WEE Retrospective, November 20-22, 2009-1963

[Demeter]

Where were you that Friday morning of November 22, 1963?

I know exactly where I was. I was 8.5 years old, in third grade, in the library of the Calvin Coolidge Elementary school on Detroit's west side. I had a goal: to read every fairy tale in the library (it is a congenital defect: Hermione Granger syndrome). It was a sunny day, and all the world crumpled like a sheet of safety glass shattered by a baseball bat when word rustled through the school. The President had been shot.

I don't remember much that happened after that. The TV was on a lot, its black and white images flickering, its somber commentators droning on. I expect that Mass that Sunday was ghastly, but I don't remember. Somehow most of us coped, and the world continued, but for one silent, breathless moment, everything flipped inside out. For a young girl going on 9, that's when history began.

People aren't supposed to get shot, outside of war (the Detroit riot was 4 years in the future). Certainly not Presidents! And children of tender years are to be protected from the evils of the world. Or so people thought, once upon a time.

But we saw the funeral, with John-John and Caroline being so brave, and their mother, who felt the best thing she could do for her children was get the hell out of the country that killed their father.

Third graders don't study much history--I think our social studies concentration that year was the history of the city of Detroit and the founding of the state of Michigan. Indians, French explorers and trappers, Jesuits and Mad Anthony Wayne. Forts, natural resources, the Great Lakes, Henry Ford, trip to Greenfield Village to learn about Thomas Alva Edison and Alexander Graham Bell and the Industrial Revolution, Michigan style.

My grandfather indulged my love of elevators and took me downtown where he asked permission to take me up some of the biggest buildings in Detroit. No doubt all of those buildings today are torn down, boarded up, discarded along with the rest of the city. The Industrial Revolution is over, and so is Camelot. I do not know what lies ahead, but I fear for the next several generations of children of tender years. Where history began for me seems to mark the beginning of the end of our great nation.

Detroit hasn't risen from its ashes, but it isn't quite dead, yet. There seems to be an end to waiting for rescue, and the start of grassroots recovery. It's taken 30+ years for people in Detroit to decide that expecting anyone above the level of mayor to pay any attention is a waste of time.

It isn't going to take that long for ordinary people to decide that waiting for economists and politicians and CEOs, in DC and New York and abroad, to take notice of this crumbling nation is another waste of time. In fact, the long knives are being sharpened, and not for Turkey Day, either, unless it's for Human Turkeys.

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner is only the first target. It's starting to get interesting. Both Left and Right are on his case. So join us in documenting the end of Empire, crime and punishment, or not, the decline of a great idea, and help us search for signs of rebirth. From the ashes of disaster grow the roses of success!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GND10sWq0n0

Yes, tying all this bloviation together, we will be diverting ourselves from the tedious with "Chitty-Chitty Bang-Bang", the musical movie about a magic car.

"Chitty Chitty Bang Bang is a 1968 feature film with a script by Roald Dahl and Ken Hughes, and songs by the Sherman Brothers, based on Ian Fleming's book Chitty Chitty Bang Bang: The Magical Car. It starred Dick Van Dyke as Caractacus Potts and Sally Ann Howes as Truly Scrumptious. The film was directed by Ken Hughes and produced by Albert R. Broccoli, best known as co-producer of the James Bond series of films, also based on Fleming's novels. Irwin Kostal supervised and conducted the music, and the musical numbers were staged by Marc Breaux and Dee Dee Wood."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chitty_Chitty_Bang_Bang_%28film%29

For a particularly up-to-date version of this ditty--poking holes in the Bush:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ds_HsuXyyZo&NR=1

[Demeter]

1. And We Start the WEEkend with---A Bank Failure (in Florida, of course)

Commerce Bank of Southwest Florida, Fort Myers, Florida, was closed today by the Florida Office of Financial Regulation, which appointed the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) as receiver. To protect the depositors, the FDIC entered into a purchase and assumption agreement with Central Bank, Stillwater, Minnesota, to assume all of the deposits of Commerce Bank of Southwest Florida.

The sole branch of Commerce Bank of Southwest Florida will reopen on Monday as a branch of Central Bank...As of August 28, 2009, Commerce Bank of Southwest Florida had total assets of $79.7 million and total deposits of approximately $76.7 million. Central Bank did not pay a premium to assume all of the deposits of Commerce Bank of Southwest Florida. In addition to assuming all of the deposits of the failed bank, Central Bank agreed to purchase essentially all of the assets.

The FDIC and Central Bank entered into a loss-share transaction on approximately $61 million of Commerce Bank of Southwest Florida's assets. Central Bank will share in the losses on the asset pools covered under the loss-share agreement...The FDIC estimates that the cost to the Deposit Insurance Fund (DIF) will be $23.6 million. Central Bank's acquisition of all the deposits was the "least costly" resolution for the FDIC's DIF compared to alternatives. Commerce Bank of Southwest Florida is the 124th FDIC-insured institution to fail in the nation this year, and the twelfth in Florida. The last FDIC-insured institution closed in the state was Orion Bank, Naples, on November 13, 2009.

[ozymandius]

20. What? Not Georgia? I'm sure the Bank of Bob went "bust" with a blowout.

Those tires had been bald for months.

It's a sad thing when your local bank can go broke when liabilities outweigh assets with a flat tire.

-ahem-

...taps shoe...

still waiting on Georgia...

[Demeter]

21. Maybe Next Week--No, they Probably Have Holiday Vacation Coming

So many failed banks, so little time....

[Po_d Mainiac]

24. Or they may be w8ing to take advantage of the looong weekend

[Demeter]

25. Only One Measly Bank?

Maybe Swine Flu took out the FDIC this week--or they all started Thanksgiving early?

[Demeter]

2. Better-Late-Than-Never Dept: Broad restrictions on big banks near approval

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/lawmakers-cap-leverage-for-big-institutions-2009-11-19-10800?siteid=YAHOOB

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- The nation's biggest banks would be hit with a raft of new fees and restrictions under far-reaching 'too-big-to-fail' bank legislation set to be approved by a key congressional committee.

After the approval of dozens of amendments, the legislation now awaits only the last step of the final passage of the entire bill, which is set for Dec. 1. The committee had scheduled a final vote for Thursday, but delayed it at the last minute at the request of members of the Congressional Black Caucus.

