As you all know, I've been doing a lot of raging lately about the abysmal leadership and greed that got us into the economic and political crisis in which we find ourselves. I like to think that I'm a compelling writer and a reasonably well-informed and thoughtful guy. But I'm driven by my passions and sense of outrage as much as anyone else.
To get a thoughtful and - if I can use the term guardedly - moral analysis of the situation, you may be interested in these three articles from In All Things, the blog of America, The National Catholic Weekly: The Dark Knight and the Bailout; Memo to Pope: Encyclical, Please; and, McCain's Stunt, John Paul's Principles, and Obama's Opportunity.
You don't need to be Catholic, or even particularly religious, to see the moral common sense. I almost always enjoy reading the posts in this blog, and I wish I'd written any of the three I cited above, but particularly the first and third pieces, written by Michael Sean Winters.
Food for thought at a time when we have a thinking person's famine.
Have a good day. More later.
Bilbo
Saturday, September 27, 2008
Cartoon Saturday
The first presidential debate has come and gone, a Chinese taikonaut has made the first spacewalk for his country, Congress is still doing the flaming toupee dance over the Save-the-CEO Program, and the last time I saw rain like we're having, my neighbor was building a really big boat and lining his pets up by twos.
Time for Cartoon Saturday.
Like many of you, I've had to rethink my retirement planning so that I can do my part to save Wall Street. As a patriotic American who can't stand the thought of poor, suffering financial magnates actually being held accountable for their actions, I can do no less. Here two of my new approaches:
Yes, real estate markets are tough. Remember Hoovervilles? You may want to stock up on large appliance cartons, tar paper, and plastic sheeting, as they're investments that are likely to increase in value, unlike your house...
Along with the tanking of the economy comes a decline in service across the board. I thought this cartoon from a German magazine about nailed it...
For you non-German-speakers, the bottom caption reads "railway platform comedians" and the sign says the train will be about 40 minutes late. The man on the left says, "Wow...that's a whole five minutes less than usual!", to which the woman replies, "And we complain about higher prices."
And finally, just because we need something silly to laugh at besides "Congressional leadership"...
Quote of the day from this Daily Show with John Stewart clip on Miss Cellania's blog:
"It's his Achilles head."
... referring to Treasury Secretary Paulsen's foresight in seeing the economic disaster coming.
What did you think of the debate last night? I'll let you know what I thought in the next post.
Have a good Cartoon Saturday. More thoughts coming.
Bilbo
Time for Cartoon Saturday.
Like many of you, I've had to rethink my retirement planning so that I can do my part to save Wall Street. As a patriotic American who can't stand the thought of poor, suffering financial magnates actually being held accountable for their actions, I can do no less. Here two of my new approaches:
Yes, real estate markets are tough. Remember Hoovervilles? You may want to stock up on large appliance cartons, tar paper, and plastic sheeting, as they're investments that are likely to increase in value, unlike your house...
Along with the tanking of the economy comes a decline in service across the board. I thought this cartoon from a German magazine about nailed it...
For you non-German-speakers, the bottom caption reads "railway platform comedians" and the sign says the train will be about 40 minutes late. The man on the left says, "Wow...that's a whole five minutes less than usual!", to which the woman replies, "And we complain about higher prices."And finally, just because we need something silly to laugh at besides "Congressional leadership"...
Quote of the day from this Daily Show with John Stewart clip on Miss Cellania's blog:"It's his Achilles head."
... referring to Treasury Secretary Paulsen's foresight in seeing the economic disaster coming.
What did you think of the debate last night? I'll let you know what I thought in the next post.
Have a good Cartoon Saturday. More thoughts coming.
Bilbo
Friday, September 26, 2008
A Few Simple Questions
As many old jokes begin, there's good news and there's bad news.
The good news is that Green Canary's dating situation appears to have dramatically improved, and I'm very happy for her and for Mr Mystery. She's my favorite virtual soap opera, and I wish her well.
The bad news is that - with all the bipartisan agreement on how dreadful our economic situation has become - CNN can run a headline that reads, "Bailout Talks Implode, Leaving Economy's Fate Unresolved." The first line of that story reads, "...high-stakes negotiations over the proposed $700 billion bailout of the nation's financial system dissolved into bickering, begging and a roiling battle between parties Thursday night."
I trust you are as shocked as I am.
I have often admitted in this space that I'm no mental giant when it comes to matters of economics. I can't even tell the difference between a "collateralized debt obligation" and a "credit default swap." I thought the Lehman Brothers lost the battle of the bands to the Jonas Brothers. I thought banks were where you went to deposit your money so you could get it back again later when you needed it. I thought insurance companies were supposed to invest your premiums and make lots of money so that they could find creative ways to deny your claims later. I thought financial institutions were bedrock structures of granite and steel bars and sober men in dark suits behind huge, polished oak desks who kept the financial heart of the nation beating.
Well, that's what I get for thinking. Unfortunately, I can't stop thinking...
In an interview quoted this morning in the CNN story linked above, presidential candidate Barack Obama said that there "...has to be a sense of urgency on the part of everybody. ... We've got to move rapidly."
Hmmm....if we really need to move that rapidly, Mike has a good plan this morning.
This leads me to a few simple questions for those who are supposedly trying to resolve the financial meltdown:
1. Why, since this mess has taken years to develop into the gravest fiscal crisis since the Great Depression (or, at least, since three days before my last payday), must it be solved in a matter of days? Go back and read what I wrote yesterday's post about paying attention to the man behind the curtain. That's what's happening. Nobody wants you to know the truth of how big the mess is, how much it will cost you, and how complicit the people we trusted are in its development.
