CT Mirror: A job posting and Murphy's dilemma

If you're looking for work as a reporter, the CT Mirror is hiring for coverage in both education and healthcare.

And speaking of the CT Mirror, Deirdre Shesgreen recently reported for them on a quandary facing Chris Murphy:

During a recent meeting with labor leaders, Rep. Chris Murphy was pressed by the head of an influental teachers' union to support a $23 billion education rescue package pending in Congress...

Murphy was sympathetic to the teachers' concerns, but he didn't make any promises. After all, he's also under pressure from another constituency: voters in his 5th District who are worried about runaway federal spending and spiraling deficits.

"I've got cities in my district about to lay off 135 teachers-New Britain, for example-and class sizes could balloon to 40 kids per class," Murphy said in an interview Wednesday. "At the same time, I represent a very fiscally conservative district, and I'm reluctant to support additional funding that's not paid for."

If Chris votes for the proposed spending, I hope he upholds his 2007 "pay-go" promise and cuts elsewhere... maybe he could start with all the war funding?

Tim White

I met a hero of mine - David Walker

I didn't get to mention it at the time, but a few weeks ago I got to meet one of my heroes - David Walker. I've mentioned him here before, but not in a while. And his crusade is IMO among the most important facing America today - our reckless fiscal policy.

Why is Mr. Walker a hero of mine?

Easy... he resigned his 10-year appointment as the our country's top accountant (Comptroller) to tackle his current job running the Peter G. Peterson Foundation and trying to return some fiscal sanity to Washington. In other words, he gave up guaranteed job security in order to do the right thing.

Anyway, the meeting in Bridgeport was relatively small... only about 20 or so attendees. And the intimate setting afforded me the opportunity to ask how I (as a local Councilman) could help impact the issues facing our country. His answer was to simply increase transparency at the local level. He probably meant talking about stuff like Cheshire's new $20 million OPEB liability. But I'm already working on that! So after the meeting concluded I asked him one more question:

Can I get you to speak in Cheshire?

He made no promises, but gave me his card:

Now I have to see if I can convince him to come here. I think it would be great way to help remind people about the magnitude of the fiscal problems facing us.

And here's a 30-minute condensed version of his 2008 film I.O.U.S.A.:



And if you intend to watch the video in full, make sure to expand the video to the full size of your monitor!

Tim White

Federal tax dollars at work

From CBSNews' Brian Montopoli:

Rep. John D. Dingell, Democrat of Michigan, today announced that he plans to introduce a resolution calling on Major League Baseball to reverse its decision not to award Detroit Tigers pitcher Armando Galarraga a perfect game.

Galarraga was robbed of a perfect game by a blown call by umpire Jim Joyce with two outs in the ninth inning.

I wonder how much staff time - and tax dollars - will be consumed by this?

Tim White

President Transparency defends his title!

As I just mentioned, Alan Greenspan loves secrecy and opposes transparency. But even more interesting than Greenspan, Bernie Sanders has basically said that President Transparency has unleashed his top gun - Rahm Emanuel - to actively oppose transparency and oppose good government by opposing an Audit of the Fed. The HuffPost's Ryan Grim continues his fantastic reporting on the meltdown:

The White House, Federal Reserve and Wall Street lobbyists are kicking up their opposition to an amendment to audit the Fed as a Senate vote approaches, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), the lead sponsor of the measure, said on Monday...

Sanders said that Greenspan's comments are all the more reason for an audit. "I think it just adds a lot of weight to what we are trying to do," Sanders said. "It just points to the fact that if there was more transparency then it in fact would have allowed the debate to take place about the subprime mortgage [sic] unfolding crisis at that point. It may have prevented the horrendous recession that we're in now and the near collapse of the financial institutions."

Go Bernie! Give'em hell!

President Transparency and his cronies all need to go. Problem is... the GOP doesn't exactly offer many good alternatives. Heck... in the past month or so, Boehner and McConnell have both been called out for their attempts at garnering Wall Street financial support for Republican campaigns. So they don't offer any sort of real alternative... not in a party sense anyway... only option for a return to good government is to look at the particular candidates, such as Senator Bernie Sanders and Congressman Ron Paul.

Tim White

Obama administration whistleblowers will not be tolerated!

First the NYTimes and Salon called out King Obama for his admission of comfort in assassinating an American citizen. Now the Washington Post's Howard Kurtz reports:

The Justice Department's decision to subpoena a New York Times reporter this week has convinced some press advocates that President Obama's team is pursuing leaks with the same fervor as the Bush administration...

