Inspire Political Discourse

Break up the big banks?

Economist, Paul Krugman:

Clearly, there was a massive increase in financial concentration, with a few true behemoths emerging. It’s easy to argue that this creates moral hazard, because the giant firms know that they’re too big to fail – which is also an easy slogan to remember. The idea that size is the problem has gained a lot of credibility from Paul Volcker, who personally embodies the truth of too big to fail (if you’ve ever met him); more seriously, Volcker has argued strongly that the repeal of Glass-Steagall, allowing financial firms to grow big in part by merging conventional banking with investment activities, set the stage for the crisis.

My view is that I’d love to see those financial giants broken up, if only for political reasons: it’s bad to have banks so big they can often write laws. But I’m not sold on the centrality of too big to fail to the crisis, for reasons best explained in terms of the second doctrine.

Economist, Simon Johnson:

There is no social value to having banks above $100 billion in total assets and we all now understand the danger of allowing banks to become 10 times that size – let alone entering the $2-$3 trillion range; we will gradually and responsibly force our biggest banks to become smaller.  This worked for Standard Oil – no one can claim it hurt the oil industry.  And who would really want to go back to having AT&T run a monopoly in any part of telecommunications?

AIG in the Mix

And more to come, we can be sure.

The slide show Goldman used to pitch Abacus is pretty damning.  It starts with so many pages of fine-print "disclaimers" and "risk factors" that it seems like a Viagra ad ("call your doctor if ...").  There's a lot in there about well-respected (but at best gullible) ACA, this firm that Goldman claimed was picking the bonds.  About half of the 66 slides sing ACA's praises, but there's no mention of Paulson. There are long descriptions of ACA's capabilities, their "internal" and "external data sources," and their "defensive trading" designed to "minimize real market value exposure."

Here's where it gets uncomfortable for Geithner and some executives.  Remember all that criticism of the taxpayer-funded AIG bailout, and how under Tim Geithner's direction (he was running the New York Fed then) AIG paid 100 cents on the dollar to Goldman and other "counterparties" for its debts?  It turns out that AIG insured seven Abacus deals, and the debts they were ordered to pay may have included payoffs on some of these deals.  It turns out that AIG reportedly wanted to pay 60 cents on the dollar, but Geither's New York Fed directed them to pay the full amount.

AIG paid $13 billion from its bailout to Goldman at Geithner's direction.    And now, as the Wall Street Journal reports, the SEC "is investigating whether other mortgage deals arranged by some of Wall Street's biggest firms may have crossed the line into misleading investors."  And, while "It isn't known what deals the SEC is investigating," the Journal adds that "among the firms that created mortgage deals that soon went sour were Deutsche Bank AG, UBS AG and Merrill Lynch & Co., now owned by Bank of America Corp." [......]

World Nuclear Security Summit Hosted by Obama

President Obama hosted 47 world leaders at a summit yesterday, with the goal being to find ways to reduce the threat that terrorists such as al Qaeda could obtain nuclear materials or weapons.

President Obama completed a first meeting of world leaders on combating nuclear terrorism with a list of specific commitments from dozens of nations to eliminate or lock down nuclear materials, in what he called a “bold and pragmatic” program to finish the task in the next four years.

The meeting that Mr. Obama convened, and to a great degree stage-managed, was unlike any negotiations over arms control with the Soviets during the cold war or, more recently, the so-far fruitless talks to get North Korea to disarm. This was a far broader effort to persuade African, Latin American, Asian and European nations to agree on steps to deny terrorist groups the two materials necessary to make a bomb: plutonium and highly enriched uranium.

Mr. Obama began the session arguing that while superpower confrontation was far more remote, the risk of nuclear terrorism had never been greater, and he quoted the warning of Albert Einstein soon after the beginning of the nuclear age: “We are drifting towards a catastrophe beyond comparison.” [……]

He achieved some success[emphasis is mine].

At the end of two days of meetings, Mr. Obama could claim two major accomplishments: The summit meeting forced countries that had failed to clean up their nuclear surpluses to formulate detailed plans to deal with them, and it kicked into action nations that had failed to move on previous commitments.