2. (Trick Question) Where is the $700 billion to pay for the bailout (or, to use the more charitable term, "economic rescue plan") coming from? We all know the answer to that...it's coming from increased taxes paid by you and I, our children, our grandchildren, and their children. No one will tell you that, and they'll try to hide it in obscure economic terms, but you know it's true.
3. (Another Trick Question) Who is responsible for this mess? The short answer is "everyone." Much of the blame goes to the armies of MBAs who dreamed up all the exotic ways to turn debts into lucrative moneymaking schemes. A lot of it goes to those who were responsible for overseeing the economy and making sure this didn't happen, but were asleep at the switch. A contributing factor is the cost of a needless war that's being paid for off the books by emergency authorizations instead of properly-scrutinized and debated budget items. But the real answer is that much of the responsibility comes back to well-intentioned but stupid Congressional action to make home ownership possible for everyone...even those who couldn't afford it. I'll talk more about this in another post.
4. (The Third Trick Question) Who has acknowledged the least amount of blame for the mess? Don't everybody speak at once, now.
5. (Last Trick Question) How many suits will go to jail as a result of destroying the national economy? If you answered anything other than "none," you don't know much about DC politics.
And this isn't really another question, but an observation...you might be interested in this article which appeared below the fold of the front page of yesterday's Washington Post: U.S. Appeals Abroad Fall Flat as Leaders See No Crisis at Home. Yes, the nations of the world who are the first to look to the United States to save their bacon in times of dire crisis are blowing us off. I don't believe in isolationism, but I understand its appeal. Remember this the next time another "ally" or "friend" needs help and comes to Uncle Sam to open his checkbook.
And so I continue to shake my head and enjoy the good news that comes from fewer and fewer places...Green Canary's love life, Zipcode's vacation, Aaron's chance to drive an "excavator," and the new season of Dancing with the Stars.
Have a good day. Hang in there. More thoughts coming.
Bilbo
The good news is that Green Canary's dating situation appears to have dramatically improved, and I'm very happy for her and for Mr Mystery. She's my favorite virtual soap opera, and I wish her well.
The bad news is that - with all the bipartisan agreement on how dreadful our economic situation has become - CNN can run a headline that reads, "Bailout Talks Implode, Leaving Economy's Fate Unresolved." The first line of that story reads, "...high-stakes negotiations over the proposed $700 billion bailout of the nation's financial system dissolved into bickering, begging and a roiling battle between parties Thursday night."
I trust you are as shocked as I am.
I have often admitted in this space that I'm no mental giant when it comes to matters of economics. I can't even tell the difference between a "collateralized debt obligation" and a "credit default swap." I thought the Lehman Brothers lost the battle of the bands to the Jonas Brothers. I thought banks were where you went to deposit your money so you could get it back again later when you needed it. I thought insurance companies were supposed to invest your premiums and make lots of money so that they could find creative ways to deny your claims later. I thought financial institutions were bedrock structures of granite and steel bars and sober men in dark suits behind huge, polished oak desks who kept the financial heart of the nation beating.
Well, that's what I get for thinking. Unfortunately, I can't stop thinking...
In an interview quoted this morning in the CNN story linked above, presidential candidate Barack Obama said that there "...has to be a sense of urgency on the part of everybody. ... We've got to move rapidly."
Hmmm....if we really need to move that rapidly, Mike has a good plan this morning.
This leads me to a few simple questions for those who are supposedly trying to resolve the financial meltdown:
1. Why, since this mess has taken years to develop into the gravest fiscal crisis since the Great Depression (or, at least, since three days before my last payday), must it be solved in a matter of days? Go back and read what I wrote yesterday's post about paying attention to the man behind the curtain. That's what's happening. Nobody wants you to know the truth of how big the mess is, how much it will cost you, and how complicit the people we trusted are in its development.
2. (Trick Question) Where is the $700 billion to pay for the bailout (or, to use the more charitable term, "economic rescue plan") coming from? We all know the answer to that...it's coming from increased taxes paid by you and I, our children, our grandchildren, and their children. No one will tell you that, and they'll try to hide it in obscure economic terms, but you know it's true.
3. (Another Trick Question) Who is responsible for this mess? The short answer is "everyone." Much of the blame goes to the armies of MBAs who dreamed up all the exotic ways to turn debts into lucrative moneymaking schemes. A lot of it goes to those who were responsible for overseeing the economy and making sure this didn't happen, but were asleep at the switch. A contributing factor is the cost of a needless war that's being paid for off the books by emergency authorizations instead of properly-scrutinized and debated budget items. But the real answer is that much of the responsibility comes back to well-intentioned but stupid Congressional action to make home ownership possible for everyone...even those who couldn't afford it. I'll talk more about this in another post.
4. (The Third Trick Question) Who has acknowledged the least amount of blame for the mess? Don't everybody speak at once, now.
5. (Last Trick Question) How many suits will go to jail as a result of destroying the national economy? If you answered anything other than "none," you don't know much about DC politics.
And this isn't really another question, but an observation...you might be interested in this article which appeared below the fold of the front page of yesterday's Washington Post: U.S. Appeals Abroad Fall Flat as Leaders See No Crisis at Home. Yes, the nations of the world who are the first to look to the United States to save their bacon in times of dire crisis are blowing us off. I don't believe in isolationism, but I understand its appeal. Remember this the next time another "ally" or "friend" needs help and comes to Uncle Sam to open his checkbook.
And so I continue to shake my head and enjoy the good news that comes from fewer and fewer places...Green Canary's love life, Zipcode's vacation, Aaron's chance to drive an "excavator," and the new season of Dancing with the Stars.
