Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Awesome new search engine
by Larry Geller
There’s lots of cool stuff on the Internet. Can cool actually become overwhelming?
Try out MSE360 for its speed and visual presentation. Click here for a sample search.
A bailout reader
by Larry Geller
Here are snippets from three alternative bailout plans collected by MR Zine (the Monthly Review Foundation), and one detailed discussion of how other countries have handled their financial crises:
A Bailout We Don't Need
by James K. GalbraithNow that all five big investment banks -- Bear Stearns, Merrill Lynch, Lehman Brothers, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley -- have disappeared or morphed into regular banks, a question arises.
Is this bailout still necessary?
The point of the bailout is to buy assets that are illiquid but not worthless. But regular banks hold assets like that all the time. They're called "loans."
With banks, runs occur only when depositors panic, because they fear the loan book is bad. Deposit insurance takes care of that. So why not eliminate the pointless $100,000 cap on federal deposit insurance and go take inventory? If a bank is solvent, money market funds would flow in, eliminating the need to insure those separately. If it isn't, the FDIC has the bridge bank facility to take care of that.
. . .
Michael Perelman is professor of economics at California State University at Chico, and the author of fifteen books.
An Alternative Bailout Plan
by Michael PerelmanInstead of giving a couple trillion dollars to the financial institutions, how about instituting a financial holiday -- something like what FDR did -- and using the trillions of dollars to create infrastructure and affordable housing?
We could also raise some more money by ending the wars and cutting back military spending.
Some of the money would be left over to create national health care, alternative energy, and tuition support.
If we needed more money beyond that, we could raise taxes. With all the spying on ordinary people, the NSA must certainly know where the fat cats are hiding their money in tax shelters.
. . .
Travis Fast is a political scientist.
Simple Solution to a Financial Crisis
by Travis FastSeeing how the Democrats seem incapable of figuring out the boondoggle Bernake and Paulson are in the process of engineering, I thought I might outline a modest proposal for a fair resolution to the present financial crisis.
Buy two trillion dollar toxic sub-prime at 40 cents on the dollar; disaggregate, repackage and sell back to existing home owner for 50 cents of the original face value. The taxpayer realizes a 25% ROI, and average Joe gets his house for half the price of its originally bloated asking price. That effectively puts a floor on valuations and ensures that those who took the risks suffer the losses.
Maybe the haircut could be a little less severe, say 60 cents and resold at 70 cents for an ROI to the taxpayer of 16.66%. But whatever the discount, the plan covers all the bases: it both socializes the risks and the profits.
The plan can be defended against all criticism by simply repeating the following phrase:
It might be costly but it is less costly than doing nothing.
Dan La Botz is a Cincinnati-based teacher, writer, and activist.
The Financial Crisis:
Will the U.S. Nationalize the Banks?
by Dan La Botz. . .
The political conflict over the Bush administration's plan for a bailout of the banks, brought about both by differences with the Democrats and even more intensely with rightwing Republicans, makes it highly unlikely that Congress will be able to pass a bailout plan that can stabilize the financial situation along the lines that Secretary of the Treasury Henry Paulson originally asked for.
. . .
When Governments Nationalize the BanksIn recent history governments have nationalized banks when the pressures of internationalized financial markets and international competition have made it difficult for them to control and stabilize their finances and currency. During the last couple of decades, countries as different as Mexico, France, Sweden, and Japan carried out partial or more or less complete bank nationalizations to regain control of the financial situation.
Japan's experience more than a decade ago was much like that of the United States in many ways. After a period of great productivity and prosperity in the 1980s, in the early 1990s, Japan's housing bubble burst, leaving Japanese banks holding sheaves of bad loans. The Japanese housing boom collapsed just as China began to become an export competitor.1 After neglecting the problem for some time the Japanese government intervened, spending $440 billion dollars of its taxpayers' money to nationalize the weakest banks, infuse capital into the stronger banks, and to protect depositors.2 Japanese banks were required to create a Business Revitalization Plan, at the center of which was a capital/asset ratio. Some economists and journalists have suggested that Japan's solution -- partial nationalization and partial financial support for private banks -- could provide a model for the United States in the current crisis.
. . .
Bailouts, markets, and socialism
by Larry Geller
The USA is not collapsing despite the current Wall Street crisis. When the Soviet Union actually did collapse, people could still buy bread, and when they went to work they still were paid. This is because a directed (“socialist”) economy was good at structure. Farms and factories just kept grinding away, according to plan. So at the bottom levels of society safety nets and in fact normal life could continue, even as the upper levels of government were disintegrating. This is a generality, but I think it fairly describes the situation for a time after the end of the empire.
Without even coming near collapse, here in America, homes, jobs, savings, retirements, everything to do with the average person, is at risk of stopping due to corporate greed.
Food prices are up, gasoline is soaring, life is getting tough. People are losing their health insurance, adding to the numbers of those already uninsured. And no, we’re not collapsing, the stock market, despite its ups and downs, is alive and well. CEOs are making fabulous incomes. Politicians have no problem collecting obscene campaign contributions. It may be that the banks will be bailed out, even as ordinary people lose their homes and livelihoods.
Some, particularly Republican congresspeople, have blasted the proposed bailout bill as “socialism,” implying that it’s a bad thing. To the extent that jobs on Wall Street may be preserved, it’s socialism, but for everyone else, it’s capitalism as usual.
We couldn’t be doing something more opposite to socialism. We’re extending welfare to corporations while people starve.
Just my two cents worth. Can’t do anything else with two cents these days.
Caveat emptor--Educating Hewlett-Packard Tech Support
by Larry Geller
Sheesh. If I hear one more HP tech support person ask me to “make a copy on your machine” (one of those all-in-ones), I feel I might pick the thing up, and still connected to my HP computer, throw the lot out the window so he/she can hear it crash loudly into a thousand pieces on the concrete below.
I’ve spent a total of about nine hours, I think, educating them (this time). When I call back, or when they call me, starting over from scratch is not helpful. My Officejet Pro L7555 seems not to be a bargain after all. It was cheap at Costco, but if I put any reasonable valuation on my time, it has turned out to be a very expensive machine.
