There is much hand wringing and continual cries of “outrageous” from the Obama Administration over the AIG bonuses. Mere displays of consternation are not going to be enough to still the righteous fury of the American public over the original ‘too big to fail’ company, [...]
(The following is the section of the President’s remarks on small business where he diverted to discuss his displeasure with the AIG situation. Source: White House Press Office)
THE PRESIDENT: Now before I talk about the new steps we’re taking to get credit flowing to small businesses across our country, I [...]
Barack Obama From the Washington Post:
“Under these circumstances, it’s hard to understand how derivative traders at AIG warranted any bonuses, much less $165 million in extra pay,” Obama said. “How do they justify this outrage to the taxpayers who are keeping the company [...]
Bernanke on 60 Minutes Part 1:
Bernanke on 60 Minutes Part 2:
[...] 
From the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. Chart 1 is the straight graph. Chart 2 is the same data with periods of recession displayed as grey bars.
Chart 1: Chart 2: [...]You can add $490 million to Ohio’s federal stimulus total.
That’s the amount Ohio has received from AIG since the federal government put the world’s largest insurer on life support last fall. Sunday evening AIG released information regarding how it spent over $70 billion of the $180 billion it has received [...]
2009 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament Printable Bracket from The Sporting News
Click for PDF Printable Bracket
2009 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament Printable Bracket from ESPNClick for PDF Printable Bracket
2009 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament Printable Bracket from CBS Sportsline
[...] (Source: CNN)
Aired March 15, 2009 - 09:00 ET
JOHN KING, HOST: I’m John King, and this is our STATE OF THE UNION report for this Sunday, March 15th.
President Obama urges absolute confidence in the struggling economy, but can the country afford his ambitious plans? We’ll ask the former vice [...]
A second Sunday in a row working in the yard with WTVN-610 in the background. Between 12 and 3 p.m. on Sundays is a show called the Radio Deli with Dirk Thompson. Thompson is a Libertarian and is actually quite funny. When he’s not on the air he says he [...]
One thing I haven’t heard today regarding the over $100 million dollars the pigs at AIG are going to bonus themselves is any pushback at the company or at the U.S. Treasury Dept about they were managed through this thing.
There’s an old expression among flaks which goes something like this: [...]
Larry Summers appeared on ABC’s This Week with George Stephanopolous. Select quotes:
“There are a lot of terrible things that have happened in the last 18 months, but what’s happened at AIG is the most outrageous,” said Summers, chairman of the White House National Economic Council, during an appearance on [...]
Good story over at the New York Times on the slowdown in oil drilling and exploration as energy prices have fallen off the cliff over the past several months.
[...]
AIG Execs Who Ruined Company to Get $165 million in Bonuses - Huffington Post
Al Qaeda Hurt Us For A Day. AIG Has Destroyed Us for a Generation. - Verbal Paintball
Treasury Boldly Adds “Sugar on Top” - Driftglass
[...] From the Columbus Dispatch on Saturday:
Nationwide, sales of male contraceptives in food, drug and mass-merchandise stores increased 6.4 percent in the last 13 weeks of 2008 compared with 2007, according to the Nielsen Co., which tracks products.
Nielsen also counts how many condoms are sold, and that number went up [...]
According to an article in today’s Plain Dealer, the first stimulus money to begin reaching Ohio poses an interesting dilemma for the state’s community action agencies - how do you effectively spend it all?
… Ohio is concerned that local, nonprofit community action agencies - where the $267 million will [...]
U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner met with his 19 counterparts today in the U.K. in advance of April’s Group of 20 meeting. The G20 represents the 20 largest industrial nations. Their membership accounts for around 85% of the world’s economic output.
The finance ministers are still split in two camps on [...]
For years, critics of the Food and Drug Administration have shouted from the rooftops on the need to increase food inspectors. It appears the Obama Administration will be doing just that.
In his weekly address today, President Barack Obama said:
As part of our commitment to public health, our Agriculture Department is [...]
Osama bin Laden is the classic Middle Eastern rhetorical pimp who trots out the extremists’ highest earner when there’s absolutely nothing else to say - Israel. Looking back over Sheikh Osama’s pronouncements through the years, the plight of the Palestinians was not on his radar until he began to use [...]
You’ll need to experience this on your whole screen. Click the image below to go to the NYT website. Each recession or pair of recessions includes and audio clip from an economist explaining more about the particular circumstances of that downturn.
Click Image to Go to Original [...]
Fair is fair. I was critical of Ohio State University’s budget axe falling on the school’s extension programs the other day. Tonight I have to say that President Gordon Gee made a public servant’s decision on executive pay this week.
He got OSU’s top execs to agree to freeze their [...]
