The Greatest Open Thread in History - 03/31/2009

What did we learn today?

I learned:

• that Hillary was a brilliant choice for Secretary of State
• that Afghanistan legalized the rape of a wife by her husband today...executive order by Bush's Hamid Karzai
  
• that another Obama nominee didn't pay $7,000 in taxes...was there some poor wording on a form or something and only those that checked 'yes, I am a tax cheat' got nominated?
• that a North Carolinian legislator proposed a Geithner-law, where there would be no penalty for people who owe taxes up to $50,000.
  
• that the financial crisis in Europe is going to get much worse because they refuse to stimulate their economies
• that Seymour Hersh has a crazy fascination with Dick Cheney, even if his suspicions are well founded
  
• that the Pakistani Taliban, which hosted Al Qaeda after we drove them out of Afghanistan, wants to call in return favor and have Al Qaeda attack Washington DC and the White House
• that a dog always knows where a toy that squeaks is when you are trying to sleep
• that Al Franken is one step closer to actually becoming a U.S. senator
• that a woman pleaded guilty to starving her son, she's in a religious cult, only if the prosecutor included a 'resurrection clause' in the plea deal.
• that the Kurds really do not like the Arabs or the Turks, and that hatred is mutual. Why is it OK for people in the middle east to have these Hitler tendacies of hating people just because of where they are from, or what is in their blood?
  

HARDBALL: Obama goes to London

Chucky Todd and Chris Matthews discuss the high approval ratings at home and abroad for the President and First Lady, as well as the pending challenges for Obama on his upcoming trip.

A French Temper Tantrum

The French threatened to leave the G-20 summit if Obama doesn't agree to greater financial regulations, but then back tracked today, only saying that the French want to achieve concrete results. I view all of this as Europe trying to chastise America, and make themselves more competitive with our brand of business. Maybe the French should start by working 40 hour weeks.

Are you ready for Conficker?

No one knows what is going to happen tomorrow, but the computer worm known as 'conficker' is supposedly going to receive new instructions tomorrow. Security experts believe that the worm affects upwards of 10 million PCs, and a Vietnamese firm believes that the worm originated in China. It has been slowly spreading for the last few months, just sitting on PCs all over the world. 60 Minutes profiled internet viruses on Sunday.

UPDATE: Thanks to Megan for this from McAfee...

Quick Hitters....

[MARKETS RALLY] - Bloomberg - With banks looking more willing to lend, the S&P 500 completes it's best month since 1982. Stocks are up almost 3% today, gaining back most of the losses yesterday.
[HOME VALUES] - MarketWatch - In January, home values fell at a record pace. Prices are now back at 2003 levels.
[ISRAEL v. AMERICA] - Atlantic - Israel lays down the gauntlet with Obama, saying that Obama must stop Iran from getting nuclear weapons.
[SCHOOL CZAR] - AP - Obama's secretary of education says that school boards are a problem for urban schools, and that mayors must take control.
[CHINESE AGGRESSION] - Breitbart - China denies it has a massive cyber spy network stealing information from computers around the world. Does this increase or decrease the likelihood of the Chinese government's involvement?

Morning Whiskey - 03/31/2009 - Day 71

[OBAMA WORLD TOUR] - Reuters - Obama leaves this morning for London ahead of the G-20 world summit on Thursday. The President and the first lady will meet with Americans stationed overseas. The test for Obama will be the summit itself, where many countries want to blame the U.S. for the global downturn. But when viewed from another lens, maybe they need another market, other than America, to sell their cheap products. I'm looking at you lead filled Chinese toys. It seems that Europe is going to try and teach the new president a lesson, and possibly try and be the first to embarrass America on the world stage. The financial crisis, some countries like France, Germany, Russia, and China believe, has set off the possibility of a new world order, where America can't dictate its will to the world. This is really the first opportunity they have to push this notion. It will be interesting to see how Obama responds.
[ATTACK ON D.C.] - AP - The Taliban in Pakistan is claiming that they are planning an attack on Washington D.C. and will carry it out soon. They hit Bush with 9/11, about 9 months into his presidency. No doubt those with box cuttery names will do the same to Obama. Hopefully the new efforts in Pakistan/Afghanistan will work to help prevent it.
[DETROIT'S FATE] - WSJ - The backstory behind the White House's decision to reject GM's and Chrysler's plans on last Thursday. Must read territory.
[WARNING SHOT] - WaPo - The other added benefit of Obama's tough line with Detroit is that it has scared the daylights out of the banks we have given money to already. Generally speaking, come back for more and you might be shut down, so get your act together, start lending, and pay us back.
[HIGHER OPEN] - IT Business - While futures seem to be pointing higher this morning, probably jumped a full percent at the bell, but I think you'll see some continued jitters on Wall Street as they continue to refuse to take responsibility for the mess they have caused.
[AFGHANISTAN] - WaPo - Hillary tows a tough line on Afghanistan, saying that most aid programs are futile and have wasted billions in dollars over the years.
[FIRST STEP] - WSJ - Obama takes his first step towards lowering the costs of a national healthcare system by ending handouts to private insurance companies and forcing them to charge the same rates if they are going to participate in the private Medicare system. To bid on the system, companies must adhere to the new rules which protect consumers from paying different costs for medical tests as well as high out of pocket costs.
[REPUBLICAN TACTICS] - Politico - Republicans are going to fight to keep Al Franken out of the Senate for years. Norm Coleman, the one filing the suits at the behest of the national party, already has a new job.
[RUSSIAN BOOM] - LiveScience - The loud boom heard over the east coast a few nights ago was a Russian rocket reentering the atmosphere from a launch the other day.
[NORTH KOREAN AGGRESSION] - WaPo - Two American journalists working for Al Gore crossed a river into North Korea. They were captured, and are now being used as pawns by North Korea in the current intercontinental ballistic missile, I mean communications satellite test about to happen by the weekend.

The Greatest Open Thread in History - 03/30/2009

What did we learn today? I learned....

• That pythons threaten the Asian populace of South Florida
• That Larry Cudlow is single handedly making every person who watches CNBC during the day nervous about the economic future of this country
• That neither GM, Chrysler, or Wall Street are really serious about changing their ways....the ways that got us into this mess
• That it is probably pretty good to be Ford or Toyota right now
• That Michigan has no future
• That Amazon.com sells solar panels and they're actually pretty affordable
  

Quick Hitters

[CATHOLICS v. HILLARY] - Catholic News Agency(they have a news agency?) - Hillary, whilst in Mexico, went to famous Catholic landmark where a painting, legend holds, was painted by God. Hillary, not knowing this, kept asking who painted the painting. Obviously, our drug smuggling God fearing neighbors to the south are upset.
[SELL OFF] - WSJ - Showing just how fragile the economy still is, the lack of a bailout for the auto industry, and word that banks need more money, sent the entire market tumbling.
[HOLY HELL] - AP - Man decapitates his 5 year old sister in front of a police officer before they shoot him
[2 MILLION ACRES] - AP - Obama signs the largest expansion of federal wilderness protection in over 2 decades, protecting lands in 9 states.
[PYTHON PATROL] - CNN - One of the biggest pests in South Florida is not gators, or Cubans, but Pythons that eat small children, Asian families, and pets.

