Where's the Outrage?

• Department of Justice has gone back to US District Court to ask for a stay in the court’s injunction preventing embryonic stem cell research.
• Although the mainstream press has tried to paint Glenn Beck has that changed man, I’m not sure that I saw much change. I know that he is not responsible for the actions of every single individual at his rallies but there was plenty of ugliness at his rally. Oh, by the way, was Glenn Beck’s rally much like a 12 step program?
• I’m not sure what it says about your preparation when you freeze during your opening statement. Governor Jan Brewer did just that. The governor has gone to greater and greater lengths to explain why she has to take such a harsh stance against illegal immigration. Back in July she stated, “our law enforcement agencies have found bodies in the desert, either buried or just lying out there, that have been beheaded.” No news or law enforcement agency is able to verify this shocking claim. Reporters ask her about this discrepancy (below)

• While we are struggling through the worst recession since the Great Depression, it appears that many CEOs, especially those who’ve laid off the most workers, are doing just fine.
• We know that tax cuts for the rich work… this is just intuitive. We don’t need any data. We know this just like we know breathing is good and not breathing is bad. At least that’s what Representative Mike Pence would have us believe.
• House Democrats are saying no to Social Security cuts.
• Federal income taxes on the middle class are historically low levels. I wonder if McCain were in office if we would hear all of this about tax cuts.
• I know that the Dallas Cowboys beat the Miami Dolphins in the final preseason game of the year, I’m not sure that the Dallas Cowboys have given us, the fans, much to look forward to. Our offensive line has been simply awful. As far as I know, it is really hard to pass or run without an effective offensive line. I will not pretend to speculate on what’s wrong. I will only say that in the simplest of terms, the offensive line is about blocking someone on the defensive line for 1-3 seconds. We don’t seem to be able to do this. (By the way, do you have your fantasy football team lined up?)

Tags: Economy, House of Representatives, Sports, Stem Cell by ecthompson
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In a debate your opening statement should setup a framework. This is what you have done and this is why you should get re-elected. You can use your opening statement to attack your opponent. What you NEVER want to do is stare down at your notes like you don’t know what’s going on. You have had days to prepare your opening statement. There is no excuse for …

Wow. That was something. If you wanted everyone to think that you aren’t prepared and that they shouldn’t trust you, this was perfect.

Tags: Domestic Issues by ecthompson
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Dear Congressional Democrats/Independents:

I’m not sure what it is that you’re focused on but America needs jobs. We need a lot of jobs. The number of people who are unemployed or underemployed is astronomical. Big business has rolled up big profits yet they’re not hiring. Medium-size businesses have also made money but like large corporations, they’re skittish about the future and are not hiring. Tax breaks are not to make corporations all of a sudden have a rosy outlook for the future and begin hiring. We need more.

For some time I’ve been talking about green jobs. I’ve been talking about major investment in solar energy, wind energy, geothermal energy and any other sustainable energy. Yet, our investments have been modest.

We need major investments in our infrastructure. We need to rebuild roads, bridges and schools. Maybe investing in a light rail system is exactly the infrastructure project that we need. California, Texas, Florida and the Northeastern corridor desperately need efficient ways to transport large groups of people around their states. This would be a public works project that would put millions of people back to work. I am positive, that each state, already has plans for such a project. Investing in infrastructure be something that cannot be shipped off overseas. It would put Americans to work. This is exactly what we need.

I understand that the American taxpayer is tired of writing checks to everyone but themselves. I also understand that millions are frustrated. In my opinion, the source of the frustration is that most of the American people have not seen benefits to their efforts. After forking out over $750 billion, the stimulus package has reduced the unemployment rate from an astronomical 11.5% to the current 9.5% (new unemployment numbers should be coming out tomorrow). The stimulus package has saved or created over 3 million jobs. This is great but it’s yesterday’s news. We have to do more. You have to do more.

Finally, there seems to be a fixation on Capitol Hill in retaining both houses of Congress in the hands of the Democrats/Independents. Americans are in a Janet Jackson mood, “What If You Done for Me Lately?” If your answer is we almost reformed Wall Street, we bailed out the big banks, we’ve almost pulled out of Iraq and we sort of fix the economy, that’s not good to cut it with the American people. If you want to save your jobs, you’ll put America back to work. The unemployment rate has to be below 7%, in my opinion. Good luck.

