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The "Financial-Regulatory Complex"

Mark Noonan

The nasty mix of Big Government and Big Corporation:

…President Dwight D. Eisenhower warned of the birth of a military-industrial complex. Today we have a financial-regulatory complex, and it has meant a consolidation of power and privilege. We’ve created a class of politically protected “too big to fail” institutions, and the current proposals for regulatory reform further cement this notion. Even more worrying, with so many explicit and implicit financial guarantees, we are courting a bigger financial crisis the next time something major goes wrong.

We should stop using political favors as a means of managing an economic sector. Unfortunately, though, recent experience with health care reform shows we are moving in the opposite direction and not heeding the basic lessons of the financial crisis. Finance and health care are two separate issues, of course, but in both cases we’re making the common mistake of digging in durable political protections for special interest groups.

One disturbing portent came over the summer when it was reported that the Obama administration had promised deals to doctors and to pharmaceutical companies under the condition that they publicly support health care reform. That’s another example of creating favored beneficiaries through politics…

You cannot have justice if there’s even a little bit of injustice in it – you also can’t have the truth if there’s an element of lie; what is good tends to spotlessness. Right now, we’ve got a free market which is so tightly bound to government and so desirous and dependent upon special favors that it simply isn’t really a free market. It apes many of the aspects of a free market, but just as injustice and lies corrupt justice and truth, so does any special privilege in the market corrupt the free market. What we’ve got is a bastard hybrid – neither socialist nor capitalist; neither entirely free nor entirely servile…but the bad news is that no matter how you slice it and dice it, the people with the best political and corporate connections always wind up with the best part of the deal.

I am a free-market advocate – it is the only way to rationally distribute goods and services; what I want us to do is return to a free market…a market where neither government picks the winners nor where monopolists prevent competition. We’ve got monopolistic winner-pickers, and if you wonder why your 401K is down, your house is upside down, your health insurance premiums are through the roof, your college education is extortionate…well, the place to look is in the offices of Wall Street and DC.

What should we do? Allow failures to fail, and do whatever we can to encourage the new and the small against the old and the large. General Motors is not a sacred element of the United States – its just a corporation which screwed itself in to financial oblivion (with much government help, of course). We can live without GM – but we can’t live without a free market. Someone will make cars in the United States – and if it isn’t a corrupt, failed GM living off taxpayer dollars, then it will be a brash, new start up living off a dream and hard work. Who says that Citi and BofA are immutable parts of America’s financial system? You think that after thousands of years of people going in to banking that they’ll stop doing it if BofA goes bankrupt?

We’ve been sold a lot of nonsense over the years – and as our current crisis picked up steam, the level of nonsense has risen to amazing heights. Its time to have done with it – and done with those who got us in to this mess (with the understanding, of course, that we partially got our own fool selves in to it). Stop bailing out; stop providing special privileges; stop picking winners and losers – help the poor, encourage the hard-working and then just get out of the way.

What Media Bias? Part 162

Mark Noonan

Here’s a surprise – they’re not covering the burgeoning ACORN scandal:

Here’s the Saturday morning round-up on the Census Bureau story for the formerly mainstream media, checking out their home Web pages:

Washington Post, New York Times, USA Today, CBS News, CNN Sucks — story isn’t there. WashPost did run a piece about the Big Government expose’ in DC.

MSNBC, to its credit, posted a link to an AP version of the story near the top of their homepage. Some of the others above have the AP story too, but they don’t headline it on their homepages. This is significant because all the major news organizations have an auto-feed of wire service stories to their sites — MSNBC just took the trouble to link it from their homepage.

Fox News of course has followed the story all along, and the Washington Times ran the AP version.

And kudos to ABC News (top of their homepage) and reporter Jake Tapper. Unlike the other lazy and indifferent bureaus listed above, Tapper stayed on the story doing original reporting, crediting Fox News and Big Government for their scoops, embedded one of James O’Keefe’s YouTube videos in his story…

This is a huge scandal and a gigantic story – the sort of thing which, if covered in the MSM, would get people buying newspapers and watching TV…but, for the most part, the MSM is ignoring it. Why? Because they believe that a full airing of the story would devastate the Democrat party and the larger political left. Trouble is, the damage is being done – by all those people who don’t bother with the MSM anymore and who showed up in massive numbers in DC on Saturday. 2010 will come as a shocker to liberals, Democrats and MSMers – because they are ignoring this sort of thing and trying to downplay it, they are not getting a real picture of what is going on out there.

