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5836 [lbo-talk] crazy right-wing press release of the day -- rank: 1000

[This is from Special Guests, a right-wing PR shop, offering "Special Guests...for special talk shows like yours!" About 10 years ago, Alex Cockburn developed a thing for Larry Pratt, because, among other things, he was energetic enough to dismiss Charlton Heston as a "chardonnay-swilling sellout."] STIMULUS BILL A DISTRACTION FROM SENATE BILL RESTRICTING GUN RIGHTS: Bill Includes Expansion Of Government Land Ownership Already Under Strict Gun Ban Whether it’s requiring ...

Document Size:	10400
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Wed Feb 11 18:22:44 PST 2009

5837 [lbo-talk] CBO on HR 1 -- rank: 1000

CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE The following has been added to CBO's Web site (www.cbo.gov): Estimated Macroeconomic Impacts of H.R. 1 as Passed by the House and by the Senate http://www.cbo.gov/doc.cfm?index=9987

Document Size:	4708
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Wed Feb 11 18:23:48 PST 2009

5838 [lbo-talk] Krugman answers Obama on nationalization -- rank: 1000

On Feb 11, 2009, at 4:55 PM, Shane Taylor wrote: > [Obama's] two main arguments aren t actually very good. Yes, we have > thousands of banks but the problems are concentrated in a handful > of big players. In fact, the Geithner plan, such as it is, already > acknowledges this: the stress test is to be applied only to banks > with assets over $100 billion, of which there are supposed to be > around 14. > > And the argument that our culture won t stand for nationalizati ...

Document Size:	5916
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Wed Feb 11 14:04:59 PST 2009

5839 [lbo-talk] a fresh rant on the bailout -- rank: 1000

On Feb 11, 2009, at 4:41 PM, Michael Pollak wrote: > Okay, so you're saying, besides the pure pleasure of kicking them > hard (which again, I share[FN1]) it's a moral hazard justification? > > My question is, isn't that kind of redundant and/or useless? > Because a negative incentive like that would only makes sense if > we're going to give them the kind of freedom from regulation where > they could do this again. But it seems to me, the only way to stop > this sort of th ...

Document Size:	6820
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Wed Feb 11 13:55:49 PST 2009

5840 [lbo-talk] Nate Silver: leave Timmy aloooooone!! -- rank: 1000

On Feb 11, 2009, at 4:29 PM, Shane Taylor quoted Mr 538: > This is neither the time nor the place for mass movements -- this is > the time for expert opinion. Wow, as Ed Hyman would say. Is it banal to point out to the oh-so-clever Mr Silver that many of these "experts" are the people that got us into trouble in the first place? Doug

Document Size:	5021
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Wed Feb 11 13:37:34 PST 2009

5841 [lbo-talk] putting the F back in AFSCME -- rank: 1000

This is kinda funny, but the union tops aren't amused: <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/02/11/gop-rep-cantor-attacked-f_n_166033.html >

Document Size:	4775
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Wed Feb 11 12:26:37 PST 2009

5842 [lbo-talk] Inflation/deflation illusion ? -- rank: 1000

On Feb 11, 2009, at 2:39 PM, Alan Rudy wrote: > I read it as saying the decade ending in Sept. 1974, which I took to > mean > 1965-1974 and shoulda called the "late-60s/early-70s" > either way, I struggle to believe that mid-65-to-the-first-oil-shock > was as > bad as the last decade when it came to investments.... and you just > told me > there was a weak rally early in the 70s Norris ran the numbers, and they look right to me. So why the "struggle to bel ...

Document Size:	5170
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Wed Feb 11 11:46:51 PST 2009

5843 [lbo-talk] happy birthday, Darwin -- rank: 1000

<http://www.gallup.com/poll/114544/Darwin-Birthday-Believe-Evolution.aspx > February 11, 2009 On Darwin s Birthday, Only 4 in 10 Believe in Evolution Belief drops to 24% among frequent church attenders USAEvolutionIntelligent DesignReligion and Social TrendsAmericasNorthern America by Frank Newport PRINCETON, NJ -- On the eve of 200th anniversary of Charles Darwin's birth, a new Gallup Poll shows that only 39% of Americans say they "believe in the theory of evolution," while a ...