Tags: Congress, Economy by ecthompson
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Median income according to latest statistics is approximately $50,000 per year. (This statistic can vary depending upon how the data is collected and analyzed.) No matter how you slice up the information, the five fastest growing occupations are barely enough to put food on the table, gas in your car and keep the lights on. Only one occupation, registered nurse, has an average starting salary that is anywhere near the median income (about $60,000 by my calculations). The rest of these are far below the median.

From EPI:

While a lack of jobs is arguably the biggest problem facing the labor market, another major concern is the quality of the jobs that are being created. The Figure presents the five fastest growing occupations between 2006 and 2009 and shows that all but one of them pays below the median wage in May 2009 of $15.95 an hour.  The two fastest-growing occupations, home health care and food preparation and serving, pay closer to the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour than the median wage. A food preparation worker’s typical wage of $8.28 an hour would earn an annual salary of $16,560, based on a typical 2,000-hour work year: That salary is just below the 2009 poverty threshold for a family of three. Warehouse stock clerks, another fast-growing occupation, would earn slightly more than $20,000 per year.

In addition, three of the five fastest growing occupations – home health aide, medical assistant and registered nurse — are in the health care industry. While registered nurses earn a median wage of more than $30 an hour, the disproportionate growth in health care jobs points to a lack of robust job growth across the labor market. The most recent jobs data show that every industry – with the exception of health care, education, and the government – has fewer jobs today than before the recession began, strong evidence that demand is weak across the entire economy.

Tags: Business, Economy by ecthompson
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Really? Or has he infiltrated the clubhouses so much that he is everywhere? I know several conservatives that “never listen,” but they all know the things that he has said.

I have been blogging for over five years. I have thousands of posts. I would be surprised if you could find more than 10 posts on Rush. Maybe I have another 10 on Beck. For awhile I would listen to O’Reilly’s talking points memo and comment on a weekly basis, but it got boring.

In order to get attention you need to act a fool in today’s world. So Beck will say that Obama doesn’t like White society, Dr. Laura will use the N-word over and over again and Rush will refer to Obama as a half-frican. Their ratings will spike as liberals go crazy that anyone would say anything so crazy. Then the cycle will repeat over and over again.

Liberals have shied away from this type of ratings grabber which is why Air America went down in flames – several times. It was boring. Olbermann uses his Worst Person in the World segment as a substitute for what the right does. It has worked pretty well. None of the other shows have anything that is close to Olbermann’s ability to grab attention.

We have lost the ability to debate in this country. Half of us have our minds made up before the debate starts. At first there is some data presented on both sides. There may even be a third or fourth side of the debate at the beginning. Then the name calling starts as it becomes clear that neither side will give an inch. The third or fourth sides of the debate are now dropped. Finally, there have to be a couple of references to our forefathers, the Constitution and patriotism. There is no resolution to the issue and we move on to the next topic.

This is the sad state of political debate in our country.

Tags: Domestic Issues, Media, Party Politics by ecthompson
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We are all focusing on New Orleans and the Gulf Coast as we remember Hurricane Katrina. Let me start by saying I love NOLA. I love the people and the culture. I started blogging just a couple months before Katrina. I knew that the levees had broken hours before MSN reported it because of discussion boards on the Internet.

I took this picture in 9th ward 3 years ago.

9th ward

So what are the lessons?

• there should be no political considerations when doling out aid
• experts are experts for a reason. They should be in charge of planning and resource management.
• we as Americans do a bad job of planning for future problems. Money was consistently diverted from the levees into projects that would give politicians “more to run on.”
• there is no excuse … We must get help to everyone within 48 hrs. There is no excuse.
• this could happen again.

What are your thoughts? What lessons have you learned?

From HuffPo (written by Janet Napolitano):

We’ve also made tremendous progress since Katrina and Rita in improving our country’s ability to prepare for, respond to and recover from major disasters of all kinds.

An example of this progress is the recovery efforts this summer following the worst flooding in more than a century in Nashville, Tenn. These floods took the lives of more than 30 individuals, devastated communities, and threatened the safety and livelihoods of hundreds of thousands of residents. Despite this historic damage, our swift and effective response demonstrated what a difference preparation, coordination between federal, state, and local governments, and the quick deployment of resources to local communities can make.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), an agency within the Department of Homeland Security, played a key role in the government’s response. But as our FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate would be the first to say, preparing for — and responding to — disasters truly is a shared responsibility. While we continue to strengthen and streamline efforts to prepare for disasters at the federal level, citizens, families, communities, faith organizations, and businesses all have an important role to play in our collective response to emergencies.

