Two Heroes Now Homeless from AfterDowningStreet.org

via http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/node/38221

By Mark Crispin Miller

Micheal Stinson--a/k/a Symbolman--and Julie Sigwart, the couple behind Take Back the Media, are now homeless. Like millions of their fellow citizens, they lately had the hideous experience of watching as their house was auctioned off:

Although they're not people of means (obviously), over the years they've spent at least $200,000 on their work against the Bush regime; and that work has been invaluable. It was they, for instance, who first interviewed Don Siegelman, on video, about the theft of his re-election in 2002; and they've done lots more in the same bold investigative spirit (much of it with a certain piercing humor).

So if there's any way to help them out, even if it's just by helping spread the word, please do so.

Bank of America Spends $7 Billion on Chinese Bank, Then Lays Off 30,000 Workers from Firedoglake

Ah, the sweet smell of your TARP money being used to batter the US economy senseless. First Bank of America gets $15 billion of TARP funds, and issues $9 billion worth of bonds guaranteed by the FDIC, then it spends $7 billion to buy a big stake in a Chinese bank.

Now Bank of America announces it's laying off 30,000 to 35,000 workers. Why? In part because it took over Merrill Lynch and wants to "eliminate redundancies". Now, that's entirely rational for Bank of America, as is spending $7 billion to buy up shares in a bank cheap (they got a below market price). But it's not good for the US because that money was meant to be loaned to Americans and because layoffs make the economic situation worse (and those laid of workers will immediately cost the government a ton of money.)

rest at http://firedoglake.com/2008/12/13/bank-of-america-spends-7-billion-on-chinese-bank-then-lays-off-30000-workers/

OUTRAGE!: We Don't Trust 'Em w/ Our Ports, But We Trust 'Em . . . With Our NUKES?!

from http://www.debbieschlussel.com/archives/2008/12/absurd_dangerou.html

Dubai: First They Want Our Ports, Now They'll Get Our Nukes

The Bush administration plans to sign its first nuclear-cooperation agreement with a Middle Eastern nation within the next few weeks, according to a senior U.S. official, raising concerns among congressional critics who say the deal could fuel nuclear proliferation in the region.

The proposed deal with the United Arab Emirates has attracted attention because the U.A.E.'s largest trading partner is Iran. The U.A.E. has served in the past as a transshipment point for technology with military applications headed to Iran.

The move could place President-elect Barack Obama in a political tight spot with a Middle East ally by forcing him to decide whether to push Congress to ratify the agreement. He hasn't taken an official position on the deal. An Obama spokesman declined to comment. The Bush administration has championed the nuclear agreement with the U.A.E. as a model for promoting peaceful nuclear energy while guarding against weapons proliferation.

Translation: Lame duck President Bush is preparing the grease for the skids as he seeks speaking engagement funded by rich UAE sheikhs. America's national security be damned.

Rachel Maddow: GOP's Platform is Now to Reduce the Wages of American Workers from Crooks and Liars

Download | Play    Download | Play

Rachel Maddow hits the nail on the head with this one. The GOP has now decided it is good for them politically to rail against unions and against Americans earning a living wage. I'd love to know just how low the wages of auto workers should go before it would satisfy these guys if someone is a union member, or if it just doesn't matter as long as the UAW is busted and their foreign interests in their states are satisfied.

It's a fine rant, kind of like an extended symphony, and she wraps it up by setting off the cannons behind Barack Obama's express concerns about the "devastating ripple effect throughout our economy" the collapse of the Big Three would have:

rest at http://videocafe.crooksandliars.com/heather/rachel-maddow-gops-platform-now-reduce-wag

Homelessness, hunger rise in US from Raw Story Breaking News

Homelessness and hunger increased in an overwhelming majority of 25 US cities in the past year, driven by the foreclosure crisis and rising unemployment, a survey showed Friday.

Out of 25 cities across the United States surveyed by the US Conference of Mayors, 83 percent said homelessness in general had increased over the past year while 16 cities, or nearly two-thirds of those polled, cited a rise in the number of families who had been forced out of their homes.

In Louisville, Kentucky, the number of homeless families increased 58 percent in 2008 to 931 families from 591 people in 2007, with the rise blamed on soaring food, health care, transportation and energy prices.

Boston, Massachusetts and Providence, Rhode Island blamed the rise in family homelessness on evictions by landlords whose rental properties were foreclosed.

Meanwhile, the number of people seeking food assistance for the first time was up in all 21 cities with data on the issue, and was "particularly notable among working families stressed by the increase in food prices and the slowdown in the economy," the report said.

Officials in Philadelphia told the survey that "new people coming to food cupboards are people that are employed with children.

"With food prices increasing as much as 30 percent and incomes either staying the same or decreasing, it is impossible for them to feed their families," the report said.

When asked to identify the three main causes of hunger, 83 percent of cities cited poverty, 74 percent cited unemployment and 57 percent cited the high cost of housing.

And while demand for food assistance was up, providing it was more difficult for cities as the faltering economy and rising joblessness -- two key reasons for the increased demand -- also caused the number of donations to fall.

Greater efficiency in large grocery stores and food suppliers has also shrunk the availability of food assistance because it has decreased food donations from the large organizations, which are the main donors to food banks.

rest at http://rawstory.com/news/afp/Homelessness_hunger_on_rise_in_US_c_12122008.html

Red State Senators Give Black Auto Workers Pink Slips While White Collar AIG Execs Get the Gold from Firedoglake

Highlights:

• red state southern Republican senators desire to but unions at the expense of costing millions of auto jobs is head scratchint - even to Bush & Cheny
• southerners hate unions - it traces back to the 60's when unions were perceived by whites as a way to give their jobs to blacks
• red state senators got to stick it to the unions like they wanted by not passing the auto bailout...but the cost will be many good jobs from black auto workers
• how devastating would the auto collapse be?

"Approximately 118,000 African Americans worked in the auto industry in November 2008, down from 137,000 in December 2007 when the recession began.

[]

African Americans earn much higher wages in auto industry jobs than in other parts of the economy, and the loss of these solid, middle-class jobs would be a devastating blow.  Hourly wages for African Americans in the motor vehicle industry averaged $17.08 (excluding fringe benefits) in 2007, versus economy-wide average wages for African American of $15.44 per hour.²  African Americans have been particularly hard hit in this recession.  The unemployment rate for blacks increased to 11.2% in November, an increase of 2.8 percentage points over the last year, as shown in today's EPI Jobs Picture.  The consequences of an auto industry collapse—which could eliminate up to 3.3 million U.S. jobs, as shown in the Briefing Paper When Giants Fall—would be nothing less than catastrophic for African Americans.

Why is it that the one thing the Republican caucus demanded -- for the "health of the industry," we're told -- was that autoworkers take an immediate pay cut?  They absolutely would not compromise.  Why did they insist on spreading the debunked claim that autoworkers were making $73 an hour, and promulgate it with such spittle-flecked zeal?

Why did the very idea enrage them so?

Meanwhile, AIG is going to pay 168 of its top employees "retention bonuses" of between $96,000 and $4 million this year, yet there were no impassioned speeches by Richard Shelby in the Senate Press Gallery seething with moral indignation.

No, the outrage is saved for blue collar workers on the Detroit assembly line -- who just happen to be disproportionately black -- who not only aren't getting bonuses, they're told they have to be sin eaters for the banking industry and absorb the financial blow caused by Richard Shelby's disgraced conservative anti-regulatory ideology by taking a wage cut. If not, they lose their jobs as the entire industry goes under.

GM confirmed today it will shut down most North American assembly plants for 30% of first quarter 2009. 

rest at http://firedoglake.com/2008/12/12/red-state-senators-give-black-auto-workers-pink-slips-while-white-collar-aig-execs-get-the-gold/

New GOP Memo entitled Action Alert about the Auto Bail Out makes clear that it's all about "Union Busting" from Crooks and Liars

Countdown obtained a new memo that explains the GOP's strategy for blocking a bridge loan to the auto industry:

Countdown has obtained a memo entitled "Action Alert - Auto Bailout," and sent Wednesday at 9:12am, to Senate Republicans. The names of the sender(s) and recipient(s) have been redacted in the copy Countdown obtained.

The Los Angeles Times reported that it was circulated among Senate Republicans. The brief memo outlines internal political strategy on the bailout, including the view that defeating the bailout represents a "first shot against organized labor." Senate Republicans blocked passage of the bailout late Thursday night, over its insistence on an immediate union pay cut.

From: Sent: Wednesday, December 10, 2008 9:12 AM
To: Subject: Action Alert -- Auto Bailout

Today at noon, Senators Ensign, Shelby, Coburn and DeMint will hold a press conference in the Senate Radio/TV Gallery. They would appreciate our support through messaging and attending the press conference, if possible. The message they want us to deliver is:

1. This is the democrats first opportunity to payoff organized labor after the election. This is a precursor to card check and other items. Republicans should stand firm and take their first shot against organized labor, instead of taking their first blow from it.

rest at http://crooksandliars.com/john-amato/new-gop-memo-entitled-action-alert-abou

Jim Rogers: Bank Bailout is 'Horrible Economics' from Crooks and Liars

Jim Rogers, who cofounded the Quantum Fund with George Soros, attacks the bank bailout as "wrongheaded" and says most of the major banks are already bankrupt:

"Without giving specific names, most of the significant American banks, the larger banks, are bankrupt, totally bankrupt," said Rogers, who is now a private investor.

"What is outrageous economically and is outrageous morally is that normally in times like this, people who are competent and who saw it coming and who kept their powder dry go and take over the assets from the incompetent," he said. "What's happening this time is that the government is taking the assets from the competent people and giving them to the incompetent people and saying, now you can compete with the competent people. It is horrible economics."

rest at http://crooksandliars.com/susie-madrak/jim-rogers-bank-bailout-horrible-econ

Obama’s Economic Team Planning for Global Economic Collapse

It's quite unsettling to talk to members of Barack Obama's transition teams these days, especially those who are helping with the economics portfolio. Without going into details, the sense I get from them is that they are very worried that the economy will get a lot worse before it gets better. Not just worse... a lot worse. As in -- double digit unemployment without the wiggle factors. Huge declines in aggregate demand. Significant, persistent deficits. That's one reason why the Obama administration seems to be open to listening to every economist with an idea and is stocking the staff with the leading lights of the field. In one sense, the general level of concern among Obama advisers and transition staffers is reassuring; they get the magnitude of the problems, and they're not going to assume that, just because the bottom has never dropped out before -- certainly not in the lifetimes of most people doing policy these days, the bottom will never drop out.

Where the discussion isn't going, at least in public,  (or the PR level), is the possibility that the first foreign policy crisis the administration will face will be the complete economic collapse of a large, unstable nation. To be sure, Pakistan is nearly broke, and U.S. policy makers seem to be aware of that; but a worldwide demand crisis could lead to social unrest in countries like Indonesia and Malaysia, Singapore, the Ukraine, Japan, Turkey or Egypt (which is facing an internal political crisis of epic proportions already). The U.S. won't have the resources to, say, engineer the rescue of the peso again, or intervene in Asia as in 1997.

rest at http://marcambinder.theatlantic.com/archives/2008/12/its_quite_unsettling_to_talk.php

This video is infuriating - its about the ceo compensation of the big bailout reciepents

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T4YbXnPqQrc

A laid off employee walked into a company xmas party and killed someone

VANCOUVER — A former employee walked into a staff Christmas party at an east Vancouver health products business Friday and shot and killed a man, according to police.

Police said they were called to Tallgrass Distributors Ltd., in the central Mount Pleasant neighbourhood, where a man carrying a firearm had confronted the crowd.