And it’s not running yet.
Yesterday, using the remote help feature where they help you out from New Delhi by sharing your screen, I watched as the technician deleted all my printer drivers—not just the Officejet drivers, but all the pdf drivers, the Microsoft document drivers, everything. It all happened before I could grab the mouse to stop him. And he was a “supervisor” of some sort, too. Afterwards, he said, “you don’t need those.”
He crippled my machine. Nothing would run. I couldn’t even open Microsoft Word.
And guess what—when I called back (the line dropped after he deleted my drivers), they say they can’t connect me to the same person. Even though only that person knows what he did to my registry and files. Oh, and could I please see if my machine can make a copy?
This is only the latest episode. I document it here in case you are thinking of buying a reasonably-priced HP product. They are fancy, they seem to do a lot for the money, but beware of the Tech Support Trap. You could be lucky, or, in order to get it working on your new Vista system, your cost in time and frustration may be many times the cost of the machine. Are you a professional? How much is three or more hours of your time worth?
And you’ll have to educate each new technician, because HP has not.
May Google share this post with 10,000 potential HP customers. And with that tech support “supervisor” who got me into this mess. And no, system restore has not worked.
In fact, I found the IP address conflict that was part of the problem, not them. You can know what you’re doing and they can still put you out of commission.
This afternoon I will spend restoring my system. The Officejet is still not working with it (works fine on another computer). I will call HP. Why? Because stupidly I threw away the box and so I don’t think I can return it to Costco. I’m at HP’s mercy for the moment.
There’s another caveat: it’s good to buy from Costco where you have 90 days to waste your time with HP tech support before returning it. Save the box, and save your receipt. Don’t lose the disks. Be prepared to cut your losses and send it back.
Grrrr. Google, Yahoo, find this message and spread the word. Maybe HP will notice and fix their tech support.
Public protests over the bailout continue even if the papers won’t report it
by Larry Geller
What your newspaper won’t tell you is that protests continue on Wall Street and elsewhere against Congress’ unpopular bailout plan. For example:
Unions Protest Against Wall Street Bailout
Opposition on Main Street to the federal bailout continues to mount. On Monday, labor unions held another rally on Wall Street. Speakers include Ed Ott of the New York City Labor Council.
Ed Ott: “It was irresponsible what was done here. And if we put it back together, we want assurances that someone is going to watch the till. For twenty-five years, both parties have been complicit in undermining our protections, under the guise of deregulation. They have now cost us tens of thousands of jobs. It is unacceptable.” [Democracy Now, 9/30/2008]
The Bush administration and congressional leaders are hard at work planning the next version of the bill.
Will it contain provisions re-regulating banks and investment firms?
Will it allow people facing foreclosure to retain their homes?
Will it provide appropriate punishment to firms and CEOs who caused this mess with their greed and risky bets against homeowners (instead of rewarding them)?
If Congress would draft a bill that provided benefits and protections to taxpayers, protest would likely melt and Wall Street could recover in a sane, rational manner.
To support the current bailout process is a form of insanity without re-regulation and protections. IMHO and apparently many, many others.
It’s business as usual between Wall Street and Congress, by the way. In closing, here’s an interesting corollary:
Finance Sector Gave 51 Percent More to House Bailout Backers
The Center for Responsive Politics is reporting members of the House of Representatives who supported bailing out the financial sector have received 51 percent more in campaign contributions from the finance, insurance and real estate sector in their congressional careers than those who opposed the emergency legislation. [Democracy Now, 9/30/2008]
In effect, Wall Street is trying to bribe its way to a bailout. No need to pay now, they’ve been paying all along (and will, of course, continue to fund their supporters in government).
Second Superferry oozes into the water at Austal’s Mobile Alabama shipyard
by Larry Geller
This time potential military use is admitted up front:
At 113 meters (373 feet) long, the vessel launched Monday is 6 meters (19.8 feet) longer than Alakai, thanks to a ramp Austal added to its stern, making it suitable for military use. Industry watchers have said leasing the vessel to the military is a possibility, though the company said it is sticking by its plan to operate it commercially. [Alabama Press Register, Austal turns out second Hawaii Superferry, 9/30/2008]
The article has a capsule history of the first Superferry but mistakenly reports that it is operating between Oahu, Maui and Kauai.
Another article includes more detailed technical information, particularly on the engines.
Maui attorney Lance Collins breaks through Attorney General’s veil of secrecy
by Larry Geller
The Lingle administration has been emulating the secrecy policy of her mentor, GW Bush, and has kept a lid on Attorney General opinions given to state agencies. The number released to the public is reported to be way down when compared to the number her predecessors released.
The opinions are withheld with a claim of “attorney-client privilege.”
But this hides the operation of a state agency from the public whom they serve. In the Akaku case, it’s hard to go up against an opinion that no one is allowed to see.
Maui attorney Lance Collins has achieved a breakthrough. An opinion received today from Circuit Judge Joel August will break loose an AG opinion on whether or not the public access TV contracts must go out to public bidding. He gave the state until November 15 to get a copy of the opinion to him for his review.
Aside from its value to Akaku, to the other public access providers and to those who have supported them with hundreds of individual testimonies, the judge’s opinion may result in the AG having to file (and therefore make available) many of the other opinions that it has refused to share with the public.
You can read the opinion here. It’s a short (13 pages) pdf file. In a nutshell:
Based on the record and the Findings of Fact and the Conclusions of Law, the Court
Grants Plaintiff AKAKU; MAUI COMMUNITY TELEVISION'S Motion for Summary Judgment, in part, against Defendants MARK BENNETT and LAWRENCE REIFURTH. Defendants must submit the opinion letter for in camera review by November 15, 2008. The Court reserves the right to redact portions of the opinion letter which are either protected by the attorney-client privilege or should be kept confidential to avoid the frustration of a legitimate government function. After its in camera review and redaction, if any, the opinion letter will be issued in a subsequent order,
Lance Collin’s success in this case is certainly a victory for Akaku and the people of Hawaii who value their public access TV. It may be useful also for other organizations that have been stonewalled by secret AG opinions.