"The message they are sending to everyone is, 'You leak to the media, we will get you,' " said Lucy Dalglish, executive director of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press. In the wake of the Bush administration's aggressive stance toward the press, she said, "as far as I can tell there is absolutely no difference, and the Obama administration seems to be paying more attention to it. This is going to get nasty."

I'm increasingly convinced that when someone in government takes the title Chief Executive Officer, all-too-often they begin to believe that they can do no wrong and need not listen to anyone.

Tim White

The POTUS cuts the budget!

Ok. I know. The supposedly fiscally-conservative Bush 43 was no better. But I still think this video is pretty funny...

The ongoing story of the post office relocation

From the NHRs Luther Turmelle:

The U.S. Postal Service has been paying a local landowner $40,000 a year since 2006 for a 2.4-acre tract on Highland Avenue that the agency now says it can no longer afford to build a post office on.

Regional spokeswoman Maureen Marion said the Postal Service signed a 25-year lease with Marshall Fisco, who owns the land at 1227 Highland Ave. The deal with Fisco does not include any provisions for paying a penalty to break the lease, although Marion said it allows the Postal Service to sublet the property.

“At the time we signed the lease, we had every intention of moving forward with this,” Marion said of plans to build a post office on the site. “But now conditions are such that new construction is out of the question.”

Tim White

The Fannie / Freddie bailout is worse than expected

On December 24 I stumbled across an urgent call from Jane Hamsher and Grover Norquist. They called for the immediate resignation of President Obama's Chief of Staff, Rahm Emanuel. Their reason was the linking of corruption to the Administration with Rahm in the middle of it. Furthermore, they were concerned that the alleged corruption related directly to an anticipated doubling of the September 2008 bailout of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to happen before December 31.

With the passing of 24 hours, I find that Hamsher & Norquist were wrong. The Treasury isn't doubling the Fannie / Freddie bailout. They've decided to give them no limit whatsoever!

The Treasury announced the heart their plans on their website on December 24:

At the time the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) placed Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac into conservatorship in September 2008, Treasury established Preferred Stock Purchase Agreements (PSPAs) to ensure that each firm maintained a positive net worth. Treasury is now amending the PSPAs to allow the cap on Treasury's funding commitment under these agreements to increase as necessary to accommodate any cumulative reduction in net worth over the next three years.

Adding insult to injury, it appears that at exactly the same time Treasury announced a remake of the 1981 Steve Martin classic - with the 2009 version to be named Benjamins from Heaven - the US Housing regulator approved huge bonuses for the leaders of these failed companies.

Filed on Christmas Eve, just ten minutes before Santa landed... Reuters reported:

The U.S. housing regulator has approved pay packages for the chief executives of mortgage finance companies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in the range of $4 million to $6 million, the Wall Street Journal said, citing people familiar with the matter.

It is clear that there is absolutely no shame in Washington. Needless to say, it's pretty obvious why these two decisions were announced on Christmas Eve.

Ironman is also discussing this.

Tim White

Jane Hamsher, Grover Norquist want Rahm's resignation

Similar to the Ron Paul / Bernie Sanders demands for transparency in Bailout Ben's Federal Reserve... liberal activist Jane Hamsher and conservative stalwart Grover Norquist continue the unusual matchups of 2009 as populist anger continues raging.

In an absolutely damning letter to Attorney General Eric Holder, Jane and Grover have called for Rahm Emanuel's head on a platter. Jane goes so far as to say the healthcare debate is being used as a distraction from the real issue - hiding the corruption linked to President Transparency's Administration.

Dear Attorney General Holder:

We write to demand an immediate investigation into the activities of White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel. We believe there is an abundant public record which establishes that the actions of the White House have blocked any investigation into his activities while on the board of Freddie Mac from 2000-2001, and facilitated the cover up of potential malfeasance until the 10-year statute of limitations has run out.

The purpose of this letter is to connect the dots to establish both the conduct of Mr. Emanuel and those working with him to thwart inquiry, and to support your acting speedily so that the statute of limitations does not run out before the Justice Department is able to empanel a grand jury.

The New York Times reports that the administration is negotiating to double the commitments to Fannie and Freddie for a total of $800 billion by December 31, in order to avoid the congressional approval that would be needed after that date. But there currently is no Inspector General exercising independent oversight of these entities.

If you have a moment to click here and read the full letter, I recommend you do so.