MUST READ: Christoper Hitchens

Christopher Hitchens recounts his recent journey to 'the Arab Street', where he got his ass kicked after defacing a Facist poster, witnessed Arabs celebrating an assassination, Syria setting the stage for the next war in the Middle East, and the Hezbollah state within a state in Lebanon:

"Well, call me old-fashioned if you will, but I have always taken the view that swastika symbols exist for one purpose only—to be defaced. Telling my two companions to hold on for a second, I flourish my trusty felt-tip and begin to write some offensive words on the offending poster. I say “begin” because I have barely gotten to the letter k in a well-known transitive verb when I am grabbed by my shirt collar by a venomous little thug, his face glittering with hysterical malice. With his other hand, he is speed-dialing for backup on his cell phone. As always with episodes of violence, things seem to slow down and quicken up at the same time: the eruption of mayhem in broad daylight happening with the speed of lightning yet somehow held in freeze-frame. It becomes evident, as the backup arrives, that this gang wants to take me away."

$20 Million....

Can we stop the 'tough love double standard' talk with regard to Detroit v. Wall Street? GM's departing CEO is getting $20 million to leave. Poor him. Reporters are killing the White House on a double standard. How did the banks work? They came to the government for money and got it. How is the Detroit bailout working? They're coming to the government, and getting it. Chrysler, a privately owned company, is the Lehman Brothers in this case...they are going to be allowed to fail.

The big tank....

Wall Street is tanking today in early trading because of the possibility of the auto companies going out of business, and that ripple effect, as well as because of fresh new worries in the banking sector. Both of these things seem to be directly related to things the Obama administration has done. Obama, saying that GM and Chrysler aren't getting more money, and strongly hinting Chrysler is going to die. Geithner, said banks are going to need more money.

Morning Whiskey - 03/30/2009 - Day 70

[AFGHAN DEBATE] - NYTs - Behind the scenes account of Obama's decision making process on widening the involvement in Afghanistan. Joe Biden warned against Obama's ultimate actions. Hillary called for more diplomacy. Obama sided with the military. The interest part to me was that he adjourned the meeting, went to Camp David to think about it, and then came back and annouced his decision. I think that one of the biggest worries with Obama was that he believed he was so smart that he would make quick decisions without thinking things through, especially with the powerful cabinet he chose. It is very comforting to see him have the confidence to adjourn the meeting and think it over.
[PAKISTAN] - BBC - At the heart of the above policy, it seems that the Obama administration recognizes Pakistan as the biggest threat to Afghanistan's long term security. Today, police finally retook an academy that was taken over by a group of gunmen where 6 policemen died. 14 gunmen escaped.
[AFGHANISTAN] - BBC - A suicide bomber wearing a police uniform blew himself up in a police headquarters today...killing 8
[OBAMA v. DETROIT] - McClatchy - Obama is going to reject giving GM and Chrysler more money today, saying they submitted insufficient plans for long term sustainability. His administration believes that the only hope for Chrysler to survive is by partnering with Fiat. If that is a no go, by by Chrysler. They will give Chrysler 30 days of operating funds to get that deal done. GM will get 60 days of operating funds to come up with a new plan. Obama forced the CEO out, and didn't even give them bailout funds. Ballsy.
[VIDEO GAMES] - LiveScience - Action video games improve your vision. I also believe they make our kids much smarter much quicker thinkers. Zelda the Wind Waker taught my nephew how to read much sooner than normal, only because there was so much dialogue in that game.
[WHITE HOUSE MAKEOVER] - NYMAG - The Obamas are paying for the redecorations to the White House out of their own pocket, instead of using the $100,000 in tax payer money given to each new president to furnish the White House in their image.
[5 INVENTIONS] - Fox News - Five inventions not on the market yet that will change your life
[RUSSIAN AGGRESSION] - AP - Russia is going to create an Artic military force
[COLBERT v. NASA] - Swamp - Stephen Colbert won an online contest to have a room aboard the international space station named after him. NASA is trying to back out of the deal. But they forgot about Colbert's segment "Better know a district....."
[SOMALIS IN MINNESOTA] - NYTs - If you followed the mocking of the notion of a huge population of Somali immigrants in the upper plain states last week on this blog, then the opening statement in this article about immigrants in Minnesota taking advantage of the healthcare system will make you laugh......
[ORSZAG] - NYTs - Profiling my favorite Obama appointee yet....Peter Orszag....numbers nerd
[MEET THE PRESS] - John McCain and Tim Geithner:

Obama forces CEO of GM to resign as condition of bailout

As a condition for more government money, the Obama administration has asked the CEO of GM, who has been there for 8 years, to step down. Reports are that he has agreed. Obama is pushing hard on changing the leadership and direction of the companies he is bailing out, and the public has no patience for giving the car companies any more money, even if it is a fraction of the money given to Wall Street. I think that this should have been a condition for any company taking government funds, but the Bush administration back in October made all the banks on Wall Street take some money, even if they didn't need it.

The problem for capitalists is whether or not you want your government forcing the staffing decisions of private companies. To me, though, this is a straw man argument. GM wouldn't have been asked to change it's leadership had they not come to the government crying poor. At this point, the government is a business partner/lender, and it isn't uncommon for companies to ask other companies to make changes as a condition of a deal.

Biden-Gate

The New York Post is reporting that a friend of Joe Biden's daughter is shopping a video of her doing supposedly doing coke for $400,000.

Obama on Face the Nation

Talks Automakers, Pakistan, Iraq, and more with Face the Nation's Bob Shieffer:

Weekly Obama Address

Obama uses his weekly address to talk about the devastating flooding in the midwest. If he doesn't help them, or is slow to respond, does Kenny Chesney or Hank Williams Jr. get to go on stage during the CMAs and say "Barack Obama doesn't care about white people"? I think so.

The Greatest Open Thread in History - 03/27/2009

What did we learn today? I learned...

• that Obama is serious about dealing with Al Qaeda.
• that one person can screw up a meticulously planned 23rd annual politicalinaction.com beer pong tourney because of a diaper party.
• that the new symbol on the flags of Islamic radicals like Hezbollah is a mushroom cloud
  
• that Oklahoma's Griffin brothers really look nothing alike.
  
• that the Curry brothers may play at Davidson together next year.
• that even in a Senate budget committee, jokes about someone's wife are funny
• that my bracket is screwed no matter what
• that April finally bared it all in Eastbound & Down's season finale
• that no one believes North Dakota has any Somalis let alone a sizable population
• that the Shamwow guy beat the shit out of a prostitute after she bit his tongue and wouldn't let go....seriously.
  

Wall Street Falls

The markets ended the week on a down note, or about 1.6%, which most analysts attribute to profit taking from the 2 week run up. But the one discouraging note was that consumer spending slowed in February greater than anticipated. Another drag on the economy is the spike in energy prices, though those prices fell today.