Right now, the best estimates I see among tuned-in left-of-center observers is that the Democrats are set to lose 21-30 seats in the House next year. The best liberal observers are still stoutly asserting that the GOP hasn’t a chance of a House majority – but they’ve got to know that it is they who are engaging in wishful thinking. True, there’s no assurance of a GOP win that big next year, but at worst its an even money proposition at this time. As for me, I make no predictions – part of what will happen will depend upon how GOPers manage to convince TEA Party activists to give one more vote to the GOP – the TEA Party people don’t like us GOPers all that much either; though a more accurate way of putting it is that they don’t like the old-guard of the GOP…

A new guard – a new face of the GOP, that is – can harness this anti-establishment effort. If such people are out there and manage to do their job right, the GOP can score a historic victory over the left…and perhaps not just in the House. We’ll have to see if anyone emerges in the GOP with an understanding of what is going on – we already know for certain that Democrats are incapable of it.

Are Banks as Bad Off as Last Year?

Mark Noonan

Joseph Stiglitz thinks so:

Sept. 14 (Bloomberg) — Joseph Stiglitz, the Nobel Prize- winning economist, said the U.S. has failed to fix the underlying problems of its banking system after the credit crunch and the collapse of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.

“In the U.S. and many other countries, the too-big-to-fail banks have become even bigger,” Stiglitz said in an interview yesterday in Paris. “The problems are worse than they were in 2007 before the crisis.”

Stiglitz’s views echo those of former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker, who has advised President Barack Obama’s administration to curtail the size of banks, and Bank of Israel Governor Stanley Fischer, who suggested last month that governments may want to discourage financial institutions from growing “excessively.”

A year after the demise of Lehman forced the Treasury Department to spend billions to shore up the financial system, Bank of America Corp.’s assets have grown and Citigroup Inc. remains intact.

Of course, “too big to fail” wasn’t quite an honest way of looking at it – more accurate would have been “too big and already failed, so lets chuck some taxpayer money down the rat hole”. And now the rat holes are bigger, and still have huge amounts of toxic assets on the books…and more and more of their assets are turning toxic all the time. And Uncle Sam has already spent more than he’s got, and the Fed printed trillions to bail them out. Now, what?

Get ready for massive celebrations in liberal land a Q3 shows economic growth. As far as Obama and the MSM will play it, we might as well be in the biggest boom in human history, all thanks to Spendulus. And they’ll slap each other on the back and their poll numbers will creep up a bit…and then the bottom will drop out of the tub. I figure this for March. But it might come sooner.

Is Double-Digit Unemployment Here to Stay?

Mark Noonan

So asks Time magazine.

Answer: Yes. As long as Obama is in office.

What we have here is a lowering of expectations – the MSM has been doing backbreaking work trying to talk everyone in to believing the economy is great and thus its time to spend, spend, spend our way out of the doldrums. As people have been saving money and the economy continues to contract (yes, I know that the government will almost certainly tell us we returned to growth in the third quarter of this year…but that will just be the sort of BS designed to gull liberals…sensible people will pay no attention to it) it looks as though the “wish real hard” economic model is going bust. But the MSM still have to get Obama re-elected in 2012. What to do?

Essentially, call it “funemployment” and hope that people are fooled in to voting Obama after stopping off at the unemployment line…we’ll see how this plays out.

Phrase of the Day

Mark Noonan

In line with a comment by our brother Jeremiah:

Avoid evil practices; indeed, preach against them. Hear your bishop, that God may hear you. Work together in harmony,: struggle together, run together, suffer together, rest together, rise together, as stewards, advisors and servants of God. So be patient and gentle with one another, as God is with you.

— St. Ignatius of Antioch

Something to Agree With Obama About

Mark Noonan

But not necessarily for the reasons Obama did it:

In one of his first major decisions on trade policy, President Obama opted Friday to impose a tariff on tires from China, a move that fulfills his campaign promise to “crack down” on imports that unfairly undermine American workers but risks angering the nation’s second-largest trading partner.

