Alan Shrugged

David Corn has a really interesting article over at Mother Jones about Alan Greenspan's testimony before Congress last week. I don't think it got enough attention from the media. The economic Godfather of the past 40 years was wrong. Majorly wrong. And, he admitted it. As bad as the news is, at least it is refreshing to hear a decision-maker take some of the blame. Anyway, here's a quote from the article for ya:

With members of the House oversight and government reform committee blasting Greenspan for his past decisions that helped pave the way for the current financial crisis, he acknowledged that his libertarian view of markets and the financial world had not worked out so well. "You know," he told the legislators, "that's precisely the reason I was shocked, because I have been going for 40 years or more with very considerable evidence that it was working exceptionally well." While Greenspan did defend his various decisions, he admitted that his faith in the ability of free and loosely-regulated markets to produce the best outcomes had been shaken: "I made a mistake in presuming that the self-interests of organizations, specifically banks and others, were such as that they were best capable of protecting their own shareholders and their equity in the firms."

In other words, whoops—there goes decades of Ayn Rand down the drain.

I couldn't resist using the title "Alan Shrugged" from Mother Jones.... came to find out it's also the title for Jerome Tuccille's pdf novel.

Where Our Taxes are Spent

Blog Action Day

Today, the 15th of October, is the day for bloggers to stand up and point the spotlight at Poverty. Too bad John Edwards has been silenced, but I digress. Look at my previous "Bono" and "Africa" postings. And tonight thank God it's them instead of you.

2009 Defense Bill

Believe it or not, Congress approved another bill for over $600 Billion last week. Not the "bailout" bill, this one if for Defense Appropriations for 2009. Alternet points out:

On Wednesday, September 24th, right in the middle of the fight over billions of taxpayer dollars slated to bail out Wall Street, the House of Representatives passed a $612 billion defense authorization bill for 2009 without a murmur of public protest or any meaningful press comment at all. (The New York Times gave the matter only three short paragraphs buried in a story about another appropriations measure.)

The defense bill includes $68.6 billion to pursue the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, which is only a down-payment on the full yearly cost of these wars. (The rest will be raised through future supplementary bills.) It also included a 3.9% pay raise for military personnel, and $5 billion in pork-barrel projects not even requested by the administration or the secretary of defense. It also fully funds the Pentagon's request for a radar site in the Czech Republic, a hare-brained scheme sure to infuriate the Russians just as much as a Russian missile base in Cuba once infuriated us. The whole bill passed by a vote of 392-39 and will fly through the Senate, where a similar bill has already been approved. And no one will even think to mention it in the same breath with the discussion of bailout funds for dying investment banks and the like.

Billions here, billions there.... you know what they say.
We need to re-think out spending policies, and get our priorities in order. How about building bridges and highways in our Georgia rather than in Russia's Georgia? We need infrastructure dollars for our own country, dollars we say we don't have, but somehow we come up with those dollars for infrastructure projects in Iraq, Georgia, Pakistan, etc. And call it a defense expenditure. And we don't even talk about it....

The Answer is: No Deal!

Way to lead on this one, Senator McCain.

Fact is, those House Republicans, well, lots of Republicans don't really like John McCain that much. You won't hear it from Rush and Sean Hannity these days, but they don't like him, either, and they used to speak of him with disgust.

Deal or No Deal?

Will the House Republicans stand on principle or for principal?

I don't like a bailout, I'm more of a free-market guy, but there comes a time when concessions must be made to save the whole system. I think Bush made a good case for this in his speech.

What's McCain gonna do? Does he have any power with House Republicans?

Here's what the Economist has to say this morning:
http://www.economist.com/world/unitedstates/displayStory.cfm?story_id=12305567&source=features_box1

This is gonna be a big day. Hang in there, folks!

McCain Suspends Campaign (Still Taking Donations, though)

My friends, John McCain has suspended his campaign, but he'll still take your $$ for his campaign.
Here's a link to make a donation to the McCain campaign. It's active this morning, while his campaign is suspended.

I'm not suggestion you donate, I just want to point out that he's only suspended the part of the campaign he wants to suspend. He'll still take your money!

Bono 'Stood Up' by Palin/McCain

from CNN:

NEW YORK (CNN) – John McCain and Sarah Palin’s meeting with Bono was canceled Wednesday due to scheduling reasons, according to the campaign.

Instead, McCain and Palin will chat with Bono by phone this afternoon about the ONE Campaign, the U2 front man’s initiative to raise awareness of AIDS and global poverty.

Unlike McCain and Palin’s other meetings with dignitaries in New York this week, most of which had been open to reporters and photographers, the Bono meeting was listed as closed to the press, at the rock star’s request.

