All Things in Moderation

CONGRESS IS BROKEN verse 1, repeated

88 Responses

1. 

   bannedagain5446, on August 2, 2012 at 7:47 am said:

   A really terrific piece in the NYT today that actually points out that monetary policy is a zero sum game. Whichever way you move, somebody has to lose as well as win:

   “Strong Yen Is Dividing Generations in Japan”

   http://www.cnbc.com/id/48455186

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2. 

   bannedagain5446, on August 2, 2012 at 7:50 am said:

   mark:

   That will all change in 2013, Reid has promised to do something about the filibuster.

   He’s going to get help from the guy at Bain who told him about Romney’s tax returns. Unless of course he gets sick again over the chinese-made Olympic uniforms. Hopefully it’s a one time illness, not like malaria.

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   • 

     markinaustin, on August 2, 2012 at 7:58 am said:

     I keep thinking

     LYNDON JOHNSON
     Mike Mansfield
     …
     …
     …
     …
     …
     …
     harry reed?

     Decline and Fall, anyone?

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3. 

   markinaustin, on August 2, 2012 at 7:52 am said:

   I did not post a Morning Filler, but if I had, it would have said “Fed stands pat. All eyes turn again to Eurobank. Will EB buy mucho Spanish and Portuguese debt in focused quantitative easing? Will EB buy lots of debt from four or five nations in shotgun QE? Will EB stand pat? Tune in next time.”

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4. 

   bannedagain5446, on August 2, 2012 at 7:56 am said:

   They promise to do something at some future point that will have a big impact.

   Hmmm how very Congressional of them!

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5. 

   bannedagain5446, on August 2, 2012 at 8:02 am said:

   Golumns are filled today with bloggers proclaiming the Fed at all for “not doing anything”. How Chuck Schumer-like of them!

   Nowtihstanding that most of them have no idea even of the difference between monetary and fiscal policy.

   Here’s another one like from the increasingly annoying James Downie:

   “As India recovers from a power outage that knocked out electricity for 650 million people, the Post’s Ashley Halsey reminds us that Americans should be worried about our own electricity. “The U.S. grid is aging and stretched to capacity,” she writes.

   If only there were some plan for increasing infrastructure spending…oh wait, President Obama has one that Republicans have blocked.”

   Apparently he never reads his electric bill or has any idea that his electricity is provided by public companies not “the government” which could hike his rates at any time for capital improvements if it wasn’t for the great wailing and gnashing of teeth from consumers like him that would result.

   This is the corollary to you didn’t build that. Only the government does anything anywhere anytime.

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   • 

     markinaustin, on August 2, 2012 at 8:12 am said:

     Don Juan, to be fair, the improvement called “smart grid” is standing federal statutory policy that was a focus of the Admin’s infrastructure appropriations requests denied by Congress. See 42 USC sec.17381.

     OTOH, smart grid would not create a lot of short term jobs and probably would reduce long term ones. So the oppo to it was not completely knee jerk. IMHO, it is a good idea. Computerized ops of grid allocations across America would be more efficient.

     But easier to sabotage.

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6. 

   bannedagain5446, on August 2, 2012 at 8:10 am said:

   scott or brent:

   I’m curious what kind of a rate would a major utility have to pay to borrow long term these days?

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   • 

     ScottC, on August 2, 2012 at 9:10 am said:

     banned:

     I’m curious what kind of a rate would a major utility have to pay to borrow long term these days?

     From what I can find, Con Ed last issued debt back in March for 30 years with a coupon of 4.2%. That note is now yielding about 3.5%, so presumably that is about where they could borrow as of today for 30 years.

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7. 

   bannedagain5446, on August 2, 2012 at 8:13 am said:

   Downie is even more of an economic know-nothing than Greg:

   “At this point, the Fed’s inaction has passed from ill-advised to disgraceful. On a policy level, the Fed has a dual mandate: to combat inflation and unemployment. Inflation is expected to be below 2 percent for the next five years, an extremely healthy number that should give the Fed plenty of room to print money. But instead, while millions stand in unemployment lines, Ben Bernanke and company sit on their hands.”

   If you asked what he means by “print money” he would probably give you the same look as your young kids did when you asked them “how did this get broken?”.

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8. 

   bannedagain5446, on August 2, 2012 at 8:17 am said:

   mark

   Here in the east we’re a little behind you guys. Smart grid is way beyond what is causing our problems. Just fixing downed lines and having the basics working is our problem. I understand that the upgraded system is a Federal concept, but you can’t make a car that drives itself by retrofitting a Ford Farlane. My neighbors across the street this summer were out of power for 8 straight days, not on a grid problem but on lines problem.

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   • 

     markinaustin, on August 2, 2012 at 8:33 am said:

     Here in the east we’re a little behind you guys.