Tags: Domestic Issues, Katrina by ecthompson
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Michael Enright From NYT

I don’t pretend to understand what was going on in Michael Enright’s head. The details of this terrible act are coming to light. I hope that everyone will wait and listen to all of the evidence before condemning Mr. Enright.

It was the first fare of the cabdriver’s shift. A young man hailed him at the corner of Second Avenue and East 24th Street, wanting to go to 42nd and Second. It was 6 p.m. on Tuesday; the traffic was dense.

Once the fare, Michael Enright, a 21-year-old film student who had been recently trailing Marines in Afghanistan, settled in the back, he started asking friendly enough questions: Where was the driver from? Was he Muslim?

The driver, Ahmed H. Sharif, 44, said he was from Bangladesh, and yes he was Muslim.

Mr. Enright said, “Salaam aleikum,” the Arabic greeting “Peace be upon you.”

“How’s your Ramadan going?” Mr. Enright asked, Mr. Sharif said.

He told him it was going fine. Then, he said, Mr. Enright began making fun of the rituals of Ramadan, and Mr. Sharif sensed this cab ride might not be like any other.

From NYT:

“So I stopped talking to him,” Mr. Sharif said. “He stopped talking, too.”

As the cab inched up Third Avenue and reached 39th Street, Mr. Sharif said in a phone interview, Mr. Enright suddenly began cursing at him and shouting “This is the checkpoint” and “I have to bring you down.” He said he told him he had to bring the king of Saudi Arabia to the checkpoint.

“He was talking like he was a soldier,” Mr. Sharif said.

He withdrew a Leatherman knife, Mr. Sharif said, and, reaching through the opening in the plastic divider, slashed Mr. Sharif’s throat. When Mr. Sharif turned, he said, Mr. Enright stabbed him in his face, on his arm and on his thumbs.

Mr. Sharif said he told him: “I beg of you, don’t kill me. I worked so hard, I have a family.” (more…)

Tags: 9-11, Religion by ecthompson
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With ugly economic news raining down on us like a monsoon, I think it is important to ask if the stimulus helped. Was it worth it?

First the badness:

Sales of newly built homes dropped to their lowest level since the government started tracking the numbers more than four decades ago, with demand for home purchases down in all four regions of the country.

The Commerce Department reported Wednesday that new homes sold in July at an annual rate of 276,000, down 12.4 percent from June and down 32.4 percent compared with the same time last year.

First, I would like to say what everyone knows. The housing sector was overbuilt. There are too many houses that are sitting empty now. New houses are not going to sell with so many old houses sitting idle. Loans for new houses are going to be harder to get and this isn’t necessarily a bad thing. The housing sector is not going to be our economic engine in the next decade. It can’t be.

Unfortunately, it is hard to cheer up a man who is watching his house burn by reminding him that at least he has your health. The Stimulus has saved millions of jobs. The American auto industry is selling cars again. Mark Zandi, chief economist for The Economist, stated:

Former McCain economic adviser, and longtime stimulus defender, Mark Zandi took issue today with House Minority Leader John Boehner’s criticisms of President Obama’s economic policies, and with multiple GOP calls for Obama’s top economic advisers to resign.

“I think we’d be in a measurably worse place if not for the stimulus,” Zandi said at the Christian Science Monitor breakfast this morning. “If we had not had the stimulus…we’d have fewer jobs today than we actually have.”

Zandi was responding to Boehner’s contention yesterday that stimulus spending “has gotten us nowhere.” Asked whether he agreed with Boehner, Zandi said “no.”

“Without the stimulus spending,” Zandi insisted, “instead of a 9.5 percent unemployment rate, we’d have an 11.5 percent unemployment rate.”

In addressing questions about the size of the stimulus he stated:

“I would have made it larger,” Zandi said. “I think we underestimated — significantly underestimated — the severity of the situation that we were in and still are in. And that that would have argued for a larger stimulus package.”

Tags: Economy by ecthompson
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Back in April I wrote about the failure of Countrywide and Indy Mac and Washington Mutual. At the time I was accused of glossing over Senator Chuck Schumer’s role in bringing down Indy Mac and the whole financial industry. The real story is long and more complex than simply Chuckie did it.  It was in late June 2008 when Chuck Schumer was making noise about Indy Mac. But what about months earlier? What about the little-known analyst who is stuck in the bowels of CIBC World Market and had the nerve to write the truth? She was specifically writing about Citigroup, but could’ve been writing about any of the large Wall Street firms. Their problems were similar.

