State of Corporate Governance

Somehow I doubt a bill that starts out tepid and gets watered-down from there will provide anything like the response necessary to prevent, or even delay, the next crash. I sez that Glass Steagall warded off bubbles for decades, and I think it ought to be a good place to start reigning in bankster power. Another place to learn a lesson might be Canada's economy, which survived the bubble well.

Robert A. G. Monks (longtime shareholder activist, Corporate Governance sage, and Reagan appointee), thinks the model of self regulating business is a failure and he calls the Dodd/Frank efforts to inject accountability "pathetic".



I still think that the best purpose of corporate governance is to protect profit for investors from management, since I believe the tycoon-types are morally insane (the modern term is psychopathic personality). It did not escape my notice, for instance, that Mr. Monks in the above video said...

"The failure was largely attributable to the unaccountability of the Chief Executive Officers who ran companies for their own benefit, and for the benefit of other top officials, without any conscience about the public consequence or the long-term consequence of their actions."

I think that many CEOs are, in point of fact, morally insane. This means they are literally incapable of acting from conscience. This means their conscience and their desires are one and the same thing. This means that everything justifies satisfying a desire.

Proper governance ties CEO wealth to corporate success so that society can follow a psychopath to economic prosperity. It is a gamble whose risk should now be evident to all, namely that the morally insane are hoarders when it comes to Power, and experts at corruption.

CEOs need to be made to believe again that their Power does not come at our expense, but at our profit.

McChrystal out

I wasn't sure president Obama would can McChrystal even though he richly deserved it. It looks like General Petraeus is going to step in. Here is the announcement:

Quick link

Here is a link to the Rolling Stone article on Gen. Stanley McChrystal that is currently sweeping other conversation off the face of the news planet:

The Runaway General

This guy sounds a lot like Donald Rumsfeld to me, that is, someone whose arrogance is not tutored by their ineffectiveness. His next order should be his last, and the sooner it is delivered the better.

Clearly he is unfit for his command-post if he thinks bashing allies is something you do in front of reporters.

Quick Hit

 

Paul Krugman sez, “52 senators voted against extending aid to the unemployed despite the highest rate of long-term joblessness since the 1930s.”

Source

I’ve lost a lot of respect for Nobel prizes since president Obama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize sans accomplishments, but I have noticed Paul Krugman (and Keynesians) are often right about macro-economics.

I think it is too bad congressional leaders are looking towards Alan “What bubble?” Greenspan, when the evidence everywhere backs up Paul Krugman (job creation is too slow, consumer spending is down, home construction is down, etc.).

I guess I will have to take comfort in the fact that the CEO-types that created the mess are reasonably  comfortable at our expense.

Robert A.G. Monks discusses Financial Reform legislation

Robert Monks discusses the financial reform legislation now before Congress in this clip below. He seems to feel now was the moment for nationalizing corporate governance laws, and that the moment is being lost. What we have now, in his words, "is a race to the bottom".





My favorite line from the clip is, "I have to say that if the answer is the SEC you've asked the wrong question."

Quick Hit

According to the work of a group of government and independent scientists under the direction of Secretary of Energy Steven Chu and Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar, the amount of oil now being unleashed into the Gulf is between 35,000 and 60,000 barrels per day

Source

There are 55 gallons of oil in a barrel, which means between 1,925,000 and 3,300,000 gallons of oil are spilling into the Gulf of Mexico daily.

This oil is going to continue to come ashore, day after day, well after the leak is plugged. Soon it should make its way around Florida and up the eastern seaboard.

President Obama seems to think a speech will impress the nation, when what is needed is action. Specifically, he needs to place BP into temporary receivership, seize their US assets, and put America first.

If he didn't want the job he should have stayed in Chicago.

Quick push

Kevin Drum has "a Modest Tax Proposal" that I like, so I thought I'd give it a quick push by posting a link.

Here is a summary:

"Obama should propose that the corporate income tax be abolished completely, to be replaced by a carbon tax and a financial services tax."


Here's the link for more

Quick hit

"In their attempt to justify the war crime of torture, the CIA appears to have committed another alleged war crime – illegal experimentation on prisoners."

- Nathaniel A. Raymond -
Director of PHR's Campaign Against Torture

Source


Nobel Peace Prize winner Barak Obama made a lot of hay over the policies of the Bush administration, and did a lot of arm-waving over the closure of Guantanamo, but in the end he continued the Bush policies and human experimentation of prisoners happened on his watch.

It is monstrous to torture and conduct human experiments on a human being. Either that, or Adolf Hitler wasn't so bad.

Soothing words of malice

Christopher Hedges believes the Christian right is in the mood for fascism, and sums up their mindset like so:

"The reality-based world, one where Satan, miracles, destiny, angels and magic did not exist, battered them like driftwood. It took their jobs and destroyed their future. It rotted their communities. It flooded their lives with alcohol, drugs, physical violence, deprivation and despair. And then they discovered that God has a plan for them. God will save them. God intervenes in their lives to promote and protect them. The emotional distance they have traveled from the real world to the world of Christian fantasy is immense. And the rational, secular forces, those that speak in the language of fact and evidence, are hated and ultimately feared, for they seek to pull believers back into “the culture of death” that nearly destroyed them."

Source

Intolerant political movements are usually fertilized with rage channeled by blame. When People work hard and wind up in poverty anyway, they search for answers. It is at this moment that disciples of destruction advance with soothing words of malice.

We all know there plenty of economic despair upon which fascists can draw strength. Could this be happening here?