"Your wife said the same thing"-Gate

Watch this C-SPAN clip. Amazing exchange between Chuck Grassley, Republican from Iowa, and Kent Conrad, Somali Democrat from North Dakota. Conrad is running the show on the budget talks. Grassley wants an amendment added, and points out to Conrad that Grassley helped him out 2 years ago on a similar matter.

Quick Hitters

[JAPAN v. NORTH KOREA] - NYTs - As nuclear armed North Korea readies a launch of a ballistic missile, or they call it, a satellite, Japan is preparing to intercept it. North Korea has promised to go ape shit if someone shoots down their missile.
[OBAMA v. OSAMA] - AP - Obama announced in staggeringly detail his plans for Afghanistan and Pakistan. The biggest departure from the Bush administration is Obama's willingness to admit that the terrorism threat to us, and Afghanistan, is caused by Pakistan's inability to govern itself. Obama's plan basically says Pakistan is the heart of the problem, and we have to eliminate safe havens for militants within that country.
[JOE KLEIN REACTS] - Time - Joe Klein breaks down what Obama's announcements today mean. My favorite part:

3. Obama mentioned the "corruption" of the Afghan government. This is something Bush never did, and it send a crucial public signal--which I assume Richard Holbrooke has delivered privately--to the Karzai government. This emphasis on competence, as opposed to the Bush fantasy of democracy, is a significant change in emphasis.

4. The poppy solution is very notable. We'll offer wheat, then burn the crop if the farmers don't accept it. Then offer wheat again. These sorts of crop replacement programs don't have a fantastic track record, but the size of the poppy crop in Afghanistan has lowered prices, and also caused a real food shortage. For those reasons, the British troops in Helmand told me last December that they had some hope that a wheat replacement campaign might work.

[CRISIS GOOD?] - Time - Is the credit crisis good for America? I've argued this before, that the crisis we are in is forcing our companies to become leaner and more efficient, as well as forcing all of us to not waste money and start saving. China has a national savings rate that some put as high as 20%, while our national savings rate is zero. Chinese 18 to 34 year olds save upwards of 14% of their income. What is happening right now around the world? China, in this crisis, is buying everything up for rock bottom prices because of their reserves. We need to get to that point, and this crisis helps that.
[WILDLIFE MARSHALL WILLENHOLLY] - NYTs - Profiling the eco-police, state environment officers in New York. Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back Gag Reel....I believe Jay is a recoving heroin addict.

Morning Whiskey - 03/27/2009 - Day 67

[GOP BUDGET] - HuffPost - So for weeks, the Obama administration has been hitting back at any critics of his budget by saying 'show me yours...'. Well the GOP finally took him up on it, presented an 18 page budget with no numbers, and made fools out of themselves.
[AFGHANISTAN] - NYTs - Obama will mention his massive changes to the Afghanistan war policy today. Starting with benchmarks for progress.
[OBAMA'S WAR] - Politico - Obama has 'gone all in' with his Afghan policy
[TRAINERS] - WSJ - The key escalation in Obama's Afghanistan policy is going to be sending 4000 military trainers to the area to train the Afghan army, as well as taking a regional approach, READ: PAKISTAN, to the problem.
[PAKISTAN] - BBC - A suicide bomber in Pakistan kills at least50 people when he blew himself up in a mosque during Friday prayers.
[DON'T BUILD IN A FLOOD PLAIN] - AP - The Red River has broke through the levees in parts of North Dakota, forcing many families to be evacuated in the middle of the night. The massive population of Somali immigrants is said to be fine.
[OIL SPIKE] - WSJ - Oil is set to jump in price again, this time because cuts in investment to find new sources. What in the hell were the oil companies doing whilst raping us at $100+ a barrel? Were they burning the money or investing it in new sources like they should have been?
[MEXICAN DRUG WAR] - Boston Big Picture - Stunning photos from the Mexican drug war
[HEAD INJURIES] - CNN - Because of the death of Natasha Richardson last week from a slight fall on a ski slope, a family in Ohio rushes their daughter to the hospital when she complains of a headache before bed after being hit with a baseball 2 days prior. Pretty amazing story. The doctor told them she wouldn't have woken up had she gone to sleep that night.
[STUDENT LOAN RATES] - WSJ - Student loan rates are set to jump significantly. The Dept of Education is raising the rates from 5.2% to 6.9%.

The Greatest Open Thread in History - 03/26/2009

What did we learn today?

Pitt needs to pull this game out for me to have any shot. How is your bracket?

Should people who want to protect a plant that hides drug smugglers and illegal immigrants on our southern border under the guise of health concerns be considered enemies of the state? I think so.

Quick Hitters

[BUDGET BATTLE] - The Hill - Democrats are shooting back at Republican criticism of Obama's budget saying draft your own budget if you want to talk. Because the Republicans won't support cuts as steep as they call for, taxes as high as needed, or spending as great as required, they're in a Catch-22 situation. They can criticize Obama all day long, but until they offer an alternative solution, they just look like nattering nabobs of negativity.
[MORE TROOPS] - AP - Obama is putting an additional 4,000 troops into Afghanistan and making conditional some of Pakistan's aid. This is great news, but the tragic part is that Republican senate leadership skipped Obama's briefing. They actually declined the invite. This being Mitch McConnell from Kentucky and John Kyl from Arizona.
[BEAR TO BULL] - WSJ - The markets are technically now in bull market mode after their 2 week string of gains representing increases of over 20% during that time period. The Dow was up 2.3% and the S&P500 was up 2.3% as well.
[NEW RULES] - Bloomberg - Tim Geithner has proposed 'new rules of the game' as he calls them. Capitol Hill seems to be balking at his requests for new power. The Obama administration literally wants the ability to seize private companies and dissolve them. This is a response to not being able to do anything with AIG because they are not a bank, but it should give everyone pause.
[CREDIT DEFAULT SWAPS] - WSJ - New York's Cuomo is going to supeona AIG on their use of credit default swaps. I would buy a ticket to those hearings, as AIG, if you could pick one company, brought down our financial system through the use of the complex CDS.

Bachman back at it...

She introduced a bill today that would ban a global currency. It would ban the dollar from being replaced by any foreign currency. Given that isn't what China was proposing, I find it tragic how dumb our elected leaders are. Basically, China was saying the International Monetary Fund should change how it breaks out its reserves. China wants this because the Chinese yuan is not used in the breakout, so they feel a little left out. But China should be feared. They are the only country that has still made money despite the global economic downturn. Their investments are still in the black, while every single other country's are not.

Obama's Web Town Hall

It is playing live right now. You can watch it here. I will post the video of the entire web cast as soon as it comes available.

UPDATE: Entire video below....1 hour 13 minutes:

Stocks Continue Climb

The stock market is up about 1% today, continuing a two week trend upward. Job loss claims were up slightly, but the GDP contracted at a slightly lower rate in the 4th quarter than analysts expected.