     Finally, the admission George and I have been waiting for.

     I do see your point, of course.

     As for “print money”, I think the difficulty all of these folks have is understanding that there is no shortage of money but the Fed has no significant way to direct resources from the banking system to increased consumer demand that would lead to increased employment. It is clear [M. Friedman] that the Fed can strangle the economy, but it does not follow that it can grow it. It is already not strangling it. Can it not strangle it even more?
     Should it buy state and municipal debt to “not strangle” the various San Bernadinos? Should it buy Troubled Assets?
     If not [I vote for “not”] it cannot do what these folks want.

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9. 

   novahockey, on August 2, 2012 at 8:20 am said:

   “how did this get broken?”

   “I didn’t break that. someone else made that happen”

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10. 

    bannedagain5446, on August 2, 2012 at 8:36 am said:

    mark

    Well for God’s sake do something, buy something, build something, consume something, finance something.

    Who else is left?

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11. 

    Troll McWingnut or George, whichever, on August 2, 2012 at 8:46 am said:

    “Finally, the admission George and I have been waiting for.”

    Heh.

    The solution to downed lines is to either cut down all the trees or bury the lines. I’m guessing that cutting down all the trees will not be popular. Burying the lines will be extremely expensive, someone has to pay for it. When you consider that we’re still over a trillion dollars a year just in deficit spending, burying the cable seems like a a rather extravagant induilgance.

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12. 

    bannedagain5446, on August 2, 2012 at 8:51 am said:

    “someone has to pay for it.”

    What are you 90 years old? Next you’ll be telling us stories about the old days and washing dishes for 13 cents an hour like my father!

    No one has to pay for anything, we just print money.

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13. 

    bannedagain5446, on August 2, 2012 at 8:56 am said:

    Losing 4.8 billion in about 6 months like JP Morgan is a problem, but losing 10% of that number in about 30 miinutes takes a special talent:

    “The Knight Fiasco: How Did It Lose $440 Million?”

    http://www.cnbc.com/id/48458289

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14. 

    bannedagain5446, on August 2, 2012 at 9:09 am said:

    nova:

    Why punish me? It’s the community that made it happen.

    Otter’s got it.

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15. 

    bannedagain5446, on August 2, 2012 at 9:12 am said:

    Wow, that’s great.

    Effectively speaking money for them money is so cheap that like MSFT they can borrow their dividend if they want to.

    Now is that a generalized obligation or tied to something?

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    • 

      ScottC, on August 2, 2012 at 9:17 am said:

      Looks like Gen Ob.

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16. 

    bannedagain5446, on August 2, 2012 at 9:19 am said:

    The new GM, in many ways remarkably like the old GM:

    “Furthermore, when you look at GM in North America, its retail share is down EVEN as the amount of money being spent on incentives is rising. Also troubling is the decline in revenue per vehicles sold in North America in the second quarter. It was $29,500 in 2Q of ’11 and dropped to $27,927 last quarter of this year. ”

    http://www.cnbc.com/id/48463412

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17. 

    bannedagain5446, on August 2, 2012 at 9:19 am said:

    scott

    ty

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18. 

    novahockey, on August 2, 2012 at 9:54 am said:

    OT: http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2012/07/27/why-ioc-will-never-memorialize-72-munich-massacre/

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19. 

    jnc4p, on August 2, 2012 at 10:23 am said:

    “markinaustin, on August 2, 2012 at 8:12 am said:
    …
    OTOH, smart grid would not create a lot of short term jobs and probably would reduce long term ones. So the oppo to it was not completely knee jerk. IMHO, it is a good idea. Computerized ops of grid allocations across America would be more efficient.”

    This was a good PBS NewsHour piece I saw on the smart grid pilot in Austin. It struck me as the best use of stimulus money I had seen to date.

    “REPORT AIR DATE: July 13, 2012
    In Austin, Charged up About Smart Power ”

    http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/science/july-dec12/smartgrid_07-13.html

    Speaking of knee jerk opposition, see the left in California objecting due to privacy concerns about the meters and the idea that they cause cancer.

    “REPORT AIR DATE: July 20, 2012
    California Activists Want Smart Meters Banned, Claim They’re Bad for Health”

    http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/science/july-dec12/meters_07-20.html

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20. 

    jnc4p, on August 2, 2012 at 10:40 am said:

    NoVA, I highly recommend this if you haven’t seen it yet:

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_Day_in_September

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21. 

    jnc4p, on August 2, 2012 at 10:45 am said:

    Worth a read:

    ” Ted Cruz (Tea Party-Tex.) victory highlights OWS demise
    By Jonathan Capehart
    Posted at 12:15 PM ET, 08/02/2012″

    http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-partisan/post/ted-cruz-tea-party-tex-victory-highlights-ows-demise/2012/08/02/gJQAWkLzRX_blog.html

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22. 

    jnc4p, on August 2, 2012 at 10:52 am said:

    Sigh…

    ” Chicago hospital cancels Batman appearance after Colorado massacre

    by Josh Mcghee Staff Reporter jmcghee@suntimes.com July 26, 2012 1:30PM ”

    http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/14013734-418/chicago-hospital-cancels-batman-appearance-for-kids-in-wake-of-colorado-moviehouse-massacre.html

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23. 