Oil vents

Apparently a freshly "furious" president Obama says "venting" won't help the BP-spill. I am 100% in agreement with that statement, and don't care if Obama is furious or not.

I do want him to take BP into receivership so American interests are foremost, necessary resources can be mobilized, and truthful information can be disseminated. If he wants to do that coldly and expressionlessly, then I'm all for it. If he wants to do that wearing a cowboy hat and spouting invectives like an 18th century prospector, then I'm all for it.

Obama is really showing his stripes on this oil spill. He is a corporate man through and through and seems to have faith, even now, in the right of corporations to rule.

It reminds me of Alan Greenspan's quaint notion that money knows best.

Quick Hit

In 2008, at least 60 percent of vacation spending in Florida occurred in beachfront cities.

Source

Ham-fisted Israel at it again

Israeli politicians seem incapable of acting in their own interests when it comes to accumulating allies. Their latest self-defeating action was to murder humanitarians in international waters to placate the paranoid and the fearful in their ranks.

The US, as expected, moved to negate a UN response. This, however, cannot but impede our war efforts in the Gulf and further endanger our soldier's lives due to the uncritical support it exposes. In other words, this is a gift-wrapped recruitment tool handed to extremists.

Surely Israel just handed its enemies a victory, while simultaneously making it more difficult for its biggest ally to continue support, and also infuriating trading partners like Turkey and Egypt.

I can think of no other nation that behaves as self-detrimentally as Israel does with such regularity. In this case it is metaphorically peeing in its own well (of potential political support) and biting the hand that feeds it (once-again foiling U.S. interests) for good measure.

How long do Israeli politicians think America can continue acting against self-interest?

I would say they are woefully inadequate unless they move to make immediate amends. Here is an example of the type of condemnation they have rained upon themselves. In this case, it originates from U.S.:

Israel's Murderous Attack


ADDENDUM: Egypt has just announced it is opening its border with Palestine to humanitarian aid. This surely indicates Israel's allies in the region are receiving political pressure in opposition to Israel's security wishes.

Open Border

What Israeli politicians have secured by this action is hard to fathom, while what they have lost is becoming quite clear.

Brick by brick

If you have been following along, you know I have a theory that psychopathic personalities are drawn to CEO positions and periodically I offer up a tidbit for your consideration through this lens. My latest offering is a piece by James Kwak, who says the following:

...somehow the bankers came out of it with the same unshakable belief in their own perfection that they had in 2005. The only plausible explanation is some kind of powerful personality disorder.

Source: Wall Street CEOs are nuts

Perhaps Wall Street bankers are behaving as if they have no shame because they have no shame?

A governmental drowning?

When I look at the handling of the BP oil spill I think I am looking at the drowning of the US government in a bath tub.

Why?

BP is a foreign-owned corporation that is usurping US sovereignty when it comes to freedom of the press: Details here

BP is also fouling US territorial waters and Barak Obama seems more concerned with raising campaign cash in California than holy hell in the Gulf.

For at least a month oil is going to be sliming its way into bayou country and I don't think the magnitude of that has dawned on the Gulf Coast officials currently busying their giddy little minds about serving BP even more sycophantically. It does seem to have dawned on James Carville, who is out there trying to fire up the commander in chief (small c, small c at the moment).

I find it disturbing that even at the local level politicians are serving up the carcasses of their neighbors to the maws of a global elite. That is what I call systemic servitude! This is government of the corporations and by the corporations, from sea to sheening sea.

I therefore have come to believe that this is dysfunctional government of the type Grover Norquist has long salivated after. I suppose we should all congratulate him on a job well done, but I haven't the stomach for it.

It is depressing to think that "whores for boors" is going to be this generations legacy to the next. It is unlikely we will be known as the greatest generation, or even a runner-up.

Why I oppose the death penalty

The primary reasons I oppose the death penalty are that humans make mistakes, and execution is permanent.

To illustrate my point, I would like to bring two cases to your attention:

1. Raymond Towler was convicted of raping an 11 year old girl almost 30 years ago. His conviction was overturned with DNA testing, which was unavailable at the time. You can read about it here.

2. James Bain was convicted of raping and kidnapping a nine year old boy 35 years ago. His conviction was also overturned with DNA testing and he is now looking forward to "eating fried turkey and drinking Dr Pepper." You can read about his case here.

I expect that both men were viewed as the worst kind of criminals when they were tried and convicted. Had their sentences been execution, then James and Raymond would not see their families again, nor eat fried turkey.

To know these facts and argue for a death penalty anyway is to pay too much respect to violence, and too little to Justice.

Quick hit

Of AAA-rated subprime-mortgage-backed securities issued in 2006, 93 percent — 93 percent! — have now been downgraded to junk status.

Source

Just sayin'...

If the answer, my friend, is blowing in the wind...
And, you don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows...
Then, doesn't that imply we can find the answer?

GOP rejects fiscal discipline for Wall Street

Is the public financing of elections proving to be irrelevant?

I was thinking this morning, after Republican senators covered themselves in partisan shame, that Olympia Snowe from Maine could easily have voted for Wall Street regulation.

Why do I say this?

She is from a blue state, moreover Americans support fiscal reform by a 2-to-1 margin.

If the GOP wants to punish her, she has the option to get public financing for her next campaign.

If she were pushed too hard, any party that could have Ben Nelson and Joe Lieberman as members would easily welcome her. In that case, her influence would go up rather than down as she would now represent the majority party.

Michael Steele is widely perceived as incompetent within his own ranks, therefore one could imagine being forgiven for rejecting his advice.

