Month: June 2010

Does Regulation Really Work?

Inkwell Institute

Federal Budget/Deficit Series

There is a big debate in Washington and among the radical Left and Right on whether financial regulation will work or not…..and a question that deserves an answer….something we will not get from the pundits and their minions…..

This, of course, is just my opinion….but I think it is a pretty good answer, but then I am biased…..

It is obvious that left to their own devices corporations will NOT do the right thing or control and regulate themselves…..look at Wall Street…..look at the oil spill….look at the health industry….look at….oh well you get my point I believe…..

I know…I know there are those that do not like the direction that our government size is going….and I agree, somewhat, to what is being said….but  (there is always a but)…..something has got to be done…..if not then these types of disasters will continue on a rapidly expanding pace…..

Paul Krugman made some intersting points in his blog on regulations…..

Well, here’s the thing: regulation demonstrably does work where tort law doesn’t. Consider the environmental issue: in reality, the perpetrators of oil spills never pay most of the cost; but in reality, environmental regulation has led to much cleaner air and water. (Look up the history of Los Angeles smog or the fate of Lake Erie if you don’t believe me.)

So why does regulation work? If polluters can buy off the system ex post, after a disaster, why don’t they manage to totally corrupt regulation ex ante? There’s a lot to say about that, and I’m sure there’s a literature I haven’t read. But one thing we tend to forget in this age of Reagan is the importance and virtues of a dedicated bureaucracy: when you have professional government agencies with a job to do, and treat them with respect, that job often gets done.

While Krugman is speaking mostly of the oil spill and regulation….it can be said that federal regulation does work for the areas that I have mentioned above……

While I agree with Krugman on the main point, I also see where regulation can be compromised by the influx of massive amounts of cash to the regulators from the businesses being regulated.

There is the conundrum of regulation……Greed can neutralize much….

Palin For President–2012?

From the Scriptorium

Much has been speculated about the future of one Sarah Palin….questions like….will she run for president?  Will she continue her onslaught of the government?  Just what is her plan?

Pat Buchanan, a conservative analyst, one who I seldom agree with but do respect his insights has an opinion on Palin’s future run….this from Newser website….

Pat Buchanan takes a look at Sarah Palin’s winning endorsements and political calculations and doesn’t mince words: “Though the media have painted Palin as a ditz, no politician in memory has conducted a more brilliant pre-presidential campaign,” he writes at RealClearPolitics. He adds the qualifier “if that what she’s about,” but makes clear he thinks the White House could be hers.

In her endorsements, Palin doesn’t just automatically go for the most conservative candidate. She shows a smart “pragmatic” streak. “The one explanation that makes the most sense of all the seeming inconsistencies in endorsements is that Mama Grizzly is thinking about moving the Wasilla brood into the big house.”

Where he sees her an astute future politician….I must disagree…..yes she seems to have an uncanny way of picking who she will endorse…to me it does not show any in-depth analytical process….more like the loudest mouth against the government and the president….

Buchanan is good at what he does, but on this I feel think he is a bit off center.  She has a lot of baggage to eliminate before she could run…like quitting the governorship of Alaska half through her term….like boning up on reality and the world of issues and policies….slogans are cute but they cannot govern a country….fake anger is showmanship, plain and simple…..and she needs to stop using that poor baby as a prop, as a piece of luggage……..

The truth of the matter is when she works a crowd she is NOT looking for supporters but rather consumers….consumers for her books, speeches, etc.  It is not so much about the White House as rather the bank book.

If she was elected, she would be a 2 year president…..I said two year NOT two term….why?  Her past!  If she cannot handle a state like Alaska, she sure as Hell cannot handle a whole country and the problems of the world….

Stop The Brit Bashing!

Daily Agitator

There has been a lot of blame thrown around over the oil spill that BP made…..and across the pond we are being warned……

This from the Evening Standard in the UK……

Senior Tories today warned Barack Obama to back off as billions of pounds were wiped off BP shares in the row over the Gulf of Mexico oil spill.

Mayor Boris Johnson demanded an end to “anti-British rhetoric, buck-passing and name-calling” after days of scathing criticism directed at BP by the President and other US politicians.