Monday, September 29, 2008
Please call Obama’s Hawaii HQ and fight the bailout
by Larry Geller
Ok, here’s the number that I couldn’t find before. Obama’s Hawaii HQ doesn’t list a phone number on their website, but someone called me with it:
Obama Hawaii HQ: 593-9757
It works, I just made my phone call. Please make yours!
And the New York Times seems to agree with me that representatives are afraid of us because they are up for election:
Among opponents of the rescue plan, some Republicans cited ideological objections to government intervention, and liberal Democrats said they were of no mind to race to aid Wall Street tycoons. Other critics complained about haste and secrecy in assembling the plan.
But lawmakers on both sides pointed to an outpouring of opposition from deeply hostile constituents just five weeks before every seat in the House was up for election as a fundamental reason that the measure was defeated. House members in potentially tough races and those seeking Senate seats fled from the plan in droves.
So for a change they are listening! To us deeply hostile constituents! Amazing.
Feel your power. Call now.
What to say when you call? Probably you get an answering machine, so not to worry. Say anything you like. You could say:
I don’t think this bailout bill is a good idea, tell Obama not to support it.
You don’t want Congress to pass any bill like this one, that uses taxpayer money to pay back the banks and investment firms for their bad bets.
You don’t want any bill passed that does not protect homeowners and stop foreclosures.
You could ask Obama to support voters instead of the big money financial firms.
Tell him you don’t want Paulson to make himself rich over this crisis which he helped create.
Or try something like others have said:
“I am hoping Congress can find the backbone to stand on their feet and not their knees before BIG BUSINESS,” one correspondent wrote to Representative Jim McDermott of Washington.
“NO BAILOUT, I am a registered republican,” one constituent wrote. “I will vote and campaign hard against you if we have to subsidize the very people that have sold out MY COUNTRY.”
“The last time that Congress hurriedly passed legislation that the administration presented as ‘urgent’ we got the Patriot Act, with its mix of necessary reforms and onerous civil rights abuses,” one of Senator Brown’s constituents wrote. “Do not fall into this trap again.”
(from a NY Times article)
Yes, we can make a difference. Please call today and leave a message.
And thank you!
Democrats supported bailout, fearful Republicans opposed
by Larry Geller
The vote on the bailout bill was interesting. A majority of Democrats supported it, but a majority of Republicans opposed. Here’s a description of the tug-of-war from the BBC:
Members of Congress have been dealing with two powerful conflicting forces over the last week.
The first was remorseless pressure from the White House - the argument that the country faced a crisis so profound that unless they approved the government's plans, American capitalism would grind to a halt as funds flowing between the banks began to dry up.
But the second pressure which is much harder to measure came from ordinary voters writing or emailing their own members of Congress angrily demanding that they reject a scheme which is universally perceived here as a bail-out of Wall Street bankers.
They are perceived as greedy, incompetent fat cats who have created this crisis themselves and who are now being allowed to pick the pockets of American voters to fix it.
So why did Democrats support and Republicans oppose? There are certainly multiple reasons. The one that hasn’t been given enough credit in the commercial press is this one: Democrats felt secure in getting re-elected, Republicans are not so sure. The public, at least those contacting Congress, are so firmly opposed to this that I suggest the Republicans were afraid of losing seats in November.
Still, we need to keep vigilant. You never know what they will try next.
Finding how your representative voted on the bailout bill
by Larry Geller
You were looking for this bill that they are debating in Congress, that just failed, perhaps to see how your congressperson voted?
It’s hard to find. It’s correct title is:
“HR3997 PROVIDING FOR CONSIDERATION OF THE SENATE AMENDMENT TO THE BILL (H.R. 3997) TO AMEND THE INTERNAL REVENUE CODE OF 1986 TO PROVIDE EARNINGS ASSISTANCE AND TAX RELIEF TO MEMBERS OF THE UNIFORMED SERVICES, VOLUNTEER FIREFIGHTERS, AND PEACE CORPS VOLUNTEERS, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES”
The relief measure is contained in an amendment. See House Report 110-903 located here.
The roll call vote is #674, and it is here.
Your phone calls did the trick—House rejects bailout
by Larry Geller
You called, you emailed, and the House today rejected the bad, bad bailout bill.
He [Rep. Neil Abercrombie] said that of the nearly 1,500 people who called, faxed or e-mailed his offices in Honolulu and Washington, only 11 people supported the bailout plan. [Honolulu Advertiser, Abercrombie, Hirono both vote no on bailout, 9/29/2008]
Why isn’t this man smiling?
Both House leadership and the Bush administration were confounded by resistance to passing the controversial $700 billion bailout bill.
The measure, which is designed to get battered U.S. credit markets working normally again, needed 218 votes for passage. But it came up 13 votes short of that target, as the final vote was 228 to 205 against. About 60% of Democrats and fewer than 33% of Republicans voted for the measure. [cnnmoney.com, Bailout plan rejected - supporters scramble, 9/29/2008]
Many bloggers, advocacy groups and even Michael Moore urged ordinary people to contact their congressional representatives and oppose the bailout as it is now formulated. In a huge e-mailing, Moore said:
NOTHING in this "bailout" package will lower the price of the gas you have to put in your car to get to work. NOTHING in this bill will protect you from losing your home. NOTHING in this bill will give you health insurance.
As long as he said it, let me interject his next two paragraphs, which link healthcare to the financial crisis:
Health insurance? Mike, why are you bringing this up? What's this got to do with the Wall Street collapse?
It has everything to do with it. This so-called "collapse" was triggered by the massive defaulting and foreclosures going on with people's home mortgages. Do you know why so many Americans are losing their homes? To hear the Republicans describe it, it's because too many working class idiots were given mortgages that they really couldn't afford. Here's the truth: The number one cause of people declaring bankruptcy is because of medical bills . Let me state this simply: If we had had universal health coverage, this mortgage "crisis" may never have happened.
