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Kevin Dayhoff - Soundtrack Division of Old Silent Movies - www.kevindayhoff.net - Runner, writer, artist, fire and police chaplain. The mindless ramblings of a runner, journalist, and artist: National and International politics. For community see www.kevindayhoff.org. For art, writing and travel see www.kevindayhoff.com
Thursday, February 09, 2012
Eurozone Crisis: It is all Greek to me! by Kevin E. Dayhoff February 8, 2012
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Eurozone Crisis: The Economist: Argentina’s debt default Gauchos and gadflies
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Daily Grind: Republicans Roll Over?; The L-Word, Guess What Greece Has To Jettison?
May 18th, 2010
All Original Content Open Source & Copyright Free
Corker on Dodd financial takeover bill: "I realize this bill is going to pass."
There are perfectly legitimate policy grounds under which to oppose Elena Kagan for the Supreme Court.
Video: Hilda Solis' Price is Right
Obama Labor appointees get massive pay raises.
IBD Editorials: Guess What Greece Has To Jettison?
Government-run health care must be repealed as a condition for the IMF-EU bailout.
Republicans Roll Over?
By Robert Romano
Rescinding government control of the nation's financial sector — along with repealing ObamaCare and restoring fiscal sanity to the nation's budget — all may have to be put off for some time after elections have taken place. And put onto the American people's "to-do" list in 2011 and beyond. If ever. Why?
Sadly, instead of rolling back another government takeover, this time of the financial system, enough Senate Republicans have apparently rolled over and are letting it through.
Consider Republican Senator Bob Corker's admission that efforts to defeat the Dodd financial takeover bill have apparently always been doomed to failure, as reported by the Washington Post. Although indicating he opposed the legislation, Corker said, "I realize this bill is going to pass." He described the legislation as "an out-of-the-park home run" achievement for the Obama Administration.
That can only mean one thing: that while critical negotiations were taking place, Republicans took the credible threat of a filibuster off the table. Which, in turn, would explain why they have failed to achieve any concessions that might have addressed some of the root, government causes of the financial crisis.
For example, Senator John McCain's amendment to end the ongoing taxpayer bailout of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac could have been dubbed a deal-breaker for the Senate GOP. That without it, there would be a filibuster. So too could have Senator David Vitter's amendment to audit the Federal Reserve. Or demands could have been made that the Department of Housing and Urban Development's "affordable housing goals" imposed on Fannie and Freddie be ended, its loose-lending Community Reinvestment Act regulations be repealed, and the Federal Housing Administration's weakening of down payments on home mortgages eliminated.
None of these very reasonable concessions were achieved. And the only explanation is that all 41 Senate Republicans proved incapable of sticking together to fight for the American people.
Even the concessions that were reportedly achieved were not really. Take the alleged removal of an unlimited bailout fund in the Dodd-Shelby amendment.
Under the Dodd-Shelby amendment, any monies "necessary to initiate and continue operations essential to the implementation of the receivership or any bridge financial company" would be pulled out of an unlimited "orderly liquidation fund" without necessarily being recouped. As Americans for Limited Government (ALG) reported in an updated bill summary on the issue, that's a bailout.
So, despite the political catastrophe of the Troubled Asset Relief Program, and the bailouts of Fannie, Freddie, AIG, GM, and Chrysler all under a Republican administration, the Senate — with the help of a "handful of GOP members" reported by the Post — is now poised to institutionalize that authority for all time.
How could this happen? In part, claims made by the Senate about the Dodd-Shelby "compromise" were not properly vetted, which then provided political cover to moderates looking for a reason to vote for the bill.
According to the preamble of the Dodd-Shelby amendment, it would "end 'too big to fail' [and] protect the American taxpayer by ending bailouts." It does neither. When it passed 93 to 5, even though no language was yet available for public perusal, media outlets across the nation uncritically reported that the Dodd-Shelby amendment eliminated bailouts. Even the National Review reported that the bailout fund was removed — when it was not.
So, why go on pretending that it is?
ALG President Bill Wilson has been a voice in the wilderness on this issue. Last week, speaking of the amended bill, he said, "Nothing has substantively changed. Despite the efforts of Senate Republicans, the orderly liquidation fund still has not been removed. After all the amendments voted on, the government can still seize any institution it wants, and then keep it, reorganize it, or redistribute it without any Congressional approval."