She wrote:

Our thesis is simple. We believe in the near term, Citigroup will need to raise over $30 billion in capital through either assets sales, a dividend cut, a capital raise or a combination thereof. We believe such a catalyst will pressure the stock significantly lower and accordingly downgrade to sector underperformer from sector performer as of October 31.

Citigroup stock opened at $42 per share on October 29, 2007. This was a Monday. By Friday, after Meredith Whitney released her stock analysis, the stock dropped to $38 a share. Within weeks the stock was trading at $30 a share. Nearly a third of its value had been lost. The Dow Jones industrial average lost more than 350 points over $369 billion were lost.

Citigroup is currently a shadow of its former self. Its stock price and selling somewhere around $3.50. Its CEO, Chuck Prince resigned less than a week later. Interestingly, Prince took the CEO position in 2003. He was being paid $25 million a year and Citigroup stock did nothing besides lose value. So, for doing less than nothing, he got a severance package worth $140.1 million.

So, I guess, this puts Indy Mac into a little bit better perspective. Stanley O’Neal, CEO of Merrill Lynch, resigned in October of 2007 after reporting the largest loss in ML history. Citigroup gets called out by Meredith Whitney in late October 2007. They actually had to slash their dividend two weeks after her announcement, just as her analysis predicted. Meredith Whitney is now looking like a guru on Wall Street. The underlying problems of Wall Street, though, should have been seen by everybody. Everybody jumped into the pool of toxic mortgage derivatives. Whether Meredith Whitney was lucky or not isn’t the point. She was right more times than not in 2007 and 2008. She had the strength and the courage to stand up and say, “The Emperor has no clothes.” For this she should be applauded.

Tags: Economy by ecthompson
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In the late 1970s, Sonny and Cher sang this cute tune. They were singing to each other. Now our Senators are singing the same song to Wall Street. Brown-Kaufman was a reasonable proposal. It limited the size of banks to a percentage of our GDP. The proposal went down in flames. Why? Wouldn’t limiting bank size actually help the middle class? I thought that’s what Congress wanted to do… help the middle class?

Simon Johnson has more:

The Brown-Kaufman SAFE Banking Amendment proposed a hard size cap on our largest banks, limiting their assets to a very small fraction of the size of our economy.  The premise was simple – and could fit on a bumper sticker (or in a campaign flyer for November) – “too big to fail” is too big to exist.

But this proposal to modify the Dodd-Frank financial reform bill failed in the Senate in early May, by a vote of 33-61, with 27 Democrats voting against the idea.  Since that time, Democratic supporters have been asking their representatives the obvious question: Why did you vote against Brown-Kaufman?

Interestingly, no senators yet have replied – at least on the record – that the power of the megabanks was too great to be overcome.  Instead, there are three main arguments going the rounds.

First, some argue that the Brown-Kaufman would by itself not have completely solved all the problems that can cause our financial system to meltdown.  As one senator put it in a recent letter, “[Brown-Kaufman] would not solve the problem of systemic risk and systemically important institutions in a comprehensive manner.” [Read more →]

Tags: Economy by ecthompson
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Much has been written (most of it worthless) on the controversy over the Cordora House in New York. Build or no build. I have written on it. I’m positive that I haven’t changed anyone’s mind.

Matthew Alexander adds his voice to chorus.

The Cordoba House would be a powerful symbol of U.S. tolerance and freedom that will stand in direct contradiction to al Qaeda’s narrative that Americans hate Muslims. As a symbol, its construction demonstrates that the U.S. is not at war with Islam and that Muslims are welcome in America. It communicates a message of moderation that stands in stark contrast to al Qaeda’s bankrupt ideology.

As I discovered as a high-level interrogator of al Qaeda members in Iraq, symbols like this matter. Abu Ghraib, Guantanamo Bay and the policy of torture and abuse handed al Qaeda its number one recruiting tool. Those who think al Qaeda will not be able to spin this controversy to their advantage are disastrously mistaken — but it can be a victory for America as well.

The political uproar over the Cordoba project, and in particular the use of harmful, bigoted rhetoric by some opportunists, leaves America facing a choice. It can project one of two symbols: One of integration, acceptance and positive affirmation of American values; or one of intolerance, rejection, and animosity. The former will work to undermine al Qaeda as part of a long-term strategy to defeat them. The latter will bolster Islamic extremists’ arguments that America is an intolerant country hell-bent on war with Islam, aid recruitment efforts and add support for more terrorist attacks.

The choice is obvious. Let’s build the Cordoba House.