So if we are going to do anything about this, time is of the essence. I hope you act. I only really thought about the bailouts. But now even Obama's left is linking his White House to corruption.

And here's Jane in her own words:



Tim White

Warfare & welfare: The spending never stops

The NYTimes' Helene Cooper and Eric Schmitt report:

President Obama said Tuesday that he was determined to “finish the job” in Afghanistan, and his aides signaled to allies that he would send as many as 25,000 to 30,000 additional troops there even as they cautioned that the final number remained in flux.

And last weekend was a vote for cloture to move forward on the $900 billion healthcare debate?

All of this at a time when even American pop culture is feasting on President Obama for being a spendthrift:



And we get all of this from the man who ran as a "fiscal conservative."

Tim White

My new hero: Congressman Pete DeFazio

"[Obama] is being failed by his economic team," DeFazio concluded. "We may have to sacrifice just two more jobs to get millions back for Americans." (Huffington Post, by Sam Stein)

- Congressman Pete DeFazio speaking on the future employment of Larry Summers and "Timmy" Geithner.

Go get'em Congressman! And may I suggest you add Ben Bernanke to your list?

Tim White

Big mistake: Obama Administration defends Fed

On November 10, Senator Dodd was right to propose eliminating the regulatory role of The Beast The Federal Reserve. Unfortunately, the Obama Administration continues their fearmongering that civilization will end if any group other than the Fed regulates "systemic risk."

From Bloomberg's Robert Schmidt and Sandrine Rastello:

Two Obama administration officials stood up for the Federal Reserve after a key senator proposed stripping the central bank of its authority to supervise banks.

Austan Goolsbee, a White House economic adviser, and Neal Wolin, the deputy Treasury secretary, said the proposal by Senator Christopher Dodd would weaken the nation’s ability to guard against future financial crises.

Nothing particularly shocking about this. But Senator Dodd's banking committee spokesman, Kirstin Brost offered a great counterpunch to the Administration's delusional claims about the wonders of the Fed:

“The Federal Reserve didn’t exactly do a stellar job handling systemic risk -- just look at how they failed to act on subprime mortgages,” Brost said.

I'm far from agreeing with Senator Dodd's 1,100 page bill fully though. So while America's financial system needs to be righted, I propose the strongest regulation possible:

The Congress shall have Power... To coin Money, regulate the Value thereof, and of foreign Coin, and fix the Standard of Weights and Measures (Article I, Section 8)

Perhaps Senator Dodd could begin a national dialogue on regulating the financial system by discussing:

1) fractional reserve banking vs. full reserve banking
2) fiat money vs. honest money
3) the existence of the Federal Reserve


Tim White

Who is more believable: Baghdad Bob or Taxman Tim?

Arianna Huffington had an opinion piece that was intended to discuss Obama's healthcare missteps, but she framed her argument in terms of Obama continuing Bush's bailouts and how Obama's failed economic policies have essentially jaded Americans to just about any government intervention in business:

Two days after Senator Kennedy's death, and thus not given much attention, there was a shocking piece in the Washington Post about how America's "too-big-to-fail" banks have gotten even bigger since the meltdown. Four banks (Chase, Bank of America, Wells Fargo and Citi) now issue 50 percent of America's mortgages and control two-thirds of the nation's credit cards. According to FDIC chair Sheila Blair, this kind of consolidation of power "fed the crisis, and it has gotten worse because of the crisis."

And the consolidation isn't over. As WaPo's David Cho points out, these mega-banks now get even more favorable treatment from creditors because the creditors know the banks will be bailed out by taxpayers if they take on too much risk....

As Mark Zandi, chief economist of Moody's Economy.com puts it: "the oligopoly has tightened." Which is what oligopolies tend to do when left untended.

And what of those who are supposed to be tending the oligopoly? Here's Tim Geithner's rose-colored take:

"Our system is not going to be significantly more concentrated than it is today. And it's important to remember that even now, our system remains much less concentrated and will continue to provide more choice for consumers and businesses than any other major economy in the world."

Is it me, or is Geithner starting to sound more and more like "Baghdad Bob," the absurdist Iraqi Information Minister who predicted that U.S. forces were going to surrender even as American tanks were rolling down the street outside his press conference?

Who is more believable: Tim Geithner or Baghdad Bob? Maybe Sergeant Frank Drebin?



My suggestion for President Obama is to stop everything and start over with financial regulatory reform. Drop healthcare for now and think back to last fall.