Have a good day. Hang in there. More thoughts coming.
Bilbo
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Toxic Waste and Dancing with the Stars
I've been fulminating about the current economic disaster and the lack of Presidential and Congressional leadership to deal with it for a few days now, and so it's time to shift gears just a little bit. I'm so angry about the whole thing that it's probably better to back off for a day or two lest all my readers start to think that I'm obsessed or something. Even if I am.
Like many of you, I like to follow the statistics of visits to my blog. According to MyBlogLog, I have learned that my two most-read posts are "Don't Dig Here!" (1,951 hits) and "Helio Castroneves Wins Dancing with the Stars" (3,351 hits). "Don't Dig Here!" discussed the problem of how to craft warnings about toxic waste dump sites to civilizations tens of thousands of years in the future; the other, of course, was my summary of the last season of "Dancing with the Stars."
Speaking of toxic waste, and considering the speech presented by President Bush last night, you may enjoy this great editorial cartoon from Tom Toles of the Washington Post earlier this week:
Yucca Mountain, of course, is the yet-to-be-opened storage site for nuclear waste in the remote Nevada desert.
Speaking of "Dancing with the Stars," like most ballroom dancers I'm of two minds about the show. My friend lacegem, commenting on yesterday's post, said she'd stopped watching the show because "...Most of America only votes for the cute couple or the hot looking star or dancer & not necessarily the best dancer," and notes that she'd rather watch "real ballroom dancing on PBS." In one way, I agree with her. It's very frustrating to watch people with real talent like Sabrina Bryan
and Melanie Brown
get voted off while talentless losers like "Master P"
and talentless but entertaining losers like George Hamilton
and, this season, Cloris Leachman
keep coming back.
But nevertheless, I keep watching...it's sort of like the fascination that makes one want to gawk at a ghastly wreck on the highway. And who knows? It may be tacky and puffed up with Hollywood kitsch and fluff, but Dancing with the Stars is better than no dancing at all.
And someday, I will have my waltz with Edyta Sliwinska.
Have a good day. Hold on to your wallets...Congress is still working on the plan to save its favorite campaign contributors.
More thoughts tomorrow.
Bilbo
P.S. - If you have MS-Office installed on your computer, and would like to see a great (if somewhat crude) PowerPoint explanation of the subprime mortgage mess, e-mail me at bilbo_the_blogger (at) yahoo dot com and I'll send you a copy. You'll love it. Mike, I already sent it to you.
B.
Like many of you, I like to follow the statistics of visits to my blog. According to MyBlogLog, I have learned that my two most-read posts are "Don't Dig Here!" (1,951 hits) and "Helio Castroneves Wins Dancing with the Stars" (3,351 hits). "Don't Dig Here!" discussed the problem of how to craft warnings about toxic waste dump sites to civilizations tens of thousands of years in the future; the other, of course, was my summary of the last season of "Dancing with the Stars."
Speaking of toxic waste, and considering the speech presented by President Bush last night, you may enjoy this great editorial cartoon from Tom Toles of the Washington Post earlier this week:
Yucca Mountain, of course, is the yet-to-be-opened storage site for nuclear waste in the remote Nevada desert.Speaking of "Dancing with the Stars," like most ballroom dancers I'm of two minds about the show. My friend lacegem, commenting on yesterday's post, said she'd stopped watching the show because "...Most of America only votes for the cute couple or the hot looking star or dancer & not necessarily the best dancer," and notes that she'd rather watch "real ballroom dancing on PBS." In one way, I agree with her. It's very frustrating to watch people with real talent like Sabrina Bryan
and Melanie Brown
get voted off while talentless losers like "Master P"
and talentless but entertaining losers like George Hamilton
and, this season, Cloris Leachman
keep coming back.But nevertheless, I keep watching...it's sort of like the fascination that makes one want to gawk at a ghastly wreck on the highway. And who knows? It may be tacky and puffed up with Hollywood kitsch and fluff, but Dancing with the Stars is better than no dancing at all.
And someday, I will have my waltz with Edyta Sliwinska.
Have a good day. Hold on to your wallets...Congress is still working on the plan to save its favorite campaign contributors.
More thoughts tomorrow.
Bilbo
P.S. - If you have MS-Office installed on your computer, and would like to see a great (if somewhat crude) PowerPoint explanation of the subprime mortgage mess, e-mail me at bilbo_the_blogger (at) yahoo dot com and I'll send you a copy. You'll love it. Mike, I already sent it to you.
B.
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Pay No Attention to the Man Behind the Curtain...
One of my favorite - and most useful to quote - lines from the classic film The Wizard of Oz comes when Toto the dog pulls aside the draperies in the throne room to reveal the old man manipulating the controls which produce the image of The Great and Powerful Oz. Seeing that he has been exposed, the man shouts into his device, "Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain!"
That's rather how I feel as I watch the Wall Street bailout take shape.
Treasury Secretary Paulsen and Fed Chairman Bernanke are urging rapid action to "stabilize the situation" and "avoid very serious consequences," the President is soberly pontificating about quick and bipartisan action, and - of course - Republicans and Democrats in Congress are pulling in different directions. Most of this is going on behind closed doors, because those of us in The Great Unwashed can't be trusted to understand the weighty matters involved, and should just trust our Betters to solve the problem.
Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain.
Which, of course, is why we're peering out of this pile of smoldering economic wreckage now...for years, nobody paid any attention to the men behind the curtains. And worse, Congress was very busy helping the financial industry hang ever more curtains.