Morning Whiskey - 03/26/2009 - Day 66

[AFGHANISTAN] - NYTs - Pakistan's spy agency is helping plan attacks by the Taliban inside Afghanistan.
[PREDATOR DRONES] - WSJ - Obama is reviewing, and is going to expand, predator drone attacks on Taliban and Al Qaeda forces inside of Pakistan.
[NORTH KOREA] - Reuters - North Korea has a missile ready to be launched in the near future. It is a long range ballistic missile. North Korea says it is a space launch, while the United Nations said this is a clear violation of sanctions. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said there will be consequences.
[STOCKS] - CNN Money - Stocks are set to open higher today because Wall Street is starting to believe the worst is over. The Asian markets are at their highest level in more than 3 months.
[AUTO BAILOUT] - WSJ - Chrysler and GM are set to get more government money
[CHINA UPSET] - BBC - The Chinese no likey the report from yesterday by the Pentagon that said Chinese military spending is shifting the balance in Asia military power.
[BRITNEY GATE] - Eric Cantor, House Republican leader and fierce critic of Obama, was caught at a Britney Spears concert during Obama's press conference on Tuesday. This is funny because Cantor was recently critical of Obama saying that Obama should be doing nothing but working on fixing the economy.
[BUSHVILLES] - NYTs - Shanty towns, "modern day Hoovervilles", are springing up all over the country, which is probably Bush's true legacy.
[FARGO FLOODING] - Fox News - Fargo, North Dakota, which is filled with beautiful people and apparently has a huge population of Somalis, is about to get a historic flood from the Red River. Experts are predicting that the river will crest at a level never seen before. Needless to say, Fargo's resisdents are scrambling to find higher ground and sandbag to hold the river back.
[OPEN FOR QUESTIONS] - White House - Obama will host a webchat today on the White House website. You can submit your questions now.

The Greatest Open Thread in History - 03/25/2009

Tell me of your woes.....or at least say something funny.

HILLARY: Mexican Drug Violence America's Fault

Hillary says that our appetite for drugs is responsible for the drug violence in Mexico. While we are a huge market, I would argue that our drug policies are more to blame than our appetite. Our government has made it easier than ever to get drugs because of their policies. It is a self-fulfilling prophecy that marijuana is a gateway drug because people buy marijuana from the same place you get more addictive drugs. As any business tries, dealers then upsell their customers to more addictive drugs. If people could buy marijuana from Walmart or 7-eleven, a lot of our problems, and those of Mexico, go away. It will be much harder for drug dealers to attract new customers, and we will put a lot of them out of business by allowing people to grow their own, and by having it taxed and legal. There will be super-corporations that will work with law enforcement to identify illegal operations. Now, our limited law enforcement budget will be focusing on a more narrow problem. The way we approach the drug issue, as well as our open borders and underfunded DEA and border patrol, are bigger reasons for the problem than America's appetite for drugs. People do drugs in direct proportion to how easy they are to get and how much they cost, and this will always be true.

New Hampshire is moving towards legalizing medical marijuana, which seems to be the first step towards decriminalization.

Markets end in positive territory

The markets were up about 1% today after a jittery session. Early in the day, the markets jumped significantly, but then tumbled after a report of a weak 5-year U.S. treasury auction....if people won't buy our debt...no stimulus and high inflation. But then late in the day stocks rallied. Over two weeks, the S&P500 is up 20%.

Quick Hitters

[PALIN & SCIENTOLOGY] - HuffPost - Sarah Palin has been hanging out with Fox News' Greta Van Susteran, who is a Scientologist. Susteran's husband is an informal advisor to Palin, and Susteran's show has been given unprecented access to the Palin familiy because of it. No conflicts of interest there, though....none at all....
[CHINESE WORRIES] - AP - The Pentagon worries about the rapid expansion of the Chinese military and their development of 'disruptive' technologies.
[DON'T LIVE IN A FLOOD PLAIN] - CNN - North Dakota residents are bracing for historic floods because of blizzards and rain, as well as a rough winter. Building towns on higher ground in the first place might be a good idea.
[E.U.: "U.S. STIMULUS = WAY TO HELL"] - NYTs - The president of the E.U. takes Obama to task for his stimulus plan ahead of the G-20 meeting. Other European nations are scrambling to say the Czech president doesn't speak for them, especially England.
[WALL STREET ANGER] - WSJ - Signaling they still don't get it, Wall Streeters say they feel betrayed by the government and are angry at all the ire directed at them. I don't know if you've looked at your investments lately, but I for one, am not upset that Wall Street is on the hotseat.
[HOME PRICES] - MSN - Home prices jumped 1.7% in January. Simple supply and demand. You can't beat buying a house right now. The good news keeps coming.

Surge

Wall Street is surging again today after orders for durable goods unexpectedly jumped 3.4% in February and new home sales were up as well. Since Obama's plan for the toxic assets was announced, stocks are up 22%. Have we found the bottom?

Morning Whiskey - 03/25/2009 - Day 65

[AIG LONDON] - Times Online - The AIG group responsible for the downfall of the company is based in London. They refuse to return their bonuses.
[OBAMA TIME] - WSJ - Last night, Obama tried to link the economic recovery to his budget plan. He is trying to do everything necessary to not have this happen again, but he is facing stiff opposition from outside and within his party.
[HEALTHCARE VICTORY?] - NYTs - Obama scores his first big victory on universal healthcare after private insurers said they'll drop preexisting condition rules if all Americans get health insurance.
[CAP AND TRADE] - Fox News - Fox News basically alleges Obama is only pushing a cap and trade system because a company he gave charitable grants to in 2000, while on a charitable board, may benefit.
[AFGHANISTAN] - BBC - 7 die after a van carrying civilians was hit by a roadside bomb in Khost, a province right along the border with Pakistan.
[2010 COMEBACK] - CNN Money - Looks like all we have to do is make it through 2009 and the economy will recover...but 2009 is going to be extremely difficult the rest of the year.
[FOX NEWS THRIVES] - NPR - Fox News is thriving since Obama was elected. If I were Republicans, I would worry that my party being represented in one place will lead to them being out of touch. Just because Fox has millions of viewers each night doesn't represent party strength. I would bet that since Obama came into office, more people are less likely to watch Fox, while the viewers they're currently getting are more dedicated than ever. I think Fox's potential reach has gone down, and will continue to do so until they change their ways.
[BURNING CARS] - WSJ - People who can't make their car payments are committing insurance fraud at a rapid clip.
[DRUG WARS] - BBC - Analyzing how challenging the drug war is between the U.S. and Mexico. Hillary is spending a considerable amount of time there over the coming days.
[AIG OP-ED] - NYTs - An AIG executive pens an Op-Ed where he quits, gives back money, and defends his profession. Must read territory.

The Greatest Open Thread in History - 03/24/2009

All Obama press conference all the time.....what else are you ruminating about? How are your brackets? I, like the president, am sitting at 14 remaining teams in my CBS pool. My other pools are all at 13.

Breast Cancer Survivor

Wow. Last year, one of the best Democratic campaigners, Debbie Wasserman-Schultz, had 7 surgeries for breast cancer. Must watch video:

Limbaugh Calls Obama and Wife "Angry"

He also 'confuses' Barack Obama with an African dictator, Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe, who is accused of human rights abuses. Apparently Rush didn't like being cast aside by Obama in favor of a fight with Vice President Dick Cheney. Nothing like a race war to help drive Republicans to your side.