Document Size:	10074
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Wed Feb 11 11:35:48 PST 2009

5844 [lbo-talk] Inflation/deflation illusion ? -- rank: 1000

On Feb 11, 2009, at 1:05 PM, Alan Rudy wrote: > what? the 1960s were worse than the 2000s? really? > can someone unpack this? 1960s? The article/chart talks about the 1970s. The bad returns for the 1970s were driven by the very narrow base of the rally in the early 1970s (the Nifty Fifty era) followed by the deep bear market of the mid-1970s. Doug

Document Size:	4942
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Wed Feb 11 10:29:17 PST 2009

5845 [lbo-talk] financial exchanges proportion ? -- rank: 1000

On Feb 10, 2009, at 10:20 PM, JC Helary wrote: > I mean anything that is not related to buying goods or services. So > I suppose that would include stock exchanges, foreign exchange (am I > correct to assume that it does not include imports/exports, which > would fall in the category of "money for goods" ?), credit markets > etc. > > But ultimately, is the proportion itself in direct relation with the > impact the financial crisis has on the real economy ? If yo ...

Document Size:	5754
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Wed Feb 11 09:53:33 PST 2009

5846 [lbo-talk] critique of capitalism -- rank: 1000

[from a NY Observer piece on how the recession is a boon to gay nightlife in NYC] <http://www.observer.com/2009/o2/gays-love-depression?page=0%2C2> Around this time, the people running the door at Cake Shop wouldn t allow any more people in the basement had reached capacity. Near the bathroom, 24-year-old Max Steele, a hipster with a mop of red curly hair who was stripped down to nothing but a pair of black briefs, was waiting in an impossible line. Gays love a recession because we ha ...

Document Size:	5731
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Wed Feb 11 09:15:30 PST 2009

5847 [lbo-talk] a fresh rant on the bailout -- rank: 1000

On Feb 11, 2009, at 4:29 AM, Michael Pollak wrote: > > On Tue, 10 Feb 2009, Doug Henwood wrote: > >> <http://doughenwood.wordpress.com/2009/02/10/obama-to-coddle- >> bankers/> >> At this point, the only thing that makes any sense is to >> nationalize the weakest banks, kick out management, wipe out the >> shareholders, clear the decks, and start over with a tightly >> regulated system. > > I have three naive questions. > > One, besid ...

Document Size:	6646
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Wed Feb 11 08:55:32 PST 2009

5848 [lbo-talk] SEIU layoffs -- rank: 1000

http://perezstern.blogspot.com/2009/02/how-seiu-treats-staff-101.html Wednesday, February 11 How SEIU treats staff 101 An email Perez got today says: "The conference call this past Friday with all SEIU International staff who are UUR members where SEIU top brass basically said that the majority of them were getting shit-canned. Massive, massive layoffs. All Organizer 1's, plus a bunch of other organizers, field reps, researchers and communications people. I guess when the choice is pay ...

Document Size:	5539
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Wed Feb 11 08:50:17 PST 2009

5849 [lbo-talk] Geithner Plan -- rank: 1000

On Feb 10, 2009, at 9:04 PM, Carrol Cox wrote: > Doug Henwood wrote: >> >> On Feb 10, 2009, at 5:16 PM, John Gulick wrote: >> >>> But even if this proposal were not utopian to begin with, the moment >>> has been squandered. Where was >>> the much-ballyhooed "pressure" on Obama that his "critical >>> supporters" kept on promising in early >>> November? >> >> Ha ha ha. How many divisions has Barbara E ...

Document Size:	5294
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Tue Feb 10 18:08:45 PST 2009

5850 [lbo-talk] Obama on nationalization -- rank: 1000

On Feb 10, 2009, at 8:17 PM, Shane Taylor wrote: > <http://www.calculatedriskblog.com/2009/02/obama-on-nationalization.html > > Obama: "Obviously, Sweden has a different set of cultures in terms of how the government relates to markets and America's different. And we want to retain a strong sense of that private capital fulfilling the core -- core investment needs of this country." That clarifies it.

Document Size:	5045
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Tue Feb 10 17:30:10 PST 2009