"A man who apparently had just been let go from his job there came in, shot and killed another man," Vancouver police Const. Tim Fanning told a news conference. "There was at least a dozen other people on the scene. They managed to get out.

rest at http://www.leaderpost.com/Possible+hostage+taking+shooting+Vancouver/1069846/story.html

Trib: Rahm and Blagojevich Discussed Senate Seat from Chicagoist

This morning, the Chicago Tribune had an answer for President-Elect Barack Obama as to whether or not any of his staff talked to Gov. Rod Blagojevich about filling in Obama's vacant senate seat: yes and it was Rahm Emanuel. While the Tribune's story is careful to point out that Rahm and Blago's chats do not at all implicate Rahm, Obama, or anyone else in the Obama Administration as a participant in Balgo's pay-to-play scheme, it does raise questions about how much Rahm - who's been the source of a shit-ton of speculation this week - might or might not have known about the entire plan.

One source confirmed that communications between Emanuel and the Blagojevich administration were captured on court-approved wiretaps.

Another source said that contact between the Obama camp and the governor's administration regarding the Senate seat began the Saturday before the Nov. 4 election, when Emanuel made a call to the cell phone of Harris. The conversation took place around the same time press reports surfaced about Emanuel being approached about taking the high-level White House post should Obama win.

Emanuel delivered a list of candidates who would be "acceptable" to Obama, the source said. On the list were Obama adviser Valerie Jarrett, Illinois Veterans Affairs director Tammy Duckworth, state Comptroller Dan Hynes and U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky of Chicago, the source said. All are Democrats.

rest at http://chicagoist.com/2008/12/13/trib_rahm_and_blago_chatty_cathies.php

After Tennessee and Alabama Refuse, Canada Agrees to Help US Automakers from Firedoglake

Turns out I mistook which signature Michigan bridge would serve as a symbol for the loan the US automakers will get to hold them over to a saner Administration takes over: that bridge is not the Mackinaw bridge, connecting the two peninsulas of Michigan, but the Ambassador bridge, connecting Detroit to Canada.

The Canadians, you see, are coming to Detroit's rescue.

U.S. and Canadian governments say they will ride to the rescue of the beleaguered Detroit auto makers, hoping to head off a catastrophic collapse of Chrysler LLC or General Motors Corp. that would cascade throughout the North American economy.

Ottawa and Ontario will provide an estimated $3.4-billion to the Canadian units of the Detroit Three, while U.S. President George W. Bush will throw a $14-billion (U.S.) lifeline to their parent companies.

[snip]

[Canadian Industry Minister Tony] Clement would not provide a specific figure, but he said the amount of money in the Canadian bailout represents this country's one-fifth share of the Detroit Three's North American vehicle production and on Canada maintaining that percentage.

"Clearly, this amount of money is meant to be, as the U.S. is finding out, a way to keep the doors open for the domestic auto sector while they continue their long-term planning," he said.

rest at http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2008/12/13/after-tennessee-and-alabama-refuse-canada-agress-to-help-us-automakers/

Meet The GOP's Wrecking Crew from Crooks and Liars

A little more background on the Senate Republicans who sandbagged the auto industry bailout - and why:

The fiercest opposition to the loan proposal -- and nearly a third of the 35 votes against ending debate on the deal -- came from Southern Republicans, and the ringleaders of the opposition all come from states with a major foreign auto presence. Not coincidentally, nearly all of those states -- except Kentucky -- are also "right-to-work" states, which means no union contracts for most of the employees at the foreign plants. The Detroit bailout fell victim to a nasty confluence of home-state economic interests and anti-union sentiment among Republicans.

This week Southern Republicans had a chance to go to bat for foreign automakers while simultaneously busting a union. At a hearing last week, Corker explained that his constituents "have a tough time thinking about us loaning money to companies that are paying way, way above industry standard to workers." Which may explain why his proposed alternative to the loan agreement between Congress and the White House would have required the United Auto Workers to agree to significant wage cuts next year, based on a spurious claim that union workers earn significantly more than non-union workers.

Even George W. Bush's White House didn't push to crush the UAW the way Corker and his buddies did, say Democrats involved in the negotiations with the administration. "It was all about the unions," one senior Democratic aide said. "This is political payback for lots of things, and probably even more to come." Labor officials expect Republicans to keep taking shots at unions whenever they can. "This cynical stance they took last night -- they're willing to jeopardize 3 million jobs so they could gain some advantage in their war against unions -- is appalling," said Bill Samuel, the chief lobbyist for the AFL-CIO.

rest at http://crooksandliars.com/susie-madrak/meet-gops-wrecking-crew

Saving the Middle Class Is Ideological, Too from Open Left - Front Page

highlights: from http://www.openleft.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=10419

"I do take issue with one aspect of DH's writing, though: the part where he argues that the desire to destroy a union instead of saving the economy makes someone an ideologue. This is because wanting to save three million middle class jobs is itself an ideological position. It isn't so much that Senate Republicans are being ideologues, and those who want to save the three million jobs are not being ideologues, but rather that it is a clash of ideologies. Wanting to save three million jobs instead of destroying the UAW is itself an ideological position."

"For example, DHinMI writes:

So, it's possible that the GOP Senators like Corker and McConnell are stupid, and just don't understand some of the basics of the global auto industry.  But we shouldn't dismiss the possibility that the ultras who've taken over the GOP, the people for whom ideology is more important than consequences and reality, would rather risk destroying one of our most important industries in an attempt to destroy a labor union."

"This isn't about a clash between ideology and reality. This is, instead, about different ideological desires for what should happen in reality."

"There is no non-ideological ground in this fight. This is the case with most political fights. Values like helping the middle class, ensuring civil rights, and protecting the environment are, in fact, ideological positions. These fights are not about defeating ideology altogether since, without ideology, then there would be no reason to work for civil rights, a clean environment, or broad economic prosperity. This isn't about defeating ideology altogether, but rather about defeating certain ideologies. Specifically, it is about defeating ideologies that consider busting a union more important than saving three million jobs. Beliefs like that are extremely dangerous to those who hold a different, progressive ideology: the belief in broad, economic prosperity for all."

How The Republicans Intend to Win in 2012 from Firedoglake

excerpt from http://firedoglake.com/2008/12/12/how-the-republicans-intend-to-win-in-2012/

The only free market left

What happened last night and how it's being played in the press tells us exactly how the next 4 years are going to be played by Congressional Republicans.  They will do everything they can to make sure that economic packages necessary to turn the economy around either don't get passed or get badly compromised.   

They will blame the failure of such bills, and of the economy itself, on unions and on not adhering to "free market" principles.  Every time they kill a bill, they will say that it's because they have rediscovered their conservative ideological roots and now understand that bailing out big companies with public money is bad, and that the free market needs to be allowed to run. 

They will seize the mantle of principle and stick to it, as they are doing with the auto bailout, when they voted against an industry which has given much more money to Republicans than Democrats:

For many conservatives in Congress, the idea of government rescuing any industry is simply unpalatable -- and that trumps any contributions from Detroit.

"The tension for Republicans is that it's an industry that's been staunchly in their camp for many years, but this is legislation calling for billions of dollars of government spending," said Massie Ritsch, spokesman for the Center for Responsive Politics. "It's a conflict between their principles and their longtime supporters."

rest at http://firedoglake.com/2008/12/12/how-the-republicans-intend-to-win-in-2012/

The Case Against Retaining Geren as Army Secretary from TPR: The Public Record

[please check out the entire article at the link below - its a must read; highlights below:]

excepted from http://www.pubrecord.org/commentary/554-the-case-against-retaining-geren-as-army-secretary.html

In 2004, Geren participated in the infamous Pentagon Christian Embassy video, a promotional video filmed inside the Pentagon that, at the request of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation (MRFF), led to an investigation by the Department of Defense Inspector General. In July 2007, the IG issued a 45-page report finding seven officers, including four generals, guilty of violating a number of DoD ethics regulations. But, because of the IG's narrow choice of which regulations to focus on, the civilian DoD officials who appeared in the video, including then Special Assistant to the Secretary of Defense Geren, got off scot free.

The IG also chose to completely evade the issue of religion in its investigation by plucking the catchall words "non-federal entity" from the regulations that were violated, although those same regulations do specifically name certain types of entities that cannot be endorsed by DoD personnel, including sectarian religious organizations. So, even the charges against the military officers who were found guilty were essentially placed on the same level as endorsing a car dealership or some other miscellaneous private enterprise while in uniform. Apparently, the IG just didn't see what the prohibition of government promotions of religion had to do with DoD personnel participating in a fundraising video at the Pentagon promoting a religious organization and a particular religion.

The Christian Embassy endorsed by Secretary Geren in the video is an arm of Campus Crusade for Christ (CCC), a fundamentalist Christian organization whose far reaching Military Ministry has become entrenched in every part of the military. Geren, who was a Congressman from Texas from 1989 to 1997, first became involved with Christian Embassy through their Capitol Hill branch. He continued this relationship when he came to the Pentagon in 2001, joining the organization's Senior Executive Fellowship. To understand why having a Secretary of the Army with long time ties to any part of this organization is of such great concern, here are a few examples showing what the goals of CCC are for our military.

One of CCC's "strategic goals" is to "Evangelize and Disciple All Enlisted Members of the US Military. Utilize Ministry at each basic training center and beyond. Transform our culture through the US Military." Another goal is to transform the military into a force of "government paid missionaries." Describing the duties of a position at Lackland Air Force Base and Fort Sam Houston, for example, the Military Ministry website stated:

"Responsibilities include working with Chaplains and Military personnel to bring lost soldiers closer to Christ, build them in their faith and send them out into the world as government paid missionaries."

A former CCC program director at the Air Force Academy, Scott Blum, said in a promotional video filmed at the Academy, CCC's purpose is to "make Jesus Christ the issue at the Academy" and for the cadets to be "government paid missionaries" by the time they leave.

With Secretary Gates staying on in the new administration, MRFF is strongly requesting that both President-elect Obama and his Defense Secretary make a serious effort to rid our military of unconstitutional religious activity, and to weed out those DoD officials who have been complicit in promoting or endorsing what has in recent years evolved into a full-fledged constitutionally prohibited religious test for countless members of our armed forces.

Replacing Secretary Geren would be a very good start.

Home Prices: Falling from Crooks and Liars

[ouch - I should rent for a while]

excepted from http://crooksandliars.com/susie-madrak/home-prices-falling

I think home prices may fall by even more than 30%. We're hitting a period of deflation, which will drive wages (and employment) even lower and the value of houses may drop even more:

"We will never see these prices again in our lifetime, when you adjust for inflation," says Peter Schiff, president of investment firm Euro Pacific Capital of Darien, Conn. "These were lifetime peaks."

So far, home values nationally have tumbled an average of 19% from their peak. As bad as that is, prices would need to fall as least 17% more to reach their traditional relationship to household income, according to a USA TODAY analysis of home prices since 1950. In that scenario, a $300,000 house in 2006 could be worth about $200,000 when real estate prices hit bottom.

Not surprising: Big donors to get tickets to swearing-in from Politico

[I called both Senator Durbin and Congressman Guiterriez of Illinois in the hope, however small, that maybe they would throw out a few tix to the proles like myself. Guess my couple hundred bucks in donations didn't get me very far....]

Donors were e-mailed a schedule showing potential perks. See also: Inauguration donor info released

President-elect Obama's inaugural committee is inviting supporters to give as much as $50,000 or raise as much as $300,000 to underwrite the festivities, and is offering incentives that include tough-to-get spots at the swearing-in ceremony.

On Wednesday afternoon, top campaign donors – who helped Obama become the $1 billion man this campaign cycle — were e-mailed a schedule showing the perks of supporting the team one more time.

The contribution limits were voluntarily imposed by the Presidential Inaugural Committee, which points out that individuals have given as much as $250,000 to past inaugurals.

