All Things in Moderation

Morning Report – Jimmy Rogers is short the 10-year 02/07/13

42 Responses

1. 

   Mike, on February 7, 2013 at 8:23 am said:

   Jobless claims decrease a tiny bit:

   The Labor Department said Thursday that weekly applications for unemployment benefits fell 5,000 to a seasonally adjusted 366,000.

   The four-week average, a less volatile measure, dropped to 350,500, the lowest in nearly five years. The average is low because of seasonal factors, which reduced applications sharply last month.

   LikeLike

   Reply
2. 

   Mike, on February 7, 2013 at 8:32 am said:

   nova:

   Got an opinion on this?

   Reps. Allyson Schwartz (D-Pa.) and Joe Heck (R-Nev.) will take another stab at permanently repealing the Medicare payment rate that constantly threatens doctors with substantial payment cuts.

   The bipartisan duo introduced a bill Wednesday to repeal the Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR) formula. The bill aims to replace the SGR with a system that rewards doctors based on the health of their patients, rather than paying for each service a doctor performs.

   LikeLike

   Reply
3. 

   Troll McWingnut or George, whichever, on February 7, 2013 at 9:03 am said:

   Can this marraige be saved?

   http://hotair.com/archives/2013/02/07/jackson-jr-plea-deal-includes-significant-jail-time/

   LikeLike

   Reply
4. 

   Troll McWingnut or George, whichever, on February 7, 2013 at 9:18 am said:

   Mike, I get the idea behind it but doesn’t it make it difficult to treat the chronically or terminally ill?

   Or hell, maybe that’s the idea?

   LikeLike

   Reply
5. 

   Mike, on February 7, 2013 at 10:07 am said:

   Troll:

   I don’t think they’ve thought about it beyond doing something about changing the current fee-for-service payment model. But, yeah, it might result in preferential healthy patient selection by doctors.

   LikeLike

   Reply
6. 

   jnc4p, on February 7, 2013 at 10:14 am said:

   Brent – Grist for the argument that the sequester cuts aren’t catastrophic

   http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324156204578276262281998922.html?mod=WSJ_Opinion_LEADTop

   Worth remembering:

   “Congress sends last 2009 spending bill to Obama
   (Reuters) – The Democratic-controlled U.S. Congress on Tuesday approved a $410 billion bill to fund most of the government through September 30, sending it to President Barack Obama despite Republican objections to the price tag.

   After a contentious fight, the Senate approved the bill which funds the departments of transportation and agriculture, among others. It also begins to roll back strict limits on travel and trade with Cuba — a move Obama supports.

   “It takes care of these government agencies that have been, over the Bush years, so underfunded,” said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, referring to President George W. Bush’s administration.

   Many Republicans fought against the bill because it raised government spending by 8 percent above fiscal 2008 levels. They said it added more money to programs already funded by the $787 billion economic stimulus package approved last month.”

   http://www.reuters.com/article/2009/03/11/us-usa-budget-idUSN1054411920090311

   See also:

   http://politicalmathblog.com/?p=1786

   LikeLike

   Reply
7. 

   yellojkt, on February 7, 2013 at 4:08 pm said:

   Who was hoping for a study linking conservatism to mental illness? I’m happy to oblige:

   The study, published in the American Journal of Political Science, shows that individuals who are genetically predisposed to fear tend to have more negative out-group opinions, which play out politically as support for policies like anti-immigration and segregation.

   {snip}

   “It’s not that conservative people are more fearful, it’s that fearful people are more conservative. People who are scared of novelty, uncertainty, people they don’t know, and things they don’t understand, are more supportive of policies that provide them with a sense of surety and security,” McDermott said.

   But since it’s genetically linked, they can’t help it. They were born that way.

   LikeLike

   Reply
8. 

   Troll McWingnut or George, whichever, on February 7, 2013 at 4:57 pm said:

   Right, this study just confirmed data that we otherwise know to be true. We’re “just asking for a little honesty” is all.

   LikeLike

   Reply
9. 

   lmsinca, on February 7, 2013 at 6:37 pm said:

   So many of you are on the east coast, just thought I’d drop by and wish you well in weathering the storm. Hope it’s more hype than reality. A three day weekend might be in order.

   LikeLike

   Reply
10. 

    Novahockey, on February 7, 2013 at 6:48 pm said:

    Sitting in MsG watching rangers islanders.

    Mike – see that cbo report they came out. The doc fix will cost less due to reduced utilization.

