityVince Fumo found GUILTY...so far of all counts...but they are at only 50 of more than 130 separate counts. stay tuned.3 minutes ago from web
# Philly City PapercitypaperFUMO GUILTY ON FIRST 30 COUNTS: http://tinyurl.com/c7l24s3 minutes ago from web
# cbs3cbs3Fumo has been founds guilty on the first 24 counts4 minutes ago from web
Meaningless to outsiders, but he's a former state senator and one of the giant local power brokers for the last couple of decades...
...even worse:
# ItsOurCityVince Fumo - guilty - counts 1 - 91. there are still more counts to be read. We are tracking Robert Moran's blog. http://tinyurl.com/d8y6dyhalf a minute ago from web
# cbs3cbs3#Fumo has been found guilty on the first 80 counts ... he is sitting in the courtroom with his head down and motionlesshalf a minute ago from web
...final tally: guilty on 137 of 137 counts. Impressive!
On The Merits Of Congestion Tolling
A reader writes in:
It is true that congestion tolling would be somewhat of a regressive tax, though I think opponents of such things tend to overestimate the degree to which poor people drive, even in the LA metro area. Still it would be costly for less than rich if not exactly poor people. One way to ameliorate this is either through social contract (using money raised to fund that public transportation) or reduction of other taxes (implement congestion charge, give everyone $1000 tax credit).
But the reason to have a congestion toll is that... there's too much congestion! Road congestion involves an unpriced externality. That is, when you get on a crowded freeway in the morning you take into account your private cost (cost of expected travel time), but don't take into account the fact that your car on the road is making things just a bit worse off. Everyone pays for this excess congestion by extra waiting in traffic time. Tolling is essentially a way to replace "excess wasted time in traffic jams" with money raised, which could either be spent on productive things (SUPERTRAINS) or just rebated back to all people.
The point isn't to punish people for driving, it's to try to line up incentives a bit more closely with actual costs in order to make more efficient use of the existing infrastructure.
I work in LA county and commute to Irvine. You wrote, "Congestion tolling is a good idea." I don't understand. Without good public transportation, how would congestion tolling not favor the wealthy?
(We already have toll roads that are too expensive for working people to use -- private highways for the rich.)
It is true that congestion tolling would be somewhat of a regressive tax, though I think opponents of such things tend to overestimate the degree to which poor people drive, even in the LA metro area. Still it would be costly for less than rich if not exactly poor people. One way to ameliorate this is either through social contract (using money raised to fund that public transportation) or reduction of other taxes (implement congestion charge, give everyone $1000 tax credit).
But the reason to have a congestion toll is that... there's too much congestion! Road congestion involves an unpriced externality. That is, when you get on a crowded freeway in the morning you take into account your private cost (cost of expected travel time), but don't take into account the fact that your car on the road is making things just a bit worse off. Everyone pays for this excess congestion by extra waiting in traffic time. Tolling is essentially a way to replace "excess wasted time in traffic jams" with money raised, which could either be spent on productive things (SUPERTRAINS) or just rebated back to all people.
The point isn't to punish people for driving, it's to try to line up incentives a bit more closely with actual costs in order to make more efficient use of the existing infrastructure.
But They're Very Smart And Serious
Timmeh and Larry are just shoveling cash to their pals. It's so depressing.
Abandoned
Wonder how much of this coming.
It wasn’t until early March that Krause and other residents learned why the complex – the alluringly named Alante at the Islands — was rapidly going to seed. The property owner, Irvine, Calif.-based Bethany Holdings Group, had abandoned the complex and a dozen other large rental properties in the greater Phoenix area after defaulting on hundreds of millions of dollars in loans.
...
As panicked renters in Arizona began holding public meetings to explore whether they could walk away from leases, recoup security deposits or sue, it became clear that the scale of the mess was far larger than they had realized. Companies under the Bethany umbrella owned at least 60 — and possibly many more — large residential complexes across the nation, all of which are now believed to be in bankruptcy or receivership, potentially affecting tens of thousands of renters.
The Bethany Group meltdown highlights how few protections exist for renters caught in the foreclosure crisis. That’s a situation that some experts say is becoming much more common.
Sorry Your Career Might Not Be As Awesome
Ezra:
This is the reason I'm so often pretty unsympathetic about the way many journalists whine about their declining industry. I don't actually care if the Philadelphia Inquirer has somebody covering Washington (though they should have somebody covering local races for federal office, etc.). I have no idea why 3 million journalists showed up in Denver for the Democratic convention. I don't know why there are so many journalists stationed at the White House all day every day waiting to pester Gibbs.
This stuff might be sexier and feel more important than covering local zoning board meetings, but it doesn't actual require the amount of resources that are devoted to it.
I actually disagree with Ezra (click the link) that what we're losing is news that people don't want. I think local newspapers have generally been pretty bad at doing the thing they don't have all that much competition for, which is providing good coverage of local news. Frankly, much maligned local television news often does a better job, not because they're so awesome but because they're focused on it.
It will be bad if there's no business model for quality local journalism, though I think for years part of the problem is that there hasn't been enough...quality local journalism. Perhaps someone should try it.
You often hear journalists complain about DC Bureaus closing and high profile jobs being lost. But that's not the problem.
