Kurlantzick: The Bourgeois Revolution

How the global middle class declared war on democracy

Dictatorship of the bourgeosie: Middle class “yellow-shirt” protesters were responsible for forcing Thailand’s elected government from power.

[ Very long, informative, thoughtful article. ]

spiegel.de on US financial crisis

Crisis Plunges US Middle Class into Poverty

spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,620754,00.html

German paper: ‘I TAKE RESPONSIBILITY’ [ Obama on financial crisis ]

[ Obama said ] “It is true, as my Italian friend has said, that the crisis began in the US. I take responsibility, even if I wasn’t even president at the time.” And he underscored how important it is for him “that we now genuinely make progress. Thank you.” Applause.

The others couldn’t believe their ears. Was that really a confession of guilt from the US? Was it a translation error, or at least an inaccuracy? Afterwards, this sentence fueled long discussions among the members of the German delegation. German Chancellor Angela Merkel was so impressed by Obama’s statement that she rushed to tell her finance minister, Peer Steinbrück. Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso reacted immediately: The proposal to hold the next summit not in Japan, but rather in the US, is something that he no longer rejects, he says, “now that the US has shouldered responsibility.”

continue to read: 3 page article here

spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,617639,00.html

UK Telegraph: Obama rejects Normandy trip to avoid offending Germany

Barack Obama, concerned about offending Britain and Germany, rebuffed strenuous attempts by President Nicolas Sarkozy of France to persuade the new American president to make a trip to Normandy this week.

“It wasn’t going to happen,” said an American official in Washington. “We went through the motions to placate President Sarkozy but giving special treatment to France was not on our agenda. “During this trip, we wanted to maintain a balance between the British, German and France”. A White House spokesman in London declined to comment.

telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/barackobama/5096803/Barack-Obama-rejects-Normandy-trip-to-avoid-offending-Germany.html

UK Guardian: The question that flummoxed the great orator

[ I'm cutting Crace's snark, Obama's own words are bad enough. ]

Nick Robinson: "A question for you both, if I may. The prime minister has repeatedly blamed the United States of America for causing this crisis. France and Germany both blame Britain and America for causing this crisis. Who is right? And isn't the debate about that at the heart of the debate about what to do now?"

Brown immediately swivels to leave Obama in pole position. There is a four-second delay before Obama starts speaking

Barack Obama: "I, I, would say that, er ... pause  ... if you look at ... pause... the, the sources of this crisis ... pause ... the United States certainly has some accounting to do with respect to . . .pause  ... a regulatory system that was inadequate to the massive changes that have taken place in the global financial system ... pause, close eyes. I think what is also true is that ... pause ... here in Great Britain ... pause ... here in continental Europe ... pause... around the world. We were seeing the same mismatch between the regulatory regimes that were in place and er ...pause... the highly integrated, er, global capital markets that have emerged ... pause So at this point, I'm less interested in ...pause... identifying blame than fixing the problem. I think we've taken some very aggressive steps in the United States to do so, not just responding to the immediate crisis, ensuring banks are adequately capitalised, er, dealing with the enormous, er ... pause ... drop-off in demand and contraction that has taken place. More importantly, for the long term, making sure that we've got a set of, er, er, regulations that are up to the task, er, and that includes, er, a number that will be discussed at this summit. I think there's a lot of convergence between all the parties involved about the need, for example, to focus not on the legal form that a particular financial product takes or the institution it emerges from, but rather what's the risk involved, what's the function of this product and how do we regulate that adequately, much more effective coordination, er, between countries so we can, er, anticipate the risks that are involved there. Dealing with the, er, problem of derivatives markets, making sure we have set up systems, er, that can reduce some of the risks there. So, I actually think ... pause ... there's enormous consensus that has emerged in terms of what we need to do now and, er ... pause  ... I'm a great believer in looking forwards than looking backwards.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/apr/03/g20-barack-obama-nick-robinson-question

Litle: The AIG Connection – Far Worse Than You Think

[E]verything this administration has done, every last damn thing, has been favorable to one of Wall Street’s most entrenched interest groups: the bondholders.

The bondholders, the bondholders. It’s always been about them [....] to make sure that the connected financial interests in his Rolodex don’t lose their stakes, even in cases where they oh-so-richly deserve to.

This, by the way, is why the Obama administration ruled out the nationalization option for the banks from day one.

The cleanest option, and one we called for loudly in these pages – taking over the banks, throwing out current management, selling off the assets and starting over – was no-go because too many connected players would have taken a hit if their big bond positions went to zero. 

[ Too much good stuff to quote,  see the article and scroll down a couple of screens to the meat.

First see the excellent take from wbboei which I've inserted as a Comment to this post. ]

http://www.taipanpublishinggroup.com/taipan-daily-040309.html

EASY POST comment form at the bottom; no login, few comments so far.

UK Reuters: U.S. eases accounting rules as G20 acts

World leaders agreed on Thursday to tighten financial regulations and increase funding for poor nations, while a U.S. accounting body moved to ease rules for banks that forced billions of dollars of writedowns.

uk.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUKTRE5315IA20090402?pageNumber=2&virtualBrandChannel=0

UK Globe/Mail: Obama the big loser at the G20

He came looking for an international agreement to pursue stimulus measures, convinced that the approach he’s pursuing domestically is the way to end the global economic crisis. 

[....]

In the end, Mr. Obama had to give way - principally to French and German objections. Worse, from the American point of view, the stimulus that was agreed to at the meeting is particularly costly for U.S. taxpayers.

[....] 

 Barack Obama emerges as the big loser of this meeting - which is not an auspicious launching pad for the NATO meeting that begins tomorrow.

by Norman Spector

theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20090402.WBSpector20090402123910/WBStory/WBSpector

NQ: [ No Bradley effect ]

Today the American Association for Public Opinion Research Ad Hoc Committee on the 2008 Presidential Primary Polling released a pdf report on the methodologies utilized by pollsters during the Democratic primaries. It is a long report, and a cursory analysis of it is available at Pollster.com.  [....]

And here is what their extensive and rigorous report found (pages 53-54):

Several compelling pieces of evidence suggest that the New Hampshire estimation errors were probably not caused by the “Bradley effect” – or the tendency for respondents to report a preference for a black candidate (Obama) but vote instead for a white opponent. A meta-analysis by Hopkins (2008) indicates that while the Bradley effect did undermine some state-level polls in previous decades, there is no evidence for such an effect in recent years.

