All Things in Moderation

Morning Report – More Mel 05/02/13

19 Responses

1. 

   markinaustin, on May 2, 2013 at 8:53 am said:

   I expect sequester related cuts to be rolled out over the next several months, but if the economy grows, almost no one will notice. There is a mistake some make of equating the federal impact on the economy – which is real, no doubt, and profound – with the economy itself.

   Brent, I have read bad stuff over the years about this guy Mel, to the point where I fear that he is ethically challenged. I am one of the few [most of whom were here] who thought deMarco was doing a good job. I hope this guy is not a disgrace, b/c he will have opportunity to trade favors in this position.

   BTW, Brent, the triangle metros of TX [SA-Austin to metro Houston to DFW] are booming. The oil field and refinery cities [like Midland-Odessa and Corpus Christi, respectively] are booming. The triangle metros, by local news accounts, added 22k jobs in March. 22/120 for the nation? I do not believe that both numbers can be correct.

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2. 

   Brent Nyitray, on May 2, 2013 at 9:15 am said:

   Mark, this is the Challenger and Gray job cut report – it measures the amount of job cuts announced in press releases. It isn’t a jobs report.

   Certainly the early line on Watt is that the Left loves him, the rest not so much.

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   • 

     markinaustin, on May 2, 2013 at 3:29 pm said:

     Brent, I was referring to the ADP report from the previous day.

     JNC, I did not see your links.

     Scott, I’ll answer you on Adam Smith and health care later. Think about “willing buyer under no compulsion” and “perfect information” as concepts essential to the operation of the competitive mechanism, for now.

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     • 

       ScottC, on May 2, 2013 at 5:22 pm said:

       Mark:

       Think about “willing buyer under no compulsion” and “perfect information” as concepts essential to the operation of the competitive mechanism, for now.

       OK. Anticipating what you might say, I will observe that very few if any markets operate with perfect information, and indeed the best conveyor of information to any market is a free-market price. The less free the market price, the less information available to buyers.

       I’ll wait for you to expand on the compulsion point, but I would point that there is a relevant distinction to be drawn between being compelled by circumstances and being compelled by the force of another person. It is definitely true that the latter perverts markets and makes them less efficient, but the same cannot be said of the former.

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3. 

   jnc4p, on May 2, 2013 at 9:44 am said:

   “Brent, I have read bad stuff over the years about this guy Mel, to the point where I fear that he is ethically challenged. I am one of the few [most of whom were here] who thought deMarco was doing a good job. I hope this guy is not a disgrace, b/c he will have opportunity to trade favors in this position.”

   It’s far worse than “ethically challenged” on Watts and I agree on DeMarco. Did you see any of the links I posted on PL about Watts yesterday? Both Shrink2 and I were appalled at the choice.

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4. 

   jnc4p, on May 2, 2013 at 5:20 pm said:

   Here you go:

   http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/06/15/AR2010061505643.html

   http://www.citizensforethics.org/pages/legal-category/c/mel-watt

   http://www.rollcall.com/issues/57_12/Office-of-Congressional-Ethics-Avoids-Deep-Cuts-207600-1.html

   http://sunlightfoundation.com/blog/tag/mel-watt/

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5. 

   jnc4p, on May 2, 2013 at 5:22 pm said:

   See also:

   http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/ten-miles-square/2013/05/a_nomination_feint044528.php

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6. 

   lmsinca, on May 2, 2013 at 6:32 pm said:

   jnc, that Dayen link is excellent. He’s followed the foreclosure crisis since the beginning and was highly critical of the Administration’s efforts, or should I say lack of effort. I think he’s probably got this right.

   I’m not impressed…………………….again.

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   • 

     novahockey, on May 3, 2013 at 6:58 am said:

     lms is not impressed.

     reminds me of
     http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1292285-top-10-mckayla-maroney-is-not-impressed-meme-images-from-across-the-web

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7. 

   jnc4p, on May 3, 2013 at 7:27 am said:

   lmsinca, I had forgotten about this:

   “In other areas, DeMarco, who has a rigid conception of his role as a conservator of taxpayer dollars, has been far more aggressive against Wall Street, in ways that most liberals and housing activists would support. FHFA is currently leading the largest prosecution against banks for their role in the financial crisis of any government agency, a lawsuit against 17 banks concerning $200 billion in faulty mortgage-backed securities purchased by Fannie and Freddie. FHFA claims banks misrepresented the quality of the loans in those securities when they sold them to the GSEs, and wants the banks to buy them back. The banks recently tried to reverse the rulings of the district court judge presiding in the case by going over her head to a federal appeals court; this gambit failed. If FHFA wins the case it would probably trigger a wave of private litigation, and completely alter the banks’ legal exposure. It’s a far more consequential action, if you’re concerned about justice for those who caused the financial crisis in the first place. (Nobody knows Watt’s position on these lawsuits, and whether he would continue to pursue them at FHFA.)”

   I now suspect that Watt’s nomination is meant to get a compliant regulator in place who will do a settlement with the banks that will limit their exposure here, consistent with past administration practice.

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   • 

     ScottC, on May 3, 2013 at 7:41 am said:

     jnc:

     if you’re concerned about justice for those who caused the financial crisis in the first place.

     This is, of course, a crucial point. The trouble is that government is never going to seek justice from itself, despite the fact that it was the primary cause of the financial crisis in the first place.

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8. 

   lmsinca, on May 3, 2013 at 7:31 am said:

   Hahahaha, nova. I’m off to AZ Monday and think we have a good presentation on our end. We’ll see what the AZ folks think of it. We’ve got some motivated and talented people in our group. I’m not that encouraged that we’ll be successful with Flake but we’re giving it a good effort. I think if we can switch the Senate it’ll be interesting to see what the House does with the legislation. I believe it’s what could technically be called a long shot. 😉

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9. 

   lmsinca, on May 3, 2013 at 7:37 am said:

   jnc, every time I read about this stuff with the banks and settlements and the various ideas out there for settlement all I can think of is everyone saying in 2008, “we have to save wall street in order to save main street”. I’m a little cynical on that now.

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10. 

    jnc4p, on May 3, 2013 at 7:47 am said:

    Ron Paul tried to reign in the Fed, but didn’t succeed.

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    • 

      ScottC, on May 3, 2013 at 7:52 am said:

      jnc:

      Ron Paul tried to reign in the Fed, but didn’t succeed.

      True. But apparently DeMarco wants to sue banks, not the fed. Or Barney Frank. Or Chris Dodd.

      Those who cheer on regulator’s attempts to sue banks in search of “justice” over the financial crisis do not, I don’t think, have a good grasp at all on what actually caused the crisis.

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11. 

    jnc4p, on May 3, 2013 at 7:48 am said:

    Nova & lmsinca – the other meme that comes to mind is that lmsinca doesn’t approve:

    http://www.disapprovingrabbits.com/

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12. 

    lmsinca, on May 3, 2013 at 8:08 am said:

    I suppose it’s time to drag out my church lady avatar again. I’ll see you guys in a couple of weeks……………………………..

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13. 

    jnc4p, on May 3, 2013 at 8:34 am said:

    A lawsuit based on this:

    “FHFA claims banks misrepresented the quality of the loans in those securities when they sold them to the GSEs, and wants the banks to buy them back. “

    Seems perfectly appropriate. The banks can either defend against the charges or they can’t. I want to see the charges adjudicated though, not settled to make the problem go away.

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    • 

      ScottC, on May 3, 2013 at 8:58 am said:

      jnc:

      Seems perfectly appropriate.

      It may well be. But it has nothing to do with “justice for those who caused the financial crisis”.

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