Brent Nyitray
Fairlington Blade
Let the mutherfuker burn!
jnc4p
Kevin S. Willis
Michigoose
lmsinca
markinaustin
Arcanaut
novahockey
quarterback
ScottC
yellojktVital Statistics:
| Last | Change | Percent | |
| S&P Futures | 1397.0 | 7.1 | 0.51% |
| Eurostoxx Index | 2428.6 | 29.3 | 1.22% |
| Oil (WTI) | 92.67 | 0.5 | 0.51% |
| LIBOR | 0.438 | -0.001 | -0.23% |
| US Dollar Index (DXY) | 82.06 | -0.203 | -0.25% |
| 10 Year Govt Bond Yield | 1.61% | 0.04% | |
| RPX Composite Real Estate Index | 188.6 | 0.5 |
Stocks are higher this morning on hopes for further stimulus measures out of the ECB after a disappointing factory orders report in Germany. Spanish bond yields continue their descent from their late July highs. The 10-year is down a point and MBS are down about 1/4 of a point.
FHFA Acting Chairman Ed DeMarco has responded to Congress regarding principal reductions on Fannie and Freddie loans. His reasons for resisting principal reductions are largely due to strategic defaults. In other words, he is afraid that people who are current on their mortgage and can afford the payment will stop paying in order to get a principal reduction. According to the FHFA study under the most favorable model-based assumptions, it would take anywhere from 3,000 to 19,000 strategic defaults to turn the program into a net loss for taxpayers. Will this satisfy DeMarco’s #1 critic? Alas, probably not.
The National Association of Home Builders has released their improving market index, which showed 80 MSAs were characterized as improving (about 25%). “With nearly one quarter of all U.S. metros currently designated as improving housing markets, there is growing recognition among consumers that now is an opportune time to consider a home purchase” Of course they are talking their own book, but still it is another positive data point. They do note that the tight lending environment is acting as a drag on activity.
I generally don’t get too political, but the weakest Romney attack award goes to …. Bloomberg with this lame story about the Seat Pagine LBO. For starters, tax evasion is a national sport in the Mediterranean countries, and to think the Italians would be miffed that Bain used an Luxembourg-based entity to minimize taxes is ridiculous. Second, the consortium was correct to recognize that the internet was about to destroy the value of the yellow pages and a sale, especially when media valuations were sky-high in the late 90s was the right thing to do. The fact that (a) the Italian government sold before the bubble was inflated and (b) Telecom Italia was in empire-building mode in the dying days of the internet bubble is neither Bain nor Romney’s fault. My favorite line was “Bain got wind of the public action through the Italian unit of Bain & Co…” How sinister sounding – like Romney got a clandestine call saying “Blue Horseshoe loves Annacott Steel.” It was a public auction, part of a long-term announced plan by the Italian government to sell state assets in order to get their debt levels down for EU integration. I guess I “got wind” of tomorrow’s 10-year Treasury note auction from today’s Journal too.
Filed under: Morning Report |
All Things in Moderation 
Another up on “optimism” day.
So what happens to the bond bubble on January 22nd, coninued on or bursts?
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First it was he didn’t creat jobs in the US. Now it’s that he didn’t create jobs for the Italians. What’s next Romney ripped off the Chinese?
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I really probably shouldn’t say it here, but even if cao and dawd didnn’t discourage me from going back to PL, I have come to absolutely despise fiona and her 20% of all posts per day amounting to I hate Romney and I really don’t understand anything of what I read so I’ll just link it.
I would hope she is just being incredibly partisan and not as incredibly stupid as she seems to be.
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john, agree with your PL assessment re fiona. If they ever get that ignore button (hahaha), she would be on my ignore list. BTW, I saw the exchange on which you announced your departure and think it is PL’s loss. I never quite figured out why cao and dawd were constantly in attack mode where you were concerned.
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cao hates the fact that I kept exposing him for the rapacious exploiting businessman that he is, not the intellectual leftist that he pretends to be, so that I understand.
dawd is actually interested in intellectual discussion on occasion but can’t help slipping back into being the bully he has probably been since grade school making fun of everybody who disagree with him. 10-15 years from now, he’ll probably be country club Republican!
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From The New New Deal as quoted in Wonkblog:
“Obama knew that was nuts. His economics team — now led by Jason Furman from the Hamilton Project — was telling him the fundamentals of the economy were dreck. Obama was holding regular calls with Rubin, Summers, and other Democratic heavyweights; he was talking to Paulson and Bernanke as well. No one had anything rosy to say. “We could all see this was getting uglier and uglier,” adviser Dan Tarullo recalls.”
All these books that have come out in the last year or so prove what is the biggest lie of the Obama administration so far, namely the 8% prediction was only wrong because we “didn’t know how bad things were”
This book like Confidence Men before it points out that now that all the rats have turned on each other and admit they really did know how bad things were but they made their projections based on infighting in house, not BLS numbers.
