Clipmarks | earnric's clips

Financial joke...

Tue, 07 Oct 2008 18:50:28 GMT

clipped by: earnric
clipper's remarks: I guess just because you make 10's of millions in salary -- well, you really shouldn't be expected to actually KNOW about the financial health of your company?

That's run-away capitalism for you: get all the bene's without the responsibility...

Clip Source: www.nytimes.com

Testifying before the committee, Lehman’s chief executive, Richard S. Fuld Jr., said that he took full responsibility for the decisions he made while at the helm. But he also told lawmakers that it was unreasonable to expect that he should have seen the financial crisis coming.

Tags: finance, economy, bailout, crooks

Conservatives seem to believe their own spin...

Tue, 30 Sep 2008 18:35:34 GMT

clipped by: earnric
clipper's remarks: David Brooks gives a sober picture of what's going on... I agree: free-markets are not panaceas for the economy. All systems need rules...

Clip Source: www.nytimes.com

House Republicans

have once again confused talk radio with reality.

With this vote, they’ve taken responsibility for this economy, and they will be held accountable. The short-term blows will fall on John McCain, the long-term stress on the existence of the G.O.P. as we know it.

I’ve spoken with several House Republicans over the past few days and most admirably believe in free-market principles. What’s sad is that they still think it’s 1984.

We’re living in an age when a vast excess of capital sloshes around the world fueling cycles of bubble and bust. When the capital floods into a sector or economy, it washes away sober business practices, and habits of discipline and self-denial.

What we need in this situation is authority. Not heavy-handed government regulation, but the steady and powerful hand of some public institutions that can guard against the corrupting influences of sloppy money and then prevent destructive contagions when the credit dries up.

Tags: finance, government

Bailing...

Tue, 30 Sep 2008 18:27:32 GMT

clipped by: earnric
clipper's remarks: I honestly do not know if this is a good plan. My inclination is to "reap what you sew" -- and we've had more than 15 years of republican (endorsed by dems) deregulation polices that have bred this crisis...

Clip Source: www.nytimes.com

In 1933, Franklin Roosevelt inherited an economic crisis. He understood that his first job was to restore confidence, to give people a sense that somebody was in charge, that something was going to be done.

This generation of political leaders is confronting a similar situation, and, so far, they have failed utterly and catastrophically to project any sense of authority, to give the world any reason to believe that this country is being governed.

And let us recognize above all the 228 who voted no — the authors of this revolt of the nihilists. They showed the world how much they detest their own leaders and the collected expertise of the Treasury and Fed. They did the momentarily popular thing, and if the country slides into a deep recession, they will have the time and leisure to watch public opinion shift against them.

Tags: fed, finance, recession

The emperor king of America...

Wed, 24 Sep 2008 17:19:44 GMT

clipped by: earnric
clipper's remarks: And we impeached Clinton for lying about a blow job?

Clip Source: www.cato.org

Power Surge: The Constitutional Record of George W. Bush

Unfortunately, far from defending the Constitution, President Bush has repeatedly sought to strip out the limits the document places on federal power. In its official legal briefs and public actions, the Bush administration has advanced a view of federal power that is astonishingly broad, a view that includes

a federal government empowered to regulate core political speech—and restrict it greatly when it counts the most: in the days before a federal election;

a president who cannot be restrained, through validly enacted statutes, from pursuing any tactic he believes to be effective in the war on terror;

a president who has the inherent constitutional authority to designate American citizens suspected of terrorist activity as "enemy combatants," strip them of any constitutional protection, and lock them up without charges for the duration of the war on terror— in other words, perhaps forever; and

Tags: republican, tyranny, government

The gut feeling...

Wed, 24 Sep 2008 15:42:28 GMT

clipped by: earnric
clipper's remarks: A good read...

Clip Source: www.edge.org

For my dissertation research, I made up stories about people who did things that were disgusting or disrespectful yet perfectly harmless. For example, what do you think about a woman who can't find any rags in her house so she cuts up an old American flag and uses the pieces to clean her toilet, in private? Or how about a family whose dog is killed by a car, so they dismember the body and cook it for dinner? I read these stories to 180 young adults and 180 eleven-year-old children, half from higher social classes and half from lower, in the USA and in Brazil. I found that most of the people I interviewed said that the actions in these stories were morally wrong, even when nobody was harmed. Only one group—college students at Penn—consistently exemplified Turiel's definition of morality and overrode their own feelings of disgust to say that harmless acts were not wrong. (A few even praised the efficiency of recycling the flag and the dog).

