Congresswoman Grace Napolitano of Torrance, 72, has been elected to Congress 6 times in a safe Democratic seat in California.
She loaned her initial campaign $150,000. Such loans are common in politics. Senator Clinton, for example, advanced her presidential campaign about $13 million last year. Instead of earning interest on it, she had to write it off. Losing candidates have difficulty raising funds to pay off campaign debts.
The Representative though charged her campaign an interest rate of 18% on the loan. The usually ineffectual Federal Election Commission accepted her argument that the money came from a retirement account that would incur an early withdrawal penalty. She graciously lowered the interest rate to 10% in mid-2006.
The FEC allows candidates to charge their campaigns a “commercially reasonable” interest rate on moneys they loan the campaign. Forget 5-6%; now we know it can be a credit card rate.
So far, she has earned over $158,000 in interest on the loan since 2001 and $221,780 since 1998. Not a bad return on investment, and what a nice supplement to her Congressional income. 18% is the interest rate which many claim is outrageous on credit cards. The current Fed Funds rate is 0%.
Why hire family members, or pay rent to family (Pelosi), when you can pay yourself?
Since she represents a safe district, she could easily have raised funds to pay off the loan, but to do so would have resulted in a substantial loss of income.
She held fundraisers in 2007 and 2008 to retire the debt, but only reduced it by $65,000. She obviously wasn’t trying hard.
The rules which allowed politicians to convert campaign funds to personal uses were abrogated years ago. Congresswoman Napolitano has pioneered an ingenious, but simple way, to do so. Who needs the discredited House Bank when you can be your own banker?
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Loose Lips Sink Ships, Predator Drones and Banks: Of Senators Feinstein, Schumer, and Dodd
A popular poster in World War II was “Loose Lips Sink Ships.” Secrecy over developments, logistics, strategic and tactical plans was encouraged to prevent the enemy from discovering them and then reacting. Secrecysaves lives.
A classic example came from the War. The U.S. Navy had rebounded from the Pearl Harbor debacle and other early defeats to win the Battle of the Atlantic by the end of 1943 while American submarines were decimating the Japanese Merchant Marine and surviving depth charge attacks by enemy destroyers.
A visiting Congressman in Pearl Harbor asked Navy officers why American submariners were so successful in evading Japanese destroyers. He was told that they were diving to 300 feet while the Japanese were using smaller depth charges set to explode at 150 feet.
The Congressman reported this secret of the Silent Service’s success to the media. As soon as the Japanese learned of it, they used larger charges set to explode at 300 feet. American submarine casualties sharply rose. Loose lips sank ships.
More recently Al Qaeda and the Taliban have used safe havens in Pakistan to attack American soldiers and terrorize Afghans. The U.S. may or may not be sending soldiers across the porous border to track or attack the enemies in Pakistan; such conduct would be extremely risky.
Instead, a series of Predator drone attacks has successfully targeted Al Qaeda and Taliban targets in Pakistan, often with great success. Pakistan has strongly protested these infringements on its territorial integrity. Pakistan’s leaders have to weave a fine line between respecting popular support for Al Qaeda and the Taliban and opposition to Americans versus fear of the Taliban gaining control of Pakistan. The Taliban already effectively controls the border provinces of Pakistan.
So how does Senator Feinstein figure in this border dispute? At a recent Congressional hearing she revealed that many of the Predator Drones are based in Pakistan. She responded to Pakistan’s objections to the territorial overflights in something of a pique by saying “As I understand it, these are flown out of a Pakistani base.”
The Senator is chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, and hence is in a position to know. Rumors had been circulating for years about the origin of the flights, but never verified until now. At least she did not disclose the source of the intelligence relied upon by the CIA in the Predator attacks.
Governments, like candidates, are often Janus like, saying one thing in public and another in private. The political and geopolitical ramifications in Pakistan have yet to play out, but they will not be favorable to America in the war on terrorism.