The huge financial regulatory reform legislation, being drafted by the House Financial Services Committee, also imposes a wide variety of new restrictions on the Federal Reserve, including a new powerful measure that would permit an audit of the Fed's balance sheet. See complete Fed audit story.
AM Report: Ron Paul vs. the Fed

The News Hub panel discusses Ron Paul's Opinion piece in today's Journal, which argues for a more transparent Federal Reserve.

The legislation puts a limit on the allowed leverage of large financial institutions and requires big banks to pay fees to create a $150 billion fund so that a major failure wouldn't unsettle the markets. The biggest banks would also be required to pay steeper fees into a separate deposit insurance fund, according to the legislation.

"This will conclusively end too-big-to-fail and will force the financial industry to clean up any mess they make," said Rep. Luis Gutierrez, D-Ill.
Containing the damage

The $150 billion fund would be used to make payouts to the creditors and counterparties of a failed big bank so that its collapse would not lead to other failures as well, unsettling the financial markets.
How big banks will be affected by bill

* Big banks would pay into $150 billion fund to be used to cushion failure of a big bank.
* Big banks would pay more for deposit insurance.
* Leverage would be capped at 15 to 1.
* Fed would be audited by Congress.
* Fed lending would be capped at $4 trillion.

/conga/story/2009/11/bank_bill.html 42721

The $150 billion fund's administrator, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., would have authority to borrow $50 billion more from Treasury after gaining approval from Congress in an emergency.

The White House had sought to have taxpayer funds be used upfront to unwind a failed institution, with costs recouped from the financial industry afterwards.

Republican lawmakers opposed the resolution fund, arguing that it would still result in additional costs to taxpayers after the fund was depleted.

"No matter how you impose assessments on institutions, you are still creating a bailout fund," said Rep. Spencer Bachus, R-Ala., the committee's ranking member.

"Pre-funding the fund would lead to more bailouts because the fund would be sitting and available to be used," said Rep. Jeb Hensarling, R-Texas. "If you build it they will come, it will create an expectation that the fund would be used."

The Senate Banking Committee also began considering bank regulatory reform legislation Thursday. Considerations will continue through December and into 2010.
Who pays?

Banks with assets more than $50 billion and hedge funds with more then $10 billion in assets would pay fees to fund the pool of capital that could be used to unravel a failed super-sized company. Roughly 20 or 25 institutions would fall in that category. In addition, hedge funds with $10 billion or more in assets, would be required to pay into the fund.

"It is important to me not to let the hedge funds off the hook," said Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., the committee chairman. "They contributed to financial instability and some of these institutions did participate in one of the most destabilizing things, which is subprime lending."

Each institution would be assessed based on their size, interconnectedness and general riskiness.
Leverage limits

The lawmakers also capped the debt-to-equity leverage at banks at 15 to 1. "Leverage was a key contributor to the financial crisis," said Rep. Jackie Speier, D-Calif.

"I know the amendment addresses excessive leverage which we're all concerned about," said Bachus, the ranking Republican, who voted against the leverage limits. "Although we're capital starved right now, leverage creates jobs, but also produces risk."
Big banks to pay more into deposit insurance fund

The committee approved an amendment that would require big banks pay more into the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.'s deposit insurance fund than smaller banks. The FDIC collects fees from commercial banks to insure depositors of a failed bank. So far in 2009, 123 banks have failed.

"By basing the assessment on assets instead of deposits this amendment takes into account the true risk," Gutierrez said. "It would reduce the assessments on 98% of banks, assuring that $4.5 billion will be kept in community banks to lend to manufacturers, service sector and consumers."
Fed limitations

In addition, lawmakers approved various measures limiting the power of the Federal Reserve. The Fed's lender-of-last-resort authority would be limited to $4 trillion.

"It's good to tell the American people that, while the lender-of-last-resort's authority is enormous, it is limited," said Rep. Brad Sherman, D-Calif.

Lawmakers also signed off on a Sherman amendment to require that the Fed assures that there is a 99% likelihood that all funds it lends will be repaid. The Fed can lend only to solvent institutions.

Before lending to a bank in an emergency, the Fed would have to first gain approval from the council of regulators, which would be created under another bill already approved by the committee.

The council is group of banking and securities regulators that will monitor financial markets and determine if a company is so large and interconnected that it should be considered a large systemically important company subject to the special fees and restrictions. The council would also determine if such a company had failed and needed to be dismantled in an orderly way.

The Fed could still provide liquidity to solvent financial institutions to prop them up in the event of a financial crisis. However, instead of individual injections, solvent institutions that are "adequately collateralized" could borrow from a Fed liquidity facility.

The Fed would also be capped in its ability to make guarantees on financial assets to $500 billion at any one time.

WELL, WE SHALL SEE...

[Demeter]

3. Just-In-Time-For-the-Holidays: FAA glitch causes widespread US air travel delays

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091119/ap_on_bi_ge/us_flight_delays

ATLANTA – Air travelers nationwide scrambled to revise their plans Thursday after an FAA computer glitch caused widespread cancellations and delays for the second time in 15 months. The Federal Aviation Administration said the problem, which lasted about four hours, was fixed around 9 a.m., but it was unclear how long flights would be affected.

It started when a single circuit board in a piece of networking equipment at a computer center in Salt Lake City failed around 5 a.m., the FAA said in a statement.

That failure prevented air traffic control computers in different parts of the country from talking to each other. Air traffic controllers were forced to type in complicated flight plans themselves because they could not be transferred automatically from computers in one region of the country to computers in another, slowing down the whole system.

Two large computer centers in Salt Lake City and near Atlanta were affected, as well as 21 regional radar centers around the country.

Delays were particularly bad at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, the world's busiest. The glitch also exacerbated delays caused by bad weather in the Northeast, with airports in the Chicago, Washington, D.C., and New York metro areas reporting problems.

Some flights were more than two hours behind schedule. Airports around the South also reported delays and cancellations.

U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer, D-New York, said the country's aviation system is "in shambles" and the FAA needs more resources to prevent such problems from continuing.

"If we don't deliver the resources, manpower, and technology the FAA it needs to upgrade the system, these technical glitches that cause cascading delays and chaos across the country are going to become a very regular occurrence," he said in a statement.

Despite the problems, the public areas of Atlanta's airport seemed no busier than usual. Travelers ate breakfast and lounged in the atrium, where sisters Sharon Walker and Sheila James waited to take their elderly mother, Rosa Washington, to see their other sister in St. Louis. The trio's 9:30 a.m. flight was delayed until 4 p.m. because of the glitch.

