According to the GOP contenders:
TSA agents maul people.
We need a fence!
FEMA sucks.
Watch it live
*UPDATE
Science destroys the economy.
Three cheers for the death penalty!!!
Wednesday, September 07, 2011
WTC
Cliff captures it.
He doesn't write about what happened here, afterwards. New Yorkers came together. And, of course, leaving the City, fleeing in fear, was not an option. Supporting our neighbors was our response.
He does write about the threat to the Republic that bin Laden sought, and so far, attained.
Deep Thought
The most reasonable guy in the room would probably do something about 9.1% unemployment.
Afternoon Thread
Having a crappy everything going wrong and being too hard to fix day. Not in a bloggy mood.
The Pointlessness Of Presidential Discourse
Floating around out there are the ideas that presidential speechifying can't get stuff through Congress and that no amount of speechifying can impact the election which is going to be driven almost entirely by the economy.
Well, ok.
Well, ok.
A Little Knowledge Is A Dangerous Thing
Anecdotal, but it's this kind of thing which has long worried me. People who bite the bullet and spend a bit of time actually watching Charlie Rose and reading the New York Times op-ed pages, before they've come to understand that Tom Friedman is a buffoon and the things Maureen Dowd thinks are important actually aren't, end up stupid.
You See, It's All Just A Liquidity Problem
The ATM at the Great Casino broke, that's all.
Just need a bit of extra cash for the daily operations...
But questions continue to mount about the ability of Europe’s banks to ride out the crisis, as some are having a harder time securing loans needed for daily operations.
Just need a bit of extra cash for the daily operations...
Tuesday, September 06, 2011
City Car
I've never been very optimistic that these types of things would ever catch on in the urban hellholes of the US. Basically they need to be really cheap, way below what an entry level 'real car' costs, as well as meeting whatever requirements for them to be street legal.
It's Always Morning In America
I've been thinking about the Politico article since it came out. If we look at the Scariest Chart ever, which admittedly contains some revisions which make things look a little bit worse than they did at the time, it's obvious that there was just never any reason for any confidence that the recovery was here.
Benen's graph might make this a bit more clear. Basically we had two ok but not awesome months and one good month in summer of 2010 (aka Recovery Summer) and then 3 ok but not awesome months this past Spring...and from that, everyone thought we could declare victory and go home.
Benen's graph might make this a bit more clear. Basically we had two ok but not awesome months and one good month in summer of 2010 (aka Recovery Summer) and then 3 ok but not awesome months this past Spring...and from that, everyone thought we could declare victory and go home.
Changing World
I don't have a perfect memory of my upbringing, but I do know that a 10-year-old on a bike wouldn't have raised any eyebrows back then in my neighborhood. When you were 10 you were supposed to do things like ride your goddamn bike. I had some freedom to wander around alone, or at least with my brother (2 years older) at age 6-7, and definitely at age 10, free roaming around the neighborhood, on foot or bike, was normal...
Insanity Everywhere
Plan A is destroying the economy, so...stick with it!
George Osborne has signalled that the government would stick to its hardline deficit reduction strategy despite being forced to revise down his growth forecasts for the economy following the slowdown of recent months.
Everybody Knows
There are several decades long narratives in American politics which people (with a perpetual Villager assist) have long internalized. Democrats are pacifist wimps who want to give all your money to undeserving poor people. Republicans love to cut taxes and to cut government spending. Democratic political consultants seem to be forever trying to fight against these narratives, without seeming to understand that it's very difficult to dislodge them. The problem that arises is that if you start beating the deficit drum, then you haven't made voters "trust you" on the deficit, you've made the case to voters that they should elect the Republicans who will be better on this very important issue.
Of course enlightened Eschaton blog readers know that Republicans are full of shit on spending and to a lesser extent taxes, but David Gregory is never going to explain that to the rest of the country. If you make the case that Republican issues are important, you're making the case for...Republicans.
But it's brilliant politics!!!
