ThinkFast: November 3, 2008
ThinkFast: November 3, 2008
On Tuesday, millions of voters “will use paper ballots rather than the touch-screen machines that have caused concern among voting experts.” However, “the change does not guarantee a smooth election day.” Voting experts are predicting machine and ballot shortages in several swing states and late tallies on election night.”
Except for Alaska, every state in the country is either in a recession or “dangerously close” to one, according to Moody’s Economy.com. In March, just five states were in recession, but that number expanded to 30 by the end of September. 19 other states are at risk of falling into recession.
Former Treasury Secretary Bob Rubin and EPI’s Jared Berstein write: “With the current financial crisis, our joint view is that for the short term, our economy needs a large fiscal stimulus that generates substantial economic demand.”
CQ reports that Washington DC’s lobbying firms are enjoying a business boom in the midst of a bear market. Due in part to the financial bailout, Washington lobbying firms signed up more than 500 new clients last month. “The annual cost of Washington lobbying will probably hit $3 billion for the first time ever.”
One day to go: Barack Obama will hold rallies in Florida, North Carolina, and then Virginia. Joe Biden will campaign in Missouri, Ohio, and Pennsylvania. John McCain begins his day in Florida, then travels to Tennessee, Pennsylvania, Indiana, New Mexico, Nevada, and Arizona. Sarah Palin will attend rallies in Ohio, Missouri, Iowa, Colorado, and Nevada. Both McCain and Obama taped interviews that will air during halftime of tonight’s Redskins-Steelers football game.
“Nearly one in five U.S. mortgage borrowers owe more to lenders than their homes are worth, and the rate may soon approach one in four as housing prices fall and the economy weakens.” A report released Friday showed “7.63 million properties, or 18 percent, had negative equity in September, and another 2.1 million will follow if home prices fall another 5 percent.”
Dozens of the roughly 225 detainees who remain imprisoned at Guantanamo Bay “are said by military and intelligence agencies…to have connections to top leaders of Al Qaeda or to have other serious terrorism credentials,” including 20 said to be Osama bin Laden’s bodyguards. The profiles of the detainees will make it difficult for the next president to close the facility, the New York Times concludes.
Though he will likely end his tenure with one of the lowest job-approval ratings in history, President Bush is earning praise for “engineering what may be the most carefully considered and potentially successful presidential transition in modern times.”
And finally: How to crank call Sarah Palin. Canadian radio DJ Marc-Antoine Audette caused a stir this weekend when he called Sarah Palin and successfully duped her into believing that he was French President Nicolas Sarkozy. How did he pull it off? “We started by calling the governor’s office in Alaska, and after that, we were transferred from one person to another. It took us about four days, we spoke to about a dozen people, and that’s how we were able to speak to her,” Audette said. “Call it luck, call it perseverance, call it what you want — but I never thought we would be able to do it.”
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Glad to hear Obama is concentrating on NC.
Obama can lose BOTH Ohio AND Florida, and still win if he keeps PA and swings NC.
November 3rd, 2008 at 9:05 amMcCain getting shticanned in Ohio.
Obama +6 or +7 on two polls today.
November 3rd, 2008 at 9:07 am, President Bush is earning praise for “engineering what may be the most carefully considered and potentially successful presidential transition in modern times
That’s because no administration in the history of our nation has had more covering up to do. They need to be as certain as they can be that they leave behind no incriminating evidence.
November 3rd, 2008 at 9:13 amThe memory of four years ago is seared into my mind. I tried “early voting” and my only choice was a Diebold machine — I asked for paper and received an argument — I left without voting.
November 3rd, 2008 at 9:14 amOn election day, at the poll, I asked for a paper ballot: I was mocked, a judge called me uninformed and backward, and used my registration to hold up to others so they wouldn’t be as ridiculous as “this lady” and he read my name aloud to them. Another judge gave me my paper ballot, and the depository for that ballot was off in a far corner – I had to ask where it was.
I went home, called my local dem organization, the election Board, and every official whose name I could find.
I am curious to see how tomorrow plays out — I did not early vote = electronic touch screen only.
Don’t even think about coming to Alaska. Thousands of people have left the interior. Our crime rate is out the roof ta boot and one pissed off boss lady is coming back for revenge.
November 3rd, 2008 at 9:15 amDuping failin’Palin is easier than outsmarting a rock.
November 3rd, 2008 at 9:15 amDumb_Hussein_Fox
McCain getting shticanned in Ohio.
I suppose Mr. Wurtzelbacher is plunging his chances.