"We were going to be there for a four-day weekend, but now it's getting cut short," James said. "It's just not a good day."

In the public areas of Newark International Airport, where delays are routine, Thursday seemed like a normal day, though several people paced around the terminal trying to rearrange their plans. Passenger Chris Cozzi said he was moved from one Delta flight to another but was still unsure if it would arrive on time in Atlanta, where he would have just an hour to catch a flight to Europe.

"You have to wonder what's the glitch? Glitch is kind of a general term, it could encompass many, many things," he said. "So it is a concern, but I tend to be an optimist."

At Dulles International Airport outside Washington, AirTran canceled Flight 63 to Atlanta and urged passengers to head to nearby Reagan National Airport to catch another flight. Hilda Ruffin of Manassas, a senior citizen who uses a wheelchair, said she lobbied the airline for a free shuttle pass to get to Reagan.

"I really fought for it ... I don't have the money to pay for a cab," said Ruffin, who was on her way to San Antonio.

Passengers were asked to check the status of their flights online before going to airports.

AirTran canceled at least 22 flights and delayed dozens more. Delta Air Lines was also affected. American Airlines spokesman Tim Smith said several hundred flights would be delayed.

Continental Airlines delays averaged about an hour during the early part of the morning. JetBlue Airways said 25 of its flights at Kennedy International Airport had average delays of 60 minutes and delays at other airports were up to 30 minutes. US Airways flights were no longer being affected by the glitch by midday.

Houston's two airports and Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport reported few delays but said things could get worse, especially for travelers headed east. Los Angeles International Airport initially said delays were likely later in the day, then canceled that warning. Airports in Europe reported no immediate problems.

The glitch slowed flight plans collected by the FAA for traffic nationwide at its centers in Salt Lake City and Hampton, Ga., outside Atlanta.

It was reminiscent of a software malfunction that delayed hundreds of flights around the country in August 2008.

In that episode, the Northeast was hardest hit by the delays because of a glitch at the Hampton facility, which processes flight plans for the eastern half of the U.S.

The FAA said at that time the source of the computer software malfunction was a "packet switch" that "failed due to a database mismatch."

[Demeter]

4. Primary-care doctor crunch offers no quick fix

HOW MUCH ARE YOU WILLING TO BET THAT REAL HEALTHCARE REFORM, THROUGH THE IMPLEMENTATION OF UNIVERSAL, SINGLE PAYER COVERAGE, WOULD FIX THIS?

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/no-easy-cure-for-doctor-shortage-2009-11-19?siteid=YAHOOB

Payment changes, new practice models needed to bolster supply

By Kristen Gerencher, MarketWatch

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- It's a phrase people are loath to hear when they're looking for a new primary-care doctor: Not accepting new patients.

Some parts of the country already lack an ample supply of general internists, pediatricians and family physicians, forcing patients to drive further or wait longer for care. If a comprehensive health-reform bill passes and extends coverage to millions of uninsured Americans, many are asking if there will be enough primary-care doctors to handle the increased demand for medical services.

"I think we'll see some effect like Massachusetts did, but I'm not expecting there will be chaos," said Lori Heim, president of the American Academy of Family Physicians and a family physician at Scotland Memorial Hospital in Laurinburg, N.C.

Heim was referring to the statewide health-insurance overhaul Massachusetts began phasing in in 2006, which provides a test-case example. It succeeded in dramatically lowering the state's uninsured rate to 2.7%, by far the lowest in the nation, but also exacerbated access problems in areas that already had primary-care shortages.

"It's not that it gets worse; it gets more noticeable," said Brian Rosman, research director for Health Care For All, a Boston-based advocacy group that is tracking the overhaul's effects. "What it did do is spur state authorities to pay attention to this issue."

Two years ago, Massachusetts authorized retail clinics for the first time, allowing drugstore chains to pick up some of the slack by offering consumers a place to go to for routine care such as immunizations and ear-infection treatment, he said. The state also started a loan forgiveness program to help offset the debt burden for new medical school graduates who agree to serve as primary-care doctors in underserved areas.

"They're working at addressing it as best they can, but the long-term solution has to come from the federal government and has to involve building payment structures that support" primary care, Rosman said.

Dr. Louis Sullivan agreed. Sullivan, former secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) in the George H. W. Bush administration and president emeritus of Morehouse School of Medicine, called for more federal leadership on the issue during a recent Webcast discussion at the Kaiser Family Foundation.

"We have in the United States a relatively unrecognized shortage of health professionals, and it really is going to get worse if we don't do something about it," he said, speaking of nurses and pharmacists as well.

"Between 1956 and 1981, we had a massive increase in training programs for doctors and other health professionals," he said. "States did play a role, but HHS provided leadership and funding. That kind of vigorous federal leadership is missing today."

Sullivan suggested that greater use of physician assistants and nurse practitioners could help alleviate a primary-care crunch, an idea that remains controversial.

"We do need to help redefine the scope of practice in all kinds of health professions because physicians don't have to do everything," he said. "There are many things that other health professionals with less training can do just as well."

Paging PCPs

In many ways, primary-care physicians, or PCPs, are on the front lines of medicine, providing preventive and first-stop care for many common and chronic ailments and making referrals to subspecialists when necessary.

PCPs typically earn two to three times less than their counterparts who go into medical subspecialties that are more procedure-based and less oriented around office visits. That's why more medical students choose to hit the ROAD -- vernacular for radiology, orthopedics or ophthalmology, anesthesiology and dermatology -- professions that also typically offer less demanding schedules. As few as 2% of medical students are choosing general internal medicine, according to a study published last year in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

"We have an undersupply of physicians willing to be generalists, and that's largely primary care but not just primary care," said Robert Berenson, a fellow at the Urban Institute. "There aren't enough general surgeons either."

Primary care comprises 40% of the nation's doctors compared with 60% for subspecialists, the opposite of the balance in England, said Ann S. O'Malley, senior researcher at the Center for Studying Health System Change in Washington. The depletion of PCPs would be worse in the U.S. if an increase in the number of women and international medical graduates hadn't offset an exodus of American males toward medical specialties, her research found.

The mismatch between primary-care supply and demand has been years in the making and is a concern even if health reform fails to pass Congress. Estimates vary, but most experts agree that the supply of primary-care physicians is meager relative to the aging population's needs and will require new financial incentives for medical students and payment changes for existing doctors in order to correct the imbalance.

