Rock on.
Tuesday, July 07, 2009
Some Good News
Reid apparently has figured out that sacrificing 15 Dem votes for 2 Republican ones is a bad idea.
But Why?
I get why certain events lead to commercial free all over the dial coverage, but I'm puzzled by this one. My point is simply an economic one, that commercial free is... commercial free! No cash for Jackson funeral coverage.
Security
Paul Waldman makes more explicit a real advantage of the public option, the fact that it'll always be there. No more staying with a job because you can't lose coverage, the ability to consider engaging in some entrepreneurial endeavor or just having a resume gap for whatever reason, and of course no more fears of going to the doctor and getting diagnosed at an inconvenient time and being stuck in pre-existing condition hell until the end of time.
Employer-based system is deeply flawed, and individual market just can't work.
Employer-based system is deeply flawed, and individual market just can't work.
Backstop Them
As I've said, I'm not sure what the Feds should so for California, but perhaps having the Fed guarantee California's IOUs, assuming they have that authority, so that banks will cash them for their customers might not be such a bad idea. It's just a bandaid for the overall problem, but will help some pretty needy people who need the cash.
Don't Get The Game
I don't know if this is some weird coordinated game or if Rahm just likes to signal a willingness to cave whenever possible.
Why Sarah?
The whole Sarah Palin "phenomenon" has been pretty weird. I've tried to figure out why she's so loved in wingnut world, where even they have to occasionally pick up on the fact that she's pretty absurd. And I guess I come back to what I usually do: they love her because they thinks she pisses off liberals.
We're not angry, we're laughing.
We're not angry, we're laughing.
Tales Of Big Shitpile
In Vanity Fair, Michael Lewis tells us that at some point AIGFP got smart and stopped consuming Big Shitpile. And that's when Wall Street started eating it.
What no one realized was that it was too late. A.I.G. F.P.’s willingness to assume the vast majority of the risk of all the subprime-mortgage bonds created in 2004 and 2005 had created a machine that depended for its fuel on subprime-mortgage loans. “I’m convinced that our input into the system led to a substantial portion of the increase in housing prices in the U.S. We facilitated a trillion dollars in mortgages,” says one trader. “Just us.” Every firm on Wall Street was making fantastic sums of money from this machine, but for the machine to keep running the Wall Street firms needed someone to take the risk. When Gene Park informed them that A.I.G. F.P. would no longer do so—Hello, my name is Gene Park and I’m closing down your business—he became the most hated man on Wall Street.
The big Wall Street firms solved the problem by taking the risk themselves. The hundreds of billions of dollars in subprime losses suffered by Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley, Lehman Brothers, Bear Stearns, and the others were hundreds of billions in losses that might otherwise have been suffered by A.I.G. F.P. Unwilling to take the risk of subprime-mortgage bonds in 2004 and 2005, the Wall Street firms swallowed the risk in 2006 and 2007. Lending standards had fallen, property values had risen, and the more recent loans were thus far riskier than the earlier ones, but still they gobbled them up—for if they didn’t, the machine would have ceased to function. The people inside the big Wall Street firms who ran the machine had made so much money for their firms that they were now, in effect, in charge. And they had no interest in anything but keeping it running. A.I.G. F.P. wasn’t an aberration; what happened at A.I.G. F.P. could have happened anywhere on Wall Street … and did.
So DC
As emptywheel says, the Post pay-to-play scandal is "so DC." Not just the scandal, but the subsequent evolving explanations. Villagers get their own rules.
John McCain Chose Her
Palin interview.
But when I asked Palin if she ever decided to pursue national office again, as she did less than a year ago when she joined Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., in the race for the White House, wouldn't she encounter the same political blood sport? Can such ugliness ever be avoided?
Palin said there is a difference between the White House and what she has experienced in Alaska. If she were in the White House the "department of law" would protect her from baseless ethical allegations.
"I think on a national level your department of law there in the White House would look at some of the things that we've been charged with and automatically throw them out," she said.
There is no "Department of Law" at the White House.
Morning Thread
Iced tea for me today. No doubt more hard-hitting stories on the fashion decisions of eleven year old girls for the press.
