Wednesday, September 24, 2008

McCain’s Final Hail Mary (2:24 pm)

John McCain is suspending his campaign in order to return to Washington and work on the unfolding “crisis.” He also is calling for a delay or cancellation to Friday’s debate.

It’s another gutsy, extreme, and, I’d wager, ultimately loco move akin to choosing Sarah Palin as his running mate. This way he looks more patriot than politician (sets aside petty politics to serve the country in time of dire need), and can also fabricate the illusion that he had a hand in saving the country from disaster. Oh, and that this move gets him out of the debate, during which he was sure to turn in a lackluster, out-of-touch performance, and also yanks the attention back to him at a time when he’s plummeting in the polls? That’s just lucky, I guess.

Josh Marshall asks the right questions:

Wait…Wait

What’s changed today in the financial crisis other than John McCain’s poll numbers tanking? Isn’t this the campaign equivalent of faking an injury when you’re down late in the 4th quarter? Note too that McCain was in the midst of debate prep when he made this decision.

Look at what appears to have happened. Obama reached out to McCain privately to agree to a shared set of bailout principles. McCain went off the handle again and tried to use the crisis as a way to call off the debates.

posted by Jarrett | 3 comments

“We Can Not Let This Stand” (2:17 pm)

Another excerpt from Sirota’s blog today. This entry is a must-read.

…The debate this week over the bailout truly is the most important economic debate we’ve seen in the last decade, if not the entire last generation. What happens this week will be written about in history books for the rest of our lives. In terms of its size, scope, reach and constitutional implications, the Bush proposal probably surpasses any single measure - good or bad - for the last 30 or 40 years, except, perhaps, for the bill authorizing the Iraq War, and even compared to that, it’s very close.

I say this as someone who worked on the Hill for 5 years during the passage of the Bush tax cuts, the Patriot Act and the Iraq War authorization: I have never seen a bill as monarchic as the bill Henry Paulson submitted to the Congress, I have never heard as absurd an explanation as Paulson gave for his proposal, and if we let it pass in even vaguely the same shape as it is in, we will watch a tectonic shift in how the fundamentals (to use a McCain term) of our democracy work, and do not work. During a recession and a foreclosure crisis, if the U.S. Congress cannot stop a lame-duck president with a 19 percent approval rating from using an economic crisis Wall Street speculators manufactured to give away almost a trillion dollars of taxpayer cash to those same speculators, then we no longer live in anything even close to a democracy.

posted by Jarrett | start the discussion

Sign Bernie Sanders’ Letter Telling Congressional Dems to PUSH BACK (2:09 pm)

From David Sirota’s blog:

Bank Lobbyists Laugh At Congressional Dems

In a story about Banking Committee Chairman Sen. Chris Dodd’s admirable efforts to amend bankruptcy laws and put limits on executive compensation (ie. what should be the absolute minimum in any bailout), Roll Call reports that the financial industry is openly laugh at him and fellow Democrats:

“Not all lobbyists believe the Dodd bankruptcy provision is the real deal. One industry advocate, who would speak only on background, said he believes it was floated
for purely political purposes. ‘No one’s taking Dodd seriously,’ this lobbyist said.”

The financial industry’s attitude towards Congress is Henry Paulson’s attitude: namely, that the national legislature is a joke whose only role is to cut fat taxpayer checks to lawmakers’ Wall Street donors. Will Democrats once again be the punchline, or will they push back?

Sign Bernie Sanders’ letter telling them to push back - hard.

posted by Jarrett | 1 comment

Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Nader’s Proposed Reforms (9:58 pm)

According to Chris Hedges, Ralph Nader foretold the financial collapse we are witnessing way back in 2000. In his most recent piece for Truthdig, Hedges writes, “Nader has come up with 10 market reforms that he says need to be implemented immediately along with any bailout. These reforms are:

1. No bailouts without conditions and reciprocity in the form of stock warrants.
2. No more lobbying for any company that is bailed out.
3. No golden parachutes or get-out-of-jail-free cards for guilty executives.
4. No bailouts without public hearings.
5. Reduce the moral hazard in U.S. mortgage markets by introducing covered bonds for the majority of mortgage products, as is done in Western Europe. That gives institutions
that finance mortgages an incentive to be prudent, because they cannot just unload them and wipe their hands clean of the liability, but are instead on the hook if the
homeowner defaults.
6. Maintain neighborhood stability and housing security by passing a law with a sunset clause allowing below-median-value homeowners facing foreclosure the right to “rent to
own” their homes at fair market value rates.
7. Avoid future housing bubbles by removing implicit government guarantees for new mortgages that exceed thresholds of greater than 15 to 20 times the annual fair market rent
value of the home.
8. Make the Federal Reserve a Cabinet position, so it is accountable to Congress, as well as make sure all Federal Reserve Bank presidents are appointed by the president and
answerable to Congress.
9. Reduce conflicts of interest by taking away power for auditor and rating agency selection from companies and placing it in the hands of the SEC to be administered on random
assignment.
10. Implement a securities speculation tax, starting with derivatives, to deter casino-style capitalism.”