November 3rd, 2008 at 9:18 amCourt weighs amputee’s case, limits on drug suits
The Associated Press – 1 hour ago
WASHINGTON (AP) – A Vermont musician who lost her arm because of a botched drug injection is squaring off against a drug maker and the Bush administration in one of the most closely watched business cases of the Supreme Court’s term.
Supreme Court’s Decision in the Case Involving Drug Labels Awaited eFluxMedia
Supreme Court takes up drug warning labels Christian Science Monitor
Fox44 News – dBTechno – Reuters – USA Today
all 423 news articles »
http://news.google.com/?ncl=1264204023&hl=en&topic=m
any bets?
November 3rd, 2008 at 9:19 amThe reports from early voting of black voters being turned away by white GOP officials will only multiply by the millions come Tuesday night.
http://www.sunstateactivist.org/ssablog/
November 3rd, 2008 at 9:21 amConcerning the problems noted with early voting on voting machines, an honest question: have there been ANY reports of the vote-flipping going from McCAin to Obama? Or are all known reports of flipping Obama votes to McCain?
I’m curious. And curious why, whatever this statistic is, it is not being reported in articles mentioning these problems. If it is ALWAYS one way that is more than circumstantial evidence of intentional malfeasance, and should be pursued.
November 3rd, 2008 at 9:22 amMarie Says:
The memory of four years ago is seared into my mind. I tried “early voting” and my only choice was a Diebold machine — I asked for paper and received an argument — I left without voting.
On election day, at the poll, I asked for a paper ballot: I was mocked, a judge called me uninformed and backward, and used my registration to hold up to others so they wouldn’t be as ridiculous as “this lady” and he read my name aloud to them. Another judge gave me my paper ballot, and the depository for that ballot was off in a far corner – I had to ask where it was.
I went home, called my local dem organization, the election Board, and every official whose name I could find.
I am curious to see how tomorrow plays out — I did not early vote = electronic touch screen only.
Good morning, Marie. I’m sorry you encountered a hostile environment while casting your sacred vote. I hope the conditions are improved at your place of polling this time around.
November 3rd, 2008 at 9:23 amMcCain plans to purge CIA if elected, officials say
John Byrne (Raw Story)
Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) plans to “purge” the CIA if elected Nov. 4, according to a report Sunday, potentially returning the agency to a model used during World War II.
Government officials, speaking anonymously to Newsweek, “said they expect a President McCain would purge not only [CIA Director Michael] Hayden but also his two top deputies.”
McCain’s overall plan could be even broader — the destruction of the entire agency in favor of a “cover-ops outfit” patterned on the Office of Strategic Services, the predecessor to the CIA former during World War II by President Franklin Roosevelt.
Little noticed comments McCain made last year called for “a small, nimble, can-do organization,” that “could take risks that our bureaucracies today rarely consider taking.”
Campaign spokesman Brian Rogers told Newsweek that McCain “hasn’t talked about personnel at all, and has not gone into details” about his plans for the nation’s top spy outfit.
Obama’s campaign, meanwhile, has said little, but campaign officials didn’t downplay suggestions that they’d replace Hayden, who was instrumental in the development of President George W. Bush’s National Security Agency’s warrantless wiretapping program.
“Inside the various agencies, trepidation is widespread,” the magazine said. “The last thing American intelligence needs is another shake-up,” one official said, noting that the previous reorganization “is barely two years old. It’s still shaking out, and it can be made to work better than it does now–without using a chain saw.”
November 3rd, 2008 at 9:24 amDozens of the roughly 225 detainees who remain imprisoned at Guantanamo Bay “are said by military and intelligence agencies…to have connections to top leaders of Al Qaeda or to have other serious terrorism credentials,” including 20 said to be Osama bin Laden’s bodyguards. The profiles of the detainees will make it difficult for the next president to close the facility, the New York Times concludes.
These people have been accused, but never charged, and many if not most, have been held without charge for 7 years. In addition, much of the evidence against them has been secret (not even disclosed to them) and much of it gained probably using torture. There is only one answer, and that is to try them under the Military Court Martial regs, with all evidence being transparent. If they are guilty, then they should be appropriately punished and could be incarcerated in one of our super-max prisons. If they are innocent, they should be released to their home countries.
November 3rd, 2008 at 9:25 amI only wish that those radio guys who pranked Failin’ Palin had ended that phone call without disclosing to her that it had all been a joke. She would have undoubtedly gone to her next campaign appearance and said something like “I was just talkin’ to that French president there in France, blah, blah, blah”.
Then the radio guys could have kept their bit going for another day and played a recording of the prank call along with Failin’ Palin’s campaign speech. That would have been even more priceless!