In keeping with the committee's promised "new standard for openness," organizers are posting the names of all the fund-raisers – known as "bundlers" – and donors of $200 or more. The committee says it posts the names of donors – along with their cities and occupations – within 48 hours of receiving the contribution.
rest at http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1208/16544.html

Bankruptcy Reform Caused More Foreclosures from Economist's View

This research is from the NY Fed. It finds that bankruptcy reform shifted default risk from credit card lenders to mortgage lenders and in doing so increased the number of foreclosures:

Seismic Effects of the Bankruptcy Reform, by Donald P. Morgan, Benjamin Iverson, and Matthew Botsch, Federal Reserve Bank of New York Staff Reports, no. 358, November 2008: Is it just coincidence that the surge in subprime foreclosures that has rocked financial markets came right after the bankruptcy reform in 2005 (Chart 1)? Is that surge just about falling home prices, bad mortgage decisions, and weak economic conditions? No and no. Indeed, we would be surprised if the answers were otherwise. Bankruptcy is about protection, after all, and foreclosure is what mortgagors most want to protect against. The Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005, the first overhaul of U.S. personal bankruptcy law in over a quarter century, made filing bankruptcy much less protective and much more expensive. How could that not matter?

rest at http://economistsview.typepad.com/economistsview/2008/12/bankruptcy-refo.html

The 20 senators who bailed out Wall Street but refused to rescue auto workers. from Think Progress

excerpt from http://thinkprogress.org/2008/12/12/20-flipped-on-auto/

Last night, the Senate failed to approve the auto rescue package, voting 52-35 in favor of the bill – just eight short of the 60 votes that were needed. Over on the Wonk Room, Dan Weiss takes a look at the 20 senators who voted for the Wall Street bailout but voted against the auto rescue last night (as well as the 10 others who skipped the vote last night, but voted for the financial bailout):

Yes to TARP, No to auto

Yes to TARP, Absent for auto

Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT) Sen. Robert Bennett (R-UT) Sen. Richard Burr (R-NC) Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-GA) Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) Sen. Norm Coleman (R-MN) Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN) Sen. John Ensign (R-NV) Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) Sen. Judd Gregg (R-NH) Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT) Sen. Kay Hutchison (R-TX) Sen. John Isakson (R-GA) Sen. Jon Kyl (R-AZ) Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-AR) Sen. Mel Martinez (R-FL) Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) Sen. John Thune (R-SD)

Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN) Sen. Joe Biden (D-DE) Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) Sen. Larry Craig (R-ID) Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-NE) Sen. John Kerry (D-MA) Sen. Gordon Smith (R-OR) Sen.Ted Stevens (R-AK) Sen. John Sununu (R-NH)

Jim Rogers: Most big U.S. banks “bankrupt” from Politics in the Zeros - wow

excerpted from http://polizeros.com/2008/12/12/jim-rogers-most-big-us-banks-bankrupt/

Jim Rogers is a legendary investor and partner of George Soros. He is known for being blunt, and, I've found from watching what he says, usually quite correct. He is now saying most major US banks are bankrupt.

But it worse than that, he says. The government is rewarding the venal and incompetent and punishing those who saw the debacle coming.

"What is outrageous economically and is outrageous morally is that normally in times like this, people who are competent and who saw it coming and who kept their powder dry go and take over the assets from the incompetent," he said. "What's happening this time is that the government is taking the assets from the competent people and giving them to the incompetent people and saying, now you can compete with the competent people. It is horrible economics."

It's a theftocracy, with the venal and politically well-connected being rewarded with billions of dollars even though they clearly shoulder much blame for the current credit crisis and recession.

Bloomberg has sued the Fed to get information on who they are loaning to. The Fed is stonewalling.

David Merkel on why the Fed might want to find this information

Extracting Images From the Brain from Google Blogoscoped

excerpt from http://blogoscoped.com/archive/2008-12-12-n33.html

The Pink Tentacle blog writes (update: currently getting a quota exceeded message there):

<<Researchers from Japan's ATR Computational Neuroscience Laboratories have developed new brain analysis technology that can reconstruct the images inside a person's mind and display them on a computer monitor, it was announced on December 11. According to the researchers, further development of the technology may soon make it possible to view other people's dreams while they sleep.

The scientists were able to reconstruct various images viewed by a person by analyzing changes in their cerebral blood flow. Using a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) machine, the researchers first mapped the blood flow changes that occurred in the cerebral visual cortex as subjects viewed various images held in front of their eyes. Subjects were shown 400 random 10 x 10 pixel black-and-white images for a period of 12 seconds each. While the fMRI machine monitored the changes in brain activity, a computer crunched the data and learned to associate the various changes in brain activity with the different image designs.

“Hold up That Fucking Cubs Shit. Fuck Them” from unattributable.com

The peculiar manner of verbal expression employed by Rod Blagojevich's wife Patti has tested news media sensibilities as they cover the scandal bringing down the Illinois governorship. Reporters have kept most of Patti's chosen words hidden behind asterisks and dashes out of concern for offending their readership, but we have no such compunction here.

rest at http://www.unattributable.com/2008/12/hold-up-that-fucking-cubs-shit-fuck-them/

Forget Emissions, This Is a Fight Over Labor from The Washington Independent

Well, I guess we saw this coming.

Senate Republicans last night killed efforts to grant Detroit's automakers a $14 billion lifeline to prevent bankruptcies after compromise negotiations broke down over a provision to cut workers' wages.

Very generally, Republicans wanted the Big Three's union workers to cut their salary and benefit packages down to the size of those earned by the domestic employees of Japan's automakers. According to a great analysis of the pay differential in The New York Times this week, the Big Three workers earn, on average, $55 per hour in salary and benefits, while those working for the Japanese companies pull in roughly $45. If the Republicans had their way, that would amount to a cut of about $20,000 per year in annual salary and benefits (health care and pensions) for Big Three workers.

Democrats had already caved to two White House demands: (1) That the $14 billion come from a $25 billion fund set aside to retool Detroit's factories, and (2) To strip language that would have forced the Big Three to drop lawsuits against states trying to tighten tailpipe emission standards.

Evidently, they drew the line at cutting workers' wages.

As Laura pointed out this morning, the White House has had the power to step in and help Detroit using a chunk of the $700 billion bailout passed earlier in the year to stabilize Wall Street's banks. Treasury Sec. Henry M. Paulson Jr. has resisted that strategy arguing that such a move would buck congressional intent (even as Congress is screaming from the rafters for some of the cash to go to the automakers). The money, Paulson contends, was intended to prop up the financial sector, not act as an economic stimulus — something many lawmakers probably dispute.

rest at http://washingtonindependent.com/21977/forget-emissions-this-is-a-fight-over-labor

GM hires bankruptcy advisors

General Motors Corp. has hired bankruptcy counsel and restructuring advisers to prepare for a filing if Congress does not authorize $14 billion in emergency federal loans.

"The Board is meeting frequently and is monitoring the situation closely and is considering all options, as is management," GM spokesman Steve Harris told The Detroit News tonight. "And they have engaged appropriate advisors for all contingencies."

The revelation, first reported in the Wall Street Journal, sends a signal to Congress and Bush administration officials the severity of GM's financial situation, though the automaker has said repeatedly it is working to avoid a Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing. It was unclear what impact the disclosure would have on a possible Senate vote later tonight or tomorrow on authorizing an auto bailout.

rest at http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=%2F20081211%2FAUTO01%2F812110493

US refuses to pay nuke victims from Raw Story Breaking News

US refuses to pay nuke victims

The US has refused a request by the Marshall Islands to use grant money to compensate victims of the American nuclear weapons testing programme in the western Pacific atoll nation, officials said.

The US tested 67 nuclear weapons at Bikini and Enewetak atolls from 1946 to 1958 and a Nuclear Claims Tribunal was set up by the two governments to compensate those displaced or suffering health problems due to the tests.

But the 150 million dollars the United States provided for paying settlements ran out three years ago and the US State Department has said there is no obligation to pay more.

More than 22 million dollars remains unpaid for personal injury awards and about two billion dollars is outstanding for land damage awards made by the tribunal.

rest at http://rawstory.com/news/afp/US_refuses_Marshalls_bid_to_use_aid_12122008.html

Are the Auto Suppliers Next? from Crooks and Liars

entire article at http://crooksandliars.com/john-amato/are-auto-suppliers-next

The domino effect begins:

As a result, the hypotheticals about the domino effect of the companies' troubles through the vast network of auto supplier firms — which employ more than twice as many workers as the carmakers — are becoming real.

General Motors and Chrysler, for example, owe their suppliers a total of roughly $10 billion for parts that have been delivered. G.M. has held off paying them for weeks, and Chrysler is paying in small increments. But the cash shortages at G.M. and Chrysler are getting more severe, according to their top executives and other officials.

"I don't think that suppliers will be able to get through the month without continued payments on their receivables," said Neil De Koker, chief executive of the Original Equipment Suppliers Association in Troy, Mich., a trade group.

When suppliers big and small start failing, the flow of parts to every automaker in the country will be disrupted because as suppliers typically sell their products to both American and foreign brands with plants in the United States.

Morning Box Score: It’s F'n Goulden from Chicagoist by Benjy Lipsman

excerpted from http://chicagoist.com/2008/12/12/morning_box_score_its_fn_gould.php

On the game's very first play, the Bears jumped out to a 7-0 lead on an 83-yard kickoff return by Danieal Manning. On the final play of the game, Robbie Gould kicked the game-winning field goal in overtime to seal the deal on a 27-24 victory over the visiting New Orleans Saints. In between, the Bears almost gave away the game.

Report: Businessmen Said They Were Raising Money For Blago To Get Senate Seat For Jackson from TPMmuckraker

excerpted from http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/12/report_businessmen_said_they_w.php

Maybe this is why he and his good old dad are arming up with legal counsel.....

This doesn't look great for Jesse Jackson Jr.

The Chicago Tribune reports:

As Gov. Rod Blagojevich was trying to pick Illinois' next U.S. senator, businessmen with ties to both the governor and U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. discussed raising at least $1 million for Blagojevich's campaign as a way to encourage him to pick Jackson for the job, the Tribune has learned.

At a luncheon meeting on October 31, Nayak and Rajinder Bedi told many of the attendees that they were organizing a fundraiser for Blagojevich, and that the purpose of the event was to get Jackson named to the Senate seat, two sources tell the Trib.

The meeting led to a fundraiser last Saturday which was attended by Jesse Jackson's brother, a former business partner of one of the businessmen, Raghuveer Nayak.

One source told the paper that he overheard Nayak and Bedi discussing plans with another politically active Indian-American businessman.

Raghu said he needed to raise a million for Rod to make sure Jesse got the seat," the second businessman said. "He said, 'I can raise half of it, $500,000.' The idea was that the other two would help raise the rest.

Conservatives Use Auto Rescue To Engage In Union Busting Campaign from Think Progress

Late last night, Senate Republicans blocked a deal brokered by the White House and the Democratic leadership to extend a $15 billion loan to General Motors and Chrysler. Senators were "deadlocked over Republican demands for steep cuts in pay and benefits by the United Automobile Workers union in 2009." Republicans immediately blamed unions. "It sounds like the U.A.W. blew it up," said Sen. David Vitter (R-LA). Sen. Richard Shelby (R-AL) said, "[L]abor has got to give. If they want a bill they can get one."

Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN) — who introduced the pay-cut amendment that sank the agreement — took to the morning shows today to blame the UAW for supposedly refusing to make concessions and allowing "these companies to fall into peril":

As I wake up this morning, knowing the gravity of where we were, the fact that they were willing to make no concessions — zero — and let these companies fall into peril as they are now, to me, as I wake up today, it's pretty surreal actually.

Watch a compilation of conservatives pointing the finger at unions:

rest at http://thinkprogress.org/2008/12/12/blame-unions-watch/

U.S. Treasury Standing By to Begin Nationalization of Big 3 Automakers

[I don't think the Feds would let the Big 3 go under due to the massive amount of credit default swaps out there; the Big 3 going under would result in another run on the banks similiar to what happened to Lehman Brothers.]

Fear not, Comrade! The U.S. Government's Ministry of Shitty Automobiles will begin drawing up plans for the Zaporozhets Liberty soon enough.

Via: AFP:

The US Treasury said Friday it is "ready" to avert the collapse of the Big Three US automakers until Congress can address their problems, a spokeswoman said Friday.

"Because Congress failed to act, we will stand ready to prevent an imminent failure until Congress reconvenes and acts to address the long-term viability of the industry," Treasury spokeswoman Brookly McLaughlin said.