A second summit meeting will be held in two years in South Korea, Mr. Obama said, to make sure countries are on track. [……]

Image source: Doug Mills, New York TImes

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VIDEO: Jon Stewart Schools the Fox News Channel Nitwits on Nuclear Policy

Jon Stewart schools the nitwit liars, Newt Gingrich, Sarah Palin, and Sean Hannity on America's new nuclear policy.

Do these people have NO conscience?

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President Obama Dismisses Sarah Palin’s Foreign Policy Cred

Yesterday, the ever non-credible Sarah Palin compared the President’s new nuclear policy to a playground fight.

PALIN: No administration in America's history would I think ever have considered such a step that we just found out that President Obama is supporting today.

You know that's kinda like getting out there on the playground, a bunch of kids ready to fight and one of the kids saying 'Go ahead, punch me in the face and I'm not going to retaliate. Go ahead and do what you want to with me.

During a GMA interview this morning, George Stephanopoulos asked President Obama to respond to Palin's ridiculous comment:

STEPHANOPOULOS: I want to get to some of those broader issues [of nuclear proliferation]. Because you're also facing criticism on that. Sarah Palin, taking aim at your decision to restrict the use of nuclear weapons. Your pledge not to strike nations, non-nuclear nations, who abide by the nonproliferation treaty. Here's what she said. She said, "It's unbelievable, no other administration would do it." And then she likened it to kids on the playground. She said you're like a kid who says, "Punch me in the face, and I'm not going to retaliate." Your response?

OBAMA: I really have no response. Because last I checked, Sarah Palin's not much of an expert on nuclear issues.

STEPHANOPOULOS: But the string of criticism has been out there among other Republicans as well. They think you're restricting use of nuclear weapons too much.

OBAMA: And what I would say to them is that if the secretary of defense and the chairman of the Joints Chiefs of Staff are comfortable with it, I'm probably going to take my advice from them and not from Sarah Palin.

STEPHANOPOULOS: But not concerned about her criticisms?

OBAMA: No.

A strong, pointed response from Obama. I do not, however, understand what the hades Stephanopoulos was thinking when he asked this question. As most of us recall Palin's utterly childish response to Charlie Gibson's question to Palin regarding her foreign policy credentials, or lack thereof, the question to President Obama seems particularly outrageous.

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Canadians Welcome President Obama

President Obama and Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper shake hands.

:: The President, in his first foreign trip since being sworn in to office in January, visited Canada today, where crowds of Canadians greeted him with cheers and American flags.
From the AP:

As Obama pulled up to Parliament Hill under gray skies, a cheering crowd of more than 1,000 people greeted him. A woman along his motorcade route carried a sign that read "Yes we CANada!"

Obama touched down late morning in Ottawa, heading into a day of meetings. He came bearing a pro-trade message to assuage Canadian concerns over protectionism; a promise of a new strategy in Afghanistan as Canada moves to pull out all its troops there; and talk of clean-energy cooperation as controversy hangs over Canada's massive oil-rich tar sands.

Some of the headlines from the Canadian press today:

"The world's most recognizable man"

"Obama is like the sun, too powerful to look at directly"

"Obama is CHANGE writ extravagantly"

"The western world's only political rock star"

You may recall that in the past,  Bush’s visits to Canada engendered massive protests by Canadian citizens. What a welcome difference! From Think Progress:

– “Thousands of protesters marched on Parliament Tuesday, rallying against President Bush’s visit and the U.S.-led war in Iraq. Twelve people were arrested after scuffling with police on the fringes of the peaceful demonstration.”

– “But with thousands of protesters expected to demonstrate against Mr. Bush, the White House decided to cut short his visit to Ottawa and travel to Halifax instead.”