    LikeLike

    Reply
11. 

    Mike, on February 7, 2013 at 7:19 pm said:

    Nova:

    Forgot you’d be in NYC this weekend. Enjoy the game! Come down for the Bolts-Caps.

    I’ll check out the CBO report, thanks.

    LikeLike

    Reply
12. 

    Troll McWingnut or George, whichever, on February 8, 2013 at 8:56 am said:

    I know it’s DailyKos Diary, but it’s on top of the Reccommended list.

    http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/02/08/1185500/-LAPD-Dorner-Why-Revolutions-Are-Messy

    LikeLike

    Reply
13. 

    jnc4p, on February 8, 2013 at 9:46 am said:

    This is classic:

    “Obama Vows to Veto Attempts to Undo Automatic Spending Cuts
    By Mary Bruce

    Nov 21, 2011 7:56pm

    After the Congressional supercommittee failed to reach a deal to cut the budget, President Obama tonight vowed to veto any attempts to undo $1.2 trillion in automatic spending cuts that would take effect in 2013.

    “Already some in Congress are trying to undo these automatic spending cuts. My message to them is simple: No. I will veto any effort to get rid of those automatic spending cuts to domestic and defense spending,” he said in the White House briefing room. “There will be no easy off-ramps on this one. We need to keep the pressure up to compromise, not turn off the pressure.”

    The president’s threat came just one hour after the leaders of the supercommittee announced they had failed to reach a deal to reduce the deficit, forcing the government to face the automatic cuts.

    “The only way these spending cuts will not take place is if Congress gets back to work and agrees on a balanced plan to reduce the deficit by at least $1.2 trillion,” Obama said.

    http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2011/11/obama-vows-to-veto-attempts-to-undo-automatic-spending-cuts/

    LikeLike

    Reply
    • 

      ScottC, on February 8, 2013 at 10:12 am said:

      jnc:

      Hah. That is outstanding.

      LikeLike

      Reply
      • 

        markinaustin, on February 8, 2013 at 9:33 pm said:

        I am watching the news from Austin where it is sunny and warm. I hope our CT contingent is safe, warm, and dry. Any of you who find yourself in a blizzard, take care.

        LikeLike

        Reply
        • 

          ScottC, on February 9, 2013 at 4:34 am said:

          Lots of snow, but as of 6 am, all seems pretty quiet. Power still on here. Looking outside I’d say we have more than a foot, but further east, north of New Haven, I’m hearing big numbers, close to 3 feet. Comparisons to the blizzard of ’78 up in Massachusetts.

          LikeLike
14. 

    Mike, on February 8, 2013 at 10:56 am said:

    Shrinking or growing … who knows?

    Remember last week, when the government announced that the U.S. economy had shrunk at an 0.1 percent annual pace in the fourth quarter of 2012? That came as a shock to many economists, who were expecting at least modest growth.

    Well, perhaps those numbers were wrong. The GDP figures, after all, were only a first-pass estimate. And new trade data released Friday suggests that the U.S. economy actually grew between October and December.

    LikeLike

    Reply
15. 

    Troll McWingnut or George, whichever, on February 8, 2013 at 11:35 am said:

    Mind blowing. 18 months and still no D alternative.

    http://thehill.com/blogs/on-the-money/budget/281855-senate-democrats-struggle-to-come-up-with-sequester-replacement

    LikeLike

    Reply
16. 

    jnc4p, on February 8, 2013 at 1:17 pm said:

    “ScottC, on February 8, 2013 at 10:12 am said:

    jnc:

    Hah. That is outstanding.”

    The ads write themselves.

    Having said that, if the Republicans trade scheduled spending cuts for tax increases, they should all resign in mass and just go home. They will literally have no purpose in being there if they can’t make a case for minimal budget cuts.

    LikeLike

    Reply
17. 

    jnc4p, on February 8, 2013 at 1:23 pm said:

    Worth remembering when addressing Democrats who are now born again hawks on defense spending:

    “Ranking Member Van Hollen’s opening statement

    We all want a strong military that is second to none, but during this difficult fiscal period we have to be much smarter and more efficient in how we go about providing for one. The economy — the source of our ability to provide for a strong security apparatus — is at risk because of large deficits and rising debt. Admiral Mike Mullen, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, warned policy makers of this growing risk when he stated, “Our national debt is our biggest national security threat.”