The announcement came shortly after the White House said it would consider tapping a 700-billion-dollar financial rescue fund administered by the Treasury "to prevent a collapse of troubled automakers" after lawmakers failed to pass an alternative.

"Given the current weakened state of the US economy, we will consider other options if necessary — including use of the TARP program — to prevent a collapse of troubled automakers," said spokeswoman Dana Perino, referring to the Troubled Asset Relief Program conceived to help financial services firms.

A 14-billion-dollar auto bailout effort collapsed in the US Senate late Thursday.

rest at http://cryptogon.com/?p=5599

The Real Reason Southern Republicans Oppose the Bailout from The Washington Independent

The news coverage today is all about how the greedy auto workers and their unions refused to accept the oh-so-reasonable compromise proposed by Senate Republicans that would require them to quickly drop their wages and benefits to match those of foreign-owned plants.

But none of the mainstream news coverage I've seen – whether in the New York Times, Washington Post or CBS news – mentions the fact that Senator Bob Corker of Tennessee and his fellow Republicans who torpedoed the deal are from the same Southern states where those foreign companies own and operate auto plants – none of which are unionized, and all of which provide lower wages and fewer benefits than the Big Three.

(Tennessee is home to a Volkswagen plant and Nissan's North American headquarters, while Alabama and Georgia have Honda and Kia Motors Corp. factories. These Southern states have all worked hard to keep the foreign companies from going to Detroit and other Northern states (where unions still exist), by providing huge state taxpayer subsidies.)

rest at http://washingtonindependent.com/21981/why-southern-republicans-oppose-the-bailout

Friday Flashback: Tucker Automobiles from Chicagoist

[for those of you from the southwest side of Chicago, this is now the Ford City Shopping Center]

Seeing as how it's looking worse and worse for the auto bailout, we thought we'd take this particular Flashback to the late 40s, when Chicago had its very own automotive industry failure. It was in 1946 that Preston Tucker came to the Southwest side on Cicero Avenue, leased an old B29 engine plant and went to work. He finally put together a whole 51 cars - not 51 models, not 51 lines, 51 individual cars - before going under in 1949.

Cicero Ave. looks a little different today, doesn't it?

It was a pretty badass lookin' ride, with a fuel injected flat-6 hemi engine capable of taking the few cars produced up to 100mph. It was called the most aerodynamical car in the world at a time when cars were being produced to be huge, heavy and pretty unwieldy. Tucker even took the safety of the passengers into consideration, which was next to unheard of in the auto industry. The most notable design note was the "Cyclops Eye" headlight centered in the front of the vehicle, which turned with the wheels to light the direction of travel.

rest at http://chicagoist.com/2008/12/12/friday_flashback_tucker_automobiles.php

The Recession Spares Nothing, Not Even Puppies from Consumerist

Ever feel like the poor state of the economy is impacting every area of life? Well, it is! A few examples popping up in some surprising places, like animal shelters...

Not only are jobs being lost, businesses failing, and bailout popping out all over the place, but even the more mundane aspects of life are being affected.

Families are cutting back on childcare:

Behind the drumbeat of grim economic news, a lot of quiet shuffling is going on as parents pull small children out of paid child care. Enrollment at some child-care centers is falling and nanny agencies are reporting mounting layoffs as families cut child-care costs — which rival mortgage payments in many households. An October online survey by the women's Web site BettyConfidential.com found that 12% of 100-plus parents who responded are cutting child care.

Pets are being abandoned in droves:

As families lose their homes to foreclosure, man's best friend and his fellow pets are being surrendered to shelters, abandoned on the streets or even left to starve in locked-up houses, according to animal welfare organizations around the country.

rest at http://consumerist.com/5108477/the-recession-spares-nothing-not-even-puppies

Walmart Sells Whale Meat in Japan from Businesspundit

Walmart committed to cutting energy usage and reducing waste last year, but the retail giant has a long way to go before it can be called "green." Taking dubiously-produced whale meat off the shelves would be another step in the right direction (from the New York Whale and Dolphin Action League):

Did you know retail giant Wal-Mart is also in the business of selling endangered whale meat? A Wal-Mart-owned Japanese-based supermarket, Seiyu, Ltd., offers the meat of whales hunted in violation of the International Whaling Commission under the self-appointed guise of "scientific whaling."

rest at http://www.businesspundit.com/walmart-sells-whale-meat-in-japan/

Do you think we could use the 9 Billion dollars that went missing in Iraq now? from Crooks and Liars

It looks like the Republicans will block the auto makers bail out today.

The prospects of a $14 billion government rescue of the American auto industry seemed to vaporize Thursday as the Senate Republican leader, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, spoke out forcefully against the bill, effectively ending its chances despite the urgings of the White House.

In a speech on the Senate floor, Mr. McConnell said he and other Republicans had drawn a clear distinction between the Treasury's $700 billion economic stabilization, which they helped pass in October, and the proposal to aid the American automakers, which he said raised questions about which industries or individuals deserve help.

Wow, the Republicants are so worried about taxpayer money these days I often wonder where they disappeared when 9 billion dollars just vanished in the black hole of Iraq?

Nearly $9 billion of money spent on Iraqi reconstruction is unaccounted for because of inefficiencies and bad management, according to a watchdog report published Sunday.


rest at http://crooksandliars.com/john-amato/do-you-think-we-could-use-9-billion-dol

Senate Republicans Determined to Cause a Depression by Destroying Big 3 from Firedoglake

I'm not looking forward to this

Current Status: Dodd is leading negotiations with Corker (who is in favor of a deal) to try and get a deal which can pass.  If they make it, the vote will happen tonight, if not they'll probably take up the House Bill tomorrow morning.

Looks like the Senate Republicans are serious about killing the auto deal.  Here's the bottom line, if GM goes down, it will take Ford and Chrysler with it, because the three of them share suppliers.  Losing GM's business will put most of them into the red.  80% of American consumers will not buy a car from a company in bankruptcy, so the idea that going bankrupt is the solution to the auto companies woes is nonsense. 

What comes out of any bankruptcy, even if they have the names GM, Ford and Chrysler, will be a shadow of what went into bankruptcy—assuming anything comes out at all.  More likely would be that big chunks would be gobbled up by foreign car companies, especially by the Chinese, who want expertise, but not to make cars in the US.

We can expect, then, to lose most of the three million jobs related to the auto industry if the Big 2 1/2 go under.  To put this in perspective, in the last year the US has lost 2.7 million jobs.  This would be more than the job losses for an entire (lousy) year.  The US lost half a million jobs last month, and almost every economic forecaster expects the US to lose even more jobs in January, when retailers go fish-belly up due to an abysmal Christmas retail season.

Economic contractions of this sort are self-reinforcing.  The more people who lose their jobs, the less consumer spending there is.  The less consumer spending there is, the less money businesses make.  The less money businesses make, the more they have to lay off people.  The more people who lose their jobs, the less consumer spending there is.  The less... but why go on, you get the point.

Nor will the meltdown be limited to just job losses.  There are billions of dollars of outstanding Credit Default Swaps on Big 3 debt.  When they go under, those will be called.  Such defaults are precisely why letting Lehman Brothers go under turned out to be such a big mistake, and precisely why the Fed has refused to allow AIG to go under.  Granted, the Big 3 don't appear to have nearly as much exposure, nonetheless, the nominal amounts are not the point. 

rest at http://firedoglake.com/2008/12/11/senate-republicans-determined-to-cause-a-depression-by-destroying-big-3/

Beck: ‘I Was The Most Well-Researched Show’ On CNN, ‘They Forced Me To Document It’ from Think Progress

During an interview with Time magazine's Kate Pickert regarding his move to Fox News Channel, conservative talker Glenn Beck claimed that while he was a CNN, his show was "the most well-researched show on CNN":

PICKERT: You gave up your show on CNN Headline News to launch a new talk show on Fox News in January. How will it be different?

BECK: I liked being over at CNN. … I also think they made me a better broadcaster because, believe me, I was the most well-researched show on CNN. They never let me get away with anything. At the time, it was like, come on guys, cut me some slack. But in retrospect…I know what I know because they forced me to document it.

In the intro to her writeup, Pickert appears to take Beck's claim at face value. A cursory Google search, however, reveals that during his tenure at CNN, Beck's show was fraught with exaggerated claims and outright falsehoods. In fact, it seems that no matter what politically-relevant topic Beck chose to discuss, we could count on Beck to get it wrong:

rest at http://thinkprogress.org/2008/12/11/beck-research-cnn/

House Members Who Approved Auto Bailout Got More Campaign Fuel From the Industry from Capital Eye by Communications

excepted from http://www.opensecrets.org/news/2008/12/house-members-who-approved-aut.html

House Democrats voting to bail out Detroit's Big Three have collected 44 percent more money, on average, from auto manufacturers, dealers and unions than Democratic opponents of the bill. Republican supporters have collected 62 percent more than opponents in their party.

WASHINGTON (Dec. 12, 2008)--Members of the House of Representatives who approved a $14 billion cash infusion for Ford, Chrysler and General Motors on Wednesday night have received more campaign contributions, on average, from the automotive industry during their careers than those who opposed the rescue, the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics has found. The 237 who got the bill passed have received $87,063.44 on average from auto dealers, automakers and auto unions since 1989, while the 170 who voted against it received, on average, $80,756.80.

An 8 percent difference separated the auto-related campaign contributions of the bill's supporters from the opponents' haul. However, isolating the money by party, the gap was far wider. Auto manufacturers and dealers have historically been staunch Republicans, giving the GOP three-quarters of their contributions in the last 20 years. Because of the industry's Republican leanings, even Republicans who voted against lending the automakers' money Wednesday had received more money than Democrats who supported the bridge loan. Republicans' grip on the industry is loosening, however. In the 2008 cycle, the Big Three's PAC and individual contributions flipped to the side of the party that controls Congress. Auto unions remain solidly Democratic.  

House Democrats, who overwhelmingly supported the bill, received 44 percent more money, on average, from automakers, unions in the industry and auto dealers since 1989--$79,303.21 compared to $54,951.30 for the 20 Democrats who voted against the bill. The bill's 32 Republican supporters collected 62 percent more than opponents in their party--$136,777.44, versus $84,197.53 for the 150 Republicans who voted against the bailout package. (The Center for Responsive Politics has coded campaign finance data by industry back to the 1990 election cycle, or the calendar year 1989.)

Word of the Day: "Taint" from Crooks and Liars

Digby has been following the Conservative Illuminati as they do their best to try and smear Obama with Blagojevich.

Today on MSNBC, Shuster had on Pat Buchanan who said that Obama reacted "abnormally" to the Blagojevich news and failed to disclose which of his aides may have spoken to the Governor about his seat. Harold Ford very ineffectually defended Obama.

Buchanan replied:

Let me tell you, the problem is not that Rahm Emmanuel or Axelrod are involved in some deal.It is that they may be "tainted" by the fact that they talked to a Governor who is trolling and selling his Senate seat. They may have talked to him and if they did, they are supposed to report that to the US Attorney. Let me tell you Harold, a lot of my friends in the Nixon white house didn't do a thing when some guy came running in saying our guys just got caught breaking in and they didn't do anything with it.

rest at http://crooksandliars.com/john-amato/word-day-taint

Bank of America to cut up to 35,000 jobs over three years from MarketWatch.com

Bank of America plans to cut up to 35,000 jobs over the next three years as the giant lender adjusts to a recession and completes the pending acquisition of brokerage firm Merrill Lynch.

rest at http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/story.aspx?guid={3BE563B5-082C-444B-BCA0-8122FC013047}&siteid=rss

The Unmatched Brazenness of Goldman Sachs

Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) is at it again. It's advising clients to bet against products that it peddled into the market itself.

Bloomberg reports that Goldman has been advising clients to purchase credit-default swaps on municipal bonds -- essentially a bet that the bonds will fall in price. Never shy about flip-flopping, Goldman has acted as "lead managing underwriter" in almost every state it advises betting against. Sound familiar?

