My finance world friend, who is probably now too high up to let me post his emails, said this was exactly what was needed (Politico, but it’s a good article):
Most importantly, the Obama administration touts the bill’s new so-called “resolution authority,” which would allow the government to take over and shut down ailing financial institutions in much the same way the FDIC shuts down ailing banks today.
Banks hate it, because this is essentially a wind-down in lieu of a bail-out, but if the government could have done this with Lehman (and probably Bear and a few others), it would have made a big difference.
This may call for a day-long moratorium on trashing Harry Reid and Rahmbama.
beltane
Scott Brown voted ‘aye’. What does it say about the Republican party that its most sane member is a naked man in a truck?
Violet
Harry Reid has been getting stuff done. Good for him. I’m really glad they passed this. I’m sure it’s not perfect. Not much is. But it’s way better than nothing.
handy
Fat chance that happening around here. All the same, this does sound encouraging.
cat48
Rahhhhhhm was seated next to Eva Longoria at the State dinner last night. The bill sounds good. Let’s wait until “the liberal media” wanks about it for a few days. According to a trader today, the economy is getting ready to “crash for real this time.” I really don’t know what to think about that or what to do. Maybe he had a bad gambling day or something????
oklahomo
@beltane: This naked man in a truck thing . . . color me intrigued.
cat48
@beltane:
Not fair at all……he has those pink leather hot pants, remember?
Also2, Brown said he had to vote for the bill because he got 3,000 calls from OFA people this week insisting he vote Aye, at least 900 calls just today he said………
Little Boots
Damn, this site is alive. I still would love an answer, Doug, on that other thread, but I love how you guys keep this site moving.
Brian J
It’s hard, for me at least, to know exactly what to think of this legislation, but as is the case with health care, I believe, above all else, that we need to keep an eye on the regulations to make sure they are actually doing what they are supposed to be doing, because here, the incentives to gut them are, I think, even greater.
But more specifically, like Kevin Drum, I imagine leverage requirements are probably the most important thing to keep an eye on. If the firms don’t become over-leveraged, any sort of problems that appear, to the extent they appear at all, probably become much easier to deal with.
Sentient Puddle
If there’s a strong resolution authority in the bill, then yeah, I’m pretty satisfied. Thing is, I was under the impression that it was watered way the hell down. That $50 billion fund that there was the whole stupid controversy over? It was supposed to fund resolution. And I don’t think anyone seriously looking even considered $50 billion to be sufficient.
Cat Lady
beltane – it says that Scott Brown wants to be reelected. He’s dumb, but he’s not a stone cold idiot.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
Never. You hear me? Never. I will continue to speak self-righteous whingeing to power in the name of oppressed upper-middle class college educated rageaholics everywhere. I will continue to fight the Man.
I am the voice from under the bus. I am Hamshericus!
gbear
Friday might be a good day for some thank-you phone calls to senators. Franken deserves extra thanks for this ammendment to the bill:
PeakVT
Politico, but it’s a good article
You can get essentially the same article from McClatchy. Why not put them ahead of Politihoes in your bookmarks/feed reader?
ETA: The Franken amendment is teh awsum.
jl
@beltane: Someone here has problems with a naked man in a truck? I thought this was a tolerant blog.
I think the bill could be called bipartisan:
Brown, Snowe and Collins, yes
Cantwell and Feingold, no.
Some cynical person (not me!) might wonder what excuse the corporate media will think up to avoid discussing the substance of the bill this time.
Darnell
Bullshit, dougj!! This bill is a sellout because it didn’t nationalize all major banks, it didn’t call for all Wall St. CEO’s to be placed in stocks and have fresh fruit thrown at them, and worst of all IT DIDN’T HAVE A PUBLIC OPTION!!
Piss-moan, piss-moan, piss moan!!!!!!
Xecky Gilchrist
@beltane: Scott Brown voted ‘aye’.
Yes, which pissed me off.
Because it totally shorted out my Schadenfreudometer.
Short Bus Bully
Obama is W. Bush. Rahm is Cheney. Harry Reid is Gingrich. And I still don’t have my fucking pony.
Nevermind the people moving heaven and earth to pass real legislation in the face of the worst, most stupidly intellectually bankrupt and downright evil oppositional party since McCarthy, I STILL DON’T HAVE MY FUCKING PONY!
Carry on.
DougJ
@Little Boots:
Answer to what?
jl
@Sentient Puddle: I also think the bill was pretty watered down. But, like health care reform, it might be a good start. One hopes that it is still strong enough, and permits action early enough so that the next crisis is smaller and less damaging, and will spur further reform.
DougJ
@PeakVT:
This had the stuff about the bank take overs more upfront than the other articles I saw. I think it’s an important issue that isn’t getting highlighted other places I looked.
Little Boots
If we can’t bash Rahm, can we at least picture him naked, coming at Eric Massa in all his nine-fingered glory? Is that wrong?