This CNN article talks about Senator McCain's "five fixes" to the financial recovery plan (which, as far as I can tell, can't be fixed because it hasn't been agreed on yet). His five fixes include:
1. Greater accountability for the bailout, including an "oversight board." Who, exactly, will be responsible for deciding who gets how much help, and who will monitor how that money is being used and accounted for?
2. A plan to help the taxpayers who are paying the bill recover the $700 billion we're being asked to pony up.
3. Complete transparency in the process: Senator McCain is quoted as saying, "This can't be cobbled together behind closed doors. The American people have the right to know which businesses will be helped, and what selection will be based on, and how much that help will cost" (pay attention to the man behind the curtain for a change?).
4. A cap on the pay of executives of companies receiving federal bailout help. The suggested cap is the largest pay rate for a federal official - currently that of the President, or $400,000 per year. I don't know about most CEOs, but I could probably live on $400K per year.
5. No added earmarks or other pork barrel spending (because you just know that there are more bridges to build in Alaska and railroad museums you and I must fund in Pennsylvania).
I like these ideas. Of course, Senator McCain might have considered these ideas at the time he was championing the deregulation that helped bring us to this mess, but that train has sailed.
For his part, Senator Obama has said that it is "...wholly unreasonable to expect that American taxpayers would or should hand this administration or any administration a $700 billion blank check with absolutely no oversight or conditions, when a lack of oversight in Washington and on Wall Street is exactly what got us into this mess." He went on to say that taxpayers should be treated like investors if they are being asked to underwrite the bailout.
Good words. But then, he went on to advocate middle-class tax cuts as being "absolutely necessary to strengthen the economy." I like the idea of lower taxes as much as the next guy, but I have to ask myself this: if we cut everyone's taxes, where is the $700 billion for the bailout going to come from? This article from MSN Slate Magazine asks that question pretty well. When you and I buy something, we generally know how we plan to pay for it (even if it's with a credit card). But then, we don't usually spend $700 billion at a whack.
So where is that money coming from if it isn't coming from our taxes? You have to know that the Republicans will never let any of the businesses suffer the burden of paying more taxes.
Who pays?
Don't worry. Trust Congress and its advisors from the financial industry.
Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain.
Have a good day. More thoughts tomorrow.
Bilbo
P.S. - as if I weren't feeling sour enough, the first couple to be eliminated on Dancing with the Stars this season was Jeff Ross and Edyta Sliwinska. Forget Jeff Ross...I'm in lust with Edyta. Sigh. It's going to be a long season until the finals without her.
B.
That's rather how I feel as I watch the Wall Street bailout take shape.
Treasury Secretary Paulsen and Fed Chairman Bernanke are urging rapid action to "stabilize the situation" and "avoid very serious consequences," the President is soberly pontificating about quick and bipartisan action, and - of course - Republicans and Democrats in Congress are pulling in different directions. Most of this is going on behind closed doors, because those of us in The Great Unwashed can't be trusted to understand the weighty matters involved, and should just trust our Betters to solve the problem.
Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain.
Which, of course, is why we're peering out of this pile of smoldering economic wreckage now...for years, nobody paid any attention to the men behind the curtains. And worse, Congress was very busy helping the financial industry hang ever more curtains.
This CNN article talks about Senator McCain's "five fixes" to the financial recovery plan (which, as far as I can tell, can't be fixed because it hasn't been agreed on yet). His five fixes include:
1. Greater accountability for the bailout, including an "oversight board." Who, exactly, will be responsible for deciding who gets how much help, and who will monitor how that money is being used and accounted for?
2. A plan to help the taxpayers who are paying the bill recover the $700 billion we're being asked to pony up.
3. Complete transparency in the process: Senator McCain is quoted as saying, "This can't be cobbled together behind closed doors. The American people have the right to know which businesses will be helped, and what selection will be based on, and how much that help will cost" (pay attention to the man behind the curtain for a change?).
4. A cap on the pay of executives of companies receiving federal bailout help. The suggested cap is the largest pay rate for a federal official - currently that of the President, or $400,000 per year. I don't know about most CEOs, but I could probably live on $400K per year.
5. No added earmarks or other pork barrel spending (because you just know that there are more bridges to build in Alaska and railroad museums you and I must fund in Pennsylvania).
I like these ideas. Of course, Senator McCain might have considered these ideas at the time he was championing the deregulation that helped bring us to this mess, but that train has sailed.
For his part, Senator Obama has said that it is "...wholly unreasonable to expect that American taxpayers would or should hand this administration or any administration a $700 billion blank check with absolutely no oversight or conditions, when a lack of oversight in Washington and on Wall Street is exactly what got us into this mess." He went on to say that taxpayers should be treated like investors if they are being asked to underwrite the bailout.
Good words. But then, he went on to advocate middle-class tax cuts as being "absolutely necessary to strengthen the economy." I like the idea of lower taxes as much as the next guy, but I have to ask myself this: if we cut everyone's taxes, where is the $700 billion for the bailout going to come from? This article from MSN Slate Magazine asks that question pretty well. When you and I buy something, we generally know how we plan to pay for it (even if it's with a credit card). But then, we don't usually spend $700 billion at a whack.
So where is that money coming from if it isn't coming from our taxes? You have to know that the Republicans will never let any of the businesses suffer the burden of paying more taxes.
Who pays?
Don't worry. Trust Congress and its advisors from the financial industry.
Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain.
Have a good day. More thoughts tomorrow.
Bilbo
P.S. - as if I weren't feeling sour enough, the first couple to be eliminated on Dancing with the Stars this season was Jeff Ross and Edyta Sliwinska. Forget Jeff Ross...I'm in lust with Edyta. Sigh. It's going to be a long season until the finals without her.