No calls have been made for the Senator’s resignation from the Committee, unlike the fate of Senator Patrick Leahy a few years back. Both Senators illustrate why Presidents prefer to keep Congress in the dark on sensitive national security matters.
Loose lips also have catastrophic consequences in the financial market. Senator Charles Schumer wrote a letter last spring to the Office of Thrift Management stating that IndyMac Bank was in financial peril. His office then released the letter to the public, setting off a run on the Bank. The federal government had to seize control of the bank a few days later - a multi-billion dollar bailout.
Senator Chris Dodd, Chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, exacerbated the banking crisis last week. He stated that the federal government might have to take over the banks, sending banking stocks, especially Citigroup and Bank of America, further into the tank.
The threats of nationalization of the nation’s banks are a blow to shareholders and creditors of the banks, minimizing the possibility of private investment in the financial industry.
The costs of the bailout have just risen.
Loose lips sink banks.
A classic example came from the War. The U.S. Navy had rebounded from the Pearl Harbor debacle and other early defeats to win the Battle of the Atlantic by the end of 1943 while American submarines were decimating the Japanese Merchant Marine and surviving depth charge attacks by enemy destroyers.
A visiting Congressman in Pearl Harbor asked Navy officers why American submariners were so successful in evading Japanese destroyers. He was told that they were diving to 300 feet while the Japanese were using smaller depth charges set to explode at 150 feet.
The Congressman reported this secret of the Silent Service’s success to the media. As soon as the Japanese learned of it, they used larger charges set to explode at 300 feet. American submarine casualties sharply rose. Loose lips sank ships.
More recently Al Qaeda and the Taliban have used safe havens in Pakistan to attack American soldiers and terrorize Afghans. The U.S. may or may not be sending soldiers across the porous border to track or attack the enemies in Pakistan; such conduct would be extremely risky.
Instead, a series of Predator drone attacks has successfully targeted Al Qaeda and Taliban targets in Pakistan, often with great success. Pakistan has strongly protested these infringements on its territorial integrity. Pakistan’s leaders have to weave a fine line between respecting popular support for Al Qaeda and the Taliban and opposition to Americans versus fear of the Taliban gaining control of Pakistan. The Taliban already effectively controls the border provinces of Pakistan.
So how does Senator Feinstein figure in this border dispute? At a recent Congressional hearing she revealed that many of the Predator Drones are based in Pakistan. She responded to Pakistan’s objections to the territorial overflights in something of a pique by saying “As I understand it, these are flown out of a Pakistani base.”
The Senator is chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, and hence is in a position to know. Rumors had been circulating for years about the origin of the flights, but never verified until now. At least she did not disclose the source of the intelligence relied upon by the CIA in the Predator attacks.
Governments, like candidates, are often Janus like, saying one thing in public and another in private. The political and geopolitical ramifications in Pakistan have yet to play out, but they will not be favorable to America in the war on terrorism.
No calls have been made for the Senator’s resignation from the Committee, unlike the fate of Senator Patrick Leahy a few years back. Both Senators illustrate why Presidents prefer to keep Congress in the dark on sensitive national security matters.
Loose lips also have catastrophic consequences in the financial market. Senator Charles Schumer wrote a letter last spring to the Office of Thrift Management stating that IndyMac Bank was in financial peril. His office then released the letter to the public, setting off a run on the Bank. The federal government had to seize control of the bank a few days later - a multi-billion dollar bailout.
Senator Chris Dodd, Chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, exacerbated the banking crisis last week. He stated that the federal government might have to take over the banks, sending banking stocks, especially Citigroup and Bank of America, further into the tank.
The threats of nationalization of the nation’s banks are a blow to shareholders and creditors of the banks, minimizing the possibility of private investment in the financial industry.
The costs of the bailout have just risen.
Loose lips sink banks.