Jason Bylinowski
So is Scott Brown on our team after all then? I’m awfully gleeful about the response the red team has to this utter betrayal of values.
I hope it’s not true with regard to cat48’s comment. We really don’t need a double dip recession, and in particular, ME AND MINE DON’T NEED IT, SHIT, I JUST GOT US OUT OF THIS PICKLE, DAMMIT.
Sentient Puddle
@jl: Oh I certainly agree that any bill is a step forward. Financial reform isn’t really like health care reform in that there aren’t a ton of little moving parts you have to get right; pretty much any sort of extra regulation we throw at Wall Street will be a good thing. But I’d still like to be able to reasonably predict whether certain provisions will actually have any sort of effect, and I do have to wonder if whatever is left of resolution authority will actually work at all.
handy
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
7/10 – points off for insufficient demonstration of humorlessness.
DougJ
@Jason Bylinowski:
Which team are you referring to?
Little Boots
“In other words, stop caring too much about the question of whether Rand Paul is some kind of racist and focus more on his belief that Court decisions, circa 1964, should really be overturned and what that would mean for all of us. Is that about it, John/Doug?”
This. Is this about right, or am I missing the point, Doug?
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@handy: Very funny. You’ll be here all four years, so ENJOY THE VEAL PEN, O-BOT!
DougJ
@Little Boots:
Yes, that’s mostly right. But also too remember that opposition to the 1964 Civil Rights Act is what made the Republican party what it is. This isn’t isolated.
Ron Beasley
I guess I don’t understand why they didn’t already have the authority to do that under FDIC rules.
Jason Bylinowski
@DougJ: Why, the sane one, silly.
“Yeah, looks like old Scott Brown got caught up by the…”
::puts on sunglasses::
“Mass Effect.”
Yeeeeeeaaaaahhhh!
::cue Pete Townshend::
Alex
I do wish that the Levin/Merkley amendments and the Feingold/Cantwell amendments had gone up for a vote, but, yeah, passing something is always good, and resolution authority is a BFD.
Linda Featheringill
@Sentient Puddle:
I heard that money was supposed to pay for a bank’s funeral, not for its rehabilitation.
Does that make more sense?
And yes. This is a BIG CURLY DEAL!
Little Boots
No, it isn’t isolated at all, Doug. And of course a lot went along with that, especially in 1968. The whole Southern strategy, But at this point, I’m honestly not quite sure where we go. The racism of the right is there, and really, when it comes to Hispanics, it’s as useful electorally as it is obvious sociologically. But I think you raise a very useful point about charges of racism. They can definitely backfire in this very nervous, still mostly white country. Especially when it becomes personalized. Still not sure, at all.
Zipperupus
Team Progressive believes this bill completely caved to the banks and is another signpost on the Highway to Hell.
I have given up on TPM. Between the new invasive Facebook synergy and the “progs rule bots drool” echo chamber, there is no point in hanging around. It’s like walking through a room packed with sufferers of Cassandra Syndrome.
Chuck Butcher
Hi Ron, good to see you.
JMY
One thing we must realize is that no amount of legislation, especially legislation that is good, will ever come out perfect on the first go around or at all. Hell our constitution needed 27 amendments. Once people understand that, they can breathe easy.
handy
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
Now that is some delicious work.
Steve
@Ron Beasley: I guess the answer is that outfits like Lehman are investment banks rather than depository institutions and aren’t under the umbrella of the FDIC.
In addition, something that didn’t get mentioned much is that while the FDIC is very efficient at taking over your local bank and winding it down or selling it off to new ownership, they really don’t have the resources or infrastructure to handle a truly big liquidation. IndyMac was the largest bank failure in history and it basically took the FDIC forever to work through the process with them, even though they can do it in a weekend with a community bank. If the FDIC were called upon to wind down Citibank, utter hopelessness.
Now, if I could tell you what the new bill does to change this state of affairs, then I’d really be an expert.
El Cid
OMG Obama rammed another massive package down America and the TeaTardists’ unwilling throat!
Sentient Puddle
Oh and as for Scott Brown, remember that he is dumb. More likely than not, he probably got tactically fooled by Reid or something like that.
Little Boots
It’s true, JMY, and sometimes I want to say, we do get that, right? like I’m telling a kindergarten class. Washington is never perfect. FDR was far from perfect but he did some okay things. And we don’t have to hate because he didn’t do everything perfectly all the time. Right?
gbear
You’re asking that question on the internets!? It would be irresponible not to hate imperfection.
Little Boots
heh, indeed, gbear.
burnspbesq
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
Eight pounds of win in a five-pound bag. I salute you, sir.
cat48
@Jason Bylinowski:
It wasnt a regular site. I got linked there by another blog. It just made me uncomfortable but got my mind off the Paultards anyway for a while.