B.
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
The Missing Link
Here is the link to the Bloomberg.com article referenced in my earlier post this morning. Now you can read the whole thing and not just my excerpts.
B.
B.
Someone Else's Fault
One of the most amazing things about our current situation is the utter unwillingness of anyone in a position of political, business, or economic authority to take any responsibility for the smoking crater that used to be a thriving economy. If you listen to the Republicans, it's the liberal-tax-and-spend-dopesmoking-treehugging Democrats who are 100% responsible for the whole mess; if you listen to the Democrats, it's the greedy, heartless, warmongering, hug-Wall Street-screw-Main Street Republicans who all on their own dragged us over the fiscal event horizon into the biggest economic black hole since 1929.
Where I come from, we call this a self-serving crock of caca.
My friend Jake, who always knows which buttons to push to send me into a towering blograge, yesterday sent me a link to an article on Bloomberg.com, with the comment that it was "Bloomberg's take on when and how the stock market meltdown became inevitable." I don't have the link here at home (it didn't carry over when I forwarded our e-mail exchange to my home account), but I'll post it later when I get to the office so you can read the full article. In the meantime, here is the text of the broadside I launched in response...
QUOTE
Jake,
It would be considerably easier for a thinking person to accept this blatantly biased screed if the author had spent a bit more time on context and analysis and a bit less on partisan spite.
For instance, consider the sentence, "But we now know that many of the senators who protected Fannie and Freddie, including Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and Christopher Dodd, have received mind-boggling levels of financial support from them over the years." I very seriously doubt that only these three high-profile Democrats received largesse from Fannie and Freddie over the years...and yet no lesser Democrats, and certainly no Republicans, are mentioned. I would be absolutely amazed if there were no Republican feeders at the trough as well. In fairness, had this article been written by a Democrat, I'm sure the reverse would have been true...Republicans castigated, but no Democrats.
The article also takes a fairly superficial look at the history. Referring to the Fannie and Freddie reform bill (not specified by name or number), the article claims that "...the bill didn't become law, for a simple reason: Democrats opposed it on a party-line vote in the committee, signaling that this would be a partisan issue. Republicans, tied in knots by the tight Democratic opposition, couldn't even get the Senate to vote on the matter." This might be easier to swallow if there were some context. Why did the craven Democrats oppose it? What efforts were made by the righteous and incorruptible Republicans to identify the Democrats' problems and negotiate a mutually agreeable solution? We are gathering the harvest of the I'm-right-screw-you style of politics that makes Independents like me sick.
This ridiculous balderdash continues: "That such a reckless political stand could have been taken by the Democrats was obscene even then. Wallison wrote at the time: 'It is a classic case of socializing the risk while privatizing the profit. The Democrats and the few Republicans who oppose portfolio limitations could not possibly do so if their constituents understood what they were doing.''' Here we have one group accusing another of an "obscene" and "reckless" stand, and the bald statement that those opposing a particular issue "...could not possibly do so if their constituents understood what they were doing." How many in Congress understood what Fannie and Freddie were doing? Where were the leaders of either party who took the time and effort to explain to their constituents what was at stake, why, and why their proposed way ahead was better...instead of just demonizing the other side of the aisle? The level of arrogant stupidity and avoidance of responsibility here is beyond belief.
Articles like this are a horrendous disservice to the public. They offer nothing but finger pointing and self-righteous accusation while avoiding any hint of responsibility for the mess that both parties have created by rolling over for the monied interests who own Congress.
And don't bring up Greenspan, either. If he had spent more time speaking in clear English so that everyone from "Main Street to Wall Street" could have understood, he might have done us some good. Instead, he spent years making an opaque mess even more opaque.
We're being asked to put up hundreds of billions of dollars to bail out the bastards whose greed has brought us to this point, and we're being told it has to be done because they're "too big to fail." We, of course, are too small to matter.
I'm not interested in hearing anything that says everything is the fault of either the Democrats or the Republicans. They've both been asleep at the switch. Stop all this ******** about how either the Liberals or the Conservatives are the devil incarnate."
END QUOTE
Here's another wonderful example of lack of responsibility and leadership, and the prevelance of the greed and hypocrisy that brought us to this point. In describing Congress's efforts to construct a "rescue plan" to salvage something from the crisis, the article says that "financial institutions are weighing in with what they want in the bill...the Financial Services Roundtable - a lobbying group representing the nation's banks - called on Congress to make the plan 'broad enough to include different types of assets' (the emphasis is mine)."
Did you understand that? The financial wizards who dreamed up all the "assets" that turned out to be worthless are now demanding that Congress protect them from the fruits of their greed. If you aren't disgusted, you're not quite awake yet.
I could go on, but here's the bottom line of my rant: there's no leadership. No one is standing tall and saying that he/she really screwed up and is working hard to help fix the problem. No one - especially any of the reinforced armies of MBAs who dreamed up all the fiscal shenanigans that brought us to this mess - is accepting any responsibility...they're all sitting at the trough, whining that someone needs to save them from this debacle that's someone else's fault.
There's no leadership. No one is standing up and explaining exactly what happened, why it happened, who was responsible, and what needs to be done to fix the disaster. President Roosevelt would have had a Fireside Chat to explain it all in terms a farmer or factory worker could understand. President Bush just fires salvos of sound bites that blame the Democrats.
At a time when we need real, inspiring, confidence-building leadership, we have a bunch of finger-pointing, responsibility-avoiding fools who have not only presided over the wreckage of the present, but see no problem with sticking you and I, our children, our grandchildren, and our great-grandchildren with the bill.
Think about that when you cast your vote in November.
