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NEWS DISSECTOR: NPR ALARMED: Price Of Sunday Brunch French Toast Going UP
NEWS DISSECTOR March 9, 2008
NPR ALARMED: Price Of Sunday Brunch French Toast Going UP
"I See Our Country Going Off A Cliff." Carl Icahn on 60 Minutes Last Night
HARD RAIN STILL FALLING
DRIP, DRIP, DRIP-SOUNDS OF AN ECONOMY DROPPING
THE MAVERICK WHO ISN'T
I was back in Boston over the weekend where a local TV news program, once calling itself a "News Center" has been re-dubbed "a storm center" because every weekend there seems to be some driving rain or threatening snow.
Weather news now competes for airtime with Celtics news and Red Sox and Patriots news before that. It was the weekend of yet another PBS fundraising drive. You can tell when they are on when you see music concerts by the likes of James Taylor and Bob Dylan, whose spirit hardly animates day to day programming.
In fact, Dylan's 'Hard Rain's Gonna Fall' actually combines a storm warning with a political one. On Saturday night, it was raining with a dramatic intensity, while Ohio and Indiana were socked with snow. I thought of some of the lyrics to that great song, still relevant after all these years. It conjured up the very definition of the "hard news" we once knew.
Heard the roar of a wave that could drown the whole world,
Heard one hundred drummers whose hands were a-blazin',
Heard ten thousand whisperin' and nobody listenin',
Heard one person starve, I heard many people laughin',
Heard the song of a poet who died in the gutter,
Heard the sound of a clown who cried in the alley,
And it's a hard, and it's a hard, it's a hard, it's a hard,
And it's a hard rain's a-gonna fall.
And then I stumbled on these words by David Leonhardt in the NYT just after I heard that Barack Obama was triumphant in far away Wyoming: "Seeing an End to the Good Times (Such as They Were)"
If history is a reliable guide, the recession of 2008 is now unavoidable.
The dismal jobs report released Friday showed overall employment to be lower than it was three months ago. Every time such a slump has occurred since the early 1970s, a recession has followed - or already been under way. (Bloomberg reported: "An all-time high in US mortgage foreclosures and the biggest drop in jobs in five years added to signs of economic weakness."
And if the good times have really ended, they were never that good to begin with. Most American households are still not earning as much annually as they did in 1999, once inflation is taken into account. Since the Census Bureau began keeping records in the 1960s, a prolonged expansion has never ended without household income having set a new record."
And yet recession is a word that politicians rarely allow to cross their tongues even if the Wall Street Journal itself proclaimed its existence on Page one. On NPR's ALL THINGS CONSIDERED, they were talking about the rise in the price of everything, including gas, up 9 cents in the last two weeks, bread, eggs, wheat etc etc. NPR typically investigated the rising cost of the elements that going into a DC Bistro's Sunday Brunch French Toast.
The Boston Globe was more comprehnsive with a P 1 report saying that prices had "surged." Wonder where they found that word.
60 Minutes lionized Carl Icahn, the corporate raider again. Yet, when he said, he sees the country going off a cliff-see quote above-he was up cut and the thought was never pursued. Leslie?
MARGIN CALL
Another big Oy Vey:
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Wall Street banks are facing a "systemic margin call" that may deplete banks of $325 billion of capital due to deteriorating subprime U.S. mortgages, JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM.N), said in a report late on Friday.
JPMorgan, which sent a default notice to Thornburg Mortgage Inc. (TMA.N) after the lender missed a $28 million margin call, said more default notices and margin calls were likely. The Carlyle Group's mortgage fund also failed to meet $37 million in margin calls this week.
BUSH: NOW THE "TORTURE" PRESIDENT
43 retired generals and admirals and 18 national security experts had urged the President to ban torture but instead he vetoed a bill Saturday to do that.
Why? AP reported: "Bush said such tactics have helped foil terrorist plots…..He said the CIA ha to have to have a separate and classified interrogation program for suspected terrorists who possess critical information about possible plots against the United States."
MCCAIN SAYS WATERBOARDING IS TORTURE BUT….
The one candidate who actually says he was tortured after his capture for bombing civilian in North Vietnam who opposed torture has, to use a term many of his supporters love, "flip-flopped." At least in tone as he veers right on national security.
Others are taking McCain on according to AP:
Angry Boeing supporters are vowing revenge against Republican presidential candidate John McCain over Chicago-based Boeing's loss of a $35 billion Air Force tanker contract to the parent company of European p*** maker Airbus.
There are other targets for their ire - the Air Force, the defense secretary and even the entire Bush administration.
