ThinkFast: September 16, 2008
ThinkFast: September 16, 2008
The Dow Jones industrial average “dropped 504.48 points, or 4.4 percent, as a record volume of more than 8 billion shares traded hands on the New York Stock Exchange. It was the biggest decline since Sept. 17, 2001 — the day the index reopened after the 9/11 terrorist attacks — when it fell 7 percent, or 684.81 points.”
The Senate will likely vote Tuesday on an amendment offered by Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) “that includes language touting the success of the troop buildup that began last year.” Sens. Carl Levin (D-MI) and Jack Reed (D-RI) have offered an alternative “that would offer a more nuanced assessment of the security situation in Iraq.”
Former House Majority Leader Richard Armey (R-TX), “who was wavering on giving President Bush the authority to wage war in late 2002, said Vice President Cheney misled him by saying that Iraqi President Saddam Hussein had direct personal ties to al-Qaeda terrorists and was making rapid progress toward a suitcase nuclear weapon.” There was “no intelligence to support” Cheney’s assertions.
Five former secretaries of state — including Colin Powell, Madeleine Albright, and Henry Kissinger — urged talks with Iran yesterday. “I agree with Madeleine, and I suspect my other colleagues, that we should try to talk to them,” Powell said during a forum hosted by The George Washington University.
On the trail today: John McCain is campaigning this morning in Tampa, FL, and will be joined by Sarah Palin at an afternoon rally in Vienna, OH. Barack Obama is holding a rally in Golden, CO, while Joe Biden is in Media, PA.
The House is expected to vote today “on a comprehensive energy package that would open most of the U.S. coastline to offshore drilling.” A proposal offered by Democrats “would give states the option to allow drilling between 50 and 100 miles off their shores.”
AIG — the nation’s largest insurer — “faces a cash crunch that grew more severe last night when the major credit-rating agencies warned investors that the company could have greater difficulty in meeting its obligations.” New York state is allowing AIG to use “$20 billion from its own insurance subsidiaries” as collateral for loans to “run its day-to-day operations,” while the Fed says it will not offer AIG any “direct injection from the government.”
The bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers — “the biggest in US history” — will have repercussions for South Florida. The investment bank controlled “nearly $2 billion in large loans throughout the region.” In late August, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (R) was reportedly hired “as an advisor to its private equity business.”
On Monday, a federal judge ruled that “the Bush administration’s plan to allow more than 500 snowmobiles a day into Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks not in keeping with the National Park Service’s responsibility to protect the parks.”
And finally: Are Americans too addicted to their BlackBerrys? A new poll of 6,500 traveling executives finds that “35 percent of them would choose their PDA over their spouse.” One person interviewed responded, “That’s a tough call.” Approximately 84 percent said they check their e-mails right before they go to sleep, and another 80 percent said they check them as soon as they wake up.
Sign up here to receive our daily e-newsletter, The Progress Report.
Topic Cloud
ArchivesBlog Roll
McCain was front and center with defeating legislation to INCREASE regulation of the financial industy. He makes TERRIBLE decisions, as shown by his pisspoor pick of Palin, and he would be WORSE than Bush. If that is even possible.
GOBAMA!
September 16th, 2008 at 9:03 amToo dangerous to take the governor to Florida, I guess.
So many souls to save, so little time.
September 16th, 2008 at 9:03 amThe Senate will likely vote Tuesday on an amendment offered by Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) “that includes language touting the success of the troop buildup that began last year.”
Seriously? The nation’s, perhaps the world’s, economy is tanking, and the Senate is going to waste time debating whether or not it should tout the success of The Surge(TM)?
Where are the priorities, folks?
PEACE
September 16th, 2008 at 9:05 am“Where are the priorities, folks?”
I think LIEberman left them in Israel.
September 16th, 2008 at 9:07 amJoe LIEberman- Just STFU!
Richard Armey- can you say war criminals?
Lehman Brothers & AIG; Wall Street is STILL on a drunken bender.
September 16th, 2008 at 9:08 amRichard Armey (R-TX), “who was wavering on giving President Bush the authority to wage war in late 2002, said Vice President Cheney misled him by saying that Iraqi President Saddam Hussein had direct personal ties to al-Qaeda terrorists and was making rapid progress toward a suitcase nuclear weapon.”
Another stupid dick, blaming another stupid dick on his own stupid dickhead decisions.
Why was ANYBODY listening to “foreign intelligence advice” from a stupid-dick VP?
September 16th, 2008 at 9:08 amAnd the plot thickens in Troopergate
off the msnbc wire:
Contradiction to governor’s veto?