What remains to be seen is if Senate Republicans will do anything about it. Or, if they'll just roll over and pretend that they've solved "too big to fail" and eliminated bailouts. The American people deserve better than this.
Robert Romano is the Senior Editor of ALG News Bureau.
http://blog.getliberty.org/
The L-Word
ALG Editor's Note: William Warren's award-winning cartoons published at GetLiberty.org are a free service of ALG News Bureau. They may be reused and redistributed free of charge.
http://blog.getliberty.org/
Video: Hilda Solis' Price is Right
ALG Editor's Note: In the following featured video produced by Americans for Limited Government's Andrius Vaitekunas, Obama Labor appointees get massive pay raises:
http://blog.getliberty.org/
ALG Editor's Note: As noted in the following featured editorial from Investor's Business Daily, the board brings attention to a little-noticed bailout precondition that Greece had to accept — the repeal of government-run health care:
Guess What Greece Has To Jettison?
Policy Failure: Greece was told that if it wanted a bailout, it needed to consider privatizing its government health care system. So tell us again why the U.S. is following Europe's welfare state model.
The requirement, part of a deal arranged by the IMF, the European Union and the European Central bank, is a tacit admission that national health care programs are unsustainable. Along with transportation and energy, the bailout group, according to the New York Times, wants the Greek government to remove "the state from the marketplace in crucial sectors."
This is not some cranky or politically motivated demand. It is a condition based on the ugly reality of government medicine. The Times reports that economists — not right-wingers opposed to health care who want to blow up Times Square — say liberalizing "the health care industry would help bring down prices in these areas, which are among the highest in Europe."
Of course most of the media have been largely silent about the health care privatization measure for Greece, as it conflicts with their universal, single-payer health care narrative.
The public health system in the Hellenic Republic is operated by the Ministry of Health and Welfare, where centralized decisions and rules are made.
It provides free or low-cost treatment through what is essentially a single-payer system established in 1983 when the Socialist Party was in power. Family members and retirees are also covered. Like the systems in Britain and Canada, it has agonizingly long waiting lists.
It should be no surprise that in Greece, health care spending as a percentage of the economy is relatively steep. According to Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development data, it's higher than that in the Netherlands, Italy, Spain, the United Kingdom and Japan. Despite all the spending, Greece could never cover 100% of its citizens, reaching only about 83% for primary care.
Today, the patient most in need of a room in the intensive-care ward is Greece itself — what with government debt nearing 120% of GDP and the deficit at 13% of GDP.
The mere possibility of government spending cuts sent striking workers and public employees into the streets. Groups upset with the budget cuts have protested, rioted, looted and killed.
On May 5, three died in a bank fire fueled by a Molotov cocktail during a riot against the austerity measures that have been intended to save the government from bankruptcy and, as well, secure aid from other nations.
http://blog.getliberty.org/
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Kevin Dayhoff Soundtrack: http://kevindayhoff.blogspot.com/ = http://www.kevindayhoff.net/ Kevin Dayhoff Art: http://kevindayhoffart.blogspot.com/ or http://kevindayhoffart.com/ = http://www.kevindayhoff.com/ Kevin Dayhoff Westminster: http://kevindayhoffwestgov-net.blogspot.com/ or http://www.westgov.net/ = www.kevindayhoff.org Twitter: https://twitter.com/kevindayhoff Twitpic: http://twitpic.com/photos/kevindayhoff Kevin Dayhoff's The New Bedford Herald: http://kbetrue.livejournal.com/ = www.newbedfordherald.net Explore Carroll: www.explorecarroll.com The Tentacle: www.thetentacle.com
Monday, May 17, 2010
Europe's Lack Of Discipline by George Will
Europe's Lack Of Discipline by George Will Sunday, May 16, 2010
http://townhall.com/columnists/GeorgeWill/2010/05/16/europes_lack_of_discipline
WASHINGTON -- When Chancellor Angela Merkel decided that Germany would pay part of Greece's bills, voters punished her party in elections in Germany's most populous state, North Rhine-Westphalia. How appropriate.
[...]
