Gaza; Obama's Back in Town; Senate appointments -- Blago's Burris; Crowning Caroline.
Happy New Year...we hope. Today we don't solve the Middle East crisis that Israel and Gaza are creating. The President-elect is back in town -- what kind of challenge does the Gaza conflict present him, what kind of stimulus package will Obama present us, and will Congress be on board? The inevitable discussion about fraud and accountability ensues. The tainted and unrepentant Rod Blagojevich throws Dems into disarray over his choice of a relatively untainted and unrepentant Roland Burris to replace Obama in the Senate; and a brief commentary on why Caroline Kennedy should/shouldn't will/won't be selected to replace Hillary Clinton. Plus rants. Weigh in here, then take to your corners...gloves not required but keep those punches clean and no iron knuckles! Links to books/articles mentioned are below.
The Necessity of Israel
Charles Krauthammer
Friday, January 02, 2009
http://townhall.com/Common/PrintPage.aspx?g=f7cad698-25c2-4cc5-a1bd-6a959e91f0a1&t=c
Late Saturday, thousands of Gazans received Arabic-language cell-phone messages from the Israeli military, urging them to leave homes where militants might have stashed weapons. -- Associated Press, Dec. 27
WASHINGTON -- Some geopolitical conflicts are morally
complicated. The Israel-Gaza war is not. It possesses a moral clarity
not only rare but excruciating. (read the rest at link above)
A Guide to the Good Life: The Ancient Art of Stoic Joy (Hardcover)
by William B Irvine (Author)http://www.amazon.com/Guide-Good-Life-Ancient-Stoic/dp/0195374614/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1230933183&sr=8-1
We're looking back at the year that was. Please note that we had to record it last week. Unfortunately, Arianna's not with us. Next week possibly a predictions show -- or we'll just talk about whatever's been in the headlines. Happy New Year to all in advance. We welcome your comments, as usual. Thank you all so much for participating in this forum. We will continue the dialogue in the years ahead and we wish you health, peace, and joy.
***UPDATE 12/29/08: MATT'S LATEST COLUMN IS INCLUDED BELOW*****
A wish for the world this holiday season. Peace to all and may our future be hopeful.
MENTIONED ON TODAY'S SHOW
MATT'S BLOG!
mattmilleronline.com
New York Times Op-Ed Columnist
The Madoff Economy
By PAUL KRUGMAN
Published: December 19, 2008
The revelation that Bernard Madoff — brilliant investor (or so almost everyone thought), philanthropist, pillar of the community — was a phony has shocked the world, and understandably so. The scale of his alleged $50 billion Ponzi scheme is hard to comprehend.The scale of his alleged $50 billion Ponzi scheme is hard to comprehend.
Yet surely I’m not the only person to ask the obvious question: How different, really, is Mr. Madoff’s tale from the story of the investment industry as a whole?
Charles Krauthammer's syndicated column
http://www.azstarnet.com/sn/printDS/272324
GOP to Detroit-NO! Oy Blagojevich! Obama Nominees
The Senate GOP rejection of the House/Admin deal is top of the news. All believe that W’s “kick the can down the road” policy -- taking the a portion of the banks’ TARP and applying it to the auto bailout -- is inevitable, but Arianna marvels at the double standard that allow the banks to get free money while Detroit and its workers could hang themselves with the attached strings. Illinois governor Blagojevich: what more need we say? Bob takes the opportunity to condemn the media for hoisting this story above the other important news, like Afghanistan and the report condemning Bush admin for use of torture. Arianna says the whole thing’s more fascinating psychologically than politically citing Julius Caesar (the fault is not in our stars but in ourselves), while Tony says Rahm Emanuel and other Obama transition team members seem act as if they have something to worry about. He reminded us that Nixon didn’t know about Watergate but got in trouble when he tried to cover it up. And in the energy arena, is Dr. Steven Chu, noted and respected physicist and Obama’s nominee, a mad scientist? We know he wants to make gas prohibitively expensive—but electricity, too? Is he nuts? Or right? Listen in and weigh in -- or put up a post before the show begins!
MATT MENTIONED THIS COLUMN in the show:
Blagojevich's Behavior Is Common
Douglas E. Schoen, 12.10.08, 04:00 PM ESTTrading favors is de rigueur in politics.
"...But while what Blagojevich did is undeniably beyond the pale, it is frankly much
more common in the political world than anyone has been willing to
acknowledge." (read the rest at the link above)
Job Losses and Recession; Auto Execs--From Tin
Ear to Tin Cup; Mumbai Terror
*Update on Thurs. 12.11: I've added Matt's latest column, "Memo to Obama" below
*Update on Wed. 12.10 -- Adding the article Bob Scheer talked about to links below (Toyota buys GM). PS: Tony's show yesterday was good!! Listen to it at link at the end of the post in red.