Zipperupus
Sentient Puddle:
“Tactically fooled by Harry Reid.” HaHa! Good one! There’s stupid, and then there’s getting outmaneuvered by Reid. Circus pinheads could read Harry’s tells.
robertdsc
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
But are you cute? /shallow
Little Boots
Since I’m gonna crash soon, I really do want to say, I love this site and the posters. It really is awesome, and you all make me think so much more than I intended to this evening.
burnspbesq
@cat48:
Who is married to Tony Parker, who is (gasp!) French!!!!!
Any shortcomings in the financial reform bill are clearly Sarko’s fault.
DougJ
@Ron Beasley:
FDIC is strictly limited in what institutions it regulates.
Chuck Butcher
Little Boots,
The trick is to look for what it is that you’re for or against not the human face. Rand Paul got the GOP nomination, he is what he is (racist?) but the reality is that he is the symbol of the KY GOP. That is more than a few people and using an insult to describe all of them, racist, doesn’t help you with anyone you might actually move – GOP or more importantly non-affiliated. The other piece is more personal since it has to do with your own manner of thinking things through.
It is SOP for GOPers to think of Democrats or “liberals” as godless commie fags and that leaks through all the time. Boehner can’t help himself and looks stupid and terrified for it. I’m well left of most Democratic voters so you’re not getting some weak tea middle thing. Think about the conversations you heard away from the public ear in GOP circles – you want to go there? Now?
Don’t get me wrong, I mock the GOP, Teabaggery, Libertarians with glee – I’m particularly fond of Confederate Party of Republicanism for some of their shit, but that is a “party” not a person.
cat48
Married to Parker, yes, but she was all alone last nite. Socialist plot by Rahhhhhm probably since he’s the boss & O just acts smart.
burnspbesq
So: financial regulatory reform is done.
And carried interest is being used to pay for the extenders package.
This was a good fucking day.
Chuck Butcher
The “x” play of Dragon Age is calling and WP eated my browser … so bye til —–
Jason Bylinowski
@Little Boots: Yeah it’s always a pleasure to hang out here, and the commenters are generally golden to me, even the ones I can’t stand, which is really saying something, although I usually end up jealous of all the people who actually have day to day commerce with democrats in real life. Where I live it’s all DEFENSE DEFENSE DEFENSE.
As an aside, since I’ve been out of the loop, what happened to BoB??
burnspbesq
I must say that I am in awe of the Kentucky Republican Party.
I had thought it doubleplusunpossible for them to find someone who is likely to be a worse United States Senator than Jim Bunning, but they have pulled it off.
Little Boots
Actually, I think I agree with you mostly Chuck. And, not that I can speak for them, but what Doug and John seem to be getting at. IF we could all step back, and hold off from the accusations of racism or whatever, we might get further. Especially personal bigotry. Instead, could we all look at the real world effects of policies, rather than trying to tease out personal bigotries from the politicians who advocate for them. Does that make sense? This time of night, I’m not always entirely sure.
Little Boots
Yeah, Jason, they really are a good group, really bright, though it seems kind of condescending to say that. About another subject, I have no idea what BoB means?
Mike Kay
oh please, you wanna close down the blogopshere? if the knee-jerk neurotics can’t trash obama for their broken refrigerators and flat tires, even for a day, they’ll be a national run on Thorazine.
Little Boots
Can you imagine closing down the blogosphere for one day? No, I can’t either.
JMY
@Little Boots:
Nah, I don’t think people get it. Which is why you have people who would rather see good legislation fail just b/c they didn’t get what they wanted. If all legislation was perfect, there would be no need for Congress. I don’t think you can name one significant bill in our lifetime that was perfect. Just like no matter how much they try to prevent music piracy, there will always be a way to game the system. I think this is a strong bill, but do you think it will stop Wall St. from trying screw the system? Not a chance in hell. They will just think of the next way to fuck everything up, but it’s the job of the government to think ahead and try to prevent that.
jwb
@Jason Bylinowski: I think last time BoB was banned, he never came back (or John banned him permanently). I heard a rumor that he was commenting at Wonkette, though I never look at the comments there so I can’t verify.
Martin
The only thing I haven’t gotten a handle on with this is how will they be able to wind down a large financial institution.
The problem we’ve had is that these institutions got into trouble because they were so massively overleveraged that they couldn’t pay out on accounts had they all cashed in at once. Now, in winding down the institutions the gov can limit the rate that the depositors take their money out, but if the institution was full of shitty investments, the gov is going to have to put something up to balance the bank. There’s no real provision AFAIK for what the gov is prepared to put up other than taxpayer dollars. It won’t be bailing out investors and execs, it’ll be bailing out depositors, but it’s still a taxpayer bailout from the viewpoint of the taxpayer – or does the fed simply parcel out the assets to the depositors as far as they’ll go and that’s that? The whole thing sounds like a great way to panic the market like Lehman did.
