Morning all! In honor of the President's Day holiday and the market being closed, I thought that I'd change things up a bit with a mini-link fest and open thread. So, what's on everyone's minds today?
The curse of negative home equity
The G.O.P.’s Post-Tucson Traumatic Stress Disorder
The Republican Strategy
The real reason for public finance crisis
Chinese Security Officials Respond to Call for Protests
Money Won't Buy You Health Insurance
Republican Science Cuts Imperil U.S. Prominence: Albert Hunt
Title
Just a reminder, but I will be on the beach enjoying some MUCH-needed sun, warmth, sand, and ocean this weekend so I won't be posting next Monday. I assume that Denise and Thor have it covered but if anyone wants my slot on Monday, have at it.
Look at oil go!
ReplyDeleteWow emmy. Maybe Egypt and the chain reaction in the Middle East will ultimately end up being our Black Swan that brings it all down again?
ReplyDeleteAnd then combine what's happening on the state level here in the U.S., with anger starting to truly spill out against the elites, I think the end of this rally and "recovery" is almost upon us....
ReplyDeletehttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-kuttner/wisconsins-tunisia-moment_b_825738.html
Manny - I don't see how the protesters in Wisconsin can win though . . .even with public support on their side, The Governor is seen as going to far, it looks like ultimately prevail. :-(
ReplyDelete@Thor: Sometimes the battle needs to be lost to win the wider war. This is just the beginning. Trust me.
ReplyDeleteGood point Manny
ReplyDeleteFinally now I think that people are starting to allow their rage against the financial, corporate and political elites come out. Once that genie is out of the bottle, will be hard to put back in.
ReplyDeleteWhen this thing completely falls apart again, those same elites who are jumping into life boats now (or think they are) will not get off without some accountability again. It's going to be FUGLY the next time it happens.
And once the middle class in both the public AND private sectors have been totally eviscerated, what will those large numbers of people do, continue battling each other for declining table scraps? I doubt it. They're going to turn their ire somewhere else the next time, and guess where that will be?
ReplyDeleteI have issues with PK on many fronts but I think he gets this right. The GOP's undoing (AGAIN) will be their mis-reading their so-called "mandate" and overreaching in a BIG, disastrous way for not only them, but this country.
ReplyDeleteLink:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/21/opinion/21krugman.html?_r=1&hp=&adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1298304064-y5aPtblEyOYf3Z0+cQw1aA
By the way, not sure if true, but found this.....
ReplyDeleteOnly five states do not allow collective bargaining for educators. Those states and their ranking on ACT/SAT scores: South Carolina, 50th; North Carolina, 49th; Georgia, 48th; Texas, 47th; Virginia, 44th. Wisconsin, with its collective bargaining for teachers, is 2nd.
Manny - I think the GOP is over reaching as well. It's one thing to pander to your base, it's another thing entirely to pander to your most conservative, reactionary, base.
ReplyDeleteWe'll see how they go about getting us through this budget fight that needs to be resolved before the government shuts down March 4th.
Emmie - Wow, oil up almost 5% now.
ReplyDeleteManny - re: your earlier comment.
ReplyDeleteAs Republicans See a Mandate on Budget Cuts, Others See Risk
WASHINGTON — In Congress and in statehouses, Republican lawmakers and governors are claiming a broad mandate from last year’s elections as they embark on an aggressive campaign of cutting government spending and taking on public unions. Their agenda echoes in its ambition what President Obama and Democrats tried after winning office in their own electoral wave in 2008.
But in the view of officials from both major political parties, Republicans may be risking the same kind of electoral backlash Democrats suffered after they were perceived as overreaching.
Public surveys suggest that most voters do not share the Republicans’ fervor for the deep cuts adopted by the House, or for drastically slashing the power of public-sector unions. And independent voters have historically been averse to displays of political partisanship that have been played out over the last week.
Will be interesting if the GOP does eventually win some serious concessions from the public employee unions only to lose big in '12 because they over-reached.
Manny - might this also be just what we need to finally get a third party off the ground in this country?
ReplyDeleteWishful thinking, I know. :-/
@Thor: Maybe more than just a third party......