UK Guardian: G20 protests: riot police clash with demonstrators

Much of the protesting, from an estimated 4,000 people in the financial centre of the capital, was peaceful, but some bloody skirmishes broke out as police tried to keep thousands of people in containment pens surrounding the Bank of England on Threadneedle Street.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/apr/01/g20-summit-protests

Selected photos:

http://mountainsageblog.com/2009/04/01/g20-protests-erupt-in-london/

More photos and story here:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/gallery/2009/apr/01/g20-protest?picture=345344194

UK Daily Mail: Obama told a joke and Brown laughed...

The Daily Mail reported:

Allegedly the most charismatic politician in the world, Mr Obama was a disappointment. It sounded as though he had a blocked nose and so his lack of energy may have been a symptom of a cold. Jet lag, too. He probably wished he could have stayed in bed. 

He spoke slowly, in a meandering manner. Some might say that he was thoughtful and professorial. Others might call his manner circuitous, even yarny. Am I saying that he was a bore? Oh dear. I find that I possibly am.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-1166498/QUENTIN-LETTS-Obama-told-joke-Brown-laughed--laughed--laughed--laughed.html

[ Okay, this is snark, but it's Brit snark. ]

[ The date says it all. ]

Obama Recovering After Closed Captioning ‘Mishap’ 

by Mac Johnson

04/01/2009 

Bethesda, Md. — Doctors were said to be treating President Barack Obama at Bethesda Naval Hospital today for exhaustion and possible vocal cord injuries after a freak television accident occurred at the White House Tuesday evening. 

According to a statement read by White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs, President Obama, noted for his near total dependence on the teleprompter when speaking, was leaving a practice session for an upcoming press conference when he happened upon a muted television set near the White House Briefing Room on which someone had activated the “closed captioning” function. “Apparently, Mr. Obama mistook the captioning for his new flat screen teleprompter and began reading the text aloud,” Gibbs said. Gibbs stated that “what followed was a tragic marathon speaking session that lasted for nearly 14 hours before staff discovered Obama and disconnected the device.”

The President’s accidental filibuster was said to have included a 2-hour episode of “The Biggest Loser,” a much anticipated “Law and Order: Special Victim’s Unit,” the local evening news, and a late night paid infomercial for “natural male enhancement.” The press later described Obama’s reading of the captioning as “eloquent” (New York Times), “historic” (CNN), and “emotionally moving” (Newsweek).

This event comes on the heels of several embarrassing teleprompter gaffes by Obama, including one in which he thanked himself for being invited to the United States [....]

humanevents.com/article.php?id=31285

Dutch media: Clinton voices appreciation for Netherlands

Dutch politicians have been saying for some time that the new US Afghanistan plan is similar to the Dutch approach, and that the choice of The Hague to host the talks is proof of this. However, this is the first time this has been echoed by a senior American politician [ ie Hillary Clinton ].

radionetherlands.nl/news/zijlijn/6238950/Clinton-voices-appreciation-for-Netherlands

"NYT over the line"

“The New York Times keeps going over the line in every single campaign and last year was the worst, easily,” said Mal Kline of the American Journalism Center. “They would ignore real questions worth examining about Obama, the questions about Bill Ayers or about how he got his house. Then on the other side they would try to manufacture scandals.”

Rauch: Is Obama Repeating Bush's Mistakes?

Obama, like Bush, set out with an agenda of his own devising, only to have another, crisis-driven agenda imposed upon him. Like Bush, he chose not to decouple the two agendas but to portray them as inextricably linked and drive them both forward. Like Bush, he seemed to decide that the crisis made a handy sledgehammer. Unlike Bush, he let his people say so.

From a long, thoughtful, refreshingly even-handed article at

http://www.nationaljournal.com/njmagazine/st_20090328_6609.php

Hillary 2-minute ovation, higher approval than Obama

Politico:

Despite the night’s star power—and although additional awards were presented to women leaders from Afghanistan, Nigeria, Cambodia and the Democratic Republic of Congo—it in every way belonged to Clinton, beginning with a touching video tribute and capped with a standing ovation that lasted nearly two minutes when she appeared on stage.

-------------

WASHINGTON, March 25 (UPI) — …Seventy-one percent of people surveyed in a CNN-Opinion research Corp. survey say they approve of her performance as the top diplomat for the United States. Less than one in four disapproved, the survey said.

“Nine in 10 Democrats approve of Clinton — that’s no surprise,” says CNN Polling Director Keating Holland. “But by a 50 percent to 43 percent margin, Republicans also think she is doing a good job at the State Department. That’s an interesting result for a polarizing figure like Clinton.” 

Further, according to the referenced article in UPI, Hillary’s approval ratings are higher than Obama’s last polling results the prior week.

Cites at http://www.noquarterusa.net/blog/2009/03/26/hillary-receives-some-well-deserved-accolades/

[ Yes, I'm being lazy today. ]

Krugman May Be Right

Krugman: the left's new anti-Obama
By MIKE ALLEN | 3/28/09 12:15 PM EDT

A stark image of Paul Krugman, the bearded New York Times op-ed columnist and Princeton economist, appears on the cover of next week’s Newsweek, with the headline “OBAMA IS WRONG: The Loyal Opposition of Paul Krugman.”

Krugman, who won the Nobel Prize in economics last fall, has been arguing that Obama is doing too little to respond to threats to the nation’s banking and economic system, and he has contended that the $787 billion stimulus bill should have been bigger.

Krugman personifies a conundrum for Obama: He has to cope with complaints from the political left, as well as the more predictable opposition of the right.

The prolific professor has been pushing his views in his column, on his blog and in Rolling Stone.

Newsweek Editor Jon Meacham explains the choice in a letter to readers: “Every once a while, … a critic emerges who is more than a chatterer—a critic with credibility whose views seem more than a little plausible and who manages to rankle those in power in more than passing ways. As the debate over the rescue of the financial system—the crucial step toward stabilizing the economy and returning the country to prosperity—unfolds, the man on our cover this week, Paul Krugman of The New York Times, has emerged as the kind of critic who, as Evan Thomas writes, appears disturbingly close to the mark when he expresses his ‘despair’ over the administration’s bailout plan. …

“There is little doubt that Krugman—Nobel laureate and Princeton professor—has be come the voice of the loyal opposition. What is striking about this development is that Obama’s most thoughtful critic is taking on the president from the left at a time when, as Jonathan Alter notes, so many others are reflexively arguing that the administration is trying too much too soon.