With smaller institutions this wouldn’t be an issue. With an FDIC type insurance fund backing the banks, this wouldn’t be an issue. But neither of those are ensured with this legislation.
So I’m not sure how this risk is avoided in this bill. I need to read some more.
Little Boots
Does anyone else love the constantly changing motto under BALOON JUICE? Am I a big geek about that? Well, I don’t care, i love the constantly changing slogans.
ellaesther
I have a category on my wee little blog that I call “Good Stuff,” and it generally refers to fun pop culture items, mostly music. I now feel a moral obligation to direct you, DougJ, to ACTUAL Good Stuff.
And so!
My most recent “Good Stuff” entry was a LOLdog that spoke to my Mideast geek heart: http://emilylhauserinmyhead.wordpress.com/2010/05/17/good-stuff-for-the-mideast-geeks-holla/
And then there was this one, in which I discovered not one, not two, but three TOTALLY AWESOME new songs! http://emilylhauserinmyhead.wordpress.com/2010/04/28/good-stuff-new-tuneage-housekeeping/
Enjoy!
DougJ
@ellaesther:
Hey, I’ll check it out and add it to my RSS feed.
Little Boots
Shock troops for the unitarian jihad. How is that not funny.
(god,I’m drunk, but still, that is kinda funny, right?)
Jason Bylinowski
@jwb: Thanks. I was not aware that he had ever been banned, though I do know that every time anyone brought up the topic of race relations he was constantly begging for someone to lose patience with him. Still, I do miss his ultra-detached, koanlike way of expressing his ideas.
Martin
@burnspbesq: Well, so long as this guy doesn’t keep caving to the GOP party line, having a full-blooded libertarian in the Senate probably wouldn’t be a horrible thing. It’s unlikely he’d ever carry enough weight to do anything, he’d periodically side with the Dems over civil liberty issues, and who the hell knows what he would do with cloture votes. The worst possible Senator would be a loyal Republican that would just vote no on everything, not unlike Bunning.
jwb
@Little Boots: BoB is one of the long-time resident trolls, known for being particularly dense. Everyone presumes he’s a spoof, and his handle has almost certainly been used to spoof, but he gets banned fairly regularly for making beyond the pale, offensive comments.
Little Boots
And jmy, yeah, that does bother me. Intelligent people getting so caught up in how something isn’t perfect. Yeah, it just doesn’t work that way. Get over it.
gbear
Damn. I need to go OT to post this before I go to bed. No waiting for an open thread.
Baby otters learning how to swim.
Too damned cute.
Little Boots
And now I’m awake again, how does an argument always work that way.
Mike Kay
@cat48:
where digya see that?
ellaesther
@DougJ: Hey! Thank you! I may or may not be doing a little Snoopy Dance right now. It would be irresponsible not to speculate as to whether or not I am dancing. (But, I very well may be…).
And, since this is Balloon Juice and we love our Al Franken, I will direct you to this one, too: Al Franken draws a map of the country, free-hand http://emilylhauserinmyhead.wordpress.com/2009/09/08/good-stuff-holy-crow/ (A lot of people have probably already seen this one, but dude – totally worth seeing again).
Mike Kay
my favorite moment was how everyone on the hard left was celebrating Tuesday’s wins, even though most of the hard lefties were encouraging, directly and indirectly, voters should stay home to teach obama and rahm a lesson.
ellaesther
@Darnell: I’m a little frightened over how well you just did that…!
Redshift
@Mike Kay: Personally, I would trust a trader a little bit to have insight about the stock market, and not at all to have insight about the broader economy.
Little Boots
This is where I’m so damn torn. We should keep pressing, that’s what the right does, and it works. We should keep pressing. But every so often I want to step back and admit, yeah, Obama is moving us ever so slightly left. Health care reform? Impossible 2 years ago. Now, not so impossible. I know I settle, but I’ve been around this country a few years now. Settling is what we do after about 40 years.
Bill Murray
I’m surprised that the Republicans didn’t intentionally cave on cloture when Judd realized the bill just kept getting worse and worse. Brown was holding out for a deal on insurance trusts, which he likely got so that Liberty Mutual will back his reelection
Mike Kay
@ellaesther:
Al Franken sold you out. he could have filibustered HCR until the public option was included, but no. He’s RAHMs!’ rubber stamp. RAHM! says jump, and franken says “how high, sir”.
Worse of all, he’s a centrist, and perhaps a secret republican.
No, al franken is dead to me. when he comes up for reelection in 5 years, I’m supporting the blogosphere’s primary challenger. Move to the left al, or we the people at FDL will move you out of the way!
mogden
Please, this is kabuki theater… there are plenty of laws and regulations (fraud, et al), but they are not enforced due to corruption. So here come a new bunch of laws, which when the next crisis hits (and it will), surprise surprise, won’t be enforced either.
But then the politicians will dance around and come up with some new magic recipes to keep us safe, and many will be fooled.