The decision is intended to bolster the ailing U.S. tire industry, in which more than 5,000 jobs have been lost over the past five years as the volume of Chinese tires in the market has tripled.

It comes at a sensitive time, however. Leaders from the world’s largest economies are preparing to gather in Pittsburgh in less than two weeks to discuss more cooperation amid tensions over trade.

The tire tariff will amount to 35 percent the first year, 30 percent the second and 25 percent the third.

Although a federal trade panel had recommended higher levies — of 55, 45 and 35 percent, respectively — the decision is considered a victory for the United Steelworkers union, which filed the trade complaint.

I’d have imposed the tariff simply because we shouldn’t be trading with China – once upon a time, I was a free trader. Now I’m a Freedom Trader – free trade between all free peoples; no trade at all with tyrants who enslave their own people. What I’d like to see happen is a ten year period of adjustment where US tariffs on Chinese goods are made progressively higher until China is priced out of the US market – ditto with any other tyrannical regime, most especially those tyrannical regimes which export oil to the United States (yes, it’d be difficult – and costly – but worth it, in the long run…of course, we’d also need a President willing to exploit our own oil resources to fill part of the gap…). Why should our fine marketplace be sullied with the sweat of slaves, and the profits of beastly government thugs?

Obama, unfortunately, is doing this just to placate yet another union – in this case, the United Steelworkers. Much better if Obama had used some spendulus money to provide tax easements for tire manufacturers … and perhaps make new or expanded tire factories tax free for the next five years or so. But, still, it all works out towards what I want done…so, bravo, Mr. President.

Key Blagojevich Witness Dead

Mark Noonan

Of an alleged suicide:

The man federal prosecutors pressured to cooperate in the corruption probe of ex-Gov. Rod Blagojevich died of an apparent aspirin overdose on Saturday, law enforcement sources said.

Christopher Kelly, 51, of Burr Ridge, was pronounced dead at Stroger Hospital at 10:46 a.m. An autopsy is scheduled for today, a Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office spokeswoman said.

OD on aspirin? I know its possible, but who in heck would think of offing himself with aspirin?

I smell a big, Chicago rat…

September 12th Open Thread (Bumped)

Mark Noonan

Have at it – I’ll post updates as I can over the events of the day. As I set this post in the schedule, I don’t know what will happen…massive expressions of defiance by free people, or a fizzle? God only knows, and so I leave it in His hands.

UPDATE: Its looks like a very good turn out: Vodkapundit gets this from Stacey McCain:

Stacy McCain just called in with a bunch more protest signs spotted on The Mall:

Congress are you foolish enough to bet against our vote in 2010?

If you’re not outraged you’re not paying taxes.

Obamanomics – our dollars, no sense, trickle up poverty.

2009 Intolerable Acts – Cap & Trade, Bailouts, Obamacare.

Stace also talked to Congressman Mike Pence (R-IN) who said he feels today’s “strong turnout will make a difference. Congress will listen.”

There were also chants of “nah nah nah, hey hey hey.” Aimed at Congress, I assume…

…a Navy vet’s sign which read, “Pelosi Reid & Obama – Three Stooges and Two Boobs.”

UPDATE II: Joe Wilson takes in $750,000.00 in 48 hours…speaking bluntly apparently has its rewards. I’ll keep that in mind.

UPDATE III: Some MSM coverage – though they are, no doubt, doing their best to bury it as much as possible:

…The line of protesters completely filled Pennsylvania Avenue for blocks, all the way to the capitol, according to the D.C. Homeland Security and Emergency Management Agency. People were chanting “enough, enough” and “We the People.” Others yelled “You lie, you lie!” and “Pelosi has to go,” referring to California congresswoman Nancy Pelosi.

Some men are dressed in colonial costumes with tri-colored hats, and others were holding signs saying “Go Green Recycle Congress,” “Thank You Joe Wilson,” “Legalize The Constitution,” and “I’m Not Your ATM.”