November 3rd, 2008 at 9:26 am“Except for Alaska, every state in the country is either in a recession or “dangerously close” to one, according to Moody’s Economy.com.”
Alaska, where socialist/welfare queens suck at the teat of government.
November 3rd, 2008 at 9:26 am… President Bush is earning praise for “engineering what may be the most carefully considered and potentially successful presidential transition in modern times.”
and that scares me.
’cause he wouldn’t be doing it for obama.
November 3rd, 2008 at 9:27 amPalin at her Ohio rally just said that the United States has more oil than Saudi Arabia.
November 3rd, 2008 at 9:31 amMcCain plans to purge CIA if elected, officials say
Purge?
Josef Stalin loved that term. His kind of “purge” wasn’t merely a pink slip, however!
November 3rd, 2008 at 9:35 amOn Tuesday, millions of voters “will use paper ballots rather than the touch-screen machines that have caused concern among voting experts.” However, “the change does not guarantee a smooth election day.” Voting experts are predicting machine and ballot shortages in several swing states and late tallies on election night.”
One of those swing states is my own home state of Virginia, where the news this morning is reporting insufficient voting machines in minority and lower-income precincts, and that not enough paper ballots have been printed to cover the expected surge (to coin a word…) of voters in those precincts tomorrow. This report has me concerned, but more importantly it has me more committed than ever to the get-out-the-vote efforts throughout Virginia.
It’s gonna be a long day and perhaps a long night for us in Virginia tomorrow, but I expect that at the end of it all, we’ll have two democratic senators, a democratic governor, and 15 electoral votes going to Obama — completing the transition of Virginia to a blue state that we started about a decade ago…
November 3rd, 2008 at 9:37 amIgnoranceIsNotBliss Says
November 3rd, 2008 at 9:31 am
Palin at her Ohio rally just said that the United States has more oil than Saudi Arabia.
_________________________________________________________
Fortunately for Sarah, this will all be over soon and she can quit making outrageous sh!t up.
Has anybody made a collection of these whoppers?
November 3rd, 2008 at 9:37 ammarie – my daughter lives in the city… i tried to talk her into early voting, but she wants to vote “on the day” – and she’s excited to do so…
i did a little digging for cook county voting info and was surprised to find that those TOUCH SCREEN machines are used there, for early AND regular voting… AAACK!
i’ve given her all the warnings… she and her guy have the whole day off and they vote just across the street from their apartment…
fingers crossed… for the whole world!
November 3rd, 2008 at 9:38 amOn Tuesday, millions of voters “will use paper ballots rather than the touch-screen machines that have caused concern among voting experts.”
Let’s hope more of them vote for Obama than McCain – just in case they need a recount.
November 3rd, 2008 at 9:38 amMcCain plans to purge CIA if elected, officials say
In McNumbNuts’ simple mind, he’s probably thinking that a “purge” will work as well as a “surge”.
Unfortunately, all he’ll be hearing tomorrow is a funeral “dirge” . . . for the conservative movement that he and GDumbya killed over the past eight years.
November 3rd, 2008 at 9:42 amIn other words, the shredders are running night and day. ;)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HBoOqysiLFo
November 3rd, 2008 at 9:42 amExcept for Alaska, every state in the country is either in a recession or “dangerously close” to one, according to Moody’s Economy.com.
So then, their windfall profits tax, which gives $3200 of oil profits to each Alaskan to spend has saved their economy from Recession?
So why is John McCain against it again?
Wake up Conservatives. It’s the middle class that drives the economy, and if we don’t have any money to spend, then who will buy the stuff that the rich corporations make? If we aren’t spending, then it’s a certain Recession for all of us.
November 3rd, 2008 at 9:44 amFormer Treasury Secretary Bob Rubin and EPI’s Jared Berstein write: “With the current financial crisis, our joint view is that for the short term, our economy needs a large fiscal stimulus that generates substantial economic demand.”
Yes, it’s called making the people who don’t pay their taxes pay them.
If the 66% of corporations who currently do not pay their fair share started doing so, we’d have a HUGE financial stimulus, because the burden would come off the weakened middle class who is currently paying those taxes instead.
November 3rd, 2008 at 9:48 amPresident Bush is earning praise for “engineering what may be the most carefully considered and potentially successful presidential transition in modern times.”
Well, the Dumbya never really wanted to be Prez so it’s only natural that he’s spent more time planning his departure than he did on Iraq.
Shrub, you just couldn’t write a better script for your utterly abominable tenure.