But Boeing supporters in Congress are directing their wrath at McCain, the Arizona senator and nominee in waiting, for scuttling an earlier deal that would have let Boeing build the next generation of Air Force refueling tankers. Boeing now will miss out on a deal that it says would have supported 44,000 new and existing jobs at the company and suppliers in 40 states.
"I hope the voters of this state remember what John McCain has done to them and their jobs," said Rep. Norm Dicks, D-Wash., whose state would have been home to the tanker program and gained about 9,000 jobs.
"Having made sure that Iraq gets new schools, roads, bridges and dams that we deny America, now we are making sure that France gets the jobs that Americans used to have," said Rep. Rahm Emanuel, D-Ill. "We are sending the jobs overseas, all because John McCain demanded it."
And what of Big John's other stands?. I saw Matt Welch, the editor of Reason Magazine on Bill Moyer's Journal Friday talking about McCain, He has written a book on this not not so maverick "maverick." He writes in part:
- John McCains I, II, and III shared more than just a name and profession. Each was short for a sailor, quick to violent temper (especially when accused of dishonesty or of benefiting from privilege), and lousy in the classroom. (The future senator graduated 894th out of a Naval Academy class of 899, but that was only marginally worse than his father, who was 423rd out of 441.) One reason for the poor academic performance was that each McCain was a five-star binge drinker and carouser. . .
Starting off as a Reagan conservative, McCain soon got caught up in the 1989 "Keating Five" scandal, in which he and four other senators were raked over the coals for pressuring regulators to go easy on the savings and loan magnate (and generous campaign donor) Charles Keating. Because the scandal called his honor and integrity into question, he counted it as an even worse experience than Vietnam. After enduring the scandal and his wife's messy addiction to pills, McCain locked in on a lifelong political goal: to give all Americans the same opportunity to transform their lives that he had, by focusing their belief on the Land of the Free. . .
McCain on the page is reflexively self-effacing ("I have spent much of my life choosing my own attitude, often carelessly, often for no better reason than to indulge a conceit," he writes in the second paragraph of Faith of My Fathers), consciously reverent of his heroes . . . and refreshingly authentic-sounding (for a politician, anyway). He has a tendency to write passages that would fit perfectly in a 12-step recovery guide, especially Steps 1 (admitting the problem) and 2 (investing faith in a "Power greater than ourselves"). There isn't any evidence that McCain himself has gone through the 12 steps, but his father was a member of Alcoholics Anonymous, his second wife received treatment in 1994 for her five-year addiction to pain medication, and he has spent a life surrounded by substance abusers. . .
McCain's attitude toward individuals who choose paths he deems inappropriate is somewhere between inflexible and hostile.
WORLD NEWS:
SERBIAN GOVERNMENT COLLAPSES
Rushed Kosovo Independence and Quick Recogniton by West Destablizes Democratically Elected Government That Wanted To Work With The West
Venezuela Patches Up Relations With Columbia
Socialist Reelected In Spain
MEDIA IGNORED SUBPRIME SCAM COMPARED TO CRACK EPIDEMIC
WHERE WAS THE MEDIA?
Before we get to the continuing news of the economic decline, this editorial from the pages of Jewish Currents:
"It is quite disturbing for the current subprime (High interest) mortgage crisis to be described almost exclusively from the perspective of corporate lenders and Wall Street.
Years ago when progressive groups like COOP America and the Social Investment Forum were trying to shine a light on the predatory lending practices that were fueling the subprime boom, enriching such major financial institutions as Citigroup and Bank of America, they could hardly attract a reporter to their press conferences.
Subprime loans were multiplying from 80,000 in l993 to nearly 800,000 five years later and few people wanted to hear the warnings of activists like Irving Ackelsberg, an attorney at Community Legal Services of Philadelphia who described predatory lending as the "housing equivalent of the crack epidemic."
Chicago Tribune:Mortgage-Related Troubles at 2 Firms Add to Credit Crisis
The shaky credit market received a double dose of bad news Thursday from a mortgage bond fund run by a prestigious public-equity firm and a New Mexico-based provider of so-called jumbo mortgages.Carlyle Capital Corp., which belongs to the Carlyle Group, failed to pay margin calls, prompting creditors to seek immediate repayment, as the subprime mortgage market scorches investors in even the highest-rated debt.Thornburg Mortgage Inc., based in Santa Fe, lost more than half its value in New York Stock Exchange trading after receiving a default notice from its own bankers.
HOW SUBCRIME CRIMES WORKED
Exploding ARMs s are only the most common form of what we're now familiar with as subprime mortgages. While rates of subprime lending (a type of predatory lending) have begun dropping across the country after reaching unprecedented highs in 2006, NYC still has one of the highest rates around. Last year, a record-shattering 18,000 families in the city were threatened with foreclosure.