I’ve been reading Sirota’s blog closely and he’s most fond of the “bail-out package” prescribed by Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont.

posted by Jarrett | 1 comment

Nope. (10:48 am)

posted by Jeremy Gantz | start the discussion

Monday, September 22, 2008

Back To The Future: Dean Baker On The Mortgage Crisis (1:50 pm)

Brian’s post below refers to David Sirota’s article today, “The $700 Billion Questions,” and he’s right: You must read it. In that article Sirota examines the fact that Obama does not include a single progressive voice in his cadre of economic advisers on whom he is relying so heavily during the escalating financial crisis. “Other than Joseph Stiglitz,” Sirota writes, “Obama included not…even one of the many visionaries like economist Dean Baker, who has for years been predicting exactly this kind of meltdown.” If you ever needed any proof for what Sirota contends here - that Baker is a visionary - read this article by Baker, “Bursting Bubbles,” published in In These Times in 2003. So you know, the New York Times finally picked up this story in 2007 with their article, “This Is The Sound of a Bubble Bursting,” four years after Baker already covered it, thus begging the question: where were they in 2003? Oh, that’s right - they were too busy cheerleading Bush’s disastrous, misguided war.

Over the last few years In These Times has consistently published stories that are later picked up by other independent outlets and the mainstream media, (see our cover story, “Showdown” about the Udall cousins who are currently fighting for seats in the Senate; now look at this Times article published 4 months later). While our writers cover what’s going on right now in the world and what it portends, the MSM waits months, sometimes years, to catch up. Our subscribers and regular readers get the most important, relevant news first. It’s why independent media is so invaluable to the health of our nation and the state of our democracy. Can you imagine if the nation had heeded Baker back in ‘03?

Subscribe to In These Times today. Make a donation to ensure our writers keep ‘em coming and you, the reader, are always ahead of the curve.

posted by Jarrett | 1 comment

Bailing Out of the Bailout (11:16 am)

If for some reason you haven’t done so already, you need to read David Sirota’s “The $700 Billion Questions.” Seriously.

I’d also recommend Chris Hayes’ post that explains what’s going on with this plan as explicitly and simply as possible: “[T]his is nothing more than an attempt to use panic and fear (much of which is warranted) to transfer a gobsmacking amount of public money into private hands. That’s the only way the Paulson proposal makes any sense.”

I’d also second Hayes’ point that Obama’s reaction to this plan is tremendously crucial (if he caves, you can commence thinking of his message of “change” as a nice, soothing lullaby, something to make the final takeover of this country by oligarchs and plutocrats a little more palatable). As is the response of all members of Congress, both Democrats and Republicans. This package (in its current state) is so offensive to democracy and common sense that it basically destroys the left-right political divide. I plan on getting in touch with my representative and senators to express my outrage, and I encourage you to do the same. Because if this fucking giveaway passes while millions of Americans are struggling to pay rent, buy food, etc.,…well, I think it would be pitchfork-and-Molotov time in any civilized society.

UPDATE: Connecticut Sen. Chris Dodd—who Sirota gave a well-deserved thrashing for his initial enthusiasm w/r/t the Paulson plan—has released a much more comprehensive alternative plan that would limit executive compensation, demand that firms wishing to be bailed out grant the government equity stakes, and create a special inspector general and oversight board. These are much-needed improvements, but for people wondering what all is still missing, check out Dean Baker’s thorough rundown of what should be the sine qua non for the bailout.

posted by Brian Cook | 1 comment

Friday, September 19, 2008

Friday Night Links: The Sierra Nevada Edition (7:09 pm)

-Salon’s Broadsheet on “the Dakota Fanning rape movie” and the obstructive, weird sexism and calls for censorship it’s faced in its struggle for funding/distribution.

-Jezebel publishes the “75 books every woman should read” in response to Esquire’s “75 books every man should read.”

-FreePress succeeds in helping free protesters imprisoned during the RNC.

-Me? I’m partial to the White Sox. But, will I be watching the Cubs this weekend on free TV?. You can bet on it.