Cheap Blogging Crutch 10.01

E.P.A. Moves to Curtail Greenhouse Gas Emissions
Tired of waiting for Congress to get off its fat asses and make an attempt to bungle climate legislation while it's bungling health care legislation, President Obama decided that "Hey, maybe I should use the agencies and laws I already have to do it." Brilliant stroke of genius, Barry. And so he did, enabling the EPA to menace free enterprise and business with the application of its dirty laws and legally mandated oversight. Hopefully soon, Congress will come up with a terrible climate change bill so that we can circumvent all this nastiness and get back to what's important: letting industry pollute without any enforcement of actual laws.

Reality Check: Trying to Turn a Point of Pride into a Moment of Shame
Ahh, the White House has finally snapped and started using its web-based blog bully pulpit to go after professional liars like Glenn Beck. What was it that set the White House off? Death panels? FEMA re-education camps? Was Beck trying to blame his 1990 rape and murder of a young girl on the Administration? No....*sighs*, Beck complained about efforts to win the Olympics for the US. And he used lies so minor, they basically count as Beck attempting to tell the truth. Yeah, this was the one you really needed to combat, White House.

Credit Rating Agency Analysts Covering AIG, Lehman Brothers Never Disciplined
Oh my star and garters. You're telling me that the concept of accountability that doesn't exist in banks or financial markets, doesn't exist in the businesses that rate them? But really, one does have to be shocked that the Government is mad at the A and AA ratings that Moody's Standard and Poor's, and Fitch's handed out. I mean an A or AA rating, in the fantasy financial world where everything is rated AAA, is the equivalent of a D- or F+ in the real world. Why should anyone be fired over not seeing the imminent collapse of some of the the largest financial institutions in the world? That's why pencils have trillion dollar erasers.

Tamiflu in Rivers Could Breed Drug-Resistant Flu Strains
OK, want to make sure that flu carrying animals aren't exposed to anti-virals flu medications and drug resistant flu strains aren't created? One simple step: if you take Tamiflu, afterward...never urinate. And especially don't urinate into a river. Tamiflu is expelled by urine, it gets into the water through sewage treatment plants, then into the rivers, then exposed to birds, then Captain Trips is created, then we're all caught up in an apocalyptic morality play as Boulder, Colorado and Las Vegas engage in the final battle of good and evil after a superflu wipes out 99.9% of the world's population. Is this what you want? No? Good, don't pee.

Iran Meets U.S. and Allies for Nuclear Talks in Geneva
And so begins the long process in which the world tells Iran that it shouldn't try to make nukes "Because" and Iran looks at open threats of destruction coming at it from large and influential sectors of the US political establishment, threats of preemptive strikes from Israel, continued Middle Eastern conflict, the fact that it just suppressed it's own population and rigged an election, and the fact that back water shit states with deep terrorist ties, like Pakistan for instance, are immediately treated with respect, dignity, and showered with billions just because they developed a nuke, and says "Wait, why should I listen to you guys?" It'll be great.

Cheap Blogging Crutch 09.30

As Subprime Lending Crisis Unfolded, Watchdog Fed Didn't Bother Barking
It's things like this that make you well up with pride over our regulatory structure in this country. I mean who can doubt the logic of Alan Greenspan, who looked at the regulatory requirements of the Fed and said "the best kind of oversight is no oversight, I'm sure everything will work out if the subprime market is allowed to police itself." I forget, how did that work out again? This illustrates one of the fundamental flaws in the regulatory system. Sure it's useful to have government agencies with oversight on important areas, but it's also important that they not be staffed with dipshits.

Landmark Decision: Massive Relief for Homeowners and Trouble for the Banks
You may have heard of the recent Kansas Supreme Court decision that gave millions of homeowners a legal wedge to avoid foreclosure. It essentially ruled that the clearing system used for mortgages is, to put it charitably, unreliable. That, and that whole mortgage backed securities thing wasn't entirely legal either. Or, to quote Matt Taibbi, means that "half of the mortgage market has been run as a criminal enterprise for years." The ruling basically invalidates foreclosure proceedings on 60 million mortgages. Good times.

Is the media exaggerating the Iranian nuke threat?
Yes. *claps hands, gets up, walks away* Oh, did you want more explanation and perhaps specific examples? OK then, go read Juan Cole's opening salvo at just some of the preliminary exaggerations and outright lies that are already starting to creep into the debate on America's next Middle Eastern fiasco. If you're wondering what the media learned from the run-up to the Iraq war, the answer is: absolutely nothing.