Of course enlightened Eschaton blog readers know that Republicans are full of shit on spending and to a lesser extent taxes, but David Gregory is never going to explain that to the rest of the country. If you make the case that Republican issues are important, you're making the case for...Republicans.
But it's brilliant politics!!!
Substance And Politics
Various people have tried to reassure me that the deficit two step is getting the politics right.
I guess The Village has now officially decided that the jobs issue "has become issue No. 1" even though, you know, it's been issue No. 1 for years now.
Public pessimism about the direction of the country has jumped to its highest level in nearly three years, erasing the sense of hope that followed President Obama’s inauguration and pushing his approval ratings to a record low, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll.
More than 60 percent of those surveyed say they disapprove of the way the president is handling the economy and, what has become issue No. 1, the stagnant jobs situation. Just 43 percent now approve of the job he is doing overall, a new career low; 53 percent disapprove, a new high.
I guess The Village has now officially decided that the jobs issue "has become issue No. 1" even though, you know, it's been issue No. 1 for years now.
Democracy Is Not The Problem
European leaders weren't elected to bail out banks and punish their population, the Euro and the economic/political integration of Europe was always an elite project with marginal public support, and while here in the US the tea partiers squawk about spending, they don't actually care about it.
This Tomato
The 7-Year-Old loves Neko. We had to gently break it to her that the actual lyric is not "this tomato loves you." Good kid.
Monday, September 05, 2011
Just Who Do They Think The Idiots Are?
With stuff like this the question is...who is the intended audience? Or, more specifically, which people are the people they imagine to be complete idiots, because they're the intended audience?
Or is the speaker the idiot?
Mysteries.
Not Comforting
You know, I appreciate one of our corporate overlords being against the corporate SuperPACs, but this isn't any better.
A world where company policy can dictate how and where their executives send their political bucks isn't a very awesome world either.
President Obama's supporters have created a Super-PAC called Priorities USA. Cohen says he and other Comcast executives don't contribute to Super-PACs or so called 527 groups that shield donors.
"We participate actively in the process but we participate through candidate PACs through full disclosure (and) through party PACs and party committee PACs with full disclosure of our participation," Cohen said.
Cohen noted that he's also raised money for Republicans including House majority leader Eric Cantor, and he follows the same rule in those efforts.
A world where company policy can dictate how and where their executives send their political bucks isn't a very awesome world either.
When The Dust Settles
We'll all know that, once again, the hippies are too blame.
I'd love to write post after post about how Republicans suck and it's their fault for not implementing the president's agenda. Or if we want to maintain the fiction that all legislation emanates from Congress (yes the legislation does just not the impetus for it), we can write post after post about how the Democratic agenda, supported by the president, is being thwarted by the Republicans.
And that agenda is? Apparently reducing regulatory uncertainty.
ah.
I'd love to write post after post about how Republicans suck and it's their fault for not implementing the president's agenda. Or if we want to maintain the fiction that all legislation emanates from Congress (yes the legislation does just not the impetus for it), we can write post after post about how the Democratic agenda, supported by the president, is being thwarted by the Republicans.
And that agenda is? Apparently reducing regulatory uncertainty.
ah.
Too Dumb For Words
No, getting bumped to a higher tax bracket does not mean all of your income is taxed at that higher rate.
Remember Stupid Liberals
Everyone that mattered thought the Iraq war was an awesome idea.
So suck on that!!!
So suck on that!!!
Always Playing On Their Field
So weird.
AMANPOUR: Well, let me ask Carol on that in the last 30 seconds. This business of walking away from the EPA regulations, I mean, is that a vision for the future? Or is that just a one-off?
LEE: I think you're very likely to see more of these. The White House is -- the Republicans have been very effective at tagging the president as being very pro-regulation. This was clearly a move -- business welcomed it. The Republicans welcomed it. And if you talk to people in the White House, they say there's more of these to come.