Cheerleaders are Jocks in Wisconsin
Cheerleaders are Jocks in Wisconsin
As we age, let us look fondly back at the cheerleaders of our high schools and colleges in the 1960’s. So sweet, wholesome and innocent in their cute outfits, as they hardly worked up a sweat in leading us in such simple yells as “Hey, hey, ho, ho, let’s get the ball and go, go, go,” “Hit’em again, harder, harder,” “Let’s get another one just like the other one,” “First and ten, do it again” “Hold that line,” and, of course, the school spell out. Steve Martin got nowhere when he tried out a new yell at Garden Grove High School: “Die, you gravy-sucking pigs.”
I have a newspaper clipping of a sweet, innocent Madonna Ciccone as a high school cheerleader in Michigan.
Many have gone on to great fame and success in politics, entertainment, and the law. Cheerleader alumni include FDR, G.W. Bush, Trent Lott, Thad Cochran, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Ann-Margret, Paula Abdul, Halle Berre, Sandra Bullock, Deana Carter, Katie Couric, Jamie Lee Curtis, Kirk and Michael Douglas, Calista Flockhart, Samuel L. Jackson, Steve Martin, Mandy Moore, Cybil Shepperd, Aaron Spelling, Jimmy Stewart, and Vanna White.
In hindsight, there wasn’t much to get excited about.
Then, of course, we have the professional teams pioneered by the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders. No comment is necessary, except that Terri Hatcher was once a San Francisco 49er cheerleader.
Of course, Disney provided cheerleaders for a few months after acquiring the California Angels. That Mickey Mouse stunt was quickly aborted.
And then a quiet evolution developed. Music was introduced; dance routines choreographed, and the outfits became skimpier. The cheerleaders, both male and female, became gymnasts and then seemingly acrobats as they developed new routines and increasingly risky routines, such as the pyramid and toss. Teams competed in regional and national competitions. Cheerleader schools were established. And pulchritudinous was no longer required.
A quick Google search of cheerleaders and “falls” will uncover a number of YouTube videos showing cheerleader mishaps, presumably funny to look at. Yet, these routines and falls entail great risk to the participants.
Three cheerleaders at Holman High School in Wisconsin were practicing a new stunt, the “post-to-hands” stunt, for the first time before a basketball game. Brittany Nofke was to stand on the shoulders of the “base.” with the third cheerleader, Kevin Bakke, helping her onto the base and then standing behind her in case she fell. Instead, he went to the front of the base. Brittany fell backwards. Her head struck the tile floor which lacked mats.
Not surprisingly, Nofke sued the school district, Bakke, and the supervisory teacher.
A Wisconsin statute, covering amateur recreational activity, exempts liability for negligence for physical contact between persons in a sport. Liability can only be imposed if defendant acted recklessly or intentionally.
The statute’s laundry list of recreational activities includes hunting, fishing, trapping, camping, bowling, billiards, picnicking, exploring caves, nature study, dancing, bicycling, horseback riding, horseshoe-pitching, bird-watching, motorcycling, operating an all-terrain vehicle, ballooning, curling, throwing darts, hang gliding, hiking, tobogganing, sledding, sleigh riding, snowmobiling, skiing, skating, participation in water sports, weight and fitness training, sight-seeing rock-climbing, cutting or removing wood, climbing observation towers, animal training, harvesting the products of nature, and sport shooting. Some of these are clearly oriented to Wisconsin.
In case this seemingly all-inclusive statute left anything out, it added the catchall “any other sport, game, or recreational activity.” “Cheerleading” is seemingly omitted by the legislature in this exhaustive list, but that didn’t stop the Wisconsin Supreme Court from judicially amending the statute.
The Wisconsin Supreme Court held that cheerleading is a contact sport within the meaning of the statute.
The Court premised its opinion on the basic maxim of legislative interpretation that the plain language of the statute should control.
