It's a wonderful bank

Here is a fantastic article on a sector of the banking community that is doing well:

Too Small to Fail


My own experience with a community bank mortgage wasn't so romantic. Before the ink had dried the mortgage was sold to another bank and the first letter I got in my new home informed me I was doing business with a national chain (now partly owned by the benevolent government of Singapore).

I signed up for the George Bailey experience but he sold me out to Mr. Potter.

My "local" bank was eventually bought.

Where's the beef?

As I watch Obama make appointments and make statements a recurring question comes to mind and it is this: "Is he going to represent the people that elected him, or only those that voted against him?"

It's all well and good to pretend that there is such a thing as bipartisanship in Washington D.C., but to act on such belief seems a bit daft to me.

Catching up...

I have been without power for days and so I am currently playing catch-up.

The big news story is that an Iraqi journalist threw two shoes at the president Bush.

My first thought was of Mike Myers in the role of Austin Powers:



The Truth seems no longer stranger than fiction.

On Dreaming...

My dream is to see Barney Frank replace Nancy Pelosi as speaker of the House. Nancy lacks pizzaz and therefore makes for a dull majority leader.

Barney, though, turns a phrase like this:

"[Obama's] going to have to be more assertive than he's been. At a time of great crisis with mortgage foreclosures and autos, he says we only have one president at a time. I'm afraid that overstates the number of presidents we have. He's got to remedy that situation."

Source

I think he's got the wit and flair to make a headline-grabbing majority leader, and when you can grab headlines you can steer the news coverage.

I think he would also bring out the very worst in Republicans for all Americans to see.

More job cuts announced

Santa to cut 12,000 jobs and slash spending

Thu Dec 4, 2008 10:13am EST

Santa Claus said he would eliminate 12,000 jobs, or about 4 percent of his workforce, a fresh wave of cuts to cope with an economic downturn that has exacerbated a decline in the irrational exuberance of children.

Santa said on Thursday he will cut the jobs over the remainder of 2008 and 2009, and take a charge of about $600 million in this year's fourth quarter for severance.

Santa attributed the job cuts to "economic pressures, a changing business mix and a more streamlined organizational structure."

Santa also plans to cut his 2009 capital spending from this year's levels, though actual spending plans have not yet been finalized. Santa said he would provide details on his capital spending in late January.

The cuts come as the Santa Claus struggles with declining demand, as many children switch their hopes to cheaper, Chinese-made plastic toys, and away from the traditional Elvin-crafted playthings.

The move follows Santa’s April announcement of cutting 4,600 jobs, mostly in management, as well as a three-year plan disclosed at the end of last year to cut 10,000 jobs.

Santa has been trying to maintain childhood irrational exuberance by investing in new, high-speed Internet and video services. But, children have yet to embrace the new wooden snowpod devices or elf-tunes music service. Said Christopher Robbins, a potential customer and Pooh-companion, “I checked out the music service, but who wants to listen to flutes and lutes?”

Nonetheless Santa has promised there will be no interruption of services this year, but if trends continue he may face some belt tightening and leaner days.

Mumbai

Here is a photo collection by the Boston Globe concerning the recent terrorist attacks in Mumbai:

Attack in Images

In this Daily Show episode from December 1st, John Oliver analyzes the Bombay attacks with profundity and profanity.

Casting Stones

One thing that bothers me about the Democratically-led Congress post 2006 is the go-along-to-get-along chumminess of Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid. Their underlying assumption, if they are stupid as opposed to complicit, is that making nice with Republicans and with Joe Lieberman is like an investment that pays off down the road in a tit-for-tat warm gesture book-balancing accounting.

Does not the hand that feeds a lion look like a steak when the meat locker is empty?

The president Bush, for all his bungling of the national interests, has time and again received what he wanted without a fight. Yet, I have never witnessed a genuine cooperative gesture in his administration. He is still out there, in fact, bullying from his bully pulpit, a champion moron to the finish line.

I found a voice recently that does a rather good job of expressing my sentiments and her name is Ann Davidow:

She Writes...

I happen to think that ridicule is the most potent defense against a bully with a Messiah complex. I suppose it is because it is hard to be taken seriously when one isn't, and president Bush has been taken far too seriously for far too long.

About face?

By announcing that Robert Gates will keep his job and by allegedly placing Hillary Clinton at Secretary of State and by smooching political favors to Joe Lieberman I'd say Barak Obama has no intention of getting us out of Iraq.

Why would he place sincere neocons and hawks in his own way if he intends to follow through on his campaign promises?

That sucking sound

If George W. Bush were a traitor or a spy you'd have to admire his competence, especially in light of the current financial consequences of republican rule.

Citigroup seems destined to become the latest recipient of treasury secretay Henry Paulson's public-purse pick-pocketing, while Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid attend dutifully.

What we are seeing, in essence, is the robber baron class taking America's electoral hopes (which require public funds) and sending them down the cash-to-crony crapper.

Paul Krugman said this about the Citigroup "plan":

"a lousy deal for the taxpayers, no accountability for management, and just to make things perfect, quite possibly inadequate, so that Citi will be back for more."