Former Conservative Party chairman Lord Tebbit branded Mr Obama’s conduct “despicable”. And with the dispute threatening to escalate into a diplomatic row, Mr Johnson also appeared to suggest that David Cameron should step in to defend BP.

There seems to be a bit of a disconnect here…….politicians in the UK are up in arms about the US bashing the country……I hate to piss on their parade but NO one here is blaming the country of Great Britain for the oil spill….however we are pretty pissed at a company called British Petroleum (BP)…..but I do not believe that anyone here thinks that they are one in the same entities……as I have said in the past, Americans are not the brightest bulbs in the pack, but I do NOT believe that anyone is stupid enough to blame a country for what a corporation has done.  Unless of course, the corporation is running the country……

I mean, on come, even the CEO of BP has stated for the record that it is the responsibility of the company to make good on the losses that they have created….

Apparently the news coverage across the pond is not being accurate and are trying to lather the people up for NO good reason……maybe it is just political spin for some reason…kinda the way some are blaming Obama for the spill….whatever the case it is f*cking wrong to do so.

This news does NOT pass the sniff test……Sorry my friends but NO one is blame the UK!

Revisionism–It’s The Government’s Fault

Daily Agitator

From the VOMITORIUM

We have all heard the rumblings from the Right…..the government is at fault….does not matter what we were talking about…it is always the government’s fault.  It never fails someone will accuse the government of something and then there will be hundreds jumping on the bandwagon….right now it is the oil spill in the news and yes, you have it, it is the government’s fault…..

As usual I was watching the early morning news and came across CNBC’s famous Maria Barto……whatever her name is…and this morning while the panel was discussing the oil spill she said that it was like the finanacial crisis…the government’s fault…because there were no less than 400 agerncies involved in the regulation of the financial sector…this was her example…..and she tied it to the agencies that oversee the drilling stuff…she made a point to emphasize that less regulation was better somehow…..

It struck me that she was for no regulation and uncontrollable greed….yes!  I said GREED!…..in the financial sector and in the oil industry.  I mean this kinda irritated me….because capitlaism has become a dis organized operation that enoronously rewards price fixers, exploiters, con artists, gamblers, stock manipulators and in general most forms of corruption…..it has created a class of thieves with NO policemen.

I will, in sorts, agree with Maria and agree that she is a spokesperson for this class and a cheerleader of uncontrollable greed……and IMO she is probably the best person to be the spokesperson for the Banksters (bankers + gangsters…a term popular in the 1930’s).

Like I said, I agree with her, somewhat…..it is the government’s fault……Why?…I knew you would ask that…..the government was moronic to trust the industry, whether it be financial or oil, to do the right thing and play fair…that is the first mistake of the government…..2nd mistake was allowing Clinton and his Gang to repeal Glass-Steagall….3rd mistake was a treasury department with its head up its butt and lastly and the most important mistake was the American people for putting their blind trust in a group of NO CLASS people to represent them in Washington.

This returns me to Maria…..she, like ALL other journalist, have an agenda and that agenda is one of hegemonic control……l know…huh?  Anything done to promote and control the system and the media is our hegemonic control….and Maria is doing her part to further the agenda that the government is too large and in being so is at fault.  If you think I am wrong then just listen to the questions that the pundits ask the guests on their shows….they are all leading questions and the answer will be used to continue this control.  So the theory is if you say something is so long enough and often enough…it will be believed.

Watch the boob tube and especially the news….pundit after pundit will come forward and make this claim or that and after a significant amount of time a poll is taken and the results will show whether the mind control has taken or if further indoctrination is needed.  And the American people are perfect subjects for this type of control.

Economic Reasons To Vote In 2010

The primaries are in full swing as we speak, but the real test will be in November when the many general elections will take place…..there are many reasons to vote….smaller government, the deficit, hatred of a Rep….many reason….but I believe that the main reasons for voting this year will be the economy and its solutions…..

Eavon Javers of Politico has put together a very fine list of economic reasons to vote…..

1. August jobs report

August jobs report — which comes out September 3rd — will likely set the tone for the fall political campaigns. A strong, upward trending number will mean the Obama administration and congressional Democrats can hit the campaign trail bragging that their policies are working. An anemic report, and House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) and other Congressional Republicans can — credibly — continue to complain, “Where are the jobs, Mr. President?”