This is the reason I'm so often pretty unsympathetic about the way many journalists whine about their declining industry. I don't actually care if the Philadelphia Inquirer has somebody covering Washington (though they should have somebody covering local races for federal office, etc.). I have no idea why 3 million journalists showed up in Denver for the Democratic convention. I don't know why there are so many journalists stationed at the White House all day every day waiting to pester Gibbs.
This stuff might be sexier and feel more important than covering local zoning board meetings, but it doesn't actual require the amount of resources that are devoted to it.
I actually disagree with Ezra (click the link) that what we're losing is news that people don't want. I think local newspapers have generally been pretty bad at doing the thing they don't have all that much competition for, which is providing good coverage of local news. Frankly, much maligned local television news often does a better job, not because they're so awesome but because they're focused on it.
It will be bad if there's no business model for quality local journalism, though I think for years part of the problem is that there hasn't been enough...quality local journalism. Perhaps someone should try it.
If Fred Hiatt Is For It
America's stupidest Op-Ed editor, Fred Hiatt, comes out in favor of a vehicle miles tax.
Unlike most proponents, Hiatt at least comes up with some uses which aren't covered - and covered better - by a simple gas tax which already charges more for Hummers than for Civics. But then the real point of a vehicle miles tax isn't to charge per mile, it's a way of implementing congestion tolling. Congestion tolling is a good idea, but there's no need to connect to a general vehicle miles fee.
So Congress created the National Surface Transportation Infrastructure Financing Commission to figure out what to do. It was stocked with Democrats (such as Atkinson, who heads the Information Technology & Innovation Foundation) and Republicans, gas tax people and toll people, bankers and mass-transit executives -- 15 members who started far apart but after hours of hearings, discussions and meetings ended up, in a recently released report, unanimous.
And here's what they said: Raise the gas tax now, by 10 cents from the current 18.4 cents per gallon. Then replace it entirely over the next decade or so with a system that would charge drivers a fee per mile driven.
In this new world, a GPS would be built into every car and truck. It would keep track of where you drove your car, and when, but the data would not be shared beyond the vehicle so privacy would be protected. It could be set to charge more per mile driven for Hummers than for Civics; more during rush hour than in the middle of the night; more for driving on congested bridges than on empty roads.
Unlike most proponents, Hiatt at least comes up with some uses which aren't covered - and covered better - by a simple gas tax which already charges more for Hummers than for Civics. But then the real point of a vehicle miles tax isn't to charge per mile, it's a way of implementing congestion tolling. Congestion tolling is a good idea, but there's no need to connect to a general vehicle miles fee.
Sunday, March 15, 2009
Ron Silver, RIP
I'm so old I can remember when CNN had him guest host Crossfire... from the "left." Of course that was in 2002 so it says more about your liberal media than it does about how old I am, but still.
Actor and longtime political activist Ron Silver died this morning, succumbing to a long battle with cancer, friends of the liberal Democrat-turned-GOP stalwart told The Post.
Stop Feeding Me A Shit Sandwich
Timmeh's puppeteer Larry:
It's called bankruptcy you idiot.
Summers argued today that the Obama administration has sought to limit the AIG bonuses.
"We are a country of law. There are contracts. The government cannot just abrogate contracts. Every legal step possible to limit those bonuses is being taken by Secretary Geithner and by the Federal Reserve system," Summer said.
It's called bankruptcy you idiot.
That's A Lot Of Riders
I don't know Phoenix at all, but that's a lot of a riders on a newly opened line.
I usually making rail/highway comparisons, as I think too many people see them as simply parallel routes rather than fundamentally different modes of transportation, but just to give a sense of scale a highway lane can, at best (generous estimate), carry about 2000 vehicles per hour, though obviously your, uh, mileage may vary depending on congestion levels.
- The average passenger count for weekdays in February, the second month of the cross-Valley line's revenue operations, jumped 15 percent from January and was well over projections for the first year. Almost 35,300 people rode trains on the average weekday, Metro announced Thursday. That figure exceeded Metro's target of 26,000 by more than one-third.
I usually making rail/highway comparisons, as I think too many people see them as simply parallel routes rather than fundamentally different modes of transportation, but just to give a sense of scale a highway lane can, at best (generous estimate), carry about 2000 vehicles per hour, though obviously your, uh, mileage may vary depending on congestion levels.
Who's The Boss?
Remember that part about the US owning AIG? Well, you know, we just gave them a bunch of money and they get to do with it whatever they want.
Heckuva job, Timmeh.
This money is going to the clowns who sunk the company, and almost the world.
I guess that means a bit less money for Goldman Sachs, at least.
WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
Heckuva job, Timmeh.
This money is going to the clowns who sunk the company, and almost the world.
I guess that means a bit less money for Goldman Sachs, at least.
WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
Sunday Bobbleheads
Document the atrocities.
ABC's "This Week" — Lawrence Summers, director of the National Economic Council; Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.
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CBS' "Face the Nation" — Summers.
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NBC's "Meet the Press" — Christina Romer, head of the White House Council of Economic Advisers; Rep. Eric Cantor, R-Va.
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CNN's "State of the Union" — Former Vice President Dick Cheney; Rep. Joe Sestak, D-Pa.
"Fox News Sunday" _ Austan Goolsbee, member of the White House Council of Economic Advisers; Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn.; Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass.; Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Economy.com.
The Death Yaks
I agree with this, except I think if you routinely post absurd Eastern Bloc disco videos to the Internets, you should be taxed down to your toenails, dammit.
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