*UPDATE: Tuesday 12.9 at 2:30 Pacific 89.9 FM on air in SoCal/streaming live online, via podcast or on-demand: Tune in to hear Tony Blankley discuss "Whither Conservatism" on our show, The Politics of Culture -- with Al Regnery, publisher of American Spectator mag; Tony Perkins, Pres of the Family Research Council, and nay-sayer, David Frum, who's become a critic of the Sarah Palin wing of the party (former Right on LRC, his new blog launches Jan. 20 NewMajority.com). That's www.kcrw.com (click live tab) or online later at www.kcrw.com/etc/programs/pc.
530,000 jobs lost – in November
alone – as the Auto company execs trade their tin ears and corporate jets for
tin cups and a hybrid car ride to DC begging for a bailout…is it policy making or a morality play?
Bob’s worried about Paul Krugman’s prediction for a double-digit drop in the
economy. Arianna calls the economy a stalled plane that needs a jumpstart -- in
mid-air. Tony – without being too Pollyanna-ish – says it may be the worst month
for job losses but it’s ranked the 41st worst month as a percentage
of total jobs…he disagrees with Bob who says those trillion dollars have been
wasted on the financial industry, and he calls for MASSIVE spending on the part
of government (Bob calls that socialism!). The terror in Mumbai is treated
briefly followed by some rather rushed rants.
LINKS:
Matt mentioned this blog: http://bigpicture.typepad.com/
Bob talked about this column:
Paul Krugman, The New York Times
Conscience of a Liberal
Worries about next year
I’ve been ruminating over economic prospects for next year, and I’m getting scared.
Two points:
1. The economy is falling fast. We’ll see what tomorrow’s employment report says, but we could well be losing jobs at a rate of 450,000 or 500,000 a month.
2. Infrastructure spending will take time to get
going — a new Goldman Sachs report suggests that projects that are
“shovel-ready” are probably only a few tens of billions worth, and that a
larger effort would take much of a year to get going……(read the rest at link above)
Bob also mentioned a provocative piece on TruthDig.com about why Toyota should buy GM:
A Toyota Takeover Could Save GM
By Michael D. Intriligator
Posted on Dec 5, 2008
http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/20081205_a_toyota_takeover_could_save_gm/
...I believe that considering only these two options for an imperiled GM —either bailout by the U.S. government or bankruptcy—omits an important alternative, which I see as the best option: a takeover of GM by Toyota Motor Corp....
| ||
|
The Future of Capitalism: Which Way Now?
The Future of Capitalism: Which Way Now
Here’s that in-depth philosophical program you’ve been waiting for. Tony is truly over the top in his defense of capitalism; Bob brings up the nearly-verboten name of Karl Marx… Tony quotes Lord Byron…and the fireworks begin. Matt, while defending capitalism, says it’s time to rewrite the social contract, with certain guarantees of security in terms of health care and welfare, so the rest of the economy can do what it’s supposed to.. Bob defends the middle class; Arianna invokes Ayn Rand saying she would disapprove of the Wall Street orgy. Tony and Matt duke it out for awhile, too. It’s a heady show and a hell of a topic. This one’s worth hearing twice and quoting from. We really want to hear from you on this one.
Here's Tony's column:
As President-elect Obama's apparent choice for health and human services secretary and as White House health care czar, it is a fair guess that Tom Daschle's view on health care legislation may be decisive.
So it is worth reading his book "Critical: What We Can Do About the Health-Care Crisis," in which the gracious former Senate leader lays out without equivocation both the policy he recommends and the tactics for how to pass it.
**** HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYONE *****
PLEASE see the "LINKS" post for all links mentioned on today's show.
Economy, Stocks/Auto Bailout/Obama’s Cabinet Picks
As the economy tanks, the panelists
agree with a Paul Krugman column in today’s NYTimes (see links post, next one down), we don’t have 2 months to
wait. Tony wants Obama -- knowing there’s only one president at a time – to take
the lead and signal where he’s going with the economy since W can’t get traction
and the Congress is less than useless. He calls the three testifying auto
company execs nitwits for being so tone deaf …and calls Congress stupid for
saying they’re not going to protect 3 million jobs because these 3 nitwits flew
in on private jets. Obama must act now. Arianna says, get rid of the nitwits
and put a general plan for restructuring in action. They talk about Hillary
Clinton – Bob worries she might be a hawk – and Janet Napolitano – Tony says
she’s not qualified… There’s a lot of action on today’s show. Tony’s rant is a
madrigal – and it’s beautiful! (words in the Links post below this one). And please share your thoughts.
Next week's show is: The Future of Capitalism: Which Way Now? A think piece for the holiday.
I am putting all links mentioned in today's show here, and will post the blog about today's show separately.
