Monthly Archives: September 2008

A Rant and a Question

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Craig Ferguson had a delightful Rant in last night’s monologue, which my buddy Ken B. was good enough to bring to my attention. The YouTube video is here:
Craig Ferguson Monologue – 9/24/2008

What I’ve been wondering about is this: We keep hearing from our “leaders” that we cannot allow to let these institutions — AIG, Fanny Mae, Freddie Mac, Bear Stearns… — we cannot allow them to fail because they’re too large. Well then, why haven’t any of these leaders proposed new legislation to prevent any more such institutions from ever getting that large again? Why didn’t any of these leaders stand up when all of these mergers were happening over the past 25 years and say, “Wait a minute, if we let these guys merge then sometime down the road they’ll be able to hold us hostage for billions of dollars.”

Well I guess one of our leaders would have to have been in a position of power for the past 25 years in order to do that, maybe head of the Senate Commerce Committee or something like that. I guess one of our leaders would have to have the heart of a reformer… Uh, Mr. McCain, why are you trying to edge off the stage right now?

Wise (and funny) Words on a National Calamity

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Your money

There are wiser folk than Pawn commenting on the current Calamity on Wall Street, and here are some of the gems:

“After 7 1/2 years of drift, President Bush has finally returned to his compassionate conservative roots with a heartfelt plea to Congress to help a needy and deserving group: those Wall Street CEOs who, for all their hard work, have been unable to lift themselves up by their wingtips,”

Dana Milbank writes in his Washington Post column.

And this from Rick Klein over at The Note at Mickey Mouse dot com:

And maybe we should feel bad for the bailout bill.

After all, it was born morbidly obese in a town that likes to pretend it’s all about being lean. Its parents never really wanted one like it — and we know they’ll be out of the picture in a few months anyway.

The men who would be president sure aren’t eager to adopt it.

And conservative commentator George WIll, over at Real Clear Politics had this to say:

“The queen had only one way of settling all difficulties, great or small. ‘Off with his head!’ she said without even looking around.”

— “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland”

Under the pressure of the financial crisis, one presidential candidate is behaving like a flustered rookie playing in a league too high. It is not Barack Obama. Channeling his inner Queen of Hearts, John McCain furiously, and apparently without even looking around at facts, said Chris Cox, chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, should be decapitated.

Perhaps the most succinct commentary comes from Rep. Brad Sherman, D-Calif.:

“Cash for trash.”

Nothing makes for tasty bon mots like a certifiable calamity.  Keep it coming…

Experience Matters

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With the Republican party whipsawing on whether or not experience really matters, I for one am ready to concede that to a certain extent it does. So I would like to propose that as our nation prepares to relive that nightmare from the 80’s — no, not Disco — the Resolution Trust Corporation, I propose that we should lean on some people with experience from that past debacle.

Neil Bush, for example, George W’s younger brother, who twenty some years ago was a board member of Silverado Savings and Loan when that institution went belly up and cost the American taxpayers a cool $1 billion. I’m sure that Neil could bring his insider’s perspective to bear on this latest bleeding of the American public.

Or maybe Sen. John McCain? He has first hand experience with the collapse of financial institutions dating back to his service with the Keating Five, working hard on behalf of Charles Keating Jr., chairman of Lincoln Savings and Loan Assoc. Even though the Senate Ethics Committee ultimately found that McCain was guilty of “poor judgment,” I’m sure he could rise to the occasion now.

In all seriousness, though, here’s hoping that Sen. Chas. Schumer, D-NY, is successful in his efforts to get foreclosure relief rolled into any bailout legislation.

Sarah – Where’s My Dollar?

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Last night, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, bragged on herself for being a reformer saying, ” I told the Congress, “Thanks, but no thanks,” on that Bridge to Nowhere. If our state wanted to build a bridge, we were going to build it ourselves.”

Okay, Sarah, let’s see how this worked. You were a small town mayor, whose town of 6,000 had never gotten much Federal largess until you hired one of Sen. Ted Stevens’ favorite lobbyists (yes, that Ted Stevens, the one now under Federal indictment), and then you suddenly got more than $12,000 per capita in Federal bucks. You then run for governor as a reformer. You tell the Federal government that, you know, that bridge you gave us $230 million to build? Well, we won’t build it. Did you return the $230 million to the American taxpayers? No, but you did make a special refund of $1,200 to your fellow Alaskans, most of whom are already earning a $2,000 income directly from the state in the form of oil payments.

So I don’t care what sport you root for, Sarah, and I don’t fancy pitbulls whether or not they’re wearing lipstick. I just want my $1.00 from that bridge you decided not to build. I figure at least that much of my tax dollars went to fund it.