Her main priority is supposedly bolstering small businesses, but Wall Street is destroying their access to finance.

Isn't it obvious that the lure of public financing is not pulling Senator Snowe into orbit?

When not even someone like Senator Snowe will do what is sensible, when what is sensible is also popular, then what does that say about the GOP?

The party of Main Street? It is to laugh!

The party of Fiscal Discipline? I jeer in your direction!

The party of Personal Responsibility? What an unsophisticated delusion!

Insane in the membrane

Accepting the idea that our major CEOs are morally insane, or psychopathic personalities, gets easier every day with exploration. The title of this article by Steven Pearlstein is another brick in the wall:

Wall Street's know-it-alls can't tell right from wrong

All I'm saying is that it is very likely the obvious is True. Wall Street CEOs are not immoral, they are amoral, or literally incapable of weighing moral decisions. They have desires that they satisfy and there is nothing else.

In this context, what finance regulations do is protect profit for the investor from the management.

Penny wise and pound foolish?

The US Chamber of Commerce is an organization that normally concerns itself with Main Street businesses, which is to say small businesses. Lately, however, it is helping Wall Street by backing Justice Roberts Citizens United decision and fighting balance sheet transparency (regulation and oversight).

Isn't the playing field gamed enough in Wall Mart's favor?

I find this behavior as illogical as a Sarah Palin paragraph.

Tea Party

I have read the Tea Party plans to be demonstrative today. In their honor I present my watercolor interpretation of the tea party:

Steeling themselves...

I think that the best argument the GOP can make against government is to get their candidates elected.

How can a party that spends donor money at bondage clubs promote fiscal responsibility?

How can a party led by a finger-pointing, race-card playing, unqualified leader promote personal responsibility?

The GOP has more than a personnel problem with Michael Steele, they have a messaging problem.

Perhaps that is why the calls for his removal are growing louder by the day.

Confirmed: Obama authorizes assassination of U.S. citizen - Glenn Greenwald - Salon.com

When there are treason laws already on the books why would president Obama target U.S. Citizens for assassination?

Confirmed: Obama authorizes assassination of U.S. citizen - Glenn Greenwald - Salon.com

The Constitution is clear on what Treason is and what branch of government has the authority to address the threat.

Where is the Supreme Court and where is Congress?

For that matter, where is the Tea Party on this very real threat to freedom?

ADDENDUM:

In this segment Keith Olbermann reports on the issue and asks, where are the liberals and progressives:

Part one:

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Part two:

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Quick hit

"Of $15 billion in income taxes last year, Exxon paid none of it to Uncle Sam, and has tens of billions in earnings permanently reinvested overseas."

Source

Papal pride goeth

Christopher Hitchens isn't mincing his words when it comes to the recent priest-rape cover-up.

Netanyahu is tone-deaf

Netanyahu's latest speech to AIPAC reminds me how poorly Israel does politics. To have Netanyahu stand on American soil in front of cameras and strive to make a jackass of our president is really too much:

Badly played, and in poor taste

Perhaps the money we normally send to Israel can be put to better use?

Quick hit

In France, where abortion is covered by universal health insurance, there are 20% fewer abortions per capita than in the US.

Keynes quotation

This notion that the morally insane would be naturally attracted to power, and thereby to the role of corporate CEOs, has really gotten a hold of my imagination. When I read quotes like the following, I am left feeling as if I've missed the obvious for so long that I am embarrassed by my naivete.

"Capitalism is the astounding belief that the most wickedest of men will do the most wickedest of things for the greatest good of everyone."

— John Maynard Keynes -

Apparently, those with a proclivity towards horrible grammar make excellent economists.

Lehman Bros Accounting Tricks

Here is a fantastic video that simplifies the mess on Wall Street so that even I can grasp it:

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

HCR

When it comes to answering the question, "Should Health Care Reform pass?", I think it is a good idea to refer to a medical dictum: "First, Do no harm".

If this bill does not go far enough to provide health insurance to all Americans, that is not the same thing as making matters worse. Since doing nothing is what will be harmful to people, then I say hold your nose and pass the bill.

From a political perspective this is an easy decision. Democrats are widely perceived as noodle-armed weaklings that are intelligent but indecisive. To do nothing is to further that perception. To pass the bill, especially over GOP objections, combats the perception on two fronts.

From Funny or Die

Here is a video which reunites past comic presidential impersonators for a message directed at Barak Obama:

Funny or Die's Presidential Reunion from Will Ferrell

A crown of thorns

As I watch a single-payer healthcare-for-all die, and climate crisis legislation die, and legislation to police morally insane CEOs die, I become confirmed in my view that America is a one-party system.

The rot seems insurmountable.

Quick hit

"The healthcare bill as written is supported by less than 30 percent of the nation. But the public option is supported by almost 60 percent of the nation and 80 percent of political independents."

Source

Quick hit

In 1980 the highest incomes were taxed at 73 percent. In 2009 those same incomes were taxed at 35 percent.

You'd think that would quiet the complaints of the well-to-do, but it seems only to have emboldened them.

Source

Quick hit

What makes people feel the Citizens United case is damaging to democracy?

It is the underlying belief that our politicians will take bribes.

On Brown

What do I make of a GOP senator winning Ted Kennedy's seat?

Democrats ignored their base (it overwhelmingly wants a strong public option), let yellevision rage unrebuked (Canadians pay less for medicine), and didn't get their president on the bully pulpit (something he excels at).

What did they expect?

If the snake suits, bear it?