Greece represents a perverse aspiration -- a society with (in the words of Wisconsin Republican Rep. Paul Ryan) "more takers than makers," more people taking benefits from government than there are people making goods and services that produce the social surplus that funds government. By socializing the consequences of Greece's misgovernment, Europe has become the world's leading producer of a toxic product -- moral hazard. The dishonesty and indiscipline of a nation with 2.6 percent of the eurozone's economic product have moved nations with the other 97.4 percent -- and the United States and the International Monetary Fund -- to say, essentially: The consequences of such vices cannot be quarantined, so we are all hostages to one another and hence no nation will be allowed to sink beneath the weight of its recklessness.
Read the entire column here: http://townhall.com/columnists/GeorgeWill/2010/05/16/europes_lack_of_discipline
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Kevin Dayhoff Soundtrack: http://kevindayhoff.blogspot.com/ = http://www.kevindayhoff.net/ Kevin Dayhoff Art: http://kevindayhoffart.blogspot.com/ or http://kevindayhoffart.com/ = http://www.kevindayhoff.com/ Kevin Dayhoff Westminster: http://kevindayhoffwestgov-net.blogspot.com/ or http://www.westgov.net/ = www.kevindayhoff.org Twitter: https://twitter.com/kevindayhoff Twitpic: http://twitpic.com/photos/kevindayhoff Kevin Dayhoff's The New Bedford Herald: http://kbetrue.livejournal.com/ = www.newbedfordherald.net Explore Carroll: www.explorecarroll.com The Tentacle: www.thetentacle.com
Thursday, May 06, 2010
TVNewser: Greece Protests Drive Dow Down. Biz Nets, Cable Nets go Full-Bore
mediabistro.com's DAILY TVNEWSER FEED
http://www.mediabistro.com/
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Thursday, May 06
GREECE PROTESTS DRIVE DOW DOWN. BIZ NETS, CABLE NETS GO FULL-BORE
At 2:48pmET, as the cable news channels showed live pictures of riots in Athens, Greece, the Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged 995 points. Several correspondents from the business channels began appearing on the news channels, including CNBC's Carl Quintanilla from Athens and Trish Regan from Lisbon both phoning in to MSNBC, while CNNMoney.com's Poppy Harlow appeared on CNN. While FBN's Nicole Petallides and Eric Bolling went on FNC. > At 2:58pmET, ABC News broadcast a...
http://www.mediabistro.com/
MORNING SHOW RATINGS: WEEK OF APRIL 26
NBC's "Today" show was again the top-rated morning show last week. Season-to-date, "Today" is the only program to show increases in the demo. NBC and ABC's "Good Morning America" were both down a bit week-to-week, while CBS "Early Show" saw an increase. All three were down slightly in the demo. The averages for the week of April 26: Total Viewers: NBC: 5.22M / ABC: 4.35M / CBS: 2.56M A25-54 rating: NBC: 2.44M / ABC: 1.73M...
http://www.mediabistro.com/
SUNDAY SHOW RATINGS: MAY 2
NBC's "Meet the Press," which launched it's new HD set this week (more here), was the top rated morning show this week. "MTP" as well as CBS' "Face the Nation" and ABC's "This Week" saw week-to-week growth in total viewers. Cable and network rebroadcasts of "MTP" drew an additional 1,105,000 viewers. "Fox News Sunday" drew an additional 1.342M million total viewers on the 6pm cable replay (the 2pm airing was preempted by live coverage) and...
http://www.mediabistro.com/
Thursday, May 06
AFGHAN ORPHANS SING HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO BRIAN WILLIAMS
•A group of orphans in Afghanistan -- whom "NBC Nightly News" anchor Brian Williams profiled last year -- sent the newsman a special video for his 51st birthday. The children's orphanage was featured in a "Making a Difference" segment, which helped raise over $50,000. Video after the jump. (h/t HuffPost)...
http://www.mediabistro.com/
'AC360' AMERICAN AL-QAEDA SPECIAL; O'BRIEN'S DOCUMENTARY REVIEWED
•Next week on "AC360," CNN correspondent Nic Robertson examines the life of Bryan Neal Vinas, a young man from Long Island who was convicted of supporting Al-Qaeda terrorist plots. Release in the jump. Another note, Anderson Cooper anchors the show from Nashville, Tennessee tonight following flooding in the area. Also, NY Daily News' David Hinkley reviews Soledad O'Brien's "touching new documentary 'Rescued.'"...