It should
Goldman caught a fair amount of flak earlier this year, after reports that it made a $4 billion windfall shorting asset-backed securities … perhaps some of the same 100 some-odd billion dollars of mortgage-backed securities it had been selling to clients for princely fees during the boom years.

Sure, I see where Goldman's coming from: It's in the business of making money, not friends. Wall Street made some serious, serious blunders in recent years, but it still has the responsibility to advise its clients on appropriate investment opportunities, even if it was the one that created, packaged, and sold those opportunities.

To also be fair, it's ridiculous to say that Goldman caused the current scramble for survival that municipalities are facing. States, cities, and counties spent more money than most reasonable forecasts would justify, and they often relied on real estate taxes that anyone with an ounce of gray matter knew would eventually fall.

But that's not the point
What bugs me about Goldman's call to bet against municipal bonds is the affect it has on market psychology. The municipal-debt market is in shambles because investors -- perhaps rightfully so -- are scared out of their skivvies that municipals might be the next shoe to drop. Bring in the opinion of someone as credible and savvy as Goldman, and the negative perception in this market goes through the roof.

rest at http://www.fool.com/investing/dividends-income/2008/12/11/the-unmatched-brazenness-of-goldman-sachs.aspx

Blagojevich owes Winston & Strawn $500K: from ChicagoBusiness.com

(Crain's) — Gov. Rod Blagojevich owes more than $500,000 in unpaid legal bills to law firm Winston & Strawn, according to a news report Thursday.

Mr. Blagojevich racked up millions of dollars in legal fees over several years but stopped paying the Chicago firm earlier this year, the Wall Street Journal reported on its Web site, citing people familiar with the matter. The firm stopped representing the governor after his payments dried up, the story says.

Winston Strawn has been the governor's main counsel since the federal government began its investigation five years ago into pay-to-play politics within his administration, the paper reported. It named Winston partner Bradley Lerman as the governor's main legal counsel.

rest at http://www.chicagobusiness.com/cgi-bin/news.pl?id=32207

Old Computer Ads from mental_floss Blog

The Obsolete Technology Website is full of goodies. It's got links to classic video games of yore (many now playable online), a history timeline of the personal computer, and — my favorite — a collection of old computer ads. These ads harken back to a simpler time, when "portability" meant that a computer weighed under 30 pounds, when a color monitor was an optional feature, and when Bill Cosby was the most trusted adman in America. Here are a few choice selections from the Obsolete Technology archives:

Some other awesome ads: The MITS Altair 8800 — "It's showing up in some of the most unusual places"; Smoke Signal Broadcasting — "Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Sailor, Doctor, Lawyer…the Chieftain's here" (??!); and Spectravideo as promoted by Roger Moore. If you haven't spent enough time checking out awesome computer ads, Boing Boing has 101 more, and PC World has a collection of TV spots that are just bizarre.

rest at http://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/archives/20879

"Somebody Has to Respond" from Truthout

Protesters in New York demonstrate in front of a Bank of America branch in support of Republic Windows and Doors workers in Chicago. Bank of America Corp. offered loans to the firm to resolve issues of pay to fired workers. (Photo: AFP / Getty Images)

When the day finally comes that Raul Flores loses his job, he will face a bitter search for another one. "I've got a family to support, so I've got to do whatever it takes," he says. "It's going to be hard. The economic situation is not good, but I can't just wait for something to happen to me."

    That puts Flores in the same boat as millions of other US workers. Last month alone, 533,000 workers lost their jobs - the highest figure in 34 years. A week ago, the heads of the Big Three auto companies were in Washington, DC, pleading for loans to keep their companies afloat. As a price, lawmakers and pundits told them they had to become "leaner and meaner," and in response, General Motors announced it would close nine plants and put tens of thousands of workers in the street. Ford and Chrysler described a similar job-elimination strategy.

    What makes Flores special? He didn't just accept the elimination of his job. Instead, he sat in at the Chicago plant where he worked for six days, together with 240 other union members at Republic Windows and Doors.

    Republic workers were not demanding the reopening of their closed factory, at least not yet. They have been fighting for severance and benefits to help them survive the unemployment they know awaits them. Yet, their occupation can't help but raise deeper questions about the right of workers to their jobs. Can a return to the militant tactics of direct action, that produced the greatest gains in union membership, wages and job security in US history, overturn "the inescapable logic of the marketplace"? Can employers, and the banks that hold their credit lines, be forced to keep plants open?

    Unlike the auto giants, Republic is not threatening bankruptcy. It makes a "green product," Energy Star-compliant doors and windows that should be one of the bedrock industries for a new, more environmentally sustainable economy. But Bank of America, as it was receiving $25 billion in federal bailout funds, pulled the company's credit line, leaving workers in the lurch. Perhaps that alone led President-elect Obama to support the workers. The bank-enforced closure undermines his program for using environmentally sustainable jobs to replace those eliminated in the spiraling recession. He called Republic workers "absolutely right. What's happening to them is reflective of what's happening across this economy."

    Federal law requires companies to give employees 60 days' notice of a plant closure or pay them 60 days' severance pay to give them breathing room to find other jobs. Republic workers got three days and no money. "They knew they'd be out on the street penniless," says Leah Fried, organizer for Local 1110 of the United Electrical Workers. "When the negotiating committee came back to the factory to report that the company didn't even show up to talk with them, the workers were so enraged they voted unanimously not to leave until they got their severance and vacation pay."

rest at http://www.truthout.org/121108R

Who Is Pat Quinn? from Chicagoist

C: Have you ever considered running for Governor?

PQ: No. No I haven't.

C: Why not?

PQ: Because I like this job. [Leans forward and picks up a book off the coffee table.] Paul Simon, right below you there, that's the book. He was an excellent public servant in my opinion. His daughter gave me one of his bowties. [Holds up the bowtie] And Paul Simon was Lieutenant Governor of Illinois. That was his only executive office his whole life. He was State Rep, State Senator, US Congressman, US Senator, and also Lieutenant Governor. And he did that job well. I was in college when he got started, he got sworn in, and he said he wanted to be an ombudsman. I didn't exactly know what that word meant, so I looked it up. It means the people's person in Swedish. So that's what I want to be, in his footsteps. I think this job, you can be the people's person. This term I intend to really speak out on grievous problems in Illinois. Utility issue we talked about, the tax reform issue, I think ethics is another area that Illinois needs serious improvement in.

I ran against George Ryan for Secretary of State in 1994. I lost the election, but I didn't lose my conscience. I said all the things that were going wrong there. And they came true, well, they all were proved true, let's put it that way. They were already true, and people found out about them. So I think the election of 2002 was the voters sending a message to clean up the mess of state government, and I don't think that's complete. I believe we need campaign finance reform, and the practice of contractors being able to give campaign money to politicians who issue contracts to them. I think we need stronger whistleblower laws at the local level. The state law, we have one, I was involved in getting that passed, but we need one for every local unit of government, including the CTA and RTA, and all the other TA's out there. And I also think we should have a law that prohibits utilities from making contributions. They're supposed to be public utilities and they're running around, acting in their own interest. Those are some of the ethics reforms I'll be pushing this year.

rest at http://chicagoist.com/2008/12/11/who_is_pat_quinn.php

President Elect Obama's EX-Chrysler going for 100K on eBay

Chicago, Illinois (MMD Newswire) December 11, 2008 -- The owner of a 2005 Chrysler 300c became aware that Barack Obama was the previous driver of his vehicle. A website has been created.... www.obamas300c.com and the car has been placed on eBay. The opening bid was $100,000, and with 6 more days to go somebody has matched the opening bid.

The 300c is loaded with leather, sunroof, navigation, and chrome wheels, and a HEMI.

According to the website, in July 2004, Barack Obama took delivery of this 2005 Chrysler 300c from Park Plaza Dodge in Forest Park, Illinois. In 2007, Obama swapped his Chrysler sedan for a Ford Escape Hybrid at Hawk Ford in Oak Lawn, IL. Hawk Ford then transfered the 300C back to Park Plaza Dodge. Finally in February 08, the second and current owner purchased the 300C from them.


rest at http://www.mmdnewswire.com/president-elect-obamas-ex-chrysler-going-for-100k-on-ebay-4332-2.html

Harry Potter Coming to MSI from Chicagoist

via http://chicagoist.com/2008/12/11/harry_potter_harry_potter_harry_pot.php

The global premiere of Harry Potter: The Exhibition is taking place today at the Museum of Science and Industry, with a sneak peek at what visitors can expect when the exhibit opens April 30. The complete exhibit will be a behind-the-scenes look at the construction and artistry of costumes and props from the Harry Potter films, displayed within set reproductions like the Griffindor Common Room and the Great Hall. A limited amount of tickets are available for pre-purchase online.

This Year's Death Toll in Mexico's Drug War Is Double 2007's from Truthout

     Drug-trafficking deaths have skyrocketed by more than 117 percent in 2008.

    Mexico City - Five thousand, three hundred, and seventy-six people have been killed in Mexico's drug war so far this year, double the number from last year and more than all the US troops killed in Iraq.

    Is this what victory looks like?

    That's the question Mexico is grappling with two years after President Felipe Calderon took office announcing a massive military effort to dismantle drug trafficking organizations.

    Thursday marks two years since Mr. Calderon announced "Operation Michoacan," the first of a sustained series of high-profile deployments of soldiers across the country.

    Since then, federal authorities have disarmed scores of police departments, boasted of bundles of cash and caches of weapons confiscated, and heralded arrests of some of the highest-profile traffickers as proof of success.

    But the effort's first year, 2007, also turned out to be the nation's deadliest in modern history; and the death toll for 2008 has, as of Dec. 2, far exceeded that, spiking by 117 percent, according to Mexican Attorney General Eduardo Medina Mora. Authorities at the highest ranks have been arrested for colluding with traffickers, and a strategy that has been a political boon could turn into a liability for Calderon in next year's mid-term elections.

    "The major gains are not what Calderon has gotten, but what he has avoided," says Jorge Chabat, an expert in drug trafficking in Mexico City. Police stations and small towns, for example, are no longer in the hands of drug traffickers, but he says that has come at a high price.

    "The major failure is the unintended consequences, which is high levels of violence," says Mr. Chabat. "Calderon probably never imagined that he would have such a response."

rest at http://www.truthout.org/121108D

Obama on Blago: 'This Senate seat does not belong to any politician to trade' from Crooks and Liars

Download | Play    Download | Play

President-elect Obama was succinct in shooting down speculation about his connections to Rod Blagejovich today:

"I'm also aware of your interest in the matter of the Illinois Senate appointment. I was as appalled and disappointed as anybody by the revelations earlier this week. I have never spoken to the Governor on this subject. I am confident that no representatives of mine would have any part of any deals related to this seat. I think the materials released by the US attorney reflect that fact. I have asked my team to gather the facts of any contacts with the governor's office related to this vacancy so that we can share them with you over the next few days. Finally on this matter, let me say that this Senate seat does not belong to any politician to trade. It belongs to the people of Illinois and they deserve the best possible representation and they deserve to know that any vacancy will be filled in an appropriate way so that whoever is sent to Washington is fighting for the people of Illinois. I hope and expect that the leaders of the legislature will take steps to make sure this is so."

rest at http://crooksandliars.com/david-neiwert/obama-blago-senate-seat-does-not-bel

Ohio Sheriff Refuses to Process “Heartless” Evictions from HousingWire

Saying that evicting former owners and tenants during winter weather and a recession is "heartless," Butler County, Ohio sheriff Richard Jones has become the third sheriff this year to refuse to process some eviction orders. Jones on Tuesday ordered his deputies to ensure that people have shelter before they're forced out of their homes, according to a report by WLWT television in Hamilton, Ohio; otherwise, he said his department will refuse to honor all eviction orders.

Jones sent a letter to Ohio governor Ted Strickland, as well, asking for a state order to halt all evictions for the winter months, although its unclear what would constitute "winter months." A call to Strickland's office for comment very early Thursday morning had not yet been returned when this story was published.