    Troll McWingnut or George, whichever, on August 2, 2012 at 10:59 am said:

    jnc5p

    What about Capehrt’s editorial caught your attention?

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24. 

    Troll McWingnut or George, whichever, on August 2, 2012 at 11:07 am said:

    I’m fascinated that there are people investing money based on what this guy says. I guess there truly is a sucker born every minute!

    http://www.zerohedge.com/news/bnp-furious-draghi-jumped-gun

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25. 

    jnc4p, on August 2, 2012 at 11:11 am said:

    The contrast between the Tea Party’s success and OWS’s failure in changing political representation via running actual candidates in actual races.

    OWS is inherently self marginalizing as they reject the entire existing democratic political process as illegitimate.

    http://nymag.com/news/frank-rich/eliot-spitzer-2011-10/

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26. 

    jnc4p, on August 2, 2012 at 11:13 am said:

    It costs more money to cover more people.

    “State budget directors see Medicaid expansion costs, but not savings
    Posted by Sarah Kliff on August 2, 2012 at 9:00 am

    Back in February — before the Supreme Court had decided on the health-care law, let alone heard oral arguments — the Government Accountability Office went out and surveyed state budget directors on how they felt about the law’s Medicaid expansion.

    Their results, published Wednesday, give some insight into why you’re hearing so much push-back against that provision ever since the Supreme Court ruled it optional: State budget directors tend to view the Medicaid expansion as a huge cost that generates few savings.”

    http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/ezra-klein/wp/2012/08/02/state-budget-directors-see-medicaid-expansion-costs-but-not-savings/

    In other news, the sun rose in the East today.

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27. 

    novahockey, on August 2, 2012 at 11:18 am said:

    thanks for the tip JNC. will check it out.

    that batman is a bit of a local story. he’s DC area local and got pulled over in a Lamborghini awhile back. caught him on local radio yesterday. said if his presence was going to cause discomfort for the kids, he didn’t want to go. but i have a hard time believing it’s the kids who are freaked out.

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28. 

    Troll McWingnut or George, whichever, on August 2, 2012 at 11:19 am said:

    Thanks J, I also wonder if it’s also because OWS’ various messages don’t resonate with a large number of people.

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29. 

    novahockey, on August 2, 2012 at 11:33 am said:

    “OWS’ various messages don’t resonate with a large number of people.”

    OWS DC was fascinating. It became a catchall of left-wing causes in two separate camps (one “professional” protesters and one more organic — meaning filthy). and one guy with a Gadsden Flag, who i’m assuming was run off, b/c it was only there for a few days. occasional street marches (permitted) and blocking of intersections during rush hour. sit in outside a bank of america branch or something like that. my building was “occupied” at one point.

    what was really interesting was the reaction. the people the nominally were targeting — the 99% or hourly workers – seemed to be the most annoyed. but i guess I would be too. my EA missed a bus b/c of traffic blocking tactics. the rainmakers just rescheduled dinner meetings and smoked cigars on the roof and watched the worker bees try to get home, polishing their monocles with the tears of orphans.

    also — the homeless people were pissed. they get run off in about 5 mins if they pitch a tent anywhere in town.

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30. 

    bannedagain5446, on August 2, 2012 at 11:44 am said:

    Knight Capital Group at $3. Seems like only yesterday they were worth $10. Actually it WAS only yesterday they were worth $10.

    Ongoing operation as an independent company seems extremely unlikely at this point. White Knights, please respond . . . quickly.

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31. 

    Michigoose, on August 2, 2012 at 11:47 am said:

    mark:

    I see you picked up on my innuendo. Don Juan he is from here on out! 🙂

    I’ve long wondered why we didn’t start burying power lines a decade ago, so thanks for all the links, jnc, I’ll have to work through them. On a personal note, about a month ago I was lying on my chaise lounge on my newly re-organized back patio. . . when I noticed that somewhere along the line my landlord (or, more likely, the homeowner who owned my house and died three years ago after living in it since he was about 8 years old) had tied (!!!) the power line up to the tree limbs above it using your basic rope. No doubt he was trying to keep the power lines from drooping onto the garage roof, but c’mon!! I’m still waiting for my landlord to decide what he’s going to do about it, although I’ve told him that if it isn’t fixed on 9/1 I’m going to call the City and then let him deal with the fall-out.