Monday, July 06, 2009
The Details Of Other Things Do Matter
But without a quality public plan, it isn't really health care reform, it's just messing around with it. And from an outsider's perspective, it's the one clear marker we can lay down and declare a lack of it a dealbreaker. Similarly, the details of a public plan matter. A lot. And a really horrible public plan isn't any better than no public plan. But while activist bloggers can't get lawmakers to agree to some 65 point public plan, they can maybe get them to agree to only vote for something with a strong public plan. It's fine to think wonky thoughts, but it isn't going to help things very much. Outsiders can't fight those battles for the most part.
I Think They Should Try It
Too lazy to do the math for Chicago, but I do wish my local transit authority would at least do a temporary experiment with the monthly passes to see if a drastic fare reduction would actually lead to soaring sales.
Right now they're priced so that they really only make financial sense for daily commuters.
A bold experiment that past CTA administrations have shied away from would involve significantly reducing the price of the CTA 30-day pass. Proponents of the idea argue that pass sales would soar and ridership increase, including during off-peak hours when buses and trains are already operating with plenty of empty seats. Off-peak CTA ridership this year has increased more than 3 percent, even without the additional incentive.
Right now they're priced so that they really only make financial sense for daily commuters.
Unshitting The Bed
Somebody emailed me asking what I really think about Afghanistan. The truth is I have no idea. The fact that 9/11 may have provided a moral justification for an invasion of the country doesn't actually mean that, with hindsight especially, it was good idea given how much George Bush fucked everything up. And, yes, George Bush is a complete fuckup who will fuck everything up was a perfectly valid reason to oppose that war, too, at the time.
As for going forward? Well, as with Iraq the conceit is that we need to stick around to make sure everything doesn't fall apart. I guess we can keep applying scotch type in perpetuity, but...
As I said, I don't know. I asked the question because the question isn't asked enough. Since that one was "the good war" compared with Iraq, there's less questioning of whether we should have a continued presence. Ultimately... to what end? I have no idea.
As for going forward? Well, as with Iraq the conceit is that we need to stick around to make sure everything doesn't fall apart. I guess we can keep applying scotch type in perpetuity, but...
As I said, I don't know. I asked the question because the question isn't asked enough. Since that one was "the good war" compared with Iraq, there's less questioning of whether we should have a continued presence. Ultimately... to what end? I have no idea.
What To Do About California?
On one hand the economy needs them to be bailed out, on the other hand it's just rewarding really really bad behavior and completely dysfunctional institutions.
Palin Movement
Guy on MSNBC telling me Palin can be a powerful spokeswoman for those who feel disenfranchised right now, and there are a lot of them (rough paraphrase).
Disenfranchised?
Disenfranchised?
What Are We Doing There?
I'd hope the occasion of McNamara's death would at least let us ask the question.
The US military says six of its troops have been killed in two separate bomb blasts in Afghanistan, amid a spate of insurgent activity across the country.
Job Retraining
One of our great policy myths is that whenever you have some sort of industrial upheaval that you can just retrain all those workers and get them busy working on something else. If you're 58 years old it's a little hard to reboot.
In Case You Had Forgotten
For 8 years we were ruled by a child who loved to play dress up. And the Villagers loved him.
Health Reform
It is true that there are things that can be done around the edges to provide better health care to more people. But in this country I cannot envision "functioning individual health insurance market" absent a public plan. There's too much monopoly power, both in terms of the market concentration and in terms of the degree to which health insurance plans lock you in. Health insurers are middle men who make money by not providing payment for services they're supposed to pay for. They're skimmers who provide no useful service.
Those Things People Visit Our State For? Let's Close Them
Worst. Governor. Ever.
The National Park Service has informed Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger that his budget-cutting proposal to indefinitely close 220 California state parks could compel the federal government to take control of six parks that occupy former U.S. property, including Angel Island in San Francisco Bay, Point Sur State Historic Park in coastal Big Sur and Point Mugu State Park near Malibu.
Restating The Obvious Over And Over Again
Sometimes it needs to be done. As Krugman explains so that maybe even Very Serious Centrist Senators can understand, universal health care can be cheap. Cheaper than our current system. Most developed countries manage to do it.