In February, Monegan signed a public letter of support for a $3.6 million project designed to keep troubled teens off the street in Anchorage — even though the governor had vetoed the project last year and hadn’t included money for it in her budget this year.
“I am stunned and amazed — do you know anything about this?” budget director Karen Rehfeld wrote to two other high-level staffers when she learned of the letter.
“Think about that: one of the governor’s own cabinet members publicly contradicting her veto decision,” Stapleton said.
Monegan acknowledged he shouldn’t have signed the letter, because it put the governor in the awkward position of defending her veto decision. But he said he thought of the letter as simply making another run at getting funding for a worthy project.
The last straw, the McCain campaign said, was in July, when Monegan planned to travel to Washington to seek federal money for a plan to assign troopers, judges and prosecutors who could exclusively handle sexual assault cases — one of the state’s most intractable crime problems.
In a July 7 e-mail, John Katz, the governor’s special counsel, noted two problems with the trip: The governor hadn’t agreed the money should be sought, and the request was “out of sequence with our other appropriations requests and could put a strain on the evolving relationship between the Governor and Sen. (Ted) Stevens.”
Four days later, Monegan was fired…
It’s pretty clear that anyone who dared oppose ‘the governor’ on anything was out on their ass.
We don’t need another vindictive BushitCo mentality leader anywhere near the White House.
ENOUGH!
September 16th, 2008 at 9:09 amThe House is expected to vote today “on a comprehensive energy package that would open most of the U.S. coastline to offshore drilling.” A proposal offered by Democrats “would give states the option to allow drilling between 50 and 100 miles off their shores.”
Oh, good call, Nancy! The first day Congress is in session after Ike destroyed offshore oil rigs, and you want to open up more drilling?
So the decision these states will face is, “Do we want our oil spills to be 50 or 100 miles off our shores”?
PEACE
September 16th, 2008 at 9:09 amThat Holy Joe – forever putting lipstick on a pig.
I’d love to see the original goals of “The Surge” and how few have been even approached. Reducing violence, and not at all due to troop numbers, from appalling to merely unacceptable does not success make, not even close.
September 16th, 2008 at 9:10 amI certainly hope that all Americans with a 401k were watching the culmination of the BushitCo ‘hey, we don’t need no stinkin regulation’ policy come to fruition.
September 16th, 2008 at 9:11 amI only lost about 5% of my retirement fund…
No one could have anticipated….
One bad thing about the collapse of the Old Red Sov, there’s no one around to say, “See, give’em enough rope….”
September 16th, 2008 at 9:13 amOh, good call, Nancy! The first day Congress is in session after Ike destroyed offshore oil rigs, and you want to open up more drilling?
So the decision these states will face is, “Do we want our oil spills to be 50 or 100 miles off our shores”?
SO, it will probably fail more easier being right after Ike. ANd I think it was the Repukikkkans that wanted the vote FIRST THING Upon returning. Maybe someone should ask why the FAA has resticted the airspace above the area of the damaged oil platforms in the gulf? Hmm, inquiring minds want to know the EXTENT Of the oil spills from the damaged platforms.
September 16th, 2008 at 9:14 amhttp://tfr.faa.gov/save_pages/detail_8_8191.html
The House is expected to vote today “on a comprehensive energy package that would open most of the U.S. coastline to offshore drilling.” A proposal offered by Democrats “would give states the option to allow drilling between 50 and 100 miles off their shores.”
So Democrats cave in to Republican pressure once again. Just who controls Congress anyway?
http://progressiveworldreview.com
September 16th, 2008 at 9:14 amListening to the Bill Press show this morning, my 1st District Representative, Jay Inslee was on, and had a lot more to add to the offshore drilling bill. He was claiming that there was language stripping the oil companies of their tax breaks, funding for alternative energy research and development, and as a concession to get the repukes on board, the offshore drilling ban lifted.
I’m trying to find the bill language today…
September 16th, 2008 at 9:15 amWas this from Sesame Street? I mean, this is basic stuff, right? Sorta like “Torture is demeaning and ineffective and unthinkable.”
The preceding brought to you by the letter “Duh.”
September 16th, 2008 at 9:17 am>have offered an alternative “that would offer a more nuanced >assessment of the security situation in Iraq.”
wow, these d#ouchebags are actually getting paid by us to debate meaningless “assesments”. people are dying, taxpayers are being asked to pay for peace, and the congress has been relegated to doing nothing but debating which empty statement to make about it. i dont think anything could characterize the uberstructionists on the right more apropriately,,,,
September 16th, 2008 at 9:20 amThere are multiple bills before Congress right now with the term ‘offshore drilling’. Does anyone have a bill #?
September 16th, 2008 at 9:22 amH.R.6302 ?