"A devoted liberal, Krugman hungers for what he calls ‘a new New Deal,’ and he prides himself on his status as an outsider. (He is as much of an outsider as a Nobel laureate from Princeton with a column in the Times can be.) Is Krugman right? Is the Obama administration too beholden to Wall Street and to the status quo, trying to save a system that is beyond salvation? Does Obama have—despite the brayings of the right—too much faith in the markets at a time when prudence suggests that they cannot rescue themselves? We do not know yet, and will not for a while to come. But as Evan—hardly a rabble-rousing lefty—writes, a lot of people have a ‘creeping feeling’ that the Cassandra from Princeton may just be right. After all, the original Cassandra was.”

Keeler: Gillibrand Hit Piece By Times: A Classic Study.

They employed classic tactics. Simply put, they used quotes that do nothing but praise her dedication, drive and work ethic, to support quite a different meaning; framing that work as an ominous piece about her past.

[....]

 The short analysis is that Gillibrand has a 100% anti-tobacco voting record in Congress and the Senate, and as Bill Corr, executive director of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, said “What’s important to us is how she votes.” [Albany Times Union, 10/16/08] 

Here’s a more detailed account of that record:

- Gillibrand Co-Sponsored and Voted For a Bill to Regulate Tobacco Through the Food and Drug Administration. In 2008, Gillibrand voted in favor of the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act. This bill seeks to remove the exemption that tobacco products have from basic health regulations that apply to other consumer products such as food and medicines. The bill would crack down on tobacco marketing and sales to kids, require larger, more effective health warnings on tobacco products, require tobacco companies to disclose the contents of tobacco products, changes to their products and research about the health effects of the products, ban candy-flavored cigarettes and prohibit terms that mislead consumers into believing that certain cigarettes are safer. [HR 1108, Vote #542, 7/30/08] 

- Gillibrand Voted to Raise Taxes on Cigarettes. In 2007, Gillibrand voted for bill that would increase the tax on cigarettes by 61 cents to $1 per pack and raise taxes on other tobacco products to offset a $35 billion expansion of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program. The bill would reauthorize the State Children’s Health Insurance Program at nearly $60 billion over five years. The bill passed 265-142. [HR 3963, Vote #1009, 10/25/07] 

- Gillibrand Voted to Override President’s Veto and Raise Taxes on Cigarettes and Tobacco Products. In 2007, Gillibrand voted for an attempt to override President Bush’s veto of the bill that would reauthorize the State Children’s Health Insurance Program at nearly $60 billion over five years, expanding the program by $35 billion. The bill failed 273-156. A two-thirds majority was required to override the veto. [HR 976, Vote #982, 10/18/07] 

- In 2008, Gillibrand Voted to Override Bush SCHIP Veto. In January 2008, Gillibrand voted again to override the Bush veto of legislation to renew and expand the State Children’s Health Insurance Program. The bill would have overridden Bush’s Dec. 12, 2007, veto, of the bill that would reauthorize the program at nearly $60 billion over five years, expanding the program by $35 billion. To offset the cost of the expansion, it would increase the tax on cigarettes by 61 cents, to $1 per pack, and raise taxes on other tobacco products. [Vote #22, 1/23/08]

- In the U.S. Senate, Gillibrand Voted to Raise Taxes on Cigarettes to Expand Children’s Health Care. In 2009, Gillibrand voted for bill that would increase the tax on cigarettes by 61 cents to $1 per pack and raise taxes on other tobacco products to offset an expansion of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program. [Vote # 31, HR 2. Public Law 111-3]

Classic Hit Piece. Case Closed.

VV: Afghanastan reality check diary

Afghanastan reality check diary:

villagevoice.com/2009-03-25/news/afghaniscrewed-how-i-spent-my-fall-vacation?src=newsletter

…article is about 6 pages long…

Beware Obama's Bank Plan

Obama’s bank plan could rob the taxpayer

By Jeffrey Sachs

The Geithner-Summers plan, officially called the public/private investment programme, is a thinly veiled attempt to transfer up to hundreds of billions of dollars of US taxpayer funds to the commercial banks, by buying toxic assets from the banks at far above their market value. It is dressed up as a market transaction but that is a fig-leaf, since the government will put in 90 per cent or more of the funds and the “price discovery” process is not genuine. It is no surprise that stock market capitalisation of the banks has risen about 50 per cent from the lows of two weeks ago. Taxpayers are the losers, even as they stand on the sidelines cheering the rise of the stock market. It is their money fuelling the rally, yet the banks are the beneficiaries...

Full article at: http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/b3e99880-1991-11de-9d34-0000779fd2ac.html?nclick_check=1

hosted news: Obama nominates deputy at the Treasury Department

Wolin, who will require Senate confirmation, is a Clinton-era official who previously was the department’s general counsel. The other two announced Monday were Lael Brainard, a Clinton-era official, to be the Treasury Department’s top official for international affairs, and Stuart Levey, who will stay on as the top counterterrorism official at the department.

More detail at

google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iFq5mQwD2WgvSNoX3BqKSSD_yw_AD9742IA80

Venezuela’s Chavez calls Obama “ignoramus”

“[Obama] goes and accuses me of exporting terrorism: the least I can say is that he’s a poor ignoramus; he should read and study a little to understand reality,” said Chavez, who heads a group of left-wing Latin American leaders opposed to the U.S. influence in the region.

Le Figaro / Europumas: Obama writes to ... Chirac?

UPDATE: There really is such a story at http://www.lefigaro.fr/actualites/2009/03/19/01001-20090319ARTFIG00357-confidentiel-barack-obama-a-ecrit-a-jacques-chirac-.php

I'll add the French version as a Comment here.

French article ; English translation below

Barack Obama does not seem to know that in May 2007, French voters elected Nicolas Sarkozy to the French presidency, to succeed Jacques Chirac who had been president for twelve years.

Yesterday, we told you Sarkozy is irritated because Mister O. refuses to tell him if he will accept to meet him personally in the next few months.

Strangely, we have just learnt this surprising piece of news :


Barack Obama wrote a letter to Jacques Chirac to tell him about his desire to "work with him" for the next four years !
In a letter described by Chirac as "very nice," Obama wrote, "I am certain that we will be able to work together, in the coming four years, in a spirit of peace and friendship to build a safer world."
The use of the word "peace" was taken to be an indirect reference to Chirac's stance against the US intervention in Iraq, which Obama had also opposed. 