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In the that was quick department, Benen has already started to delete some of my posts from the Maddow Blog. Even Rubin didn’t get thin skinned that fast. It was pretty innocuous too. I just pointed out in reply to his post about stop and frisk in NYC that Bloomberg had the lowest three annual homcide rates in the last 50 years in the city.
Of course that set people off for some reason.
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“Traders that speculated on the rescue of Knight Capital Group were rudely disappointed by a Monday lifeline that overcame a $440 million technology-inspired trading loss.
That’s because the $440 million capital raise will greatly dilute existing shareholders and keep Knight’s stock [KCG 3.165 0.095 (+3.09%) ] muted, as opposed to a government lifeline or negotiated bailout that would have sent shares soaring.
That reversal of fortune signals that traders may not be able to rely on Uncle Sam for a quick profit from the next financial blow up. ”
I thought about it when it went below $3 but didn’t pull the trigger. That’s how you lose lots and lots of money, impulse betting in trades on things in the news!
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“okiegirl, on August 7, 2012 at 5:24 am said:
jnc: “Okiegirl – let me know if you are checking in at ATiM today. I have a response to one of your points on Plum Line, but there’s no point in posting it if you aren’t here.” I wasn’t here yesterday but will try to be in and out today and would love to hear what you have to say.”
It was in reference to the welfare reform piece you linked and I felt deserved a more substantive response but I believe that events have since superseded it.
Basically, the flexibility that Romney and the other Republican governors were asking for was in terms of what counted for the work requirement, not a wholesale waiving of it that the current administration has proposed. I’m in agreement with QB’s basic position, but perhaps not so aggressively stated. I’ve been unable to track down the 2005 re-authorization amendment proposals either, but I’m pretty sure they weren’t the wholesale waiving of the requirement that the Administration believes is justified by the current unemployment rate.
Joseph Lawler makes the same points in the RCP piece you linked:
He doesn’t dispute the characterization of the Administration’s waivers as gutting the requirements:
Instead, he just makes the point that the welfare state as a whole is larger than just TANF. I.e. gutting the work requirement doesn’t gut everything else.
He then segues into a discussion about how TANF is somewhat irrelevant, as unemployment and disability insurance have evolved into the new version of welfare, especially since 2008.
See also his linked piece in the Atlantic on that same topic:
http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2012/05/the-new-welfare-state-faster-cheaper-and-out-of-control/257558/
All in all, I side with the Republican argument on this one. If President Obama and HHS feel that the continuing rate of unemployment justifies waiving the work requirements for TANF, they should make that case on the merits. Waiving the entire work requirement goes beyond what the Republican governors wanted to do and there’s also the question of whether or not HHS has the legal authority to do this unilaterally.
I expect more details to come out eventually on this, if it’s pursued. It seems like an excellent topic for a Glenn Kessler Fact Checker article:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/fact-checker
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jnc, thanks for the info. I don’t disagree with anything you said except “I side with the Republican argument on this one” — only because I have not made up my mind yet. Unfortunately, I think both sides are (again) using welfare as the proverbial football, which I do not find appropriate. The work incentive is necessary and important, but I do not believe Ds/Obama/HHS are attempting to do away with it. I do like shifting control to states to tailor it according to their needs; for example, OK does not have the same issues as, say, NY.
Ezra Klein weighed in on it today if you have not already seen that.
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Follow up: Nice summation of the issue in Wonkblog:
I’m not so sanguine, given President Obama’s original opposition to the bill back in the 1990’s.
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2012/07/18/flashback_obama_in_1999_i_do_not_support_the_clinton_welfare_reform.html
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Funny, I obviously had not seen your additional comment when I posted. I’ll check out your additional link re Obama’s opinion in 1999, but do not think I would necessarily expect him to have the same opinion 13 years later. Of course, that depends on what his objection was back then.
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President Obama reversed course again in Audacity of Hope when he declared that Clinton and the conservatives were right about Welfare Reform, but that was right before his chapter about opposing Gay Marriage on principle.
I’ll dig up my copy and type in the exact quote tonight. I couldn’t find a full text on line.
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“okiegirl, on August 7, 2012 at 10:01 am said:
jnc, thanks for the info. I don’t disagree with anything you said except “I side with the Republican argument on this one” — only because I have not made up my mind yet.”
I think on the tit for tat vis-a-vis the position of Romney as a governor in 2005, it’s an excellent topic for a Glenn Kessler Fact Checker article.
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okie
With the Chevron fire in CA, once again you are at the center of the petroleum world. How’s the state unemployment doing?
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Worth noting:
See also:
http://www.motherjones.com/media/2011/08/interview-better-this-world-brandon-darby
http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2011/08/brandon-darby-anarchist-fbi-terrorism
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jnc
It is probably the most surprising aspect of Obama’s presidency, that he would have been right at home as Bush’s Attorney General.