Tags: reason, morality, gut feelings

Republican Hypocrisy... again!

Tue, 23 Sep 2008 23:55:03 GMT

clipped by: earnric
clipper's remarks: Whether or not they got the $ amount right doesn't really matter... What matters is that if you believe the current republican presidential candidate is "less elitist" than the dem -- well, I have some swamp land I'd like to sell you.

Clip Source: www.vanityfair.com

Cindy McCain's $300,000 Outfit

One of the persistent memes in the Republican line of attack against Barack Obama is the notion that he is an elitist, whereas the G.O.P. represent real working Americans like Levi “F-in’ Redneck” Johnston.

Cindy McCain
Oscar de la Renta dress: $3,000
Chanel J12 White Ceramic Watch: $4,500
Three-carat diamond earrings: $280,000
Four-strand pearl necklace: $11,000–$25,000
Shoes, designer unknown: $600
Total: Between $299,100 and $313,100

Tags: republicans, hypocrisy, elitism

Policy is hard...

Mon, 22 Sep 2008 17:31:29 GMT

clipped by: earnric
clipper's remarks: Ideology can't govern... only intelligence and hard work: something this administration is sorely lacking.

Clip Source: www.nytimes.com

These experts, from both political parties, say Mr. Bush’s early personnel choices and overarching antipathy toward regulation created a climate, that, if it did not set off the turmoil, almost certainly aggravated it.

The president’s first two Treasury secretaries, for instance, lacked the kind of Wall Street expertise that might have helped them raise red flags about the use of complex financial instruments that are at the heart of the crisis.

Tags: finance, government

Ignorance and confidence - all wrapped up

Sun, 21 Sep 2008 19:32:48 GMT

clipped by: earnric
clipper's remarks: Sam Harris expresses my concerns perfectly... but I'd also add that by choosing her, McCain has demonstrated he wants to win far more than he is worried about the future of this country.

Clip Source: www.newsweek.com

What I do care about are all the other things Palin is guaranteed not to know—or will be glossing only under the frenzied tutelage of John McCain's advisers. What doesn't she know about financial markets, Islam, the history of the Middle East, the cold war, modern weapons systems, medical research, environmental science or emerging technology? Her relative ignorance is guaranteed on these fronts and most others, not because she was put on the spot, or got nervous, or just happened to miss the newspaper on any given morning. Sarah Palin's ignorance is guaranteed because of how she has spent the past 44 years on earth.

Clip Source: www.newsweek.com

What is so unnerving about the candidacy of Sarah Palin is the degree to which she represents—and her supporters celebrate—the joyful marriage of confidence and ignorance.

Tags: craziness, republicans, elitism, intellectualism

The perfect quote...

Fri, 19 Sep 2008 18:53:33 GMT

clipped by: earnric

Clip Source: www.washingtonpost.com

McCain, who told the Wall Street Journal in March that "I'm always for less regulation," now asks voters to believe he will be a champion of tough, unblinking oversight. He's shocked and outraged that Wall Street's preening Masters of the Universe threw a drunken toga party and smashed all the furniture -- but he helped buy the beer and told the cops to look the other way.

Tags: republicans, deregulation, financial mess

Don't pick on me...

Fri, 19 Sep 2008 02:31:23 GMT

clipped by: earnric
clipper's remarks: The clip says it all...

Clip Source: www.redroom.com

This is Your Nation on White Privilege

White privilege is when you can get pregnant at seventeen like Bristol Palin and everyone is quick to insist that your life and that of your family is a personal matter, and that no one has a right to judge you or your parents, because “every family has challenges,” even as black and Latino families with similar “challenges” are regularly typified as irresponsible, pathological and arbiters of social decay.

