February 27, 2009

A Little Slum Dog Style

Enjoy the Weekend.

Damages

The latest economic data shows that in the last quarter of 2008, the final three months of the Bush administration, the economy shrank at the rate 6.2 percent. The full result of eight years of Bush Administration policies is a shrinking economy. An economy that is shrinking very, very fast.

So how the hell can Karl Rove, of all people, can sit there and claim that the Obama Administration is going to cause "long-term fiscal damage to the United States?" We are living in the wreckage he created and he is going to lecture us? Stay away from economic policy, Karl. How about you go play with matches down at the local gas station, you can cause less damage that way.

February 26, 2009

Stay on Top of Things

See the front page of every paper in the world.

Track ever move Obama is making.


You know, I'm pretty sure that if I only had one of those cables that connected straight from my computer to my brain, I could know everything.

Nice, Um, "Field"

Next years Louisiana Senate race is an early contender for best campaign ever. The incumbent is David Vitter, who remains on the scene and remains extremely sanctimonious despite getting caught up in the DC Madam scandal. And by "Caught Up" I mean caught with his pants down.

Lining up to challenge him, is Tony Perkin one of the more extreme religious right leaders on the scene today. Gee, I wonder what his issue with Vitter is? God only knows what Perkin's secret kink is.

But wait, there's more. Also considering a run in the race is porn star Stormy Daniels. I'm pretty sure she's more honest than the other two. You vote for a porn star, you get a porn star. You vote for the responsible family man, you get the high patron of hookers.

Also, the link to the Draft Stormy site is here. Don't go randomly googling Stormy Daniels. That can get you in trouble. I know my readership, and you all are wasting time at work.

February 24, 2009

Nerd Failure

You know, most of the time I'm happy to celebrate nerds and all they offer modern life. The computer, the pocket protector, chemistry, the awkward conversation, math, live action role playing. All the product of nerds. All of which make our lives better. But the financial crisis represents something else. A nerd failure. In this story from Wired magazine we learn about the dazzling mathematical formulas that "solved" the financial system. These formulas quantified risk. Only they didn't. The math failed. The risks were much, much grater than calculated. The results are the crash and burn that we are all living with today. Brought to you, sadly, by nerds.

February 23, 2009

The GOP You Can Work With

Pretty much consists of Arnold Schwarzenegger. Check him out on This Week. He's saying all the stuff that the Congressional GOP isn't. Too bad Schwarzenegger only means of working with Obama is spending the money Obama sends him. Which is more than some GOP Governors.

February 20, 2009

Laws of Big Numbers

Lot's people want me to know that a billion is large number. I just got anouther forwared right-wing e-mail, going on and on about how big a billion is. And now we have commercials running the famos "Jeasus Math"

"Suppose you spent $1 million every single day starting from the day Jesus was born — and kept spending through today,” says the announcer over a diorama picture of the three wise men and a camel. “A million dollars a day for more than 2,000 years. You would still have spent less money than Congress just did.”

But we need to spend money to do stuff. Lots of money! There are 300 million Americans. The American economy is worth something on the order of 12 trillion dollars a year. This economic downturn means its going to come up several trillion dollars short. The stimulus is designed to make up that shortfall. The Iraq war is costing us at least a trillion dollars. We are a huge country with huge problems and we need to spend large amounts of money to accomplish anything. We could spend 792 thousand dollars in order to make conservatives not feel as small, but it wouldn't matter. A fifty thousand dollars stimulus might be more comprehensible to the small-minded, but it wouldn't be worth the paper it's printed on.

February 18, 2009

No Kidding

Who could have possibly thought that the man appointed by Blago could later get tripped up in ethics questions?

Turns out, everyone but Roland Burris.

February 17, 2009

Sauced

I hope we can count on Hillary doing better than this. The Japanese Foreign Minister has resigned in shame after appearing drunk at a press conference. Its has to be "in shame" because, well, Japan.

Just Lie

Lots of conservatives are complaining about how long the stimulus bill was and how little time everyone had to read it. But conservatives are just going to lie about what was in the bill anyway. There's no need to actually read the thing.

February 13, 2009

"Boldness" is Not Their Problem

The headline is Gregg flip-flop emboldens GOP. But being bold is never the GOP problem. Bush remained bold right up to the moment he got the hook. Republicans have been very outspoken in their attacks on the President and his agenda, even now, in his honeymoon and at his most popular.

The GOP's problem is bad ideas. It doesn't matter how bold you run forward if you run straight into a wall. If tax cuts for the rich worked, we wouldn't be in this mess.

I don't know how many bad electoral beats it will take to take the boldness out of the GOP. What I'm wondering is how much will it take to beat some sense into them.

Pirate Setback

Points to Russia.

February 12, 2009

Dear God

Will ever find a Commerce Secretary? Will our long national nightmare never end? Apparently a dispute broke out over the Census, which is one of the few things the Commerce Secretary actually does.