H.R.6724 ?
H.R.1433 ? Looks like it might be this one>??
Glad to see the Democratic Congressional leadership is still rushing to do the GOP’s bidding – and just in time for election year ads on the Surge and off shore drilling. Morons.
September 16th, 2008 at 9:23 amIraq: Violence is Down – but not Because of America’s ‘Surge’
If fewer US troops and Iraqis are being killed, it is only because the Shia community and Iran now dominate
By Patrick Cockburn
14/09/08 “The Independent” As he leaves Iraq this week, the outgoing US commander, General David Petraeus, is sounding far less optimistic than the Republican presidential candidate, John McCain, about the American situation in Iraq. General Petraeus says that it remains “fragile”, recent security gains are “not irreversible” and “this is not the sort of struggle where you take a hill, plant the flag and go home to a victory parade… it’s not a war with a simple slogan.”
Compare this with Sarah Palin’s belief that “victory in Iraq is wholly in sight” and her criticism of Barack Obama for not using the word “victory”. The Republican contenders have made these claims of success for the “surge” – the American reinforcements sent last year – although they are demonstrably contradicted by the fact that the US has to keep more troops, some 138,000, in Iraq today than beforehand. Another barometer of the true state of security in Iraq is the inability of the 4.7 million refugees, one in six of the population, who fled for their lives inside and outside Iraq, to return to their homes.
Ongoing violence is down, but Iraq is still the most dangerous country in the world. On Friday a car bomb exploded in the Shia market town of Dujail, north of Baghdad, killing 32 people and wounding 43 others. “The smoke filled my house and the shrapnel broke some of the windows,” said Hussein al-Dujaili. “I went outside the house and saw two dead bodies at the gate which had been thrown there by the explosion. Some people were in panic and others were crying.”
Playing down such killings, the Iraqi government and the US have launched a largely successful propaganda campaign to convince the world that “things are better” in Iraq and that life is returning to normal. One Iraqi journalist recorded his fury at watching newspapers around the world pick up a story that the world’s largest Ferris wheel was to be built in Baghdad, a city where there is usually only two hours of electricity a day
September 16th, 2008 at 9:26 amThis is the sick addict saying, “Let me slam the last few bags before I quit.”
Petroleum is becoming too precious to burn just as the planet is saying it’s too poisonous. There are a lot of things to do with long chain hydrocarbons, burning them is like using radium for jewelry. How ’bout we stop.
Has anyone done an impact study on the loss of tourism revenue, foreign money coming into the U.S for once, due to tar balls on the pristine beaches of the Gulf and Atlantic? Will this loss not outweigh any temporary gain? No, I didn’t think so. It’s all so puerile; drill, baby, drill.
September 16th, 2008 at 9:26 amThe House is expected to vote today “on a comprehensive energy package that would open most of the U.S. coastline to offshore drilling.” A proposal offered by Democrats “would give states the option to allow drilling between 50 and 100 miles off their shores.”
Pathetic. Why is it Nancy, that you guys give in on all of there wishes? When they have the majority, they get what they want, and when they are in the minority, they still get what they want.
You’ll give them a vote on this, but you wont bring up SCHIP again and force them to vote against it again.
Why did I bust my hump in 2006 to help you wimps get the majority?
September 16th, 2008 at 9:26 amRemind me who gained the majority in the House in the 2006 election.
September 16th, 2008 at 9:30 amOn Monday, a federal judge ruled that “the Bush administration’s plan to allow more than 500 snowmobiles a day into Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks not in keeping with the National Park Service’s responsibility to protect the parks.”
YES!!!
It’s about time. :-)
September 16th, 2008 at 9:31 amWhat’s better than a government small enough to drown in a bathtub – a government small enough to strangle a toddler in a soccer net!
Heckuva job, Bushies!
September 16th, 2008 at 9:33 amhttp://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=94641865
The Senate will likely vote Tuesday on an amendment offered by Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) “that includes language touting the success of the troop buildup that began last year.”
Why is Harry Reid even allowing this BS to go to the floor for a vote? In the two years he has been Senate Majority Leader, he has shown zero backbone in standing up to the Republicans. I certainly hope that they replace both him and Pelosi for the 111 congress.
September 16th, 2008 at 9:33 amOkay, if I may, can the conservatives out there lurking (and I know you are) please explain to me if you’re proud of your votes in 2000 and 2004.
Seriously, as I list the negatives of Bush and Co., can you counter with positives?
A stolen election decided by the Supreme Court.
The most vacationed president, ever.
Worst terrorist attack on US soil, ever.
A misled, and dare I say, lied “war”, that cost us taxpayers billions each month.