November 3rd, 2008 at 9:51 amCQ reports that Washington DC’s lobbying firms are enjoying a business boom in the midst of a bear market. Due in part to the financial bailout, Washington lobbying firms signed up more than 500 new clients last month. “The annual cost of Washington lobbying will probably hit $3 billion for the first time ever.”
Enjoy it while it lasts, you demented pigs at the trough. On January 20th, your party will come to an end. Why? Because you didn’t buy our next Preident. We did.
November 3rd, 2008 at 9:54 amI don’t know misshusseinmolly. There sure have been a lot of them. Maybe to many for anyone to catalog.
November 3rd, 2008 at 9:54 amunbelievable Says:
Nail on the head. Both posts.
But let’s call it what it is: Alaska has a socialist (or even communist) doctrine of paying its citizens (all of them) simply for being citizens, with no regard for any other factor.
And why don’t the so-called conservatives see these things? Because they believe only what the GOP tells them. Party before country is the conservative daily mantra, in word and deed.
November 3rd, 2008 at 9:58 amPalin belongs ON Jerry Springer, not IN the White House.
And yes the ‘Palinites’ would be the perfect audience.
November 3rd, 2008 at 9:58 amExcept for Alaska, every state in the country is either in a recession or “dangerously close” to one, according to Moody’s Economy.com.
I’m betting that Alaska is none to happy with Sarah Barracuda. She has shone a spotlight on Alaska that they would rather have avoided. We now know that Alaska is right at the top of “pork” states and that they take much more from the US government than they give in return. I have a real problem with that considering how wealthy the state is.
BTW, is that huge “spread the wealth” check every Alaskan gets every year taxed by the Federal Government? If not, why not?
November 3rd, 2008 at 10:03 am“Nearly one in five U.S. mortgage borrowers owe more to lenders than their homes are worth, and the rate may soon approach one in four as housing prices fall and the economy weakens.”
I hear this all the time like this is what is causing the financial crisis. Am I missing something here? It seems to me that if you are upside down with your mortgage, it doesn’t really mean anything unless you are planning on selling your house. Then you would be in trouble. But if you are not planning on selling and make your regular monthly mortgage payment, where is the problem?
November 3rd, 2008 at 10:05 amThe profiles of the detainees will make it difficult for the next president to close the facility, the New York Times concludes.
And why would that be? I’m sure that Obama will let go those who there is no evidence against and prosecute those who do have evidence against. And that should not include body guards unless it can be proven that the body guards did something bad to us other than providing a service to OBL.
The problem the US has is that many of these men are innocent and were not enemies of our country when they went in. All will be enemies of our country when they live. Bush has created way more enemies of our country than he has taken out. Perhaps if Obama apologizes to these people for how badly we have mistreated them, they will find it in their hearts to forgive us.
November 3rd, 2008 at 10:09 amWhoever the new president is, they are going to have to make some hard decisions. A lot of cleaning up to do with not much time to implement new ideas. It’s a tough situation. http://straighttalkonmccain.blogspot.com/
November 3rd, 2008 at 10:10 amBilbo Hussein Baggins Says: “I hear this all the time like this is what is causing the financial crisis. Am I missing something here? It seems to me that if you are upside down with your mortgage, it doesn’t really mean anything unless you are planning on selling your house. Then you would be in trouble. But if you are not planning on selling and make your regular monthly mortgage payment, where is the problem?”
The problem is that these homeowners were talked into paying an inflated price for their home by greedy realtors, based on what the value of the house would be in the future, based, again, on an inflated perception of what the value could potentially be in the future.
November 3rd, 2008 at 10:16 amThe realtors pocketed their inflated commission checks, and went in search of the next sucker.
IgnoranceIsNotBliss Says:
Palin at her Ohio rally just said that the United States has more oil than Saudi Arabia.
November 3rd, 2008 at 9:31 am
_______
AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
November 3rd, 2008 at 10:18 amNevar Says:
The problem is that these homeowners were talked into paying an inflated price for their home by greedy realtors, based on what the value of the house would be in the future, based, again, on an inflated perception of what the value could potentially be in the future.
I understand all that. I just don’t understand how it is contributing to the financial crisis.
November 3rd, 2008 at 10:20 amGood morning, all.
I saw this painted on a 75 foot long hay bale ‘wrapper’…
‘McCain – Paline ‘08′
I believe that pretty well sums up a liv, or low information voter…misspelling a four letter word.
November 3rd, 2008 at 10:22 am5 letter word!…must be Monday
November 3rd, 2008 at 10:25 amThough he will likely end his tenure with one of the lowest job-approval ratings in history, President Bush is earning praise for “engineering what may be the most carefully considered and potentially successful presidential transition in modern times.”