JMY
@Mike Kay:
I despise people who say shit like that. That’s really fucking stupid. You can’t call yourself liberal and want something like that to happen. Just imagine if someone like DeMint or (god-forbid) Sarah Palin became president with a majority Republican Congress in 2012. Would the PUMA’s and Hamsher’s of the world be celebrating then? But I guess for them it would be okay b/c Obama learned his lesson the hard way.
Little Boots
mogden, where would you like to be? And I don’t mean that as snark. I mean that as a serious question about relative corruption. Are we that bad? Or do we have to do something within the bounds of our naturally corrupt society?
Little Boots
Oh, come on, you can’t all be asleep. I can’t be the only night owl. Come on, you bitches.
Allison W.
@JMY/MikeKay:
I despise that myself. What these people don’t get is that it is the American people that are punished NOT the politicians. I have written many times in comments to those hard lefties that I don’t think they really care about the American people, they just care about gaining power.
mogden
Little Boots, I would just like people, especially voters, to wake up and realize that we are being eaten alive by a corrupt political class in cahoots with crony capitalists.
ellaesther
@Mike Kay: Easily as frightening as Darnell, above. Well done!
@Little Boots: I’m awake! But mainly because I’m still working. It’s a charmed life.
mai naem
I have a tendency of being pretty pessimistic and negative. I try and remember that we have the awesome Nancy Pelosi the first female Speaker who has been doing a spectacular job. And I try and remember that we have the awesome Barack Obama who can actually speak in full sentences and actually I don’t cringe inside wondering what disaster may occur when he is meeting some foreign leader. Then I have to remember that Harry Reid, while he isn’t some bellicose bully, has a real quiet decency about him.
And then I really have to remember that the GOP whose members were very happy to egg on the Teabaggers during the Obama inauguration and the HCR debate, may finally have to deal with the monster they created.
Little Boots
I would love that too, mogden. We’d have to wake up from a 200-year stupor, but I actually don’t think that’s impossible.
Redshift
@Little Boots: I think the point of disagreement was the fundamental assumption that racism is just “personal bigotry.” A number of people made the very plausible point that defining racism as unknowable internal beliefs is not an inherent truth, but rather a right-wing tactic to undermine efforts against racism.
So the value in continuing the accusation of racism is to push back on the definition, and take it from something unknowable back to the easily-determined meaning that the advocacy of policies that have a long history of enabling racism makes you a racist, no matter how much you protest that you hate racism.
It’s more difficult that just saying that Rand Paul is a racist, but I think that’s an argument well worth having, especially since I live in a state (VA) with a governor who’s a master at instituting appalling policies and then throwing the media off the scent by declaring that he doesn’t personally do whatever thing he’s setting as government policy.
Bernard
i agree with mogden, the proof will be in the pudding. it sounds nice. following these Banksters and their puppets/Congress, it will be whether these laws are enforced. color me skeptical until otherwise.
Allison W.
I don’t know whether that trader knows what he’s talking about or not, but it would make sense if a crash did happen. Why?
’cause every major legislation that Obama has tried to pass or wants to pass but has stalled, has been pushed along or revived by some outside event.
When hcr was on life support, wellpoint gave that ceo a giant raise while raising premiums (along with other companies) and it gave the dems another reason to pass the bill.
Climate bill? – Oil spill
Immigration? – Arizona’s immigration reform
So if the market crashes while congress tries to weaken it, I’m going to start wondering if there isn’t some invisible hand guiding Obama’s presidency – :) joking…..or am I?
Comrade Luke
Get a load of this: Seattle cartoonist target of backlash.
She was surprised by this? What an idiot.
Little Boots
And although that does make logical sense, Redshift, it weirdly doesn’t work that way. Even if the pol consistently promotes racist policies, everyone winds up focusing on whether the pol is personally racist (i,e,. can stand being around black people, like the average plantation owner of the 1850s), and that’s what makes the whole thing so fake and dangerous. If we could focus more on the policies and less on the personalities, we’d all be better off.
Little Boots
so would I mogden.
JMY
How badly do you think all this hoopla hurts Rand Paul in the general election? It can’t be a good look for him, because not only does he come off as racist, but a hypocrite too. All the focus has been on him the past few days.
Redshift
@Little Boots: It’s entirely possible celebrate that we’ve accomplished something and to keep pushing. That’s where I parted ways with certain other sites — push hard for what you think is best, but understand that when you don’t get it all, it isn’t a betrayal, it’s just reality.
Martin
@JMY: Well, the Dems have a good candidate in the race – someone who has been elected by KY voters statewide. His response to Paul was pretty fucking awesome:
Conway only needs to peel off some moderates and to energize the Dems and he’ll win this thing.
Martin
@Redshift: I agree. I’m not convinced that the financial reg will do everything that needs to be done, but I don’t see any reason why Congress can’t revisit the situation later either. I’d rather get it passed and get something decent in the can on immigration and energy than blow the next 9 months trying to perfect financial reform and accomplish nothing else.