This revelation was made by the online edition of the daily Le Figaro  on Thursday.

http://europumas.over-blog.com/article-29271371.html

MSNBC: Palin rejects part of federal stimulus money

Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin says she will accept just 69 percent of the estimated $930 million in federal stimulus funds that could flow to the state.

"We will request federal stimulus funds for capital projects that will create new jobs and expand the economy," Gov. Palin said in a written statement. 

"We won’t be bound by federal strings in exchange for dollars, nor will we dig ourselves a deeper hole in two years when these federal funds are gone. For instance, in order to accept what look like attractive energy funds, our local communities would be required to adopt uniform building codes. Government would then be required to police those codes. These types of funds are not sensible for Alaska.”

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29783362/

NYT/Feldman: A Prison of Words

HAS the Obama administration changed the legal rules for detaining suspects in the war on terrorism, or is it continuing in the footsteps of the Bush administration?

We got a clue last week when the Justice Department filed an important document “refining” the government’s position in lawsuits over those held at Guantánamo Bay. Hailed by supporters as a leap forward, yet criticized by human rights groups as being little different from what came before, the filing reveals a distinctive approach to constitutional law. Cautious and modest where George W. Bush was ambitious and brash, Mr. Obama still claims the authority necessary to sustain almost everything his predecessor did.

From a very long, informative, graceful, and balanced article at:

nytimes.com/2009/03/19/opinion/19feldman.html

wbboei: Two lost speeches

I had coffee this morning with the Arbitrator. He reported something which I believe is a Guiness Book first.

When the telebambi got the Irish Officials speech and his own mixed up–an easy thing to do when you don t know what is in them because someone else writes them for you, Morris gave the following counter-example:

When Bill Clinton was president, and gave his State of the Union address, someone failed to put the right script in front of him, he delivered the speech brilliantly and without a hitch. 

The reason for Bills success and Bambis failure is crystal clear: Bill wrote his own speeches, which means they were his thoughts, his words, and he did not need a script.

With Bambi however it is different. He does not write his own speeches, so what he says is not his thoughts or his words. Rather, his speeches are based on the wit and wisdom of the Little Groper whose sobriety, self restraint and wisdom are a matter of record.

NYT: [ the prospectus for the bailout was not delibered to the people ]

“The system was undermined by asking the American people, under the veil of secrecy, to bail out one company when in fact they wanted to bail out someone else,” said Sylvain R. Raynes, an authority in structured finance and a founder of R & R Consulting, a firm that helps investors gauge debt risks. “The prospectus for the bailout was not delivered to the people. And it was not delivered because if it had been, the deal would not have gone through.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/18/business/18aig.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

Rubin: Worldview: Decision time on Mideast for Obama

Hillary Rodham Clinton tiptoed oh-so-carefully around the Israel-Palestine issue on her recent trip to the Middle East.

But she and President Obama will have to make some tough decisions soon, as Israeli Prime Minister-designate Benjamin Netanyahu prepares to form a right-wing government.

A very long informative article

by Trudy Rubin - Inquirer Opinion Columnist

AP: US will stay in insecure areas [ Iraq ]

Iraq’s prime minister said  that he had told President Barack Obama and other top U.S. officials that any withdrawals “must be done with our approval” and in coordination with the Iraqi government.

“I do not want any withdrawals except in areas considered 100 percent secure and under control,” al-Maliki said during his flight from Australia to Baghdad at the end of a five-day visit.

chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/world/6312423.html

Rasmussen: BO's approval is lowest rating to date

Thirty-two percent (32%) now Strongly Disapprove giving Obama a Presidential Approval Index rating of +4, his lowest rating to date (see trends). [....]

Democrats are now more likely to invest in the stock market, but the preferences of other investors have not changed over the past week. [....]

This is the tenth straight day that the President’s Approval Index rating has been in single digits. Previously, the rating had slipped to single digits just once. [....]

The Presidential Approval Index is calculated by subtracting the number who Strongly Disapprove from the number who Strongly Approve. 

Much more info at their site:

http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/obama_administration/daily_presidential_tracking_poll

Bloomberg: Merkel Keeps Cashbox Closed as She Spurns Obama’s Stimulus Plea

Angela Merkel, taking advantage of Germany’s economic heft, is now the European Union’s dominant figure. And leaders from Warsaw to Washington had best not forget it. Just as the German chancellor vetoed a bailout for eastern Europe on March 1, she is now leading European opposition to U.S. President Barack Obama’s call for a global pump-priming package.

From a long and very informative article at

bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601102&sid=aDQ2DHZhyx7A&refer=u

Boulton: Day 53: Obama’s Pick Woes

Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner remains a lonely and over-worked figure as he tries to implement the stimulus, the bank bailout, the budget and G20 negotiations, almost single handed. 17 out of the 19 top Treasury posts have yet to be filled.

Today he was back testifying before Congress before flying to Britain for the G20 Finance ministers summit, joking that he’d like his team to be “the many” rather than “the few”.

news.sky.com/boultonsobama100/Post:5f64ae24-0852-40f4-9628-c85a8fe3808d

Financial Times - More Ponzi Schemes

Age of excess fueled rise of Ponzis

By Joanna Chung and Brooke Masters

Published: March 5 2009 23:31 | Last updated: March 5 2009 23:31

For at least 13 years, big and small investors alike turned over their money to Paul Greenwood and Stephen Walsh, two New York money managers, in the belief that an “enhanced equity index’’ strategy was reaping them profits.

But prosecutors and regulators charge that the money instead filled the two men’s “personal piggy bank’’ and was spent on multi-million dollar homes, horses, luxury cars and collectible items such as rare books and Steiff teddy bears worth as much as $80,000 (£56,600)...

Full Article at:http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/114d509c-09c6-11de-add8-0000779fd2ac,dwp_uuid=9c00e8fe-07df-11de-8a33-0000779fd2ac.html?nclick_check=1

wsj: Obama’s Poll Numbers Are Falling to Earth

It is simply wrong for commentators to continue to focus on President Barack Obama’s high levels of popularity, and to conclude that these are indicative of high levels of public confidence in the work of his administration. Indeed, a detailed look at recent survey data shows that the opposite is most likely true.

By DOUGLAS E. SCHOEN and SCOTT RASMUSSEN

online.wsj.com/article/SB123690358175013837.html

Bill Clinton [and others] on health care reform

Excellent long interview by Gupta with Bill Clinton, Frist, others.