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So John, what finally pushed you over at PL? I had been sticking my toe in recently, but RUK is always ready to slam me, even using my real name. Strange he knows it since my activity over there is pretty sparse.
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john, unemployment rate in OK is under 5% (4.7 or something like that last I saw for June). There was a fire at a refinery in Tulsa just within the last week though, but I don’t know the refinery’s capacity.
jnc, thanks for that link . . . I think. That is a subject that really makes my blood pressure go up. I have been amazed that when I have brought up possible indefinite detention of U.S. citizens on U.S. soil to people I know who are apolitical, they have no idea what I’m talking about. If I explain, they just shrug their shoulders. I’m stunned that more people do not care about this. It is a hot button issue for me, obviously.
Also, Sargent just put up a post on the new Romney ad out today on the welfare waivers. Comments got off to the predictable start, but I suspect the focus will change from what the waivers are about to the method of making the change. BTW, jnc, do you have a good link to precisely what the waivers encompass? Everything I have found indicates they do not waive the work requirement but do allow states some leeway on how they meet the requirement and that state programs with waivers will be monitored and discontinued if they do not show results within one year.
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jnc and banned
that he would have been right at home as Bush’s Attorney General
I can’t believe that this probably won’t cost him the election. Is it because Romney is just that bad? Between the economy and this, why is Obama even slightly ahead?
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lms
Regarding both the adminiinstration of Obama and the candidacy of Romney, when you want something in the worst way, that’s often how it works out!
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“why is Obama even slightly ahead?”
I have heard he is outspending Romney 3:1
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Brent, do you use the same avatar at both sites? I know RUK checks us out periodically even though he won’t comment here anymore.
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lms, yes same avatar. he never posts here, so I figured he didn’t know. It is just weird to see him make a snarky reply to my real name. No matter..
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“bannedagain5446, on August 7, 2012 at 12:11 pm said:
jnc
It is probably the most surprising aspect of Obama’s presidency, that he would have been right at home as Bush’s Attorney General.”
I would not conflate John Ashcroft with Alberto Gonzales. When faced with the ultimate Washington crisis of conscience choice, that of serving power or serving the law, AG Ashcroft chose to serve the law.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/15/AR2007051501043.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hxHjWYA50Ds
I would love to have Ashcroft, Jim Comey and Jack Goldsmith back at the Department of Justice at this point. I’d take any of them over Holder any day of the week.
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I have heard he is outspending Romney 3:1
Does that include outside spending? And I heard Romney raised more money than Obama last month, but I have no idea if it’s true.
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brent:
I think the level of discourse had deteriorated quite badly and dawd and cao were just the final push. I’d like to think that we can discuss the faiilings of either Romney or Obama on a civilized basis, but if anybody plans to defend either one hopefully they bring something to the table other than screeching.
To expect any semblance of objectivity from blogging in general is probably a fool’s errand so the fault is probably my own.
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jnc:
Yes i get your point about the quite surprising John Ashcroft.
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“lmsinca, on August 7, 2012 at 12:15 pm said:
jnc and banned
that he would have been right at home as Bush’s Attorney General
I can’t believe that this probably won’t cost him the election. Is it because Romney is just that bad?”
Yes.
Worth noting as well:
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@lms, not sure. The memo just said obama was outspending romney 3:1 and 75% of his ads have been negative… The rest was all vp speculation.
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Brent, quite a few people over there read here but won’t comment. I have to be careful what I say about the PL even though I usually agree with the criticisms. I’m always trying to get a few people to comment here, but not necessarily the ones you might suspect, if you get my drift?
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@jnc,
Schiff is a renowned perma-bear. I would take what he says with a grain of salt. He reminds me of a non-snarky Alan Abelson who has hated the stock market since Dow 2100.
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I miss chatting with sue. she has a good eye for BS, especially when it comes from me!
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brent and jnc:
Have you ever read the Dent Report? Very smiliar to Schiiff, also on the libertarian side, The Daily Reckonng.
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“bannedagain5446, on August 7, 2012 at 12:30 pm said:
brent:
I think the level of discourse had deteriorated quite badly and dawd and cao were just the final push. I’d like to think that we can discuss the failings of either Romney or Obama on a civilized basis, but if anybody plans to defend either one hopefully they bring something to the table other than screeching.
To expect any semblance of objectivity from blogging in general is probably a fool’s errand so the fault is probably my own.”
I’ll refrain from my previous comparison about complaining about the quality of service in the whorehouse.
I’m pretty much done with PL as well. Among other reasons, the repetitious posting of talking points has managed to actually make reading the commentary there more boring than actually doing work, so I expect my productivity to rise. However, the main reason is that Cao succeeded in driving banned away through stalking and Greg chose to permit it. I no longer wish to participate in, and by extension, support that forum with my own commentary.