There are about 270,000 PCPs today, according to the American Academy of Family Physicians. The nation will need about 39,000 more family physicians by 2020 so all Americans can have access to a primary-care doctor, a 2006 AAFP analysis found.

Both the health-care overhaul bills from the House and Senate provide some redress. The House bill would offer Medicare bonus payments to primary-care physicians and raise their Medicaid reimbursement rate to 100% of that of Medicare. There are also proposals to ease debt loads for medical students who go into primary-care fields or who practice in underserved areas and to increase residency training. What's more, the bills look to build a more team-based approach to health care, which may turn out to be just as important in wooing new PCPs and keeping existing ones practicing. Health-care reform: See our complete coverage.
Improving working conditions

"There really needs to be sustained support for developing a strong primary-care infrastructure," O'Malley said.

A winning strategy involves not only addressing the significant pay gap but improving PCPs' working conditions "so they don't have as much burn-out," she said.

"In order to increase or maintain your current level of income, you've got to see more patients in less time," O'Malley said. "That means less time to really hear what patients' needs are and meet the patients' needs.

"There are certainly more efficient ways of delivering primary care than what we're doing," she added.

One model that looks promising is known as the patient-centered medical home, where patients have access to timely, well-organized health care through a PCP who works with other doctors and health professionals to help them navigate the complex delivery system.

Moving toward a patient-centered medical home model may attract more medical students into primary care, likely increasing capacity as it increases efficiency, Heim said. But she warned it's not a cure-all for the PCP shortage.

Many AAFP member doctors tell her that quality-of-life factors weigh heavily on them in addition to the pay gap relative to subspecialists, Heim said.

"They're very tired of fighting with insurance companies, of having to deal with a system that's very fragmented," she said. "They look at this big discrepancy and say 'This just isn't right.'"

[Demeter]

5. MOVE-ON.ORG PETITION

The Senate is taking up health care reform tomorrow. But some conservative Democratic Senators are still trying to kill the public health insurance option.

Instead of opposing it outright, they're pushing a sneaky proposal called a "trigger" that could delay it indefinitely—by forcing us to wait for the health care crisis to get even worse before the public option becomes available.

And with critical votes starting tomorrow, these senators are ramping up their efforts to insert a trigger into the bill. We've got to send an overwhelming message right away that the trigger is unacceptable, and show the Senate that voters demand a real public option.

Can you sign the petition?

http://pol.moveon.org/notrigger/?id=18023-5294166-OBA5lkx&t=3

The petition reads: "We can't afford to delay health care reform with a trigger. The Senate must pass legislation with a national public health insurance option that's available immediately."

[Demeter]

6. Chitty Chitty Bang Bang - Original Trailer 1968

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gCk8QPK6XDQ

[Demeter]

7. Dogbert Gives WEE A Run for Its Money

http://dilbert.com/dyn_file/str_strip/74148/gif/strip.print/

[Demeter]

8. And the Beat Goes On: China opens banking doors to Taiwan

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/218c1af6-d2d4-11de-af63-00144feabdc0.html

Taiwan announced on Monday night that it had signed a financial memorandum of understanding with China that will allow Taiwan’s banks to tap China’s massive market and pave the way for banks on both sides to invest in each other.

The long-overdue agreement, which will take effect in two months, does not amount to much on paper. Both sides had already made commitments to open their markets to every other World Trade Organisation member when they joined the WTO several years ago, but had simply not applied their WTO commitments to the cross-Strait relationship until now....


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qU10TZs1ow0

[Demeter]

9. UN links climate with hunger

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/99bc96e0-d293-11de-af63-00144feabdc0.html

The world cannot achieve food security without first tackling global warming, the United Nations secretary-general said on Monday, warning that failure at next month’s international climate change negotiations would result in a rise in hunger.

The warning by Ban Ki-Moon at the start of a three-day UN world food summit in Rome came one day after Barack Obama, US president, backed European and UN views that the Copenhagen summit would not produce a legally-binding agreement to tackle global warming.

“There cannot be food security without climate security,” Mr Ban said. “Today’s event is critical,” he said, referring to the food summit, “so is Copenhagen.”

Mr Ban’s comments signal how leaders are grappling with the need to respond coherently – and simultaneously – to energy, food and climate challenges. “The three are key for political security and stability,” said Alexander Muller, assistant director-general at the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation.

Jim Fitzpatrick, UK minister for food, farming and environment, told the Financial Times that food and climate security were “two sides of the same coin”.

MY ENGINEERING SENSE THINKS THAT FARMERS AND AGRICULTURAL SCIENTISTS WILL FIX THE FOOD ISSUE LONG BEFORE ANY PROGRESS IS MADE ON THE POLITICAL SCENE...

[Demeter]

10. Western investor’s lawyer dies in Moscow jail

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/8846e0da-d37b-11de-9607-00144feabdc0.html

A lawyer representing William Browder, the foreign investor who was barred from Russia, has died in a Moscow jail amid an escalating war between the activist investor and the Russian government over claims of tax fraud and corruption.

The death of Sergei Magnitsky, 37, on Monday night will reignite questions over Moscow’s campaign against Mr Browder’s Hermitage Capital Management, once Russia’s biggest foreign portfolio investor, just as it seeks to entice investors back into the country.

Mr Magnitsky and his lawyers had filed numerous complaints that he was being denied medical treatment for pancreatitis, which developed after he was detained late last year on charges of tax evasion as part of a probe against Hermitage.

Hermitage said on Tuesday that Mr Magnitsky’s lawyers had been told that he died of a ruptured abdominal membrane just days after a court in Moscow ruled to extend his detention.

Mr Magnitsky’s colleagues accused the police on Tuesday of deliberately worsening the conditions he was being held in during his detention at the notorious Butyrka jail, to force him to testify against Hermitage.

“The police killed him,” said Jamison Firestone, managing partner at Firestone Duncan, the Moscow law firm where Mr Magnitsky worked.

“I don’t know whether they intended to kill him or put too much pressure on him . . . but they wanted him to fabricate evidence to make their case stronger against Hermitage ... These officers would tell him he could be released if he gave the right testimony.”

The interior ministry denied the claims, saying that the case against Mr Magnitsky was solid and that they had no interest in causing his death because they had hoped to convict him when he was brought to trial.