Relief for individuals was taken out of the bill. Dennis Kucinich snitched on the Democratic Caucus in his interview with Amy Goodman on Democracy Now this morning:
AMY GOODMAN: Congressman Kucinich, can you explain how it is that the Democrats are in charge, yet the Democrats back down on their demand to give bankruptcy judges authority to alter the terms of mortgages for homeowners facing foreclosure, that Democrats also failed in their attempt to steer a portion of any government profits from the package to affordable housing programs?
REP. DENNIS KUCINICH: Well, I mean, those are two of the most glaring deficiencies in this bill. And I would maintain there was never any intention to—you know, well, many members of Congress had the intention of helping people who were in foreclosure. You know, this—Wall Street doesn’t want to do that. Wall Street wants to grab whatever change they can and equity that’s left in these properties. So—
AMY GOODMAN: Right, but the Democrats are in charge of this.
REP. DENNIS KUCINICH: Right. You know, I’ll tell you something that we were told in our caucus. We were told that our presidential candidate, when the negotiations started at the White House, said that he didn’t want this in this bill. Now, that’s what we were told.
AMY GOODMAN: You were told that Barack Obama did not want this in the bill?
REP. DENNIS KUCINICH: That he didn’t want the bankruptcy provisions in the bill. Now, you know, that’s what we were told. And I don’t understand why he would say that, if he did say that. And I think that there is a—the fact that we didn’t put bankruptcy provisions in, that actually we removed any hope for judges to do any loan modifications or any forbearance. There’s no moratorium on mortgage foreclosures in here. So, who’s getting—who’s really getting helped by this bill? This is a bailout, pure and simple, of Wall Street interests who have been involved in speculation.
And I don’t, for the life of me, understand why this is going to do anything to address the underlying problems in the economy, which actually had to do with the recklessness. This is what the president of the Federal Reserve Bank in Dallas said, that—and, you know, I might have the actual quote here. Listen to this quote: he said, “The seizures and convulsions we’ve experienced in the debt and equity markets have been the consequences of a sustained orgy of excess and reckless behavior, not a too tight monetary policy.” This is the Dallas Federal Reserve Bank president, Richard Fisher.
So, you know, we’re getting stampeded here to vote for something that doesn’t help homeowners, that doesn’t do anything about foreclosures, that doesn’t help those people who have been in bankruptcy and are looking for a way out. As a matter of fact, it made sure they can’t get out. So, who’s this for? It’s for speculators. It’s to play a game that provides some temporary help in the market, and, you know, you might see an uptick today if this passes the House. On the other hand, if it doesn’t, we need to be ready to find a way for Wall Street to address its problems without having to tap the increasingly diminishing resources of the federal taxpayers.
I would like to suggest one more call I’d like you to make. Please contact the Obama campaign. Their email form is here. Or email them at Hawaii@BarackObama.com. (I can’t find a phone number for the Obama campaign in Hawaii—does anyone have it?) Tell them that people’s homes must be protected, and the bankruptcy provisions and other protections must be included in any bailout bill.
Sheesh. Are we back to choosing the lessor of two evils again? Get Obama on the right track, please call.
The Associated Press understated public opposition to the bailout plan. In the article chosen for today’s Advertiser lead story, we find only
Lawmakers had to navigate between angry voters with little regard for Wall Street and administration officials who warned that inaction would cause the economy to seize up and spiral into recession.
“Angry voters with little regard for Wall Street?” Give me a break. It’s a government that has little regard for voters. It’s not only average people who objected:
Senator Richard Shelby went to the White House armed with a letter. The letter is signed by 200 economists, including three Nobel Prize winners, and warns Congress not to back the bailout. [ABC, Chicago area economists lead opposition to bailout, 9/25/2008]
For up-to-the minute news and the occasional action alert, keep on surfin’. The real news is out there if you look for it.
(please consider also supporting Democracy Now so that they can continue their great work.)
If you want to go further, here’s the list of congressional contacts again, it wouldn’t hurt to call them again and ask them to include protections for taxpayers and homeowners in any future bill:
Sen. Daniel Inouye:
Honolulu Office:
300 Ala Moana Boulevard, #7-212
Honolulu, Hawaii 96850
Phone: (808) 541-2542
Fax: (808) 541-2549
Hilo Office:
101 Aupuni Street, #205
Hilo, Hawaii 96720
Phone: (808) 935-0844
Fax: (808) 961-5163
Wailuku Office:
24 North Church Street, #407
Wailuku, Hawaii 96793
Phone: (808) 242-9702
Fax: (808) 242-7233
Kaunakakai Office:
PO Box 573
Kaunakakai, Hawaii 96748
Phone: (808) 642-0203
Fax: (808) 560-3385
Lihue Office:
1840 A Leleiona Street
Lihue, Hawaii 96766
Phone: (808) 245-4611
Fax: (808) 246-9515
Kealakekua Office:
PO Box 4l
Kealakekua, Hawaii 96750
Phone: (808) 935-0844
Fax: (808) 961-5163
Mililani Office:
94-403 Punono Street
Mililani, Hawaii 96789
Phone: (808) 623-8334
Fax:
Sen. Daniel Akaka
Honolulu Office:
300 Ala Moana Boulevard, Room 3-106
Honolulu, Hawaii 96850
Phone: (808) 522-8970
Fax: (808) 545-4683
Hilo Office:
101 Aupuni Street, #213
Hilo, Hawaii 96720
Phone: (808) 935-1114
Fax: (808) 935-9064
Rep. Neil Abercrombie
Honolulu Office:
300 Ala Moana Boulevard, #4-104
Honolulu, Hawaii 96850
Phone: (808) 541-2570
Fax: (808) 533-0133
Rep. Mazie Hirono
Honolulu Office:
5-104 Prince Kuhio Bldg., 300 Ala Moana Boulevard
Honolulu, Hawaii 96813
Phone: (808) 541-1986
Fax: (808) 538-0233
Sunday, September 28, 2008
Tina Fey for VP
by Larry Geller
I’ll get to more serious stuff later (though the possibility that Sarah Palin could one day be president is pretty darn serious and scary). My time is being stolen away by HP technical support this weekend.