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32. 

    bannedagain5446, on August 2, 2012 at 11:58 am said:

    mich:

    According to Scott, your ultility can currently borrow at 3.5% or so to build a post next to your tree to carry the line for about 3 million dollars, OR if you call the city and they can simply cut the tree limb and put cones around the area where the line falls before they leave.

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    • 

      markinaustin, on August 2, 2012 at 2:17 pm said:

      OT: – http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-19047501

      Also, one pole in SLC should only cost about $15K-$25K. But the city will charge it back to the landowner, unless there is evidence the City did the jackleg repair itself.

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33. 

    jnc4p, on August 2, 2012 at 12:10 pm said:

    “Troll McWingnut or George, whichever, on August 2, 2012 at 11:19 am said:

    Thanks J, I also wonder if it’s also because OWS’ various messages don’t resonate with a large number of people.”

    We’ll never know as doing something as bourgeois as running a candidate for office is clearly selling out to the Man.

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34. 

    novahockey, on August 2, 2012 at 12:43 pm said:

    Just filed my LD-203. and democracy is pure for another quarter.

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35. 

    lmsinca, on August 2, 2012 at 1:37 pm said:

    Hi all, been busy today again but wanted to let everyone know that it’s almost been a year since Kevin, Scott, Mark and yours truly got ATiM up and running, with others soon following. I think we should have a birthday party (anniversary?)

    It looks like our first posts were up on Sept. 13, about 24 to 48 hours after Scott and I first discussed it, Mark contacted Kevin and voila! Scott, Kevin and then Okie and soon Michi worked on the tech stuff while Mark and I recruited, me from the Plumline, Mark from his other groups. It might be fun to rehash the year the weekend of Sept. 14. What do you think? I’ll bring the balloons.

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    • 

      markinaustin, on August 2, 2012 at 2:13 pm said:

      What’s the weather like in Riverside on 9-14? It is still hot in Austin. All the east coast is too muggy, and Houston and Tampa are hot and too muggy. Maybe we should all meet at Kelley’s in SLC that weekend.

      Unless her power line is still held to a tree by a rope…

      A nice neutral place with great weather then is Flagstaff.

      We have stayed here and highly recommend it:

      http://flagstaff.littleamerica.com/

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36. 

    lmsinca, on August 2, 2012 at 2:18 pm said:

    September is the crappiest month of all in Riverside……………………we’ll have to do it here, at ATiM. We did Okie’s 60th that way and it was fun.

    Look at my Flagstaff link! – Mark

    I could live in that suite forever and the pool looks pretty nice too. Didn’t look up the rates. – lulu

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    • 

      markinaustin, on August 2, 2012 at 2:22 pm said:

      If we hade not done Okie’s on line we would have had to party in Oklahoma, an oxymoronic idea.

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37. 

    lmsinca, on August 2, 2012 at 2:40 pm said:

    Are you calling me a moron? (jk) My husband will not let me go to Flagstaff by myself, are you kidding? He’s already wondering what I’m doing on the computer all the time. If he knew my new friends were named Mark, Scott, Kevin, Mike, George, Don Juan etc. he’d probably wish I’d died when he fell on top of me earlier this year.

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    • 

      markinaustin, on August 2, 2012 at 4:41 pm said:

      Lulu – Bring your husband! The room costs the same.

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38. 

    novahockey, on August 2, 2012 at 2:49 pm said:

    http://www.visitlasvegas.com/

    I could talk him into Vegas and sneak out and meet you guys about 3:00 am at a black jack table……………….. that would be fun.(lms)

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39. 

    bannedagain5446, on August 2, 2012 at 2:58 pm said:

    lms:

    Could be worse, you could be spending the time on Facebook!

    (which if you ever do, please allow me to ask you to kindly consider clicking on the ads, yes all of them)

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40. 

    bannedagain5446, on August 2, 2012 at 3:00 pm said:

    I just had about my 10th BLT sandwhich this week, (along with a few salads) and I still have 15 tomatoes sitting on my counter top.

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41. 

    lmsinca, on August 2, 2012 at 3:03 pm said:

    Don Juan

    I put tomatoes in my quiche……………………………….hahahahahaha

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42. 

    lmsinca, on August 2, 2012 at 3:06 pm said:

    Anyway, I hope everyone will think about a little nostalgic posting re ATiM that weekend.

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43. 

    lmsinca, on August 2, 2012 at 3:13 pm said:

    I tried facebook and didn’t really care for it. I wanted to keep up with my kids and granddaughter but ended up playing about 15 separate scrabble games everyday………..yikes.

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44. 