And yet, the Court then turned to a dictionary to divine the plain words of the statute, and not even the most highly regarded dictionary, Merriam Webster’s New Unabridged. Instead, it looked to the American Heritage Dictionary of the American Language, which defined “sport” as “an activity involving physical exertion and skill that is governed by a set of rules or customs.”
The Dictionary defined contact as “coming together or touching.”
As defined therefore, “contact” doesn’t have to be between opponents but could be touchings between teammates. The Court recognized cheerleading sometimes involved stunts that “produce a forceful interaction between the participants.”
Plaintiff had argued that the statutory exemption was for contact sports between competitive teams. The statute was titled “Liability of Contact Sports Participants.” The Court dismissed this argument because titles are not part of a statute.
As the majority finished its opinion, it recognized a major issue left open by the opinion: How to treat clearly recreational sports that are non-contact, such as golf, tennis, and swimming. I would have assumed that swimming would be included within “water sports” since relays involve contact, but since the Court was not concentrating on the plain words of the statute, it might have missed that.
The Court held that the statutory immunity would apply when four conditions were met:
1) Participation in a recreational activity;
2) The recreational activity includes physical contact between persons;
3) Those parties are participating in a sport; and
4) The sport involves amateur teams.
This interpretation would probably include a common cheerleader activity involving physical conduct: sex.
While the Court held cheerleaders were athletes within the meaning of the statute, other college athletes in contact sports receive athletic scholarships while cheerleaders do not.
The final irony of the opinion is that Chief Justice Ruth Abrahamson, a liberal jurist, in her concurring opinion actually cited Justice Antonin Scalia on the misuse of dictionaries. Resort to a dictionary can be “the equivalent of entering a crowded cocktail party and looking over the heads of the guests for one’s friends.”
As we age, let us look fondly back at the cheerleaders of our high schools and colleges in the 1960’s. So sweet, wholesome and innocent in their cute outfits, as they hardly worked up a sweat in leading us in such simple yells as “Hey, hey, ho, ho, let’s get the ball and go, go, go,” “Hit’em again, harder, harder,” “Let’s get another one just like the other one,” “First and ten, do it again” “Hold that line,” and, of course, the school spell out. Steve Martin got nowhere when he tried out a new yell at Garden Grove High School: “Die, you gravy-sucking pigs.”
I have a newspaper clipping of a sweet, innocent Madonna Ciccone as a high school cheerleader in Michigan.
Many have gone on to great fame and success in politics, entertainment, and the law. Cheerleader alumni include FDR, G.W. Bush, Trent Lott, Thad Cochran, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Ann-Margret, Paula Abdul, Halle Berre, Sandra Bullock, Deana Carter, Katie Couric, Jamie Lee Curtis, Kirk and Michael Douglas, Calista Flockhart, Samuel L. Jackson, Steve Martin, Mandy Moore, Cybil Shepperd, Aaron Spelling, Jimmy Stewart, and Vanna White.
In hindsight, there wasn’t much to get excited about.
Then, of course, we have the professional teams pioneered by the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders. No comment is necessary, except that Terri Hatcher was once a San Francisco 49er cheerleader.
Of course, Disney provided cheerleaders for a few months after acquiring the California Angels. That Mickey Mouse stunt was quickly aborted.
And then a quiet evolution developed. Music was introduced; dance routines choreographed, and the outfits became skimpier. The cheerleaders, both male and female, became gymnasts and then seemingly acrobats as they developed new routines and increasingly risky routines, such as the pyramid and toss. Teams competed in regional and national competitions. Cheerleader schools were established. And pulchritudinous was no longer required.
A quick Google search of cheerleaders and “falls” will uncover a number of YouTube videos showing cheerleader mishaps, presumably funny to look at. Yet, these routines and falls entail great risk to the participants.
Three cheerleaders at Holman High School in Wisconsin were practicing a new stunt, the “post-to-hands” stunt, for the first time before a basketball game. Brittany Nofke was to stand on the shoulders of the “base.” with the third cheerleader, Kevin Bakke, helping her onto the base and then standing behind her in case she fell. Instead, he went to the front of the base. Brittany fell backwards. Her head struck the tile floor which lacked mats.