UPDATE: Anonymous in the comments says Rush confused Mugabe with a well known Kenyan by the name of Barack Ogabe, not Obama. This may be true, but for the purposes of his audience, I'm not buying it. Rush is too smart. Maybe I'm being conspiracy theory-ish, but I don't buy the premise that Rush makes honest mistakes.

Dying Medium

This goes in the 'no fucking way' bin: Congress is going to bailout print newspapers. Trying to prop up newspapers against the internets is the height of recklessness and stupidity. It is akin to propping up cassette tapes against Ipods. How many newspapers will go for becoming non-profits for educational purposes only, though?

Card Check

Republican Senator from Pennsylvania Arlen Spector goes back on his promise to support the union strengthening bill. The Employee Free Choice Act goes down in flames. I heard a great quote recently that perfectly sums up unions: "Unions only exist to protect the guy who won't do the job."

Republican States Fighting Stem Cell Research

Since Obama overturned the ban on federal funding for stem cell research, Republican conservative Christian evangelical states are trying to prohibit any research at all using the embryonic stem cells. One governor goes so far as to compare stem cell research to Nazi Germany.

Isn't that the point in any argument when you realize someone isn't to be trusted, when the mention Hitler or Nazis?

So basically we have evangelicals trying to take the country back to the time of Jesus, and the rest of the country saying lets use the tools God has put in front of us to cure disease and heal the sick...just like Jesus. Some of us are Christ-like(all that support stem cell research), and some of us are just Christian(evangelicals).

Quick Hitters

[REPAYING TARP] - Reuters - The outrage over the AIG bonuses has lit a fire under other firms that have taken government money. Goldman Sachs, which took $10 Billion in TARP money, is seeking to repay all of that sum within 30 days.
[OBAMA's OP-ED] - Obama pens an op-ed titled 'a time for global action', which is publishes in papers around the world. He is calling for a concerted effort by the world community to tackle the economic crisis. Generally, what we have done to solve the problem is head and shoulders above everyone else in the world..especially Europe. This is meant to put pressure on the world prior to the G-20 meeting.
[AUGUSTA] - Stubhub - If you have the coin, you can get Masters tickets online...even Saturday and Sunday badges.
[FIRST MUST READ] - MSNBC - Chuck Todd talks Obama's presser, Geithner's redemption, and 2012.
[BORDER SECURITY] - AP - Obama is sending more resources to the border, but it looks like it falls far short of what Texas governor Rick Perry wanted. My personal opinion is that we need to massively increase the border police force and give them shoot on sight orders for suspected drug related crossings

Morning Whiskey - 03/24/2009 - Day 63

[PRIME TIME OBAMA] - All Stations - Obama will hold a prime time press conference tonight at 8PM. He will make an opening statement outlining most of the steps he has taken to stabilize the economy, and then he will take gotcha questions from the drive by media about AIG, Geithner's performance, and his budget proposals. The budget will be the most contentious. Obama inherited a $1.5 Trillion dollar deficit, and he included the costs of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq in his budget. He also has had to spend money to fix the economy. Despite all of that, and not caring for the last 8 years, the drive by media has now found religion on deficit spending, and will hammer hiim on it.
[WALL STREET v. OBAMA] - WSJ - The Obama White House toned down criticism of executive pay and backed away from supporting the AIG bonus tax legislation passed by Congress last week, which is most likely unconstitutional, because Wall Street complained. The Wall Street executives, who Obama needs for his economic recovery plans to work, said they wouldn't help if they thought their pay could be retroactively limited like something out of the old Soviet Union. There is no incentive for them to buy toxic assets if they feel they'll be used by Congress politically. These are the firms that are healthy, not the AIGs or Citigroups. After the AIG mess, the firms are worried that if they enter into a partnership with the government, they're company practices could be attacked, such as corporate jets, suites, bonuses, etc.
[MEXICAN DRUG VIOLENCE] - NYTs - A must read report on how drug violence on our southern border is dramatically increasing as the Mexican cartels bring their war into our cities.
[AFGHANISTAN] - NYTs - NYTs opinion writer David Brooks goes to Afghanistan and writes about our efforts there fighting a growing insurgency, as well as trying to rebuild the Afghan social order. Here is my question....because of the lessons learned by our commanders and men and women on the ground from fighting the insurgency in Iraq, as well as dealing with a highly skeptical populace, will George Bush's misleading war in Iraq actually help solve the greater challenge of taming Afghanistan?
[OBESITY] - CNN - Moderately obese people live 4-5 years less than people of a normal weight. Severely obese people live over 10 years less.
[PORTERHOUSE] - WaPo - If you eat less red meat you'll live longer. That is apparently a risk I'll have to take.
[ISLAMBERG] - Fox News - Tiny, all Muslim, community in New York about an hour outside of NYC has a founder and membership that is linked to many acts of terrorism. Scary stuff.
[CHENEY ANGST] - Hill - Republicans are fretting that Cheney popped back up to represent them as spokesman. The White House is happy as hell to have Cheney be Rush Limbaugh's wingman as ambassadors of the Republican party.
[CONDOMS] - KC - 300 American jobs are at stake after the U.S. government decides to stop buying expensive American condoms and go with Chinese and Korean versions. Why do we have a government agency distributing condoms? Shouldn't that be the work of private enterprise or charities, selling those condoms to foreign governments? Why do we need a government bureaucracy?
[VENEZUELAN AGGRESSION] - Fox News - Hugo Chavez calls Obama ignorant on Latin American issues.

The Greatest Open Thread in History - 03/23/2009

What is on your mind? How fast could you run a half marathon...13.1 miles?

• - Keanu Reeves and Kelloggs from 1987. You can see why he is one of the greatest actors in history.
• - Cindy Crawford, 43, kind of naked and covered in bubbles
• - Ashton Kutcher posts a bikini shot on Twitter of Demi Moore bending over
• - A $2000 Nano, or death trap, I mean car, is finally slated for production by Tata motors
• - Beats you need - Flo Rida feat. T-Pain - Low

Chinese Aggression

China, the country responsible for buying all of our debt, is pitching a new currency, just like the Russians did a few days ago. So these two countries look to be teaming up, but since China holds $2 Trillion of our debt, this is a much bigger deal than Russia. The bigger aim by China may be self promotion because their currency isn't part of the 4 currencies used by the International Monetary Fund.

HARDBALL: Rescuing the Banks

Obama's economic advisor Austan Goolsbee explains the administration's plans on Hardball:

15 of 20 Top Bonuses Given Out by AIG Returned

9 of the top 10 bonuses were returned by the executives as well, so who was the single holdout? This represents about $30 million of the bonus money given out. New York's Attorney General Cuomo is behind the public pressure.

More good news...