Have a good day. More thoughts tomorrow.
Bilbo
P.S. - on a happier note, the new season of Dancing with the Stars started last night, and was most entertaining. Models Brooke Burke and Kim Kardashian, and Olympic gold medal beach volleyball player Misty Mae-Traenor seem to be possible standouts among the ladies; while champion sprinter Maurice Green and Super Bowl hero Warren Sapp did a surprisingly good job for the men. The best part, though, was the performance of 82-year-0ld Cloris Leachman during her receipt of the judges' comments...by my count, she was bleeped out at least four times, not to mention shamelessly vamping at all the judges.
It'll be an interesting season...
B.
Where I come from, we call this a self-serving crock of caca.
My friend Jake, who always knows which buttons to push to send me into a towering blograge, yesterday sent me a link to an article on Bloomberg.com, with the comment that it was "Bloomberg's take on when and how the stock market meltdown became inevitable." I don't have the link here at home (it didn't carry over when I forwarded our e-mail exchange to my home account), but I'll post it later when I get to the office so you can read the full article. In the meantime, here is the text of the broadside I launched in response...
QUOTE
Jake,
It would be considerably easier for a thinking person to accept this blatantly biased screed if the author had spent a bit more time on context and analysis and a bit less on partisan spite.
For instance, consider the sentence, "But we now know that many of the senators who protected Fannie and Freddie, including Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and Christopher Dodd, have received mind-boggling levels of financial support from them over the years." I very seriously doubt that only these three high-profile Democrats received largesse from Fannie and Freddie over the years...and yet no lesser Democrats, and certainly no Republicans, are mentioned. I would be absolutely amazed if there were no Republican feeders at the trough as well. In fairness, had this article been written by a Democrat, I'm sure the reverse would have been true...Republicans castigated, but no Democrats.
The article also takes a fairly superficial look at the history. Referring to the Fannie and Freddie reform bill (not specified by name or number), the article claims that "...the bill didn't become law, for a simple reason: Democrats opposed it on a party-line vote in the committee, signaling that this would be a partisan issue. Republicans, tied in knots by the tight Democratic opposition, couldn't even get the Senate to vote on the matter." This might be easier to swallow if there were some context. Why did the craven Democrats oppose it? What efforts were made by the righteous and incorruptible Republicans to identify the Democrats' problems and negotiate a mutually agreeable solution? We are gathering the harvest of the I'm-right-screw-you style of politics that makes Independents like me sick.
This ridiculous balderdash continues: "That such a reckless political stand could have been taken by the Democrats was obscene even then. Wallison wrote at the time: 'It is a classic case of socializing the risk while privatizing the profit. The Democrats and the few Republicans who oppose portfolio limitations could not possibly do so if their constituents understood what they were doing.''' Here we have one group accusing another of an "obscene" and "reckless" stand, and the bald statement that those opposing a particular issue "...could not possibly do so if their constituents understood what they were doing." How many in Congress understood what Fannie and Freddie were doing? Where were the leaders of either party who took the time and effort to explain to their constituents what was at stake, why, and why their proposed way ahead was better...instead of just demonizing the other side of the aisle? The level of arrogant stupidity and avoidance of responsibility here is beyond belief.
Articles like this are a horrendous disservice to the public. They offer nothing but finger pointing and self-righteous accusation while avoiding any hint of responsibility for the mess that both parties have created by rolling over for the monied interests who own Congress.
And don't bring up Greenspan, either. If he had spent more time speaking in clear English so that everyone from "Main Street to Wall Street" could have understood, he might have done us some good. Instead, he spent years making an opaque mess even more opaque.
We're being asked to put up hundreds of billions of dollars to bail out the bastards whose greed has brought us to this point, and we're being told it has to be done because they're "too big to fail." We, of course, are too small to matter.
I'm not interested in hearing anything that says everything is the fault of either the Democrats or the Republicans. They've both been asleep at the switch. Stop all this ******** about how either the Liberals or the Conservatives are the devil incarnate."
END QUOTE
Here's another wonderful example of lack of responsibility and leadership, and the prevelance of the greed and hypocrisy that brought us to this point. In describing Congress's efforts to construct a "rescue plan" to salvage something from the crisis, the article says that "financial institutions are weighing in with what they want in the bill...the Financial Services Roundtable - a lobbying group representing the nation's banks - called on Congress to make the plan 'broad enough to include different types of assets' (the emphasis is mine)."
Did you understand that? The financial wizards who dreamed up all the "assets" that turned out to be worthless are now demanding that Congress protect them from the fruits of their greed. If you aren't disgusted, you're not quite awake yet.
I could go on, but here's the bottom line of my rant: there's no leadership. No one is standing tall and saying that he/she really screwed up and is working hard to help fix the problem. No one - especially any of the reinforced armies of MBAs who dreamed up all the fiscal shenanigans that brought us to this mess - is accepting any responsibility...they're all sitting at the trough, whining that someone needs to save them from this debacle that's someone else's fault.
There's no leadership. No one is standing up and explaining exactly what happened, why it happened, who was responsible, and what needs to be done to fix the disaster. President Roosevelt would have had a Fireside Chat to explain it all in terms a farmer or factory worker could understand. President Bush just fires salvos of sound bites that blame the Democrats.
At a time when we need real, inspiring, confidence-building leadership, we have a bunch of finger-pointing, responsibility-avoiding fools who have not only presided over the wreckage of the present, but see no problem with sticking you and I, our children, our grandchildren, and our great-grandchildren with the bill.
Think about that when you cast your vote in November.
Have a good day. More thoughts tomorrow.