    Dave!, on August 2, 2012 at 3:47 pm said:

    Mark – From the article – “But, after those recess appointments of the consumer finance watchdog and some labor folks in January, furious Republicans are not feeling particularly cooperative on appointments.”

    Paybacks are hell…

    In all seriousness, Obama said he was going to change the way Washington works and change the tone and agree to disagree in a civilzed manner, etc, etc and so forth. Now I know that was a campaign statement but I do think that the president could have some impact if they were so interested in doing so. Do you think BHO has done anything to live up to the statements or do you think he has been more or less partisan than his predecessors? My take is that prior to Obamacare, he was so-so – not really pissing congress off but not really doing anything to change the culture. Obamacare made it business as usual (actually probably worse than usual).

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    • 

      markinaustin, on August 2, 2012 at 4:40 pm said:

      Dave! – it isn’t just this Congress – on judicial appointments they have been bad for years.

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45. 

    Dave!, on August 2, 2012 at 3:55 pm said:

    NoVA OT – One of many reasons that I am growing to really detest the Olympics.

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46. 

    Dave!, on August 2, 2012 at 4:04 pm said:

    George – “The solution to downed lines is to either cut down all the trees or bury the lines. ….”

    Or provide a staff and a plan to fix downed lines. Buried lines are more expensive to build but also more expensive to fix and harder and more (sometimes a lot more) time consuming to fix. Tree trimming mitigates some of the outtages but it is my perception that MD and VA have a similar amount of trees and above ground lines. It is also my perception that Dominion Power restores power a lot better and faster than PEPCO. Granted, I could be wrong on both of those perceptions. I am just happy to have DP as my power company.

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47. 

    bannedagain5446, on August 2, 2012 at 4:53 pm said:

    JB always tries to deflate the hell out of bad numbers and pump up the volume on the good ones. That’s not exactly a unique position, but he doesn’t exactly couch it in disquised terms:

    “Tomorrow is jobs day. Let’s deflate the hype today.”

    Let’s see…Jared Bernstein guesses 90,000 and says that the consensus expectation is a bit higher than that. I’ll say that anything between 50,000 and 150,000 is not a very big deal politically, and it would take either an actual negative number or something over 200,000 to really shake things up.”

    Yikes!

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48. 

    bannedagain5446, on August 2, 2012 at 4:58 pm said:

    mark;

    Saw your post

    Cef has left the planet recently. He his developing these kind of imaginary scenarios like sports talk show callers do. You know the ones.

    We can trade trade Colt McCoy to the Steelers for Ben Roethlisberger and we might even get them to throw in a draft pick because Ben has a bad shoulder and he’s older than Colt.

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    • 

      markinaustin, on August 2, 2012 at 5:06 pm said:

      Don Juan – here’s certainty on Earth: the incomparable Destinee Hooker, now a ‘Horn alum, destroying a poor Chinese volleyballer with a facial.

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49. 

    bannedagain5446, on August 2, 2012 at 5:29 pm said:

    That’s a real name?

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    • 

      markinaustin, on August 3, 2012 at 5:33 am said:

      Destinee is her name. She shares the name Hooker with her family. Her sister Marshevet was a great athlete, too. Destinee was 4 times NCAA high jump champ, as well as an intimidating volleyball player. One of her contemporaries, Megan Hodge, posed for ESPN: http://espn.go.com/espn/photos/gallery/_/id/8136693/image/34/megan-hodge-2012-body-issue-bodies-want-espn-magazine
      Hodge played for Penn State.

      Back to stuff: This suggestion that the summer job #s are underestimated is interesting.

      http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/08/02/beware-the-jobs-report-of-july/?hp

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50. 

    bannedagain5446, on August 2, 2012 at 5:42 pm said:

    Harry Reid outdoes Romney even in making unsubstantiated allegations :

    “In both a Senate floor speech and in conversation with Nevada reporters, Reid said he had it on good authority that the former Massachusetts governor and presidential candidate had paid no taxes, a claim he attributed in a Huffington Post interview to a Bain investor.

    “I am not basing this on some figment of my imagination,” Reid told Nevada reporters Wednesday. “I have had a number of people tell me that.” But he would not expand on his sources. “I don’t think the burden should be on me,” he said. “The burden should be on him. He’s the one I’ve alleged has not paid any taxes.”

    And on the Senate floor Thursday, Reid said, “The word is out he hasn’t paid taxes for 10 years.”

    He’s attempting to force Romney’s hand of course, but if I were Romney I would charge that Reid has been attempting to illegally access his returns or consulting with others doing the same and ask for a criminal investigation of Reid.

    It wouldn’t happen of course but it would throw Reid back on the defensive.

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51. 

    bannedagain5446, on August 2, 2012 at 5:44 pm said:

    Additionally, Reid is not exactly a constitutional scholar is he.