Everyone’s talking about a new New Deal, for obvious reasons. In 2008, as in 1932, a long era of Republican political dominance came to an end in the face of an economic and financial crisis that, in voters’ minds, both discredited the G.O.P.’s free-market ideology and undermined its claims of competence. And for those on the progressive side of the political spectrum, these are hopeful times.
There is, however, another and more disturbing parallel between 2008 and 1932 — namely, the emergence of a power vacuum at the height of the crisis. (read the rest at link above)The Insider’s Crusade
Jan. 20, 2009, will be a historic day. Barack Obama (Columbia, Harvard Law) will take the oath of office as his wife, Michelle (Princeton, Harvard Law), looks on proudly. Nearby, his foreign policy advisers will stand beaming, including perhaps Hillary Clinton (Wellesley, Yale Law), Jim Steinberg (Harvard, Yale Law) and Susan Rice (Stanford, Oxford D. Phil.).
The domestic policy team will be there, too, including Jason Furman (Harvard, Harvard Ph.D.), Austan Goolsbee (Yale, M.I.T. Ph.D.), Blair Levin (Yale, Yale Law), Peter Orszag (Princeton, London School of Economics Ph.D.) and, of course, the White House Counsel Greg Craig (Harvard, Yale Law).
This truly will be an administration that looks like America, or at least that slice of America that got double 800s on their SATs. (read the rest at link above)Yes, we allowed the french language to sneak into this week's show -- here's that word, so well pronounced by all:
Dirigisme (from the French) (in English also "dirigism" although per the OED both spellings are used) is an economic term designating an economy where the government exerts strong directive influence.
Tony's rant: (hey it's worth listening today just to hear this!)
- The silver Swan, who living had no Note,
- when Death approached, unlocked her silent throat.
- Leaning her breast upon the reedy shore,
- thus sang her first and last, and sang no more:
- "Farewell, all joys! O Death, come close mine eyes!
- "More Geese than Swans now live, more Fools than Wise."
and the song was published in Gibbons' First Set of Madrigals and Motets of 5 parts (1612)
By David Cho
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, November 18, 2008; A01
First of two articles
Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson Jr. had a stern message for more than two dozen of the nation's most powerful hedge fund managers gathered in the third-floor conference room near his office.
Paulson told them it was time to begin regulating the opaque realm of hedge funds, reversing his long-held opposition. "You should not be thinking about how to fight it but how to make it work," he recounted telling them at the meeting last month.
They were stunned. One manager recalled muttering as he walked out: "What happened to the Hank Paulson we knew?"
With
his 30-month tenure nearing its end, Paulson is leaving behind a legacy
of federal interventionism that few would have expected from this
former head of the investment giant Goldman Sachs. (read the rest at link above)
Here's Tony's syndicated column this week
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Who's Going on the Presidential Honeymoon?
Tony Blankley's Email | Author Archive | Author Biography
I was thinking about what we traditionally call the postelection "honeymoon," of which President-elect Barack Obama is now in the second week. But what exactly is meant by the metaphor? As a starting point, I looked up the word in my well-worn Oxford English Dictionary: "The first month after marriage, when there is nothing but tenderness and pleasure (Samuel Johnson); originally having no reference to the period of a month, but comparing the mutual affection of newly-married persons to the changing moon which is no sooner full than it begins to wane; now, usually, the holiday spent together by a newly-married couple, before settling down at home."
First of all, who are the parties on the honeymoon? (read the rest at link above!)
And here's Bob Scheer's TruthDig piece:
Change We Can Bank On
http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/20081118_change_we_can_bank_on/
Posted on Nov 18, 2008
By Robert Scheer
This is not change we can believe in. Not if Robert Rubin or his protégé, Lawrence Summers, get to call the shots on the economy in President-elect Barack Obama’s incoming administration. Both Clinton-era treasury secretaries deserve a great deal of the blame for the radical deregulation of the financial industry that has derailed the world economy. They both should, along with former Federal Reserve chief Alan Greenspan, perform rites of contrition and be kept at a safe distance from the leadership of our nation.
Yet Rubin and Summers are highly visible in the Obama transition team, with Summers widely touted as Obama’s pick for secretary of the treasury. (read the rest at link above)
Robert Scheer is the author of a new book, “The Pornography of Power: How Defense Hawks Hijacked 9/11 and Weakened America.”
Toxic Assets; Auto Bailout? Clinton
@ State? Prop 8
Sorry, Arianna had a medical appointment -- it's man-on-man only today. And it got mighty heated today in the
battle over the economy. No one really has the answer. But a couple of questions
include: Where has the money given out so far gone? Where does it come from? Who
should really be getting it? All three end up agreeing we cannot afford to let
the auto industry sink; but their reasoning in getting there differs. And the
men weigh in on the rumor about Hillary Clinton as possible Secretary of
State…plus a brief note about the hullabaloo over Prop. 8 anti-gay marriage
constitutional amendment that just passed in the State of
California.
