California Primaries

What have we learned from the California primaries?

Well the GOP candidate for governor will be setting up an internet exchange so states can buy and sell new, almost new, used and surplus citizens. This will do two significant things. First, it will allow California to trade in citizens they do not want, and other states to purchase citizens they do want. California can even accept a fee for the transactions between other states. Who knows, it could go international. Some day countries may even be able to buy and sell citizens.


Meanwhile the GOP candidate for the senate plans to transition a number of Californians into another state, while looking for opportunities to merge with another state. While some may suggest a state that has a significantly different base (Wyoming, Texas, Alaska), others look to a merger of similarities (Florida, or even New York.) This will allow them to continually improve the value of the products and services offered to customers. It will also excellent opportunities for companies, err states, to grow and prosper.

Is Lunz dishonest, or merely an idiot

Frank Lunz - Why the Dodd Financial Services Bill is bad for ..Democrats

Frank Lunz, in a recent opinion piece/swiftboat, has again shown that facts, logic, and intellectual honesty are not barriers to forming an opinion – at least for the spin doctors in the GOP. Even a quick read of Lunz’ piece shows quarter truths and obfuscation working overtime to make the GOP’s opposition to the Financial Regulation bill look like a win for main street.

Lunz ”But here's where it gets really interesting. The Democrats supporting the current legislation have assured an anxious electorate that whatever funds are used to create whatever regulatory scheme created will come from the banks, not the taxpayers. Let me emphasize that so that even casual readers will catch it: the Democrats promise that you won't pay for their legislation, banks will.

Really?
Since when have corporations ever paid taxes, fees or penalties? Employees end up paying in the form of lower salaries and benefits. Customers end up paying in the form of higher costs.”
So the argument is:
(1) Corporations never pay taxes fees penalties. Well a quick Google shows that SEC fines were among their lowest in 2007 -when the economy started to dissolve – but it also shows $50 million dollar fines to McAfee in 2006, $50 million dollar fine to GE in 2009, $30k fines in April to Stansbury, among many others from a variety of agencies. Since it is a required charge to banks above a certain size to pay into the insurance pool, how are they going to get out of paying this? Of course, there is not an explanation.
(2) Employees end up paying in the form of lower salaries and benefits. Well, I am not sure how much of Main Street is worried about the Salaries of Goldman Sachs, or the executives of JP Morgan/Chase, BOA or Wachovia.
(3) Customers end up paying in the form of higher costs. First, does anyone really have a Goldman checking account or a Bear Stearns ATM card? Of course they don’t, because the product doesn’t exist. Second, this ignores Economics 101. Price is set primarily by what the market will bear, and added costs will reduce profits, but it will not necessarily create new checking taxes. Third, (well or Part two of number two), this big bank fee will actually make smaller banks more competitive. The neighborhood bank will have a lower cost of doing business than the biggest banks, so it could be easier for them to provide cheaper services. Wouldn’t that be good for Main Street!

Lunz “More than 130 companies have publicly hired lobbyists seeking their own loophole. Mars Candy wants to continue to use derivatives to hedge against price hikes in sugar and chocolate, so they've hired a lobbyist. Harley Davidson wants to protect dealer financing of their bikes, so they've hired a lobbyist. And eBay wants to not harm its subsidiary, PayPal, so they've hired ... well ... a team of lobbyists.”

Lenz, not unsurprisingly, fails to mention that farmers have used derivatives as a hedge against price shocks and variable harvests. Does he want to ban them and hurt farmers? Furthermore, he also ignores the fact that the bill does not provide loopholes while banning derivatives.

Lenz closes by blaming Blanche Lincoln’s troubles on the health care bill. This would be perfectly accurate, except she was struggling well before the bill’s passage.

Ah, how easy it would be to make an argument in a world where honesty does not reside.

5 recent reads, and a sixth that makes you go Hmmmm

Robert Kuttner - "Fraud At Last"

…Paul Volcker was right when he quipped that the last useful innovation produced by the banking system was the ATM machine. For something like three decades, the financial part of our economy has become a world unto itself, consuming over 40 percent of all corporate profits by 2006, the last year before the crash…

We need a drastic, radical simplification of the financial system. That means breaking up large institutions that are too big to fail, and breaking the rice bowl of ones that add nothing to broad economic welfare and efficiency other than an opportunity for the own enrichment at the general expense. To get there politically, we first need to expose the full extent of the fraud, and we need a Democratic Party that reverts to its New Deal role as the party of regular people rather than its Clintonian role as a second party of Wall Street….