All we ever hear about Pakistan is how out of control the FATA region is, the Taleban are taking over and Osama bin Laden is viewed as Robin Hood. The latest public opinion polling there by the Pew Global Attitudes Project shows most Pakistanis are not in the tank [...]
I got a chuckle out of this from the Associated Press today:
The House also announced it would delay final action on the budget until after its spring break, pushing expected passage from late March into mid-April. The spending plan has to make it through both the House and Senate [...]
From the New York Daily News:
New York City police issued a whopping 9,016 tickets during a 24-hour crackdown on phoning-while-driving.
Department spokesman Paul Browne says that compares to 500 on a typical day. The ticket blitz ended Friday. But the law is still the law. Get caught driving while using a [...]
O.K. - the above headline is just as stupid as the right wing bloggers’ headlines have been since January. I just thought I’d throw one out there for our team. The truth about the market this week, I fear, is that this merely a bear rally. However, I’m intrigued by [...]
(Source: White House Press Office)
I am glad to be here. This morning I want to describe our understanding of the root of our current economic crisis, talk about the rationale for the Administration’s recovery strategy, and connect our longer-term economic strategy to the central objective of sustained and healthy expansion.
Economic [...]
President Barack Obama was interviewed this week by a group of regional newspaper reporters, including Stephen Koff of the Cleveland Plain Dealer. During the interview the subject of charter schools, and specifically the seeming divergence of opinion between Obama and Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland. The transcript does not identify the [...]
Daily Show Full Episodes
Important Things w/ Demetri Martin
Political Humor
Jim Cramer
Part 2:
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The [...]
From McClatchy News Service:
WASHINGTON — President Obama weighed in Wednesday on the escalating drug war on the U.S.-Mexico border, saying that he was looking at possibly deploying National Guard troops to contain the violence but ruled out any immediate military move.
“We’re going to examine whether and if National Guard [...]
I’m not a scientist, but the presentations I’ve seen on global warming and humankind’s contribution make sense to me. I thought it was making sense to most people, but apparently not. Take a listen to the drumbeat of conservative talk show hosts and other opinion leaders [...]
Madoff’s Bail Revoked - New York Times
Bernard L. Madoff pleaded guilty Thursday to all the charges against him and expressed remorse for a vast Ponzi scheme that bilked investors out of billions of dollars.
Standing before Judge Denny Chin in United States District Court in Manhattan, [...]
From the Columbus Dispatch:
The economic news in Ohio last year was mostly bad, but there was a bright spot: State exports grew by nearly 7 percent from 2007, officials said.
Numbers released this month by the U.S. Department of Commerce International Trade Administration show that Ohio’s export total for 2008 [...]
From Reuters is an informative Q&A format story on the background of the current trouble for the Paki government. Excerpt:
WHAT’S AT STAKE?
Pakistan’s latest attempt at democracy is at risk.
Musharraf’s successor as army chief, General Ashfaq Kayani, has vowed to keep the army out of politics. [...]
Friends, if you haven’t figured it out, political and news blogging is a deadly serious business. I’m not talking about the age old question - “Are bloggers journalists?” (They’re not, journalists are journalists and some of them blog.)
I’m talking about the gnashing of teeth going on over at the [...]
Wow, great line. Watch Secretary of State Brunner’s 14 minute interview on her U.S. Senate campaign with WKYC’s Tom Beres:
From the Associated Press today:
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ohio’s budget director says the Republican state auditor’s questioning of Ohio’s financial condition hurts confidence in the state during tough economic times.
Budget Director Pari Sabety told lawmakers today that Ohio’s finances are in good condition. Auditor Mary Taylor says Democratic Gov. Ted [...]
From the BBC:
Just 793 people can now lay claim to a place on the list, but on average they have lost 23% of their wealth.
The stock market collapse helped Microsoft founder Bill Gates regain the top spot, despite his wealth declining $18bn (£13.06bn) to $40bn.
He ousted investor Warren Buffet [...]
From the [...]
President Barack Obama’s administration is going to review former President G.W. Bush’s signing statements, but Obama is not giving up this presidential practice.
I’d like to read the statement Obama signed today after he signed the spending legislation, but I can’t because it’s not on his website. The positive stuff [...]
This is probably the coolest interactive map I’ve found in a week or so. Located at the New York Times website, you can access it by clicking the screen grab below. You will be able to select a part of the world and see where people who were born [...]
From the Associated Press:
Four states — California, South Carolina, Michigan and Rhode Island — registered unemployment rates above 10 percent in January, and the national rate is expected to hit double digits by year-end.
The Labor Department’s report on state unemployment, released Wednesday, showed the increasing damage inflicted on workers [...]