Tags: Domestic Issues, Religion by ecthompson
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I’ve been furiously reading about the economic meltdown. There are so many factors and so many people involved. The system is so complex. For those of us who never studied economics, this has been an eye-opening experience. I foolishly thought that huge Wall Street firms had some amount of cash on hand. This cash would then be used to fund the trades of that firm and its clients. Well, this just proves that I’m old and misinformed. That is not how it’s done.

The repo market, repurchase transaction, grew up in the late 80s and early 90s. These amount to short-term loans which these large financial institutions like Goldman Sachs, Lehman Brothers and Citibank depend on on a day-to-day basis. As I understand it, in order to operate, these financial giants and large banks will raise billions of dollars on a day-to-day basis in order to fund their operations. These loans are backed with the securities that are held by these financial institutions. The loans can be as short as 24 hours and as long as a week to 10 days.

It is unclear how large the repo market really is. According to one professor, the repo market is $12 trillion (that is trillion with a T.)

So, one source of the major collapse of Bear Stearns and Lehman Brothers was the repo market. If your stock is getting hammered, for whatever reason, and people are worried about your financial health, it is understandable that these short-term loans would become problematic. Those institutions lending money weakened asked for more and more collateral. Therefore, as in the case of Bear Stearns, some institutions asked for more collateral every single day for the same loan. Finally, as the rumors continued to mount, those institutions simply stopped lending money. This is money that you use every day to operate. Without the money, you’re stuck in the water without paddles.

This repo market was one of the reasons that these extremely large institutions collapsed so quickly. Now, I have not read every single word of the Wall Street Financial Reform Act. I don’t think they addressed the repo market at all. This seems to be a huge problem in our financial system. Maybe it’s more politically correct to state that it is a “huge challenge.” It seems to be nothing but craziness to me.

What are your thoughts on the repo market?

Tags: Business, Economy by ecthompson
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I continue to be amazed at the fervor that is being generated by a mosque that is being planned two blocks from Ground Zero. I have a few questions for those that are outraged.

1. How far away from Ground Zero is okay? Five blocks? 10 blocks? 15 blocks? 100 blocks?
2. Since when have conservatives become so upset over a private company building on their own land?
3. I thought we were at war with Al Qaeda and not Islam?

Slate has more:

3.  The project is a statement of Islamic conquest. This is Gingrich’s position. “The ground zero mosque is a political statement of radical Islamist triumph,” he tweeted Friday in response to Obama’s speech. Debra Burlingame, the co-founder of 9/11 Families for a Safe and Strong America, issued a similar statement: “Building a 15-story mosque at Ground Zero is a deliberately provocative act.”

These are flat-out lies. The project isn’t a “15-story mosque.” It’s a community center with a library, gym, auditorium, and restaurant. Yes, it will include a mosque. It will also host events to facilitate “multifaith dialogue.” It isn’t at Ground Zero—it’s two blocks away, in what used to be a Burlington Coat Factory.

Deliberately provocative? Radical triumph? Hogwash. Go watch Faisal Abdul Rauf, the imam behind the project, as he outlines the project to a local community board: “It will establish this community as the place where the moderate Muslim voice condemns terrorism and works for new, peaceful, and harmonious relationships with all New Yorkers.” Or listen to Daisy Khan, the imam’s wife and executive director, as she explainsto radio host Brian Lehrer why they’re planning to build the project near Ground Zero:

Imam Faisal has been leading a congregation for the last 27 years in Tribeca, really only 10 blocks from Ground Zero. … We, the members of the Muslim community, want to be part of the rebuilding process. And we feel a special obligation. And it’s also our way of giving back to this great city that has given us so much. So we’re coming at it from the point of view of wanting to contribute to our society and to take that tragedy of 9/11 and turn it into something very peaceful and hopeful for all of us.

4. Any mosque near Ground Zero is offensive. Responding yesterday to Obama’s speech, Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, said, “[I]t’s unwise … to build a mosque at the site where 3,000 Americans lost their lives as a result of a terrorist attack.”

I’m sorry, Senator: Did you say it’s unwise to build a mosque near the site of a terroristattack?

Others have put the equation more subtly. Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., says, “It is insensitive and uncaring for the Muslim community to build a mosque in the shadow of ground zero.” Marco Rubio, the Republican candidate for U.S. Senate in Florida, says, “It is divisive and disrespectful to build a mosque next to the site where 3,000 innocent people were murdered at the hands of Islamic extremism.” All these objections rest on the premise that the 9/11 hijackers, by committing mass murder in the name of Islam, made Islam a religion of mass murder. To accept this equation is to give them the power to define the religion of 1 billion people. That—not the rise of pro-American Islamic pluralism—is the conquest the masterminds of 9/11 sought. Don’t let them have it.