GUPTA: I have to ask you, how are you feeling? I was there outside the hospital when you had your heart surgery. Are you back 100 percent? 

CLINTON: I think so. It's interesting, in some ways, I'm stronger than I was before my surgery. And by conventional measures, I'm healthier. I've still got about ten pounds to lose that I gained in the campaign last year, working for Hillary. But otherwise I think I'm fine. The one thing I notice -- and my balance is better, when I'm doing balance drills. But the one thing I notice and what a friend of mine referred to as raw country strength, I don't know if I've recovered. Like, I can't hit a golf ball as far, even though I can lift more weight. 

GUPTA: How far are you hitting a golf ball? 

CLINTON: Not as far as I want to. I rarely hit 300 yards. I used to do it all the time. It could just be aging, but I think the surgery kind of discombobulated my internal coordination a bit. And I've just got to keep working on it. I've been working too hard for the last year and a half or so to do more than just maintain my weight and maintain my level of fitness. I think if I did a few different things, I could maybe get it back.

http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0903/11/lkl.01.html

Rasmussen 'Presidential Approval Index'

http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/obama_administration/daily_presidential_tracking_poll

Kaletsky, UK: [ G20 needs US leadership ]

the greatest risk facing the world economy: Mr Obama’s failure to present a credible response to the financial crisis or even to assemble a proper economic policy team. After the British Government’s leaked messages of despair about nobody answering the phone at the US Treasury in the preparations for the G20, everybody is now aware that Mr Obama has nominated only two out of 18 deputy and assistant Treasury secretaries.

Anatole Kaletsky  in the Times today in the the UK

NY Observer: Dumbest Proposal Ever?

[A]verage wages have fallen for more than three decades. Among the results of that invidious pattern was rising indebtedness, as banks extended usurious credit to working families struggling to maintain their living standards. Years of rising inequality has upset the equilibrium that resulted in rapid and sustained economic growth for most of the postwar period in this country, and created a prosperous, well-educated and optimistic middle-class society.

Back when America worked well, the gaps between the top and bottom of the income scale were far smaller, the public sector was more robust, the labor movement protected living standards and the rewards of work were more fairly distributed. There is only one way to stop the downward slide and begin to restore that proven pattern of economic dynamism with a wage-led recovery.

Joe Conason

Rasmussen: Obama's rating down to +6

The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Wednesday shows that 37% of the nation’s voters now Strongly Approve of the way that Barack Obama is performing his role as President. Thirty-one percent (31%) now Strongly Disapprove giving Obama a Presidential Approval Index rating of +6, his lowest rating to date

http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/obama_administration/daily_presidential_tracking_poll

March 10: Transcript of Major Interview with Tim Geithner on Charlie Rose Show

Embattled Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner ... on the PBS "Charlie Rose Show" ..... Criticized from left and right, he is in center of storm over Obama's economic and banking policies, and has been accused of being unclear and not good with the press. So tonight's show is a real acid test. Near the end, Rose asks, "Will capitalism be different?" Geithner replies, "I think capitalism will be different, and the financial system will be dramatically different. It’s already dramatically different. Again, if you look at the scale of adjustment and restructuring in the financial system, it’s already happened." Here is the full transcript of the taped interview.

http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003949930

NYT - Feingold Rides Again- Elect ALL Senators!

New York Times
By CARL HULSE
Published: March 10, 2009

WASHINGTON — It took decades, myriad scandals and a muckraker to change the rules for how senators are chosen. Now leading lawmakers want to close what they see as a lingering century-old loophole in the 17th Amendment’s demand that each state’s senators be “elected by the people thereof.”

The calls are being fueled by this year’s flurry of tangled appointments to the Senate, which now counts four new members who have yet to face election. There was nearly a fifth until one senator changed his mind about departing...

Full Article at:http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/11/us/politics/11senate.html?th&emc=th

Turkish paper: Beautiful American

Beautiful American

Published: 3/9/2009

BY TAHA AKYOL

Davutoglu added that [Hillary] had long been interested in foreign policy and that her power comes not from her name, but her background. A warm temperament and a clear mind obviously signal a better period for Turkish-US relations. [....]

Another very positive side of Clinton’s visit was that it ended the paranoia over ‘moderate Islam.’ The Bush administration didn’t have any policy meant to turn Turkey into a country ‘which applies shariah moderately,’ but terminology mistakes led to paranoia. It’s a good thing that Clinton ended it. She stressed such values as democracy, a secular constitution, freedom of religion, a free market economy, and a sense of responsibility, and said that the US didn’t categorize any country by its religious leanings. 

Now we can approach Turkey’s domestic sociological dynamics and Turkish-US relations free of the paranoia over moderate Islam.

Salon: Obama's timid liberalism

President Eisenhower authorized the biggest infrastructure program in American history, when he signed the National Interstate and Defense Highways Act of 1956. The interstate highway act created an elaborate system of private tax incentives and public-private partnerships (PPPs) to encourage private corporations to build national highways. To begin with, all U.S. highways were leased to domestic and foreign corporations for a period of decades. Second, all U.S. highways were set up with toll booths, so that American drivers would be forced to repay the corporate owners of the national highways every few dozen miles. Finally, a system of high-speed lanes with higher tolls was created, so that the rich could whiz down the road while middle-class and poor Americans were stuck in traffic jams ...

All right, what now, wise guy? So that's wrong, too? Eisenhower's national highway system wasn't based on tolls, leases to foreign companies, income-based pricing, and tax credits for private corporations? It used gasoline taxes to fund free public highways?

Free highways without toll booths, owned by the public, paid for out of taxes? My God. So the John Birch Society was right after all. Dwight Eisenhower was as much of a socialist as Franklin Delano Roosevelt!

http://www.salon.com/opinion/feature/2009/03/06/neoliberalism/

WP: [ Arab journalists applaud Hillary ]

“…(Clinton) ended with such a stirring pledge to work on peace between the Israelis and the Palestinians that Arab journalists erupted in applause at the end of the news conference. I have never seen that before in seven years of covering the diplomacy beat. I checked with a State Department official who has witnessed dozens of news conferences in the Middle East over some 30 years, and he said he had never seen such a reaction before either.”

-Glenn Kessler, Washington Post

ft: Clinton in Brussels: she’s got them eating out of her hand

They wanted to hear an American talk like a European, and that’s what they got. [....]