Morning thought
If Obama wins the election, he has to spend four more years pretending to lead the country.
But if Obama loses, he gets to make speeches to rich people for a pile of money and maybe join the Carlyle Group or one of those other things that you get as a reward for making sure that no one saves your national economy.
So, if you're Obama, do you really want to win the next election?
If the answer is "No," his policies make a lot more sense.
Signed,
Not Atrios
But if Obama loses, he gets to make speeches to rich people for a pile of money and maybe join the Carlyle Group or one of those other things that you get as a reward for making sure that no one saves your national economy.
So, if you're Obama, do you really want to win the next election?
If the answer is "No," his policies make a lot more sense.
Signed,
Not Atrios
Sunday, September 04, 2011
Gotta Have People Who Care About Stuff
I get that in politics you're going to have a few likely useful people around who are basically sociopaths, whose job it is to win and who don't give a shit about anything or anybody else. These people should be listened and then frequently ignored. They are sociopaths after all.
Sunday Bobbleheads
Face the Nation has Bachmann and Huntsman.
Meet the Press has The Moustache of Understanding, Paul Gigot, Maxine Waters, and a double dose of Kearns Goodwins.
This Week has Krgthulu and Bernstein, DeMint, Jonathan Karl, Dana Loesch, Michael Gerson, Clarence Page, Holtz-Eakin, and Carol Lee. Sounds like a party!
Happy Labor Day!
Document the atrocities!
Meet the Press has The Moustache of Understanding, Paul Gigot, Maxine Waters, and a double dose of Kearns Goodwins.
This Week has Krgthulu and Bernstein, DeMint, Jonathan Karl, Dana Loesch, Michael Gerson, Clarence Page, Holtz-Eakin, and Carol Lee. Sounds like a party!
Happy Labor Day!
Document the atrocities!
Saturday, September 03, 2011
Apparently It's The Season
For the neverending series of columns about how stupid strawliberals are.
Starting to remind me of the Iraq war runup.
Starting to remind me of the Iraq war runup.
Those Wacky Arabs
Ever since the greatest day ever, 9/11 day, one of my big pet peeves has been the puzzled and bemused reports about really bizarre Arab cultural customs that us enlightened folks in Teh West can't possibly understand. You know, like how upset Arab men get when their "honor" is insulted when soldiers bust down their doors, kick them to the ground, and shove rifles into the faces of their wives. And don't get me started on all those CRAZY CONSPIRACY THEORIES that even their political elites sometimes promote!!
Truly an inscrutable people.
Truly an inscrutable people.
Solvable
The important thing to remember is that the problems with the economy are completely solvable in ways that people with fancy Swedish prizes people have been recommending this whole time. Perhaps it's not entirely clear where exactly the blame lies, but there is mass economic suffering because the people who run the world have no idea what they're doing.
I Saw This Movie in the 90s!
Sucked then, too.
(Sorry, just noticed the click through there involves an ad about how Goldman Sachs gives money to the New York Yankees. Not even fucking kidding. Fuck me. Better link.)
(Sorry, just noticed the click through there involves an ad about how Goldman Sachs gives money to the New York Yankees. Not even fucking kidding. Fuck me. Better link.)
Friday, September 02, 2011
Wee Reminder
The people with money prefer those who stay bought to those who they keep having to buy off.
Second Best
What the people in the White House economics team should be thinking about is the fact that they're operating in what economists term a second best world. In a first best world you'd have a bunch of optimal policies, but if some of the conditions or policies are suboptimal because, say, John Boehner's House won't enact any good policies, then you have to readjust the remaining policies. The point is that, for example, maybe a massive writing down of all Fannie and Freddie owned mortages isn't an optimal policy if we were in a first best world. But we aren't and we aren't going to be. So it might be a second best optimal policy.
Where We Are
Black unemployment is at 16.7%.
Black male unemployment is at 18%.
White unemployment is at 8%.
Unemployment for those 25+ with bachelor's degree or more education is at 4.3%.