http://www.mediabistro.com/
SIGHTINGS: MATT LAUER
From the tipbox, 11:13amET: Matt Lauer spotted in the lobby of News Corp./Fox News building... But since it's across the street from where he works, he could just be headed to Wendy's for a Frosty. > Update from the tipster: Lauer was headed into an elevator inside the Fox building...sans Frosty. > Update 2: from "Today" show Executive Producer Jim Bell: We went to a screening of "Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps" in advance of...
http://www.mediabistro.com/
Thursday, May 06
ROLAND MARTIN'S ASCOT MAY BE JON STEWART'S FAVORITE THING ON CNN
Jon Stewart spent five minutes on "The Daily Show" last night discussing CNN's Roland Martin and his genteel, on-air ascot. Stewart can barely contain himself for most of the segment, saying, "It may be my favorite thing I've seen on CNN." CNN's recent ratings issues also get a couple of jabs, but its mostly about the ascot. As regular news viewers know, Martin is no stranger to splashy fashion, on air and off. (Martin's been...
http://www.mediabistro.com/
KNBC NEWSROOM STAFFER WINS MEGA MILLIONS
She wanted KFC, he wanted BBQ, now they're millionaires. Los Angeles KNBC-TV overnight assignment editor Jacki Cisneros and her husband Gilbert, who'd recently lost his job, were the lucky winners of the $266 million jackpot in California's Mega Millions lottery. Though they initially tried to stay anonymous, the couple revealed their identity last night and sat down with the "Today" show's Matt Lauer and Meredith Vieira this morning. Jacki was still in the office today...
http://www.mediabistro.com/
WAS CBS CORP.'S LES MOONVES OVERPAID?
In a study for Bloomberg News, pay expert Graef Crystal looked at the compensation of 271 CEOs and found the average slipped 4.7% last year to $9.95 million, with extremes ranging from $43.2 million for CBS Corp.'s Leslie Moonves to $245,322 for Google Inc.'s Eric Schmidt. Using formulas developed over 30 years in the business, Crystal crunched the numbers and found CBS overpaid Moonves, who is married to CBS Early Show co-anchor Julie Chen, by...
http://www.mediabistro.com/
Thursday, May 06
PERFECT YOUR DEMO REEL
Next Monday evening, mediabistro.com is offering a one-night-only workshop in New York City on perfecting your television news demo reel. "CBS Morning News" anchor and "Early Show" correspondent Michelle Gielan will instruct you on how to best assemble and present one of the most essential tools in getting an on-air gig. The interactive workshop is limited to 12 students, so if you're interested go here for the full details on how to sign up. And...
http://www.mediabistro.com/
'MORNING EXPRESS' ON A QUIET RATINGS STREAK
April marked a small milestone for HLN's "Morning Express with Robin Meade" in the cable morning show race. Though still trailing the morning leader, FNC's "Fox & Friends," by 131,000 demo viewers (and a considerable 653K total viewers), "Morning Express" has now finished ahead of MSNBC's "Morning Joe" for a full year in the A25-54 demo. It's also finished ahead of CNN's "American Morning" consistently. In April, "Morning Express" averaged 316,000 total viewers with 188,000...
http://www.mediabistro.com/
Wednesday, May 05
JOHN MCKENZIE LEAVING ABC NEWS
ABC News medical correspondent John McKenzie is leaving the network. McKenzie is one of more than 300 ABC News employees who took a buyout. He'll remain with the network for another couple months. McKenzie was brought to ABC News by the late Peter Jennings in 1980. Jennings hired McKenzie away from Canada's CTV to cover the Solidarity movement in Warsaw, Poland. McKenzie returned to the U.S. and was a Boston-based correspondent from 1982-1988. He later...
http://www.mediabistro.com/
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To read more on TVNewser:
http://www.mediabistro.com/
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Kevin Dayhoff Soundtrack: http://kevindayhoff.blogspot.com/ = http://www.kevindayhoff.net/ Kevin Dayhoff Art: http://kevindayhoffart.blogspot.com/ or http://kevindayhoffart.com/ = http://www.kevindayhoff.com/ Kevin Dayhoff Westminster: http://kevindayhoffwestgov-net.blogspot.com/ or http://www.westgov.net/ = www.kevindayhoff.org Twitter: https://twitter.com/kevindayhoff Twitpic: http://twitpic.com/photos/kevindayhoff Kevin Dayhoff's The New Bedford Herald: http://kbetrue.livejournal.com/ = www.newbedfordherald.net Explore Carroll: www.explorecarroll.com The Tentacle: www.thetentacle.com