Links mentioned in today's show:
Depression Economics Returns
The economic news, in case you haven’t noticed, keeps getting worse. Bad as it is, however, I don’t expect another Great Depression. In fact, we probably won’t see the unemployment rate match its post-Depression peak of 10.7 percent, reached in 1982 (although I wish I was sure about that).
We are already, however, well into the realm of what I call depression economics. By that I mean a state of affairs like that of the 1930s in which the usual tools of economic policy — above all, the Federal Reserve’s ability to pump up the economy by cutting interest rates — have lost all traction. When depression economics prevails, the usual rules of economic policy no longer apply: virtue becomes vice, caution is risky and prudence is folly. (read rest at link above)Panic in Detroit by Jonathan Cohn
This is not your father's Oldsmobile we're rescuing.
Post Date Friday, November 14, 2008
General Motors has come to Washington, begging for a $25 billion bailout to keep it and its ailing Detroit counterparts going next year. But nobody seems too thrilled about the prospect. Liberals dwell on the companies' gas-guzzling sport-utility vehicles. Conservatives obsess over all the well-paid union members with gold-plated benefits. And people of all ideological backgrounds remember how they used to buy domestic cars, years ago, but stopped because the cars were so damn lousy. "The downfall of the American auto industry is indeed a tragedy," the Washington Post editorial board sermonized recently, "but the automakers and the United Auto Workers have only themselves to blame for much of it." And, if they have only themselves to blame, the argument goes, why do they deserve taxpayer help? Let them fail and file for bankruptcy. In the long run, the economy will be stronger and the workers better off. It'd be worth?the short-term pain, which might not even be so severe.
In normal times, with another company, that might be correct. But these are not normal times...(read rest at link above)The Defining Moment: FDR's Hundred Days and the Triumph of Hope by Jonathan Alter (Paperback - May 8, 2007)
And here's a link to Amity Shlaes, a conservative with expertise on The Great Depression -- she sat in twice on the right. http://www.amityshlaes.com/ Her Book, The Forgotten Man is about FDR.
Toxic Assets; Auto Bailout? Clinton
@ State? Prop 8
Sorry, Arianna had a medical appointment -- it's man-on-man only today. And it got mighty heated today in the
battle over the economy. No one really has the answer. But a couple of questions
include: Where has the money given out so far gone? Where does it come from? Who
should really be getting it? All three end up agreeing we cannot afford to let
the auto industry sink; but their reasoning in getting there differs. And the
men weigh in on the rumor about Hillary Clinton as possible Secretary of
State…plus a brief note about the hullabaloo over Prop. 8 anti-gay marriage
constitutional amendment that just passed in the State of
California.
Links mentioned in today's show:
Depression Economics Returns
The economic news, in case you haven’t noticed, keeps getting worse. Bad as it is, however, I don’t expect another Great Depression. In fact, we probably won’t see the unemployment rate match its post-Depression peak of 10.7 percent, reached in 1982 (although I wish I was sure about that).
We are already, however, well into the realm of what I call depression economics. By that I mean a state of affairs like that of the 1930s in which the usual tools of economic policy — above all, the Federal Reserve’s ability to pump up the economy by cutting interest rates — have lost all traction. When depression economics prevails, the usual rules of economic policy no longer apply: virtue becomes vice, caution is risky and prudence is folly. (read rest at link above)Panic in Detroit by Jonathan Cohn
This is not your father's Oldsmobile we're rescuing.
Post Date Friday, November 14, 2008
General Motors has come to Washington, begging for a $25 billion bailout to keep it and its ailing Detroit counterparts going next year. But nobody seems too thrilled about the prospect. Liberals dwell on the companies' gas-guzzling sport-utility vehicles. Conservatives obsess over all the well-paid union members with gold-plated benefits. And people of all ideological backgrounds remember how they used to buy domestic cars, years ago, but stopped because the cars were so damn lousy. "The downfall of the American auto industry is indeed a tragedy," the Washington Post editorial board sermonized recently, "but the automakers and the United Auto Workers have only themselves to blame for much of it." And, if they have only themselves to blame, the argument goes, why do they deserve taxpayer help? Let them fail and file for bankruptcy. In the long run, the economy will be stronger and the workers better off. It'd be worth?the short-term pain, which might not even be so severe.
In normal times, with another company, that might be correct. But these are not normal times...(read rest at link above)The Defining Moment: FDR's Hundred Days and the Triumph of Hope by Jonathan Alter (Paperback - May 8, 2007)
And here's a link to Amity Shlaes, a conservative with expertise on The Great Depression -- she sat in twice on the right. http://www.amityshlaes.com/ Her Book, The Forgotten Man is about FDR.