Bilbo
P.S. - on a happier note, the new season of Dancing with the Stars started last night, and was most entertaining. Models Brooke Burke and Kim Kardashian, and Olympic gold medal beach volleyball player Misty Mae-Traenor seem to be possible standouts among the ladies; while champion sprinter Maurice Green and Super Bowl hero Warren Sapp did a surprisingly good job for the men. The best part, though, was the performance of 82-year-0ld Cloris Leachman during her receipt of the judges' comments...by my count, she was bleeped out at least four times, not to mention shamelessly vamping at all the judges.
It'll be an interesting season...
B.
Monday, September 22, 2008
Comments on Comments
Like all die-hard bloggers, I always enjoy reading the comments posted by my readers. Whether they agree with my ramblings, take me to task for perceived brain misfires, or just say hello, they mean that someone out there in the electromagnetic beyond has stopped by, read what I've written, and taken the time to comment.
Of course, there are gradations of comment goodness. Yesterday's documentation of our family portrait session, for instance, prompted Mike to turn to the Mr Hyde side of his nature and point out "the guy in the picture that doesn't look like he belongs. You know, the goofy lookin' guy in the back row with the glasses." I was saddened by that comment, because I went to great lengths to look presentable for the picture. I took a shower (a whole month out of cycle!), followed Agnes's explicit directions on how to dress, and even wore shoes! Of course, I didn't get credit for the shoes, since they don't show in the pictures, but still...
Then there was the comment from gentle reader lacegem, who referred to the same post as "very wholesome & family oriented." I know she meant well, but it's going to be tough showing my face at the curmudgeon conventions if I get a reputation for being "wholesome and family oriented" rather than "crusty and opinionated." But I'll manage. And lacegem, in answer to your question, Leya was not named for the Star Wars princess...she's a princess in her own right.
John, always upbeat and cheerful, said that we had "Great pics!" and went on to comment that "Some days (most days) it's best not to read the news and just count your blessings." Although I'm not a traditionally religious person, the concept of "counting my blessings" is central to my outlook on life. Those of you who have read my past Thanksgiving Day posts know that my very favorite holiday is the one on which we reflect on all the reasons we have to give thanks...in my case, the list is long enough to justify use of the entire holiday weekend and more. If anyone has reason to count his blessings, it's me (oops...the linguistic purist in me reminds me that I meant to say, "It is I." Sorry.)
Jean-Luc Picard, commenting down the wormhole from the command deck of the starship Enterprise in the 23rd century, described the pictures as "super," cementing his reputation as a diplomatic and gracious captain.
And my old friend "anonymous" noted that Leya and Great-Grandma had the same expression in the last picture. Hmmm...I guess they did. But no one can get Uroma (that's the German word for "Great-Grandmother") to smile like Leya can.
Okay, I have managed to be positive and upbeat for two posts in a row, in spite of the world's best efforts to get me to comment on the unpleasantness and misery that surrounds us. But fear not! The commentary pressure is building and I'm sure I will have my full head of curmudgeonly steam rebuilt by tomorrow.
You have been warned.
Have a good day. More thoughts tomorrow.
Bilbo
Of course, there are gradations of comment goodness. Yesterday's documentation of our family portrait session, for instance, prompted Mike to turn to the Mr Hyde side of his nature and point out "the guy in the picture that doesn't look like he belongs. You know, the goofy lookin' guy in the back row with the glasses." I was saddened by that comment, because I went to great lengths to look presentable for the picture. I took a shower (a whole month out of cycle!), followed Agnes's explicit directions on how to dress, and even wore shoes! Of course, I didn't get credit for the shoes, since they don't show in the pictures, but still...
Then there was the comment from gentle reader lacegem, who referred to the same post as "very wholesome & family oriented." I know she meant well, but it's going to be tough showing my face at the curmudgeon conventions if I get a reputation for being "wholesome and family oriented" rather than "crusty and opinionated." But I'll manage. And lacegem, in answer to your question, Leya was not named for the Star Wars princess...she's a princess in her own right.
John, always upbeat and cheerful, said that we had "Great pics!" and went on to comment that "Some days (most days) it's best not to read the news and just count your blessings." Although I'm not a traditionally religious person, the concept of "counting my blessings" is central to my outlook on life. Those of you who have read my past Thanksgiving Day posts know that my very favorite holiday is the one on which we reflect on all the reasons we have to give thanks...in my case, the list is long enough to justify use of the entire holiday weekend and more. If anyone has reason to count his blessings, it's me (oops...the linguistic purist in me reminds me that I meant to say, "It is I." Sorry.)
Jean-Luc Picard, commenting down the wormhole from the command deck of the starship Enterprise in the 23rd century, described the pictures as "super," cementing his reputation as a diplomatic and gracious captain.
And my old friend "anonymous" noted that Leya and Great-Grandma had the same expression in the last picture. Hmmm...I guess they did. But no one can get Uroma (that's the German word for "Great-Grandmother") to smile like Leya can.
Okay, I have managed to be positive and upbeat for two posts in a row, in spite of the world's best efforts to get me to comment on the unpleasantness and misery that surrounds us. But fear not! The commentary pressure is building and I'm sure I will have my full head of curmudgeonly steam rebuilt by tomorrow.
You have been warned.
Have a good day. More thoughts tomorrow.
Bilbo
Sunday, September 21, 2008
Of Family Pictures and Other Things
In response to all of you who have commented hoping that I'm feeling better, be advised that I'm slowly recovering from The Cold from Hell. This morning I just feel like I've been beaten with a 2x4 instead of feeling like Galveston after Hurricane Ike's visit. I guess that represents progress. The lesson, dear readers, is this: if a toddler with a cold wants you to drink from her sippy cup...don't.