    The burden should be not on the person making anonymous accusations to prove them, but on the accused to clear himself.

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52. 

    bannedagain5446, on August 2, 2012 at 5:56 pm said:

    Benen did a column on his website lamenting our inability to do big things anymore adding the Hoover Dam and Golden Gate Bridge to the usual Empire State Buiding stuff.

    So of course I posted to point out that all three projects were begun under Republican presidents (even though only the Hoover was actually a Federal project) and that all of them were designed and financed before the crash, and that such projects are only undertaken in robust times as a symbol of success, not during hard times.

    Yes I am a prick sometimes because we get so many things wrong in our public discourse and often come to the wrong conclusions because we do.

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53. 

    Troll McWingnut or George, whichever, on August 2, 2012 at 6:33 pm said:

    Any lamenting by Benen of the myriad Federal environmental regulations and studies required that slowdown and/or result in the prohibition of accomplishing these “big things?”

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54. 

    lmsinca, on August 2, 2012 at 8:02 pm said:

    He’s attempting to force Romney’s hand of course

    I personally think Reid is making an ass of himself, much the same way Emanuel did re Chick Fil A. These guys give Dems a bad name IMO but luckily for me R’s are at least as bad if not worse. Close elections bring out the worst in everyone…………….except the commenters at ATiM…………….thank God.

    Mark have you been watching Angels v Rangers? Some high scoring games, and if the Rangers pull it off tonight it’ll be like they never played each other this week. Angels pitching is pretty bad this year. Every time I tune in it looks like a new pitcher is out there making a fool of himself. I love ’em though.

    And I would have a lot of ‘splainin’ to do re Flagstaff, so I better pass. 😉 I’ll hold down the fort here while the rest of you party. I can’t drink alcohol (not even wine or beer) or coffee anymore anyway so what fun would I be?

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55. 

    jnc4p, on August 2, 2012 at 8:57 pm said:

    “lmsinca, on August 2, 2012 at 8:02 pm said:

    He’s attempting to force Romney’s hand of course

    I personally think Reid is making an ass of himself, much the same way Emanuel did re Chick Fil A. These guys give Dems a bad name IMO but luckily for me R’s are at least as bad if not worse. Close elections bring out the worst in everyone…………….except the commenters at ATiM…………….thank God.”

    Correct. Even Greg Sargent agrees:

    “* Harry Reid triples down on the Senate floor today about what his anonymous sources told him about Romney’s tax returns: “The word is out he hasn’t paid taxes for 10 years.”

    I don’t see how this is helpful or defensible.”

    More importantly, Reid has managed to do what Romney’s entire campaign apparatus couldn’t: Shift the story on Romney’s taxes away from a focus on Romney and actually make him a partially sympathetic character.

    Clearly, Romney needs to get in touch with Sheldon Adelson’s lawyer:

    “The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee issued a public apology Thursday afternoon to billionaire casino magnate Sheldon Adelson for charging that the Republican mega donor was tied to the Chinese mob and a prostitution ring.

    “In press statements issued on June 29 and July 2, 2012, the DCCC made unsubstantiated allegations that attacked Sheldon Adelson, a supporter of the opposing party. This was wrong. The statements were untrue and unfair and we retract them,” the DCCC wrote. “The DCCC extends its sincere apology to Mr. Adelson and his family for any injury we have caused.”

    The statement is an attempt by the Democratic party committee to try and make a potential defamation lawsuit go away.”

    http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0812/79337.html

    Impressive that he could get the entire Democratic party apparatus to back down.

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56. 

    jnc4p, on August 2, 2012 at 9:01 pm said:

    Most transparent administration ever:

    “WASHINGTON — A new report from House GOP documenting instances in which President Barack Obama’s White House conducted business with an eye towards secrecy has exposed the president to charges that he has failed to meet his own ethical standards.

    On Tuesday evening, House Energy and Commerce Committee Republicans released a report showing emails sent from top administration officials — including Jim Messina, the former deputy chief of staff who is now Obama’s campaign manager — to pharmaceutical industry officials from private email accounts. In addition, the report highlighted instances in which those same officials held meetings away from the White House so that they wouldn’t be recorded in the official visitor logs. ”

    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/01/president-obama-ethics-gop_n_1730911.html?utm_hp_ref=mostpopular

    Negotiated on C-Span. Yeah right.

    “”I’m going to have all the negotiations around a big table. We’ll have doctors and nurses and hospital administrators. Insurance companies, drug companies — they’ll get a seat at the table, they just won’t be able to buy every chair. But what we will do is, we’ll have the negotiations televised on C-SPAN, so that people can see who is making arguments on behalf of their constituents, and who are making arguments on behalf of the drug companies or the insurance companies. And so, that approach, I think is what is going to allow people to stay involved in this process.”