It said Mr Magnitsky’s cause of death had yet to be determined, but that a preliminary investigation showed he had died from toxic shock and heart failure.

IS THIS WHY BERNIE MADOFF WANTED INSIDE?

[Demeter]

11. SOURCE OF THE OBAMA SURPLUS? US tax amnesty reaps billions for Treasury

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/12465b26-d390-11de-9607-00144feabdc0.html

Hundreds of wealthy Americans with offshore UBS accounts to be handed over by the Swiss government to the US authorities are alleged to have used false documents, sham entities and other fraudulent methods to evade paying tax.

About 250 of the 4,450 names to be handed over to the Internal Revenue Service, the US tax authority, used a “scheme of lies” and are suspected of committing serious fraud, the Swiss Justice Department said. The rest are suspected of simpler tax evasion.

The details came as Switzerland revealed the benchmarks it would use to determine which UBS client accounts it will turn over to the IRS as part of a historic agreement with the US government. The US is pursuing an aggressive campaign to crack down on offshore tax evasion.

The Swiss government agreed to hand over the 4,450 names as part of the deal that was reached in August. But the criteria used to select the names were revealed yesterday.

In recent months, Americans with undeclared offshore accounts have faced pressure to come forward to the US government.

Douglas Shulman, the IRS commissioner, said on Tuesday that about 14,700 individuals from about 70 different countries had voluntarily disclosed secret offshore accounts at the Swiss bank and other banks to avoid possible criminal prosecution. The number is almost double the initial amount announced in October and dwarfs the number of voluntary disclosures in 2008, when there were fewer than 100.

“We have now gained access to thousands of taxpayers and bank accounts that we have never had before,” said Mr Shulman. “We are serious about piercing the veil of bank secrecy.” The IRS and US prosecutors are searching the voluntary disclosures to pursue banks and others that may have helped in evading tax, he said.

Referring to the names to be handed over by the Swiss, Mr Shulman said the agency was most interested in large accounts, account holders who had displayed the most egregious behaviour and those accounts that would have been most difficult for the US to identify on its own.

The Swiss Justice Department said it would hand over the names of US residents with UBS accounts holding more than SFr1m between 2001 and 2008.

It would also turn over names of US citizens holding offshore company accounts with UBS if they are suspected of “tax fraud or the like” regardless of where they live.

The criteria spells out specific examples of what would constitute a “scheme of lies,” including use of false documents,related entities to repatriate funds in the offshore accounts, calling cards to disguise the source of trading, sham entities and debit or credit cards to repatriate funds for the payment of personal expenses.

If there is suspicion of such conduct, holders of accounts with 250,000 or more Swiss francs could also be turned over.

[Demeter]

12. Deal nears to end ‘banana wars’

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/a3a62ddc-d3a7-11de-8caf-00144feabdc0.html

European and Latin American trade officials are close to a deal over bananas that would end the longest-running dispute in the history of the World Trade Organisation and could lead to lower prices for consumers.

A draft settlement seen by the Financial Times calls for the European Union to cut sharply duties on bananas and dozens of other tropical products. It could be signed this week, said people familiar with the talks.

The parties are still in talks with the US but are confident the same terms would win Washington’s backing.

The “banana wars” date back to 1993 and have generated animosity and recriminations among the primary parties and within the 27-member EU.

The proposed settlement could also boost the sputtering Doha round of world trade negotiations by ironing out tariffs for dozens of tropical products, according to European officials. It could also clear the way for the EU to conclude free trade agreements with countries in Central and South America.

The dispute hinges on an EU policy from 1993 to grant preferential access to bananas from former British and French colonies in Africa, the Caribbean and Pacific region. That drew waves of successful trade complaints from Latin American exporters, such as Ecuador and Honduras, who produced bananas at a fraction of the price. The US, home to companies such as Chiquita Brands and Dole, joined the fray.

AND BEFORE ANYONE ASKS, NO. I WILL NOT BE DOING WOODY ALLEN. HE WAS ONLY FUNNY BY ACCIDENT, AND HIS PERSONAL LIFE LEAVES ME DISGUSTED....

[Demeter]

13. GM to slash capacity by 20% in Europe

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/7424dc0a-d3a9-11de-8caf-00144feabdc0.html

...Nick Reilly, Opel’s acting chief executive and head of GM’s international operations, said the carmaker hoped to have agreement in principle on loans or guarantees from governments where it has plants within three weeks, and a restructuring plan implemented by the end of this year.

GM is seeking €3.3bn ($4.9bn) to restructure Opel and invest in new products. It says it is willing to provide some of the amount itself, depending on the outcome of its talks on government aid.

Mr Reilly made the remarks after talks on Tuesday on potential loans or guarantees with Peter Mandelson, Britain’s business secretary, and on its restructuring plans with Unite, the trade union.

This week, he held similar talks in Belgium and Poland, where GM also has plants, and will now be visiting Spain.

Mr Reilly said: “There is not a specific bidding war among countries where we say, ‘If you give us this much, we will give you this much capacity.’”

However, he said that “if a country refuses to participate at all, then of course it could influence plans somewhat.” ....


BLACKMAIL BY ANY OTHER NAME...B(USINESS)S(CHOOL) 101

[Demeter]

14. Worried nations try to cool hot money

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/1b2dcb18-d550-11de-81ee-00144feabdc0.html

Many Asian currencies fell against the dollar after Indian and Thai officials spoke about the possibility of restricting flows of hot money

A string of countries have edged towards imposing capital controls to stop short-term speculative inflows driving their currencies higher amid concerns about the growth of an emerging market asset bubble.

On Thursday Brazil, which surprised the markets a month ago by imposing a 2 per cent tax on the inflow of money destined for financial assets, said it would further tighten those restrictions. The finance ministry imposed a new 1.5 per cent tax on the issuance of depository receipts, assets that allow Brazilian companies to offer shares on foreign exchanges.

The move comes amid a flurry of miscellaneous policy changes by emerging markets, designed to slow inflows of foreign money, and comments from public officials about capital controls. Economists said that while most of the moves were modest, they did underline the challenges many emerging markets faced in trying to prevent both rapid appreciation against the dollar and the inflation of asset bubbles.

“This is a policy dilemma common to many countries,” said Gerard Lyons, chief economist of Standard Chartered bank. “It all links back to the CNY .”