Cao remains the worst of the posters there due to what he advocates for doing to his political opponents, his personal hypocrisy, and his ongoing crusade to drive out posters that he specifically targets. I take all of Cao’s posts about executing his political opponent via gas chambers, etc at face value. He’s a frustrated totalitarian and the spiritual heir of Pol Pot.
At some point one would think that Greg would note that this is counter productive to getting page hits and thus the business model under which he gets paid, but so be it.
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jnc:
I’m pretty much done with PL as well.
I generally avoid discussions of PL, but I’m glad you’ve finally seen somewhat of the the true face of both cao and Sargent.
They are both truly deplorable figures, and deserve each other.
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I miss chatting with sue
Yeah, me too. I’m going to try to work on her again and see if she could spend at least a little time here, and MsJS also. We’ll see, I had better luck getting conservatives and libertarians over here than anyone else.
John, maybe if I tell Sue you miss her it will do the trick. 😉
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“Brent Nyitray, on August 7, 2012 at 12:36 pm said:
@jnc,
Schiff is a renowned perma-bear. I would take what he says with a grain of salt. He reminds me of a non-snarky Alan Abelson who has hated the stock market since Dow 2100.”
I thought the heroin analogy was a good way to make the argument about the repeated effects of quantitative easing and substituting re-inflating a bubble through stimulus for actual structural reform to an audience of typical voters.
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I left the PL originally because of the tech difficulties but stayed away because of Cao, Ddawd and Liam if truth be told. I’m also not overly fond of Brigade or whatever name he uses now even though he seems to like me for some reason. I had one good conversation with Skip but that was a long time ago. I think they keep replaying the same script over and over at this point and it’s too bad really because we used to have some great debates in the old days.
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John,
I used to follow the Daily Reckoning about 6-7 years ago. For my daily bearish fix, I used to read Bill Fleckenstein. He seems to know his stuff with some of the Canadian miners.
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“okiegirl, on August 7, 2012 at 12:14 pm said:
jnc, thanks for that link . . . I think. That is a subject that really makes my blood pressure go up. I have been amazed that when I have brought up possible indefinite detention of U.S. citizens on U.S. soil to people I know who are apolitical, they have no idea what I’m talking about. If I explain, they just shrug their shoulders. I’m stunned that more people do not care about this. It is a hot button issue for me, obviously.”
The key point about indefinite detention is that it isn’t something that President Obama tried to change and was prevented from doing so by Congress, aka the Guantanamo argument. It’s the proactive policy of the administration that they are arguing for in Federal Court. It’s Obama’s policy.
The WikiLeaks supporter example that the administration refused to rule out in open court was telling. I think the documentary linked to in Mother Jones shows the ease of the slippery slope when it comes to “domestic terrorism”. I need to purchase and watch it, but apparently they got the FBI and the U.S. Attorney’s office to go on the record with regards to the case that they were following.
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“lmsinca, on August 7, 2012 at 12:44 pm said: Edit Comment
I left the PL originally because of the tech difficulties but stayed away because of Cao, Ddawd and Liam if truth be told. I’m also not overly fond of Brigade or whatever name he uses now even though he seems to like me for some reason. I had one good conversation with Skip but that was a long time ago. I think they keep replaying the same script over and over at this point and it’s too bad really because we used to have some great debates in the old days.”
The positive side is you should see more posting from me on this forum.
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@jnc, I part ways with Schiff in that I don’t think the economy will keel over if rates start rising gradually and the monetary stimulus goes away in an orderly fashion.
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jnc
thank you
lms:
you can point out to her for me that the last time she teased me about FB I told her it would be a buy under $20 and that since it traded as high as $22 today if she’s not a millionaire it’s her own fault for not being willing to bet the mortgage on a short term trade recommeded by an anonymous guy on a blog!
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Not familiar with Fleckenstein but since I have had to pawn my shirt to maintain my Canadian miner holdings this year, I will look him up!
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okie:
“That is a subject that really makes my blood pressure go up. I have been amazed that when I have brought up possible indefinite detention of U.S. citizens on U.S. soil to people I know who are apolitical, they have no idea what I’m talking about.”
Since we have already had it for over 10 years now, they have gotten used to the idea. That’s how we lose rights, not in a bang but in GITMO and it’s successors.
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“okiegirl, on August 7, 2012 at 12:14 pm said:
BTW, jnc, do you have a good link to precisely what the waivers encompass?”
Actual HHS page on it:
http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/ofa/policy/im-ofa/2012/im201203/im201203.html
Located via a WonkBlog post:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/ezra-klein/wp/2012/07/17/is-obama-gutting-welfare-reform/
Related (which you have probably already read):
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/ezra-klein/wp/2012/07/19/the-obama-administration-fires-back-on-welfare/
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“Brent Nyitray, on August 7, 2012 at 12:44 pm said:
John,
I used to follow the Daily Reckoning about 6-7 years ago. For my daily bearish fix, I used to read Bill Fleckenstein. He seems to know his stuff with some of the Canadian miners.”