ReplyDeleteProbably will still take longer than many of us think (or want) but the two-party system as we know it is eventually going to destroy itself.
Glad I took a little nibble of DIG last week. We'll see how things go this week though.
ReplyDeleteSilver >34. When this comes crashing down again, Ben will, of course, not take any of the blame or responsibility for it when all the Fed has done since the '87 crash is blow one bubble after the next, with each one more disastrous than the one before it.
ReplyDeleteMeanwhile in Libya -
ReplyDeleteDozens have been reported dead after more violence hit the Libyan capital as angry protests against embattled leader Muammar Gaddafi's 40-year rule escalate across the country.
At least 61 people were killed in clashes in Tripoli on Monday, witnesses told Al Jazeera. The protests appeared to be gathering momentum, with demonstrators saying they had taken control of several key towns in the country, including the city of Benghazi. Another huge march under way in Tripoli on Monday afternoon was reportedly under attack by security forces using military planes and live ammunition to fire on protesters, sources told Al Jazeera.
Ahmed Elgazir, a human rights researcher at the Libyan News Centre (LNC) also told Al Jazeera that security forces were "massacring" protesters in Tripoli.
Meanwhile, the Reuters news agency reported that president Gaddafi may have fled the country and was on his way to Venezuela. British foreign secretary, William Hague, told Reuters on Monday that he had seen some information to suggest Gaddafi had fled Libya.
I hate to put the cart before the horse here, but it look like Libya is indeed going to fall next. Their ambassadors are resigning all over the world.
ReplyDelete@Thor: Pretty surreal, isn't it? Who's next? Saudia Arabia? I really think now this IS the Black Swan or unexpected event(s) that will bring the "recovery" to a halt. Question is, will this precipitate a wider war of some sort?
ReplyDeleteManny - certainly for the oil producing countries. If the people if such a brutal regime as Libya can overthrow the government, what does that mean for the other oil producing countries?
ReplyDelete"Karl Stagno-Novarra, Al Jazeera's correspondent in Malta, reports the pilots of the jet fighters that landed there are "senior colonels", who were ordered to bomb protesters. They refused and have defected to Malta, he said."
ReplyDeleteThe Saudis should make preparations for another open room (probably next to Ben Ali's).
Emmie - WOW, so if many of the senior military officials in these regimes won't even fire on their own people . . . .
ReplyDelete@Emmanuel(1:17)
ReplyDeleteKim Jong-il should make preparations for all of them including Hu and friends. That's going to take a while. Need a very big Inn.
ICan
Damn it, should have bought oil when the Libya protests broke out.
ReplyDeleteEmmie - Ugh . . $4.50 a gallon here we come (again)
ReplyDeleteGreg - problem persists even within Safari . . . I comment, hit enter, and then get a blank page. If I hit the back button, I go back to the comments section and see my comment.
ReplyDeleteIs that what you're experiencing?
@Emmy,
ReplyDeleteLast night I said so.
BP is biggest producer there? Will affect them negatively?
ICan
Thor, yes. When I publish the comment the screen goes to a blank, and the web address bar thingy actually says, "about blank". I would suggest it may be some type of virus attack, probably launched by Microsoft or Adobe, but of course you and I know we are fully protected from anything such as this, thanks to the awesomeness of Steve.
ReplyDeleteEverybody relax a bit. We got lots of oil, we're too disinterested to overthrow our government, and we'll share with you.
ReplyDeleteThat's right - Thanks Canada!
ReplyDeletehttp://25.media.tumblr.com/Hn4CZClkqpmtv4ofkMarNuN0o1_400.jpg
@Thor,
ReplyDeleteSuncor and Transcanada will deliver it for you!
disc: own both of them.
ICan
Report of imminent speech by Muammar Gaddafi:
ReplyDeleteguardian blog
Brazil's business in Libya
ReplyDeleteLula is thanking his lucky start that he is no longer in charge. Because that is one ugly picture.
"WikiLeaks Cables: A guide to Gaddafi's famously fractious family".
ReplyDeletehttp:;//www/guardian.co.uk/world/2011/feb/21/wikileaks-guide-gaddafi-fractious-family.
ICan