Here is a wikipedia entry for psychopathy:

A lack of empathy

After reading the book "The Devil in the White City" and reflecting upon capitalism, it occurred to me that immense companies are naturally attractive to psychopathic personalities (or PPs for short). In fact, I have begun to believe our largest institutions are headed by the morally insane, for this belief explains much that I notice about the conduct of Wall Street big-shots.

If True, and the corporation ensures that the wealth of the CEO is dependent upon the wealth of the corporation, then it is a symbiotic business relationship.

If True, and the wealth of the corporation is deemed to be dependent upon the wealth of the CEO (as Goldmann Sachs repeatedly argues), then the corporation becomes subservient to the CEO and you have an unhealthy business relationship.

With this belief in mind statements like that made by Arianna Huffington recently become self-explanatory:

Watching the CEOs, I was stunned by the utter lack of even a feigned sense of empathy for those whose lives the banks have destroyed. Only a complete inability to feel empathy could explain the fact that the bankers are not just back to operating at their old bonus levels, but at their old smugness levels as well.

Source

Expecting empathy from a psychopath is as misguided as expecting good moral conduct from a PP-led corporation. In fact, they are identical delusions.

In this context one should view the Glass-Steagall Act as a way to protect the wealth of corporations for the investors, rather than as a hindrance to the wishes Wall Street CEOs. It should send shivers down one's spine to consider the wishes of the CEO paramount.

I found there is a book on the subject called "Snakes in Suits" that examines PPs in the workplace. I expect it is an interesting read.

It would seem plausible that immense corporations are best served by morally insane leadership, provided that leadership is forced to use its' unique "talents" on behalf of the corporation.

But, such leadership would strive energetically to escape such restrictions. In the event of their success, our economy would suffer even as our CEOs grew richer. Thank goodness no company is so idiotic as to transfer wealth to the leadership at a time they did a lousy job of generating wealth!

Quick hit

"American consumers pay up to 55% more for their prescription drugs than Canadians"

Source: Robert Reich

Truth in advertising?

What Obama said...

On the campaign trail here is what candidate Barak Obama said:

"We'll negotiate with the drug companies for the cheapest available price on drugs,"

Candidate Obama, Oct. 15, 2008 in a debate with Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.).

You cannot tell a lie more clearly than that.

Perhaps...

Perhaps Joe Lieberman acts the way he does because it always gets Harry Reid to coddle him?

At the very least Joe should have to act on his threat. This would show voters in Connecticut that where money is concerned, Joe won't keep his word to voters.

Harry Reid is being Sisyphus to Joe's hill of beans.

Quick hit

A study conducted with Kentucky health records found that uninsured women with breast cancer were 44 percent likelier to die than their insured counterparts.

Source

Rockin' Roger

"The nearest thing we have to a death panel in the United States is an insurance company claims adjuster."

- Roger Ebert -

Roger Ebert has written one of the best essays about healthcare that I have read. What makes it so good, in my view, is that it makes a forceful moral case for socialized medicine.

Here is the link: I'm safe on board. Pull up the life rope

A Gun Control Bumper Sticker Idea

It used to be...

It used to be that you had to do something "newsworthy" to wind up in the news.

Now all you need is celebrity status and an appearance on Oprah Winfrey.

Why can't newsrooms let Sarah the Palin fade away?

Redemption Song

We Are Alone

Quick hit

14,000 Americans lose their health coverage every day.

Money talks

Today is an important day in the future history of the USA, not because Sonya Sotomayer has taken a seat on the Supreme Court, but because of the case of judicial activism that will cross her bench.

Today the US Supreme Court is scheduled to rehear Citizens United v. the FEC. The decision in this case could allow corporations to exercise their right to "free" speech by spending unlimited money to influence elections.

What this case would do is equate speech with money, and dismantle McCain/Feingold campaign finance law.

Shareholder activist Robert A.G. Monks has been heroically striving to bring this to the nations attention and you can read all about it here:

Corporate speech

Swimming with the pigs

A pig farmer might tell you that if you want a clear stream you've to keep the hogs out of the spring.

When it comes to healthcare proposals, politicians seem to be telling us that the way to clear up a stream is to make the pigs a little fatter.

Who would believe such transparent stupidity?

Quick Hit

80 percent of registered Democrats, want universal, single-payer not-for-profit health care for all Americans.

Source: Reform or Rip-Off?

If Obama doesn't deliver it is easy to predict what will happen in the mid-term elections, since it will be deja vu all over again.

Strange juxtaposition

Legislators handed billions of taxpayer dollars over to the auto industry to fund a cash-for-clunkers program and it turns out that the company that profited the most by it was Japanese automaker Toyota.

How did they show us the love?

By shutting a car plant in California.

The storyline is this: Americans are going broke propping up the Japanese economy, and the Japanese response is to remove jobs from our economy.

That sounds like a lose-lose situation to me, unless you own a Japanese car company.

A Lion Sleeps Tonight

A disappointment for Senator Ted Kennedy on his deathbed surely had to be the lackluster efforts of president Barak Obama and his fellow democrats to pass a public healthcare plan. Even as his death became imminent Senator Kennedy struggled everyday just to work, and what he worked on was Medicare for all.

I wish there were more people like him today, that is, people that were born into privilege but feel the call to serve the public interest.

Sometimes I feel it is a generational trait that is being lost. It is hard to sacrifice for something as ambiguous as "future generations", but men like Kennedy seemed motivated by that very thing when morality was a factor.

When it comes to president Barak Obama, YouTube shows the type of pledge he gives:



If anything good comes of Ted Kennedy's death, I hope it will be an awakening in the breast of Barak Obama to take up where Ted left off, to finish his good work so he can face the voters with honor.