The markets are getting good news all over the place today. The latest piece of extremely encouraging news is that existing home sales in February rose 5.1%, or the most in 6 years. Taken with the Obama administration's efforts to stabilize the economy, this has been an extremely positive day on Wall Street. As such, with 20 minutes to go in the trading day, the markets are up 6%. The jump is from first time home buyers, who were responsible for over half of all the sales. There is no better time than right now to buy a home, given the low interest rates and steep cut in prices. Basically, it is more affordable than ever to buy a home, new or used.

Stocks up big...

With an hour left in the trading day, the markets are up over 5%. Certain banking stocks are up double digit percentages.

Obama on 60 Minutes..

Full episode on CBS last night. Obama's strongest part comes about 20 minutes in when he responds to Cheney saying that the Bush/Cheney approach to battling Al Qaeda hasn't made us safer. He says it so calmly, I fear it will be lost on everyone. He just threw down the gauntlet:

Morning Whiskey - 03/23/2009 - Day 62

[GEITHNER'S PLAN] - WSJ - Geithner's toxic assets plan, where the government will help private investors buy the toxic debt that is weighing down our system, is causing a huge rally on Wall Street today. The markets are up BIG, or about 4%.
[SUICIDE IRAQ] - BBC - Who bombs a funeral and kills 25 people? Seriously, how evil do you have to be?
[EVOLUTION BATTLE] - WSJ - Because Texas buys a lot of school text books, manufacturers tailor the books to Texas' wishes. So evangelicals are waging a battle there to make the science books question evolution, which because of the size of the Texas school book market, has national implications.
[102 OCTANE] - CNET - A new company in Wisconsin is about to start a pilot plant where they produce high quality hydrocarbon fuel from sugarcane or sugar beets.
[FUNNY] - Beast - John McCain's former press secretary comes out and pens an article
[TALIBAN] - The U.S. is considering allowing a political party in Afghanistan for the Taliban
[AFGHANISTAN] - AP - Military contractors are preparing to increase their role in Afghanistan in support of our efforts.
[CHRIS MATTHEWS] - MSNBC - Chris Matthews resigns with MSNBC. No Senate for him.
[NATALEE HOLLOWAY] - Fox News - New search begins for bones in a pond
[BAILOUT CASH] - Newsweek - How bailout cash is being doled out by firms back to politicians blasting Obama for staying by Geithner in his interview on 60 minutes the day before Geithner releases a plan that Wall Street loves. Timing is crucial in politics....

Meet the Press with David Gregory - 03/22/2009

Mayor Bloomberg, Governor Rendell, and Governor Schwarzenegger discuss meeting with Obama on the stimulus package implementation, and Tom Brokaw and Erin Burnett discuss the media and the economic crisis:

Morning Whiskey - 03/22/2009 - Day 61

[OVERSIGHT] - NYTs - Obama is going to propose vast new regulations for Wall Street to prevent this financial crisis from happening again. It basically means regulating things that aren't regulated currently, like hedge funds and derivitives. He wants to use the Federal Reserve as the body to oversee all this. Who came out skeptical of it? Banking's man, and Democrat, Chris Dodd.
[TOXIC ASSETS] - WSJ - The Obama administration will announce a plan on Monday to rid the financial system of toxic assets. They want investors to buy up the bad assets at discounted prices.
[CHINESE DRYWALL] - CNN - Chinese made drywall may be causing you headaches and other illnesses, releasing toxins from the far east.
[CARLSON v. STEWART] - Beast - Tucker Carlson takes on Jon Stewart over his attacks on Jim Cramer and CNBC, exposing Stewart's faulty premise. He also makes Stewart sound a little nuts.
[POST OFFICE] - AP - Political Inaction has long called for the Post Office to be dissolved and privatized. The USPS gets one step closer by offering 150,000 employees early retirement.

Democrats are their own worst enemies.....

So the secret to our national security, via energy independence, could be the sun. If we could produce enough electricity, through renewable means, cheaply, we could use said 'fuel' in cars and basically everything else that requires power. Our biggest source of 'sun' in the country is the desert southwest. Well, Diane Feinstein, is going to push legislation to change 500,000 acres of the Mojave desert into a national monument, preventing 19 companies from installing solar arrays, or any other future development. Why is she doing this? Because it will ruin the landscape. Conservationists, and environmentalists, or as political inaction calls them, treetards, say that installing the solar arrays will destroy the 'entire desert ecosystem', specifically tortoise habitat. Democrats, do you understand why the nation doesn't take you seriously? Because as long as you have interest groups like this, and senators like Diane Feinstein, you shouldn't be. This is no different than the people on the right who throw in with nutball religious evangelicals. Yes, we want to conserve the environment for future generations, but wouldn't using NO fossil fuels as a nation do that literally 1000 times better than savng a tortoise in a desert? Seriously, WTF?

These groups are also fighting the construction of the transmission lines that carry the 100% clean electricity to population centers. These liberal groups are trying to have the country change it's ways, and just as the country has embraced, and has a president that embraces, doing it, the liberal groups are preventing the change from happening for things like the beauty of the desert landscape. I don't get it. Someone explain it to me.

Paul Krugman hates Obama's Toxic Asset Plan

So the economy is faltering on three levels: toxic assets, credit(banking), and the housing market. Am I leaving something out? Anyway, to date, the Obama administration and the Federal Reserve have proposed decent ways to fix the first two. The remaining leg of the stool is toxic assets, the ones that brought down the global financial crisis in the first place. The Obama administration is proposing a plan that creates a market for the toxic assets, because these assets ARE worth something. They have revenue streams. But Krugman says the plan is sure to fail. I'm not following his logic here. He's saying the plan will fail, but then in another sentence he is saying the banks are undercapitalized. If this plan, as Krugman says, will create huge returns for banks, doesn't that make the banks healthier? Also, if the toxic assets are removed from the banks' balance sheets, doesn't that make them even MORE healthy? I'll be interested to see Wall Street's reaction on Monday, because if I'm reading Krugman correctly, Obama and Geithner just hit a home run. Not only are they ridding the economy of the cancer that is holding it back, but they're using the toxic asset plan to make the banks healthier in the process.

Calling all Russians

With Russia's population in severe decline because of poor health habits and families having less kids, the government is seeking all Russians abroad to move back home. They even pay you to have kids. Said India and China, "here, have some of ours." Russia, the country with the most space to live in the world, only has slightly over 100 million people. China and India, both with substantially less space to live, have over 1 billion people each within their borders.

Obama's Weekly Address......Four Budget Principles

Sarah Palin and Her 'Special' Baby

Sarah Palin is OUTRAGED at Obama for his special olympics joke about his bowling handicap. Never one to miss a political opportunity, Sarah Palin puts her status as the mother of a baby with down syndrome to good use, by blasting Obama. If you remember the fall campaign, Sarah Palin was praised for her 'courage' for bringing her 'special' baby(pictured) to term, a Republican way of insinuating all Democrats are immoral and would abort the chromosome heavy baby.

AIG Sues Government

AIG is quietly suing the government, it's majority owner, for $306 million in tax payments.

How out of touch is Wall Street?