Last night Tina Fey did a darn good job, IMHO, in her mock interview with Amy Poehler.
I was amazed at how much like Palin Fey looked. If Palin should become VP (or Yikes!, president), and needs to rush out to check on the kids, Fey could substitute for her and no one might know.
It’s possible that Fey put more study time into her appearance than Palin did for her debacle with Katie Couric. She might have been reading lines from a screen off-camera because her eye were focused intently forward. She looked straight at Poehler as she answered. If you check the video of the genuine Palin, her eyes hinted that she was grasping to remember (if you follow or believe in NLP you probably got that).
I was also impressed that Fey could use Palin’s actual words so effectively for the spoof. I liked this setup in particular: Fey/Palin was asked about how she would promote democratic values overseas, and responded, "Katie, I'd like to use one of my lifelines. I want to phone a friend." But that wasn’t allowed, so came the reality quote: "Well, in that case, I'm just gonna have to get back to ya."
Here is the second, followed by the first SNL Palin skit, in case you missed it or want to send them to someone.
Friday, September 26, 2008
Thanks for your phone calls on bailout
by Larry Geller
Hawaii's Congressional delegates bombarded by anti-bailout calls, e-mails
I’m sure at least a couple of those calls came from Disappeared News readers. Thank you!
Charges still pending against independent journalists after RNC
by Larry Geller
This comment was posted today to my article, St. Paul promises to drop charges against 40 journalists including Amy Goodman, and deserves prime time exposure:
Charges against Portland Indymedia journalists have not been dropped. Portland Indymedia videographers Wendy Binion and Alex Lilly, as of Monday 22nd, are still facing charges and are "under investigation". Wendy Binion (videographer) is facing felony conspiracy to riot charges(the charges being dropped are misdemeanors). She was arrested in a park on her way to use a restroom after filming key note speakers(before the permitted march even started). She was clearly marked as Press with a press pass and clearly covered in media equipment. Her arm was fractured in her arrest even though she was shouting "I am press. I am not resisting". Alex Lilly(videographer & artist), as well as members of Glass Bead Media, are currently working on a documentary film in St Paul about the RNC and as a result are still under heavy surveillance and subject to harassment including raids and excessive detainment. There may be other independent journalists still facing charges and similar harassment. Please do not forget them.
Indeed we should not forget them. We cannot let police be selective in who they will allow to cover public events. I’m copying the Portland Indymedia message to a few organizations that have been supportive, and hope that a renewed campaign can be mounted to get all charges dropped against journalists and end police harassment.
Another debate opportunity for online media multitaskers
by Larry Geller
Ok, if you’re a real multitasker you’ll be watching the debate in one window of your computer screen, have another open to FactCheck’s live expose of lies/distortions, and now you can give your own feedback in a third window.
Rate the Debates is all set to take your input:
A citizen-driven guide to better media coverage of the issues that matter most
While anchors and pundits concentrate on how to spin the candidates' performances in the upcoming debates, Free Press and the Tyndall Report want you to rate the media themselves. We have created a "Citizens Media Scorecard" so viewers can respond in real-time to the performance of the debate moderators.
. . .
Debates are marquee media moments in American elections. The few journalists selected to participate -- and the media narrative that follows -- play a major role in determining our next president. Don't miss this rare opportunity to hold our future leaders -- and the media who cover them -- accountable.
Factcheck.org to live blog tonight’s debate
by Larry Geller
McCain has made multiple false representations of Obama's tax proposals. Obama has made false claims about McCain's stance on Social Security. Both McCain and Obama have traded some whoppers about their energy policies, about Iraq, and about Iran, and about supporting troops. [factcheck.org, The Whoppers of 2008, 9/25/2008]
It might be interesting to print a copy of the printer-friendly version of the above article and keep it handy during tonight’s debate, just in case the whoppers are repeated.
Or, if your computer is near your TV, follow along with The FactCheck Wire. Many browsers let you right-click and set the page refresh interval down to even a few seconds.
From their email:
If the candidates try to recycle old, misleading claims in new, misleading ways or distill complicated issues into deceptive sound bites, we’ll be on top of it.
Palin pales, Couric shines, Lingle leaves, McCain returns
by Larry Geller
The CBS Palin interviews only get better worse.
From today’s Democracy Now, after a short clip of the Katie Couric interview with Palin that was played on the Early Show:
AMY GOODMAN: Republican vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin on CBS. Paul Krugman, your response?
PAUL KRUGMAN: You know, I’m sorry, but, you know, I am a college teacher, and that sounds like nothing so much as a freshman who hasn’t actually done any of the—read any of the readings and is confronted with an essay question on the exam, and so he throws in sort of random paragraphs of stuff that he thinks kind of sounds like economics. That was incredible. That was totally incoherent.
In this YouTube clip, at least she promises to do some homework afterwards:
You’d think that Palin would have received a crash course in economics, foreign policy, and anything else a vice president might need to know before her handlers let her speak to a reporter again.
After watching this, I’d advise John McCain to drop Sarah from the ticket and choose Katie Couric instead. It’s not my original idea, it’s a repeated theme in comments on the video. Couric may get a boost from this interview, McCain may get sick.
Lingle leaves to join the circus
Linda Lingle left last night:
Hawaii Governor Linda Lingle was on her way to the mainland Thursday night where she will be campaigning for the Repuclican presidential ticket. Hawaii Democrats claim Lingle is leaving just when Hawaii needs her most, during a time of economic turmoil.
Lingle is not scheduled to return until October 7. Island Democrats say 12 days is too long for her to be gone. The claim Hawaii's Republican Governor should be at home working to improve the state's crumbling economy. [KGMB, Dems Criticize Lingle Campaign Trip, 9/25/2008]
The article mentions Lingle positions that differ from McCain/Palin’s. But we know why she is going. It’s not for McCain, it’s for LIngle.
Also so Corky’s cartoon in today’s Star-Bulletin.
McCain comes back from not not campaigning
The word is out that McCain has decided to participate in tonight’s debate. As the alternative media has noted, the Republican campaign never stopped, so he’s just keeping to his schedule on this one.