Oil prices unheard of.
Thousands dead because of mismanagement and incompetence of FEMA.
Support for torture.
Unpunished illegal spying.
Outing of a secretive agent for vindictive purposes (again, illegal).
Economy in the dumps.
Unemployment rates sky high.
And now, a drop in the Dow Jones that should scare the bejeebus out of 99% of Americans.
Is this what you envisioned when you chose Bush over Gore and Kerry?
September 16th, 2008 at 9:33 am(Please note, trolls need not respond, and my request deals with facts, NOT hypotheticals like “Well, the economy would have been far worse under President Gore”. Thank you in advance.)
Five former secretaries of state — including Colin Powell, Madeleine Albright, and Henry Kissinger — urged talks with Iran yesterday.
________________________________________________________
This sounds like a pretty bipartisan group — three GOP and two Dems (the article also mentioned William Christopher and James Baker). You would think that if all five of them support talking to Iran that it’s more of a common sense thing and less of a partisan political one.
So will Bushco or McSame take heed? Nah — it might suck the wind out of the “bomb, bomb, bomb, bomb, bomb Iran” sails.
September 16th, 2008 at 9:34 amWe don’t need to rush into a bad energy bill this year. We can wait a few more months for sane legislation.
Why do our leaders have so little courage?
September 16th, 2008 at 9:38 amDRxJ Says
September 16th, 2008 at 9:33 am
Okay, if I may, can the conservatives out there lurking (and I know you are) please explain to me if you’re proud of your votes in 2000 and 2004.
Seriously, as I list the negatives of Bush and Co., can you counter with positives?
_______________________________________________________
No they can’t. The only card left in their deck is to attack the opposition. We will hear “Clinton did it, too”, or “Gore (or Kerry) would have been worse”, or any number of made-up “scandals” concerning Obama.
I, too, would like to hear something from the Bush supporters about how Bush has made our country better. Yet all they can come up with is “Bush has kept our country from being attacked” — which is not only false, but pretty lame.
September 16th, 2008 at 9:39 amWalt Monegan lost his job as public safety director because he resisted Gov. Sarah Palin’s budget policies and showed “outright insubordination,” say papers the governor’s lawyer filed Monday with the state Personnel Board.
http://www.adn.com/news/alaska/story/527346.html
September 16th, 2008 at 9:40 amIs it true Palin intends to add Vienna to her extensive travel resume?
September 16th, 2008 at 9:40 amcavjam-
September 16th, 2008 at 9:41 amHere you go (large pdf file):
http://www.foxnews.com/projects/pdf/iraq_bnchmrkrpt_091407.pdf
The House is expected to vote today “on a comprehensive energy package that would open most of the U.S. coastline to offshore drilling.”
Once again I am very disappointed in the Democrats. I see the necessity for them to vote on offshore drilling, but they seem to have lost the provision that oil companies have to drill their current holdings before they can drill offshore. I so hope for a change of leadership in Congress. I would love to see Dennis Kucinich Speaker of the House and Russ Feingold Senate Majority Leader.
September 16th, 2008 at 9:42 amMy burning question is, what will happen to the economy if AIG fails?
September 16th, 2008 at 9:43 amI would love to see Dennis Kucinich Speaker of the House and Russ Feingold Senate Majority Leader.
Excellent thought!
September 16th, 2008 at 9:44 amWow…. I saw McCain on Fox and Friends (dont judge me… its great for morning lulz) and Morning Joe this morning.
10 minutes apart he repeated the same nonsense verbatim. He forgot a few things on the script on fox and had to get them in too…
Best part: when asked by scarboprough he actually defended the sex ed to kindergartners lie…
September 16th, 2008 at 9:45 amBilbo ~ ditto. This group of spineless wimps needs to be cleaned out and replaced with someone who knows how to put country, not party politics first. The House has a working majority, and the Senate doesn’t have to let Israel’s mole squeak on the floor at all.
September 16th, 2008 at 9:45 amI would love to see Dennis Kucinich Speaker of the House and Russ Feingold Senate Majority Leader.
Now THAT, Bilbo, would be a democratic congress!
September 16th, 2008 at 9:45 amEvery time I see Pallid and McStain I get this sick feeling in my stomach. That “fingernails on the chalkboard” voice, the hollow Tina Fey Theatrics will all soon wear thin.
I am waiting for the backlash.
Pallid is an insult to women. As a man, who is a feminist, I am insulted..
September 16th, 2008 at 9:45 amTrying to find out which bills are going to be voted on by the House today is well nigh impossible on the congressional website. Good job of transparency, leadership people.
September 16th, 2008 at 9:46 amI would like to see congress do its own whining by reinstating Glass-Steagall Act.
September 16th, 2008 at 9:48 amRUCerious Says:
It’s pretty clear that anyone who dared oppose ‘the governor’ on anything was out on their ass.
We don’t need another vindictive BushitCo mentality leader anywhere near the White House.
I agree this is not someone we want as VP. BUT, she will use these incidents as her excuse for firing Monegan rather than firing him because of Wooten.
September 16th, 2008 at 9:48 ami woke up too early this a.m. and turned on the tv to keep my mind from racing… it was tuned to last night’s MSNBC… and, much as i can’t stand scarborough (jeez, what a tool) i kept it on to hear what his next guest, john w. mcBUSH, had to say…
some notes:
he was asked about the finacial situation and somehow, clumsily, included the statement that we need a 9/11 commission … whaaa???
he again made the comment that the tone of the campaign would be better if only obama had taken part in town hall events…
when joe started to bring up the ad about sex ed for kindergardeners, mcPUTZ is chuckling, grinning…
he made a comment that mika was for obama, and she later said that was a “bad joke”…
after the interview, joe proclaimed that from talking with those mcCON is close to, he’s not happy with the tone of his own campaign…
(SO WHY DOESN’T HE FIX IT?)
after that, came an interview with BIDEN… no notes, except that i’d like to see/hear the local woman who was talking at an event and evidently she said something that, according to scar, made biden turn and walk out of the camera shot…
and then the today show:
same characters, except this time they both had very serious, dour faces ready… same stories also…
except that mcBLAME stated that he warned everybody 2 years ago about the fat cats…
and he’s going to fix the problem…
evidently with a 9/11 commission… wha?????
then BIDEN came on… he had a great line about hiring a doctor to operate who’s just been convicted of medical mal-practice…
…
September 16th, 2008 at 9:48 amYou know, given what Pelosi has done in terms of leadership of the House, I’m kind of glad they didn’t impeach Bush/Cheney. I don’t think she would have done anything to rein in the damages caused by the Bush/Cheney administration, and she would have gotten all the blame for the disasters they have precipitated.
September 16th, 2008 at 9:51 amand, from last night’s daily show, jon put my thoughts to words when he responded to mcSPIN’s stupid “fundamentals of our economy” comment: we still trade with money? we don’t barter?
exactly.
September 16th, 2008 at 9:51 amRescue crews at Ike staging area lack food, water
HOUSTON – Hundreds of first responders at two staging areas in Texas for Hurricane Ike have run out of food and water.
Congressman John Culberson said Sunday that 300 National Guardsmen, state troopers and other emergency workers are going hungry at a high-school football stadium — and at another staging area on Houston’s west side.
Culberson blamed FEMA for the gaffe and says he tried to contact Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, who is touring flood-stricken areas of Texas.
Culberson says several buses full of gas are sitting idle at the stadium while crews await instructions. He called on area residents to take food and water to the crews at the stadium — despite official warnings for people to stay off Houston roads.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080914/ap_on_re_us/ike_first_responders_1
**Heck of a job Chertie! Could this possibly be why there is a “news blackout” for many of the devastated areas in Texas? So, while Bushit and Co. pat themselves on the back for a job well done, hundreds of first responders went without food and water? Citizens were asked to help them out? Dear God, this is beyond more of the same.
September 16th, 2008 at 9:52 amI can’t wait to see which Blue Dogs, also known as Asure Chupacabras, vote for drill, drill, drill. Fresh off their telecom immunity stunt, they must need more corporate green. Who cares if the citizens bleed?
Also, the Reuters piece on Jeb Bush has an August 2007 date, so he had a year to advise their private equiy underwriting (PEU) division. It likely will be sold off as the Lehman’s parent company declared bankruptcy. Jeb will get his, rest assurred.
September 16th, 2008 at 9:53 amAlecto Says: McCain was front and center with defeating legislation to INCREASE regulation of the financial industy. He makes TERRIBLE decisions, as shown by his pisspoor pick of Palin, and he would be WORSE than Bush. If that is even possible.
McC(umst)ain’s primary advisor and likely choice for Treasury, Phil Gramm, was the one man MOST in Congress MOST at fault for the passage of the repeal/”modernization” (as Clenis clled it) of the Glass-Steagall Act which had prevented banks and investment companies from uniting…
September 16th, 2008 at 9:53 am“Money” is not EVER “lost.”
It ALWAYS goes somewhere, to somebody. It doesn’t just go “away.”
So when they say the market lost money yesterday, that means “you” lost money. But somebody got it…
September 16th, 2008 at 9:55 amWhere were the board members of Lehman Brohters ?