Sunday, July 05, 2009
Promises
Hopefully Chuck Schumer isn't just blowing smoke and there will be a [good] public plan in the final bill. Without it there really isn't much point to any of this. The public plan is the point.
Grim
I have to agree with Roubini that job losses are probably going to continue for some time. I don't think our policymakers get this yet.
Quite happy to be wrong.
Quite happy to be wrong.
Misread
I don't like it when nobody could've predicted rhetoric starts emanating from our side either. But, seriously, if they really believe the stimulus was based on a too optimistic reading of the economy they should be pushing for more stimulus yesterday. It takes time, as Biden himself makes clear.
It's What We've Always Done, We'll Just Charge For It Now
That's my take on the Weymouth Post. Linking powerful people is something they've always done, one way or another, and it's long past time that they started to make a buck off of it.
Fairfax
I haven't really spent any time in the area, but this article describes the tensions facing a lot of areas. There isn't anything wrong with quiet leafy suburbs, but many become overdeveloped and become overly dense with all the bad elements of density but none of the positive ones.
Sunday Bobbleheads
Meet the Press has Wimbledon.
Face the Nation has Mike Mullen and the Chucks Schumer and Grassley
This Week has Joe Biden.
Document the atrocities!
Face the Nation has Mike Mullen and the Chucks Schumer and Grassley
This Week has Joe Biden.
Document the atrocities!
Dial-up rescue
For the record: If you live in England and you are frightened by scare stories about long wait times for medical care, you can always buy private insurance. You can even go to private doctors. (That's what "Harley Street" means.)
Signed,
Not Atrios
Signed,
Not Atrios
Saturday, July 04, 2009
Psst!
I know I've already said this elsewhere, but I'm gonna say it again: I don't feel like defending "the public plan", which, as far as I can tell after looking at what's on offer, really offers nothing new.
But when someone claims they oppose healthcare reform because it is too expensive, there really is only one sensible response: "If you are worried about costs, why don't you support single-payer, which will save hundreds of billions of dollars?"
Signed,
Not Atrios
But when someone claims they oppose healthcare reform because it is too expensive, there really is only one sensible response: "If you are worried about costs, why don't you support single-payer, which will save hundreds of billions of dollars?"
Signed,
Not Atrios
Zombie Companies
Too much debt hasn't been simply a problem for households, it's been a problem for large companies, too.
Morning thread
I wonder, if a link to Matt Taibbi's piece about how it's Goldman Sachs' fault falls in the forest, does it make a sound?
Signed,
Not Atrios
Signed,
Not Atrios
Friday, July 03, 2009
Thread
Sarah Palin's lunacy is good news for the GOP, and that's why they're celebrating.
MORE. Bill Kristol: winner! And myself, I'm going with Number Four.
EVEN MORE. Of course, for the real Palin funny, you need Erick the Son of Erick:
Yeah, kinda...
MORE. Bill Kristol: winner! And myself, I'm going with Number Four.
EVEN MORE. Of course, for the real Palin funny, you need Erick the Son of Erick:
I’ve had this running thought all day, perhaps because I was watching it on TV in HD for the first time, that this is kind of like Ben Kenobi letting Darth Vader strike him down.
Yeah, kinda...
Deep Thought
Remember Alaska... America is now, more than ever, looking North to the Future. It'll be good.
Blogger Ethics Panel
For those coming in late, the "blogger ethics panel" joke is about how for years concern troll journalists tried to applied ethical norms and disclosure standards which didn't exist anywhere in the universe to bloggers. It was a neat trick replacing what was once called "establishment journalism" with the "liberal journalism" as those who catered to the existing power structure could pretend that they were fighting for the little guy.
The powerful have always had better access, now they've just printed the menu card.
The powerful have always had better access, now they've just printed the menu card.
Your Liberal Media
Still not liberal.
You'd think I'd have learned by now, but I continue to be amazed by just how absurd the Sunday shows are.
You'd think I'd have learned by now, but I continue to be amazed by just how absurd the Sunday shows are.
He Actually Knows What He's Talking About
While it's unlikely that the Villagers will ever let this bit of information through, it's true that Franken probably has thought more about actual policy issues than the vast majority of members of Congress.
Good
Maglev is neat, but among other issues it can't as easily be integrated with an existing rail network.