Little Boots
I think we agree more than disagree, redshift.
JMY
@Martin:
If Obama, Pelosi, & Reid can get immigration reform, energy reform, on top HCR and FinReg, this year. That’s one hell of an accomplishment.
@Martin:
Conway nailed it.
Who should be the next DNI? My gut tells me Brennan will get it, but FDL and Kos may have a fit.
Redshift
@Little Boots: Hmm, maybe. I’m wary of arguments that “it doesn’t work that way” because sometimes it’s true, but sometimes it’s that we’ve given up making an argument just because the wingers are more pigheaded than we are, and it could be that we could at least fight them to a standstill if we didn’t decide in advance that it’s hopeless.
But perhaps a better way to approach both Rand Paul and Bob McDonnell is to consistently ask that since they’re public officials (or aspiring ones), why should we give a damn about what their personal feelings are if they’re contradicted by their policy positions, and chip away at it from that angle.
Martin
@JMY: It’ll come down to management skills above anything else. That place has always been a trainwreck. I think anyone with a strong ideological bent is going to be trouble.
FDL and GOS will have a fit no matter who is named – unless its Kucinich.
Mike Kay
Ron Paul:
“The Civil Rights Act has nothing to do with race relations and I would vote against it today.”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-iJP4BAAQ4&feature=related
fast forward to the 5:50 mark.
It should be no surprise rand paul didn’t fall too far from the tree.
Conway should ask Rand if he disagrees with his father.
Little Boots
And I really think that that’s where we agree, Redshift (and not that I can speak for them, but John and Doug). We have to stop personalizing everything. It really does not matter what Rand Paul thinks about black people. It really matters what policies we adopt toward housing, affirmative action, reducing poverty, etc. To personalize sets us up for those inevitable times when a particular person is fairly congenial but still advocates terrible polices (see Pat Buchanan).
Wile E. Quixote
@Chuck Butcher:
Wait, I thought that Mark Foley, Larry Craig and Lindsey Graham were the symbols of the KY GOP, not Rand Paul. Oh, wait, KY, Kentucky, never mind.
Little Boots
And now I really must collapse into bed. Good night, all.
Mike Kay
@Wile E. Quixote: ironically, the heavy rumor is McConnell lives a lie.
El Cid
I don’t typically pile on the hyperventilation here about Hamsher / FDL, in no small part because I don’t follow such things neurotically obsessively, but thanks to a link I was sent, today she was writing about how the drop in the Dow meant that Wall Street reform wasn’t serious enough, or something, or whatever, but, what the hell, declare it anyway:
I’m not even sure what this means.
Serious reform would prevent a drop in the Dow? Markets would not be volatile under stronger reform? I’m not sure why the Dow has dropped but it’s a ‘clear message’ of something I wasn’t sure about in the earlier part of the same sentence?
I myself don’t think the reform package is anywhere near serious enough, political possibility aside, but I would have thought that if you wanted to tie the stock market (and more narrowly, the limited measure known as the DJIA) to financial reform, that the DJIA going down should be an indicator that Wall Street interests feared the package, or opposed it, etc.
El Cid
@Mike Kay: I thought that Mitch McConnell and John Cornyn were living a lie and hiding their true identities as turtles dressed up in suits. Just look at those faces. Turtles, all the way down.
eemom
@El Cid:
Yeah, I thought that too.
Simplest explanation: she’s an idiot.
Mnemosyne
@gbear:
OMG, you didn’t mention there was a baby pudu on the same page! Squee!
I’m still trying to convince G that it can’t be that illegal to keep an endangered species in our apartment, so he should let me smuggle a pudu out of the zoo. We could have a true deer that’s smaller than our cats!
Here’s a YouTube of another newborn pudu that gives a better idea of how tiny these guys really are.
Mike Kay
@El Cid:
GAWD.
This is seriously ill.
I say that because all during the HCR debate, she would argue the stock market was a barometer to judge the strength of the bill and if stocks went up, that meant the bill was a giveaway.
Now, she’s flip flopping. She’ saying the inverse. If stock go down, it’s a giveaway.
When bush was president, she would mock this kind of analysis as government by Dow.
But more importantly, her twisting of facts is what the goopers do, they tailor any fact to fit a prefabricated narrative.
balconesfault
@Cat Lady: When do we start getting a media narrative that there is one … and only one … Republican Senator who actually believes in bipartisanship?
Brown might end up being more valuable than another Dem could have ever been.
Joseph Nobles
If we get a DADT repeal and ENDA through Congress, I may pull out the mighty checkbook again. Of course, EFCA would be nice as well. Make sure unions can’t bend the rules on undocumented as well and EFCA could be real immigration reform.