2. Third round of stimulus reporting

News from the first reporting period last fall was anything but reassuring: jobs reported in non-existent congressional districts, bogus zip codes, and a debate over the meaning of “saved or created” jobs. The Obama administration’s protests that some amount of human error is inevitable in such an unprecedentedly large transparency effort notwithstanding, stimulus critics had a field day. The Obama administration says it has fixed the reporting problems that bedeviled the first data rollout.

Now, with the federal budget deficit and Obama’s spending serving as rallying cries for an increasingly potent conservative tea party movement, the numbers due to be submitted to the government by a July 10 deadline are going to be watched more closely than ever, as Obama’s critics seek any evidence to show that the stimulus isn’t working, and Democrats sift for data that prove it is.

3. Second quarter GDP report

But just how much growth will be the key question. The first-quarter number showed the economy expanded at 3.2 percent in early 2010, which was less robust than the 5.6 percent growth that it saw at the tail end of 2009. That gave political bears (that is, Republicans) a chance to argue that Obama’s policies weren’t achieving traction, and the U.S. might be headed for a “double dip” recession.

The second-quarter number will establish a trajectory — and let both bulls and bears know whether a double dip is in our future or not.

4. Third quarter trends

Many economists estimate that the economy will begin to tail off in the third quarter of 2010 as federal stimulus spending begins to taper off, too. So the months of August and September — which will help set the public’s impression of the economy ahead of the election — will be crucial. If the estimates are right, watch for the White House to argue that the economic softening is less than expected — and for Republicans to pounce on any evidence that the economic recovery is faltering.

5. Bernanke’s choice

The Fed has injected more than a trillion dollars of liquidity (read: cash) into the U.S. economy in the wake of the crash of 2008, and as the economy recovers, Fed Chief Ben Bernanke & Co. will be under increasing pressure to pull back and raise interest rates to stem nascent inflation.

Interest rates have been at close to zero for a year and a half, and some in Fed land are beginning to openly talk about raising rates. During a speech June 3rd, for example, Atlanta Fed chief Dennis Lockhart said, “The time is approaching when it will be appropriate to consider recalibrating interest rate policy.”

There are many choices that can be made when one stands in the election booth, but it is my opinion that none of it will matter if the economy is still in the crapper…..

Oil Spill Conundrum

From the VOMITORIUM

The oil spill in the Gulf is getting expensive and BP has set about making their PR campaign pay off…..they have bought all the domain names that they could so that when the word “ol spill” was Googled the first thing the person sees is the PR tape from BP…everytrhing looks good…all rainbows and puppies….

I have heard the BP CEO and many many political types saw that “we must make sure that this NEVER happens again”…….and how would that be accomplished?  Do you let the industry police itself?  Well that did not work out so good with this spill we are fighting now, huh?  Then that means the government would have to step in a send investigators to EVERY rig to make sure that safety equipment is in proper working condition…..right?  In a time when everyone is screaming about how large the government has become and now you want to grow the bureaucracy that oversees the drilling for oil by some 200+% to be sure that this type of thing NEVER happens again.  In essence this would grow the size of government considerably…are you people smoking crack?

So the answers are either trust a oil giant like BP to police themselves or grow the government even more than now…..is that about it?

I have heard many politicians in Washington say the the government is not doing enough on the spill……these a/holes are the ones that have been cutting the budget of the EPA for decades and now they want a bare bones organization to have the quick fix….do you NOW see just how moronic this whole damn system has become?

As usual I have an idea…..I know I always have a better idea…..well better in my mind anyway….But first the new news out of the Obama Admin……

The Obama administration is asking federal agencies to identify how to trim 5 percent of their budgets, a top official will say Tuesday.

Peter Orszag, the director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), said the administration has directed non-security agencies to name ways in which they could reduce spending, primarily by axing poorly performing discretionary programs.

See it is just not the GOP that is moronic!  If this was before the spill I would bet that the EPA response program would be part of this cut because it has NOT been needed in years…..

Like I said…there is a solution to this ever happening again….at least to my way of thinking, that is….