Why Red Flags were not waived much ealier?
Why are all of these coporations having trouble in one time at the same time, while the bosses scooping gold like Stanley O’Neill who left with 161 million retirement package upon his departure from Merill Lynch as CEO ?
These bosses should not be rewarded for failure and mismanagement of peoples money.
September 16th, 2008 at 9:56 amThis money these crooks take with them when they leave belong to investors who bought the stock to lose their money later due to bad management while these crooks go playing golf.
DavidHart Says:
Walt Monegan lost his job as public safety director because he resisted Gov. Sarah Palin’s budget policies and showed “outright insubordination,” say papers the governor’s lawyer filed Monday with the state Personnel Board
And if you believe that, I have a bridge to sell you.
September 16th, 2008 at 9:56 amKay Says
September 16th, 2008 at 9:45 am
Every time I see Pallid and McStain I get this sick feeling in my stomach. That “fingernails on the chalkboard” voice, the hollow Tina Fey Theatrics will all soon wear thin.
_____________________________________________________________
Due to the lateness of the conventions this year, the general election campaign season is only about two months instead of the usual three. I suspect that the McCain team figures with a shortened track they can keep the Palin rah-rah going until November 4, after which Sarah would be relegated to a Barbie Doll closet somewhere.
What I don’t understand is that Palin is getting tacit support from even intelligent Republicans. If I was Republican, I would be mad as h*ll that more qualified people were passed over for this joke. And maybe there are Republicans who are that angry, but they are biting their tongues “for the good of the party”.
September 16th, 2008 at 9:57 amPray Tell, dear Bilbo, where wouldst that bridge lead one to?
September 16th, 2008 at 9:58 amBush and Congress loosened credit for low income Americans in the 2005 Bankruptcy bill. Bush said:
“These commonsense reforms will make the system stronger and better so that more Americans – especially lower-income Americans – have greater access to credit.”
Never mind, that government abandoned its historical role as financial cop. He’s now applying hair of the dog medicine to the “got drunk Wall Street”. Party like it’s 1929.
September 16th, 2008 at 9:59 amI’m curious as to why the Federal Gov’t is blocking the press from viewing/reporting on the devestation in Bolivar and West End on Galveston. Is it covered in oil and chemical sludge? If so the Gov’t is trying to block the Senate from considering possible environmental catastrophies from influencing their vote today on allowing off-shore drilling.
September 16th, 2008 at 10:00 amIf not then what?
Appoint a commission? What’s Congress been doing with its oversight role for the last eight years?
Three levels of “leadership” had to fail with Bear, Lehman, Freddie and Fannie. First, management had to take high risk strategies. Second, the board of directors had to approve them. And third, regulators had to stay hand’s off while the shennanigans occurred.
The current debacle is a testimony to greed. Republicans paved the road. Democrats sat sleeping in their police cars as big Wall Street investment houses sped by in pursuit of gaurgantuan profits. Now we have tax payer rescues, finger pointing and a commission. Please….
September 16th, 2008 at 10:07 amObama called for the end of golden parachutes for execs who drive their companies into insolvency. It is unconscionable that execs should be rewarded for impoverishing the public.
I heard that the multimillion dollar packages for the execs of Fannie and Freddie have been rescinded.
September 16th, 2008 at 10:09 amstateofthedivision Says:
Appoint a commission? …
a 9/11 commission… i have no idea what he means…
except as a way to pick up a few more pissed-off dems…
September 16th, 2008 at 10:10 amThe airspace over the Texas coastline has been declared a restricted area — there must be something there they don’t want us to see.
Are people on the roofs?
Are the oil rigs destroyed?
Is there a big oil sludge?
This is the m.o. for Bushit&Co. Cover it up, don’t let anyone see, and then lie until you can get your cronies a no-bid contract to clean it up the mess.
September 16th, 2008 at 10:13 am> It’s about time. :-)
just dont eat the brown snow, zoey…
September 16th, 2008 at 10:18 amdid you see the PALIN BINGO game? via C&L:
http://www.youaredumb.net/archive/2008/9/3
September 16th, 2008 at 10:21 amChocolate Jesus Says:
> It’s about time. :-)
just dont eat the brown snow, zoey…
September 16th, 2008 at 10:18 am
My mama taught me good. ;)
September 16th, 2008 at 10:25 amAs for McCon’s investigation, he could read this morning’s Jerusalem Post and save the money:
“An irresponsible policy, stemming from companies that leveraged themselves in a crazy manner, abandoning all basic rules of economic conservatism” was responsible for the collapse of American investment banks,
Teva Chairman Eli Horovitz told Army Radio.
