All Things in Moderation

Morning Report 11/2/12

11 Responses

1. 

   jnc4p, on November 2, 2012 at 8:30 am said:

   Op-Ed by Haley Barbour on disaster relief that’s worth a read:

   http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/haley-barbour-after-hurricane-sandy-stop-looking-for-politics/2012/11/01/44b36e1c-2457-11e2-9313-3c7f59038d93_story.html

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2. 

   jnc4p, on November 2, 2012 at 10:11 am said:

   This may prove interesting.

   “Hospitals sue Obama administration for refusing Medicare payments
   By Elise Viebeck – 11/01/12 12:52 PM ET ”

   thehill.com/blogs/healthwatch/medicare/265353-hospitals-sue-obama-administration-for-refusing-medicare-payments

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3. 

   jnc4p, on November 2, 2012 at 1:40 pm said:

   Worth a read:

   http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/ezra-klein/wp/2012/11/02/interviews-with-swing-state-voters-the-coal-miner-who-blames-obama/

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4. 

   Mike, on November 2, 2012 at 1:44 pm said:

   Florida is finally getting around to figuring out what to do with its slice of the foreclosure settlement money:

   Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi announced Friday that her office has reached a deal with the Florida Legislature over how to use $300 million in foreclosure settlement money that has sat dormant since March amidst negotiations over spending authority.

   One-fifth of the money, about $60 million, could be approved in the coming weeks for programs like down-payment assistance, legal counseling for foreclosures and initiatives to help deal with the backlog of foreclosures in state court.

   The state Legislature will decide how to spend $200 million of the total during the next legislative session, meaning it will be spent after May. According to the agreement, that money will go to “housing-related” initiatives, a broad term that could include “foreclosure prevention, neighborhood revitalization, affordable housing, homebuyer or renter assistance, legal assistance, counseling and other housing-related programs.”

   The deal also allows an additional $40 million to go to state coffers as a “civil penalty”, adding to the $33 million that has already been sent to the state treasury.

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5. 

   Michigoose, on November 2, 2012 at 2:01 pm said:

   jnc:

   That interview was positively scary. Did you see this one a little earlier. At least she sounds like she’s been paying attention to more than talking points.

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6. 

   jnc4p, on November 2, 2012 at 2:34 pm said:

   Yes, I’ve read all of them so far. Michi, this one should make you feel better:

   http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/ezra-klein/wp/2012/11/02/interviews-with-swing-state-voters-nasa-and-space-exploration-things-like-that-are-pretty-important-to-me/

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7. 

   Michigoose, on November 2, 2012 at 3:13 pm said:

   jnc: It did. My dad worked for NASA for a while during the Mercury/Gemini/early Apollo years and I’ll never forget how proud it made me to tell people what he did when asked (even though all I knew at that age was that “he works for NASA”).

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8. 

   Michigoose, on November 2, 2012 at 3:44 pm said:

   NoVA:

   Given your comments yesterday, is Hungerford going off the reservation?

   Hungerford said that he had never experienced suppression like this before, and he pushed back on the GOP argument that he had only looked at the effect of tax cuts in the year immediately following enactment. Regardless, he said, Republicans argue that tax breaks for the rich will bring an immediate benefit to the economy, so their criticism is inconsistent. “I checked out three years and then five years and found that no, it doesn’t change the results or the conclusion of my paper. So in a way, I find it interesting that they keep talking about the need to lower the top tax rate in order to stimulate the economy now,” he said. ‘It sounds like they’re being a little inconsistent here.”

   Despite the pressure, Hungerford said he’ll continue doing his job in a nonpartisan way. “I’m not going to change. My job is to do economic analysis on issues that the Congress is comparing and quite frankly, I’m going to continue doing that. That’s my job,” he said.

   From a huffpo piece.

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9. 

   jnc4p, on November 2, 2012 at 4:35 pm said:

   Pretty good take on Romney:

   “What Romney values most is something most of us don’t think much about: management. A lifetime of data has proven to him that he’s extraordinarily, even uniquely, good at managing and leading organizations, projects and people. It’s those skills, rather than specific policy ideas, that he sees as his unique contribution. That has been the case everywhere else he has worked, and he assumes it will be the case in the White House, too. When we look at Romney’s career and see a coreless opportunist, we’re just looking at the wrong data. ”
   …

   “At this point, neither voters nor Romney have sufficient data to know how he would govern. With a Republican Congress, he would govern from the right. With a Democratic Congress, he would move to the center. If he faces a divided Congress, he will look for compromise to get “the best possible thing done.” Without knowing the composition of Congress, we can’t know the kind of president Romney would be. We know he can manage, but we don’t know which company he will be managing. ”

   http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-11-01/running-the-data-on-a-romney-presidency.html

   Also, David Frum endorsing him:

   http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/11/01/why-i-ll-vote-for-romney.html

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10. 

    Michigoose, on November 3, 2012 at 12:40 am said:

    Brent:

    When you say “dovish” and “hawkish” about Fed members, what do you mean? I know what I think you mean, but I want to make sure.

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11. 

    jnc4p, on November 3, 2012 at 8:39 am said:

    My understanding is that “hawkish” is more concerned about inflation and less inclined to support things like QE versus “dovish” which is less concerned about inflation and more inclined to support QE.

    I’ll leave Brent to answer for himself.

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