5. Ground Zero is sacred. Palin, rebutting Obama, asks why the project’s sponsors are “so set on building a mosque steps from what you have described, in agreement with me, as ‘hallowed ground.’ ” Her question assumes that the presence of a mosque would defile the sanctity of the site. In other words, unlike Obama, she believes in the kind of sanctity that excludes Islam. That’s exactly the kind of sectarian thinking al-Qaida wants to attribute to the United States and cultivate among Muslims.

Tags: Al Qaeda, Civil Liberty, Religion by ecthompson
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Over the last several months, there’s been some question about the direction of the economy. Was the economy going up, down or nowhere? The economic numbers were grim.

From Robert Reich:

It’s nonsense to think of the economy heading downward again into a double dip when most Americans never emerged from the first dip. We’re still in one long Big Dipper.

More people are out of work today than they were last year, counting everyone too discouraged even to look for work. The number of workers filing new claims for jobless benefits rose last week to highest level since February. Not counting temporary census workers, a total of only 12,000 net new private and public jobs were created in July — when 125,000 are needed each month just to keep up with growth in the population of people who want and need to work.

Not since the government began to measure the ups and downs of the busines cycle has such a deep recession been followed by such anemic job growth. Jobs came back at a faster pace even in March 1933 after the economy started to “recover” from the depths of the Great Depression. Of course, that job growth didn’t last long. That recovery wasn’t really a recovery at all. The Great Depression continued. And that’s exactly my point. The Great Recession continues.

Even investors are beginning to see reality. Starting in February the stock market rallied because corporate profits were rising briskly. Investors didn’t mind that profits were coming from payroll cuts, foreign sales, and gimmicks like share buy-backs — none of which could be sustained over the long term. But the rally died in April when investors began to see how paper-thin these profits actually were. And now the stock market is back to where it was at the start of the year.

Yet, in spite of all this evidence, there are no major initiatives coming out of Congress. Every time you turn on the TV, the talking heads are telling you that they don’t want to spend any more money. They’re talking to you about cutting the deficit. It is as if cutting the deficit somehow magically creates jobs. It doesn’t. Cutting the deficit will not spur economic growth in the short term. What we need is jobs, now. We need elected officials to stop working on getting reelected and start working on fixing the economy.

Tags: Congress, Economy, Obama administration by ecthompson
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I’m not sure why we continue to pick a group of people, a group of Americans, to single out. Whether it be Blacks, Hispanics, Irish Catholics or Muslims, we Americans have pointed to each of these groups at one time or another and said they aren’t American.

From TP:

Tonight [Ed note - last night], President Obama hosted an iftaar dinner at the White House — a feast marking the culmination of a day of fasting for practicing Muslims during the current Islamic calendar month of Ramadan. At remarks delivered at the dinner, Obama spoke out on the controversy surrounding the construction of a new Islamic center near the Ground Zero site, firmly siding in favor of the project:

OBAMA: Let me be clear: as a citizen, and as President, I believe that Muslims have the same right to practice their religion as anyone else in this country. That includes the right to build a place of worship and a community center on private property in lower Manhattan, in accordance with local laws and ordinances. This is America, and our commitment to religious freedom must be unshakeable. The principle that people of all faiths are welcome in this country, and will not be treated differently by their government, is essential to who we are. The writ of our Founders must endure.

Just to show that tolerance has no place in America Representative Peter King added:

“President Obama is wrong,” King said. “It is insensitive and uncaring for the Muslim community to build a mosque in the shadow of ground zero. While the Muslim community has the right to build the mosque they are abusing that right by needlessly offending so many people who have suffered so much.”

Even some on the Right acknowledge that the Muslim community has the right to build anywhere that they want:

Obama’s defense of the mosque has found some support on the right. Former Bush speechwriter Michael Gerson said Obama’s comments were “ultimately the right thing to do,” adding, “Obama is correct that the way to marginalize radicalism is to respect the best traditions of Islam and protect the religious liberty of Muslim Americans.”