    Over the last decade, the “base” Pentagon budget has nearly doubled, and spending at the Pentagon is now at its highest level since World War II. The U.S. currently outspends the world’s second largest military – China – by a factor of seven to one.

    Over the last decade the Pentagon was able to avoid making difficult choices because of this permissive funding environment. This isn’t my opinion; it is the opinion of the highest ranking officer in our military. Admiral Mullen said, “…with the increasing defense budget, which is almost double, it hasn’t forced us to make the hard trades. It hasn’t forced us to prioritize. It hasn’t forced us to do the analysis.”

    DoD still can’t pass a standard audit. It doesn’t keep track of the number of service contractors it has even though it spends roughly $200 billion per year on such contracts. Major weapons acquisition programs have experienced hundreds of billions in cost overruns in recent years; the Government Accountability Office (GAO) recently estimated cost growth of these weapons systems totaling $300 billion. GAO has identified a number of persistent high-risk management areas at the Department that need improving.”

    http://democrats.budget.house.gov/committee-report/budget-committee-hearing-%E2%80%9Cbudgeting-america%E2%80%99s-national-security%E2%80%9D

    LikeLike

    Reply
18. 

    jnc4p, on February 8, 2013 at 2:08 pm said:

    Worth a read:

    “World is right to worry about US debt
    By Kenneth Rogoff
    January 24, 2013 6:06 pm”

    http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/2/ed300802-63e5-11e2-84d8-00144feab49a.html

    LikeLike

    Reply
19. 

    Mike, on February 8, 2013 at 4:06 pm said:

    Thanks for the Rogoff link, jnc.

    LikeLike

    Reply
20. 

    Troll McWingnut or George, whichever, on February 9, 2013 at 10:37 am said:

    Man, dude lives in their head rent free.

    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mobileweb/2013/02/08/george-bush-self-portrait_n_2648021.html?ncid=edlinkusaolp00000003&ir=Politics

    *sigh* If only he’d of killed more people with drones. Or more Americans with drones. Then he’d be popular like Obama.

    Lesson learned.

    LikeLike

    Reply
21. 

    Brent Nyitray, on February 9, 2013 at 10:40 am said:

    Finally dug out. Took over 2 hours. I am beat..

    LikeLike

    Reply
22. 

    Troll McWingnut or George, whichever, on February 9, 2013 at 10:54 am said:

    Scott and Brent, hope things get better soon!

    Brent, then why’d you dig yourself out?:-)

    LikeLike

    Reply
    • 

      ScottC, on February 9, 2013 at 12:18 pm said:

      McWing:

      All good here. Driveway is cleared, roads open, no power loss. Just an old fashioned snow storm like I grew up with in upstate NY every year, back before global warming turned everyone into whimps.

      LikeLike

      Reply
      • 

        ScottC, on February 9, 2013 at 1:35 pm said:

        Good stuff from Dr. Benjamin Carson at the latest National Prayer Breakfast. The whole thing is good, but the last 7 or 8 minutes is the best. I’m guessing O didn’t like it too much.

        yello…seems like Dr. Carson remembers his Sunday School lessons a little differently than you do.

        LikeLike

        Reply
23. 

    Troll McWingnut or George, whichever, on February 9, 2013 at 2:02 pm said:

    “Climate Change,” Scott, that way it’s unfalsifiable.

    LikeLike

    Reply
    • 

      ScottC, on February 10, 2013 at 7:08 am said:

      Mwing:

      Speaking of “climate change”, did you see CNN anchor Deb Feyerick wonder about whether an approaching asteroid is “an effect of, perhaps, of global warming or is this just some meteoric occasion?” Hilarious.

      LikeLike

      Reply
      • 

        markinaustin, on February 10, 2013 at 8:03 am said:

        CNN anchor Deb Feyerick

        http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=jJN0B2RIIMI from 2:47 on.

        Two more reasons I never watch 24/7 cable news.

        LikeLike

        Reply
        • 

          ScottC, on February 10, 2013 at 9:22 am said:

          Mark:

          I’m not sure that particular one really comes close to rivaling Feyerick’s mindlessness. Perhaps the dumbest claim in the FOX clip was that somehow solar energy subsidies “work” in Germany.

          LikeLike
24. 

    Michigoose, on February 9, 2013 at 5:12 pm said:

    Good stuff from Dr. Benjamin Carson

    The President was excoriated by conservatives last year for “politicizing” the National Prayer Breakfast. But it’s OK when a conservative does.