I’m also a big Fleckenstein fan, especially when he was going off about the housing market and Greenspan’s monetary policy a couple of years ago.
http://money.msn.com/bill-fleckenstein/
https://www.fleckensteincapital.com/index.aspx
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jnc
I’ll look forward to having you around more. I like it when everyone’s around frequently and posting a lot. We need that here for diversity of opinion. Maybe at some point we’ll even find out more about you………………..hint, hint………..
banned
I’ll try that with Sue. I show up there occasionally just to keep in touch with her and a couple of others. Honestly though there are not that many people left over there that I have much respect for.
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jnc: “It’s the proactive policy of the administration that they are arguing for in Federal Court. It’s Obama’s policy.” Exactly! It’s the main reason I do not fully support Obama.
In that regard, I still don’t know if Johnson will be on the ballot in OK; apparently it is still in litigation. I understand we are the one state that has been described as a “hiccup” for him. OK is never shy about being odd-man-out on the oddest things.
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“bannedagain5446, on August 7, 2012 at 12:52 pm said:
That’s how we lose rights, not in a bang but in GITMO and it’s successors.”
How we lose rights is through “bi-partisan establishment consensus”.
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Banned – Fleckenstein could be channeling you:
“Can’t buy stocks, can’t sell ’em
Economic fundamentals continue to weaken, making the long side unattractive. Yet the prospect of more money printing makes the short side downright dangerous.
By Bill_Fleckenstein Jul 20, 2012 2:42PM”
http://money.msn.com/bill-fleckenstein/post.aspx?post=964b4e9c-3dc3-4abc-8abb-b0d19b5dc8fb
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And thanks for the HHS link, jnc. (I think I’ve already read the others but will double-check.)
john, I certainly get the dangers of incremental creep. That’s exactly what scares me right now, although my basic objection which I have maintained through the years is on principle.
lms, just like you I left PL because of tech issues but the last straw was dawd. Please do not bring fiona or that pompous brian character over here.
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It’a Hobson’s choice of course, because there is no where else to put money other than under the bed Being a contrarian and waiting for the rotation is the only thing working right now.
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Okie
I’m just working on getting Sue over here again, at least occasionally, and maybe trying to talk MsJS into checking in. Mark wanted to invite Brian so if you have objections maybe email him, I haven’t been following the PL that much so I know very little about the new people. Don’t worry about anyone else from my end……….I really won’t leave my email over there again anyway.
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And of course investing advice from your old buddy Matthew Yglesias
“Why You Don’t Need Gold As a Safe Haven
By Matthew Yglesias
Posted Tuesday, Aug. 7, 2012, at 11:38 AM ET”
http://www.slate.com/blogs/moneybox/2012/08/07/gold_isn_t_a_safe_investment_for_troubled_times_anymore.html
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I’d be inclined to give Brian a shot, but I understand your reaction Okie to the “woman as President” comment that I assume you are referring to.
I think I actually groaned out loud when I read it, but I believe that Ruk was correct and what he really meant to say in the context of the existing thread was “First Lady as President”, although I’ll admit that’s a very generous reading of the comment on my part.
As a general rule, I do believe that many people adapt to the community standards of their environment, so he may be a better poster here. I know I am.
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jnc:
Blogging 101 the less you know about a subject the more sure you are in your assertions.
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Presumably they can find some hard stories from the people who were laid off during the auto restructuring by the Obama administration as well:
“Priorities ad ties Mitt Romney to cancer death
Posted by Rachel Weiner at 08:16 AM ET, 08/07/2012”
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/post/priorities-ad-ties-mitt-romney-to-cancer-death/2012/08/07/d723d8c0-e084-11e1-8fc5-a7dcf1fc161d_blog.html?hpid=z3
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My objection to Brian is cumulative and far beyond the “woman as President” comment. I know there’s not a lot of love lost here for shrink, but comparing him to Mengele was way over the line in my book. There is more that I am not comfortable posting here, but I consider him very similar to that mcurtis that tried to comment here and caused such a kerfluffle. While I have a strong preference on it, I’m not saying I’d bail if you guys want to go for it. (But do watch for “I told you so.”)
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All, my doppelganger-but-with-better-judgment just put my last comment into “awaiting moderation” status. So it should not be visible unless you go to the comments tab.
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I read the comment. I completely missed that one over on PL. It does change my opinion.
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“I do believe that many people adapt to the community standards of their environment”
I don’t know why, but i started posting over there again. Not that I expect to continue. But then it occurred to me: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slum_tourism
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Funny Nova. I’ve never seen any particular reason that people who want to can’t post at both sites. There are good reasons to leave the PL but posting exclusively at ATiM shouldn’t be one of them. I never could get some people over there to understand that however. Some of them seemed to think I was stealing Greg’s commenters……………………….as if I could. It was Greg’s commenters that were chasing people away, which those same people would never admit.