CNBC lets us know by saying that no firm can be run well by those making under $250,000. Maybe Jon Stewart is right about CNBC's complicity in the financial meltdown. They trumpet the causes of these CEOs and companies that do everything they can to skirt the rules and reward themselves instead of their shareholders. It won't ever get better, or the economy won't at least be protected from tanking like this again, until Wall Street takes responsibility and admit they made a mistake. They have yet to do it.

Hard out here for a pimp....

The drive by media is already calling Obama's bracket a bust because he only got 11 of 16 right on the first day of the NCAA tourney.

Morning Whiskey - 03/20/2009 - Day 59

[SPECIAL GATE] - Fox News - Obama compares his bowling to the special olympics last night on Leno, which is about right, and the drive by media feigns outrage and indignation, over looking a pretty good 25 minute segment, which was the first of its kind by a sitting president. Leno's audience isn't a politics audience, but they do buy stock, homes, and retail goods, which Obama needs them to do. It is a gaffe no doubt, but really? Full 25 minutes on Leno last night:

[RUSSIAN AGGRESSION] - CNN - Russian bombers fly about 500 feet above some of our Navy ships in international waters near the Korean peninsula.
[AIG BONUSES] - Look for a lot of news stories about how Obama should have known about the bonuses because there were reports in the media in January. I don't think that was Obama's point in the above. These bonuses weren't bonuses at all. They were deferred compensation. It was basically a year end lump sum contract regardless of performance for top executives. They are entirely shady, but I think Obama sees them as a symptom of what went wrong on Wall Street and what must change, not something we need to waste time on given everything else going on.
[SUICIDE FOREST] - CNN - The Japanese have a special forest that people go to to commit suicide.
[CARBON NANOTUBES] - Wired - Stronger than steel, as flexible as rubber, as light as a feather. Check out the videos. This stuff can be used for everything.
[FLYING CAR] - LiveScience - A car that you can put in your garage, fill up with gas from the corner station, then fly.
[SARAH PALIN] - CNN - Sarah Palin is going to reject half of the bailout funds.
[AUTO SUPPLIER BAILOUT] - BW - We are going to give the auto suppliers, who are hurt because of lagging demand, about $5 billion.
[TIGER v. JACK] - ESPN - Rick Reilly, who was traded from SI to ESPN for Dan Patrick in literally the most lopsided trade in sports history, looks at whether Tiger will ever become the Greatest Golfer in History. What is odd is that Jack Nicklaus specifically calls out health issues as the reason Tiger wouldn't beat him, tells Tiger he doesn't want Tiger not to break his records because of health problems. Jack also says Tiger must do it first instead of being annointed....he said that in 2001.
[OIL v. WATER v. THE WEST] - WSJ - Oil companies are buying up water rights in the West, raising fears of skyrocketing prices and water shortages.
[ARCTIC SAFARI] - Independent - Would you pay $35,000 to shoot a polar bear?
[FATHER TIME] - 20 interesting facts about time
[WARLORD COURTING] - WSJ - We are trying to strike deals with warlords in Afghanistan.
[MCCAIN & LIEBS] - Time - Joe Klein analyzes how McCain and Lieberman are attacking Obama again, this time about Afghanistan. He also points out how they are wrong.
[OBAMA AND IRAN] - Youtube - Obama posts a youtube video aimed directly at the Iranian people and government, reaching out to them, and talking about a new beginning. It is a subtle but dramatic change of foreign policy:

How many of you really had Western Kentucky over Illinois? WKY is looking tough, and you have to love Slaughter, #4.

The Greatest Open Thread in History - 03/19/2009

Put all your NCAA college basketball thoughts here, as well as anything else you deem necessary....

WTF, Michigan? The big ten is looking better than I thought they would.

Early Evening Quick Hitters....

[PUTIN v. REAGAN] - Sky - Russian czar Vladimir Putin was planted as a KGB questioner to Ronald Reagan during a visit to the Soviet Union two decades ago. This runs contrary to Putin's biography.
[MEXICAN HOTLANTA DRUG HUB] - CNN - Mexican drug cartels are doing extremely well in suburban Atlanta, Georgia.

Atlanta has become a stopping point for truckloads of Mexican cocaine, heroin, marijuana and methamphetamine, agents say. The drugs are held in stash houses before being distributed up the East Coast.

[SAY IT AIN'T SO] - HuffPost - This better not be the start of a national trend.
[SUICIDE BOMBER] - Video - Remember a few days back I posted a slideshow of a suicide bomber blowing himself up? Well here is the video. You can't really see anything, but it is still amazing.
[CREEPY AUSTRIAN] - BBC - The creepy Austrian guy who locked his daughter up for her entire life, and fathered 7 kids with her, is sentenced to life.

House Approves AIG Tax

The House of Representatives has approved a 90% tax on the 419 employees who received AIG bonuses, as well as other bonuses paid out by bailed out companies. Republicans are still trying to batter Obama with the AIG bonus issue, but I think that the issue is too vague for the average voter to attach to Obama. This tax may be illegal though.

MUST WATCH VIDEO: But this tax, according to the hot Erin Burnett, makes Wall Street very afraid, and may be counter productive. I've never bought the argument that people work less hard if the government taxes them or if their bonus is less. People are either hard workers or not. If you won't work hard because I cut your bonus in half, I don't want you working at my company. Also, don't miss Jim Cramer go after Stewart again calling his attacks on CNBC "naive and misleading". Cramer's point is that the people who carried out the acts on Wall Street are more responsible than focusing on the media covering those people. I agree with Cramer. If Wall Street, specifically derivitives, were regulated, this doesn't happen:

Blame Geithner

The stripping of the AIG bonus provisions out of a bill by Christopher Dodd was done at the behest of Treasury because they feared lawsuits from AIG employees. Geithner sure isn't doing himself any favors.

The greatest deep thought in history....

I wonder how John McCain feels about the right attacking his daughter, and at what point does it come unseemly that he hasn't come out and defended her?

Obama responds to Coach K

Now this is funny....Obama says the coach's response isn't surprising...says 'they don't have the inside game to go all the way.' Is Obama in Duke's head?

NCAA Tourney

A couple of points on the NCAA tourney:

• Watch all the games online for free at CBS Sports..you must use IE.
  
• Duke coach tells Obama to focus on the economy after Obama trashes Duke and picks North Carolina.
  

Morning Whiskey - 03/19/2009 - Day 58

Today is the start of the greatest month in sports....the beginning of the NCAA tourney. Don't miss Barack-etology from last night's open thread.