Perhaps the debate will be able to compete for viewer attention with CBS’s next release of Palin interviews.
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Lying 101: How to run a campaign while saying it is suspended
by Larry Geller
How do you know Bush is lying? His lips are moving. An old joke (sorry), and in the case of GW Bush, not so funny. Strangely, it doesn’t seem to matter to a large chunk of the American people whether he lies all the time or not, nor is the press willing to use the L-word.
That’s important to know. Get to be president and anything you say is just fine. Why wait. Start now. It must take some special talent to be able to lie so easily.
And so we have fact-check websites and watchdog groups. They pounce on and catalog the lies. Good thing, too, because otherwise we might not know.
McCain is practicing up. He said, and I’m sure many people believe, that he won’t participate in the debate Friday night and has suspended his campaign, as he said, until the economic crisis is resolved.
"Tomorrow morning, I will suspend my campaign and return to Washington after speaking at the Clinton Global Initiative. I have spoken to Sen. Obama and informed him of my decision and have asked him to join me." [yahoonews.com, 9/25/2008]
Except that he did no such thing, as several news sources report:
McCain said on Wednesday he was "suspending" his campaign to return to Washington for the negotiations. But he gave a speech in New York on Thursday, continued airing ads and sent his vice presidential nominee, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, and surrogates out on the campaign trail. [Reuters, Stage is set but will U.S. debate go on?, 9/26/2008]
Elsewhere, there were other signs that the presidential campaign was very much in swing.
Trailed by camera crews and reporters, Palin visited the former World Trade Center site in Manhattan to tour a museum built as a tribute to the victims of the 9/11 attacks.
McCain's campaign website still allowed supporters to volunteer or contribute. His national headquarters in Arlington, Va., as well as local, state and regional field offices remained open. And on Capitol Hill, McCain was joined by his senior campaign team, including strategist Steve Schmidt, campaign manager Rick Davis, aide Mark Salter and policy advisor Douglas Holtz-Eakin. [LA Times, Obama and McCain fail to spur financial bailout deal, 9/26/2008]
A funny one:
On Morning Joe, Nicolle Wallace, senior adviser to Sen. John McCain's campaign, stated that "our campaign is suspended" pending agreement on legislation to address the country's current financial situation, and later accused Sen. Barack Obama of having "done exactly zero" to produce bipartisan legislation. Hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski did not ask Wallace to reconcile her appearance and her attack on Obama with her claim that McCain's campaign is "suspended." [mediamatters.org,9/25/2008]
If Obama hopes to be president, can he do it without learning this special skill?
Brooklyn cops tase and kill a mentally ill man
by Larry Geller
New York Times, Brooklyn Man Dies After Police Use a Taser Gun, 9/24/2008
This man was no threat to the police. He was obviously mentally ill and (as it turned out, off his meds).
The cops had Tasers. They used one on him. He’s dead. See pics in this story:
Police fired a Taser at a naked Brooklyn man armed with only a fluorescent light tube yesterday, sending him falling to his death from a second-floor ledge after he went on a 40-minute rant.
Iman Morales' mom begged cops not to hurt her son, telling them he's sick - then watched in horror as he plunged from the top of the roll-down gate on which he'd been perched.
An Emergency Services officer, acting on the orders of his boss, fired at the 35-year-old man at around 2 p.m., as he waved the 8-foot fluorescent light tube, police sources said. [New York Post, Cops in nude taser slay, 9/24/2008]
According to an eyewitness report aired on radio station WBAI this evening, police at the top of the building were preparing to let down the fire escape ladder to the street so that the man could continue walking downwards. But then the police on the sidewalk tased him.
There will be an investigation, and predictably, no cop will be convicted of anything.
I’m still hoping to get the video of Honolulu police tasing a man with possible mental health issues. We either pay attention to each situation or the police will be more and more casual with the use of these weapons. And yes, they can kill, either from the jolt of electricity itself, or from a fall, as apparently in the Brooklyn situation.
What to do instead of a bialout
by Larry Geller
There are actually a number of suggestions put forth by a number of organizations that you can find circulating around. Here is one published in the New Labor Forum and posted here. It begins:
This mortgage crisis was preventable. Like most economic problems, it was due to corporate greed. Top executives at major banks, mortgage companies, and rating agencies saw an opportunity to increase corporate income and their own compensation by engaging in risky practices. In the short term, their personal compensation was not connected to corporate performance, so they could get away with irresponsible behavior.
If you scroll way down, there is a proposal that seems reasonable to me:
The entire financial and housing food chain -brokers, appraisers, mortgage companies, bankers, investors, and credit agencies-participated in this greedy shell game. Some of what they did was illegal. But most of it was simply business as usual.
The Job for the Next Congress
So, what to do now?
Washington needs to put a short-term tourniquet on the banking industry to stem the damage, and to get back into the business of protecting consumers, employees, and investors from corporate greed.
First, the federal government should help homeowners who have already lost their homes or are at risk of foreclosure. It should create an agency comparable to the Depression-era's Home Owners' Loan Corporation (HOLC), buy the mortgages, and remake the loans at reasonable rates, backed by federal insurance. Created in 1933, the HOLC helped distressed families avert foreclosures by replacing mortgages that were in or near default with new ones that homeowners could afford. A modern version of the HOLC would focus on owner-occupied homes, not homes purchased by absentee speculators.
Second, Washington should not bail out any investors or banks, including Bear Stearns and its suitor, JP Morgan, that do not agree to these new ground rules. The Fed brokered the deal between Bear Stearns and JP Morgan without any conditions for the consumers who were ripped off. There will be more Bear Stearns-like failures in the foreseeable future-institutions that the Fed considers "too big to fail." But if the federal government is about to provide hundreds of billions from the Federal Reserve, as well as from Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and the Federal Home Loan Banks, to prop up Wall Street institutions, it should require the industry to be held accountable for its misdeeds. Specifically, such lenders should agree to underwrite all loans for the full terms of the loan, not just for the initial teaser rate (this should apply to originators and purchasers), eliminate all pre-payment penalties, and recommend loan products that are suitable and in the financial interests of borrowers.