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nova, you are not putting anything past me. You just wanted a place to brag about assless chaps.
Seriously, I still find PL entertaining occasionally, but not always informative. I’ve decided the key is to be selective about the posts on which you want to engage and with whom.
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jnc, the HHS link was quite helpful to me. Thanks again.
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assless chaps
Dangit, now I have to go check it out.
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thanks okie — now I have to put in an awkward call to IT about why there’s soda all over my monitor.
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Nova, you shouldn’t be drinking soda anyway. Seriously, there are too many comments for me to go searching for one. I don’t think Greg’s hit count will suffer from any of us leaving, it never has. It’s just a different place now but I think that’s really the way the WaPo wants it anyway, lots of drive bys and less community, IMO.
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lms:
It’s just a different place now but I think that’s really the way the WaPo wants it anyway, lots of drive bys and less community, IMO.
I wouldn’t give Greg a pass. His site has become what he wants it to be. And his character, or lack thereof, should be judged on that basis.
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lms, it was pretty funny but it’s a terrible post to try to wade through. It’s way, way down under a comment by fiona at 2:01pmCDT.
nova, what I don’t know is if you were wearing them at the time.
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you’re right. there’s some bourbon here somewhere.
my dog got into the laundry the other night is all. and i’m not one to waste anything, so
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Oh, dear, now I’m going to have to go find it. Between NoVA’s assless chaps and ashot’s red cowboy boots, I suspect the men on this blog are hiding their lights under a bushel to some extent.
Not to mention the fact that we’ve got our very own Don Juan!
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maybe i should send him my chaps. or my dog.
on that note … see you tomorrow.
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lol you guys……………………………………..later Nova. BTW, aren’t chaps always assless?
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We also have the advantage of being able to type the word “assless” without the Net Nanny dinging us.
Had you tried to get her off the sofa or something? 🙂
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jnc:
Thanks for the GITMO links.
How we lose rights is through “bi-partisan establishment consensus”.
And an Executive Branch that does stuff like this.
“The Obama Administration conceded to a federal judge on Monday that it is cutting back on the legal rights of Guantanamo detainees who have had one chance to challenge their imprisonment, but said it would consider relaxing the limits on a case-by-case basis — at the government’s discretion, not by court order. The 52-page filing spells out in full for the first time the changes that military and civilian officials have worked out to govern access to detainees by their volunteer lawyers. A federal District judge is weighing whether to allow the changes.”
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Whilst looking for the assless chaps comment, I came across this:
“okiegirl
5:36 PM EDT
sbj, as evidence in support I would offer Obama’s restraint in recess appointments.”
Obama’s approach to recess appointments has been interesting. Why for instance do a recess appointment of Richard Cordray at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, but not do one to replace Ed DeMarco as head of the Federal Housing Finance Agency at the same time?
I’d argue that political expediency is in evidence as much as restraint.
See also:
“Tim Geithner’s principal hypocrisy
By Neil Barofsky
August 6, 2012”
http://blogs.reuters.com/great-debate/2012/08/06/tim-geithner%E2%80%99s-principal-hypocrisy/
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“I’d argue that political expediency is in evidence as much as restraint.”
jnc, of course recess appointments involve political expediency. You favor gridlock and I don’t, at least not quite so much. I think, subjectively, that we function better if at least 1 out of Pres, Sen, HR are of different ideologies. But I do not favor complete breakdown so things still have to move along and function. No penalty card from me on recess appointments in the current configuration. I think Obama should have pursued that avenue more aggressively, particularly in judicial nominations. You want to filibuster and not hear things on the merits, then at least temporarily you get no say at all.
As an aside, in this case I kinda like that you brought a PL comment here. It gives us a chance to cull through that site and see what is worth discussing. If the comment is just me being cranky with someone, maybe not so much.
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jnc, I’m functionally illiterate when it comes to things financial/economic. But I do read and form opinions to the best of my ability. From your reuters blog link, this struck me:
“There should, though, be little question that the chosen policy – a “foam the runway” approach that assisted the banks and only a fraction of the homeowners that could have benefited – has been a failure and has left us stuck in economic mediocrity. Geithner wrote this week to Demarco: “You have the power to help more struggling homeowners and help heal the remaining damage from the housing crisis.” If only he had heeded his own advice.”
I’m not a Geithner fan by any stretch, but just not seeing any palatable proposals for “what now?” Johnson scares hell out of me with his domestic proposals.