One of the things Agnes was intent on doing while her parents are visiting was to have a family portrait done, and so yesterday we herded the family cats to a rendezvous at a local Sears portrait studio for the Great Event. I was prepared for an escapade worthy of a classic episode of the old TV show Mission: Impossible (forget the stupid Tom Cruise movies), but it turned out better than I'd expected...Leya was happy, well-rested, and in peak cute mode, none of us looked especially stupid on any of the pictures (and believe me, I can look stupid in pictures), and we were much entertained by the nice young photographer who evidently took first place in her class on Making Silly Noises to Get Children to Smile.
In twenty-six years of marriage, I think I have managed to take one picture of Agnes's mother actually smiling. The photographer got one yesterday on the first try...of course, Dad acting silly helped:
The whole family group was a bit harder to arrange, as nobody wanted to agree on exactly when to look at the camera. But we managed it somehow:
And, of course, we needed the mandatory Four Generations picture:
We do have some very nice-looking ladies in this family, if I say so myself.
I was glad that the picture taking went so well, because it helped to offset my feelings when I looked at the CNN website home page this morning. Here is a sampling of the headlines:
* Czech Ambassador Killed in Pakistan Hotel Blast;
* Weekend Attacks Leave Dozens Injured in Iraq;
* Dozens Killed in China Mine Accidents;
* Seven Hurt in Basque Bombings;
* Bush Seeks $700 Billion for Bailout; and,
* Teen Smiles After She's Convicted of Killing Roommate.
There's just more of the same when you start scrolling down the page. The closest thing to a good-news story is:
* Dachshunds dash in wiener suits.
Which is, nevertheless, probably a bit embarrassing if you're a dachshund.
So if the best news around is about wiener dogs racing in wiener suits, I'm glad I have a great family to fall back on.
I hope you do, too.
Have a good day. More thoughts tomorrow.
Bilbo
One of the things Agnes was intent on doing while her parents are visiting was to have a family portrait done, and so yesterday we herded the family cats to a rendezvous at a local Sears portrait studio for the Great Event. I was prepared for an escapade worthy of a classic episode of the old TV show Mission: Impossible (forget the stupid Tom Cruise movies), but it turned out better than I'd expected...Leya was happy, well-rested, and in peak cute mode, none of us looked especially stupid on any of the pictures (and believe me, I can look stupid in pictures), and we were much entertained by the nice young photographer who evidently took first place in her class on Making Silly Noises to Get Children to Smile.
In twenty-six years of marriage, I think I have managed to take one picture of Agnes's mother actually smiling. The photographer got one yesterday on the first try...of course, Dad acting silly helped:
The whole family group was a bit harder to arrange, as nobody wanted to agree on exactly when to look at the camera. But we managed it somehow:
And, of course, we needed the mandatory Four Generations picture:
We do have some very nice-looking ladies in this family, if I say so myself.I was glad that the picture taking went so well, because it helped to offset my feelings when I looked at the CNN website home page this morning. Here is a sampling of the headlines:
* Czech Ambassador Killed in Pakistan Hotel Blast;
* Weekend Attacks Leave Dozens Injured in Iraq;
* Dozens Killed in China Mine Accidents;
* Seven Hurt in Basque Bombings;
* Bush Seeks $700 Billion for Bailout; and,
* Teen Smiles After She's Convicted of Killing Roommate.
There's just more of the same when you start scrolling down the page. The closest thing to a good-news story is:
* Dachshunds dash in wiener suits.
Which is, nevertheless, probably a bit embarrassing if you're a dachshund.
So if the best news around is about wiener dogs racing in wiener suits, I'm glad I have a great family to fall back on.
I hope you do, too.
Have a good day. More thoughts tomorrow.
Bilbo
Saturday, September 20, 2008
Cartoon Saturday
The Feds are spending 800 billion (yes, with a b) dollars of your money to bail out Wall Street, Galveston is still a mess, we actually have a candidate for vice president who believes creationism ought to be taught in schools, and my nose is still running like an illegal immigrant heading north from Mexico.
Now, more than ever, we all need Cartoon Saturday.
AAAARRRR!! Ye may not have known it, but yesterday was International Talk Like a Pirate Day. Avast yer scuppers and shiver yer mizzens and all that stuff...
Zero_zero_one now has his PhD in math and is making his way in the cruel world of job seeking. Perhaps sign painting may be right for him...
With Messrs Obama and McCain each trying to outdo the other in creative pandering to various interest groups, these two cartoons are pretty timely...
And finally, from the department of Scenes We'd Really Like to See...
Tomorrow, I'll return to real posts. Today, I face the daunting challenge of herding all the family cats to the studio for family pictures. You'll recognize me in them...I'm the one with the red, glistening nose.
Have a good day. More thoughts tomorrow.
Bilbo
Now, more than ever, we all need Cartoon Saturday.
AAAARRRR!! Ye may not have known it, but yesterday was International Talk Like a Pirate Day. Avast yer scuppers and shiver yer mizzens and all that stuff...
Zero_zero_one now has his PhD in math and is making his way in the cruel world of job seeking. Perhaps sign painting may be right for him...
With Messrs Obama and McCain each trying to outdo the other in creative pandering to various interest groups, these two cartoons are pretty timely...
And finally, from the department of Scenes We'd Really Like to See...
Tomorrow, I'll return to real posts. Today, I face the daunting challenge of herding all the family cats to the studio for family pictures. You'll recognize me in them...I'm the one with the red, glistening nose.Have a good day. More thoughts tomorrow.
Bilbo
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