Anagram: Systemic Risk/ Misery Sticks

      

    I am watching an absolutely fascinating show.  Frontline “Inside the Meltdown”  An amazing and strong look at how wall street collapsed last year.  If you dislike Henry Paulson, this show gives you more reason to.  It points the finger directly at him for the failure of Lehman, which in turn caused all types of issues.  including a run on money markets.  The most important words here are “Moral Hazard”  And I will say only three more words about this show.

     Watch this program.

    The Stimulus was signed today with much fanfare, and I am pleased to see that work with money from the Stimulus has already begun. 

    But there are more money woes out there, the big three needing up to $39,000,000,000, The market saw the stim signing, and the auto news, and  all the other things going on around the world, and decided that today was a good day to sell.  The DJIA dropped almost 300 points, and the S&P dropped below 800 points.  Things now are almost as bad as they were in November.

    This is going to be a short blog tonight, I am laid up on the couch, unable to get to the computer i normally use.  I really have no capacity to get to it, put on my back by the injury to my right ball…. which may be a hernia, but may also be an infection.  I’ll find out on Friday. The pain was excruciating, and has since somewhat calmed.

    I’m not pushing it though. 

       A second viddy, a few quotes and I am done.

     The viddy, from Bloomberg TV this morning, with Delphi Management President Scott Black.

    

     That’s it for me.  Later!

Today’s Nuggets, By Benjamin Franklin, via Wikiquote:  As we enjoy great advantages from the inventions of others, we should be glad of an opportunity to serve others by any invention of ours; and this we should do freely and generously.

Our new Constitution is now established, and has an appearance that promises permanency; but in this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.

Anagram: I Foresee Untruth/ There Is No Future

     Before I begin, a beautiful rant, from a few years ago, but strong and true nonetheless.  The Man Himself, Henry Rollins, speaking on Strength of Action, Freedom, and the Internet’s role in both. If this is too strong for you, you are too weak.

   

   Having a “Happy Henry” love filled rant under your belt, it’s now time for some news.

    The Big three are back, well, two of them anyway, and it doesn’t look good for them.  Sales are plummeting.  GM has tried to sell both Hummer and Saab without success, and The Fiat Chrysler alliance seems less than a certainty, enough so that Chrysler is making alternate plans, should the deal fall through.   The UAW has made concessions, lowering new workers pay to near subsistence levels, and there is talk of further concessions, and both Chrysler and GM are offering Buyout options to long time employees.

    And it may not be enough.  Both companies may need Billions more.  We knew it would come to this, the only question is now, what price do we pay to save the American auto makers? It looks like they will ask for about $21,000,000,000 , with most of that, 18 billion dollars of it going to GM. 

     I don’t know what the cost to Americans will be if these car-makers fall through the cracks.  I am all for the marketplace dictating what businesses live and which ones die, but I don’t know that America can sustain what economic future it has without them, and the millions of jobs that are based around them.  It would undo the good that is the job creation of the stimulus package in one fell swoop if the American auto industry went the way of the dodo. 

   I Would ask congressional republicans to put away the partisan hats you wore, and the partisan axes you swung so deftly against the stimulus package for the sake of the American economy and it’s people.  I would ask that the incredibly harsh questioning you threw at the auto industry be put aside this time, just like you put it aside for your friends on wall street last week.  Yes, a few of you read them the riot act, but 3 people in a room of 30+ legislators is not throwing the book at wall street, it’s a show. 

     We don’t need a show.  We need vital help for a vital industry.  Politics be damned, save those Jobs. Don’t Be Republican.  Don’t be Democrats.  Don’t be Conservative.  Don’t be Liberal.  Rise above all that, and be American.

  In Other news, the Stimulus package will be signed into law tomorrow in Denver.  The lack of confidence in the stimulus package, and the auto industry mess i just spoke of are adding up to a bad wall street open for tomorrow.  The Futures market is down 100 points at this point. 

   Two videos, music this time, a few quotes and I am done. First up, The Sex Pistols, God Save the Queen.

      

      More Love for you? Sure Thing!  Love from the man Himself, Henry Rollins.

   

That’s it for me.  Later.

Today’s Nuggets, From the Man Himself, Henry Rollins, Via Wikiquote:  It is no surprise to me that hardly anyone tells the truth about how they feel. The smart ones keep themselves to themselves for good reason. Why would you want to tell anyone anything that’s dear to you? Even when you like them and want nothing more than to be closer than close to them? It’s so painful to be next to someone you feel strongly about and know you can’t say the things you want to.

My pen knows what to do. I close my eyes and I see this girl who glows. A girl who radiates. When she smiles, she beams. She warms my heart. I open my eyes with a feeling of floating past all the garbage around me. I will emerge unscathed because I will not endeavor to hide myself from whatever is coming. Bring on the worst. I welcome it with open arms.

Anagram: The Origin Of Storms/ Foresight Monitors

        A video, featuring David Axelrod, the President’s Point man, speaking about the stimulus on Meet The Press with David Gregory.

   

       The Difference on viewpoint on the Stimulus bill as far as I can tell, is most easily divisible this way.

    1) Pay for some of it now, because we need it now, and Pay for the rest of it later, because it will cost so much that some of the cost will have to be paid down the Road

     2) Don’t pay for any of it now, because we don’t have the resources now, and Pay for it all later, and fault the powers that are in power now when we are in debt up to our eyeballs later.

     Number one is the Democratic Plan.

     Number Two is the Republican Plan.

    That is what it boils down to.  John McCain called the Stimulus “Generational theft”.  Lindsay Graham and Others have sited a GAO study that says today’s spending will cost the next generation a trillion dollars.  That sounds pretty harsh, but it really isn’t, not when the hole we are in is  6 times that size, by all estimates.  

     The Republican points are a little dumb, when put in context.  These men, and most of their republican colleagues, voted for an alternative plan that would have slashed federal revenue by 2.5 trillion dollars.  They claim this is the right way to go.  Slashing the amount of money coming into the government without slashing programs is insanity.  That costs us Trillions now, along with the trillions it will take to fix this situation later.  Because these tax cuts will not fix the basic problem of unfreezing the credit markets, getting spending restarted, fixing the banking structure so it isn’t as unstable as it has shown itself to be.  Yes they had some spending on infrastructure, but the spending they put in their alternative is minute in comparison to what is actually needed. 

       If all our economic mistakes, be they because of  Bush, Clinton, Republicans, Democrats, The System itself or whatever, cost us only a trillion dollars in debt for the next generation, it may well be looked on as a victory, seen from the viewpoint of  the current generation.  If we don’t save things now, there won’t be much of an economic future for the next generation, so lets focus on giving them a future first, then we can focus on making it brighter.  It would be brighter if the Republicans didn’t whittle it down like they did, but what is done is done. 

    We have a big job ahead.  Let’s get to it. 

    David Axelrod again, this time On Fox Sunday with Chris Wallace

    

   A Second Blog Later.  Quotes and done.

Today’s Nuggets, From Thomas Jefferson, Via wikiquote:   A little patience, and we shall see the reign of witches pass over, their spells dissolve, and the people, recovering their true sight, restore their government to its true principles. It is true that in the meantime we are suffering deeply in spirit, and incurring the horrors of a war and long oppressions of enormous public debt. If the game runs sometimes against us at home we must have patience till luck turns, and then we shall have an opportunity of winning back the principles we have lost, for this is a game where principles are at stake.  

There is no act, however virtuous, for which ingenuity may not find some bad motive.

The system of banking we have both equally and ever reprobated. I contemplate it as a blot left in all our constitutions, which, if not covered, will end in their destruction, which is already hit by the gamblers in corruption, and is sweeping away in its progress the fortunes and morals of our citizens.

Anagram: The Party Of Whine/Thief Won Therapy

      

      I have to laugh.  Green Golf Carts.  This guy Pence is funny. Stupid, but funny.  Does he think we can’t read?  This guy is out of his head.  But then again, Pence always has been a butthead.  Voting no is Saying yes.  That’s what he’s telling you.  NO = YES. Almost Orwellian, mister Pence.  Orwell’s Characters were generally intelligent though, you….not so much.

   Like I said, I have to laugh. I really do.  I am listening to Sen. Tom Coburn talk about the Stimulus package, and the man is an

The Face of The Republican Party

absolute weasel.  “Look at your children tonight, there will be a little less glimmer in their eye tonight.  We are taking away some of America’s freedom tonight.”

     ROFL.  I had no Idea Tom was a comedian.  Whining like Helping America create jobs is in some way an EVIL THING THAT WILL STEAL OUR FREEDOM.  Nonononononono.  Tom.  Tom. TOM. Listen, bro.  The Fisa Revision did that.  The Patriot Act did that.  The Stimulus is, or was, before the Democrats decided to play nice and let the Republicans toss in some stuff, mainly a bill to help Americans get out of this multi trillion dollar hole that we are in. 

    And Do you know what I liked even more? I turn on C-Span 3, and there he is as big as life, Boehner the Complainer, saying, “You know, we aren’t the party of no…”Just Like Pence did in the Video above.  I hear this and I laugh.  Hard. If you aren’t the party of no, then why did you vote no on a bill to HELP AMERICA?  ALL of you Republicans, From Eric “Can’t” Cantor, to Adam “Howdy Doody”  Putnam, to more respectable reps, Like Jerry Lewis and David Dreier voted no.  It took Major surgery on the bill to get three Republican senators to vote on this bill.  How the hell are you anything BUT the party of no.