(Source: White House Press Office)
THE PRESIDENT: Good morning. I ran for President pledging to change the way business is done in Washington and build a government that works for the people by opening it up to the people. And that means restoring responsibility and transparency and accountability to actions that [...]
The excerpt below is from a New York Times story about banks that wish to return their bailout money to the federal government because Uncle Sam has some thin strings attached. Numbered comments are mine …
Signature Bank of New York has informed the Treasury it wishes to return the $120 [...]Times are tough and even Ohio’s venerable land grant institution has to make some sacrifices. Yes, Buckeyes even our beloved Scarlet and Grey making some cuts.
So is it farewell to the days of $300,000 salaries for former legislators? Are the executives at University Hospital taking a 5% pay cut? Will [...]
From Rasmussen Reports:
Most Americans (53%) now think the United States is at least somewhat likely to enter a 1930’s-like depression within the next few years.
The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey found that 39% think this outcome is unlikely.
Nineteen percent (19%) say a Depression is Very Likely while 7% [...]
I’ve now read in two different places that U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner blames some of his bad pub on those rascally bloggers.
Well, it’s not just the bloggers. How about Paul Krugman in a column on Monday headlined, Behind the Curve:
So here’s the picture that scares me: It’s September [...]
You should read the David M. Smick’s entire column, Tim Geithner’s Black Hole, over at the Washington Post. Here’s an excerpt:
… The logical alternative — talk show hosts’ solution du jour — is to temporarily restructure or nationalize the banks and leave taxpayers alone. Remove the toxic assets, replace [...]
From Bloomberg on Monday:
March 9 (Bloomberg) — If you want to know what’s going to happen to commercial real estate across the U.S., look no further than Cleveland and Detroit.
Those two metropolitan areas lead the U.S. in mortgage delinquencies for owners of office buildings, apartments, malls and warehouses, a [...]
Okay, here’s the headline of the number one story on Bloomberg’s front page:
U.S. Stocks Decline on Buffett’s Remarks, World Bank Warnings About EconomyI’m not sure why they even posted the reporter’s story, they said it all right there in the headline. Today after the stem cell press conference by President [...]
Anyone else watching this situation and wondering … I don’t think there’s an ally of Israel in the world who could talk them out of it if they decide to try to blow some or all of Iran’s nuclear program to smithereens.
I’m reading The Inheritance by [...]
The stakes are too high as Ohio navigates the perilous waters of the current recession. That’s why state of Ohio Auditor Mary Taylor should have known better than to call the state “unauditable” last week.
The basis for her stretcher (that’s what we used to call lies [...]
From the Associated Press:
HARRISBURG, Pa. — The nation is on the “brink of a depression,” but there’s a “reasonable chance” that the $787 billion economic stimulus package will help ease the situation, Sen. Arlen Specter said Monday.
Specter, R-Pa., said the nation’s economic situation is more dire than the public has [...]
(Source: White House Press Office)
MEMORANDUM FOR THE HEADS OF EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENTS AND AGENCIESSUBJECT: Scientific Integrity
Science and the scientific process must inform and guide decisions of my Administration on a wide range of issues, including improvement of public health, protection of the environment, increased efficiency in the use of energy and other [...]
(Source: White House Press Office)
REMOVING BARRIERS TO RESPONSIBLE SCIENTIFICBy the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered as follows:
Section 1. Policy. Research involving human embryonic stem cells and human non-embryonic [...]
The Bloomberg lowdown on Warren Buffett’s time on CNBC today:
“We are doing things now that are potentially very inflationary,” he said. Buffett called on Congress to unite behind President Barack Obama, comparing the economic crisis to a military conflict that needs a commander-in-chief. “Patriotic Americans will realize this [...]
Very interesting story and interactive graphic in USA Today this morning. It looks at how Americans identify their religious identities between 1990 and 2008. Below is a screen grab of a state by state shot from the interactive graphic showing the change in the percentage of Americans saying [...]
(Source: White House Press Office)
Today, with the Executive Order I am about to sign, we will bring the change that so many scientists and researchers; doctors and innovators; patients and loved ones have hoped for, and fought for, these past eight years: we will lift the [...]
Justin Huggins Displays His Posse Comitatus Membership Card
Meet Justin Higgins, a 19 year-old Ohio State University college Republican who’s got things all figured out. I mean if it weren’t for Constitutional provisions against one so young holding the nation’s [...]
Out getting the garden ready for some spring lettuce and hit the record button on 610 WTVN when they began talking Columbus Tea Party next weekend. If Russo’s video didn’t show what a bunch of drones these people are, listen to the clip below. Here at Clips and Comment [...]
Click the image below and check out an excellent piece in the New York Times Magazine on the particular issues of home foreclosures in Cleveland. Currently, 1 in 13 homes in the city are vacant. Featured prominently in the article is Tony Brancatelli, member of Cleveland’s City Council. Slavic [...]
What I’m reading about President Barack Obama’s latest pronouncements on turning the tide in the war in Afghanistan makes me uneasy.
There is no doubt that U.S. and NATO fortunes have backslid in Afghanistan, through no fault of our troops on the ground - there just haven’t been enough to [...]
From the New York Times today, President Barack Obama says he wishes Attorney General Eric Holder would have chosen different language than “nation of cowards” when describing Americans and their ability to deal with race.
I stand by what I wrote earlier, I like what Holder said. I think he’s [...]
(Source: New York Times)
President Obama spoke in a 35-minute interview aboard Air Force One on Friday afternoon as he traveled from Columbus, Ohio to Andrews Air Force Base. This is an edited transcript, as recorded by The New York Times.
Q. You said it’s going to take a long [...]
Full Text of Address Below Video
(Source: White House Press Office)
Yesterday, we learned that the economy lost another 651,000 jobs in the month of February, which brings the total number of jobs lost in this recession to 4.4 million. The unemployment rate has now surpassed 8 percent, the [...]
This week there was only one bank seized by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., Freedom Bank of Georgia, Commerce, Ga.
[...]From The Plain Dealer:
The number of Ohio homeowners who are behind on their mortgages jumped 11 percent in the fourth quarter, according to a report released Thursday.
Now, 14 percent — about one in seven — is at least one month behind, the Mortgage Bankers Association said. That’s slightly worse [...]
Joe the Plumber, vice president of Rush Limbaugh’s Republican Party, is suing former Ohio Department of Job and Family Services director Helen Jones-Kelley and others in federal court.
We all know that Kelley’s staff took a peek at Joe’s entries in their databases, but correct me if I’m wrong — isn’t [...]
According to Wolf Blitzed, Gupta wants to continue his career, has a baby on the way and has withdrawn his name to spend more time with his family. Waiting to hear something about taxes.
Gupta Opts Out - CNN
[...]I’m still not sure why the Bush press office could deliver press briefing transcripts within two to three hours of the briefing and the current staff don’t manage to get them up until the next day sometimes, but the Briefing Room at the White House has improved.
From Bloomberg:
March 4 (Bloomberg) — Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Chairman Sheila Bair said the fund it uses to protect customer deposits at U.S. banks could dry up amid a surge in bank failures, as she responded to an industry outcry against new fees approved by the agency.
“Without these assessments, [...]
Click Chart for Latest Update from Google Finance
GM auditors worry about company’s future - Washington Post Wen boosts spending without adding to stimulus - The Guardian (U.K.) [...]NPR had a good story today on the legal wrangling over California’s Proposition 8. If you click the graphic below you’ll go to an interactive map of the U.S. with information about gay marriage and the legal issues in all 50 states.
[...] Auditors raise specter of Chapter 11: Detroit Free Press
General Motors Corp.’s auditors have raised “substantial doubt” about the troubled automaker’s ability to continue operations, and the company said it may have to seek bankruptcy protection if it can’t execute a huge restructuring plan.
The automaker revealed the concerns today in [...]
(Source: Office of the Prime Minister)
Madam Speaker, Mr Vice-President, distinguished members of Congress, I come to this great capital of this great nation, an America renewed under a new President to say that America’s faith in the future has been, is and always will be an inspiration to the whole [...]
From Bloomberg Tuesday afternoon:
“If there is a single episode in this entire 18 months that has made me more angry, I can’t think of one other than AIG,” Bernanke told lawmakers today. “AIG exploited a huge gap in the regulatory system, there was no oversight of the financial- products [...]
GM Goes Begging From EU: Financial Times
General Motors said on Tuesday that its European arm could run out of money by as early as next month, putting up to 300,000 jobs on the continent at risk.
Fritz Henderson, the struggling Detroit carmaker’s chief operating officer, said that GM would face [...]
(Source: Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System)
As Prepared for Delivery
Chairman Conrad, Senator Gregg, and members of the Committee, I am pleased to be here today to offer my views on current economic and financial conditions, the federal budget, and related issues.
Recent Financial and Economic Developments and the Policy [...]
The Pew Center for the States released Monday a new report titled, One in 31: The Long Reach of American Corrections. One in 31 is how many American adults are currently behind bars.
[...]
Sometimes you love the local paper, other times (like when they endorse GW Bush TWICE) you hate them. But, folks, we need them. The Columbus Dispatch’s announcement today that it will layoff 45 members of the editorial staff on April 3 is bad news indeed.
When I left [...]