Quick Hit

According to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), 29 percent of premium dollars in the individual insurance market go toward administrative costs; the average policyholder spends roughly $300 more on administrative costs each year than if he or she purchased coverage through a group policy.

Source: Dean at TPM Cafe

No isms?

Michael Moore has a new movie on the way about Wall Street corruption. Here is the trailer:




Slavery was a systemic problem in America, so much so that it was difficult for decent people to avoid using the system in their daily lives. The simple act of buying pants became a moral act.

I wonder if Michael Moore is asking whether or not capitalism exhibits such a systemic problem.

People have wondered this before. For instance, Teddy Roosevelt said, "I am for honest business, big or little, and against dishonest business, big or little".

Capitalism has become such a holy idea in America that I wonder if people can draw a distinction between honest and dishonest corporate conduct.

Clown-school

Here is yet more evidence that Barney Frank should be speaker of the House:



Republicans have become Republicants.

Quick Hit

Removing the "public option" from a public bill paid for by public money is not in the public interest.


- Congressman Dennis Kucinich -

An easy prediction to make

Here is an easy prediction to make:

If Democratic leadership drops the public option from the healthcare bill they will get nothing in return from republicans.

Here is another:

Should the demoratic leadership blame republican opposition at a time they are in control of the House, Senate, and executive branch, they will be regarded as ineffective weaklings.

I have noticed that people like to associate themselves with winners.

Mr. Woofles Takes a Nap

Once, after listening to a live recording of George Gershwin playing "Rhapsody in Blue" I wrote...

Listening to George Gershwin play piano is a lot like looking up at the stars on a moonless night. Each shimmering note reminds me that I am small.
I am nothing.


In this video below Craig Ventresco bedazzles and bewitches with a humble Ukulele, while Mr. Woofles strikes a content pose.




Cliff Edwards, or Ukulele Ike, was the voice of Disney's Jimminy Cricket. He also sang the tune, "When You Wish Upon a Star".

How can an instrument so small trigger thoughts so large?

AIG went a-mugging

It disappoints me that whether we have a Republican president or a Democrat in the whitehouse Wall Street gets what it wants at our expense. That is not democracy, that is plutocracy, or government by the richest.

The richest are best at generating wealth for themselves, but Justice and seeking the common good are the pillars of a stable democratic society. I sez, these two types of authority are incompatible, and as plutocrats begin to generate resentment (via injustice) they will certainly have to rely on violence to maintain Power.

Is it in America's best interests to willfully engineer fundamentally dishonest markets? Will investors entrust their money to such banana-republic-machinations?

Few news sources tackle such questions, but one is Democracy Now. In this clip Amy Goodman looks at AIG as if it were band-leading us to corpocracy:

Part one:



Part two:

Don't make Christopher angry.

Money in, Money out?

It is my opinion that many Wall Street CEOs are little more than thieves stealing wealth from their investors. It is a situation out of control and that threatens America's well-being. Every time I think I am disgusted enough by the combination of excess pillaging and ... oversight, there comes another story about the antics of certain corporations.

In this Washington Post article one thing stands out to me. The corporations involved in swindling their owners all gave heavily to president Obama:

Another failure, another bonus

These robber barons do more than gorge themselves at the trough, they eat holes in the trough and bite the hand that feeds them.

Flash facts

Health-care spending accounts for 17 percent of our entire domestic product.

Source: The Cause of My Life

Bread in the mouth

Imagine that you you saw a homeless person while out walking one day, whom asked you for food, and that you went to your city councilor and got him to pass a law making it illegal to skip a meal. Imagine next that a police officer, knowing the man that sought succor from your person was hungry, levied a fine against him for failing to feed himself.

If the object is to feed the hungry man, does that approach make any sense?

My answer is that it does not, and it will not if you substitute the case of an uninsured man for the case of an underfed one.

Only in Washington would so many work so hard to undermine the simplicity and economic advantage of a single-payer system, which covers everyone, including even greedy insurance company executives that spend their time promoting their self-interests at a cost of human suffering.

Où est le changement?

To lots of otherwise sensible people president Obama is political comfort food. They are always ready to dine from his menu of rhetoric. I must admit that it is understandable that they are hungry after 8 years of famine.

I wish I could suspend my cynicism and my critical thinking and eat a hot dog as if it were a steak dinner. I would certainly eat a lot more steak that way.

But, I can't, and so I say that there isn't any worthwhile difference between George W. Bush and Obama when it comes to ignoring the problems on Wall Street, nor in their respective "solutions". The same policy, cash for trash, closes the (over)sight and opens the wallet. Rather than punishing the reckless, the whitehouse has been rewarding them proportional to their mismanagement.

What has been going on is a politically-motivated redistribution of wealth. Whenever politics plays a role you must remember the words of John Lennon and "follow the money."

Who paid Obama?

Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan Chase, Lehman Bros.

Who were the treasonous recipients of innumerable welfare dollars?

Goldman Sachs, for one

It is little wonder that Republicans keep calling Obama a socialist, since he is giving public money away to those who didn't earn it. Of course, I don't know why they didn't say the same thing about George W. Bush. Perhaps he was their political comfort food?

What Wall Street wanted it got in spades, even though it could lead to the destruction of America (for as goes wealth, so goes military might).

Cynicism is a heavy burden but it seems like a compass that points true in Washington.