 “Europe is enjoying its longest period of peace since Roman times,” she said, displaying a grasp of 2,000 years of history that is just the kind of thing Europeans think the average American doesn’t have a clue about.

More at

blogs.ft.com/brusselsblog/2009/03/clinton-in-brussels-shes-got-them-eating-out-of-her-hand/

rfe: Obama shouldn't sacrifice allies to please Russia

The impact on the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) of Obama’s proposed quid pro quo with Russia could be profound. Founded in 1949 as a collective-defense pact against the Soviet Union, NATO spanned continents and the Atlantic Ocean….

The rest of the article can be found at:

rferl.org/content/Obama_Shouldnt_Sacrifice_Allies_To_Please_Russia_/1503902.html

AP: UN chief presses US for stronger UN leadership

[U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said of Hillary Clinton] “She is quite supportive, and she told me that she will, her administration, the Obama administration is committed to working very closely politically and also (with) these financial contributions,” Ban told The Associated Press

google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jsmX_QvhmCiertou5qnFUFCknRuQD96MMKM02

USA Today: Clinton: Palestinian state 'inescapable'

A good, long, informative article.

http://usatoday.com/news/world/2009-03-03-clinton-israel_N.htm

archrone: Fair Use Standards and How Will They Apply to Blogs

March 2, 2009 by archrone 

Fair Use excerpting has always been rather contentious issue. How much quoting of someone else’s work is acceptable? There doesn’t really seem to be a standard, but, when you think about how excerpting is applied in various ways, it’s sort of easy to understand the lack of specificity in copyright laws. 

[....]

The idea that bloggers should be charged to run an RSS feed of headlines, or charged to excerpt an article is a last ditch attempt for the dead-wood news outlets to keep their old business model. Hopefully, Fair Use will be defended and left as ambiguous as it has always been.

Quoted without permission from

http://cronespeaks.wordpress.com/2009/03/02/fair-use-standards-and-how-will-they-apply-to-blogs/

UK: Brown woos Obama on global deal

Brown woos Obama on global deal

The prime minister will borrow from the rhetoric of Franklin Roosevelt, who introduced the government-financed New Deal to tackle the US Depression of the 1930s. He will argue that his 21st century “global new deal” will also require public spending on a huge world-wide scale.

Times Online http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article5822265.ece

WaPo - We Saw It Coming (Financial Mess)

March 01, 2009
We Saw the Crisis Coming
By David Ignatius

WASHINGTON -- The big mistakes we make in life aren't the ones that sneak up on us, but those we make with our eyes wide open. That bit of wisdom comes from my friend Garrett Epps, a professor of constitutional law at the University of Baltimore. And it's powerfully true about the financial crisis that has enfeebled our economy.

Nothing about this crisis is really a surprise. People have been warning about it for more than a decade, in academic studies, official reports, Wall Street analyses, even op-ed pieces. Our smartest financiers, Warren Buffett and George Soros, saw it coming clear as a bell.

Yet the authorities did too little in the early years, when they could have had some effect. And once the full force of the crisis hit, officials became caught in a reactive cycle of incrementalism -- with each intervention setting up the next one. We have been dragged into the future by the weight of past mistakes, rather than charting a new course...
Full Article at: http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/03/we_saw_the_crisis_coming.html

USA Today: Choice of Sebelius likely to renew abortion debate

"it is likely that Obama will nominate someone else for a second post Daschle had created for himself: director of a new White House Office of Health Reform. One name mentioned for the job is former Clinton administration adviser Nancy-Ann DeParle, who would take over the effort to conceive, sell and implement a wide-ranging health-care overhaul."

http://content.usatoday.com/communities/theoval/post/2009/03/63488541/1

Comment box/login is between the story and the comments.

sofiaecho: US promises to lobby for more countries to recognise Kosovo - reports

United States has reconfirmed its support for the new state of Kosovo and has promised to lobby for more recognitions, according to a report in Pristina daily Koha Ditore. The newspaper said that Kosovo leaders president Fatmir Sejdiu, prime minister Hashim Thaci and foreign minister Skender Hyseni were given these guarantees in a meeting on February 26 2009 with US secretary of state Hillary Clinton.

[....]

Sejdiu said: [....] “Kosovo has so far been recognised by 55 countries throughout the globe, and we were delighted to get a confirmation from the United States of America that we will continue to get their support in also getting the recognition from other countries[....]” 

sofiaecho.com/2009/02/28/682919_us-promises-to-lobby-for-more-countries-to-recognise-kosovo-reports

jta: Clinton set to name Posner to top rights job

Hillary Clinton is set to nominate a Jewish activist who has led efforts to counter anti-Semitism as her human rights czar.

The secretary of state soon will name Michael Posner, a founder of Human Rights First, as assistant secretary for democracy, human rights and labor, Bloomberg News reported Wednesday. Posner, a lawyer, has broad legal experience in the field of human rights, helping to draft anti-torture legislation in the United States and to set up human rights tribunals in Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia.

By Ron Kampeas · February 26, 2009 

More at jta.org/news/article/2009/02/26/1003329/clinton-set-to-name-posner-to-top-rights-job

NYT/Rich: What We Don’t Know Will Hurt Us

If [Obama] tells the whole story of what might be around the corner, he risks instilling fear itself among Americans who are already panicked. [....]

The reason why the White House has been punting on the new installment of the bank rescue is not that the much-maligned Treasury secretary, Timothy Geithner, is incapable of getting his act together. What’s slowing the works are the huge political questions at stake, many of them with consequences potentially as toxic as the banks’ assets.

Will Obama concede aloud that some of our “too big to fail” banks have, in essence, already failed?

nytimes.com/2009/02/22/opinion/22rich.html?_r=1&adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1235663782-2t7tUVMmyn7O4IC0YopZOA

NYT: With Spending Set, at Least for Now, the Knives Come Out

In advance of the fiscal responsibility meeting, the president last week shelved a plan to appoint a Social Security task force to recommend ways to ensure the program’s long-term solvency, after protests from Democratic leaders in Congress, especially the House speaker, Nancy Pelosi of California, and from liberal activists who want to head off any reductions of future retirees’ benefits.

From a long article at

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/24/us/politics/24obama.html?_r=1

Jake Tapper - Gibbs Spouts Off Again

Gas taxes have long funded federal highway and bridge construction projects, but as gas mileage improves, transportation experts say a new revenue stream is needed. Policymakers in various states have been moving in the direction of a tax based on miles traveled rather than gallons purchased. [....]