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1221489047486&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
September 16th, 2008 at 10:33 am@ 41, McWars Says: I would like to see congress do its own whining by reinstating Glass-Steagall Act.
September 16th, 2008 at 9:48 am
yeah, me too…
and then I want my po-neeeee
September 16th, 2008 at 10:47 amkaty Says:
“a 9/11 commission… i have no idea what he means…
except as a way to pick up a few more pissed-off dems…”
Obviously, this alone wouldn’t convince me to change my vote, but if he’s serious about re-opening the investigation into what really happened on 9/11, I would at least not feel the complete sense of dread that I would otherwise feel if he somehow wins.
I’m not sure I buy it, though, because a) where has he been? b) what a strange time to bring it up/he may just be mixed up in his head and not knowing what he’s saying, which wouldn’t be the first time. c) it may just be a short-term play for Ron Paul votes and will be quickly “forgotten”.
September 16th, 2008 at 11:07 amMarie Says:
I heard that the multimillion dollar packages for the execs of Fannie and Freddie have been rescinded.
__________
Yes, they have been.
September 16th, 2008 at 11:42 amIt’s more than the golden parachutes that cause problems. Incentive executive compensation causes CEO’s to undertake more risky strategies, to shoot for the stars.
Obama and McCain effectively save the taxpayer money by not paying failed CEO’s exhorbitant retirements. But they don’t prevent future problems.
America’s obsession with extrinsic financial motivators is a huge factor. Unfortunately, Obama wants to spread this poison to your doctor’s office, via “pay for performance.” But that’s not my main point.
Executive pay packages need to change. Incentive pay packages contribute greatly to excessive risk taking. Tax payers are footing the bill for such corporate behavior.
September 16th, 2008 at 11:58 amNews from the Middle East:
Some 25,000 members of the Al-Quds Force of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards live in Kuwait [disguised] as workers, and are ready to follow any instructions they receive, Kuwaiti MP Nasir A-Duweila said earlier this week.
Nuclear weapons, sleeper cells? Sound familiar?
Iraq……Iran
September 16th, 2008 at 12:01 pmYes doom and gloom! This is when the far left love it!! the economy is going to be ok. This is no where in the ball bark closes to the great depression. This event was as predictable as the sun coming up tomorrow! But you will hear nothing but doom and gloom from the left they would love nothing more than a great depression.
September 16th, 2008 at 12:18 pmIt ALWAYS goes somewhere, to somebody. It doesn’t just go “away.”
Paper profits aren’t real money, so to lose them is to lose “nothing”.
So when stock value diminishes, so does the “profit” – and it does simply “go away”, without going to somebody.
Try the common sense today, it does a body good.
September 16th, 2008 at 12:35 pm#69: Yes, yes…nothing to see here. I mean, we all saw Merrill Lynch collapsing, right? Just like Bear Stearns.
September 16th, 2008 at 12:36 pmNice try. Even Faux News floated the phrase “Black Monday” yesterday. Even McSame said “The fundamentals of our economy are at risk” (after he said they were strong and then backtracked).
Here’s the offshore oil drilling bill:
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/F?c110:1:./temp/~c110R1ldMJ:e57457:
I haven’t had time to wade through it but I found one thing that Ms. Sarah and the Republicans are going to hate. That is:
SEC. 166. BAN ON EXPORT OF ALASKAN OIL.
September 16th, 2008 at 12:45 pmThis event was as predictable as the sun coming up tomorrow!
So why didn’t our leaders stop it? We have preventive war, but not preventive strategies for large corporate failures?
September 16th, 2008 at 12:47 pmthem_libs Says:
Yes doom and gloom! This is when the far left love it!! the economy is going to be ok. This is no where in the ball bark closes to the great depression. This event was as predictable as the sun coming up tomorrow!
If these events were as predictable as the sun coming up tomorrow, then why did the Republicans allow it to happen?
Even the Republican’s pet Alan Greenspan is predicting doom and gloom, so don’t blame it on us.
September 16th, 2008 at 12:47 pmRUCerious Says:
Pray Tell, dear Bilbo, where wouldst that bridge lead one to?
Why nowhere, of course. I ordered my “McCain/Palin – a Bridge to Nowhere” bumper sticker this weekend.
September 16th, 2008 at 12:52 pmyou will hear nothing but doom and gloom from the left
Actually, we’ve been pointing your tiny head in the direction of the deregulation frenzy of the Repukes which always turns into a financial crisis in which the perpetrators of the crisis beg the government to bail them out (welfare).
What part of “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure” is lost on you?
What part of hypocrisy is your favorite?