Black male unemployment is at 18%.
White unemployment is at 8%.
Unemployment for those 25+ with bachelor's degree or more education is at 4.3%.
Lunch Thread
Odd how both parties think the path to election is "pissing off liberals."
Maybe they're even right!
Maybe they're even right!
Priorities
I suppose we could stimulate the economy by hiring more police offers to deal with this sort of thing.
Thousands of unmarried couples who are living together in Florida may be surprised to learn that they are actually breaking the law. Under outdated and rarely enforced state laws that have been on the books since the late 1800s, “cohabitation” is actually a second-degree misdemeanor, punishable by $500 or up to 60 days in jail. The same penalty applies to adultery – which one Florida woman tried to have enforced for her cheating husband in 2006.
The Sun Sentinel reports that one Florida Republican is commendably trying to repeal these irrelevant laws — only to be met with mass opposition from his fellow Republicans including Gov. Rick Scott (R). These social conservatives won’t support his effort to finally legalize a common practice and would prefer that official condemnation of couples “living in sin” stay enshrined in state law:
Whiteness Is Still Weird
Perhaps we don't have crazy legal battles, but the cultural question of "white or not white" is still as weird as it has always been.
Numbers Behind The Numbers
I'll outsource a more detailed look at the numbers to CR.
And a reminder that +0 jobs isn't treading water, it's getting worse.
And a reminder that +0 jobs isn't treading water, it's getting worse.
Jobs
+17K private sector, -17K public sector.
Whoever put their chips on the green number wins!
Austerity is so winning.
Whoever put their chips on the green number wins!
Austerity is so winning.
All We Did Was A Bit Of Freedom Bombing
So, you know, not really our responsibility.
And I don't think we should take responsibility because there's nothing we can do. Also, too,days weeks months ago.
TRIPOLI, Libya (AP) — Rebel forces and armed civilians are rounding up thousands of black Libyans and migrants from sub-Sahara Africa, accusing them of fighting for ousted strongman Moammar Gadhafi and holding them in makeshift jails across the capital.
And I don't think we should take responsibility because there's nothing we can do. Also, too,
Duhhh
No, really?
The world is ruled by fools.
MADRID — After more than a year of aggressive budget cutting by European governments, an economic slowdown on the continent is confronting policymakers from Madrid to Frankfurt with an uncomfortable question: Have they been addressing the wrong problem?
The world is ruled by fools.
Infrastructure
Kevin Drum is on-board for a trillion over five years.
Big Media Matt has always been on-board.
This is absolutely no-brainer public policy. The rest of the world is paying US for the privilege of holding dollar denominated instruments. We can turn that money into rail stock, concrete and a reliable electricity grid.
Yet, impossible. Not even worth the president's effort, or a concerted effort by the Democratic Senate to make the Republicans explain why we shouldn't build stuff with cheaper than free money.
The Chinese and the Indian historians are gonna make up some elaborate theories....
Big Media Matt has always been on-board.
This is absolutely no-brainer public policy. The rest of the world is paying US for the privilege of holding dollar denominated instruments. We can turn that money into rail stock, concrete and a reliable electricity grid.
Yet, impossible. Not even worth the president's effort, or a concerted effort by the Democratic Senate to make the Republicans explain why we shouldn't build stuff with cheaper than free money.
The Chinese and the Indian historians are gonna make up some elaborate theories....
Thursday, September 01, 2011
"Professional Suicide"
I don't claim to know just how well a band like Titus Andronicus does financially, but even this old man knows of them and, well, oh jeebus just fuck you New York Times for being stupid and focusing too much on attention on the plight of the not quite rich enough.
I Have To Admit
Little Ricky looks pretty good for a man of 53.
Perhaps when the politics and gaybashing stop working out so well, he can write nutrition and fitness books.
Perhaps when the politics and gaybashing stop working out so well, he can write nutrition and fitness books.