Even on Fox News this morning, the Fox & Friends weekend hosts all agreed that Obama is performing the job that’s required of him. “Obama has to stand up for religious freedom,” said co-host Alisyn Camerota. “He has to stand up for our Constitution,” co-host Dave Briggs offered, to which co-host Clayton Morris added, “That’s the job he gets…defend the Constitution.” Watch the Video:

Tags: Civil Liberty, Obama administration, Religion by ecthompson
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The folks on the right are very good at capturing the media’s attention. Whether it is Rush Limbaugh making some outrageous statement or Glenn Beck’s lastest Nazi reference, for some reason the mainstream media will focus on these antics for 24 or 48 hours and help these guys boost their ratings. The latest example was Doctor Laura Schlessinger. Some time after the outrageous statement you get the apology and the boost in the ratings.

From HuffPo:

In conversation Tuesday with a black female caller who was complaining about her white husband’s racist friends and their use of the word, Schlessinger said:

Black guys use it all the time. Turn on HBO and listen to a black comic, and all you hear is n****, n*****, n*****. I don’t get it. If anybody without enough melanin says it, it’s a horrible thing. But when black people say it, it’s affectionate. It’s very confusing.

After a break, the caller said she was appalled by Schlessinger’s use of the word.

“Oh, then I guess you don’t watch HBO or listen to any black comedians,” she said. “My dear, the point I am trying to make…we’ve got a black man as president and we’ve got more complaining about racism than ever. I think that’s hilarious.”

Schlessinger and the caller then got into an exchange about the use of the word:

CALLER: Is it OK to say that word? Is it ever OK to say that word?
DR. LAURA: It depends how it’s said. Black guys talking to each other seem to think it’s ok.
CALLER: But you’re not black, they’re not black, my husband is white.
DR. LAURA: Oh, I see, so a word is restricted to race. Got it. Can’t do much about that.
CALLER: I can’t believe someone like you is on the radio spewing out the n***** word, and I hope everybody heard it.
DR. LAURA: I didn’t spew out the n***** word!
CALLER: You said “n*****, n*****, n*****” and I hope everybody heard it.
DR. LAURA: Yes they did, and I’ll say it again: n*****, n*****, n***** is what you hear on HBO.
[Crosstalk]
DR. LAURA: Why don’t you let me finish a sentence? Don’t take things out of context. Don’t NAACP me, leave them in context.
“If you’re that hypersensitive about color and don’t have a sense of humor, don’t marry outside of your race,” Schlessinger said after hanging up with the caller.

I’m going to try to stick to the old boring issues that plaque this country. We need jobs. I’m sorry I really don’t care what Dr. Laura has to say about almost anything.

Tags: Economy, Media, Race by ecthompson
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I wish this started with the Bush Adminstration, but it didn’t. This started in earnest during the Clinton Administration. Not only was everyone supposed to be able to own a home, those Americans who own homes were sitting on a “gold mine.” Almost instantly your home transformed from a long-term investment into your own private piggy bank which you can raid at any time for any reason. You remember the commercials. Home equity loans were as easy as signing your name. You could use them for anything, including vacations, buying a new boat or a new car, etc…

While there should be no surprise to anyone that home equity loans are defaulting an alarming rate. Americans simply don’t have the money. With home values continuing to decline, the equity behind these home equity loans are also falling. Billions of dollars are evaporating.

Our homes were never designed to be our own ATM machine.

From NYT:

During the great housing boom, homeowners nationwide borrowed a trillion dollars from banks, using the soaring value of their houses as security. Now the money has been spent and struggling borrowers are unable or unwilling to pay it back.

The delinquency rate on home equity loans is higher than all other types of consumer loans, including auto loans, boat loans, personal loans and even bank cards like Visa and MasterCard, according to the American Bankers Association.

Lenders say they are trying to recover some of that money but their success has been limited, in part because so many borrowers threaten bankruptcy and the collateral in the homes backing the loans has often disappeared.

The result is one of the paradoxes of the recession: the more money you borrowed, the less likely you will have to pay up. (more…)

Tags: Bush Administration, Economy by ecthompson
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This is a relief.

From TPM:

House Democrats today passed a bill doling out $26.1 billion to states to help them pay for teachers and emergency workers and to cover growing Medicaid costs. President Obama Tuesday morning hailed Congress for returning to Washington unexpectedly one week into the summer recess. Thanks to two Republican votes from Sens. Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins, both from Maine, the measure passed the Senate 61-39 last week.

The House passed the measure 247-161. Democrats and the White House estimate the new spending could save up to 300,000 teachers’ jobs across the country. Supporters see it as building on the stimulus program from 2009. But like anything in an election year, the vote set off political nastiness.