His legacy can be summed up in four words:
November 3rd, 2008 at 10:26 amGETTING OUT OF DODGE
Bilbo Hussein Baggins Says:
I understand all that. I just don’t understand how it is contributing to the financial crisis.
November 3rd, 2008 at 10:20 am
______
Because the companies that sold these people the mortgages then went on to sell the debt to larger and larger banks, who then bundled these mortgages into Collateralized Debt Obligations, in essence mortgage mutual funds. Big domestic and international investors could buy shares of this debt and be guaranteed a return – either through mortgage repayments, or ownership in a share of properties that were rising in value.
So when the housing market tanked and homeowners began foreclosing, it hit these CDOs on two fronts – the payments stopped coming in, and the properties began losing value, so now all these CDO shareholders were stuck with a share of debt that they thought would be a safe investment, that they can’t sell because nobody wants to buy a piece of toxic debt. And a lot of big banks such as Lehman Brothers and Nationwide, had a lot of money in these CDOs, in addition to money market accounts and other very “safe” investments. When these banks tanked, it froze up the money market accounts and the commercial paper market and all the other fundamentals of the economy.
This American Life’s recent shows, The Giant Pool of Money and Another Frightening Show About the Economy explain what happened in lay terms.
November 3rd, 2008 at 10:31 amunbelievable Says:
——————————————————————————–
“So then, their windfall profits tax, which gives $3200 of oil profits to each Alaskan to spend has saved their economy from Recession?”
Wow now there is a non-government funded, yet government mandated, Stimulus package for Alaskan residents. And if memory serves me right $3200 is about $700 more than the last federal tax payer funded Stimulus package. And this one happens every year as opposed to the Federal one that was a one time payment.
hmmmm, Good enough for her state, not for her country! So at home in Alaska it is take from the rich and give to the poor or rich depending on circumstance, but for America it is take from the poor and give to the poor or rich depending on circumstance.
Seems a little elitist to me! What was that about sharing being BAD SOCIALISM!
November 3rd, 2008 at 10:51 amCageyCretin Says:
——————————————————————————–
…Party before country is the conservative daily mantra, in word and deed.
This can be clearly seen in the recent news articles stating that Republican Party leaders will be meeting after the election. They are doing this in an effort to salvage the conservative philosophy and image.
Seems to me unless there is some miracle in the next day and a half, the country and it’s economy, will still be a mess and need to be saved.
So why aren’t these Republican Party leaders meeting to save the country as opposed to their own party and hides!
November 3rd, 2008 at 11:02 amdo your part!! VOLUNTEER TODAY!! I’m heading out right now.
November 3rd, 2008 at 11:44 amToday’s lobbying money means tomorrow’s legislation. Companies are pulling out the stops to get a chunck of the upcoming “stimulus” package.
They also want to keep their huge amounts of government work. While Barack Obama enjoyed record small donor support, he also took in record big dollar contributions.
He’s not going to change the ship overnight, assuming he even wants to. Lobbyists know this and are spending to keep their influence.
More billions from Uncle Sam for economic stimulation? A likely the bonus.
November 3rd, 2008 at 12:16 pmAlaska is the sole exception in the list of recession now or near recession states only because it is a socialist, share-the-wealth state.
November 3rd, 2008 at 12:21 pmOur economic problems are much larger than people bailing on their home mortgages. Wall Street packaged all kinds of debt into securities, commercial mortgage loans, car loans, student loans, even credit card debt.
None of that is as good as rated. Much of it is untradeable as a security, thus has no value and must be written down. Here’s where the accounting comes in, via “mark to market” accounting requirements.
Additionally, Wall Street sold credit coverage on anything and everything. When a mortgage security quit paying, the person who promised to make them whole had to step up. The public became aware of credit default swaps when Lehman Brothers failed. That process rolled up oddly, with only a small part of the obligation fulfilled.
To sum up, there is lots of junk in America’s financial systems. That includes local foundations, school board investment funds, and municipal retirement/pensions. It has to unwind, and the process is just beginning.
Wall Street’s big jump and stable week is a ruse. The investor class wants to calm the water’s a bit to help the McCain camp. Much pain awaits.
November 3rd, 2008 at 12:28 pmWy should the status of the prisoners at Guantanomo make it hard to close the facility? If the prisoners are being lawfully held then they can be transferred to a prison within the United States or returned to their home country. If they are not being lawfully held they should be released.
November 3rd, 2008 at 2:13 pm