September 16th, 2008 at 1:00 pmBilbo Hussein Baggins Says:
This was a complete failure from the Clinton years to the present. You are extremely naive to blame just the republicans for this regulation problem.
September 16th, 2008 at 1:19 pmthem_libs Says:
This goes at least as far back as the 70’s. Try again.
As a Republican, are you for regulation of these kinds of markets, or not? Simple question.
“This was a complete failure from the Clinton years to the present.”
“complete failure”? Now that sounds like “doom & gloom”… which is it?
Are you one of those spaghetti trolls? Throw crap on the wall and see what sticks… you have no principles, at least that much is obvious when you contradict yourself within just 1-2 posts. “Win” at all costs!
September 16th, 2008 at 1:35 pmI bet the idiot doesn’t even care about the mess he’s put this country into. After all, he’s on his way out! What really bugs me about this country is that amidst all this mess there’s people out there willing to vote Republican again NO MATTER WHAT! No wonder this war criminal nation is so cursed! Democracy must find a way to make a comeback so that middle-class america can survive this neo-con takeover.
Then they(Repukes)have the nerve to appear on TV or publicly claim that the economy is ’sound and strong’. I look at the polls and I can’t believe so many still support the war-criminal-greed-driven-republicans. All it takes for the rich to find themselves getting richer, regardless how expensive gas and energy bills get, so that they go out there and support these war criminal freaks! A couple more bucks in their wallets will do! (A mere illusion because the dollar is worth much less and doesn’t get you as far as it used to.) What a pathetic bunch of money fixated freaks! The lousy greenback is about to lose its world reserve status.
September 16th, 2008 at 1:42 pm666lattes Says:
I guess your not familiar with the repeal of the Glass-Steagall Act, Bill Clinton signed in to law in 1999. that my friend is the reason we are in the financial situation Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act. look into it!
September 16th, 2008 at 2:10 pmthem libs,
I guess you’re not familiar with who wrote it…
September 16th, 2008 at 2:26 pmAre you for regulation, in this regards, or not? Simple question…
September 16th, 2008 at 2:29 pmthem_libs at #80, I am SURE you do not realize this, but that puts you to the left of Bill Clinton. Welcome to the club—most progressives are.
September 16th, 2008 at 2:46 pm666lattes Says:
No its not at all that simple.
September 16th, 2008 at 3:15 pmSo, just so I understand you fully, you disagree with regulation and don’t believe that there is a financial issue that is currently negatively impacting the economy, is that correct?
September 16th, 2008 at 4:03 pm666lattes Says:
If you want to put it that simply then, no.
September 16th, 2008 at 4:45 pmThat’s hilarious
September 16th, 2008 at 4:56 pmHow much more complicated should I have worded it?
You blamed the situation on a bill that Clinton signed (that your party wrote) which included de-regulation. In this situation, did de-regulation work or not work?
September 16th, 2008 at 5:51 pmAs for those ex-Secretaries of State wanting to talk to Iran, why are they speaking out? They see the signs:
1. IAEA announces Iran’s non-cooperation
2. Bush allows Israel 1,000 of the latest bunker buster bombs
3. Bush puts Iranian shipper on terror list, requiring U.S. Navy to hold any of their ships in U.S. controlled waters.
4. Operation Brimstone training
5. Israel drills for an offensive strike as well as defensive missile attacks
6. Kuwait announces it will implement its war plan
7. Kuwait says 25,000 Iranian Revolutionary Guards are in sleeper cells in their country
8. Cheney makes his final world war tour
9. Cheney meets with head of Goldman Sachs (oil futures trading) and BP during his tour. BP’s predecessor inspired Eisenhower to overthrow the elected Iranian leader in the 1950’s.
10. The U.S. economy falters as Wall Street firms fail or are bought out. (”wars are good for the economy”, plus they divert attention)
All signs point to Bush/Cheney and our 51st state of Israel attacking Iran. For Baker, Powell and Kissinger to speak out so strongly, something is in play. And they’re the counter balance.
September 16th, 2008 at 6:40 pmTP pretty much avoided the heavy police treatment of people during both national conventions. The NYT had a piece on police tactics in Minneapolis-St. Paul at the RNC.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/16/us/politics/16cnd-protest.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
September 16th, 2008 at 6:46 pmWhy is my comment at #12 empty. It was obviously a good one as it has 6 thumbs up.
Hmmm could it be that I said something about the FAA closing the airspace around the strike zone of Hurricane Ike? Could it be that I asked about oil spills from the damaged oil platforms?
Hmm and links with both.
Spmething smells fishy.
September 16th, 2008 at 11:22 pmHmm, now its back, very strange.
September 16th, 2008 at 11:23 pm