One organizer at the event estimates that there were about 50,000 attendees at about 10 a.m., but as many as 100,000 are expected. Pennsylvania Avenue was completely blocked by demonstrators by 11 a.m.

UPDATE IV: How many are there? Seems like it might be a million…I would have been thrilled with 100,000. That this many people can gather in an entirely grass roots effort is astounding. The Revolution has begun, and God bless it.

UPDATE V: Mason Weaver quoted: “I came here because I thought you might want to hear a black man speak without a teleprompter.”

UPDATE VI: Two million?

Up to two million march to US Capitol to protest against Obama’s spending in ‘tea-party’ demonstration

Bottom line: one heck of a lot of people showed up. This movement isn’t going away.

UPDATE VII: Time lapsed video of the crowd. And it seems that our good patriots didn’t leave a mess…you know, like Obamaniacs did on January 20th. This is the largest political event since King’s March.

UPDATE VIII: How many?

Charlie Martin — a computer scientist with extensive intelligence experience — emails from his secret bunker near Boulder, CO:

I did a back-of-envelope based on the photos and reports. A pretty dense crowd is about 1.8 people per square meter, and the National Mall alone is about 125 hectares, 1.25 million square meters. So that would be 2.3 million people.

Given the report from Steve of an actual literal count of 450K early on, I think the 2 million number is *very* plausible.

Knowing Charlie like I do, I’m inclined to trust his guestimates more than most people’s “facts.

UPDATE IX: Took me by surprise, too:

…the magnitude of the rally took the authorities by surprise…

Weekly Recap (2009-09-12)

Matt Margolis

Give Me Liberty, or Give Me Death!

Mark Noonan

…Is it that insidious smile with which our petition has been lately received? Trust it not, sir; it will prove a snare to your feet. Suffer not yourselves to be betrayed with a kiss. Ask yourselves how this gracious reception of our petition comports with these warlike preparations which cover our waters and darken our land. Are fleets and armies necessary to a work of love and reconciliation? Have we shown ourselves so unwilling to be reconciled that force must be called in to win back our love? Let us not deceive ourselves, sir. These are the implements of war and subjugation — the last arguments to which kings resort…

…Shall we resort to entreaty and humble supplication? What terms shall we find which have not been already exhausted? Let us not, I beseech you, sir, deceive ourselves longer.

Sir, we have done everything that could be done to avert the storm which is now coming on. We have petitioned; we have remonstrated; we have supplicated; we have prostrated ourselves before the throne, and have implored its interposition to arrest the tyrannical hands of the ministry and Parliament.

Our petitions have been slighted; our remonstrances have produced additional violence and insult; our supplications have been disregarded; and we have been spurned, with contempt, from the foot of the throne. In vain, after these things, may we indulge the fond hope of peace and reconciliation. There is no longer any room for hope.

If we wish to be free — if we mean to preserve inviolate those inestimable privileges for which we have been so long contending — if we mean not basely to abandon the noble struggle in which we have been so long engaged, and which we have pledged ourselves never to abandon until the glorious object of our contest shall be obtained, we must fight! I repeat it, sir, we must fight! …

They tell us, sir, that we are weak — unable to cope with so formidable an adversary. But when shall we be stronger? Will it be the next week, or the next year? Will it be when we are totally disarmed… Shall we acquire the means of effectual resistance, by lying supinely on our backs, and hugging the delusive phantom of hope, until our enemies shall have bound us hand and foot?

Sir, we are not weak, if we make a proper use of the means which the God of nature hath placed in our power. …millions of people, armed in the holy cause of liberty, and in such a country as that which we possess, are invincible by any force which our enemy can send against us. Besides, sir, we shall not fight our battles alone. There is a just God who presides over the destinies of nations, and who will raise up friends to fight our battles for us.

The battle, sir, is not to the strong alone; it is to the vigilant, the active, the brave. Besides, sir, we have no election. If we were base enough to desire it, it is now too late to retire from the contest. There is no retreat but in submission and slavery! Our chains are forged! Their clanking may be heard…

It is in vain, sir, to extenuate the matter. Gentlemen may cry, “Peace! Peace!” — but there is no peace. …What is it that gentlemen wish? What would they have? Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty, or give me death!

Patrick Henry – March 23, 1775