Ukulele on fire

In the sprit of Roy Smeck, my friend Craig Ventresco dazzles at least two senses with this performance of 12th street rag. It was recorded July 9th, 2008 at Cafe Divine in San Francisco:



If you liked that, here's another:

The idol of Nay

I try not to write too much about Sarah Palin, because obviously she has an attention credit disorder, even more-so than your average politician. Also, she is a hateful and pridefully-ignorant bumpkin that thoughtlessly incites American-dividing sentiment for personal gain. Also, like so many Republicans these days, what she has to say can be summarized as "No."

This newest twist in her hidden-hand political life, however, is worth laughing at. She "wrote" (wink-wink) this op-ed which the Washington Post published.

The op-ed can be summarized by the word "No."

Whomever are pulling the strings in Sarah's back ought to spend their time more wisely.

Sen. Franken Archives

Our newest senator:

Franken wins

"The Supreme Court has made its decision and I will abide by the results," Coleman said outside his St. Paul home. Appearing relaxed, he said he had congratulated Franken and was at peace with the decision.

More info here

Those rebels, scofflaws, and activists that want genetically modified foods to be clearly labeled as such refer to genetically modified corn as Frankencorn. This associates GMO and Dr. Frankenstein's madness rhetorically.

Now, the question is, will people associate Franken corn with Al Franken?

Hearts, Minds, and strawberry condoms

Here's a tip for evangelical Christians that want to stand firm against Muslims:

Support mandatory sex education in the schools.

Logical Cohesion

If Republicans want a small government, they should also want a small military, since a large military requires a large government.

If Republicans want less taxation, they should want to cut military waste.

If Republicans want to promote a "culture of life", they should increase welfare spending.

Do I lie?

Dead last

A recent study of the US healthcare system by The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine estimates that "there would be about 101,000 fewer U.S. deaths per year" if our healthcare system performed as well as those of France, Japan, or Australia.

I have grown used to seeing healthcare metrics place us well-behind other western nations (except in terms of cost), but that doesn't make it enjoyable to finish 19th out of 19 nations.

Here is a link to the study: Dead Last

The swine flu outbreak illustrates clearly the importance of public health, as does the spread of anti-biotic-resistant diseases. What could be a better breeding ground for infectious disease than a large pool of uninsured people upon which to spread? Does anyone think that wealth can lobby against disease itself?

Looking backwards

Here is the best refutation of the Obama administration's position that it is better not to prosecute the rogues responsible for crafting and implementing America's torture program because that is not looking forwards:

I'm focused on looking forward too. And as I gaze into my crystal ball, I see a world in which members of the executive branch take it for granted that they can do whatever they want with impunity. Why not break the law? Why not eavesdrop on Americans? Why not torture people? Why not detain citizens indefinitely without charges? Heck, why not impose martial law and make yourself dictator for life? There is nothing to stop the people who make these decisions. They have nothing to fear. Because once they've made them, their actions are back there, in the past that no one ever wants to look at.

Source: Obsidian Wings

All Justice is backwards looking, isn't it? You review someone's prior conduct and pass judgement on it.

Question time

If government-provided, affordable, and comprehensive health care is the same thing as socialism, then how come so many flag-waving, freedom-loving, Republican legislators are on the public dole for their health-care?

Shouldn't these courageous patriots fight Socialism at home and abroad by rescinding their benefits for themselves and their families?

Is quality, government-sponsored health-care so attractive that it can make a hypocrite of a Republican?

Sarcasm done well

Michael Moore has a new movie on the way, and to promote it this video clip was released in theaters across the country.

Quick Hits

Barak Obama is pressing lawmakers to take action on health care because he insists this problem is adversely affecting our economy. The results of a recent study seem to confirm the notion in spades. Here are a couple points that stand out to me:

1. Medical bills are involved in more than 60 percent of U.S. personal bankruptcies.

2. More than 75 percent of these bankrupt families had health insurance.

3. 15 percent of the population -- 46 million people -- have no coverage.

Harvard Study

There are plenty of studies which show that a single-payer system that covers everybody is the most efficient solution, but that seems unlikely to happen because Mr. "Yes We Can!" seems unwilling to promote it.

I hope we wind up with something better than we have now. The facts of the matter are becoming more and more alarming.

ADDENDUM: The Boston Globe posted an article that says Obama is pressing for a publicly-funded health insurance option. Details here.

Sometimes problems exist only because there is no will towards what works. I hope this is a small sign that Obama is as giving to the rest of us as he is to Wall Street bankers.

The Anti-Choice Jihad

How much responsibility does Paul O'Reilly bear for the murder of Dr. Tiller?



There are a lot of similarities between the Taliban and the predominantly republican anti-choice jihadists. The chief similarity is the repeated use of murder and intimidation as instruments of persuasion.

How ludicrous does behavior have to be before the Republican party will distance itself from it?

Damned if you do

Since Republicans can be relied upon to demonize any Supreme Court nominee as a socialist-leaning, immigrant-loving, America-hating, abortion peddler, then why should president Obama worry too much about offering a choice as reasonable as Judge Sotomayor for consideration?

Why not go ahead and pick an "activist judge" with great big liberal talons and jam the choice down their protesting paunches, a judicial foie gras if you will.

Libertarian Paradise

I like to tell the type of Christian that wishes to impose his beliefs on others that if they will only travel to Saudi Arabia or Pakistan they can live in a theocratic paradise without waiting.

A new YouTube video employs that approach with Libertarians:

The Body

Jesse Ventura casts pearls before swine in this defense of the rule of law.



Thank you Mr. Ventura.

The Wind Beneath his Wings

In April George F. Will wrote a column called, "America's Bad Jeans" in which he characterized an adult wearing denim as "an obnoxious misuse of freedom".