My answer is really simple, but it will piss off those who work bringing in the oil for our massive addiction……if you want to make sure that another spill does not spoil our environment and you want smaller government then the ONLY answer is…….OUTLAW OFFSHORE DRILLING!

There would be NO chance of a blowout like we are dealing with now and you would NOT need the governmental branch that would oversee such operations…..This would make CERTAIN of NO more underwater oil spills and would shrink the size of the Federal government…..it would be win-win for both sides of the aisle….

SEE!  you can have your cake and eat it too!

Women Rule Mid-Term Elections

Inkwell Institute

2010/2012 Election Series

For the most part the normal mid-term election primaries are about as boring as watching flies mate…for the most part the 2010 ones were No exception…..but…..there were few races that caught my eye….why?  Women!  I like women and political women are just hot…for the most part…but this time around there was more to the campaigns than just political diatribes…..to be honest there was some real funk going on…..

Meg Whitman in Calif has spent over $80 million in a primary and the general is coming on strong……is the running of a bankrupt state really worth $80 million?  Fiorina will take on Boxer for the Senate seat as the outsider……

South Carolina, the attractive Tea Party candidate has won a run-off for the GOP nomination, Nikki Haley, even after allegations of a couple of sexual affairs were thrown around….she said she would resign if they can be proven…keep an eye on that see if that campaign promise will be kept….

Blanche Lincoln has pulled her political butt out of the fire by making a comeback against Halter in the primary and now she will move on to the general against the GOP candidate and will most likely lose her seat in the anti-Washington sentiment of the Arkansas voter.  But I think that her voting record and campaign donations may bite her harder in the butt than labor did in the run-off.

But the favorite of all the races has been Nevada…..one candidate wants to use barter like chickens for health care to bring down the cost but the best is the one that is currently in the lead……Angle….the whackier of the women in this race…..she does not think that alcohol should be legal, she wants to pull out of UN, wants to disband Social Security, just a few of her more scarier of beliefs…..the good news is that she will most likely face Harry Reid for the Senate seat….he should have an easy campaign….that is assuming that the people of Nevada are not complete idiots.

Women have had this mid term dance a bit more interesting than it would have been without them…at least for me….the mid-term elections are usually just a rubber stamp of the political dance and then when it becomes something more….thanx to the American voter and their anger at the way Washington is doing business….

Assault On The Public Sector

Inkwell Institute

International Studies Group

European Desk

I know there will be opinion upon opinion about the new government in the UK…..there seems to be the same anger there as in the US, but I would like to hear from my friends in the UK on a story that I read…..please, I just want a take on the story, I am not condemning or condoning…just wondering…..

In a story by Chris Talbert:

Conservative Chancellor of Exchequer George Osborne and Liberal Democrat David Laws, chief secretary to the Treasury stood side by side to announce a £6 billion package of cuts on Monday. Laws said that the announcement was intended to send a “shockwave” through every department of government.

The package of cuts reflects the priorities set out last week in the coalition’s Programme for Government. Conservative Prime Minister David Cameron and his Liberal Democrat deputy Nick Clegg unveiled the programme amid some nervousness from the Tory right, which feared that their visceral class instincts might be toned down by the presence of Liberal Democrats in the government. But, as the Daily Telegraph immediately recognised, “behind some obvious Lib Dem language, the hard-line Tory policies have survived almost precisely intact”.

I realize that every country has to make decisions on where to cut the “fat” but is it the best place to start?  Could not the bureaucracy of these countries be the place to start?  Maybe save the entitlement programs for last?  I realize this is not the only answer but is it just easier to attack entitlements first?  It seems so in the US….entitlements are ALWAYS the root of all deficits…..the Boogie Man if you will……..

It Is Not The First Time!

From the VOMITORIUM

By now we have all heard the news of last weeks Israeli attack on a aid ship bound for Gaza….if not let me help…..