Nike Resigns From The U.S. Chamber Of Commerce Board Of Directors Over Global Warming Disagreements
So, for those of you keeping score at home: Nike employing defacto Asian child slave labor to make shoes that the "workers" could never even hope to afford? Nike's cool with that. Being affiliated with the US Chamber of Commerce and it's global warming denialist tendencies? Nike's not cool with that. That's...an ethos....of a sort.

Roman Polanski Reviews 'Hannah Montana'
Screen Junkies gives and outlet to detained director/rapist Roman Polanski so that he can apply the film knowledge he gained during his three decades as a fugitive from justice to films that catch his eye. Hopefully, in the future, he'll be able to contribute more reviews so that the world will not be denied his insights just because the US is hostile to fugitive rapists.

No take backsies

Geithner: No new bailout money needed

The U.S. Treasury still has about $134.6 billion available in its coffers from last fall’s bank bailout package and that should be enough for it to avoid asking Congress for more money, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said Tuesday.

“We have the resources to move forward implementing all aspects of our Financial Stability Plan,” Geithner said in a letter to the panel overseeing the bailout.

Geithner will face a slew of questions Tuesday morning about his plans to shore up banks. He is scheduled to testify before the Congressional Oversight Panel for the government’s $700 billion financial rescue program, while a watchdog agency warns that Obama administration initiatives could increasingly expose taxpayers to losses.

Promise? We all heard him, right? No new money needed. He can't take that back, we have witnesses. I don't care if his fingers were crossed, the banks will just have to make due with the trillions they've already gotten.

It is nice to know that Timmy thinks we won't need to pass another multi-billion bailout package for people who seem to get physically ill at the thought of having the government looking over their shoulder as it makes them fiscally solvent. On the other hand, there is a report from a independent watchdog group that says the way the bailouts are structured leaves the taxpayer vulnerable to losses. That is surprising, who would have ever guessed that attempting to remove any shred of risk to investors and companies in an attempt to get worthless assets off the books would end up exposing taxpayers to more risk? Everyone or just everyone who heard the plan?

The report from TARP Inspector General Neil Barofsky, who just opened 20 criminal probes and six audits into how the money was spent, offered up a 250 page report on how things were going, ways things could be made better, and how he wishes the Treasury Department would listen. Among those suggestions: new "conflict of interest" rules, disclosure of private equity stakes in funds, "investor screening" programs to prevent money laundering, and exasperated cries for people to start listening to watchdogs and implementing their suggestions. In his defense, Mr. Barofsky only used three instances of the word "unfuckingbelievable", two exasperated cries of "Is anyone listening to me", and tried really hard to write the report in a tone that suggested that he thought Tim Geithner was actually going to read it and consider his smart ideas. Oh well Neil, maybe next bailout.

Difference of opinion

The Congressional Oversight Panel, who you might recognize as the panel that, despite a legal requirement to do so, no one in the Treasury Department, FED, Wall Street has deemed worthy enough to update as to the goings on and payments made out in the various bailouts and free cash grabs, had a few choice words on the plans enacted so far.

A congressional panel overseeing the U.S. financial rescue suggested that getting rid of top executives and liquidating problem banks may be a better way to solve the economic crisis.

The Congressional Oversight Panel, in a report released yesterday, also said the Treasury may be relying on too rosy an economic scenario to guide its $700 billion bailout, and declared that the success of the program after six months is “mixed.” Three of the group’s members disagreed with at least some of the findings.

“All successful efforts to address bank crises have involved the combination of moving aside failed management and getting control of the process of valuing bank balance sheets,” the panel, headed by Harvard Law School Professor Elizabeth Warren, said in its report.

Tim Geithner responded by screaming and pointing at a bear that he not only swore was totally behind the press and about to eat them all unless they ran, but that the press had to hire the bear on as a consultant so the bear could advise them on how not to get eaten by a bear.

Hey isn't it funny how the one government organization that doesn't have Wall Street insiders, Goldmann Sachs money fuckers, or political hacks that greased the skids for this crisis and is staffed by economists and number crunchers is the one advocating a fire and liquidate approach? Sorry, I wrote 'funny' when I meant to write 'a blindingly obvious result'.

But the report did also mention that things were getting better, albeit too slowly and in a 'not effective enough' manner. Perhaps the fact that things are getting a little better, combined with positive public perceptions of the status of the economy mean that good things...wait, no, Paul Krugman just dropped in to defecate on that notion in a Nobel laureate kind of way and sup on the sweet tears of your ignorance.