"There has to be some attention drawn to somebody that's going to be thrown out of their houses that doesn't have anywhere else to go," Jones told the television news station.

rest at http://www.housingwire.com/2008/12/11/ohio-sheriff-refuses-to-process-heartless-evictions/

Jesse Jackson Jr’s Dad Lawyers Up, Too from Emptywheel

In news that is very ominous for Candidate 5 and his family, Jesse Jackson Jr is not the only one who has lawyered up since Blago's arrest on Monday. Jesse Jackson Sr has done so too (h/t nextstopchicago and choochmac).

Also, the congressman's father, Jesse Jackson Sr., has retained legal council following the Blagojevich arrest. 

rest at http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2008/12/11/jesse-jackson-jrs-dad-lawyers-up-too/

Republican Senator Admits Opposition to Auto Bill is All About Union Busting, Compares UAW to Parasites from Firedoglake

graphic by twolf

While Mitch McConnell and other Republicans have hinted that their opposition to investment in the Big Three is all about busting the unions, Jim DeMint refreshingly came out and admitted it yesterday on NPR.

Norris: Now, you know the unions are saying this is also a political ploy on the part of the Republicans to try get rid of unions and use the auto industry troubles to do just that.

DeMint: Well, I'm not trying to get rid of the unions, but I am saying that they appear to be an antiquated concept in today's economy.

rest at http://firedoglake.com/2008/12/11/republican-senator-admits-opposition-to-auto-bill-is-all-about-union-busting-compares-uaw-to-parasites/

from Truthdig - Reports - The Best and the Brightest Led America Off a Cliff

The multiple failures that beset the country, from our mismanaged economy to our shredded constitutional rights to our lack of universal health care to our imperial debacles in the Middle East, can be laid at the feet of our elite universities. Harvard, Yale, Princeton and Stanford, along with most other elite schools, do a poor job educating students to think. They focus instead, through the filter of standardized tests, enrichment activities, advanced placement classes, high-priced tutors, swanky private schools and blind deference to all authority, on creating hordes of competent systems managers. The collapse of the country runs in a direct line from the manicured quadrangles and halls in places like Cambridge, Princeton and New Haven to the financial and political centers of power. 

The nation's elite universities disdain honest intellectual inquiry, which is by its nature distrustful of authority, fiercely independent and often subversive. They organize learning around minutely specialized disciplines, narrow answers and rigid structures that are designed to produce certain answers. The established corporate hierarchies these institutions service—economic, political and social—come with clear parameters, such as the primacy of an unfettered free market, and with a highly specialized vocabulary. This vocabulary, a sign of the "specialist" and of course the elitist, thwarts universal understanding. It keeps the uninitiated from asking unpleasant questions. It destroys the search for the common good. It dices disciplines, faculty, students and finally experts into tiny, specialized fragments. It allows students and faculty to retreat into these self-imposed fiefdoms and neglect the most pressing moral, political and cultural questions. Those who defy the system—people like Ralph Nader—are branded as irrational and irrelevant. These elite universities have banished self-criticism. They refuse to question a self-justifying system. Organization, technology, self-advancement and information systems are the only things that matter. 

"Political silence, total silence," said Chris Hebdon, a Berkeley undergraduate. He went on to describe how various student groups gather at Sproul Plaza, the center of student activity at the University of California, Berkeley. These groups set up tables to recruit and inform other students, a practice know as "tabling."

"Students table for Darfur, no one tables for Iraq. Tables on Sproul Plaza are ethnically fragmented, explicitly pre-professional (The Asian American Pre-Law or Business or Pre-Medicine Association). Never have I seen a table on globalization or corporatization. Students are as distracted and specialized and atomized as most of their professors. It's vertical integration gone cultural. And never, never is it cutting-edge. Berkeley loves the slogan 'excellence through diversity,' which is a farce of course if one checks our admissions stats (most years we have only one or two entering Native Americans), but few recognize multiculturalism's silent partner—fragmentation into little markets. Our Sproul Plaza shows that so well—the same place Mario Savio once stood on top a police car is filled with tens of tables for the pre-corporate, the ethnic, the useless cynics, the recreational groups, etc."

rest at http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/20081208_hedges_best_brightest/

Hey, let’s make money by further mangling the finances of states from Politics in the Zeros.

Pond scum

Goldman recommends credit default swaps against NJ, CA, WI, FL, OH, MI, others

By recommending that clients buy CDS against states, Goldman is deliberately aiding and abetting the financial problems of these states in order to make a quick profit. Any concern as to the damage this will cause to those states is of course irrelevant to them.

rest at http://polizeros.com/2008/12/10/hey-lets-make-money-by-further-mangling-the-finances-of-states/

New Tax Rules: The Hidden Corporate Bailout from TIME

Merger Tax Windfall
In the past, corporations could deduct from their taxes only a small portion of the losses incurred by a company they acquire. The rule, commonly called Section 382, eliminated the practice of companies avoiding taxes by buying failing corporations just for their losses.

But in late September, just after Congress defeated the first bailout bill, the IRS issued a notice to change that rule to allow banks to significantly lower their taxes when they purchase other banks. Now, after an acquisition a bank can reduce its IRA bill by claiming that loans on the books of an acquired rival are worth far less than the previous owners thought, not a hard claim to make these days. The acquirer can deduct from its taxes the full amount of the write-down. Before it could only lower its taxable earnings by a small percentage of the write-down of the pre-acquisition loans. (Can Congress Pass an Auto Bailout Bill Nobody Likes?)

Jones Day lawyers estimate that the rule change could cost the federal government up to $140 billion in revenue during the next few years. But it would only get that high if every bank in the U.S. were sold and their troubled mortgage assets were all written down to zero. Still, a number of banks have made acquisitions since the rule change and are already benefitting. Wells Fargo will book an estimated $25 billion tax credit from its November acquisitions of Wachovia. PNC, which bought National City in October, could get as much as $5 billion in tax benefits from that merger. And Capital One, which bought Chevy Chase Bank earlier this month, is looking at a $500 million tax windfall.

rest at http://www.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,1865315,00.html?iid=tsmodule

The Top 10 Everything of 2008 - TIME

via http://www.time.com/time/specials/2008/top10

Goldman Recommends Credit Default Swaps Against NJ, CA, WI, FL, OH, MI, Others from Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis

On November 25 I wrote State of New Jersey Is Insolvent

The state of New Jersey is insolvent. Bankrupt might be a better word. New Jersey is $60 billion in the hole on pension funding and the Governor is planning on skipping payments in a "pension payment holiday" until 2012 so as to not increase property taxes. To top it off, the ongoing plan assumptions are 8.25%. Sorry NJ, that simply is not going to happen. ....

Inquiring minds are now reading that Goldman Draws Ire for Advising Default Swaps Against New Jersey.
Goldman Sachs Group Inc., one of the top five U.S. municipal bond underwriters, is angering politicians and public-finance officials in New Jersey, Wisconsin, California and Florida by recommending that investors purchase credit-default swaps to bet against 11 states' debt.

Bets against public debt, once unheard of on bonds considered safe enough for retirees, have soared as the National Conference of State Legislatures projects recession-fueled budget crises will cause $97 billion of shortfalls nationwide over the next 18 to 24 months.

It's "disturbing" to advise investors to bet against the financial health of a state whose bonds Goldman helps sell, Assemblyman Gary S. Schaer, a Democrat who chairs the Financial Institutions and Insurance Committee, said last week in a letter to Chief Executive Officer Lloyd C. Blankfein.

rest at http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com/2008/12/goldman-recommends-credit-default-swaps.html

Nobel winner Krugman's worst case: a lost decade from Reuters

STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - Paul Krugman, winner of this year's Nobel economics prize, said on Monday that the world could face a Japan-style, decade-long slump.

Speaking in Stockholm where he will collect his 10 million Swedish crowns ($1.3 million) prize, U.S. economist Krugman again called on policy makers to spend liberally to cushion a withering global downturn.

"A scenario I fear is that we'll see, for the whole world, an equivalent of Japan's lost decade, the 1990s -- that we'll see a world of zero interest rates, deflation, no sign of recovery, and it will just go on for a very extended period," he told a news conference.

"And that's unfortunately very easy to see happen."

Krugman added that in his worst case scenario there would also be a series of extremely serious crises "in particular countries that are in big trouble."

He said there were already premonitions of economic and political crises in line with those in Argentina and Indonesia in the 1990s-early 2000s, particularly "in the European periphery."

Iceland and Latvia are among European countries that have been hit hard by the global financial crisis.

"We can easily be talking about a world economy that is depressed until 2011 and maybe beyond," Krugman said.

"If there's a safe place I can't see it."

rest http://www.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idUSTRE4B75KJ20081208

Economist's View: Paul Krugman's Nobel Prize Lecture

via http://economistsview.typepad.com/economistsview/2008/12/nobel-prize-lec.html

Paul Krugman's Nobel Prize lecture from Marginal Revolution

You'll find it here.  And here is his current forecast (with which I agree):

Paul Krugman, winner of this year's Nobel economics prize, said on Monday that the world could face a Japan-style, decade-long slump...

"A scenario I fear is that we'll see, for the whole world, an equivalent of Japan's lost decade, the 1990s -- that we'll see a world of zero interest rates, deflation, no sign of recovery, and it will just go on for a very extended period," he told a news conference.

"And that's unfortunately very easy to see happen."

rest http://www.marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2008/12/paul-krugmans-n.html

49ers' Willis Employs Five Pointed Palm Exploding Heart Technique from Deadspin

The big question in San Francisco right now: Should Mike Singletary be kept on as head coach next season? The overwhelming sentiment so far is yes, although Jets' wide receiver Brad Smith may not agree. If there were ever any doubt as to whether the 49ers would begin to take on Singletary's rabid personality, this play should lay that to rest; as Patrick Willis did to Smith in the fourth quarter of San Francisco's 24-14 win over the Jets on Sunday.

You can see Smith pop up from the hit initially, walk a few steps and then collapse; not unlike David Carradine's demise in Kill Bill II. That killer instinct hasn't been around these parts in a long time; it's good to see. Singletary set the tone when he dropped his trousers and showed his team the ass at halftime during his first game as head coach. We thought he was nuts then, but was there really genius within those pants?

rest at http://deadspin.com/5106292/49ers-willis-employs-five-pointed-palm-exploding-heart-technique

40 Inspirational Speeches in 2 Minutes

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d6wRkzCW5qI

Obama: Blagojevich Should Step Down from The Washington Independent

The Washington Post is reporting that Robert Gibbs, spokesman for President-elect Barack Obama, said Obama has added his voice to the cacophony calling for the resignation of Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, who was arrested yesterday on federal corruption charges.

President-elect Barack Obama believes that Gov. Rod Blagojevich should resign, his advisers said on Wednesday. "The President-elect agrees with Lt. Gov. Quinn and many others that under the current circumstances it is difficult for the governor to effectively do his job and serve the people of Illinois," Robert Gibbs, the incoming White House press secretary, said[...]

rest http://washingtonindependent.com/21682/obama-blagojevich-should-step-down

Joe the Plumber: McCain "appalled me" from Crooks and Liars

I could really care less if I never hear from Samuel the unlicensed plumber's apprentice Joe the Plumber ever again -- in fact, I would be much happier if I never did -- but this story from Politico is just too good to pass up. Apparently "Joe" grilled McCain on the Wall St. bailout out and came away, shall we say, dismayed.

UPDATE: John Amato

Joe the Plumber is a hack and a total fraud. I know you know that already. I just like saying it. He's got his fifteen minutes out of McCain and then throws him under the bus. Without McCain he'd probably be trying to weasle some food stamps for himself. Now, he's working hard to cash in on that wingnut welfare. I will instruct my writers to not mention him again unless he's being frog marched.

rest http://crooksandliars.com/silentpatriot/joe-plumber-mccain-appalled-me

ABC News: Jesse Jackson Jr. Is Candidate 5 from Chicagoist

Yesterday, Mick Dumke at the Reader explored the possible identities of candidates named in the Blagojevich complaint, including Jesse Jackson, Jr.