Image courtesy of whitehouse.gov
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Political News Summary: Thursday, January 29, 2009

:: The liberal groups who fought against Bush 43's most egregious acts, now supporting President Obama. The ad shown in the video below was produced and will be aired at the expense of some of these groups, and targets certain vulnerable GOP senators on the stimulus issue. From NYT:

And, in a first test of where they will fit in the new national dialogue, several of the groups that regularly battled the Bush White House are trying to sell President Obama’s economic stimulus package with a new advertising campaign designed to pressure several Republican senators to support it (unlike their House colleagues).
Sponsored by MoveOn, Americans United for Change and two labor groups – the Service Employees International Union and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees – the ads will begin running this week in Iowa, Maine, New Hampshire, Alaska and Washington D.C.
The spots show a shuttered factory springing back to life as oratory from Mr. Obama plays in the background (“The first job of my administration is to put people back to work,” he says.) The spots call upon different senators in each state — Susan M. Collins and Olympia J. Snowe in Maine; Judd Gregg in New Hampshire; Chuck Grassley in Iowa and Lisa Murkowski in Alaska – to “support the Obama plan for jobs, not the failed policies of the past.”

TAGS: GOP/Republicans, President Obama, JOBS, LABOR, Economy, Stimulus,
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:: For the love of cats, the Republicans need to be made to understand that they LOST. That they are currently IRRELEVANT. An incomplete recitation of their activities today:

Political News Summary: Wednesday, January 28, 2009

:: More on HuffPost re Republican behavior (besides, I had to share this great graphic from HP). The headline over the elephant pic reads "Toeing the Party Line". Gotta admit, we Dems have a much keener sense of humor than the Repubs. Oh, and by the time you click on this link, the headline and the image may be different because it's on the HuffPost home page. From HUFFPOST:

:: On Republican behavior. From Bob Cesca (I love this guy):

Political News Summary: Tuesday, January 27, 2009

:: Rush Limbaugh copies GOP liars, makes false claim that ACORN is mentioned in the stimulus and will receive $4.19 billion. What a sad loser cherub-cheeked Rushie is...... From Media Matters:

Summary: Parroting GOP talking points, Rush Limbaugh falsely claimed $4.19 billion of President Barack Obama's economic recovery package "is going to ACORN." In fact, the bill does not mention ACORN or otherwise single it out for funding.

TAGS: Rush Limbaugh, Conservative Pundits, GOP/Republicans, President Obama, LIES,
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Political News Summary: Monday, January 26, 2009

:: Geithner confirmed as Treasury Secretary. From HUFFPOST:

WASHINGTON — The Senate has confirmed New York Fed chief Timothy Geithner to be President Barack Obama's secretary of the treasury.
The 60-34 vote puts Geithner at the helm of Obama's plan to rescue the economy from the worst financial crisis in three generations.
Obama and others supporting Geithner's nomination said the nation couldn't afford to wait for Obama to search for another nominee to run the Treasury Department.

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:: The US to engage in diplomacy with Iran. From HUFFPOST:

United Nations — President Barack Obama's administration will engage in "direct diplomacy" with Iran, the newly installed U.S. ambassador to the United Nations said Monday.

Not since before the 1979 Iranian revolution are U.S. officials believed to have conducted wide-ranging direct diplomacy with Iranian officials. But U.S. Ambassador Susan Rice warned that Iran must meet U.N. Security Council demands to suspend uranium enrichment before any talks on its nuclear program.

AP photo.
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Ludicrous: Hamas to control relief efforts in to Gaza

An organization internationally recognized as a terrorist organization, an organization which took over the Gaza strip in a very violent coup in 2007, an organization which provoked the recent Israeli attack on Gaza by firing thousands of rockets at Israeli civilian areas, then proceeded to deliberately put Palestinians in harm's way during the recent conflagration, now wishes to control the flow of relief efforts in to Gaza.
Excuse me, but isn't that a little like putting the lions in charge of the zoo? From an AFP report:

GAZA CITY (AFP) — The Hamas-run government in Gaza said on Saturday it would create a committee of senior officials to oversee all relief efforts in the territory after Israel's massive assault earlier this month.
The National High Committee for Relief will be headed by Ahmed al-Kurd, the Hamas-appointed minister of social affairs, and will distribute some 35 million euros (45 million dollars) to those who lost family members or their homes.
"It will be the only body to oversee and supervise the rescue. We will be in contact with all other bodies, whether local, national or international, to organise[sic] the relief," Kurd said at a Gaza City news conference.

AFP photo.

Weekend Political News Summary: January 24-25, 2009

:: SURPRISE....No comprehensive case files on many Guantanamo detainees. From the Washington Post:

President Obama's plans to expeditiously determine the fates of about 245 terrorism suspects held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and quickly close the military prison there were set back last week when incoming legal and national security officials -- barred until the inauguration from examining classified material on the detainees -- discovered that there were no comprehensive case files on many of them.