She Can Save Us

I'll admit when I hear a solution to the banking crisis called the "Swedish Model" I end up thinking of something more like this:



But what we are really talking about is how Sweden handled its own banking crisis back in the 1990's. Basically we nationalize the insolvent banks, wipe out the current shareholders, sort out the assets, and then resell the banks back into the private sector. Its hard on the current bank management and the current shareholders, but it's the best deal for taxpayers and the best way out of this mess.

Of course lots of people are balking at the word "Nationalization." So I say we tell those people that the banks are going to be taken over by a group of six-foot tall blonds.

We can get everyone behind the "Swedish Model" if we sell it hard enough.

February 11, 2009

INSOLVENT

You know, I'm really starting to think that there is a real problem with the banks in this Country.

February 10, 2009

President Smart

During Obama's presser last night I was struck by this answer about the financial crisis:

Well, first of all, I don't think it's accurate to say that consumer spending got us into this mess. What got us into this mess initially were banks taking exorbitant, wild risks with other people's monies based on shaky assets. And because of the enormous leverage where they had $1 worth of assets and they were betting $30 on that $1, what we had was a crisis in the financial system. That led to a contraction of credit, which in turn meant businesses couldn't make payroll or make inventories, which meant that everybody became uncertain about the future of the economy, so people started making decisions accordingly -- reducing investment, initiated layoffs -- which in turn made things worse.

Now, you are making a legitimate point, Chuck, about the fact that our savings rate has declined and this economy has been driven by consumer spending for a very long time -- and that's not going to be sustainable. You know, if all we're doing is spending and we're not making things, then over time other countries are going to get tired of lending us money and eventually the party is going to be over. Well, in fact, the party now is over.


Could you imagine the previous President able to explain the economic downturn like this? The Bush version of the above would have been something like "bad bets by bankers, got drunk, um, hangover, now credit clogged up like a toilet, we got to get ourselves a plunger and clean it out." Bush was dumb and talked to the American people like we were dumb. Not this President. He assumes that if giving a real, intelligent answer, not some stupid off-point folksy BS metaphor, they will understand.

February 9, 2009

Something To Watch

Former Iranian President Mohammad Khatami is going to challenge Ahmadinejad in the upcoming Iranian Presidential election. Now, mostly this is for show, cause real power in Iran lies with the clerics, but Ahmadinejad is a favorite of the Bomb, Bomb, Bomb Iran crowed with his wack-a-do statements against America and Isreal. Khatami is a well-known reformer. Right wingers love to build up Ahmadinejad as the "Hitler of our time." I know, again. It would be very helpful to the cause of world peace if the Ahmadinejad were to get his ass voted out of office. My advice to Khatami: run on the economy.

My Online World

When I think to myself "Valentines day is coming up, I better move some romantic mushy stuff to the top of my Nexflix's queue so that it gets here in time" you know that the digital age has officially arrived.

February 6, 2009

Drink Beer, Save the Planet

More reason to love Sierra Nevada Pale Ale.

Hope Vrs The Sausage Factory

More of this.

Obama just won a convincing electoral victory. The GOP got torn to shreds. They need to be scared of him. He needs to go after them hard. They need more stick, less carrot.

February 5, 2009

Time to Throw an Elbow

The classic story is the talented basketball player who was getting man-handled in the low post. So his coach tells him to throw a brutal elbow in a nationally televised game, so he wouldn't have to throw anouther one.

I know Obama doesn't want to play this game. But he's getting man-handled by less talented players who are playing dirty.

He needs to throw an elbow.

For example:

Worse Job Report in 26 year!

The GOP is being profoundly stupid about the economy!


The GOP is being stupid while Americans lose their jobs!

GOP stupidity is causing Americans to lose their jobs!

That's not so hard, is it?

February 4, 2009

Hanging Around

Blago is still on TV.

Dick Cheney is still evil. And wants his nation to be evil like him.

Where is this "change" I keep hearing about.

February 3, 2009

Daschle Out

Daschle is out for HHS. I'm having to switch mental gears about resignations. Back in the day, deal was, some Administration official got caught not paying taxes on his car and driver, that meant some incompetent fool who lied us into war or let NOLA drown or approved the clear cutting of virgin forest was losing their job. But today it means that effort to get us all better health has been hurt.

The game has gotten more fierce.

The Long and the Short

Conservatism is Dead.

The long version can be found in The New Republic, where Sam Tanenhaus carefully spends thousands of words carefully making the case.

Short version: Joe the Plumber is now a Republican strategist.

February 2, 2009

No, No, No!

Bad Republicans!

Sarah Palin is not your future.

Sarah Palin is a fleeting diversion. A joke. Something to keep us all entertained in the long, long campaign cycle. Someone to boost the career of Tina Fey.

She is not a leader for this Country. She is ten kinds of potential disaster as a canidate and a hundred potential disasters in office.

Dear God No.

February 1, 2009

Rock On

How was it for you?

Good Clean Fun

You really haven't lived till you've watched the Team Fortress 2 Meet the Team Videos.

Here's Meet the Sniper to get you started: