Brent Nyitray
Fairlington Blade
Let the mutherfuker burn!
jnc4p
Kevin S. Willis
Michigoose
lmsinca
markinaustin
Arcanaut
novahockey
quarterback
ScottC
yellojktAs today is my husbands 63 and 5 months birthday celebration we’re taking the day off, JK. We’re always looking for an excuse for a holiday.
A few links to keep us going.
I found this headline from the NY Times amusing.
Europe Nears Agreement on Bailout Fund That May Be Inadequate
By the time the entire process is finished, about mid-October if all goes well, Europe’s leaders will have a newly expanded European Financial Stability Facility that most analysts say will be, at $600 billion, grossly inadequate to extinguish the crisis, since it lacks the means to cope with the larger economies of Italy and Spain.
It seems another example of too little, too late on the part of the leaders of the 17-nation euro zone. But it is also another example of sharply differing analyses of the core problem of the euro, making a solution hard to reach.
And from the Left Coast Desk
Gov. Chris Christie was here at the Reagan Library. I guess he’s still not running.
The video, on the Politico website, represented his “answers back to back to back together on the question of running for the presidency,” he told hundreds of Republicans gathered at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley — several of whom asked him to run.
Among the responses on the video: “I’m 100% certain I’m not going to run,” “I don’t want to run” and “I don’t feel ready in my heart to be president.”
And my favorite DFH David Dayen points to this. Apparently the USPS is required to pre-fund future retiree benefits of postal workers who aren’t even born yet.
The USPS economic crisis is the result of a provision of the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act of 2006 that requires the Postal Service to pre-fund the health care benefits of future retirees—a burden no other government agency or private company bears.
The legislation requires the USPS to fund a 75-year liability over a 10-year period, and that requirement costs the USPS more than $5.5 billion per year. Guffey also pointed out that “the federal government is holding billions of dollars in postal overpayments to its pension accounts.”
All of the USPS losses over the past four years come from this mandate. You cannot find another organization in the world, AFAIK, that pre-funds 75 years of benefits over a 10-year period. And it’s not just the overpayments, it’s the opportunity costs of having to hold that much reserve capital that cannot be used when times are tough, or to invest in more attractive services. This results from a 2006 law that was one of the last time bombs of the Denny Hastert-Bill Frist Congress. That needs to change.
— LM
Apropos of nothing: Using a 3D Printer to print food. That’s cool, but I saw a talk (I think it was a TED talk) where the guy talked about using the same sort of technology in laser printers to print nutritious wafers. Couldn’t find that, but that also sounded exciting. Not quite to the point of having Star Trek food replicators. But close. — KW
Illinois likely to appeal dismissal of charges against man facing 75 years for “eavesdropping” by recording a public official. – NoVA. They want to throw him in jail essentially for life.
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All Things in Moderation 
I went ahead and posted this. Hope that's okay, LM. Got impatient, and I wanted to talk about the Post Office. First, funding retirement 75 years out, at all, seems insane to me. But do I read this right:Dec 8, 2006: This bill passed in the House of Representatives by voice vote. A record of each representative’s position was not kept.Dec 9, 2006: This bill passed in the Senate by Unanimous Consent. A record of each senator’s position was not kept.Does the latter mean that every senator voted yea on this bill? And why aren't records kept? I'd be curious how many Republicans and Democrats voted for this legislation, with this perhaps ill-conceived provision that makes me suspect, for some reason, that many of our politicians do not read the legislation they are voting on.
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Also, this particular legislation was co-sponsored by Danny Davis (D)John McHugh (R) and Henry Waxman (D). The "last time bombs of the Denny Hastert-Bill Frist Congress" kind of implies (at least to me) that Republicans unilaterally advanced this particular piece of poorly-conceived legislation.
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"Does the latter mean that every senator voted yea on this bill?"It means that nobody objected. it's a way to quickly move to the next item. it works like this. Reid gets up and says: "Mr. President, I would ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to S.Res.XX – that the resolution be agreed to, that the preamble be agreed to, that no amendments be in order, that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table, with no intervening action and debate, and that all statements related to the matter be printed at the appropriate place in the Record as if read."presiding officer — hearing no objection, the resolution is agreed to. Not exactly school house rocks, but gets stuff through fast.
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but it just takes 1 senator to say "i object" and you can't pass the bill that way.
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Gotcha. Thanks, NoVA!
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Kev, no problem posting it. I was going to do it soon. Yeah that USPS deal is mind-boggling if I'm understanding it correctly. Apparently, there's also money the government is holding in excess of pre-funding or something. I'll have to do some more digging later.Unintended consequences?
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That USPS requirement seems like insanity. The problems of the USPS are often attributed to the government not knowing how to run a business (there is a lot of truth to that) but it seems like a different kind of governmental incompetence is to blame here.
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"Unintended consequences?" Either completely intended or profound foolishness/incompetence. In my opinion. Tangent: Thomas Jefferson Discusses Politics and Economics with Adam Smith. It's 938, Untrammeled Economy, if someone's looking at this weeks in the future.I'm a big fan of the Jefferson Hour. Historical re-creationists take their jobs seriously. The program itself doesn't start until 6:00 minutes in, if you want to forward past the preamble. I'm a little disappointed that both Thomas Jefferson and Adam Smith speak with a flat, midwestern accent. I had really expect Smith to rip out a Scottish brogue.
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Oh, fer cryin' out loud, now you can't even post "stfu" on PL!Pox on the net nanny! All of them everywhere!Unless I am the one getting paid to babysit, of course.
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Makes me wonder if it was an attempt to generate revenue to use someplace else, a la SS Ponzi scheme. 😉
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What's an SS Ponzi scheme? 🙂 Don't answer that.
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"Oh, fer cryin' out loud, now you can't even post "stfu" on PL!"Although I was distraught when I found I couldn't get to Plum Line, I find as time goes on I just don't miss it.
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Humor aside, It sounds like it was done to lower a deficit, or "offset" spending on something else.
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