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:: Palin aides being charged with new ethics violations. From HUFFPOST:

In her current complaint against McAllister, McLeod sites a series of activities that she contends violate Alaska's "Executive Branch Code of Ethics," which prohibits public officials from using or authorizing "the use of state funds, facilities, equipment, services, or another government asset or resource for partisan political purposes."

"These campaign activities have absolutely nothing to do with the public's business, and everything to do with promoting Palin's personal endeavors and political aspirations," McLeod declared in an exclusive interview. "This must not go unchallenged."

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:: According to the complete dick, Rush Limbaugh, Republicans should be against the stimulus plan because it could hurt their electoral chances. Politics as usual. From Think Progress:

Full Transcript - This Week's George Stephanopoulos' Interview With Obama, January 11, 2009

George Stephanopoulos' Exclusive Interview with President-Elect Barack Obama

GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS: Hello, again. In nine days he will be president of the United States. This morning Barack Obama is our exclusive headliner. Welcome back to THIS WEEK.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT-ELECT: Thank you, George.

STEPHANOPOULOS: Does it feel like you're president already?

OBAMA: No.

Background of the Current Israeli-Hamas Conflict

For the sixty years of it's existence, Israel has actively pursued peace with neighboring countries. In point of fact, it is currently negotiating a two-state solution with the Palestinian President, Mahmoud Abbas. An elected president of Gaza, removed from power in a violent coup by Hamas¹ in 2007, Abbas currently governs from the West Bank.

Then there is Hamas¹. Funded by Iran, existing to spread a form of extremist Islam, and internationally regarded as a terrorist organization. It is fundamentally the same as Hezbollah or al Qaeda, and it is violently opposed to Israel's existence. It is also violently opposed to any peace settlement which would acknowledge Israel's existence.

The Moral Clarity in the Israel-Hamas Conflict is a No-Brainer

While I feel terribly sad at the deaths of civilians (17% of the casualties in Gaza), it makes me even more sick that civilians were intentionally put in harms way by Hamas. But then, this is nothing new for this violent terrorist organization, who was duly elected by the citizens of the Gaza Strip. 

And, I feel just as much sympathy for civilians in Israel who have been under attack by Hamas since 1994, and over the past three years, have endured 6,000+ rocket attacks. I don't know about you, but I gotta say that I personally would have not had the patience to endure 6,000+ rocket attacks before getting down to some serious attempts to bring the perpetrators down.

For those of you who have noted, and remarked on the disparity in casualties and military might, reading some history might just give you some real perspective on this matter.

JAN 4 EDIT:This quote is from a German blog, Die Verwirrung im Walde, and it strikes to the heart of the matter on "proportionality".

5.1. Proportionality is not measured by the outcome but rather by the intention. Every single rocket Hamas fires on Israel is meant to cause civilian casualties. However, Israeli air and ground attacks against Hamas are meant to cause as less damage as possible to civilians, and as much damage as possible to the terrorists. The optimal result for Israel would be 100% Palestinian militant casualties, while Hamas’ optimal result is 100% Israeli civilian casualties.

END EDIT .......................................

The US Must Stand for Israel, and the Media Sucks

It's a sunny, cold Saturday morning, and you are outside getting ready to take your kids to their weekend activities. Your son has a one day camping trip with the boy scouts, and his ride shows up to get him.

A near by, huge, thundering, explosion causes you to jump and shake with fear. You look up and see smoke and fire rising from the street behind you. You tell your son and daughter to get back in the house, and rush in behind them. You hear the sirens and turn on the tv. The news has broken in to programming and is telling you that it's Canada, with whom we have had a peace accord for a year or so, launching rockets at us. They note that a woman died when this rocket struck a house.

Over the next months, you keep your children close. You are even afraid to send them to school, but you do because you must. More rockets fall, all from Canada. Two more casualties. It is a good thing that Canada is not nearly as well-armed as we are.

You wonder why the US does not respond with our own rockets, aircraft, whatever else they need to prevent more Canadian rockets from landing on US soil.