Senate Candidate 5:

CLUES: According to the complaint, this person is "publicly reported to be interested in the open Senate seat"; the governor's purported interest in the candidate was also leaked to the Sun-Times. Blagojevich "was giving Senate Candidate 5 greater consideration for the Senate seat because, among other reasons, if ROD BLAGOJEVICH ran for re-election Senate Candidate 5 would 'raise money' for ROD BLAGOJEVICH. . . . Senate Candidate 5 was very much a realistic candidate for the open Senate seat, but . . . ROD BLAGOJEVICH was getting 'a lot of pressure' not to appoint Senate Candidate 5."

GUESS: Jesse Jackson Jr. While there are two other possibilities we could think of for this one - Danny Davis and Emil Jones - Jackson fits so we'll go with Dumke's guess.

Now ABC News is jumping on the Jesse Bandwagon, citing unnamed sources as telling them Jackson is Candidate 5.

According to the FBI affidavit in the case, Blagojevich "stated he might be able to cut a deal with Senate Candidate 5 that provided ROD BLAGOJEVICH" with something "tangible up front."

rest at http://chicagoist.com/2008/12/10/abc_jesse_jackson_jr_is_candidate_5.php

Gawker Lays Off Its One Female Employee from AlterNet: "Yet another publication ditches diversity and adopts an all-male masthead."

via http://www.alternet.org/blogs/peek/109771/

This post first appeared on TakePart.

Say what you will about Gawker. They're too snarky, or they're not funny at all, or they're not insider-y enough anymore.

But you can say for sure that they've got that same old broken record problem on their hands that has trailed too many journalism outlets:

Today, Gawker.com laid off its one female staffer, Sheila McClear.

Don't misunderstand me: I understand that Gawker Media's model is to continue to employ bloggers with the highest pageviews, and surely there's other internal decisions those of us in the chattering classes aren't privy to, as well.  McClear (or Maureen "Moe" Tkacik, a Jezebel-then-Gawker blogger was let go earlier this year) should not have been kept on staff just as a token female (like the blogosphere's Sarah Palins).  That's always the first shrill, defensive cry I hear -- from men, of course!  especially men in the positions of power to fix the diversity problem! -- when I bitch about the lack of women writing for or on staff at a publication.

But clearly the concept of tokenism doesn't even need to be discussed: Gawker, after all, launched the careers of Elizabeth Spiers, Jessica Coen and Emily Gould into the stratosphere. The hiring powers at be -- owner Nick Denton, I guess? -- is not a dinosaur.  I'm not crying sexism; I'm crying  lets-hope-temporary f*cked-up-ism. McClear (and Tkacik) could and should be quickly replaced.

Here's hoping the company doesn't dilly-dally ... although in this economy, I wouldn't be suprised if there aren't any hirings anytime soon.  And here is where I make the trite-ist of blogger observations:

Sad.

(p.s. Please don't tell me an all-boy Gawker is okay because Jezebel is all-girls.  Jezebel is a site aimed towards women and I would argue they could use a man or two on staff.  But Gawker is, and has always been, a non-gender specific blog.)

WALL-E Awarded Best Picture from /Film

The Los Angeles Film Critics Association has named Pixar's WALL-E as the Best Picture of the Year. This is the first time in the 33-year history of the LAFCA that an animated film has won the top prize. Disney has been pushing the film for both Best Animated feature and Best Picture for the upcoming Academy Awards and Golden Globes. Critic Association awards like this are a stepping stone to the big stage, and are often looked at as a prognosticator of sorts. The Dark Knight was awarded the runners up prize.

rest at http://www.slashfilm.com/2008/12/09/wall-e-awarded-best-picture/

Investors Willing To Pay The Treasury To Borrow Their Money from Consumerist

Here's a sad bit of news, investors are so shaken that they're willing to put their money into Treasury bills — even if it means losing money.

The NYT says:

Investors were so desperate to put their cash into government notes that they were willing to pay a penalty for the privilege: three-month notes traded at a negative yield, meaning that investors will receive about 99 cents on the dollar in return after the note matures.

rest http://consumerist.com/5105946/investors-willing-to-pay-the-treasury-to-borrow-their-money

Foreign Policy: The 10 Worst Predictions for 2008

Wow, some of these are fascinating in how off the mark they were, combined with the self assurance of the predictor....

Prognostication is by far the riskiest form of punditry. The 10 commentators and leaders on this list learned that the hard way when their confident predictions about politics, war, the economy, and even the end of humanity itself completely missed the mark.

1

Scott Gries/Getty Images

"If [Hillary Clinton] gets a race against John Edwards and Barack Obama, she's going to be the nominee. Gore is the only threat to her, then. … Barack Obama is not going to beat Hillary Clinton in a single Democratic primary. I'll predict that right now." —William Kristol, Fox News Sunday, Dec. 17, 2006

Weekly Standard editor and New York Times columnist William Kristol was hardly alone in thinking that the Democratic primary was Clinton's to lose, but it takes a special kind of self-confidence to make a declaration this sweeping more than a year before the first Iowa caucus was held. After Iowa, Kristol lurched to the other extreme, declaring that Clinton would lose New Hampshire and that "There will be no Clinton Restoration." It's also worth pointing out that this second wildly premature prediction was made in a Times column titled, "President Mike Huckabee?" The Times is currently rumored to be looking for his replacement.

rest at http://www.foreignpolicy.com/story/cms.php?story_id=4569

Angry Users Trash TurboTax's Amazon Rating After Price Hike from Consumerist

Intuit raised the price on TurboTax from $44.95 to $59.95, and now, for the first time ever, they're going to charge users $9.95 for each additional return you prepare on it. Previously, you could do up to 5 returns per copy of TurboTax. In revolt, TurboTax users have been leaving one-star reviews on Amazon in droves. Currently, 122 of the 134 reviews for TurboTax Deluxe are one-star, bringing the software's overall Amazon rating down to 1.5 stars.

Compounding the problem is that disclosure of the pricing change is a bit hard to find. Reader Oliver says that, "the only notice of this change to the license is in extremely small print on the back of the software box. Turbotax now promotes the so-called free e-file in bold, large type, but the statement that additional returns are extra is hidden so most people won't notice it until they get home. Furthermore, they do not clearly point out that additional printed returns are now extra, unlike in the past."

TurboTax VP Bob Meighan responded to the customer concerns in by leaving this comment on a Cnet post:

Let me start by saying that we are absolutely aware that some TurboTax desktop customers have concerns and objections about the changes we?ve made to TurboTax desktop product pricing and we?re responding daily to those comments on Amazon and other online sites, blogs, etc.

For all to know, here is what?s different for 2008.

rest at http://consumerist.com/5105492/angry-users-trash-turbotaxs-amazon-rating-after-price-hike

Chicago Columnist Outed As Blago's Favorite Patsy from Gawker

Michael Sneed is a local gossip columnist for the Chicago Sun-Times. And she's the latest journalist to be steamrolled by Chicago's US attorney, Patrick Fitzgerald—the same prosecutor who sent fallen Times reporter Judy Miller to jail! But Sneed won't have to go to court to try to keep her sources secret, because they're named right in the indictment of corrupt governor Rod Blagojevich. You see, Sneed was allegedly the guv's go-to reporter for planting fake rumors designed to help his scheme to extort money in exchange for Obama's replacement in the Senate.

rest at http://gawker.com/5105531/chicago-columnist-outed-as-blagos-favorite-patsy

Blagojevich Cabinet Dreams Become Obama's First Political Scandal from Gawker

Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich kind of threw a bit of a monkey wrench into Barack Obama's pre-inauguration honeymoon today by getting indicted and arrested by the FBI for allegedly trying to sell Obama's vacated Senate seat and demanding recompense from the Obama team in exchange for appointing their preferred candidate.

rest at http://gawker.com/5105519/blagojevich-cabinet-dreams-become-obamas-first-political-scandal

"No, fuck you, Governor." - Obama Wouldn't Play from Daily Kos

from http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/12/9/125617/069/115/671099

When the news of the arrest of Illinois Governor Rob Blagojevich broke, it took the RNC less than an hour to try and tie him to President-elect Barack Obama, an attempt so pitiful that even the Washington Times wasn't buying it. Apparently the RNC didn't bother to read the Criminal Complaint.

Here's where it talks about Candidate 1, Obama's preference to replace him in the US Senate:

By this time, media reports indicated that Senate Candidate 1, an advisor to the President-
elect, was interested in the Senate seat if it became vacant, and was likely to be supported by the President-elect.  During the call, ROD BLAGOJEVICH stated, "unless I get something real good for [Senate Candidate 1], shit, I'll just send myself, you know what I'm saying....And if I don't get what I want and I'm not satisfied with it, then I'll just take the Senate seat myself."  Later, ROD BLAGOJEVICH stated that the Senate seat "is a fucking valuable thing, you just don't give it away for nothing."

But Obama wouldn't play:

ROD BLAGOJEVICH stated that he is "struggling"  financially and does "not want to be Governor for the next two years."  ROD BLAGOJEVICH said that the consultants (Advisor B and another consultant are believed to be on the call at that time) are telling him that he has to "suck it up" for two years and do nothing and give this "motherfucker [the President-elect] his senator.  Fuck him.  For nothing?  Fuck him."  ROD BLAGOJEVICH states that he will put "[Senate Candidate 4]" in the Senate "before I just give fucking [Senate Candidate 1] a fucking Senate seat and I don't get anything."

Later in the conversation, ROD BLAGOJEVICH said he knows that the President-elect wants Senate Candidate 1 for the open seat but "they're not willing to give me anything except appreciation. Fuck them."

No, fuck you, Governor.

FBI Agent: Illinois High in Running for Most Corrupt State from The Washington Independent

Actually, the direct quote is much more colorful. During a riveting news conference on the federal corruption charges being brought against Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich and his chief of staff, FBI Special Agent Robert Grant described the state of Illinois politics thusly:

"If [Illinois] isn't the most corrupt state in the U.S., it's certainly one hell of a competitor."

Indeed, U.S. Attorney Patrick J. Fitzgerald, who you may remember from such criminal investigations as the outing of former CIA undercover agent Valerie Plame, said Blagojevich was involved in "what can only be described as a political crime spree."

In addition to the charges related to Blagojevich's alleged conspiracy to "sell" President-elect Barack Obama's recently vacated Senate seat, as well as an alleged scheme to exchange state money to aid the sale of Wrigley Field for the firing of several members of The Chicago Tribune's editorial staff, Fitzgerald outlined other plots.

rest at http://washingtonindependent.com/21517/fbi-agent-illinois-high-in-running-for-most-corrupt-state

I am laughing right now - Snubbed by Hall, Santo calls for change in voting from ESPN.com

LAS VEGAS -- Ron Santo, who fell nine votes short of election by the Veterans Committee to the Baseball Hall of Fame, said the process needs to change after the committee failed to elect a new member for the fourth straight time. The Veterans Committee, a 64-member panel made up exclusively of all living Hall of Fame players, votes every other year on players from 1943 and after. Santo, who spent 14 of his 15 seasons with the Chicago Cubs and is a longtime broadcaster for the team, led the voting with 39 votes, or 61 percent. But needed to be on 75 percent of the ballots to be voted into the hall.

''It's a travesty,'' Santo said, according to the Chicago Sun-Times. ''When I saw nobody got in again, I go, 'Whoa, this is wrong.' They can't keep going the way they're going. They've got to put a [different] committee out there.''

"It'll be eight years now that they've voted and not let anybody in. And personally, I feel like there's a lot of guys that should've been in, not just me," Santo said, according to the Chicago Tribune. However, Hall of Fame chairwoman Jane Forbes Clark noted that the goal of the two-stage veterans' process is not to elect someone every time they vote, according to the Sun-Times. ''The process was not redesigned with the goal of necessarily electing someone, but to give everyone on the ballot a very fair chance of earning election through a ballot of their peers,'' Clark said, according to the report. Santo was an All-Star nine times. He finished his career with 342 home runs, 1,331 RBIs, a .277 lifetime batting average and five Gold Gloves.


rest at http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3756458&campaign=rss&source=ESPNHeadlines

'Extreme Makeover' Family Facing Foreclosure from WXYZ.com

OAK PARK, Mich. (WXYZ) - Four years ago, millions of television viewers watched as a deaf couple marveled at the renovations to their home that would help them better accommodate their blind, autistic son.