It’s a ready-made campaign commercial as Democrats plan to hail their own votes as heroic when states are facing massive budget crises. And — you guessed it — Republicans will say it’s another big-spending government plan.

Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) mocked the bill as “more ’stimulus’ spending,” and offered a preview for how Republicans will frame the debate on the trail by saying the taxes that pay for the measure are a “new job-killing tax on U.S. job creators.” It was actually paid for with cuts to programs such as food stamps. (more…)

Tags: Congress, Economy by ecthompson
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I’m not sure what our representatives are doing on Capitol Hill. I know what they need to be doing. They need to be passing a jobs bill. We need a green energy bill which creates millions of jobs. The new job numbers are out and they tell us what we are ready know. The job market is weak. The private sector added 71,000 jobs, while we lost a lot of temporary jobs because the Census is winding down.

The Economic Policy Institute has more:

Payroll jobs
The total number of payroll jobs declined by 131,000 in July, though the shedding of 143,000 temporary Census jobs more than accounted for that loss. In order to get a handle on the fundamentals of the labor market this summer, it is and will continue to be important to look at the payroll numbers excluding changes in temporary Census employment. (The Census still has 196,000 temporary employees on its payroll. These jobs will also disappear in the next couple months.)

Excluding changes in temporary Census hiring, the number of payroll jobs increased by 12,000 in July.  The private sector added 71,000 jobs, while state and local governments–their budgets crunched–shed 48,000 jobs (-10,000 state, -38,000 local).  The federal government (excluding changes in temporary Census jobs) shed 11,000 jobs.

Underemployment
The “underemployment rate,” or the U-6 measure of labor underutilization, is a more comprehensive measure of labor market slack than the unemployment rate because it includes not just the officially unemployed, but also jobless workers who have given up looking for work, and people who want full time jobs but have had to settle for part-time work (note, however, it does not include people who are underemployed in the sense that they have had to take a job that is below their skills, training, or experience level).  This measure was at 16.5% in July, meaning that one in six U.S. workers was either unemployed or underemployed.  This was unchanged from June, masking an increase of 110,000 in the number of “marginally attached” workers (jobless workers who have given up looking for work), and a decline of 98,000 of involuntary part-time workers.  In July, there were a total of 25.8 million workers who were either unemployed or underemployed. (more…)

Tags: Congress, Economy by ecthompson
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I am currently in the middle of the book Too Big to Fail, while the book has some structural problems (too many little teeny details about who went to Harvard, what car they drove and who grew up poor, it is almost as if the author showing off that he’s done this research), the content is solid. This book tells this tale from yet another angle. I continue to be amazed at how many of the Wall Street CEOs had no idea of the enormity of their problem. At the same time, there’s almost no acknowledgment that they caused the problem. The other thing that seems to shine through in all of these financial meltdown books is the sense of privilege that piece Wall Street executives seem to have.

This leads me to William Cohan’s article in the New York Times. It seems that privilege is continuing:

Notwithstanding the fact that Judge Peck is now overseeing litigation in his courtroom about whether Barclays conned Lehman in the original sale and should have paid billions more for the business, he will have the opportunity, at a hearing on Aug. 18, to make another gutsy call: He can — and should — take a heroic stand against continuing to use the dwindling assets of the Lehman estate to pay the ongoing legal bills of Lehman’s former officers and directors, the very people who helped drive the firm off the cliff in the first place. Their culpability was made abundantly clear by the comprehensive 2,200-page post-mortem released in March by the special examiner, Anton Valukas.

Why should Lehman’s creditors, who stand to get pennies on the dollar when the bankruptcy case winds up years from now, foot the rapidly mounting legal bills for people like the former chief executive Dick Fuld and two of his top officers, Erin Callan and Ian Lowitt? More important, what kind of message does it send to existing and future corporate leaders if there is no limit to how far they can go to avoid taking responsibility — be it ethical, moral or financial — for their actions?

Judge Peck has the opportunity to say “no más” to Fuld & Co., who are plenty wealthy (Fuld is estimated to have been rewarded with nearly $500 million by Lehman between 2000 and 2008), and require them to start footing the bills for their own legal defense instead of continuing to suck millions in legal fees for their attorneys out of the estate. All payments have to be approved by Judge Peck s because of something known as the “automatic stay,” which — as its name suggests — puts an immediate and ongoing block on all payments to creditors of every stripe during a bankruptcy proceeding. To pay the legal bills of the former Lehman officers and directors, Judge Peck has to approve them, and that is the purpose of the Aug. 18 hearing. (more…)

Tags: Economy by ecthompson
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