Thursday's announcement, however, might doom a 30-year-old proposal to build a high-tech magnetic levitation, or "maglev," train from Anaheim to Las Vegas if Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) gets his way.
Reid, who no longer supports the maglev project, said during an event to publicize the rail corridor that he would try to scuttle $45 million in federal funds earmarked for the proposal. The maglev project and a conventional rail line proposed by a private venture are trying to develop separate high speed passenger trains that would parallel oft-congested Interstate 15. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood announced Thursday that a swath of land along much of I-15 has been declared a federal high-speed rail corridor -- one of 11 such zones in the U.S. Projects proposed in those corridors are eligible for federal assistance, grants and loans.
Thursday, July 02, 2009
EATED
The Elizabeth State Bank, Elizabeth, IL gets EATED.
The First National Bank of Danville, Danville, IL gets EATED.
Millennium State Bank of Texas, Dallas, TX gets EATED.
oh noes! It headed to Texas!
The First National Bank of Danville, Danville, IL gets EATED.
Millennium State Bank of Texas, Dallas, TX gets EATED.
oh noes! It headed to Texas!
Here Come The IOUs
Nobody could've predicted that electing Arnie governor might be a really fucking stupid idea...
Looking over my archives I see that I had so much faith in my then fellow Californians that I thought Davis would survive the recall. Oh well.
Looking over my archives I see that I had so much faith in my then fellow Californians that I thought Davis would survive the recall. Oh well.
"To The Right Of Attila The Hun"
I suppose it might be appropriate, as the intended audience for Boston and Philadelphia Magazines is upscale suburbanites and not actual city dwellers, but it's still a pretty awesome attitude to have when (in the case of Philadelphia) you have a city in which whites are not the majority of the population and 75%+ of its population are Democrats.
David Rosenbaum, editor of Boston from 1986 to 1991, said Lipson did not care much for editors, but tolerated them when profits were robust. “When the economy turns and it [the magazine] gets skinny, he figures the editor is an idiot,’’ he said.
And they often paid a price: A dozen editors came and went between 1975 and 2000.
Rosenbaum said Lipson frequently pushed him to be irreverent, “going after poor people, Democrats, the handicapped, minorities,’’ he said. “He’s to the right of Attila the Hun. At least he was. I haven’t spoken to him since the day he fired me.’’
I'll Take Howard Kurtz For $1000, Alex
What is "questions never asked of white people?"
And extra Double Jeopardy for this paragraph.
So, token assignments for black reporters who were given career boosts even though they were just assigned to a "sideshow." I'm sure the boys on the ThompsonGiulianiHuckabeeMittens buses will have their assignments characterized similarly.
And extra Double Jeopardy for this paragraph.
Such developments can foster a mixture of tokenism and opportunity. When Jesse Jackson made his first White House run in 1984, a number of black political reporters got their first crack at a presidential campaign. The assignment was a sideshow -- Jackson had no serious chance of winning -- but also boosted the careers of his chroniclers.
So, token assignments for black reporters who were given career boosts even though they were just assigned to a "sideshow." I'm sure the boys on the ThompsonGiulianiHuckabeeMittens buses will have their assignments characterized similarly.
"As Written"
It seems the Post's problem is with the description of the event, not, you know, the event. I predicted this.
U6
There's no right way to measure unemployment, just different ways of doing it which capture different things. The broadest measure, U6, is at 16.5%.
Time For Another Blogger Ethics Panel
Emergency!
For $25,000 to $250,000, The Washington Post is offering lobbyists and association executives off-the-record, nonconfrontational access to "those powerful few" — Obama administration officials, members of Congress, and the paper’s own reporters and editors.
Thursday Is New Jobless Day
And because tomorrow is a holiday, it's also the day for the monthly jobs report. New jobless claims at 614,000 lucky duckies.
For the monthly report, net job loss of 467,000 jobs and unemployment rate increases to 9.5%.
WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
For the monthly report, net job loss of 467,000 jobs and unemployment rate increases to 9.5%.
WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
Wednesday, July 01, 2009
Infinite Jesting
I keep being tempted to join in the fun, but I'll be traveling soon and it's a brick too big to be carrying. But I remembered I did most of my Infinite Jest reading while commuting between Brussels-Luxembourg station near Place Jourdan, where I lived, to Université Catholique de Louvain, located in Louvain-la-Neuve, an interesting but rather misguided attempt at creating a modern pedestrian town/city. I did lug that brick around, and did manage to finish the book.
I'm a bad critic so I won't try very hard to explain why it's worth the long hard slog. But, short version is... an overly clever and confusing book slowly gives way to surprisingly powerful emotional resolutions. An elaborate word game becomes surprisingly sentimental, nonsensical PoMo gone wild becomes a meditation on contemporary need and desire. And in a way which makes sense. It isn't a cheat. I think someone described Beethoven's 9th as Beethoven chipping away at a bunch of stone until all that was left was the Ode to Joy. While not quite the same, the experience of reading Infinite Jest kind of reminded me of that.
I'm a bad critic so I won't try very hard to explain why it's worth the long hard slog. But, short version is... an overly clever and confusing book slowly gives way to surprisingly powerful emotional resolutions. An elaborate word game becomes surprisingly sentimental, nonsensical PoMo gone wild becomes a meditation on contemporary need and desire. And in a way which makes sense. It isn't a cheat. I think someone described Beethoven's 9th as Beethoven chipping away at a bunch of stone until all that was left was the Ode to Joy. While not quite the same, the experience of reading Infinite Jest kind of reminded me of that.
Meltdown
It's going to be fascinating in the gazing at a car wreck way to see how things unfold in California.
Apologies for even suckier than usual blogging today. Stuff to do!
Apologies for even suckier than usual blogging today. Stuff to do!
Almost Not Shrinking
Census population city estimates tell us that most larger cities are growing (excel file). And my poor Philadelphia, shrinking in population for years, almost, but not quite, managed to avoid shrinking this year. Better luck next year!
These are the municipal cities, not the metro areas.
These are the municipal cities, not the metro areas.
The World's Greatest Deliberative Body
Senators place a great premium on being civil and nice to each other. I don't actually think this is important, but for some reason they do. Except when they don't.
California Dreaming
It was a state which, for a long time, provided a middle class compact with tax dollars. And Arnold's going to turn it into [insert shitty state name here.]
The terrible irony in decimating the public sector to save the state is that the California that was the epicenter of the postwar American dream was fundamentally a creation of government. Fighting a Pacific war during World War II compelled the federal government to spend billions on California industry and infrastructure, and the state was the leading beneficiary of Pentagon dollars during the Cold War. As Kevin Starr, California's leading historian, points out in "Golden Dreams," his brilliant new history of the state in the 1950s and early '60s, fully 40 percent of all defense dollars for manufacturing and research in 1959 went to California, anchoring the state's booming economy in a well-paid workforce that was either unionized or professionalized, and seeding an electronics and high-tech sector that was to blossom in the following decades. Building on that prosperity to create more prosperity, Earl Warren, Goodwin Knight and Pat Brown -- two Republicans, one Democrat -- invested state dollars in schools, universities, freeways and aqueducts that were the best in the world. The Golden State was never more golden.
Today, its governor seems determined to turn that gold to dross. On Monday, the Democrats in the legislature passed a budget that included cuts of $11 billion, levied a tax on oil companies and tobacco, and raised auto registration fees by $15 per car to keep the state parks from closing. Schwarzenegger reiterated his refusal to raise any taxes or fees and said he would veto the budget.
Mixed
While I get why some applaud Walmart's embrace of an employer mandate, I also think that our employer-based health care insurance system really sucks and I'm not really excited about locking it in place.
The Genius of The Politico
The Politico tries to explain: Why Norm Coleman lost.
I think it's because the other guy got more votes. For fuck's sake.
MORE. I see I am not the only person to have this reaction; John also has an interesting screenshot showing pretty definitively that Coleman is a secret Klingon, so I guess we barely dodged a bat'leth there! (Shoot me.)
I think it's because the other guy got more votes. For fuck's sake.
MORE. I see I am not the only person to have this reaction; John also has an interesting screenshot showing pretty definitively that Coleman is a secret Klingon, so I guess we barely dodged a bat'leth there! (Shoot me.)
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