With the renminbi pegged to the dollar, despite pleas from Washington to let it float, emerging market currencies climbing against the greenback also rise against the Chinese currency, making companies less competitive against China’s low-cost manufacturers. Last week Taiwan imposed restrictions on overseas investors placing funds in time deposits. Financial markets have been on the alert for any country following Brazil and Taiwan’s lead.

“Recent measures from Brazil and Taiwan curbing capital inflows send a clear signal: emerging market policymakers are far away from accepting a sustained reallocation of portfolio capital from the west, and its liquidity and currency implications,” said David Bloom at HSBC.

On Thursday, a significant number of Asian currencies fell against the dollar after senior officials in India, Indonesia and Thailand spoke publicly about the possibility of intervening to restrict flows of hot money in search of high yields.

The Indonesian rupiah suffered its biggest decline since February, in spite of official attempts to play down suggestions by Hartadi Sarwono, deputy governor of Bank Indonesia, that the bank was “studying” restrictions on foreign purchases of short-term bank debt. The rupiah fell for a fourth day, the longest consecutive negative sequence since April, after Darmin Nasution, senior deputy governor, said the bank was “seriously” studying such controls, but had no plan to implement them.

In India, Ashok Chawla, finance secretary, said the government might take steps to slow capital inflows if foreign investments surged, because of exporters’ concerns that a stronger currency would reduce their international competitiveness.

In Hong Kong, Norman Chan, head of the Monetary Authority, warned that with surging capital inflows into Asia, asset prices in the city might go up sharply and “become increasingly disconnected from economic fundamentals”. Hong Kong reported a record HK$567.5bn (US$73.2bn) in fund inflows between October 1, 2008 and last Friday, according to the HKMA.

Ronald Arculli, chairman of Hong Kong’s top exchange, also told Bloomberg on Thursday that “we’re seeing signs of potential asset bubbles” in Asia.

In Bangkok, Tarisa Watanagase, governor of the central bank, said the bank would “step in to take care of the baht when it is needed”. Local newspapers have said the bank is also considering capital controls, citing senior officials.

Dr Tarisa said there was no need for capital controls because the baht was moving in line with other regional currencies.

Meanwhile, South Korea said it would tighten its control over foreign currency liquidity at local banks to make them less vulnerable to capital flight. The Financial Supervisory Commission said on Thursday it would limit banks’ foreign currency forward deals with exporters to prevent a repeat of the liquidity crunch last year at the height of the financial crisis.

Capital controls have a mixed reputation among Asian emerging markets. The surprise imposition of restrictions by Malaysia in 1998 during the Asian financial crisis has been credited by some with keeping it relatively immune from the aftermath of the meltdown. But controls imposed by Thailand in 2006 during a political crisis sparked the largest one-day fall in Thailand’s stock market.

I CAN SEE IT NOW, GOLDMAN SACHS EMPLOYEES WITH THEIR WHEELBARROWS OF CASH RACING AROUND THE WORLD TRYING TO KEEP AHEAD OF THE MASSIVE INFLATION THEY UNLEASHED...

[Demeter]

15. Block on Minsheng deal costs US $1.7bn

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/245e6872-d542-11de-81ee-00144feabdc0.html

US authorities blocked Minsheng, the Chinese bank, from acquiring a Californian lender in a deal that could have saved almost $300m of taxpayers’ money and $1.4bn from an industry insurance fund, say people familiar with the matter.

Minsheng had asked the Federal Reserve for permission to acquire UCB, a San Francisco bank, but the application was not approved before the struggling US lender had to be seized two weeks ago by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.

As President Barack Obama travelled to China last week, regulators in both countries were mopping up after the UCB failure. The bank’s assets in the US and China were transferred to East West, a US bank that, like UCB, served the Chinese-American market in California.

The Fed had warned it could not approve the Minsheng application quickly because the law obliged it to consider closely whether an acquirer’s home regulator practised sufficient “consolidated supervision”. The FDIC decided it could not wait before stepping in to protect depositors.

The seizure of UCB is expected to cost the FDIC’s insurance fund about $1.4bn; the US taxpayer all of its $298.7m investment in UCB Holdings, which was made via the troubled asset relief programme; and Minsheng $120m for the 9.9 per cent stake it had already built in the San Francisco bank.

“This may rank in the top 10 mistakes by the government in dealing with the financial crisis,” said Ken Thomas, an independent bank analyst. “I am really disappointed that any branch of our government . . . could step in and turn away an offer that would have reduced the cost to the taxpayers.”

The US Treasury, the FDIC and the Fed all declined to comment on the specific case. However, the Fed said: “Chinese authorities are working hard to meet the standards that would permit them to buy banks in the United States but these things can take time. We’ve been working with them as they seek to implement standards for consolidated supervision and they’re making real progress.”

A senior Chinese official said that co-operation over the wind-down had worked well but added: “The dialogue over whether Minsheng was allowed to raise its stake in UCB was not so good.”

[Demeter]

16. Beazer chief warned of possible SEC action

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/662a86b4-d308-11de-af63-00144feabdc0.html

The US Securities and Exchange Commission is considering filing a lawsuit to claw back bonuses from the chief executive of Beazer Homes, which last year settled allegations of misstating earnings.

The SEC has sent Ian McCarthy a so-called Wells notice, warning that it might bring a civil action against him “to collect certain incentive compensation and other amounts”, according to a regulatory filing on Monday. Mr McCarthy is not accused of any wrongdoing. A Wells notice is usually followed by a formal complaint by the SEC, but in rare cases it decides not to press forward.

The SEC has offered Mr McCarthy an opportunity to offer an explanation to persuade the regulator not to file a lawsuit and he “intends to respond”, according to the filing.

Beazer Homes itself was not named in the Wells notice, sent last Friday.

While the SEC does “not allege any lack of due care” by Mr McCarthy in connection with the company’s financial statements, it is seeking to recover money paid to him under the 2002 Sarbanes-Oxley Act’s “clawback” provision.

This requires executives to return performance-based pay and bonuses, as well as stock sale profits, if a company is forced to issue an accounting restatement “as a result of misconduct”.

In September of last year, Beazer Homes, without admitting or denying any wrongdoing, reached a settlement with the SEC which had alleged that the company had “fraudulently mis-stated its net income” for some periods between 2000 and 2007 and had restated its financial statements in May 2008.

In the past, the SEC has only pursued executives it had accused of being involved in fraud.

