Motley Moose – Archive

The topic below was originally posted on my blog, the Intrepid Liberal Journal, on Sunday, February 1st. David Korten’s book seems even more relevant today following the release of Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner’s plan.

“We face a monumental economic challenge that goes far beyond anything being discussed in the U.S. Congress or the corporate press. The hardships imposed by temporarily frozen credit markets pale in comparison to what lies ahead.

Even the significant funds that the Obama administration is committed to spending on economic stimulus will do nothing to address the deeper structural causes of our threefold financial, social, and environmental crisis. On the positive side, the financial crisis has put to rest the myths that our economic institutions are sound and that markets work best when deregulated. This creates an opportune moment to open a national conversation about what we can and must do to create an economic system that can for work for all people for all time.”

(Cross-posted at TalkLeft, MyDD and C4O Democrats)

The word on the street is that the caps on executive compensation may end up getting removed from the final version of the economic stimulus package.  Rather than abandon the idea altogether, James Kwak has a brilliant suggestion (h/t the Left Coaster):

Why not say that all bank compensation above a baseline amount – say, $150,000 in annual salary – has to be paid in toxic assets off the bank’s balance sheet? Instead of getting a check for $10,000, the employee would get $10,000 in toxic assets, at their current book value. A federal regulator can decide which assets to pay compensation in; if they were all fairly valued, then it wouldn’t matter which ones the regulator chose. That would get the assets off the bank’s balance sheet, and into the hands of the people responsible for putting them there – at the value that they insist they are worth. Of course, the average employee does not get to set the balance sheet value of the assets, and may not have been involved in creating or buying those particular assets. But think about the incentives: talented people will flow to the companies that are valuing their assets the most realistically (since inflated valuations translate directly into lower compensation), which will give companies the incentive to be realistic in their valuations. (Banks could inflate their nominal compensation amounts to compensate for their overvalued assets, but then they would have to take larger losses on their income statements.)

One of my favorite quotes from Mark Twain goes like this: “Don’t go around saying the world owes you a living. The world owes you nothing. It was here first.”

Twain was adept at pointing out societal ills and making light of them–but the ills he spoke of were no less serious as a result of such jest.

Today, a wicked sense of entitlement permeates the air around Capitol Hill and our respective state, county, and local seats of government. This entitlement has reached Wall Street and the corporate wonderworld, is broadcast through our television sets and has become a part of our popular culture. And we Americans are serving up ever-growing servings of this egomaniacal sentiment at the dinner table (does anyone ever eat there anymore, anyway?) like it’s a casserole.

Cross-posted at River Twice Research.

After months of confusion, we are about to close a painful chapter in the economic crisis of 2008-2009. With the imminent passage of the $800 billion stimulus package combined with the roll-out of the next stages of the government-orchestrated bank bailout and recapitalization, we are about to end the talking phase and enter the doing phase. While no one can say for sure whether these plans will work, it’s certain that they will have an effect.

Driving in my car on the way to school, I listen faithfully to my local Public radio station WAMC, Northeast Public Radio, which I also listen to at home via computer.  They have just finished a major fund-drive, which amazingly in this time of economic crisis raised more money than ever, fueled by those listeners elated by the election of President Barack Obama, and the station’s liberal-left positions.  

In honor of the bicentennial of Lincoln’s birth the station has launched a 15 part series of interviews with a majority of historian scholars on Lincoln, starting yesterday with Harold Holtzer.  

Breaking News this morning out of Iran: they want to talk to the US.

President Obama has plans for Iran.  During his press conference last night the President said:

In the coming months, we will be looking for openings that can be created where we can start sitting across the table face to face.

Well, now the Iranian government is willing.  We will see if they have anything to offer to the world and to their own people.

Cross-posted to Mike’s blog!

Andrew Sullivan recently linked to some bloggers who don’t like Twitter. Now, Twitter is a social networking platform, but, unlike Google and Facebook, I have no problem with Twitter, so I am going to defend it here.

I’ve always been skeptical of Jack Cafferty. I always felt like the guy made a living out of being outraged that sometimes he forgets what he’s outraged about.

I skimmed CNN.com today and what I found was the latest commentary from Mr Outrage. My jaw dropped;

http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITI…

So this may be one of those diaries, to which I will creep back later and with deep humiliation, delete it in the dead of night. After all, it was written well after the witching hour. That being said, I am going on an ignorant rant. A temper tantrum without any maturity, restraint, or a single lick of information. For your viewing pleasure, feel free to watch my head explode.

Ok. That was not my head, but you begin get the idea.

Closer, but still, not quite right. I actually think my wounds are more self inflicted and I really don’t want to show tubes of people shooting themselves. So instead, I will try to explain.  

The political spectrum in this country is usually divided into 3 broad groups: Left, Center, Right. This is a very simplified description. Because of that simplicity, the media loves to break the country down into those three groups.

While I disagree with this simplistic approach, my main disagreement is what the media claims constitutes the center.

The recent cuts in the Senate to the House version of the stimulus bill have been hailed as an effort lead by centrists to hold the line on pork and spending. That’s the media’s interpretation of events. In reality, these cuts look like a wish list from the Right.

Most of the cuts can be categorized in five main groups: education, science, health care, the environment, and law enforcement. All of these, except for law enforcement, are areas that the conservative right has fought against. Even law enforcement is starting to get short shrift from the Right. They prefer privatized prisons, so prison funding had to go.

Photo courtesy of CuriousGeorge81

Some of the other cuts are completely nonsensical.

Full list after the break.