Source

Is there a credible reason why Congress can't shut off the money press until Obama and his team are in charge?

Why is the American taxpayer bailing out United Arab Emirates Sovereign Wealth Fund and the Government Investment Corp. of Singapore (who own large stakes in Citibank)?

Shouldn't Nancy Pelosi, who allegedly has some type of Congressional "purse-string" authority, seek to attach strings to purse disbursements?

I think that to fail as much as George W. Bush unintentionally requires an implausible measure of bad fortune, but perhaps I fail to pay proper respect to ignorance.

Looking on the bright side...

One of the inspirations for this blog was the Monty Python skit, "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life", from the movie Life of Brian. The other major influences were Charlie Chaplin's final speech in the Great Dictator, and the sad life and times of George W. Bush.

There is now a Monty Phython Channel on YouTube and that allows me to provide you with the following inspirational music video:



If you have a favorite Monty Python clip, you can likely find it here.

May you spend the rest of the day whistling.

My Holy Politics

It occurs to me this morning that conservative republicans want to privatize the public interest and take the private interest public. After having that thought it seemed right to state the obvious on a bumper-sticker.

Cough. Cough.

What Alan Greenspan told us then:

"In today's context, where tax reduction appears required in any event over the next several years to assist in forestalling the accumulation of private assets, starting that process sooner rather than later likely would help smooth the transition to longer-term fiscal balance. And should current economic weakness spread beyond what now appears likely, having a tax cut in place may, in fact, do noticeable good."

Testimony of Alan Greenspan
Before the Committee on the Budget, U.S. Senate
January 25, 2001

Aggressive coercion

How did we go from this?:

"Military necessity does not admit of cruelty"
Abraham Lincoln
1863


To this?:

"[Guantanamo Bay detainee] Al-Qahtani was interrogated for and I'm illustrating now, not the exact, something like 48 out of 52 days, often for stretches exceeding 12 to 14 or even 16 hours a day. He was kept in cold rooms such that he was shivering uncontrollably, his heart rate would drop; he was provided fluids intravenously without the opportunity to go to the bathroom. He was sexually humiliated by female US guards and other treatments of this sort."

- US Navy General Counsel Alberto Mora -


Have you reflected on the level of planning that went into Mr. Mora's depiction? It is a strong argument against the "few bad apples" defense.

La-la-la Lieberman

Lily Tomlin once said, and I paraphrase, "No matter how cynical I get, I find I can't keep up."

I am reminded of those time-tested words as I see Democratic legislators ready to give the dishonorable senator from Connecticut, Traitor Joe Lieberman, the cherished gift of chairmanship of Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.

I was repeatedly told that Barak Obama made the bulk of his money from small on-line contributors, and this was going to allow him to be less beholden to the corporate interests that routinely squelch the will of the majority (particularly the one that elected him). Well, nothing says "business interests first" like letting Holy Joe Lieberman keep his Power in the face of the election of 2008, which repudiated the ideas he championed throatfully.

This shouldn't be a surprise, since democrats usually find a quick way to turn hope into disgust when they win. Nancy Pelosi's Justice-crucifying pronouncements about tables did the trick in 2006. This loathsome Lieberman love-fest now taking place is likewise a let-down.

I grew up in Nixon's shadow and have never learned to trust politicians the way some people do, so I look for sincerity in deeds. It doesn't make any sense to be against "business as usual" and for Joe Lieberman. By your actions do you choose.

Let us give thanks

They say the best way to ridicule a fool is to hand them a microphone. Let's see what happens when we review the recent utterances of Sarah Palin:

"Sitting here in these chairs that I'm going to be proposing but in working with these governors who again on the front lines are forced to and it's our privileged obligation to find solutions to the challenges facing our own states every day being held accountable, not being just one of many just casting votes or voting present every once in a while, we don't get away with that. We have to balance budgets and we're dealing with multibillion dollar budgets and tens of thousands of employees in our organizations.

That executive experience that every governor has and must have being put to good use now as we work together as governors to help reach out to Barack Obama's administration, being able to help him make good decisions based on the solutions that we already seek. For me specifically of course, energy independence that is doable here in this country, we have the domestic solutions because we have the domestic supply."

I find that I am grateful all over again for Obama's victory.

Terrific article

If you want to read a well written article about the Financial mess Wall Street created for itself, you could do worse than to read this article:

The End

It is chock full of straight talk and interesting tidbits like this one:

In Bakersfield, California, a Mexican strawberry picker with an income of $14,000 and no English was lent every penny he needed to buy a house for $720,000.

and this one:

Eisman knew subprime lenders could be scumbags. What he underestimated was the total unabashed complicity of the upper class of American capitalism. For instance, he knew that the big Wall Street investment banks took huge piles of loans that in and of themselves might be rated BBB, threw them into a trust, carved the trust into tranches, and wound up with 60 percent of the new total being rated AAA.