Israel attacked a flotilla of ships in international waters carrying food, medicine and other aid to Gaza, killing at least 10 civilians on board and injuring at least 30 more (many reports now put the numbers at 19 dead and 60 injured).  The Israeli Defense Forces is claiming that its soldiers were attacked with clubs,  knives and “handguns” when they boarded the ship without permission, but none of the Israeli soldiers were killed while two are reported injured.  Those on the ships emphatically state that the IDF came on board shooting (though see this video and discussion here, as well as this).  An IDF spokesman said:  “Our initial findings show that at least 10 convoy participants were killed.”   (Salon website)

A horrible thing to happen, right?  Well there is more to this story that has gotten little to NO play on the media sites in the US…..one of the people killed by Israeli commandos was an American citizen……

A 19-year-old American citizen is among the nine victims of Israel’s deadly raid on the Freedom Flotilla Monday, the New York Times is reporting today.

Furkan Dogan, who was born in the U.S. and lived here for four years before moving to Turkey with his parents, was shot once in the chest and four times in the head in close range, according to the article.

For the first time the Israelis have killed an American in their battle with the Palestinians……thinking….thinking…..well that is not quite accurate……Israel has killed Americans in the past…….USS Liberty….(see next post for more on this attack)

Now my question is….how long will this situation continue…..it degrades both sides of the conflict to allow it to go any further than today.  I am NOT assigning blame here just telling what I know and you be the judge….

USS Liberty Incident (Revisited)

UpDate:  This is a re-post of an article I wrote several years ago and today, 08 June, is the 43rd anniversary of this incident

USS Liberty Incident

Recently I visited a local Naval Retirement Home with the hopes of interviewing some WWII vets and to get some interviews for a piece I was working on about the feelings the vets had after the war was over and if there were any problems readjusting to civilian life.  There were 4 vets at the home, two were away visiting family, 1 was in the hospital and the last did not want to talk.

My try was a bust!  I was sitting in the on property “food court” having a sandwich and coffee and trying desperately to think of another topic to write on.  About halfway through my meal a guy approached me and asked me what ship I served on.  Well, I was surprised at first and then told him I had served in the Army.  Then jokingly ask me, “what the hell is a grunt doing here?”  I smiled and told him about my idea for an article.  He thought for a few minutes, then said “that’s bullshit, boy”.  “Ever heard of the USS Liberty attack?”  I thought and thought, but could not come up with a good answer other than no, when was that?

He started his story and told me to take notes.  I did as I was told.

The gentlemen had been a bridge officer on the USS Liberty, a sigint ship.  A ship used to intercept signal intel and process it.  The date was 8 June 1967 and the ship was in international waters off the Sinai.  On 8 June the ship was flown over by Israeli recon planes and according to the officer when the crew on deck saw it was Israeli they began to wave and as the plane flew over it dipped its wings in recognition.  Next they were approached by several Mirage III jets, the French jets that only Israel flew at the time and they fired on the ship and then the ship was attacked by three Israeli gunboats with torpedoes.  The ships leadership did not fire back and the ship was flying a large American flag and has its ship’s ID clearly posted.

The gentleman told me that 34 sailors had died and that the crew received orders to not discuss the situation or the attack under threat of courts martial.  He said that the inquiry into the attack had found that it was an accident and was regrettable.  He laughed and said, “The SOBs knew exactly what they were doing and the bullshit about being missed ID as an Egyptian ship was an outright lie.”  I ask him what about the other ship.  He said the ship in question was about half the size of the Liberty and had Arabic ID, not in English.

He told me to this day he hated Israel, not because of some religious bullshit (his term) but because the assholes (his term) killed some very good friends and good sailors.  He said the sooner someone squashes the worthless fuckers (his term),  the better he will sleep.

We talked a bit more and he gave me two websites he said for me to check out and then make my decision.  He then abruptly stopped talking and said “gotta go, the ladies are waiting”.

http://www.ussliberty.com/

http://www.usslibertyinquiry.com/

This is an extremely interesting case–I have read as much as I could digest on this attack and I prefer to believe the sailors that experienced the hell……..

But I say check it out for yourself and decide who is right and who is wrong.

22/12/04

Postscript–I thought about this piece and decided to show it to the gentleman I had talked with;  when I went to talk with him I was told he had died from a stroke.  I spent most of January 07 deciding whether to publish the story or just let the whole thing go.  I decided to tell the part that I got from the aged sailor and let the reader decide for themselves.