ETA: Watch the Dow jump on the news of this passage tomorrow. What the market hates is uncertainty. Now that everyone sees the basic outline of what’s coming, the market participants will know how to sort their houses.
asiangrrlMN
@gbear: Cuter than hell, and, gawd, but do I love Franken. Seriously. Love. Him.
Racist: I don’t give a shit what’s in Rand Paul’s heart, but I do have to lift an eyebrow at so many white people quick to decide he’s not personally racist.
On a lighter note: Who the hell is still up?
P.S. I think this finance reform bill is a good first step.
Yutsano
@Mnemosyne: Your cats would either eat the poor dear (see what I did there?) or fun it to death. From what I understand they can be rather delicate things. Oh and I couldn’t help but notice that the pudu is at the Woodland Park Zoo. I always did love that place.
@asiangrrlMN: I’m up, and it’s my Friday night dammit so I’m staying up for awhile even if my day tomorrow will kick my ass up one side and down the other.
burnspbesq
@JMY:
Only if it’s announced on a day that ends in “y.”
Mark S.
@asiangrrlMN:
Heard the latest on Favre? He’ll come back if Southern Miss makes the College World Series. They don’t have much chance of that, but Favre was probably lying and will drag this thing out for months just so he doesn’t have to show up for summer workouts. But goddammit, he loves the game.
Mike Kay
@asiangrrlMN:
Krugman thinks it’s a good bill. But what does he know.
Ailuridae
You want some genuinely unapologetic good news from a cranky pessimist? This bill is going to be improved in conference most likely. The dynamics of the cloture vote mean that a bill that comes out of conference nearly identical to the Senate bill + the Volcker Rule or something similar that would bring the three progressive defectors back to the fold would force them to justify their change in vote as opposition to the Volcker rule. This is a very good bill that in all likelihood will be a great bill. A. Great. Bill.
I was ecstatic when health care passed. I honestly might be a blubbering mess when this is signed into law. I’m not a big OpenLeft guy broadly but Chris Bowers has been really, really good on this. Just an FYI
Felanius Kootea (formerly Salt and freshly ground black people)
@Martin: Dayum… I hope Conway keeps this up.
Healthcare reform – check
Financial reform – check
That hopey-changey thing is really working out for me.
Ailuridae
Also everyone read this (via a diary at OpenLeft)
http://ozandends.blogspot.com/2010/04/party-of-no-credibility.html
JMY
@burnspbesq:
He’s the only person I can see taking the position at this moment. Blair despite his credentials, just couldn’t manage the intelligence community and seemed to be at odds with the WH on certain things. I honestly think having a DNI is ridiculous considering we have a director of the CIA. All it did was create more bureaucracy and a power struggle.
Yutsano
@Ailuridae: Money quote from the comments:
Schweet.
Mark S.
@asiangrrlMN:
Are you?
asiangrrlMN
@Yutsano: True. But the otters, they are so cute! Party on, hon! I am glad you lived despite your lack of food for your own cats.
@Mark S.: Yes. I am going to, ahem, offer my services to the entire team if they DO NOT MAKE IT TO THE WS. I will do them, er, it for my team. (And yes, I am still awake).
@Mike Kay: My other political crush. Sigh. I could talk economics with him all night.
asiangrrlMN
@Ailuridae: That’s pretty damn cool. Thanks for the link.
Yutsano
I may be the only one enthused about this, but I read it and about shit myself:
http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2010/05/20/gates-says-veto-defense-spending-bill-if-unwanted-projects-remain/?fbid=n5N4ytb8AGu
This man ain’t getting replaced until Obama is no longer President. And honestly I don’t know a better person to do the damn job right now.
@asiangrrlMN: The cats have full tummies again and are bothering to acknowledge my existence occasionally again. Actually one greeted me as I drove into the driveway after work, so that was kind of a nice feeling. Of course that one is also the daredevil so Lord knows what he was actually thinking.
Otters are da shiznit. Been one of my favorite semi-aquatic creatures all my life. Second only to platypi.
asiangrrlMN
@Yutsano: I have been very happy with Gates. Pleasantly surprised, too.
I haz cat on my lap. It’s too hot for that! Sigh.
Otters are so damn cute. Platypi, not so much.
Mike Kay
@asiangrrlMN:
here’s a nice clip of Dr Paul were he talks about FinRegs during the 2nd half of the interview.
http://vodpod.com/watch/3465935-msnbcs-rachel-maddow-professor-paul-krugman-on-the-stakes-and-prospects-of-financial-reform
asiangrrlMN
@Mike Kay: Rachel AND K-Thug? Um, I need a moment to myself. Be back in a mo.
Ooooh! A whole slew of other Krugman videos….
Mark S.
@asiangrrlMN:
That’d be a lot of work! Looking at their stats, this guy is their best player. Concentrate on turning him.
Yutsano
@asiangrrlMN: I think it comes with the having male genitalia thing, but a poisonous mammal is just too damn cool. Plus how many otters are secret agents on cartoon shows? Exactly. Although I suppose they could be. When I lived near the ocean we used to feed otters scraps of fried fish right off the docks. They loved the stuff.