During the campaign, then-Senator Obama campaigned against Bush's "failed economic policies." He needs to remember the main reason he was elected - the economy - and address that first. He may then regain some credibility and be able to act on his other concerns, such as healthcare and energy.

Tim White

Ron Paul vs. Barack Obama - Round One

Or in slightly broader terms:

The Populists vs. The Political Class - Round One

Reuters picked up this story on The Big Money by Chadwick Matlin. It's a story about the only member of Congress who I believe to be 100% honest and forthright - Ron Paul:

He has rallied the majority of the House to support his new cause: an audit of the Federal Reserve. Legislators are sick of not knowing what's going on inside Bernanke's fortress, especially as the Fed becomes further enmeshed in the nation's fiscal policy. Paul's little bill has become emblematic of a larger movement, one that could spell trouble for Obama's troubled regulatory plan. Ron Paul—always an enemy of regulation—is now an enemy of Obama. And a mighty powerful one at that.

Paul wants to audit the Fed primarily because he wants to destroy it; the audit bill is just the latest chapter in Paul's lifelong crusade against it. His vendetta is fueled by the belief that the Federal Reserve is unconstitutional, a central bank within a country that doesn't allow central banks. That the Fed can manipulate the currency and "create legal tender out of thin air" is heresy. And so Paul attempts to dismantle it the only way he can: through legislation.

Sure, The Beast The Fed is not about to be slain. But that's based on current knowledge. If we can ever find out where the $2.2 trillion went that Bernanke printed... all bets are off. Ron Paul believes such information may steel the Congress' anger toward The Fed. I don't disagree.

At this point, I want to know where in the world is the $2.2 trillion? Or how about the other $8 trillion in so-called "guarantees?" Until we know the answers to such significant questions, I'm not convinced The Federal Reserve will survive the aftermath of HR 1207 - Audit the Fed!

I think it's also worth noting that President Transparency remains silent on both HR 1207 and it's Senate counterpart, Bernie Sanders' S 604. If Obama is truly concerned about transparency, it seems this is a logical place to start. If it's confirmed that Obama opposes transparency at The Fed (and it sure looks like he does by virtue of his silence), then I will view him as an avowed member of The Political Class.

Tim White

White & Cobern on the Cheshire Tea Parties

Cheshire's weekly Monday Tea Party has updated its website (see here).

I hadn't see the MRJ article that's featured on their webpage, but you can read it. Both I and Marty "I hate Te_b_ggers" Cobern are quoted. I don't have the rest of the article, but Marty's comments don't make sense to me.

The article notes that he doesn't understand why people are protesting, even though most won't experience higher tax rates.

Huh?

Well, sure. If you think Bush's fiscal policy of borrow'n'spend works. But I don't accept that notion. I believe Ben Bernanke will monetize the debt by printing more money... devaluing the dollar and paying off our debts with "cheap" money.

But that means we'll see inflation in the price of consumer goods. And therein lies Marty's omission... the hidden tax - the inflation tax. For instance, a 16oz soda cost me $1.33 at work last week. This week it costs $1.60. That's the work of the inflation tax.

And btw, I'm not the only person in the world who sees this problem coming. There's a few people in China who seem to be thinking along the same lines.

The fiscal policy of the Bush years - and now the Obama months - is insanity. We can't afford this stuff. America is insolvent. The only reason we're not yet officially bankrupt is because we're still in Stage 1.

Tim White

The "success" of the Obama Stimulus Plan

Reporting from Bloomberg's Rich Miller and Matthew Benjamin on the impact of the Obama Stimulus Plan:

The kick to consumer spending from the package has also proven smaller than economists expected. Retail sales fell for the second straight month in April, dropping 0.4 percent.

Economists surveyed by Bloomberg had been expecting sales to remain steady, in part because the tax cuts in the stimulus plan began to show up in April paychecks via reduced withholding.

If consumer spending remains weak through the third quarter, “that would postpone the recovery into next year,” says Allen Sinai, chief economist at Decision Economics in New York.

For me, this stirs memories of Bush's $168 billion / $600 check stimulus plan that had little impact on the economy last year. I recall the conclusion being that it did little more than stall the recession. So while the recession officially start in late 2007, there was a tiny blip in spending in Q2 '08. As a result, the recession was masked just enough during that quarter to make it difficult to see the true extent of the recession until after the September 19, 2008 bailout was announced.

Personally, I don't see how $787 billion over a couple years will have a bigger impact than $168 billion being delivered in $600 checks over the course of a month.