    Huh.

    LikeLike

    Reply
    • 

      ScottC, on February 9, 2013 at 9:13 pm said:

      Mich:

      The President was excoriated by conservatives last year for “politicizing” the National Prayer Breakfast. But it’s OK when a conservative does.

      Poor Obama. How horrible that someone followed his lead, eh? Really, Mich, you should familiarize yourself with the goose and the gander.

      LikeLike

      Reply
25. 

    yellojkt, on February 9, 2013 at 9:32 pm said:

    Dr. Carson has a pretty impressive personal story. He was raised by an illiterate single mom on welfare. I saw him give a speech several years ago where he said there was no such thing as attention deficit disorder, only parental deficit.

    As a neurosurgeon, his appeals for a flat tax are not coming from a totally disinterested place. The biggest wingnut among my Facebook friends is the wife of an anesthesiologist. She also thinks the tax system is greatly unfair.

    Do you agree with Carson’s suggestion that we should contribute taxpayers’ money to poor people’s HSAs?

    LikeLike

    Reply
    • 

      ScottC, on February 10, 2013 at 6:19 am said:

      yello:

      As a neurosurgeon, his appeals for a flat tax are not coming from a totally disinterested place.

      No one who is either a) a taxpayer or b) a receiver of federal funds is ever coming from a totally disinterested place when talking about tax policy. That being said, Carson did not advocate for a specific flat rate. He simply pointed out the simple and just nature of a flat tax in principle.

      Do you agree with Carson’s suggestion that we should contribute taxpayers’ money to poor people’s HSAs?

      In general I think people are much more careful and sensible about how they spend their own money than how they spend someone else’s, so as an alternative to Obamacare, yes.

      LikeLike

      Reply
26. 

    Michigoose, on February 9, 2013 at 10:07 pm said:

    No, Scott, the point that I was trying to make (poorly, evidently) is that nobody on the political Left is calling for Dr Carson’s head and the Right is holding his speech up as something to be praised. . . while last year the Right went after the President for giving a slightly political speech at that breakfast.

    Senator Hatch made a speech about it on the Senate floor and one Republican representative walked out of the breakfast in protest.

    If you want to talk goose and gander. . .

    LikeLike

    Reply
    • 

      ScottC, on February 10, 2013 at 6:50 am said:

      Mich:

      No, Scott, the point that I was trying to make (poorly, evidently) is that nobody on the political Left is calling for Dr Carson’s head

      Apparently at least Bob Beckel and Kirsten Powers have criticized him.

      But in any event, my point stands. It’s hard for me to get worked up over someone doing to Obama what he’s chosen to do to others.

      LikeLike

      Reply
27. 

    Troll McWingnut or George, whichever, on February 10, 2013 at 9:33 am said:

    Hey, when it’s Unfalsifiable, it can cause anything (or nothing) and be caused by anything (or nothing.)

    LikeLike

    Reply
28. 

    jnc4p, on February 11, 2013 at 6:56 am said:

    Worth a read, (courtesy of Shrink2 at PL).

    “The Federal Reserve Will Need A ‘Fairy Tale Ending’ To Unwind Its Balance Sheet
    Peter Tchir, TF Market Advisors | Feb. 10, 2013, 5:01 PM”

    http://www.businessinsider.com/fed-balance-sheet-fairy-tale-ending-2013-2#ixzz2KakG82tD

    LikeLike

    Reply
29. 

    Troll McWingnut or George, whichever, on February 11, 2013 at 8:25 am said:

    It’s interesting to me that this Dorner cop killer guy in California is really seeming to resonate with some on the left. Any opinions on why that is?

    http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/02/10/1186146/-LAPD-Dorner-is-domestic-terrorist

    In the diaries and comments, I tend to see a couple of themes, one being that the LAPD is corrupt, and police are not looked at very sympathetically. There is also a healthy discussion on whether Dorner represents anything other than a psychopath..

    LikeLike

    Reply
    • 

      yellojkt, on February 11, 2013 at 8:31 am said:

      I’m doing my best to avoid the details of the Donner story but it’s pretty much an article of faith in movies and television (The Shield and Training Day to name just two) that the LAPD is a vast brutal criminal enterprise. I have no direct evidence either way.

      LikeLike

      Reply
30. 

    jnc4p, on February 11, 2013 at 8:45 am said:

    Dorner doesn’t strike me as crazy, but rather angry and motivated.

    LikeLike

    Reply