In my new socialist homeland (America according to Gingrich) the professional journalists have begun to emulate amusing cranks like Donald Mills ("The Problem With Young People Today Is...").

I like George Will, but not as much as I like wearing jeans.

The Law of the Jungle

Here is a summary of the health-care plan now taking shape in Washington:

Let wolves cull those unable to afford insurance.

Liberals aren't expected to object since the plan will be good for the struggling wolf population and the process is all-natural.

Conservatives aren't expected to object since they could care less what happens to poor people.

The insurance industry is expected to back the plan since it makes their offerings more palatable by comparison.

Fox News is happy about the prospect of airing, "When wolves attack."

Everybody wins!

Life of the Party

I have often thought that Dick Cheney might be suffering from the effects of Dementia, and is perhaps more worthy of pity than scorn. However, until such suspicion becomes validated, I feel as though I must treat his statements as intentionally expressed, however paranoid, delusional, or self-destructive.

When Dick Cheney recently insulted Colin Powell I found myself wondering all over again if he ought to quit driving and check into an adult daycare center.

Lawrence Wilkerson, in the video below, seems to hold Dick Cheney responsible for his insults to Mr. Powell and offers this admonition:



Whether Dick Cheney is intentionally harming his party or deliberately harming his party is the question here. There seems no debate as to if he is harming the party.

Neither a disgruntled postal worker or VP be.

The Bush Years: A Holocaust of Truth

It is an insult to The American Way to treat Dick Cheney as if he were other than a disgraced, dishonest, hypocrite. To compare what he once said about torture with his words now, and his deeds then, is to understand the worthlessness of words that escape his lying pie-hole:

"The United States is a country that takes human rights seriously. We do not torture. It’s against our laws and against our values. And we expect all those who serve America to conduct themselves accordingly, and we enforce those rules...America is a fair and a decent country. President Bush has made it clear, both publicly and privately, that our duty to uphold the laws and standards of this nation make no exceptions for wartime. As he put it, we are in a fight for our principles and our first responsibility is to live by them. The war on terror, after all, is more than a contest of arms and more than a test of will. It’s also a war of ideas."

There is a great post over at Obsidian Wings where you can read this, and other quotations on the topic of torture. The men we consider great today are the ones that lived by their words.

Quotations on Torture

Gullibility in its lesser-known form is the failure to believe things that are demonstrably true. Dick Cheney, for instance, is a bald-faced liar and the things which he says are dishonest. At this point it takes mountainous gullibility to believe him.

Perspective

Here are a couple of numbers to keep in mind.

The attacks of September 11, 2001 killed about 6,000 people (5948 fatalities and 24 people missing). You can get the full details here:

Wikipedia 911

Researchers at the Institute of Medicine in D.C. say that 18,314 adults die in the USA each year because they are uninsured and can't get proper health care:

Care Without Coverage: Too Little, Too Late


This summary shows the penalty incurred when society favors profit to human life:

"The main findings of the report are that working-age Americans without health insurance are more likely to receive too little medical care and receive it too late; be sicker and die sooner; and receive poorer care when they are in the hospital, even for acute situations like a motor vehicle crash. "

It is findings like these that force me to hope that president Obama is sincere about solving the health-care emergency we face. I think the measure of his sincerity will be a publicly-funded single-payer-style plan. I know that Ted Kennedy will fight for that with his dying breath, but I'm not convinced president Obama is willing to upset the lobbyists just to please the people that voted for him.

But...

1 in 7 American adults are uninsured.
70% of personal bankruptcies are medically related.
18,000+ annual deaths are caused by the absence of insurance.

and I hope those number can no longer be ignored.

Commentary from the dustbin

David Letterman recently offered up this look back at the wisdom of Cheney:

How'd He Do?

Remember those pictures of Saddam Hussein ironing his own shirts in his underwear? That's my mental picture of Dick Cheney. He's just a sad, publicly disgraced dictator, uncomfortable in his new role.

Black and Bill

Here is an interview that Bill Moyers conducts with William Black, who was formerly a senior regulator that cracked down on banks during the S&L crisis of the 1980s. In the interview Mr. Black does not wear kid gloves or sugar coat a thing. It is a very entertaining interview:

You can watch it here

I would like to see Mr. William Black take over for Mr. Geithner, since Timothy continues to act as if there is a marketing crisis rather than a banking crisis.

In Obama's Shadow

It is time someone said this, "Hillary Clinton is doing a great job as Secretary of State, and she is leaving all the old Clinton baggage out of sight."

I half-wondered if it was going to be a freak-show over there at State, but Hillary seems head-down, working hard, and capable.

Collins and horse rumps

Current events have made a horse's ass of Maine Senator Susan Collins. A short time after she went flitting around pundits belittling pandemic preparedness as a ridiculous stimulus, we find ourselves amidst a global swine flu pandemic.

This video serves up a little crow for her to eat:



The GOP has deteriorated to the point that I wonder how anyone would want to be associated with it. From Susan Collins to Bobby Jindal to Karl Rove to Dick Cheney to Newt Gingrich to Sarah Palin to Rush Limbaugh and the incomparable Michele Bachmann the GOP is one joke after another.

Perhaps it is clarifying moments like these which give Sen. Arlen Specter the rationale for switching parties?

There is more to governance, especially now, than whining about paying taxes and immigrant bashing.

Swine Flu, Bird Flu, TamiFlu, Hazah!