Oh lovely, 'things are terrible, but the speed at which things are getting worse has slowed, which is sort of good' is the most positive thing he can say. Yeah.....I'm going to go drink.

Rove deigns to let his political lessers question him

Karl Rove Agrees To Testify

In an agreement reached today between the former Bush Administration and Congressman John Conyers, Jr. (D-Mich.), Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, Karl Rove and former White House Counsel Harriet Miers will testify before the House Judiciary Committee in transcribed depositions under penalty of perjury. The Committee has also reserved the right to have public testimony from Rove and Miers. It was agreed that invocations of official privileges would be significantly limited.
...
The Committee will also receive Bush White House documents relevant to this inquiry. Under the agreement, the landmark ruling by Judge John Bates rejecting key Bush White House claims of executive immunity and privilege will be preserved. If the agreement is breached, the Committee can resume the litigation.

Chairman Conyers issued the following statement:

"I have long said that I would see this matter through to the end and am encouraged that we have finally broken through the Bush Administration's claims of absolute immunity. This is a victory for the separation of powers and congressional oversight. It is also a vindication of the search for truth. I am determined to have it known whether U.S. Attorneys in the Department of Justice were fired for political reasons, and if so, by whom."

I'm sure this will result in tons and tons of answers and not more claims of privilege while under questioning, declarations of 'not remembering', or telling the questioners 'I don't know, you'll have to ask Dick Cheney' followed by a laugh. But hey, at least it's something.

Though can we not hear all the triumphalism about this being a tremendous victory for oversight and Congressional powers? It isn't a victory, it's a pathetic, staggering first baby step. If you wanted to show them how things really worked you would have slapped Karl and Harriet in leg irons they second they illegally violated a subpoena, not spent two years 'negotiating' with them to perform their legally mandated duty. Furthermore Rove got to evade public hearings, which is a win for him. But I guess getting two people to provisionally agree to follow the law on the 17th most damaging thing the Bush Administration did is probably the most successful version of 'oversight' or 'power' Democrats had.

Who could have foreseen?: SEC Oversight edition

SEC Didn't Act on Madoff Tips

The Securities and Exchange Commission learned about what it describes as one of the largest securities frauds in history when Bernard L. Madoff volunteered his confession, raising questions about the agency's ability to police the financial marketplace.

The SEC had the authority to investigate Madoff's investment business, which managed billions of dollars for wealthy investors and philanthropies. Financial analysts raised concerns about Madoff's practices repeatedly over the past decade, including a 1999 letter to the SEC that accused Madoff of running a Ponzi scheme. But the agency did not conduct even a routine examination of the investment business until last week.

Bang up job SEC, really top shelf work. Who even needs you around overseeing everything, the market will just police itself. No need to act on tips explicitly explaining the exact type of fraud Madoff was engaged in, why he's a respected businessman, is friends with all the people in charge, and has a "good reputation". That means he's on the level.

Thankfully we have dedicated public servants like former SEC Chairman Arthur Levitt to tell us all that it isn't his fault and to shut up and go away already. "The SEC going back to its formation, and the Justice Department going back to its formation, are never adequate to crime at its time. It's simplistic to look back and say that this was the SEC's fault." Really? Ponzi schemes are so complex that that the SEC is behind the curve? I was under the impression that they were one of the simplest things to investigate, all you have to do is ask for proof that their holdings are what they claim they are. The Washington Post is under this assumption too.

I bet I'm wrong though. This was a mistake of too smart criminals and probably too much regulation, not totally negligent and non-existent oversight. Who could have foreseen this ever happening?

Bush history of financial oversight

As the Bush Administration furiously demands that they be given $700 billion with no oversight to dole out to Wall Street, Think Progress has gone to the trouble of typing up a 'greatest hits' of financial bungling by our elected betters. My favorites.

-$10 billion in spending on Iraq reconstruction was wasteful or poorly tracked. [GAO, 2/15/07]

-Halliburton overcharged the government $100 million for one day’s work in 2004. [Project on Government Oversight, 10/8/04]

-An estimated $2 billion in fraud and waste — nearly 11 percent of the $19 billion spent by FEMA on Hurricanes Katrina and Rita as of mid-June. [New York Times tally, 6/27/06]

-$1.7 billion in excessive fees and waste paid by the Pentagon to the Interior Department to manage federal lands. [Defense Department and Interior Department Inspectors General audit, 12/25/06]

-$1 trillion unaccounted for by the Pentagon, including 56 airplanes, 32 tanks, and 36 Javelin missile command launch-units. [GAO, 5/18/03]

But I'm sure they'll be even stricter with gobs more money and even less oversight, right?