Fact Checker for Lost

…But fight scenes are nothing compared with flight scenes. The plane, Nations says, “is the bane of my existence.” The task of keeping, say, row numbers straight in a hectic production on a cramped set makes his stomach turn, especially as they’ve filmed essentially the same scene over multiple seasons. …

Pictures of Various Countries' Antarctica Bases

Bradford DeLong Reports that GOP opposes Solomon as Judge.

In a press conference last midnight, Senators McConnell and Hatch reacted to a report by Jeremiah that YHWH had secretly met with Solomon ben Davi in a dream at Gibeon and planned to nominate him. "We question whether YHWH understands what makes a good judge," they said in a joint statement…

A Flash game (not the program - the super hero)

To put it plainly, I just don't see how one could work. My reasons:

The Flash is all about speed. His greatest power is supposed to be his ability to move near light-speed. How exactly are you supposed to portray that in a game? Moving at those speeds, it would be impossible to control the Flash with any kind of precision. You can't use trickery either, like slowing down the rest of the world while Flash moves at normal speed. It would work, but it just wouldn't be Flash. You wouldn't have that sense of speed….

And Worth a re-read.

McClatchy on How Moody's and others sold their ratings

…The Securities and Exchange Commission issued a blistering report on how profit motives had undermined the integrity of ratings at Moody's and its main competitors, Fitch Ratings and Standard & Poor's, in July 2008, but the full extent of Moody's internal strife never has been publicly revealed.

Moody's, which rates McClatchy's debt and assigns it quite low value, disputes every allegation against it. "Moody's has rigorous standards in place to protect the integrity of ratings from commercial considerations," said Michael Adler, Moody's vice president for corporate communications, in an e-mail response to McClatchy.

Insiders, however, say that wasn't true before the financial meltdown.

(Does anyone else think find it interesting that Moody’s has started a lot of whispering about lowering the ratings of U.S. Government Bonds while the Senate discusses regulating Moody’s? I suppose it is just a coincidence)

This is a Big Forking Obvious Statement

As virtually all of you know, Veep Joe Biden recently commented to President Obama, DURING the LIVE, RECORDED SIGNING CEREMONY, that the signing of the health care bill was a...





"Big Fudging Deal."



I have been scouring the internet for other profane statements of the obvious, and here is what I have found...





Neil Armstrong during his famous walk, actual said "This is one big Fish Taco step for mankind."





Al Michaels, at the 1980 Winter Olympics, actually said "Do you believe in Miracles - man This is a Big Flapping Deal."

Alexander Graham Bell's first words on the telephone... "Mr. Watson, Come here - I want to see you... Now Mr. Watson, this is a big frumpy deal."

And in a strange anachronism, scouring the Richard Nixon tapes - you find Haldeman telling Nixon. "This Watergate thing, it is important. it is a big Joe Biden Deal."

A Few idle thoughts on the Teaparty movement, Facebook ads, and the general absurdity

Popped onto Facebook only to see a dozen more ads for various GOP and/or Tea Party Candidates. One of them states "Help fight the Pelosi/Reid/Obama agenda!" Fight it? I want their agenda! I voted for it and will again! I think we need more regulation of the financial industry, health care reform and environmental reform! I keep flagging them as offensive, but cannot just see more of the same.

Speaking of which, does anyone else find the concept of the Tea Party just a touch ironic. Lets Compare:

* The Boston Tea Party was about taxation without representation (high Tea taxes to pay for non-colony expenditures and the colonies had no Parlimentary representation - no voice on tax policy.

* Present Tea Party (and GOP behavior) is all about obstructing any and all activities of the majority. In some cases representatives of 14% of the population (or less) is controlling the debate - if anything the rightful descendents of those revolutionaries is the rank and file Democrat who is watching their goals for improving our country being stymied by a vocal few FOX aristocrats and their lackeys.

* It is also interesting that the Tea Party seems so interested in lower taxes even though we have some of the lowest taxes in the developed world. Also interesting that so many seem to be of Medicare age, but are protesting government run health care.