When I heard that Swine Flu was combatted by Tamiflu I remembered a little something about the bird flu pandemic, Tamiflu, and Donald Rumsfeld:

"NEW YORK (Fortune) - The prospect of a bird flu outbreak may be panicking people around the globe, but it's proving to be very good news for Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and other politically connected investors in Gilead Sciences, the California biotech company that owns the rights to Tamiflu, the influenza remedy that's now the most-sought after drug in the world.

Rumsfeld served as Gilead (Research)'s chairman from 1997 until he joined the Bush administration in 2001, and he still holds a Gilead stake valued at between $5 million and $25 million, according to federal financial disclosures filed by Rumsfeld.

Source: Rumsfeld's growing stake in Tamiflu"

One must plumb paranoia to barrel bottom to believe that press reaction to the potential swine flu pandemic is a ploy whose intent is scaring world governments into purchasing Tamiflu.

I do wonder, however, what happened to those Tamiflu doses purchased to ward off bird flu. According to AskDocWeb.com Tamiflu lasts for 5 years, and the bird-flu scare was in 2005.

Maybe we can at least sell that stuff off to forgotten-world countries for cheap and help alleviate their suffering while we replenish our own first-place stocks?

Lie to me

New reporting suggests that the Bush administration decided to use torture to obtain false confessions that could be used to "prove" operational links between Saddam Hussein and al Qaeda.

Jonathan Landay writes...

"The Bush administration applied relentless pressure on interrogators to use harsh methods on detainees in part to find evidence of cooperation between al Qaida and the late Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein's regime, according to a former senior U.S. intelligence official and a former Army psychiatrist."

Source: Mean means for dishonest ends

Fools can be intelligent enough to be devious, but will act in ways that are contrary to their interests. An evil fool like George W. Bush will stop at nothing to get what he doesn't intend.

Out in front

Here is a short clip from the movie "The Corporation" in which Robert A.G. Monks explains how CEO pay went stratospheric:




The bubble was fun while it lasted, but it done r-u-n-o-f-t. Perhaps we should now turn to those who saw it coming and tried to warn us?

I'd rather see that than politicians let loose with billions of our tax dollars.

Quick hits

Here are a couple of stats to ponder:

In America, about 22 percent of adults do not have health insurance.

For every 1 percent increase in the jobless rate, 1.1 million people lose coverage.

Source: Recession leads to health care crisis

Fat Cats

One thing that I keep coming back to in the early days of the Obama administration is that when it comes to fiscal policy, president Barak is an avid fat cat feeder.

The phrase "fat cat" is a pretty good analogy here. A fat cat doesn't play much, and doesn't catch much vermin. A fat cat mostly sleeps and eats, and the fatter it gets the more it will eat.

If you care about the health of the cat you must cut back on the food and kick it outside, where it will at least have to fend off other, leaner cats.

One other thing that I come back to in the early days of the Obama administration is that he got where he is on a groundswell of small donations and is therefore not as beholden to Wall Street as his policies imply.

How is this country going to turn things around if changing administrations has all the impact of changing the drapes at the whitehouse?

Is D.C. so corrupt that not even multiple national crises, a rout at the voting booth, and a qualified leader can change the course?

It is sure starting to look like we're just circling the drain.

Disfunctional Democracy?

Are we a functioning democracy?

If by functioning democracy it is meant that political will and popular will are one, then we haven't been one for decades, as this video makes clear:



When Obama ran for office he liked the phrase, "Yes, we can".

Where is that Obama now?

Was he just another insincere politician out to comfort the comfortable?

Step right up

The best way to humiliate a fool is indeed to hand them a microphone:



I'm not sure these self-infatuated, circus-grade clowns get the recognition they deserve, but wise democrats should immediately cede the microphone whenever one of them wishes to speak for the GOP.

More Simon Johnson

I like people that write clearly and in uncomplicated language, for instance this paragraph from Simon Johnson as he analyzes America's economic woes:

"The root problem is uncertainty—in our case, uncertainty about whether the major banks have sufficient assets to cover their liabilities. Half measures combined with wishful thinking and a wait-and-see attitude cannot overcome this uncertainty. And the longer the response takes, the longer the uncertainty will stymie the flow of credit, sap consumer confidence, and cripple the economy—ultimately making the problem much harder to solve. Yet the principal characteristics of the government’s response to the financial crisis have been delay, lack of transparency, and an unwillingness to upset the financial sector."

- Simon Johnson -

You can read the entire article here:

The Quiet Coup

What has disturbed me most about Obama's tenure so far is just how little our fiscal policy has changed from the days of George W. Bush. This "plan" by Geithner is cash for trash repackaged with different lingo.

A different proposal

Simon Johnson of MIT appeared on Bill Moyer's Journal to discuss another way to handle the current financial meltdown. He summarized his idea as a "scaled up FDIC intervention", and suggested that the trust-busting techniques of Teddy Roosevelt should also come into play.

See the interview here

Put me down as favoring his plan, not because I am an economist but because I know that there is no welfare cheat like a corporate welfare cheat.

In October of 2008, George Soros appeared on Bill Moyer's Journal to discuss the economic situation. There is similarity between what he says and what Simon says.

That interview is here

An interesting quote from that interview, I thought, was this:

"I think our ability to govern ourselves doesn't keep pace with our ability to exercise power over nature, control over nature. So we are very complicated civilization. And we could actually destroy our civilization because of our inability to govern ourselves."

- George Soros -

Who likes it?

The more I read about the Geithner plan, the more I find myself wondering, "Who likes it besides Geithner and the corporate-types that got us into this mess?"

I am beginning to think that Obama is not the change I wished to see in the world.