Munoz was taken in by a "one-stop shop," in which the mortgage broker, the real estate agent, and the appraiser-parties which usually serve as checks and balances on each other-work together, for the customer's convenience, of course. "Once you sign that contract, it's on you," Munoz says. "You know: if you didn't see it, you didn't know-that's your tough luck. That's the shame on me." But of all those involved in arranging the loans, she asks, "What happens to those people? They know better than me."
Her broker certainly knew that Munoz couldn't afford the house; at the time, she was making less than $30,000 a year. Her loan application lists her income as $65,000. "I didn't know anything about it," she says. "I'm doing the right thing; I want to buy my house, I want to make my payments on time and everything. They knew that eventually, Milagros is not going to make that mortgage payment. She's gonna lose it, and we're going to grab it back. They knew. They just knew."
POLITICS: DNC PROPOSING MAIL BALLOTS FOR REVOTE IN FLORIDA AND MICHIGAN
RUSSIAN TV ON AMERICAN VOTING:
NEWS FROM UNDERGROUND REPORTS:
Tucker Carlson Canceled; Other Programming Changes Ahead
Insiders tell TVNewser Tucker Carlson's 6pmET show Tucker is getting the axe, but Carlson stays on as a political contributor to all MSNBC shows at least through the 2008 election. The official announcement, expected Monday, will include details about who will replace Tucker at 6pmET as well as other political programming additions. Sources say the network is going to beef up its schedule with more NBC News talent.
In recent days, Jossip, as well as other blogs, ratcheted up the talk that Tucker would be replaced "for a new project." In its 33-month run, Carlson's show has had two names, four time slots and multiple formats. At 6pmET, it builds on its Harbdall lead-in on some days, but loses audience on others.
Carlson is expected to host the show through next week, with his new role and title to take effect March 17. We're told he'll also be reporting from the campaign trail. … [TVNewser]
Is "The Game" Being Gamed? Your Comments on The Economy
Is Our Political Game Being Gamed?
Franklin Johnson asks:
Many of us have known this for a very long time. Occasionally, the media make an effort to cast light on this terrible truth: Our shaky political system is thoroughly rotten and both major parties spend most of their time gaming it. The conundrum is nobody seems to want to do anything about this problem.
The most recent examples were the open primaries in Ohio and Texas. The media revealed thousands of Republicans and conservatives crossed over and voted for Hillary Clinton. These usurpers and the media gleefully reported their undemocratic maneuvers to distort the vote totals. The reason given was they got their marching orders from rabid radio hosts like Rush Limbaugh. He and other wing-nut propagandists incited this ruse to keep Hillary Clinton in the race for the Democratic nomination. The continuing struggle would keep Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton at each other's throats while the Republicans would fall in line early behind their party's leader, John McCain - creating a pseudo-psychological political advantage. The plotters, also, believe Hillary's high negatives make her easier to beat than Barack.
Our ramshackle political system invites these kinds of undemocratic interventions. To this day, we still don't know what really happened in New Hampshire. According to the polls, Barack Obama had a commanding dozen-point lead, going into Primary Day. There was little reason to believe Hillary Clinton had a chance to win New Hampshire. Yet, miraculously, Hillary had her emo-moment and a four-point win. This incident wouldn't be a cause for concern if there were other examples of unusual voter behavior we could highlight. But, there are none. No other aberration of this magnitude has occurred. Could this be a mere coincidence? Hardly. Dennis Kucinich sensed a fix was in. So, he sued for a complete recount and a full investigation. The outrageous incoherence of our voting system provokes every form of mischief. And both major parties game it for their own crude advantage. The political sausage made from this peculiar process is completely inedible….
Former Ambassador Mo Sacerby writes about my economic analysis:
It's a correct analysis, although I do understand the reason why a lot of people are having a problem or don't want to see the much deeper implications of the meltdown.
The Rush Limbaugh's are advocating, let it burn on the assumption this is a necessary bursting of a bubble and new wealth will rise from this cycle. It's pure right wing opportunism. The average homeowner will be much worse off after this fall, regardless if he/she don't get burned out. There will be swelling underclass cut off from credit, jobs, health insurance and their retirement.
Consequently you're right, the problem is deeper and broader. Because there is still a wounded duck that has not crashed, it is an illusion that the economy is still maintaining air. Unfortunately, it is still losing altitude and no bounce when it hits.
The only good news, the "Scavengers' Ball," is going to have relatively less to pick from among the many more bones.
John Merryman writes
Patience. They are their own bubble and will pop in good time. Don't waste time banging your head on the wall, when the house is about to fall down anyway. Start planning on how to restructure the financial system from the bottom up, because the current situation is going to create a fairly clean slate.