    Sources: Town hall meeting on Aug. 21, 2008, in Chester, Va. ”
    http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/promises/obameter/promise/517/health-care-reform-public-sessions-C-SPAN/

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57. 

    jnc4p, on August 2, 2012 at 9:17 pm said:

    Good observations by Peggy Noonan:

    “The Life of the Party
    What Bill Clinton could add to the Obama re-election effort.
    By PEGGY NOONAN
    Updated August 2, 2012, 6:37 p.m. ET

    From a friend watching the Olympics: “How about that Michael Phelps? But let’s remember he didn’t win all those medals, someone else did. After all, he and I swam in public pools, built by state employees using tax dollars. He got training from the USOC, and ate food grown by the Department of Agriculture. He should play fair and share his medals with people like me, who can barely keep my head above water, let alone swim.”

    The note was merry and ironic. And as the games progress, we’ll be hearing a lot more of this kind of thing, because President Obama’s comment—”You didn’t build that”—is the political gift that keeps on giving.

    They are now the most famous words he has said in his presidency. And oh, how he wishes they weren’t.”
    …

    “The central fact of the Obama campaign is that they have not yet made a case for re-election. They haven’t come up with a reasoned argument in common words that can be repeated by normal people. Ask an Obama supporter to boil it all down and he’ll flail around and then say: “But Romney is awful” or “The Republicans are bad.”

    The White House and the campaign have not be able to make a case for their guy. They’re just trying to make a case against the other guy.

    But Mr. Clinton might actually be able to make the case, and he just may do it by making a case for the Democratic Party.

    No one has talked about the Democratic Party in a long time. Democrats don’t talk about it because they feel they’re on the run, and have brand problems. The president doesn’t talk about it either, which is remarkable. You’d think he’d want to rally the troops. But he doesn’t seem to love his party all that much.

    Mr. Clinton does, though, and that ol’ man, with his white hair and reading glasses, can bring you back. He can ring. He can walk you back to FDR and JFK and Bobby, he can remind you why the party exists, what it’s done, what it has always meant to do.”

    http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390444320704577565393495544010.html?mod=WSJ_Opinion_LEADTop

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    • 

      novahockey, on August 3, 2012 at 7:10 am said:

      Clinton must be loving this. Ride into NC and make Obama kiss his ring.

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58. 

    banned, on August 3, 2012 at 7:30 am said:

    I wrote in to Krugman this morning in a futile attempt at pointing out that he is wrong about Obama’s ability to replace DeMarco at any time. Not surprisingly the judges did not choose me to make the team!

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59. 

    jnc4p, on August 3, 2012 at 8:26 am said:

    Krugman’s on vacation. Comment approval may be delayed.

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60. 

    banned, on August 3, 2012 at 8:45 am said:

    Dana Bash says that she can confirm that she has a source close to Reid who can confirm that Reid’s source is close to Reid. Bloggers reinterpret that to say that source has knowledge of Romeny’s returns:

    “I did speak to one source who is very close to Senator Reid who claims to also know who the Bain investor is that Reid spoke with, and insists that it is a credible person and this person if we knew the name we would understand they would have the authority and the ability to know about Romney’s tax returns.”

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61. 

    banned, on August 3, 2012 at 8:51 am said:

    jnc:

    Based on past experience, . . . indefiintiely!

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62. 

    lmsinca, on August 3, 2012 at 9:02 am said:

    Krugman’s on vacation

    Yes Virginia, there is a Santa Clause

    Hi all,

    Just wanted to let everyone know I’ll mostly be gone this weekend as we’re having our grandson for three days…………………………yay beach trip on the train!

    Have a great weekend and start thinking about what you want to write for the anniversary of ATiM in Sept. Scott and I will start it off on the 13th with individual posts and the rest of you can follow. We can drag it out over the weekend if there’s enough interest. We made an executive decision to put up individual posts which everyone can then comment on. Sorry, no trip to Flagstaff this year………………………….. hahahahaha

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63. 

    jnc4p, on August 3, 2012 at 9:27 am said:

    “banned, on August 3, 2012 at 7:30 am said:

    I wrote in to Krugman this morning in a futile attempt at pointing out that he is wrong about Obama’s ability to replace DeMarco at any time. Not surprisingly the judges did not choose me to make the team!”

    I think that the piece from Yves Smith from Naked Capitalism that lmsinca linked provided the best rebuttal. You should just link it in the comments and ask Krugman to respond.

    http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2012/07/why-firing-ed-demarco-is-no-solution-to-fhfa-refusal-to-engage-in-principal-modifications.html#kYDs8gZBwXdSSY8y.99

    Krugman is becoming more of a hack. His column on DeMarco reminds me of Charles Krauthammer’s column in the Washington Post declaring Romney’s overseas trip to be a triumph of substance.

    http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/charles-krauthammer-romneys-excellent-trip/2012/08/02/gJQAQwmtSX_story.html

    That’s about the last way I would describe it.