However, in July the regulator decided for the first time to use the “clawback” law against an executive not accused of any wrongdoing, when it filed a lawsuit to recover $4m in bonuses paid to Maynard Jenkins, former chief executive of CSK Auto, whose profits were allegedly inflated by accounting fraud committed by others.

Mr Jenkins was not involved.

That case is in the initial stages of litigation.

At the time of the complaint, Mr Jenkins’s attorney said he looked forward to demonstrating in court that “the law does not permit such overreaching against an admittedly innocent person”.

Robert Khuzami, director of the SEC’s division of enforcement, has claimed that the “personal compensation received by CEOs while the companies they serve engage in wrongdoing can be clawed back”.

Beazer Homes has been the subject of other regulatory actions, including an agreement this year with the Department of Justice in which it agreed to pay up to $53m to resolve mortgage fraud allegations.

[Demeter]

17. GSK deal draws smokers’ vaccine closer

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/f32e2cb4-d2fe-11de-af63-00144feabdc0.html

Smokers may soon be able to break their habit with an injectable vaccine that prevents nicotine in tobacco entering the brain, where it creates a highly addictive sensation of pleasure.

The NicVAX vaccine moved closer to the market on Monday after a deal between GlaxoSmithKline and the US biotech company Nabi Pharmaceuticals, which developed the product....

....The vaccine helps create antibodies that bind to nicotine molecules, preventing them from passing from the blood into the brain. Trials have shown that it halves the number of people returning to their habit compared with those given a placebo over six months. Those vaccinated were 3.5 times more likely not to be smoking again after a year.

Jean Stephenne, president of GSK’s Biologicals division, said: “If approved, this . . . technology could be a novel solution to help the millions of smokers who want to stop smoking and remain abstinent; a habit that is well documented to be very hard to stop permanently.”...

I DON'T KNOW. MY MOTHER DIED OF CANCER DUE TO SMOKING 11 YEARS AGO, AND SEVERAL OTHER RELATIVES SUFFERED SMOKING RELATED EARLY DEATHS. BUT TO MESS AROUND WITH THE BRAIN CHEMISTRY....AND NOT DO BETTER THAN THAT?

[Demeter]

18. Lehman seeks $10bn clawback in Barclays suit

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/40eac97a-d30f-11de-af63-00144feabdc0.html

Attorneys representing the estate of Lehman Brothers filed a lawsuit on Monday against Barclays Capital, seeking to claw back as much as $10bn (£5.9bn) that it claims was transferred to the UK bank last year in the frenzied days following Lehman’s bankruptcy.

The suit is the culmination of a one-year quest by Alvarez and Marsal, the consultancy hired by Lehman following its sudden bankruptcy filing in September 2008, to determine whether billions of dollars worth of assets were improperly transferred to Barclays when it negotiated a deal to acquire the remains of Lehman....

[Demeter]

19. Time to Feed the Kid

I'll leave you with this snippet from tonight's featured film:

The Child Catcher

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XcsK-Ck43LU


and the Chitty Chitty Bang Bang title tune:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kDIacLGmFf8


"Reception

The film went significantly over budget, but was a box office hit. Although it received favorable reviews in the UK, Europe, and the East Coast of the United States, Hollywood was unkind in its reviews. Movie critic and historian Leonard Maltin considered the picture "one big Edsel, with totally forgettable score and some of the shoddiest special effects ever."

I'm sure Hollywood was just jealous of the English production which is simply gorgeous. The writing was on the wall, as Hollywood descended into violent schlock, Britain became the premier English film producer.

[ozymandius]

22. Financial and Economic Situation Could Get Ugly Fast by Mike Whitney

Crewleader's DU thread here.

Original column found here.

Excerpt:

Things could get ugly fast. With the Democrats backing-off on a second round of stimulus, the Fed signaling an end to quantitative easing, and Obama moaning about rising deficits; there's a good chance that the stumbling recovery could turn into another sharp plunge. Bank lending is shrinking, consumers spending is off, housing prices are falling, unemployment is soaring and the wholesale credit markets are in a shambles. This isn't the time to slash government support in the name of "fiscal responsibility". Obama needs to ignore the gloomsters and alarmists and pay attention to the Nobel laureates like Joe Stiglitz and Paul Krugman. They're the guys who know how to steer the ship to safe water.

But there are troubling signs that Obama has joined the ranks of the deficit hawks and is planning a policy-reversal that will pitch the economy into a nosedive. Here's what he said on his tour through Asia:

"I think it is important to recognize if we keep on adding to the debt, even in the midst of this recovery, that at some point, people could lose confidence in the U.S. economy in a way that could actually lead to a double-dip recession."
.....

Has Obama perused the jobless figures lately? Has he noticed the Fed shoving more than a $1 trillion under the collapsing housing market with no sign of improvement? Has anyone told our blinkered accountant-in-chief that the entire financial system is propped-up with $11.4 trillion of dodgy scaffolding that could buckle in the first big gust?

[Demeter]

23. So Now Mike Whitney Quotes Me?

Truth is, it's gonna get ugly faster than Obama can screw it up by fighting deficits.

This baby's gonna blow! We will be lucky to make it past Christmas.

[DemReadingDU]

27. Thanks for the weekend thread

I too wonder how we can make it to Christmas. Yet, I thought we wouldn't make it to 2009 either.

[Demeter]

32. A Lot of People Didn't Make It

The brutality of the Bush-Reagan-Goldman economy is shameful.

[bread_and_roses]

26. apocalypse now? 15 Signs American Society Is Coming Apart

I have read all these things before, but seeing them compiled like this makes me for one quake in my boots. If any of us wonder at the sense of unease - even fear - we seem to walk around with these days (or at least I do) - here's the picture

15 Signs American Society Is Coming Apart at the Seams

http://www.alternet.org/workplace/144109/15_signs_american_society_is_coming_apart_at_the_seams

15 Signs American Society Is Coming Apart at the Seams

By David DeGraw, AlterNet. Posted November 21, 2009.

Are we nearing a tipping point as rapacious elites push a heavily armed populace too far?

1) The inequality of wealth in the United States is soaring to an unprecedented level.

2) As the stock market went over the 10,000 mark and just surged to a 13-month high, the three big banks that took taxpayer money and benefited the most from the government bailout have just set a new global economic record by issuing $30 billion in annual bonuses this year

3) The profits of the economic elite are “now underwritten by taxpayers with $23.7 trillion worth of national wealth."