My kittehs are off being unholy terrors somewhere, although one just got milk from my cereal so he’s especially indifferent to me tonight.
Mike Kay
Rand Paul thinks Bush may have been behind in 9/11.
http://www.whas11.com/community/blogs/political-blog/PaulGrayson-now-feud-over-911-questions-79673512.html
Oh, this is too good.
asiangrrlMN
@Mark S.: I’m pretty diligent, I must say. However, most of the team is not appealing to the eye. Their best player? Doable. You may be right. I may need to just concentrate on a strategic few.
@Yutsano: Otters are cute. That’s what matters. Not if they can be secret agents. My cats pay MORE attention to me when I give them yummy noms.
@Mike Kay: Rand Paul is an idiot. There. I said it. I feel better now.
Anne Laurie
@Little Boots:
There’s a Nip/Tuck joke in there somewhere, isn’t there.
Yutsano
@asiangrrlMN: Targeting the right players rather than going for a blanket offense is often a better usage of resources. And while I acknowledge you’re quite a woman, you ARE just one woman. Plus, shock of shocks, even in middle of nowhere small town college Mississippi, odds are at least a couple won’t swing that way. So I recommend highly selective targets.
Rand Paul is a idiot running for Senator in a state where they erected a Creationism museum. We cannot underestimate teh stupid here at any point.
asiangrrlMN
@Yutsano: I was thinking about that last point. That’s where you come in. It’s in our fake-marital contract that you must sleep with whomever I wish in order for me to push my agenda.
Rand Paul: Yeah, I know. I have no doubt he can win. Which says something about some of the people in Kentucky.
Yutsano
@asiangrrlMN: Oh sure. I have to do that and yet you let FH #1 off the hook. Sheesh. Does this have anything to do about my unorthodox beliefs relating to sexual monogamy? I guess I could make that sacrifice however.
As soon as Conway has an ActBlue page I’m sending him some dough. I also have an eerie feeling about Halter trouncing Lincoln then pulling it off completely. He didn’t get elected Lieutenant Gov by being an idiot about Arkansas politics.
asiangrrlMN
@Yutsano: Well, FH#1 is halfway across the world and real-married. What’s your excuse? I’ll drop some coinage to Conway, too. I would be very happy if Halter won. Very.
Yutsano
@asiangrrlMN: I mostly want both to win if for no other reason than for wingnut head to asplode. Suddenly all their narratives will turn to shit, and then what will they believe? Granted, they believe Glenn Beck cannot tell a lie, so I’m sure they’ll invent some lame ass excuse involving either ACORN or Diebold or who the fuck knows. I’ll laugh if the balance in the Senate stays right where it is however.
I’m hitting a wall and I have to get vampirized in the morning. Night hon.
asiangrrlMN
@Yutsano: Night, hon. I think I’ll be taking off, too. Last one out, turn off the lights.
SiubhanDuinne
@asiangrrlMN #144:
I guess that would be me.
:: click ::
:: lights out ::
frankdawg
@jwb:
Read Wonkette’s comment section?!? Good lard no! Its hard enough stifling the gag reflect reading her front page some times. Comments there are a swapland.
That said I did wander over there when it was mentioned here that BoB had reared his head in her air space. I was interested to see if he was the same ol brick head we knew and loathed and how they would enjoy him. He was very bland so I don’t know if his work here was just trollish or if he learned his lesson or what.
frankdawg
@gbear:
I am so please we finally have a real Senator from Minnesota again. I busted my hump for Franken so it is very gratifying to see that he actually tries to do what he said he was going to do while running.
I also spent a great deal of time, money & effort on the empty suit from MN, Amy Klobuchar. She made a lot of promises while running but spent 2 years rubber stamping every Bush proposal and now has disappeared except to complain about unsafe toys and other _really_ controversial stands.
Sadly, a poll out this past week indicate the empty suit is more popular than actual progress so I guess bland & useless is what the people want.
debbie
I was glad to wake up this morning to the news that the bill had passed. After reading about Dodd’s recent wobbling, I was afraid of how financial reform would turn out.
debbie
I was glad to wake up this morning to the news that the bill had passed. After reading about Dodd’s recent wobbling, I was afraid how financial reform would turn out.
bob h
Speaking of Bear and Lehman, who really misses them? If you closed the remaining investment banks, would anyone really care?
DougJ
@El Cid:
My God that is stupid.
Uloborus
@Yutsano:
We need more commenters who watch Phineas and Ferb.
Alan in SF
Putting the name “reform” on bills does not make them “reform.”
ruemara
@mogden:
Not to be very critical, but you realize that is not a tangible goal we could build a strategy around. It’s sorta like saying you’d like people to realize fire is bad when asked what is the solution to a raging forest fire.