Cynic
I believe enough that (re)-electing Team D is important enough that I can take a bit of centrismating, triangulating, hippiepunchinating, etc... If it, you know, works.
But I've never been especially convinced that that it does work.
But I've never been especially convinced that that it does work.
Maybe Somebody Should Do Something
If we define the "short term" as that period where any kind of government spending cuts are insane, the "short term" is now 3.5 years at least.
And, no, I don't want to hear about the need for deficit reduction anymore.
Obama's budget office initially calculated its economic forecast based upon data available through June. Even that data presaged an 8.8 percent average unemployment rate in 2011 and an 8.3 percent average rate next year. But the mid-session review got delayed, and when the Office of Management and Budget revised it to incorporate the data through the end of August, the picture became much gloomier. Unemployment will average 9.1 percent this year, and 9.0 percent next year, OMB concluded, and won't dip below 7 percent until 2015 at the earliest.
And, no, I don't want to hear about the need for deficit reduction anymore.
Doc Fix
I'm an open the borders and let everyone in kinda guy, but we should also focus on reasons why there is a shortage in the creation of domestic doctors. I don't know how much this is due to the activities of the pernicious doctor cartel, shortages in government money for various things, the difficulties of starting or enlarging medical schools, etc...
Thursday Is New Jobless Day
409K new lucky duckies.
Still not good news.
Monthly report out tomorrow...
Still not good news.
Monthly report out tomorrow...
Dreaming Of A Benevolent Dictator Who Agrees WIth Me About Everything
Ultimately, that's what all the "no labels," "Unity08," "We need a billionaire," crap is about, imagining that there's some sort of political Jesus out there who can implement my favored policies without worrying about the existing political institutions or the pesky voters.
I'm not thrilled with the structure of our existing political institutions, though I am a fan of that basic democracy thing, but you can't just wish them away. Unlike Tom Friedman's cab drivers, your billionaire is unlikely to agree with you about everything.
More than that, we're all a bit tribal, and the most likely concerns of your billionaire would be the concerns of that very small club of other billionaires.
So, yeah, awesome.
I'm not thrilled with the structure of our existing political institutions, though I am a fan of that basic democracy thing, but you can't just wish them away. Unlike Tom Friedman's cab drivers, your billionaire is unlikely to agree with you about everything.
More than that, we're all a bit tribal, and the most likely concerns of your billionaire would be the concerns of that very small club of other billionaires.
So, yeah, awesome.
Tangled Webs
Offered without comment.
David Cameron has been operating a secret unit in Whitehall
charged with undertaking covert economic operations to choke the Gaddafi
regime of the one thing it had in abundance: oil.
The "Libyan oil cell" was run by the international development minister Alan Duncan and helped to strengthen sanctions against the oil-rich country, blocking supplies of crude oil to the dictator's side while allowing petrol and diesel to flow to the rebels.
But the government is likely to face intense scrutiny over the fact that the unit was involved in linking the rebels to a Swiss oil firm, Vitol, which has been credited with keeping the revolutionary engine running through the war. Duncan was previously a consultant with the firm and has close personal ties to its chairman, Ian Taylor. Taylor has also been a Conservative donor in the past.
The "Libyan oil cell" was run by the international development minister Alan Duncan and helped to strengthen sanctions against the oil-rich country, blocking supplies of crude oil to the dictator's side while allowing petrol and diesel to flow to the rebels.
But the government is likely to face intense scrutiny over the fact that the unit was involved in linking the rebels to a Swiss oil firm, Vitol, which has been credited with keeping the revolutionary engine running through the war. Duncan was previously a consultant with the firm and has close personal ties to its chairman, Ian Taylor. Taylor has also been a Conservative donor in the past.
All Part Of A Cunning Plan
No it doesn't matter when a speech is given, and no the whole thing was not part of some elaborate strategery.
Wakey, Wakey
Opening game of football season or POTUS speech on jobs? I bet 25,000 quatloos football will attract more eyeballs.
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