Oh well. Going forward we'll at least have the Chinese to give us direction!

Tim White

Geithner chats with his boss

Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner will be having a sitdown with his boss.

From Bloomberg News:

June 2 (Bloomberg) -- China’s former central bank adviser Yu Yongding will meet Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner today and tell him the U.S. shouldn’t be complacent about China continuing to buy Treasuries.

“I wish to tell the U.S. government: ‘Don’t be complacent and think there isn’t any alternative for China to buy your bills and bonds’,’’ Yu said in an interview yesterday. “The euro is an alternative. And there are lots of raw materials we can still buy.’’ Yu is scheduled to meet Geithner at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Beijing today.

China is the biggest foreign holder of U.S. Treasuries with $768 billion at the end of the first quarter. Premier Wen Jiabao in March called for the U.S. “to guarantee the safety of China’s assets” and central bank Governor Zhou Xiaochuan has proposed a new global currency to reduce reliance on the dollar.

Bub-bye US Dollar! It was nice knowin' ya.

In fact, I've never known anything besides our fake money fiat money. Nixon officially destroyed our money left the gold standard in 1971. I was born in 1972. So I'm kinda wondering why our founding fathers fought for all those constitutional guarantees, such as:

The Congress shall have Power... To coin Money, regulate the Value thereof, and of foreign Coin, and fix the Standard of Weights and Measures (US Constitution, Article I, Section 8)

Oh well. The horse may have already been outta the stable though by the time I was born.

Tim White

I like Gov. Mark Sanford (R-SC)

I hope Governor Mark Sanford runs for the GOP nomination in 2012. Rather than making decisions based on politics, he takes a highly philosophical view on the basic issue:

Security vs. Liberty

or insert your own words - safety vs. freedom, community vs. personal, etc.



I like him.

Tim White

Financial industry legislation: Pelosi wants Pecora, Dodd wants to be done

Back in 1933, the US Senate conducted an investigation into the events that led to the market collapse of 1929. The investigating body became known as The Pecora Commission. Speaker Nancy Pelosi wants a similar body established to understand the events we're currently experiencing.

Of course, her call for such a body is unnecessary as far as I'm concerned. From the demise of Sound Money and the rise of Fiat Money, to the end of Full Reserve Banking and the ascendance of Fractional Reserve Banking... this entire mess was driven by public policy. And Nancy Pelosi is a policymaker. So I have no doubt that this commission, likely filled with other members of The Political Class, will offer no real answers. Instead, it'll place blame on bankers - who deserve some blame - and ignore the enabler:

Congress

Regardless, I do appreciate Speaker Pelosi trying to do something. And it seems she wants this investigation to be completed before any new financial legislation is passed. That's where Bloomberg News really caught my interest today.

While Pelosi and CTs own Congressman, John Larson, are calling for a full investigation - both apparently wanting it completed before passing legislation - other members of their own party seem to disagree:

Some lawmakers say passing reforms without a complete study of the credit crisis would be premature. Senator Richard Shelby of Alabama, the senior Republican on the Senate Banking Committee, made that point at a hearing on modernizing financial rules in February. He cited the Pecora hearings as the “best precedent.”

Senator Christopher Dodd, the Connecticut Democrat and committee chairman, responded: “Certainly we want to examine what happened, but also we need to move forward.”

Members of Congress may be reluctant to tackle the recommendations of such an inquiry because of financial industry donations to political campaigns, said Wall Street historian Charles Geisst. (By Mark Pittman and Laura Litvan)

Imagine... Chris Dodd may be reluctant to tackle the recommendations of such an inquiry because of financial industry donations to his campaigns? No. Couldn't be.

Tim White

The Political Class continues to run America

As I've been saying, President Obama promised change. But that change is certainly not seen in the likes of Ben Bernanke, Mike Froman and Tim Geithner. And in yet another demonstration of The Political Class running America:

Lawrence Summers, a top economic adviser to U.S. President Barack Obama, was paid about $5.2 million by hedge fund D.E. Shaw in the past year, financial disclosure forms released by the White House showed on Friday....

Summers, who was a part-time managing director of D.E. Shaw after stepping down as Harvard president, had speaking fees of $67,500 from JP Morgan, $45,000 from Citigroup, $135,000 from Goldman Sachs and $67,500 from Lehman Brothers, which went bankrupt in the mortgage crisis last year. (Reuters, by Roberta Rampton)

When Larry Summers is advising the President, for whom is he advocating?

Tim White