White privilege is when you can call yourself a “fuckin’ redneck,” like Bristol Palin’s boyfriend does, and talk about how if anyone messes with you, you'll “kick their fuckin' ass,” and talk about how you like to “shoot shit” for fun, and still be viewed as a responsible, all-American boy (and a great son-in-law to be) rather than a thug.

Tags: racism, government, republicans

Religious Non-sense - alive and well today.

Thu, 18 Sep 2008 00:33:09 GMT

clipped by: earnric
clipper's remarks: So what non-sense is the church putting forth today -- that is impeding science?

How about the idea that a ball of 150 or so cells is a human being -- and is thus stifling research into embryonic stem cells.

When does the idiocy end?

Clip Source: newsweek.washingtonpost.com

Sorry, Charley: Church Apologizes to Darwin

Proving it's never too late to evolve, the Church of England has apologized to Charles Darwin for vilifying him for having the audacity to question, wonder, and doubt.

"Charles Darwin: 200 years from your birth, the Church of England owes you an apology for misunderstanding you and, by getting our first reaction wrong, encouraging others to misunderstand you still," Rev. Malcolm Brown, director of missions and public affairs for the Church of England, wrote in an essay entitled "Good Religion Needs Good Science."

Tags: church, science, lunacy

Really? Are we really gonna believe this?

Wed, 17 Sep 2008 19:32:38 GMT

clipped by: earnric
clipper's remarks: The champion of wall-street deregulation is now "flip flopping" ... are we really gonna believe he's a financial system reformer?

Sadly, for the faithful, they'll believe anything...

Clip Source: www.washingtonpost.com

McCain Embraces Regulation After Many Years of Opposition

A decade ago, Sen. John McCain embraced legislation to broadly deregulate the banking and insurance industries, helping to sweep aside a thicket of rules established over decades in favor of a less restricted financial marketplace that proponents said would result in greater economic growth.

the Republican presidential nominee is scrambling to recast himself as a champion of regulation to end "reckless conduct, corruption and unbridled greed" on Wall Street.

Tags: republicans, liars, regulation, finance

Are we really that stupid?

Wed, 17 Sep 2008 17:41:15 GMT

clipped by: earnric
clipper's remarks: Republican 'deregulation mania' is responsible for the current financial crisis... Why would we want to put these same ideologue BACK in the white house?

Clip Source: www.truthdig.com

John McCain has been a master of the special-interest giveaways to Wall Street that enabled this meltdown. He voted for abolishing all of the significant rules put in place at the time of the Great Depression designed to prevent a repeat. The two main bills accomplishing that, bills which McCain enthusiastically supported, were the Commodity Futures Modernization Act and the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act.

Tags: government, stupidity, republicans, crisis

Why smarts & experience matter...

Tue, 16 Sep 2008 22:30:40 GMT

clipped by: earnric
clipper's remarks: From the conservative columnist David Brooks -- give it a read.
Governance isn't something just anyone can do -- or do well.

Clip Source: www.nytimes.com

In the current Weekly Standard, Steven Hayward argues that the nation’s founders wanted uncertified citizens to hold the highest offices in the land. They did not believe in a separate class of professional executives. They wanted rough and rooted people like Palin.

I would have more sympathy for this view if I hadn’t just lived through the last eight years. For if the Bush administration was anything, it was the anti-establishment attitude put into executive practice.

And the problem with this attitude is that, especially in his first term, it made Bush inept at governance. It turns out that governance, the creation and execution of policy, is hard. It requires acquired skills. Most of all, it requires prudence.

Tags: palin, republicans, government

Soo what's the diff again?

Sat, 13 Sep 2008 00:12:53 GMT

clipped by: earnric
clipper's remarks: I keep hearing how democrats are socialists that want to "ruin" the free market.

So what have the republicans been doing these last eight years?

Clip Source: www.time.com

When President Bush vetoed a ban on waterboarding and other forms of torture, congressional Republicans backed him. When Bush blocked an expansion of children's health insurance, G.O.P. votes sustained his veto again. But now, after Bush vetoed a bloated farm bill that will lavish billions of dollars on wealthy farmers who are already enjoying record commodity prices, the President suddenly can't seem to rally his own party.

Tags: hypocrisy, republican