But now the couple, Judy and Larry Vardon, worry that the home could face foreclosure. They were featured in a two-hour episode of "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" that set a ratings record for the show when broadcast Nov. 6, 2004.

Weighed down by a mortgage payment that has almost doubled since the makeover and medical insurance that doesn't cover autism treatment for 16-year-old Lance, the Vardons are clinging to the hope that Larry will keep his job at Chrysler LLC's Sterling Heights stamping plant. The company is on the brink of bankruptcy as it and the other Detroit automakers appeal to Congress for emergency loans.

"I'm afraid I'm going to lose my house now," Judy Vardon, using sign language through an interpreter, told The Macomb Daily of Mount Clemens. "This house really belongs to Lance. This is his environment. He can't speak out for himself, and I hope we can save this house."

ABC said 20.5 million viewers saw a crew led by host Ty Pennington rehabilitate the Vardons' 980-square-foot house near Detroit from the inside out, including installing cameras and flat-screen monitors allowing the Vardons to monitor Lance.

rest at http://www.wxyz.com/news/local/story/Extreme-Makeover-Family-Facing-Foreclosure/rmDc6vh40UOtwBO1XcT6dg.cspx

Douchebag asshole alert: Merrill's John Thain Wants $10 Million Bonus

Merrill Lynch Chief Executive John Thain has suggested to directors that he get a 2008 bonus of as much as $10 million, but the battered company's compensation committee is resisting his request, the Wall Street Journal said, citing people familiar with the situation.

The compensation committee has not reached a decision, but is leaning toward denying Thain and other senior executives bonuses for this year, the people told the paper.

But people close to Merrill tell CNBC that Thain seriously undermined his standing with his new bosses at Bank of America by asking for the bonus but not alerting BofA of his request. Also interesting to note that, is Merrill said that Thain and four senior officers chose on their own not to take a bonus. CNBC has learned that the four executives never asked for a bonus in the first place

But the big story is this episode may have killed Thain's chances of succeeding Ken Lewis, people at Merrill say.

rest at http://www.cnbc.com/id/28107594

So Long, and Thanks for All the Tinfoil: SCOTUS Boots Obama Nationality Case from Firedoglake

via http://firedoglake.com/2008/12/09/so-long-and-thanks-for-all-the-tinfoil-scotus-boots-obama-nationality-case/

Just in time for the annual War On Christmas rush, SCOTUS boots the Obama nationality case:

The Supreme Court this morning unceremoniously declined to hear an emergency appeal from a man who claimed President-elect Barack Obama is not qualified for the presidency because he is not a "natural-born" citizen.

This was the Donofrio case. But, take heart, oh ye wingnuts of little faith, the Berg case still moves forward...for now.

Guess there's always taking a stab at a world record if all else fails.

Jeebus, do these people have nothing else to do?  Alas...no.

from Raw Story - Economy claims 'conservative MoveOn'

The conservative lobbying group whose message was trumpeted by former Bush Press Secretary Ari Fleischer is no more.

Freedom's Watch, a group aimed at bolstering the "War on Terror," has gone the way of the Dodo on the back of economic woes for the group's largest donor, casino heavyweight Sheldon Adelson. Fleischer, Bush's press secretary when the US invaded Iraq, served as a member of the Board.

Billed as being the right-wing alternative to MoveOn.org, the group's financing dissolved as Adelson's Las Vegas Sands casino company hemorrhaged. Sands' stock value has plummeted 95% this year -- costing Adelson some $16 billion. Sands is saddled with massive debt.

"The group funneled millions into congressional and Senate races, but failed to make a major impact in the 2008 election where Democrats captured the White House and grew their majorities in both chambers of Congress," the Wall Street Journal noted Monday.

Freedom's Watch's demise was first reported on Politicker.com. The site said the group was "plagued by staff shake-ups, early loses in House special election in which they invested heavily," and Adelson's financial losses.

rest at http://rawstory.com/news/2008/With_casino_suffering_group_backing_War_1209.html

White House sends memo to Cabinet officials with talking points on Bush’s successful presidency. from Think Progress

via http://thinkprogress.org/2008/12/09/bush-legacy-memo/

The White House is sending a two-page memo to Cabinet members "and other high-ranking officials" with official talking points meant to bolster President Bush's legacy. The memo, obtained by the L.A. Times, is called "Speech Topper on the Bush Record" and looks at Bush's presidency through distinctly rose-colored glasses:

Titled "Speech Topper on the Bush Record," the talking points state that Bush "kept the American people safe" after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, lifted the economy after 2001 through tax cuts, curbed AIDS in Africa and maintained "the honor and the dignity of his office."

The document presents the Bush record as an unalloyed success.

It mentions none of the episodes that detractors say have marred his presidency: the collapse of the housing market and major financial services companies, the flawed intelligence in the run-up to the Iraq war, the federal response to Hurricane Katrina or the abuse of prisoners at Abu Ghraib.

Bush has been working diligently to create a picture of a successful presidency, from a Karl Rove-directed "Bush Legacy Project" to a series of farewell interviews in which Bush has been unable or unwilling to admit a single mistake. The Washington Post's Dan Froomkin writes, "The public has rejected him. The nation is in crisis — and eager for the massive course corrections promised by an Obama presidency. But none of this appears to have penetrated President Bush's well-defended brainpan."

Blagojevich And Chief Of Staff Indicted For Attempting To Sell Obama’s Senate Seat from Firedoglake

Photo of Patrick Fitzgerald via strategerie.

Having seen a number of public corruption charges in my day, this one is an enormous doozy.  Pat Fitzgerald's office will hold a press conference at 11 am CT to discuss the charges and arrest of Blagojevich and his chief of staff.  

In the meantime, feast your eyes on the allegations from the 76-page FBI affadavit, via a press release from the USatty's office in Chicago: 

Illinois Gov. Rod R. Blagojevich and his Chief of Staff, John Harris, were arrested today by FBI agents on federal corruption charges alleging that they and others are engaging in ongoing criminal activity: conspiring to obtain personal financial benefits for Blagojevich by leveraging his sole authority to appoint a United States Senator; threatening to withhold substantial state assistance to the Tribune Company in connection with the sale of Wrigley Field to induce the firing of Chicago Tribune editorial board members sharply critical of Blagojevich; and to obtain campaign contributions in exchange for official actions – both historically and now in a push before a new state ethics law takes effect January 1, 2009. 

Blagojevich, 51, and Harris, 46, both of Chicago, were each charged with conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud and solicitation of bribery. They were charged in a two-count criminal complaint that was sworn out on Sunday and unsealed today following their arrests...

A 76-page FBI affidavit alleges that Blagojevich was intercepted on court-authorized wiretaps during the last month conspiring to sell or trade Illinois' U.S. Senate seat vacated by President-elect Barack Obama for financial and other personal benefits for himself and his wife. At various times, in exchange for the Senate appointment, Blagojevich discussed obtaining:

-- a substantial salary for himself at a either a non-profit foundation or an organization affiliated with labor unions;

-- placing his wife on paid corporate boards where he speculated she might garner as much as $150,000 a year;

-- promises of campaign funds – including cash up front; and

-- a cabinet post or ambassadorship for himself.

rest at http://firedoglake.com/2008/12/09/blagojevich-and-chief-of-staff-indicted-for-attempting-to-sell-obamas-senate-seat/

Illinois Gov Blagojevich arrested on federal charges - Chicago Breaking News

Gov. Rod Blagojevich and his chief of staff, John Harris, were arrested today by FBI agents for what U.S. Atty. Patrick Fitzgerald called a "staggering" level of corruption involving pay-to-play politics in Illinois' top office.

Blagojevich is accused of a wide-ranging criminal conspiracy, including alleged attempts by the governor to try to sell or trade the U.S. Senate seat left vacant by President-elect Barack Obama in exchange for financial benefits for the governor and his wife. Blagojevich also is accused of obtaining campaign contributions in exchange for other official actions.

Blagojevich was taken into federal custody at his North Side home this morning--one day shy of his 52nd birthday.

A Blagojevich spokesman said he was unaware of the development. "Haven't heard anything--you are first to call," spokesman Lucio Guerrero said in an e-mail. Blagojevich, who has maintained he committed no wrongdoing throughout his five-year tenure as governor, said on Monday that any discussions he has had were "always lawful."

The stunning, early morning arrest came amid revelations that federal investigators had compiled secret recordings of the governor with the cooperation of a longtime confidant. In recent days, the focus of federal investigators turned to the possibility that Blagojevich's appointment to the Senate had become tainted by pay-to-play politics.

The Democratic governor has said he expects to make a decision on the state's next senator in weeks.

Blagojevich and Harris were arrested simultaneously at their homes at about 6:15 a.m., according to the FBI. They were transported to FBI headquarters in Chicago. Blagojevich is slated to appear before U.S. Magistrate Judge Nan Nolan today, according to Randall Samborn of the U.S. attorney's office.

On the issue of the U.S. Senate seat that Obama resigned Nov. 16, federal prosecutors said they had numerous recorded conversations of Blagojevich discussing the merits of potential candidates, including their abilities to benefit the people of Illinois as well as the financial and political benefits he and his wife, First Lady Patricia Blagojevich, could receive.

Ald. Dick Mell (33rd), Blagojevich's father-in-law, said it was a "terrible day." Mell, who often feuded with Blagojevich, said, "My main concern right now is for my daughter and my grandchildren."

Mayor Richard Daley, reacting at a news conference, said today is "a sad day. If it's true, it's very, very sad because the selection of a U.S. senator is vitally important."

Prosecutors also alleged Blagojevich expressed feeling "stuck" as a sitting governor and spent a large amount of time weighing whether he should appoint himself to the vacancy--possibly to avoid impeachment and help remake his image for a potential 2016 run for the presidency. A recent Tribune poll found Blagojevich with a record low 13 percent job approval rating.

Under state law, the governor has the sole unfettered discretion to name Obama's appointment.

Prosecutors alleged Blagojevich sought appointment as Secretary of Health and Human Services, secretary of the Energy Department or gain an ambassadorship in the new Obama administration, or get a lucrative job with a union in exchange for appointing a union-preferred candidate. An Obama spokesman had no immediate comment.

Blagojevich also was alleged to be using a favors list, made up largely of individuals and firms that have state contracts or received taxpayer benefits, from which to conduct a $2.5 million fundraising drive before year's end when a new tougher law on campaign donations, prompted by the governor's voracious fundraising, would take effect.

Even Blagojevich's recently announced $1.8 billion plan for new interchanges and "green lanes" on the Illinois Tollway was subject to corruption, prosecutors alleged. The criminal complaint alleges Blagojevich expected an unnamed highway concrete contractor to raise a half-million dollars for his campaign fund in exchange for state money for the tollway project. "If they don't perform, (expletive) 'em," Blagojevich said, according to the complaint.

Blagojevich and Harris also allegedly conspired to demand the firing of Chicago Tribune editorial board members responsible for editorials critical of Blagojevich in exchange for state help with the sale of Wrigley Field, the Chicago Cubs baseball stadium owned by Tribune Co.

In addition, federal prosecutors alleged Blagojevich and Harris, along with others, obtained and sought to gain financial benefits for the governor, members of his family and his campaign fund in exchange for appointments to state boards and commissions, state jobs and state contracts.

"The breadth of corruption laid out in these charges is staggering," U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald said in a statement.

"They allege that Blagojevich put a 'for sale' sign on the naming of a United States senator; involved himself personally in pay-to-play schemes with the urgency of a salesman meeting his annual sales target; and corruptly used his office in an effort to trample editorial voices of criticism."

rest http://www.chicagobreakingnews.com/2008/12/source-feds-take-gov-blagojevich-into-custody.html