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mike and jnc:
Exapnding on my earlier point that Obama coud very comfortably have served as Attorney General for Bush:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/06/honoring-americas-veterans-act-obama_n_1748454.html?utm_hp_ref=mostpopular
http://articles.cnn.com/2011-05-27/politics/congress.patriot.act_1_lone-wolf-provision-patriot-act-provisions-fisa-court?_s=PM:POLITICS
http://www.salon.com/2011/03/08/guantanamo_17/
http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/2012/05/06/why-can-t-obama-bring-wall-street-to-justice.html
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/postpartisan/2010/09/obama_and_the_right_to_burn_th.html
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Looks like I have a lot of links to read tonight. Here’s a little one from me. Kevin Drum thinks it’s time Democrats stop pretending that Harry Reid has the goods on Mitt Romney, at least those who do believe it.
Come on, folks. Reid didn’t say I’ll bet Romney didn’t pay any taxes. He didn’t say he talked to someone familiar with high earners who told him Maybe Romney won’t release his returns because he didn’t pay any taxes. He made a flat statement of fact. He said he has an “extremely credible source,” which in this context means someone with direct knowledge of Romney’s taxes who decided to pick up the phone and dish about it to Harry Reid. Does anyone really believe this? Really? Then, as if that weren’t enough, Reid made his little bluff even less plausible by deciding that Romney didn’t just avoid all taxes for one year, he avoided them for ten years. Yeah, baby, that’s the ticket! Put these two things together with the fact that Reid hasn’t even tried to make his fairy tale sound believable (it’s just some guy he talked to) and this is not a story that a five-year-old would credit. It’s just Reid making stuff up in order to put pressure on Romney, and I think we all know it.
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lms
Did you see th at Maddow did a segment on Harry the Hulk? Geez talk about low standards!
The man who practically groveled before McConnell and who is probably the most repsonsible for many of the Obama administration failures in legislative matters is suddenly a hero because he lies about Romney once.
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Hello…anyone home?
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No, I missed that. Actually, I don’t watch hardly any cable news anymore. If I hear about a good segment I might watch it online. I think I got burned out during the last election and the health care debate so I’m waiting until it gets closer to the election to tune in. Harry the Hulk is hard to believe though. I’d believe Pelosi the Hulk before Harry, but I can’t stand the guy anyway, almost as much as I can’t stand McConnell.
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Hi, sue! C’mon in–what can I get you?
Don Juan–can we agree to not say that Harry lied? I don’t really like what he’s doing, but until we’re given some sort of answer as to what’s in Romney’s returns we can’t say anyone’s lying (and I’ve said from the beginning that it’s WAY more than likely [like 99.99% likely] that it’s something that wouldn’t even have done more than raised eyebrows if he’d just released the damned things two months ago when this all started boiling up). “Lie” is a strong word and I’d rather keep it for when it’s justified.
Now, if a couple of weeks from it’s shown that Reid knew that Romney actually did pay taxes any one of those years and still said what he did, I’ll give you the “liar” title.
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Sue, you got my email? And John’s even here still, I think.
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Hi lms,
Yes, I got your email and just sent you a reply.
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John….tip from sue…. FB is a fad! LOL
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Hey I’m looking forward to debate night at the PL. You and Okie cracked me up on some of the R debates. Should be fun.
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It will be a blast, lms! Okie and I had a lot of fun during the primaries.
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welcome sue
you have formed late night habits I see.
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*waving*
Hi, sue!
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mich
The problem is that no one at Bain would have any idea what Romney paid in taxes unless he uses their accounting dept to do his personal stuff, not a good idea because it eliminates a layer of checks.
So Reid must have known his source was lying to him, if indeed there ever was one.
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Hi Michi! Do you have 10/3 marked on your calendar for date-night at PL?
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john,
I can’t get here at all during the day due to my work net-nanny complete blocking, so I just popped in to say hi.
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this about it for me, but always glad to have you at any time.
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Don Juan–
While I’ve never thought that Romney was stupid about $$$, I’m 100% with jnc that he should have been spending the last 6 – 10 years structuring his taxes, knowing that he was going to run for President, so that they could pass basic scrutiny. From my personal observation of him in SLC in 2002, talking to lots of people who know him and his family on different levels (his youngest son still lives here in SLC in an apartment complex populated mostly by young professionals and grad students at the U where I teach), and what I’ve read about him, he’s perfectly capable of having been arrogant and clueless enough to use a Bain accountant to file his taxes. He’s really not all that bright a guy, except where private equity is involved.
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sue–
I sure do! Wednesday nights are sometimes difficult for me due to other obligations but I’ve already got it marked on my calendar!!
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Scott
We’re going to have to disagree on Greg. I think he does a good job as a left leaning opinion writer and reporter and a lot of the moderation and technical glitches are out of his control. He’s not the blog nanny and shouldn’t have to assume that position. No matter what you say or do in that situation someone becomes an enemy. Most of the people that have been banned don’t have enough integrity on their own to stay away and just come back under a new name anyway. I haven’t enjoyed the comments on any other site any more, other than here, and some a lot less.
