Thursday, December 10, 2009

Links 12/10/09 (and IUpdates on the Gutting of House Financial Reform Bill)

U.S. Foreclosures to Reach 3.9 Million in Second Record Year Bloomberg

Thousands of Stimulus Reports Missing, Resulting in Potential Undercount of Jobs Created ProPublica (hat tip reader John D)

Male Employment at Lowest Level on Record Matt Yglesias

What’s behind mixed signals from Obama and Geithner on TARP? Christian Science Monitor (hat tip reader John D)

Aging computer system holds up unemployment checks to 117,000 Californians LA Times (hat tip DoctoRx)

Citi faces snub from Kuwaitis Financial Times

On equity “cushions” and negative equity Tim Iacono

A Day Franklin Saw Coming The Risk Averse Alert. RAA was WILDY bullish in early 2009, so do not mistake him for a perma-gloomster.

U.S. House to debate financial regulation overhaul Reuters. OK, sports fans, I know politics sucks, but it takes VERY LITTLE time to call or e-mail your representative to give him or her a piece of your mind. If you are not trying to be part of the solution, you are part of the problem. And if you can take a few minutes to call, be sure to call an in-state office, not the DC office. One big issue is a late addition to the House financial reform bill which would further crimp state’s rights (and recall it was the states, that led the charge on dot-com abuses, auction rate securities, and now on alleged rating agency fraud. This is an effort to gut the last channel willing to take on the banksters). Even Reuters is putting the state of play in unusually stark terms:

An army of lobbyists from banks and Wall Street have worked for months to block, water down and delay the bill, which would threaten the profits of many financial services firms.

Read here, “How To Kill OTC Derivatives Reform in Two Sentences,” by Mike Konczal at Baseline Scenario for more sordid details

Antidote du jour (hat tip reader Richard K):

dogorangutang

Topics: Links

Email This Post Email This Post Posted by Yves Smith at 3:07 am

14 Comments » Links to this post

14 Comments:

  • gordon says:
    December 10, 2009 at 5:05 am

    It looks like another lost battle for US liberals. Maybe it’s time to look reality in the face and emigrate while it’s still possible to get your assets out. Seriously.

    • Yves Smith says:
      December 10, 2009 at 5:14 am

      Why do you think I was in Sydney from 2002 to 2004? I saw this coming, but it is bloody hard to reestablish oneself if one still needs to generate an income. The Australians have not lost a sense of community, which is something that died here long ago.

      • aet says:
        December 10, 2009 at 8:33 am

        “Liberals” being people who love liberty, it’s clear what “conservatives” (their self-professed opposites) are.

        Can’t fight massive overseas wars if your population is at liberty….

      • i on the ball patriot says:
        December 10, 2009 at 10:33 am

        Regarding this and your above comment;

        U.S. House to debate financial regulation overhaul Reuters.

        Where you say;

        “OK, sports fans, I know politics sucks, but it takes VERY LITTLE time to call or e-mail your representative to give him or her a piece of your mind. If you are not trying to be part of the solution, you are part of the problem. And if you can take a few minutes to call, be sure to call an in-state office, not the DC office.”

        If you are trying to be part of the solution by calling or e’mailing your ‘representative’ you ARE the problem, and no changes will ever come … you will have no where on the planet to run to with whatever assets you have … you are stuck in the box, the illusion, of having a responsive government and you waste what precious resources and time you do have (to make a positive change) in the very slick energy dissipating deceptions of that box … politics is a deceptive box, it has been co-opted by the wealthy gangster ruling elite … economics (a very shaky box to begin with) is another box that has been similarly hijacked … nation states are also boxes — always constructs of the wealthy elite — that have also been co-opted and hijacked by a cabal of wealthy ruling elite global gangsters … their plan is to create a global two tier society of ruler and ruled with the ruled in perpetual conflict with each other … this is a GLOBAL class war, rich ruling elite against all others … the only semi peaceful hope is to first; break down all of the walls of the boxes by exposing the illusions within them, and second; to organize and support global election boycotts as ‘votes of no confidence’ in all of these hijacked governments …

        Evolution always clips the peaks of the spread in deception and perception, but not until perception fully recognizes the depth of the deception …

        Deception is the strongest political force on the planet.

      • Steve2241 says:
        December 10, 2009 at 4:49 pm

        Yves, you’re a battler! No? How about a fair dinkum? http://www.cairnsweb.com.au/guide/generalinfo/speakingaussie.htm

    • Ultimate Janitor says:
      December 10, 2009 at 3:58 pm

      Gordon, please find another venue to gloat.

  • Elephant swims says:
    December 10, 2009 at 7:12 am

    Links are deadly when ya cruise them to far: http://features.csmonitor.com/politics/2009/12/06/sarah-palin-what-she-said-at-gridiron-dinner/

    x-mas carols lol On the twelfth day of Christmas, Rush Limbaugh gave to me…..

  • BDBlue says:
    December 10, 2009 at 8:51 am

    Is it just me or does the dog in the photo look unhappy? Like this was one humiliation too many – first the sweater, then the Halloween “cat” ears, and now posing with this ape, can’t I just go lay on the couch?

  • MyLessThanPrimeBeef says:
    December 10, 2009 at 11:57 am

    I am no anthropologist, but is that a Bonobo ape? Bonobos resolve conflict by having sex, it is said. Perhaps the dog is concerned about this unusually peaceful approach to settling their differences.

  • BDBlue says:
    December 10, 2009 at 12:17 pm

    Where the Economy Stands and Where It’s Going, a nice summary of what we all know, but said very well.

  • charcad says:
    December 10, 2009 at 5:22 pm

    it takes VERY LITTLE time to call or e-mail your representative to give him or her a piece of your mind.

    O.K., I’m game. What piece am I giving them? It’s about as certain as anything that in my Representative’s and two Senators’ offices no one has even read the bill. Are they to oppose the entire bill now or only try to have one part removed?

  • RC says:
    December 10, 2009 at 7:34 pm

    Love the wording here…

    “We here can begin again to protect the American people from the rascality of a bunch of sharp-shooting MBAs interested only in grubbing money,” said Democratic Representative John Dingell in debate on the procedural rule for the bill.

    Rascality..is that all it was…more like criminality..but it has to be overly blatant like Madoff to get in any trouble.I vote if ever a Revolution were to occur that those who looked the other way are tried as well

  • IGU says:
    December 10, 2009 at 8:35 pm

    I hate to say it folks, but I give up.

    I live in a blue state, surrounded by gainfully employed state-level workers, factory level wages (before all the union busting), gold plated health care and tax free pension plans @ 60-70% of FAS.

    In the next demographic, we have a group of retirees enjoying the same gold plated benefits plus drawing down $20K in SS and nearly free health care.

    And 90% still believe the gov’t is ALWAYS the problem, never the solution — (fill in free market wish fullfillment meme here.)

    They are against health care, against higher tax rates, against regulation of wall street, have no problem with wealth disparity, poor people are the problem, etc., etc., etc.

    They cannot connect the dots. Can’t do it.


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