You wonder why Canada elected a terrorist group to run their government. A group called "al Qaeda" which has very vociferously announced it's intention to annihilate the United States. You think about what they have already done to us using airplanes, suicide bombers, and more. You cry, and you pray that the US will stop the rockets from Canada soon. The economic blockade that the US implemented when al Qaeda took over the Canadian government (elected by the citizens of Canada, knowing full well who and what al Qaeda is) has done nothing to solve the problems.

Daily Political News Summary - Monday, December 8, 2008

►Condi RIce and Hillary Clinton to have dinner tonight at Rice's Watergate apartment.  

“NBC News reports that the current Secretary of State is having her successor over for dinner: Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will host Hillary Clinton tonight for dinner at Rice's Watergate apartment, State Department transition sources tell NBC News.”

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►President-elect Obama's choice of an education secretary will very likely displease one faction or the other.

Two competing factions, the "reformers", and the teacher's unions, have different ideas as to who it should be, and there doesn't seem to be an actual candidate who can bridge that divide.One person does come close, Chicago schools superintendent, Arne Duncan.

“Can Obama make both sides happy? Not likely, said Republican Sen. Richard Burr of North Carolina.”

One candidate might fit the bill _ Chicago schools chief Arne Duncan, who has spent seven years running the country's third-largest school district.

The Siege in Mumbai Ends - IPD Weekend Update Nov. 29-30, 2008

Sunday, November 30, 2008

►Top Indian security official resigns as death toll reaches 183, and questions are asked regarding India's preparedness for this type of attack.

 “As an investigation moved forward, there were questions about whether Indian authorities could have anticipated the attack and had better security in place, especially after a 2007 report to Parliament that the country’s shores were inadequately protected from infiltration by sea — which is how the attackers sneaked into Mumbai.
Home Minister Shivraj Patil, responsible for public safety and internal security as one of the most senior members of the government, resigned on Sunday to take responsibility for the failure of the country’s intelligence services and military to prevent the attacks in Mumbai.”  NYT

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Saturday, November 29, 2008

Terror in Mumbai - IPD Daily Political News Round-Up - Friday, November 28, 2008

 ►The State Dept. has ordered FBI agents to Mumbai today to investigate the terror attacks that killed four American citizens. Er, did I miss something, or isn't the FBI's mission to operate in the US, while the CIA operates out of the country??

“Intelligence officials looked urgently for clues about the identify of the attackers, a crucial unknown as Indian officials charged, without giving details, that "elements in Pakistan" were involved. A tentative rapprochement between the two nuclear-armed rivals could hang in the balance, and a U.S. counterintelligence official cautioned against rushing to judgment on the origins of the militants.”  AP report

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► According to ABC News, George W. Bush hopes to be remembered for "liberating" the Iraqi people, according to an interview conducted by his sister for the oral-history organization StoryCorps for the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress.
Excuse me, but WHAT the frack?? Does he really believe that that is what he did? Oh hell, never mind. This requires an entire separate post over the weekend. But I have to say in response to his statement --- freakin' ludicrous.

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►Senate democrats are preparing health, economic and spending legislation that they hope will land on Obama's desk when he takes office on January 20. Go dems!

“Given the severity of the problems facing the nation, officials on Capitol Hill and in the Obama team say Democrats have put their schedule on fast-forward rather than allowing the usual lull between the start of the new Congress, this time on Jan. 6, and President-elect Barack Obama’s swearing-in two weeks later.
Lawmakers and staff members are already laying the groundwork for a running start, and Congress is scheduled to remain in session once its expanded Democratic majorities are sworn in.”  NYT

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Behold the Election of Obama - Europe Peers into the Mirror

From the New York Times:

For many immigrants to Europe, Mr. Obama’s victory is “a small revolution” toward better overall treatment of minorities, said Nadia Azieze, 31, an Algerian-born nurse who grew up here. “It will never be the same,” she said, over a meal of rice and lamb in the racially mixed Paris neighborhood of Barbès-Rochechouart.

Her sister, Cherine, 29, is a computer engineer. Mr. Obama “really represents the dream of America — if you work, you can make it,” she said. “It’s a hope for the entire world.”

It is indeed about Hope.

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