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lms:
We’re going to have to disagree on Greg.
I don’t have any personal contact with Greg, so if you do you would certainly know better than I. I’m just basing my judgement on observing his interaction on the board (and even that from some time ago…I gave up on PL once ATiM was created.). The only commenter that he ever publicly challenged regarding posting etiquette was Bilge who was nowhere near as bad as cao or ddawd (or even ruk). And indeed Greg would regularly engage in friendly banter with some of the very worst offenders on the left. Hence my conclusion about both PL and him. In terms of the atmosphere created, I think it is what he wants it to be.
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I think Greg has given up on trying to get the comments under control. In the beginning, when he moved to WaPo, he tried to keep an eye on things and was very engaged in the commenting. But with the technical difficulties, the WaPo ombudsman and editors seeming (to me) to undercut him, the continuing amateurishness of the tech support (really? “Previous” and “Next” still haven’t been fixed???!!??) he’s screwed and he knows it. He’s a dad with two young kids and at this point in time it wouldn’t surprise me at all if he just basically throws up his hands at times. We’ve all got to make a living and sometimes it just sucks. . . and I do, truly, think that that’s what WaPo is for Greg right now. Wouldn’t surprise me at all to see him move somewhere else come January 1st.
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lms:
I loved Steve Benen before he moved to MaddowBlog. With his own blog (The Carpetbagger Report) he was peerless and the commenting was brilliant. That’s where I first met bernie. At Washington Monthly he was pretty darn good. Hitting a blog that is not his own in any way, shape, or form, has killed him. He writes good stuff (hush, DJ!), but the moderation is heavy-handed and I feel like he’s stifled (having read him for about five years now).
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Headline on NBCNews.com: Olympians inspire girls: Strong is the new pretty
It went out of style? I missed that news flash!
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Scott
I agree re Bilgey. You know I kind of liked the guy and at times he was brilliant albeit a bully. I think it was the way he treated women that got him in real trouble and maybe some of the guys didn’t get that, but Greg did. Some of us tried to warn him off but he wouldn’t take the hint. I’m not particularly in favor of either banning or an ignore button although I admit I used Kevin’s ignore button on Savetherainforest………………………..he was insufferable and easy to skip as he just took up wasted space.
I doubt that Greg is happy with the way things have turned out but like Michi said it’s a job and he has a family to support. If I were him I wouldn’t lose any sleep over the personalities and various insults being thrown back and forth. His hit count hasn’t suffered because some of us gave up. You’re right though his interaction with the commenters is way down as far as I can see and it’s too bad really.
I haven’t had any personal contact with him since shortly after we moved and I don’t think he was very happy about it but what can you do? The place was intolerable because of the tech issues and becomes more intolerable every day because of a few personalities, it was time for some of us to move on.
I like it here. I just wish we had a few more people commenting regularly and authoring posts, and it was a bit more more lively. I blame myself, at least partially, for being gone so much this year but that’s behind me now. I think in general we’re doing pretty well for our first year.
Edit: I just realized you were talking about his only engaging with offenders, but I don’t think that’s necessarily true. He engaged with the rest of us more frequently as well. I always had the impression he liked it when we got riled up to some extent, probably because the comments were flying back and forth like crazy.
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Strong is the new pretty
Well that’s good news. The last time we saw our granddaughter she was showing off her new muscles from water polo. She’s hoping to make the Varsity team this year as a sophomore. She’s so cute and always says she takes after her grandpa even though she knows there’s no bloodline between my husband and herself, it’s their little joke. It makes him so proud.
It’s supposed to be 112 here today in So Cal. That’s not a record but it’s damn hot for us.
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Good morning, all.
Michi, I too was unaware that strong ever went out of style. I perceive it to be a positive for young girls, certainly better than believing they have to be stick thin except for enormous implants like a Barbie doll.
lms, best of luck to your granddaughter. When will she know about making the team? Does she have dreams of being an Olympian? Also, best of luck with 112 weather! I had no idea it was getting that hot in CA. I’ve been pretty self-absorbed with our own weather and have not paid enough attention to what’s going on elsewhere. Stay inside as much as possible and when you do venture out, always take a water bottle with you.
[Edited for correction.]
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Does she have dreams of being an Olympian?
Nothing that glamorous, just a college scholarship. She’d like to go to school in CO as her aunt is there and she loves it. We bought her a plane ticket and she just visited again. Our daughter gave her some scholarship pointers and a big pep talk about grades and leadership activities while she was there so she’s raring to go. I can’t believe the kids go back to school next week already.
Our problem with the heat is working in the warehouse. We try to get as much done as possible in the early morning and the evenings. It’s pretty blistering out there. We were out there at 4:00 this morning packing orders from yesterday afternoon that came in late. When it’s hot everywhere though, we’re our busiest so I’m not really complaining.
It’s supposed to cool down next week.
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