And it looks like McCain won't show for Letterman tonight
From Drudge:

EXCLUSIVE: LETTERMAN MOCKS MCCAIN CANCELLATION
Wed Sep 24 2008 17:41:58 ET

David Letterman tells audience that McCain called him today to tell him he had to rush back to DC to deal with the economy.

Then in the middle of the taping Dave got word that McCain was, in fact just down the street being interviewed by Katie Couric. Dave even cut over to the live video of the interview, and said, "Hey Senator, can I give you a ride home?"

Earlier in the show, Dave kept saying, "You don't suspend your campaign. This doesn't smell right. This isn't the way a tested hero behaves." And he joked: "I think someone's putting something in his metamucil."

"He can't run the campaign because the economy is cratering? Fine, put in your second string quarterback, Sara Palin. Where is she?"

"What are you going to do if you're elected and things get tough? Suspend being president? We've got a guy like that now!"

No debate with Barack on Friday? Maybe he should just suspend his campaign altogether.

I hear there's plenty of work for the poultry industry... ducking and being a chicken.
Booooo! I want my Palin/Bono photo-op. I feel cheated.....

McCain to be there, too

Ya know, for that Palin-Bono meeting.

Bono's keeping a blog this week, at the Financial Times.

I'm really looking forward to seeing photos from this event.

Tip for Obama for Friday

WSJ has a preview for Friday's big debate:

Obama advisers, for example, are considering how to provoke Sen. McCain into anger or showing what they say is how out of touch, or old, he is.

I suggest Obama find a way to say "Trollop" or maybe even "comb-over", it's worked before. (warning: McCain calls his wife a couple of bad words)


Yeah, I'm sinking that low. This is one of those stories that just didn't get any MSM coverage. If McCain were running an honest campaign like he did in 2000, I wouldn't have mentioned it.

Bono to Meet Palin

According to tvnz and others:

Palin, the Alaska governor who Republican presidential nominee John McCain picked to be his running mate earlier this month, will meet with Iraqi President Jalal Talabani on Wednesday. She has meetings with Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili, Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko, Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari, and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on the same day. The appointments are in addition to meetings the campaign previously confirmed for Palin on Tuesday with Afghan President Hamid Karzai and Colombian President Alvaro Uribe as well as a sit-down with former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger. Palin will also meet with U2 lead singer and activist Bono on Wednesday.

And look who Bono took to church in NYC yesterday:

Hillary Supporters for McCain

Oh, this stuff is rich, and I mean rich:

Donald Trump: Politico.com

"I'm with him based on the fact that I have great knowledge of John McCain. Also, this is not the right time for tax increases. And Obama wants to increase your taxes drastically.”

Well, maybe not your taxes. But certainly The Donald’s: Obama would repeal President Bush tax cuts for households making more than $250,000."

Lady Lynn Forester de Rothschild: LA Times

"She and her husband, Sir Evelyn Robert Adrian de Rothschild of the prominent Rothschild banking family of England, split their time between New York and a British country estate. ...

In a July interview with CNN, Rothschild explained why, despite Clinton's calls for party unity, she couldn't back Obama. "I don't like him," she said. "I feel like he is an elitist.""

With supporters like these, who needs enemies?

Tutu for You

Desmond Tutu is one of my favorite people, he just has that great smile and positive outlook on things even when the forecast is bleak. He has a terrific article that shines hope for America's future:

"For several years now, American pundits have commented sadly on the alleged rise of anti-Americanism abroad.

I am not aware of any such anti-Americanism. What has been growing is resentment of and opposition to certain, current U.S. government policies. America itself still stands tall in international eyes as a stronghold of democratic values and the ideals of individual liberty. All that remains is for informed citizens to stand up in November and call the country back to its roots."

I wish more folks had his good nature.

761

Seven hundred and sixty-one. Tom Engelhardt has an enlightening article over at Alternet called:

The US Has 761 Military Bases Across the Planet, and We Simply Never Talk About It

You would think that all of this would be genuine news, that the establishment of new bases would regularly generate significant news stories, that books by the score would pour out on America's version of imperial control. But here's the strange thing: We garrison the globe in ways that really are -- not to put too fine a point on it -- unprecedented, and yet, if you happen to live in the United States, you basically wouldn't know it; or, thought about another way, you wouldn't have to know it.

In Washington, our garrisoning of the world is so taken for granted that no one seems to blink when billions go into a new base in some exotic, embattled, war-torn land. There's no discussion, no debate at all. News about bases abroad, and Pentagon basing strategy, is, at best, inside-the-fold stuff, meant for policy wonks and news jockeys. There may be no subject more taken for granted in Washington, less seriously attended to, or more deserving of coverage.

The article is rather long, but this is one of those stories that deserves more attention than the lipstick-laden pig.