I think it is behavior like this that has led Robert A.G. Monks to believe that credit reporting agencies are a salvation to the market, along with participation by owners (investors). Here is a recent post incorporating a suggestion for the new administration:

Third Way


I think that his suggestions are wise, but suspect they require regulatory muscle to implement. His life might even make my case. He, even paired with a Rockefeller, has had little success modifying the behavior of Exxon/Mobil. There is a thick layer of institutional arrogance that meets investors with stage-managed contempt.

Part of the problem is that shareholders don't want to rock the boat when the bubble is inflating, or even believe the Truth when that involves understanding a threat to their profits, and that makes it hard to organize enough resistance to avoid a catastrophe when it matters.

This is how a wise regulator can have a positive impact on the economy. Suppose the SEC head realized it is systemically risky to allow a CEO to serve as CFO, and then suppose he created and enforced a rule forbidding the practice? Or, alternatively, suppose he simply did his all-out best to use his bully pulpit to warn shareholders of the practice, thereby helping to organize them against such practices?

Wouldn't that safeguard some of Exxon/Mobil's extraordinary gains?

In the second case, the unregulated case, I expect the SEC head would need to be widely respected by investors (because of a successful track-record). Someone like Warren Buffet commands enough respect to be heard when the gravy train is rolling along. In the current crisis someone like Steve Eisman might be a great choice, but I don't know if he has the name recognition for the unregulated sage. Certainly he knows where our regulators are failing (i.e. converting BBB bonds to AAA bonds by spending unwarranted trust).

Many choices in life are false choices, especially those presented as mutually exclusive. I think we need a president that picks good financial people that puts marketplace stability first, working in conjunction with the shareholders and regulators to keep the market fundamentally sound, and by fundamentally sound I mean fundamentally honest.

Even a crook wants an honest man to count his money, and I think that forces which act to keep the market honest are beneficial whether corporate, shareholder, press, or governmental. It might even be better to have a multi-directional assault.

My disclaimer is this, I say this all as a checked-out investor. I don't find accounting exciting and can find little pleasure watching the contents of my egg basket. Perhaps I have some faith in regulation because I have little in myself?

Crazy time in nutsville

Watching conservatives implode is one thing, but watching them endanger the life of president-elect Barak Obama is another.

According to Newsweek:

The Obama campaign was provided with reports from the Secret Service showing a sharp and disturbing increase in threats to Obama in September and early October, at the same time that many crowds at Palin rallies became more frenzied.

So the narrative is that Sarah Palin attacks Obama's patriotism, then her followers begin to threaten him.

Now we have a Georgia Congressman publicly warning of an Obama dictatorship.

My first reaction is to laugh at crazy time in nutsville, but not without asking, "How much of this is acceptable from legislators?"

Obama hasn't spent one day in office and already he's managed to become a socialist dictator and Hitler imitator?

I wonder if a white man from Georgia says "socialist" when he feels he can't say "nigger"?

To be clear...

To argue that Lieberman should keep his chairs, particularly Homeland Security and Governmental Oversight, is to also argue that a member of the democratic party is unworthy of them.

I cannot think of why democrats wish to punish their own deserving members to placate the back-stabbing, media diva, and unpopular Senator from Connecticut. To keep him is to belittle his incompetence and will only embolden his intransigence.

Whether you are dealing with a wolf in sheep's clothing or a wolf naturally attired matters little at the jaws.


ADDENDUM: I just found out about a fun place on the web called Dickipedia. It is a Wikipedia-like encyclopedia of dicks. They have, of course, an entry for Joe Lieberman.

Sifting the Wreckage

The current economic crisis seems to teach the following:

The only thing worse than financial-market regulations is the absence of financial-market regulations.

When corporations are allowed to get so large that they "can't be allowed to fail", then they might have to be socialized at great public expense. A preventative measure is trust-busting.

When a political ideology like "ownership society" replaces the due diligence of creditors, then bankruptcy and default will be the natural response of debtors. On a small scale this cannot be avoided, but on a large scale it harms Main Street and Wall Street.

Bailout money dispensed without strings or compensation encourages waste. For example, a scant week after pocketing an $85-billion bailout from taxpayers on Sept. 16, AIG employees stayed at a West Coast resort and spent $440,000, including $23,380 at the spa. Most people would not call that belt tightening.

Jumpin' Joe

I hate to fixate on Joe Lieberman because I know that is exactly the type of thing he would enjoy, but while the matter of his committee chairs hangs in the air like a cloud of stink, grievances should be aired.

Joe's position seems this: "Let me keep my chairs, or else I'll not caucus with the democrats".

If that is his position then he offers blackmail and makes an empty threat while exhibiting an ambulance-chasers ethic. So, Lieberman should be left to lie in the bed he made.

Why shouldn't that nice new Senator from Virginia get some of that Power? Let's make Virginia nice and happy, nice and happy...

It is counterproductive to place an unrepentant hawk in a position to obstruct an Iraqi withdrawal with Clinton-like investigations and budget threats.

This is so transparently obvious I will interpret such a development as a signal to corporate elites that Barak is signed, sealed, delivered, and theirs.

I wants my change, me.