4) Workers between the ages of 55 to 60...have lost an average of 25 percent off their 401k. During the same time period, the wealth of the 400 richest Americans went up by $30 billion, bringing their total combined wealth to $1.57 trillion.

5) Home foreclosure filings "hit a record high in the third quarter (of 2009)… President Obama has enacted a $75 billion taxpayer funded program that has been a spectacular failure in stemming the foreclosure crisis and has proven to be another massive waste of billions of taxpayer
dollars.*
*my italics added

6) 25 million people are unemployed or underemployed.

10) Although the government’s official figure tries to low-ball the number, 47.4 million U.S. citizens live in poverty, and the U.S. poverty rate is the highest in the industrialized world.

11) * 50 percent of U.S. children, one out of every two children, will need to use food stamps to eat.

14) ... The demand for guns and ammunition has hit a record high and the gun industry cannot produce enough bullets to keep up with orders.

15) In the past year, 100 new armed militia groups have been formed

more on each at link... wonder if any of our resident Little Miss/Master Sunshines have posted this? I wonder if someone will send it to Obama?

[DemReadingDU]

28. scary things

A few more people are opening their eyes, and see things are not as rosy the administration wants us to perceive them. Yet, how do a few thousand people make enough noise for the media to pay attention to us? A few thousand protesters might make the local news, but it takes tens of thousands, hundred thousand, to get the national media's attention.

Maybe people will understand the recession is not over, that it is getting worse and show more outrage when their credit cards are denied.

[Ghost Dog]

29. Obama asks for patience on economy

Sat Nov 21, 2009 6:02am EST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama on Saturday urged Americans to show patience over the economy and argued that his just-concluded Asia trip was critical for U.S. exports, countering criticism he had returned empty-handed.

...

"Even though it will take time, I can promise you this: we are moving in the right direction; that the steps we are taking are helping," Obama said in his weekly address, amid signs that the public is getting impatient for results.

...

U.S. growth jumped in the third quarter, ending the longest economic slump the country has suffered in 70 years, but this has not yet translated into a faster pace of hiring.

Obama's December 3 jobs forum will gather leaders from business and labor to review how to boost credit to small business, encourage firms to hire and boost green jobs and other ideas.

But the White House has already said it will not be about a second stimulus package, potentially limiting how much of a dent the initiative will be able to make in the 15.7 million Americans who were drawing unemployment aid in October.

Obama signaled that any measures hammered out during the jobs conference would have to be fiscally responsible.

"It is important that we do not make any ill-considered decisions -- even with the best of intentions -- particularly at a time when our resources are so limited.

"But it is just as important that we are open to any demonstrably good idea to supplement the steps we've already taken to put America back to work. That's what I hope to achieve in this forum," he said.

/... http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSTRE5AK0K920091121

:dunce:

[hamerfan]

30. Thanks, Demeter!

And everyone else who contributes here. I rarely do, but I always read and recommend.
:kick:

[Tansy_Gold]

31. How much more patience?

First it was wait until he got sworn in, then 100 days, then six months, and now it's almost a year.

HCR was supposed to be done by August. It's now almost December. It ain't done.

Tax cuts haven't even been addressed.

Gitmo ain't gonna close.

The wars wear on.

Job losses have slowed, but when the barrel's almost empty, it leaks slower, too.

I feel like I wanta take Obama -- and/or Biden -- by the shoulders and shake some sense into him. I mean, he's not stupid. He's just out of touch. Get rid of Geithner, Summers and Rubin. Put Elizabeth Warren in at Treasury and give her a mandate to hire some seriously Progressive -- with a capital P -- economists. No more business as usual, pun intended. Regulate the hell out of Wall Street. Impose higher taxes on unearned income. Impose tariffs on imports.

Let the chinese continue to make their cheap plastic junk, their melamine dog food, their sulphuric drywall -- and SELL IT TO THE CHINESE PEOPLE. Let them have their own economy, and let us have our own, too.

Keep It Simple, Stupid. But get it done quick. The quicker the better. People won't wait for ever.


Especially


Tansy Gold

[CatholicEdHead]

34. Look at it this way

HCR is still alive, so not a failure yet.

Tax cuts are set to automatically expire, less political capital to let them expire quietly then push hard to repeal them.

Gitmo is running into problems closing in Congress (funding)

Afganistan is now the main focus and part of the recent delay is the short and long term strategies.

Iraq is off the news cycle, but we need a pullout plan with dates.

[Tansy_Gold]

35. I'm sorry, but I'm not able to look at it that way.

Afghanistan has been going on for eight fucking years. EIGHT FUCKING YEARS. Obama had all all his time in the Senate to examine it and all his time campaigning and now he's had a whole year as president (since the election if not the inauguration) and he still doesn't have a strategy???? When's he gonna get one? 2022???? He's going into an election year and he has not yet made good on even one of his big campaign promises. NOT ONE.

health care? In progress.
Afghanistan? no change.
Iraq? no change.
Economy? Oh wall street's doing just great but main street? no change for the better, maybe some for the worse.
DADT? no change
gay marriage? no change (Oh, that's right. he didn't campaign on this one)

His "stimulus package" has done little to revive the economy, because it has not put people back to work. Yes, it has allowed some states and cities to maintain services -- teachers, fire and police, etc. -- but the foundations of the US economy continue weak. No jobs means no spending on major purchases like cars and houses. Far too much of what IS spent is going right to China, enabling the Chinese economy to buy us up, with our money! TARP went to the already rich who were too stupid/greedy to survive but "too big to fail." C4C cleared out some inventory but that's over now and nothing much has changed.

Whirlpool shuts down 1000+ jobs in Indiana and moves to Mexico; no one (in the administration) says a word. The excuse was that the company needed to cut production in the recession (depression) when sales were down http://www.manufacturing.net/News-Whirlpool-To-Cut-1100-Jobs-Close-Factory-082809.aspx but then why move production of something you're not selling to a cheap labor market? Well, of course, it's not that they're not selling; it's that the company can make more profit if the fridges are made by Mexican employees making $2 an hour and no benefits than if they're made by Americans make $15 and hour plus benefits.

Didn't Obama say something in the campaign about paying more attention to Main Street and less to Wall Street? Something stopping the outflow of manufacturing jobs? or was he just verbally dancing around the issues? Saying things that sounded good but didn't quite say what we thought they said?

Patience is fine, but it does have a tendency to run out.



Tansy Gold

[DU GrovelBot]

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