[BONUS-GATE] - WaPo - The Federal Reserve neglected to tell the Obama Administration about the AIG bonuses for 3 months, with the Obama admin only finding out about them last week. This is an issue because the Fed and the White House are supposed to be sharing everything and working in close concert to fix our economy.
[BIN LADEN] - CNN - The Bush Administration's biggest failure just released another audio recording calling for the armed removal of Somalia's recently elected leader.
[90% TAX] - Fox News - The House is going to vote on a bill today to recoup the AIG and other bonus money paid out to employees of companies who received government money. The plan, which will probably be challenged as unconstitutional, is to tax the individuals who received bonuses at 90%.
[DODD-GATE] - CNN - But Chris Dodd, the person who stripped out a provision in the bill to prevent these bonuses, just came out and said the Obama administration forced him to do it? So who is lying? Dodd or the Fed? Either the White House knew and had the provision stripped, or they didn't know and Dodd is just blaming them for revenge. Dodd originally said on Tuesday he had nothing to do with stripping out the language in the bill. Dodd has received the most money from the banking industry as any elected official.
[BARACK's BRACKET] - Atlantic - The Atlantic looks at what Barack's bracket means politically
[DOLLAR SLIDE] - Bloomberg - After the Fed came out yesterday and said they plan on buying over $1 Trillion in debt to free up lending, i.e. printing money, the dollar is tanking.
[STOP LOSS] - WSJ - The army is phasing out it's deeply unpopular stop-loss program. Currently, about 13,000 soldiers are being kept in the army, and SecDef Gates wants to cut that in half by next year.
[OBAMA v. LENO] - USAToday - Obama is on Leno tonight
[RICHARDSON] - CNN - Bill Richardson, embattled governor of New Mexico, just signed a bill that banned the death penalty in his state.
[KNOCKED UP] - WaPo - The teen pregnancy rate has increased for the second straight year. Apparently the right wing evangelical pull and pray abstinence method doesn't work so well.

The Greatest Open Thread in History - 03/18/2009

What is on your mind tonight? Markets up 2% in another good day that started off terrible? That is pretty good. Obama to hold an evening presser next Tuesday at 8PM? Probably just to talk to the public about the economy and his budget. Do you think his goal is to do as many prime time press conferences which would reach 20-30 million people each time, as Bush did press conferences in his whole 8 years?

UPDATE: Hat tip Haterade.....Barack-Etology - Obama picking his NCAA bracket on ESPN. How about his hilarious comments on Duke? "No. No. Not the whole way." and his comments to UNC? "You let me down last year. Don't embarrass me in front of the nation." Or this...."Air Force One has Directv."

Stocks rallying again

After being down more than 1% in trading all day, the S&P500 has rebounded to be up by almost 2.5% at his moment. What happened? The Federal Reserve announced it would buy up about $300 billion in long term debt, treasury bonds, which will lower the rates for mortgages and all sorts of other kinds of consumer debt. This means more money in people's pockets. The Fed and the Obama Administration, and yes Geithner, continue to give the economy these little jolts. At some point they all add up into a pretty positive picture.

Letting some 'light' in: Obama Frees Science

Just got word that after years of a funding drought, my boss has had his grant funded.....at the original budget requested, not the stripped-down-please-give-us-this-tiny-amount-of-money level! Long live science!

He must be a reader of this blog.....

Barney Frank says that AIG's executives structured their bonuses to insulate themselves because it anticipated huge losses in 2008, which we discuss a few topics back. Frank says that the contracts say that any losses over $225 million won't effect the value of the bonus, effectively protecting all of AIG's executives from losing money. These contracts were written in a highly suspicious manner. Video of Frank's opening statement today:


Sidenote: CNBC says Fannie Mae is set to pay $600k in retention bonuses.

What is wrong with Nancy Pelosi?

She told a group of illegals at a California church that when the U.S. government raids a work site suspected of employing illegal immigrants, it is 'un-American'. Mind you, these illegal immigrants are taking jobs that many poor and unskilled Americans need desperately at this time. That is followed by 'the raids must end. the raids must end.' No. The raids need to be ramped up, because as many of you have said here, if you take away the supply of jobs, our problem with illegal immigration goes away. Companies skirt the law and hire illegals under the table because they know it won't be enforced. It is a sad day when such a powerful figure in our government goes out of her way to undermine it.

Where the AIG money went.....

Here's an excerpt from an article detailing where the $165 million in AIG bonuses went:

• Top AIG bonus recipient received more than than $6.4 million
• Top seven bonus recipients received more than $4 million each
  
• Top 10 bonus recipients received a combined $42 million
  
• 22 individuals received bonuses of $2 million or more, and combined they received more than $72 million
  
• 73 people received bonuses of $1 million or more
• 11 recipients of "retention" bonuses of $1 million or more are no longer working at AIG, including one who received $4.6 million
  
• Employment contracts with AIG bonus recipients had required most individuals' bonuses to be 100 percent of their 2007 bonuses "despite obvious signs that 2008 performance would be disastrous in comparison to the year before."
  

Tell me this: when this whole deal went down, how the hell were the contracts allowed to require 100% of the amount of their 2007 bonuses?? Are you kidding me? Where was Geithner? Where was Congress? What was Paulson's role/benefit? What other deals are floating around out there that are similar? How many more times is Wall Street going to rape us like this?

I hope CEO Liddy gets raked over the coals so bad he's smoking by the end. Hopefully the people we elected to Congress will grow a spine.

"Reconciliation"

The Obama administration is considering taking away the Republican ability to filibuster his budget in the Senate. Budget director Peter Orszag said this has been used on numerous occasions in the past by previous administrations, so it shouldn't come as a surprise. Obviously, the Senate Republicans are going to freak out.

Morning Whiskey - 03/18/2009 - Day 57

[OCALIFORNIA] - Time - Obama is headed to Cali for the next couple of days, culminated in a Tonight Show with Jay Leno(thanks anonymous) appearance tomorrow night.
[OPAKISTAN] - Fox News - Obama is considering widening the war against Al Qaeda and the Taliban in Pakistan, striking farther and deeper than ever before.
[RUSSIAN AGGRESSION] - MT - Russia is trying to float a new world currency idea..i.e..an alternative to U.S. dollars.
[RUSSIAN AGGRESSION] - WSJ - Russia openly said yesterday they will seek a harder line in U.S. - Russian relations.
[REMITTANCES] - WSJ - Illegal immigrants are sending less money from the U.S. back home to where they came from, further crippling Latin American economies. Now it is our job to prop up countries that send their workers here? I don't think so.
[AIDS v. POPE] - CNN - The pope visits Africa, says no to condoms to prevent AIDS, even though condoms drastically reduce infections and the spread of the disease. Good job, religion.
[CHINA OUTLOOK] - WSJ - The World Bank cuts it's outlook for China, even though the Chinese government says they'll grow at an optimistic 8% this year.
[AIG MESS] - Fox News - Geithner says AIG will repay the bonuses. Most likely, we will withold it from the next bailout amount. Chucky T on Morning Joe just said that if the AIG bailout were a government entity, it would be second in size, at $200 billion, to the defense department, basically alluding to the fact that the administration is still trying to figure out what AIG is, and where all the skeletons are. For comparison, the homeland security department is worth $50 billion. AIG has over 100,000 employees and is broken up into about 1000 different companies. The one that brought down the company is in a small office in London, the deritives trading arm.
[IRAN v. IRAQ] - WSJ - Iran is dumping cheap goods into Iraq, which is hurting local economic growth.
[NORTH KOREA] - WSJ - Is this a thawing? North Korea fully opens its border with the South.