Third, Washington should consolidate the crazy-quilt of federal agencies that oversee banks and financial institutions into one agency. Federal oversight has not kept pace with the dramatic transformation of the financial services industry. Four federal agencies-the Federal Reserve, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the Office of Thrift Supervision, and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation-have some jurisdiction over mortgage lending. States have jurisdiction over the growing number of non-bank mortgage lenders (which accounted for about 40 percent of new subprime loans) and have no agreed-upon standards for regulating them. States are responsible for regulating the insurance industry (including homeowner insurance), and do so with widely different levels of effectiveness. It is absurd to have so many competing and overlapping agencies involved in regulating these financial services institutions, often at cross purposes.
Fourth, the federal government should be a financial services industry watchdog, not a lapdog. Part of that effort involves supporting (financially and otherwise) initiatives currently being implemented or proposed by several advocacy groups.
The Community Reinvestment Act (CRA), a federal ban on redlining, should be strengthened to sanction institutions that engage in predatory practices and to reward those that engage in responsible lending. The CRA now applies only to federally-chartered depositories (e.g. banks and thrifts). This statute should be expanded to cover credit unions, independent mortgage bankers, insurers, and other entities that now account for well over half of all mortgage loans. The Community Reinvestment Modernization Act of 2007, introduced by Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX) and Luis Gutierrez (D-IL) would accomplish this objective. In addition, the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA), which facilitates enforcement of the CRA, should be expanded to include pricing information on all loans.
A strong national anti-predatory lending law should also be enacted. Currently 36 states and Washington, D.C., along with 17 other local jurisdictions have such laws, leaving most consumers in other states less protected. Again, this statute should apply to those who originate loans and those who purchase loans and mortgage-backed securities for investment purposes.
As of this writing (May 2008), the Fed had issued proposed regulations and Congress has debated several bills to address the immediate foreclosure problems and mitigate their recurrence, but so far no final regulations have been issued and no legislation has been passed.
Congressman Barney Frank and Senator Chris Dodd (chair of the Senate Banking Committee) introduced legislation to address some but not all of these concerns. In May, the House voted 266-154 in favor of Frank's bill. Although the vote went mostly along partisan lines-all 227 Democrats voted "yes" and 154 Republicans voted "no"-39 Republicans bucked pressure from their party leaders and from the White House and voted "yes." (Thirteen members didn't vote.) Most of the Republicans who supported the bill represent districts that have been particularly hard-hit by the mortgage meltdown. The bill would allow homeowners to shift from subprime mortgages they can no longer afford to federally backed mortgages. It would provide $300 billion in federal loan guarantees to lenders who agree to reduce the outstanding principal on loans. In exchange for a new mortgage, backed by the FHA, homeowners must share profits on a subsequent sale of their home with the government. The bill also includes a one-time $7,500 tax credit for new homeowners to be paid back over 15 years, and $15 billion for states and localities to buy and rehabilitate foreclosed properties.
Frustrated with the delayed federal response, many states have acted on their own. Nine states have created refinance funds to help borrowers avoid foreclosure. Ten have banned or limited pre-payment penalties. Twenty have created consumer counseling programs. Nine require lenders to represent the interests of borrowers. And 14 states have created foreclosure task forces bringing together lenders, consumers, regulators, and other experts to develop solutions.
There is a critical role for state and local governments to play. But an effective, comprehensive solution will require a far more active federal government.
They just made up that number, and don’t you laugh, they are serious about it
by Larry Geller
More web gems.
You’ve seen a certain number several times over the past couple of days: 700 billion dollars. Where did that come from exactly?
We poor sheep aren’t in a position to question those guys in Washington, we just go by what we read or watch on TV. Everyone seems to say a fix will cost taxpayers $700 billion. At least.
Forbes asked about the number, though:
In fact, some of the most basic details, including the $700 billion figure Treasury would use to buy up bad debt, are fuzzy.
"It's not based on any particular data point," a Treasury spokeswoman told Forbes.com Tuesday. "We just wanted to choose a really large number."
Wow. If it wants to see a bailout bill passed soon, the administration's going to have to come up with some hard answers to hard questions. Public support for it already seems to be waning. According to a Rasmussen Reports poll released Tuesday, 44% of those surveyed oppose the administration's plan, up from 37% Monday.
"We just wanted to choose a really large number."
You didn’t miss that, I know. I just wanted to repeat it in bold face type. Surreal.
Public support has slipped further, I understand, though I don’t know if the polls are to be believed.
Now, if that number was simply made up, then Congress won’t have to agree to anything like it. I assume they read Forbes.
Keep on surfin’ the web, that’s where the info seems to be.
Disappeared debate—will McCain show?
by Larry Geller
Just lightweight stuff today. I just liked the cartoon in this article:
Click here to go to the Christian Science Monitor article.
Palin clarifies her Russian foreign policy experience
by Larry Geller
This is not disappeared news, but maybe McCain wishes it would be…
Update: I found this New York Times article with a transcript of the interview (and more, click and read).
On the “CBS Evening News” on Thursday, Katie Couric asked Ms. Palin, Senator John McCain’s running mate, what she meant when she cited Alaska’s proximity to Russia as foreign affairs experience. Ms. Palin could have anticipated the question — the topic of their interview, pegged to her visit to the United Nations, was foreign affairs. Yet Ms. Palin’s answer was surprisingly wobbly: her words tumbled out fast and choppily, like an outboard motor loosened from the stern.
“That Alaska has a very narrow maritime border between a foreign country, Russia, and on our other side, the land — boundary that we have with — Canada,” she replied. She mentioned the jokes made at her expense and seemed for a moment at a loss for the word “caricature.” “It — it’s funny that a comment like that was — kind of made to — cari — I don’t know, you know? Reporters —”
Ms. Couric stepped in. “Mocked?” Ms. Palin looked relieved and even grateful for the help. “Yeah, mocked, I guess that’s the word, yeah.”
Ms. Couric pressed her again to explain the geographic point. “Well, it certainly does,” Ms. Palin said, “because our, our next-door neighbors are foreign countries, there in the state that I am the executive of.”