"Has the President weighed in on this?" a reporter asked [ Gibbs, Obama's press secretary ].

"I don't believe the President has," Gibbs said. "I can weigh in on it and say that it is not and will not be the policy of the Obama administration." [....]

In an interview with Congressional Quarterly, Oberstar said that LaHood "had the temerity to think...and what did he get? Slapped down. He's a good man. A decent man. Don't let him get slapped down by know-nothings."

Oberstar then suggested that Gibbs ought to stay out of the conversation on transportation policy.

"I've got news for you," Oberstar said, "transportation policy isn't going to be written in the press room of the White House."

AP - Defeated Politicians Still Unemployed

Out of Congress and still out of work
Some former members of Congress who lost in 2008 have yet to find new full-time jobs
ANDREW MIGA Associated Press Writer
AP

They're out of Congress and still out of work.

A handful of incumbents who lost last fall have yet to land new full-time jobs.

They include former Reps. Christopher Shays of Connecticut, Thelma Drake of Virginia and Nick Lampson of Texas. There's also former New Hampshire Sen. John E. Sununu, whose latest Washington assignment is only part-time.

A former top Bush administration official, too, has had trouble finding work. Former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales resigned under fire in September 2007...

Full Article at:http://www.newsweek.com/id/186258/output/print

Daily Beast: The Real Reason Bank Stocks Are Tanking

As late as Friday, even as their stocks tanked, America’s banking leaders were still in denial. No wonder they have no credibility.

So why are our largest money-center banks—you know, the ones that are supposed to be the survivors of the financial crisis, like JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup, Bank of America, and Wells Fargo—in the process of a further, and possibly fatal, meltdown? Last week alone, Citigroup’s stock fell by one-third, JPMorgan’s fell 13 percent, and the shares of Bank of America and Wells Fargo each fell 25 percent...

by William D. Cohan

Full Article at:http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2009-02-22/the-real-reason-bank-stocks-are-tanking/full/

GPS: [ Hillary says sanctions did not work ]

FAREED ZAKARIA, HOST: This is GPS, the GLOBAL PUBLIC SQUARE. Welcome to all of you in the United States and around the world. I’m Fareed Zakaria. [....]

On her trip through Asia, Hillary Clinton acknowledged that our policy of economic sanctions against Burma — Myanmar — has not worked.

The reason I think this is significant is that I’m hoping it is the beginning of a rethinking. There’s a standard U.S. policy toward any regime that we don’t like. There’s not much we can do about it, and we can’t change the regime’s policies. But we decide we can’t just sit there, so we slap sanctions on the country. [....]

So, how much more evidence, in the form of misery for the people and power for the dictators, do we need before we conclude that economic sanctions are a feel-good policy that have had only bad effects on the ground?

Toronto Star: Is Obama a closet conservative?

Obama’s willingness to sign on to [Canadian Prime Minister] Harper’s search (much criticized by Canadian environmentalists) for a miraculous new technology that would allow oil refineries and coal plants to keep polluting and then permanently store the resultant carbon emissions underground. [....]

Obama isn’t backing away from Bush’s decision to define terrorism as war, a crucial label that gives the president constitutional authority to operate with few Congressional constraints. [....]

 [Obama] plans to continue the practice of so-called extraordinary rendition: capturing suspected terrorists anywhere in the world and shipping them off to countries such as Egypt to be tortured.

And Obama is continuing to use national security as an excuse to keep those that have been illegally incarcerated from getting redress in U.S. courts.

By Thomas Walkom

http://www.thestar.com/News/Insight/article/590950

Times of India: India sidesteps US invite re Afganistan/Pakistan

India will officially keep its position of an "interested bystander" watching the unfolding events in this theatre. 

India sought and received an assurance from the US that its decisions and policies in this region would not make India a "target". In other words, India doesn't want to be unpleasantly surprised by a set of events that adversely affects Indian interests in Afghanistan. 

The US right now is furious with Afghanistan president Hamid Karzai for consistently hitting out at America but is equally wary of the Pakistan government particularly after the ill-advised "peace deal" with the Taliban in Swat Valley. 

It's no secret the Obama administration wants Karzai to go. 

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India-sidesteps-US-invite-for-trilateral-meet-on-Afghanistan-Pak/articleshow/4162963.cms#write

Comment box at the bottom. EASY POST, no login. Delay for moderation?

Indian Express: Dead ends in Pakistan

 The US wants to enlist us in the war in Afghanistan, and side with the Pakistani state in its war against the Taliban.  But [India should not] get sucked into the way Americans define this war. On Pakistan, we frankly don't have many options but to show restraint. This is not a battle we can win militarily, although we have to be prepared for all eventualities.

More at http://www.indianexpress.com/news/dead-ends-in-pakistan/426488/0

Comment form at the bottom. EASY POST. No login. Delay for moderation?

Fox: Rosen/Hillary interview transcript

JAMES ROSEN: Are you more partial to the irrepressible melodies and hand-clapping of the “Please Please Me” era or to the world-weary, drug-fueled existentialism of their later work?

SECRETARY CLINTON: [Laughs] Well, like so many Beatles fans, it depends both on mood and stage of life. I have to confess, since I am older than you, that the hand-clapping mode was what I first was captured by. “I Want to Hold Your Hand” was an anthem, as you might imagine. But then, as I went through my angst period –

JAMES ROSEN: [Laughs]

SECRETARY CLINTON: — and, you know, struggled with the challenges of living in the real world, the more existential message struck home.

JAMES ROSEN: Do you have a favorite Beatles song?

SECRETARY CLINTON: Well, it, it sort of is on the, you know, more existential side. I’ve always loved “Hey Jude.” Now don’t ask me why — because that’s almost Biblical in meaning, as you know.

JAMES ROSEN: I do know.

SECRETARY CLINTON: Yes. And I know that you’re a collector –

JAMES ROSEN: [Laughs]

SECRETARY CLINTON: — of memorabilia. And I always have been sort of moved by the range of emotion in The Beatles. But at the end of the day, I think, you know, Lennon and McCartney were geniuses. And I’m just glad I got to live through that period.

JAMES ROSEN: I suppose it was too much to expect that the American secretary of state, on her first trip overseas, would advocate on behalf of “Revolution.”

SECRETARY CLINTON: No. In fact, you understand the reasons why that might not be appropriate. [Laughs]

JAMES ROSEN: Madame Secretary, thank you.