Here are some of my thoughts on the subject
Dave Collins writes from Johnson City, TX
Thank you for the clear-eyed look at reality. I particularly applaud your
assertion that the causes of the current financial crisis (not unlike the one that wracked the world in the 30's) is a result of numerous factors, many systemic (or institutional, if one prefers). Unlike Stiglitz's "The $3 Trillion War" (which draws attention, if primarily "alternate" media) where all causality for the collapse is attributed to an illegal and
immoral war paid for on credit you clearly understand, it seems, that the roots are spread far and wide. Those roots extend from a stubborn refusal to accept the fact that fossil fuel is a finite resource to roll-back of the last vestiges of legislation that sought to contain the excesses of greed and stupidity that led to the collapse of the 30's to permissive accounting treatment of deferred compensation that feeds the greed machine at the top of US corporations and much more.However, on one point I think you missed the target when you write:
"but our politicians increasingly seem like deer in the headlights, paralyzed by fear and uncertainty."
If one examines the campaign finance reports of those few
congress-critters who do speak with knowledge and directness about the
meltdown and contrast those sources of funding with that of the majority
who say little and do less I believe the true nature of political failure
is clear. What is also clear, at least to me, is that following November,
regardless of outcomes, there will almost certainly be no improvement in
the political will or intelligence or plain morality required to tackle
these wide ranging structural fractures.Or in plain language, unless one is wealthy enough to benefit from bargain
basement asset prices, "we're screwed."
Don Schaefer writes:
I noticed the State Department
I blogged about it:
But I think you would reach a wider audience, if, in fact, this is news to you.Thanks for the in-depth reporting on the looming financial disaster. Very sorry the others are doing such a poor job reporting it.
Jake, a "long time reader" writes:
I am a long time reader. I own WMD and have given copies to many friends as presents. I first saw your documentary in my city (Dallas) when you presented it at a video festival in Oak Lawn and participated in a panel with another filmmaker.
I don't know how long ago that was.
I do get that subprime crimes are your big issue today.
I do not get why you can make time to mention Barack Obama and it's about some stupid caucus.
Samantha Power gave an interview to the BBC last week stating that Obama's pledge to pull out combat troops in sixteen months was meaningless. She was still his foreign adviser when she gave that interview.
To me that's pretty big. I would think it would be to you as well.
I went to News Dissector tonight assuming it would be your leading news and instead see nothing on it.
So I'm going to assume you are unaware of this development and wait to see if you offer an opinion on what happened or not.
It's a very big deal.
Thank you.
I am writing alot about the primaries, but trying to add this economic dimensiion-not just the subprime angle-to the coverage because it is being overlooked by many political bloggers. I know and admire Samantha Power and her work on genocide-but I agree with her that her comments on Hillary were over the top. She apologized.
I am not sure why a foreign policy advisor is attacking the other candidate. That's Barack's choice or job. He doesn't seem to be pulling any punches. Both candidates try not to make mistakes. Samantha, it seems, made one and had to go. There is a line, I guess, that she stepped over.
I have reported concerns about the Clinton campaingn including the Rush Limbaugh impact in Ohio and Texas and the controversies about voting irregularities in New Hampshire etc. Just saw an email on this subject that tends to confirm the Rush allegations although, frankly, I don't feel competent to evaluate it:
("I have attached the exit poll data for three states Wisconsin, Texas and Ohio. In Wisconsin Obama got 72% of republican votes. However, in Texas and Ohio he split that with Clinton and so his share went down to around 50%. This indicates that as per Rush's advice 1/3 of Obama's republicans are switching from Obama to Clinton.")
You tell me. What does it say to you? I am certainly open to info, tips, leaks and opinions.
I am not avoiding any issue. I just don't want to mine the same ground as many others.
Mary Torcat writes:
Have you tried getting your film shown by the Canadian Broadcasting Company (CBC)? They have shown many "controversial" films and documentaries that are refused air time in the US. I hope you give it a try….Wishing you success…
Anyone with any contacts in Canadian TV?
FINAL THOUGHT: Over the weekend, at my Dad's place up in Boston-At 89. he's hanging in despite a serious medical threat- I found this quote I liked in an ad placed by Stretch and Judy Jacobs from the town he once lived in, Croton on Hudson, New York.
It's from the novel Bessie (also my Grandmother's name) by Lawrence Bush.
"So we can talk about mistakes if you like, but I'd rather talk about what we learned from our mistakes. And we can talk about disillusionment, but I would rather talk about the beauty of our ideas, y'see. We can talk about failures, but I'd rather talk about a heritage, a legacy to the younger generation."
Your comments welcome. Comments to Dissector@mediachannel.org
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