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    • 

      ashot, on August 3, 2012 at 9:43 am said:

      Yikes…just read that Krauthammer piece. I love the line about mainstream media buying it as a gaffe filled trip. Except of course he and Rubin who write for the mainstream media have asserted otherwise. I’m also assuming Fox News didn’t buy into that either. Since we repeatedly hear that more people listen to Fox than other stations, why is Fox News not considered part of the mainstream media? Other than the fact that it would render the mainstream media narrative moot.

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64. 

    jnc4p, on August 3, 2012 at 9:30 am said:

    Good piece on the PBS NewsHour last night about the Tax Policy Center analysis of Romney’s tax “plan”. They had someone from the Tax Foundation providing the couter point, which was you can’t call this an analysis of the Romney “plan” because Romney doesn’t actually have a “plan” just some stated principles of what his “plan” would potentially encompass.

    http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/politics/july-dec12/campaign_08-02.html

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65. 

    bannedagain5446, on August 3, 2012 at 9:49 am said:

    Not sure how CK ever got to be considered an expert on anything. He’s a pyshiatrist for God’s sake!

    His take on Israel as quoted in Rubin’s column was hilarious:

    “Romney’s point about ‘culture’ was to highlight the improbable emergence of Israel from resourceless semi-desert to First World ‘start-up nation,’ a tribute to its freedom and openness, just as free-market Chile stands out from state-dominated Ecuador.”)”

    The fact of the matter is, Israel was founded economically speaking on collectivism in efforts such as the kibbutzim. That proved a complete economic failure and so foreign money came in by the hundreds of billions to bail it out effectively speaking and create the dynamo we see today. It’s still a great story, but not at all the story CK is telling.

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66. 

    bannedagain5446, on August 3, 2012 at 9:55 am said:

    I thought the debate on Romney’s plan was generally speaking very healthy, what we should hope for out of the campaign. Then of course we have Harry Reid lying and sidetracking us again.

    You can see now why Reid got the job in the first place. He’s a terrible negotiator but could give Rove a run for his money when it comes to assasination. No doubt he has left many unsolved “murders” in his rise to the leadership position.

    If Romney is just witholding his returns based on sttubornness, then he should release them before the convention. He’ll get the big negative spike for being rich and paying low taxes, but that’s already baked in.

    If he truly is hiding something else, then I guess he’ll just continue on.

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67. 

    bannedagain5446, on August 3, 2012 at 10:10 am said:

    Goolsbee was very good again on CBNC this morning. You wonder who on earth if they had ever met them in person would have chosen Romer as chairman over this guy?

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68. 

    jnc4p, on August 3, 2012 at 12:00 pm said:

    Over the years, Charles Krauthammer has adjusted his column’s sophistication to that of his audience. He’s much better in person. I had the opportunity to see him debate Robert Reich and he acquitted himself quite well.

    http://www.richmondforum.org/bio-krauthammer-reich.aspx

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69. 

    bannedagain5446, on August 3, 2012 at 1:48 pm said:

    yay, the people at Symantec fixed an issue with my computer for free believe it or not!

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70. 

    bannedagain5446, on August 3, 2012 at 1:57 pm said:

    Read Kessler’s column today.

    He has finally jumped the shark as a fact checker. He agrees with an ad that includes payroll taxes in determining an individual’s tax rate.

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    • 

      markinaustin, on August 3, 2012 at 2:03 pm said:

      an ad that includes payroll taxes in determining an individual’s tax rate.

      Don Juan, I share your perspective, but with a caveat.

      The correct way to discuss SS/Medicare/UI is to isolate their “trust funds” to the payroll tax.

      When the discussion lumps these three in with the operating budget, it becomes equally tempting to lump the payroll tax.

      Two fallacies do not make a fact, however, so we should try to keep these concepts separate.

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71. 

    yellojkt, on August 3, 2012 at 2:27 pm said:

    I have no problem with including payroll taxes in determining total individual federal tax burden. It is the phase-out of these at the $106k mark which severely flattens the progressivity of the system.

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72. 

    yellojkt, on August 3, 2012 at 2:42 pm said:

    I’m lost. Which of us is Don Juan and why? Don Q rum is named after Don Quixote.

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73. 

    Michigoose, on August 3, 2012 at 6:27 pm said:

    Don Juan is John/banned. It started here, and we now know what Don Juan looks like from this photo that he posted (he claims that the guy on the left is jnc, although jnc hasn’t ‘fessed up about that yet). Mark took it to it’s natural conclusion and switched “Don John” to Don Juan.

    Be careful–you never know what’s going to happen on this site!

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