SECRETARY CLINTON: Thank you, James.

[From  transcript of an interview with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton conducted by James Rosen in Seoul, South Korea on Feb. 20, 2009. ]

foxnews.com/politics/2009/02/20/transcript-fox-news-interview-secretary-state-hillary-clinton-james-rosen/

Financial Times - Banks Likely to be Nationalized

US bank shares near 17-year lows

By Francesco Guerrera and Aline van Duyn in New York and Krishna Guha in Washington

Published: February 20 2009 01:03 |

US bank shares hit a near 17-year low on Thursday on rising fears the government will have to nationalise troubled institutions such as Citigroup and Bank of America, wiping out investors and taking control of a large portion of the financial sector.

Bank of America shares slid 14 per cent to $3.93, their lowest point since 1984. Shares in Citi were down 13.8 per cent, closing at $2.51, their lowest since 1991. The KBW banks index fell to its lowest level since 1992. In the debt markets, Citi’s bonds were trading at distressed levels...

Full Article at: http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/d75e8598-fee6-11dd-b19a-000077b07658.html?nclick_check=1

Powerlineblog -- Who's The Coward?

Attorney General Holder has called America "a nation of cowards" when it comes to "things racial." According to Holder, "average Americans" are afraid to "talk enough with each other about race."

By using the word "cowards," Holder has gotten himself some attention, at least for today. That's ironic because his long-winded speech is 99 percent content free.

To add to the irony, in the one place where Holder introduces a little content, he demonstrates that he has no interest in genuine dialogue, and reveals himself to be a "coward" on "things racial."

Here is Holder on the crucial issue of "affirmative action" (a coward's name for race-based preferences):

There can, for instance, be very legitimate debate about the question of affirmative action. This debate can, and should, be nuanced, principled and spirited. But the conversation that we now engage in as a nation on this and other racial subjects is too often simplistic and left to those on the extremes who are not hesitant to use these issues to advance nothing more than their own, narrow self interest.

So in one breath, Holder calls for a frank discussion of race, rather than the normal polite talk that evades tough issues; in the next breath, he attempts to rule out of the debate positions that he finds "extreme" while demonizing those who hold them. In the one instance where Holder is willing to be specific, we learn that his real complaint is not the absence of candid discussion, but rather the articulation of positions he doesn't like.

We have plenty of problems as a nation. I doubt that insufficient discussion of race is one of them. But if it is, Holder's mindset is part of the problem, not part of the solution.

German paper long transcription: Bill Clinton talks to Larry King

[ Long interview with Bill Clinton on many subjects ]

KING: Do you resent it when the Bush people say that this problem started with you, it started in your administration?

CLINTON: Well, they don't have much evidence for that. I always answer, does anyone seriously believe if the team I had in place had been in place for the last eight years that this would have happened?

And the answer to that is no. We had a much more vigorous regulatory environment with the Securities and Exchange Commission. We were watching these derivatives. I do think we should have done more on derivatives.

But the suggestion they have that because we required banks, for the first time, to live up to the requirements of the Community Reinvestment Law, which says you're supposed to loan money back to the people who deposit money in your bank, contributed to this, I just think is factually wrong.

If you look all over America, the community banks -- the ones that reinvested in their communities -- were not the people that caused this problem. They did well.

Much more at:

http://www.welt.de/english-news/article3227431/Bill-Clinton-talks-to-Larry-King.html

Kelly: Obama is Big on Symbolism

With so many of [Obama's] nominees having to withdraw because of ethical problems, it was refreshing to have [Gregg] withdraw because he had ethics. [....]

President Obama is very big on symbolism. He is signing the bill in Denver, the city where he was nominated for president, on Tuesday (in violation of his pledge to have at least five days elapse between passage of a law and his signing of it to allow time for public comment), because Tuesday is four weeks precisely since his inauguration.

Symbolism is important. But presidents ultimately are judged on substance.

By Jack Kelly

Latest posts from Midstream News

NYT - Bailout Robbing Banks?

[This is an op-ed piece but contains useful info]

The Bailout Is Robbing the Banks

By JOHN C. COATES and DAVID S. SCHARFSTEIN
Published: February 17, 2009

MANY Americans are angry at banks for taking bailout money while still cutting back on lending. But the government is also to blame. For reasons that remain unclear, the Troubled Asset Relief Program has channeled aid to bank holding companies rather than banks. The Obama administration’s new Financial Stability Plan will have more influence on bank lending if it actually directs its support to banks.

Full article at: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/18/opinion/18scharfstein.html?_r=1&th&emc=th

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 2009

Bloomberg - Stock Market Woes

U.S. Stocks Slide to 3-Month Low on Recession Concern; GM Sinks
By Elizabeth Stanton

Feb. 17 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. stocks tumbled to a three-month low, extending a global slump, as a record contraction in New York manufacturing spurred concern the government’s stimulus package won’t be enough to curb the deepening recession.

Bank of America Corp., Citigroup Inc. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. each lost 12 percent. Exxon Mobil Corp. was the biggest drag on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index as oil slid almost 7 percent. General Motors Corp., the largest U.S. carmaker, sank 13 percent as it took its case for more government support to the Treasury Department. Banks led declines in Europe and Asia on concern they may face ratings downgrades and more losses.

Full Article at: http://bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=a3VqcI4keryE&refer=home

Coming from Midstream News

"The Boojum Post" is a continuation of the Midstream News project from

http://midstreamnews.blogspot.com

News Sources and Recommended Journalists

Good Foreign News Sources and Recommended  Journalists everywhere

1. http://www.unfoundation.org/
   

   Scroll down to the "What's New" column on the left sidebar.

   
   

   Sources from Emjay:

   www.geocities.com/~oberoi/newspapr.html  -- and go to CNBC or PBS or DW (German)
   

2. www.journalismnet.com/papers/

3. The Paperboy.com

    www.kidon.com/media-link/index.php

4. www.newseum.org/todaysfrontpages/

   www.worldpress.org/gateway.htm (This one gives the political leanings and/or ownership of each publication.)

   
   

   These six total are the best gateways; the JournalismNet site has many more listed in its overview

   
   

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2008

Recommended journalists

John Kass, Lynn Sweet, Greta van Susteren, David Brooks, Helene Cooper, Craig Crawford.

UNDER CONSTRUCTION.

Readers can suggest other journalists in Comments to this entry. I'll move them into this entry and link to some of their work as I have time.