     Something has to be done.  You add things to the bill and then say it isn’t enough, then say you didn’t get to be in on the process.  You WHINE.  Shut up and get out of the way, you Republicans aren’t helping America if you stand in the way of progress.  And if you think being a partisan roadblock is helping America build a better future, then maybe the problem here is that you still work on your old paradigm, the way you Republicans have worked since the days of Newt Gingrich, embodied in four words.  ”Party First, Nation Second”

   The Senate is currently voting on the Bill.   Watch it here now.

Anagram: Lots Of Money/ Note My Fools

  

     

      The stimulus passed, the stock market tanked, Tim Geithner gave us a few details, and Rep. Paul Kanjorski told us about the day the world almost ended.  Seriously, a big money day.

      Lets start with a startling (at least to me) revelation that the economy came within a hairs breath of complete collapse last September 18th.  Let’s watch a video, from the show Washington Journal on that aired on C-span on Sunday.The reason I bring this to you now is that I only caught on to this today.

   

     Listen in particular to the minute or so from the 2:15 mark.  There was, according to Rep. Kanjorski, a run on the money markets to the tune of ½ a trillion dollars… in an hour.  After that they decided to close down the accounts and tell everyone that there money was guaranteed to the tune of a quarter of a million dollars per person. He also said that the predictions were that there would have been, had those things not been done, a draw-down on the money markets to the tune of over 5 and a half trillion dollars, which would have completely destroyed our economy. 

    WOW.  Ladies and gentlemen, I knew it was bad, but if Rep. Kanjorski is right here, that makes me thankful they acted the way they did when they did.  A near complete collapse of the American and then world economy…Oof, I shudder at the thought.  One wonders if we are still susceptible to that kind of major meltdown again.  My guess is no, not with all the money being thrown around to fix things on the macroeconomic level. But the ugliest thing Kanjorski says here is that we are in no better position now than we were three months ago.  Double Oof i say. 

    Next Up. 

    Tim Geithner, America’s new treasury secretary. He has a plan to save the economy. His plan to save the economy? A stress test for banks.  

This man looks Romulan to me

 Wuh? i hear you say.  You heard right, he will give the banks a stress test to see if they can take it. Those that can’t would be shut down.

     And two trillion dollars in new investment money.

     Yep! The Term Asset-Backed Securities Loan Facility, The fed program meant to thaw out the SBA  and Consumer loan credit market is going to quintuple in size, from two hundred billion to one trillion dollars.  There is also a new half trillion dollar “public-private” investment fund to purchase real estate and other troubled assets now burdening financial institutions.

    A lot of people faulted Mr. Geithner for the lack of detail in his plan, but at least one person liked it upon hearing of it.  American Bankers Association president, Edward Yingling, who gave a positive overall assessment of the plan.  Read about it here.

    The market heard mister Geithner as well.  They heard him say “This isn’t about banks.  This is about people” They apparently did not like it.  When mister geithner stepped on the stage to talk, the market was down and dropped like a stone as he spoke.  As he began to speak the market took a nose dive.  Fell almost 100 additional points as I remember before he finished speaking, in about 20 minutes.  The market ended at 7888.88, down 381.99 points.

    There was something else… It’s right on the tip of my tongu… HEY! That’s right!  The Stimulus Passed!

    In a 61-37 vote the Senate passed the stimulus package, that had the support of just enough senators to pass.  Republican Senators Snowe and Collins of Maine and Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania joined the Democratic Senators.   I watched the proceedings myself, and I must say it was a thing of …well, it was a thing.   These guys may talk until you, they and everyone in a five mile radius is blue in the face, once they set to getting the actual legislative work done, the actual voting done, it is a lightning quick process.   The second vote, the one that actually made it official, the Nelson/Collins amendment, took all of 6 minutes.

     WHEW. Only one more hurdle to go, and we can get to work getting the economy back on track, no matter how much the Republicans want it to fail just so they can say “I told you so”  Which they might just do anyway,Idiots that they are…they are notoriously bad at math.  How else do you think the economy got f***** up in the first place?

     Enough from me.  A second video, a few quotes and I am outta here.

     My Favorite romulan, Tim Geithner at the press conference announcing his economic plans, as shown on Bloomberg television.  As i watch this, I am noticing that the market didn’t move quite the way i remember it. 

   

    That’s it for me.  Later!

Today’s Nugget, Via Wikiquote:     How many people ruin themselves by laying out money on trinkets of frivolous utility? What pleases these lovers of toys is not so much the utility, as the aptness of the machines which are fitted to promote it. All their pockets are stuffed with little conveniences. They contrive new pockets, unknown in the clothes of other people, in order to carry a greater number. They walk about loaded with a multitude of baubles, in weight and sometimes in value not inferior to an ordinary Jew’s-box, some of which may sometimes be of some little use, but all of which might at all times be very well spared, and of which the whole utility is certainly not worth the fatigue of bearing the burden.  Adam Smith