Ms. Couric asked the governor if she had ever been involved in negotiations, for example, with her Russian neighbors.
“We have trade missions back and forth,” Ms. Palin said. “We — we do — it’s very important when you consider even national security issues with Russia as Putin rears his head and comes into the airspace of the United States of America, where — where do they go? It’s Alaska. It’s just right over the border.”
Ms. Palin, looking at Ms. Couric intently, kept on going. “It is from Alaska that we send those out to make sure that an eye is being kept on this very powerful nation, Russia, because they are right there. They are right next to — to our state.”
That exchange was so startling it ricocheted across the Internet several hours before it appeared on CBS and was picked up by rival networks.
While it is quite likely, and perhaps understandable, that Ms. Palin felt nervous and spooked by all the media attention, it wasn’t a reassuring performance. Ms. Palin looked more steady and confident when she took a few questions from reporters after a visit to ground zero in Lower Manhattan, her first, gingerly encounter with campaign reporters since her nomination.
The CBS interview, shown partly on Wednesday and partly on Thursday, was only a first taste — Ms. Couric is scheduled to go out on the campaign trail with the Palin team early next week. But it may be hard for Mr. McCain’s running mate to recoup. It wasn’t her first interview on national television, but in some ways it was the worst.
Bailout protests not newspaper fodder
by Larry Geller
Around the country, Republican and Democratic voters are rising up in outright opposition to the White House plan… [see below]
You’d never know it from our daily paper, though, in Honolulu.
What you are aware of depends on where you live and which paper you read, of course, and which articles the local paper where you live wishes to purchase and print. They decide what they want you to know and not know.
If your paper runs AP stories, you get one view. It looks like everyone agrees on a bailout. How would you know otherwise?
If you surf the web or read the New York Times, you might read this:
Constituents Make Their Bailout Views Known
By SHERYL GAY STOLBERG
WASHINGTON — Americans’ anger is in full bloom, jumping off the screen in capital letters and exclamation points, in the e-mail in-boxes of elected representatives in the nation’s capital.“I am hoping Congress can find the backbone to stand on their feet and not their knees before BIG BUSINESS,” one correspondent wrote to Representative Jim McDermott of Washington.
“I’d rather leave a better world to my children — NOT A BANKRUPT NATION. Whew! Pardon my shouting,” wrote another.
Mr. McDermott is a liberal Democrat, but his e-mail messages look a lot like the ones that Representative Candice S. Miller, a conservative Republican from Michigan, is receiving. “NO BAILOUT, I am a registered republican,” one constituent wrote. “I will vote and campaign hard against you if we have to subsidize the very people that have sold out MY COUNTRY.”
The backlash, in phone calls as well as e-mail messages, is putting lawmakers in a quandary as they weigh what many regard as the most consequential decision of their careers: whether to agree to President Bush’s request to spend an estimated $700 billion in taxpayer money to rescue the financial services system.
Around the country, Republican and Democratic voters are rising up in outright opposition to the White House plan or, at the very least, to express concern that it is being pushed through Congress in haste.
. . .
What’s not in the papers does get on TV. For example, there’s an ABC video here, if you click, of consumer group protests.
"It's like give us the money and it's a slush fund for Wall Street paid for by Main Street. That's outrageous. The consumer needs some kinds of protections as well. After all they're the ones paying the bill," says Joan Claybrook, the Public Citizen president.
The advocates said taxpayers should not have to give away money without getting a great deal in return.
"If Congress is going to bail out Wall Street banks and financial companies, that got us into this mess, the least they can do is put a cap on how much money these companies can take of our money and then loan it back to us with interest," says Harvey Rosenfield, from Consumer Watchdog.
Bailouts in the air?
Did you read that the Advertiser is going to increase the newsstand price of the paper? (When the article was posted yesterday, it collected a bunch of really nasty comments). How come we’ll be asked to pay more for less news, when readership is actually up? Are Hawaii readers supposed to bail out Gannett? Will they give us something other than sanitized AP stories in return? Or will some people just decide to take their advice and go to the web instead of buying the paper?
Will fired reporters (and cartoonists) be rehired? Why am I asking these silly questions? Of course not.
We’ll pay the extra quarter, of course. We’ll let Congress bail out their CEO buddies on Wall Street. And our newspapers will keep us uninformed that we really can protest these things if we want to.
P.S. You can still get a ‘way cheaper subscription at Costco.
Viral email igniting protests against Wall Street handout
by Larry Geller
I see Hawaii’s parks and streets crowded with people who were not bailed out, who have no place to live. Yet millionaires, through their CEO buddies who are embedded at the top of the Bush administration (with more lurking to take over when either Obama or McCain is elected), expect to be able to use our tax money to make sure their yachts stay afloat.
-- Arun Gupta
One email has gone viral on the Internet. Sent out Monday, it calls for a demonstration on Wall Street today. The email was written by Arun Gupta, an editor and reporter at New York’s The Indypendent newspaper.
People are supposed to bring their own personal junk, things that have lost value, and dump them in front of the bronze bull sculpture near Wall Street. Protests are forming in other cities and towns around the country.
September 22, 2008, 5:09 pm
Filed under: UncategorizedForward widely…
Everyone,
This week the White House is going to try to push through the biggest robbery in world history with nary a stitch of debate to bail out the Wall Street bastards who created this economic apocalypse in the first place.
This is the financial equivalent of September 11. They think, just like with the Patriot Act, they can use the shock to force through the “therapy,” and we’ll just roll over!
Think about it: They said providing healthcare for 9 million children, perhaps costing $6 billion a year, was too expensive, but there’s evidently no sum of money large enough that will sate the Wall Street pigs. If this passes, forget about any money for environmental protection, to counter global warming, for education, for national healthcare, to rebuild our decaying infrastructure, for alternative energy.
This is a historic moment. We need to act now while we can influence the debate. Let’s demonstrate this Thursday at 4pm in Wall Street (see below).
We know the congressional Democrats will peep meekly before caving in like they have on everything else, from FISA to the Iraq War.
With Bear Stearns, Fannie