Not surprisingly, Nofke sued the school district, Bakke, and the supervisory teacher.
A Wisconsin statute, covering amateur recreational activity, exempts liability for negligence for physical contact between persons in a sport. Liability can only be imposed if defendant acted recklessly or intentionally.
The statute’s laundry list of recreational activities includes hunting, fishing, trapping, camping, bowling, billiards, picnicking, exploring caves, nature study, dancing, bicycling, horseback riding, horseshoe-pitching, bird-watching, motorcycling, operating an all-terrain vehicle, ballooning, curling, throwing darts, hang gliding, hiking, tobogganing, sledding, sleigh riding, snowmobiling, skiing, skating, participation in water sports, weight and fitness training, sight-seeing rock-climbing, cutting or removing wood, climbing observation towers, animal training, harvesting the products of nature, and sport shooting. Some of these are clearly oriented to Wisconsin.
In case this seemingly all-inclusive statute left anything out, it added the catchall “any other sport, game, or recreational activity.” “Cheerleading” is seemingly omitted by the legislature in this exhaustive list, but that didn’t stop the Wisconsin Supreme Court from judicially amending the statute.
The Wisconsin Supreme Court held that cheerleading is a contact sport within the meaning of the statute.
The Court premised its opinion on the basic maxim of legislative interpretation that the plain language of the statute should control.
And yet, the Court then turned to a dictionary to divine the plain words of the statute, and not even the most highly regarded dictionary, Merriam Webster’s New Unabridged. Instead, it looked to the American Heritage Dictionary of the American Language, which defined “sport” as “an activity involving physical exertion and skill that is governed by a set of rules or customs.”
The Dictionary defined contact as “coming together or touching.”
As defined therefore, “contact” doesn’t have to be between opponents but could be touchings between teammates. The Court recognized cheerleading sometimes involved stunts that “produce a forceful interaction between the participants.”
Plaintiff had argued that the statutory exemption was for contact sports between competitive teams. The statute was titled “Liability of Contact Sports Participants.” The Court dismissed this argument because titles are not part of a statute.
As the majority finished its opinion, it recognized a major issue left open by the opinion: How to treat clearly recreational sports that are non-contact, such as golf, tennis, and swimming. I would have assumed that swimming would be included within “water sports” since relays involve contact, but since the Court was not concentrating on the plain words of the statute, it might have missed that.
The Court held that the statutory immunity would apply when four conditions were met:
1) Participation in a recreational activity;
2) The recreational activity includes physical contact between persons;
3) Those parties are participating in a sport; and
4) The sport involves amateur teams.
This interpretation would probably include a common cheerleader activity involving physical conduct: sex.
While the Court held cheerleaders were athletes within the meaning of the statute, other college athletes in contact sports receive athletic scholarships while cheerleaders do not.
The final irony of the opinion is that Chief Justice Ruth Abrahamson, a liberal jurist, in her concurring opinion actually cited Justice Antonin Scalia on the misuse of dictionaries. Resort to a dictionary can be “the equivalent of entering a crowded cocktail party and looking over the heads of the guests for one’s friends.”
Sunday, February 8, 2009
Amateur Hour at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue
Last Tuesday President Obama was scheduled for an interview at the White House with Fox News. Instead, he and Michelle ducked out to read “The Moon Over Star” to students at an elementary school.
Why you might ask?
Because he said “We were just tired of being in the White House.”
Just two weeks into the Presidency, and President Obama is having trouble handling the pressure. Instead of evoking Lincoln, FDR, and JFK, President Obama should heed the wisdom of Harry Truman: “If you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen.”
What was the precipitating cause? Tom Daschle’s tax problems, not to mention Tim Geithner and Nancy Killifer. Lest us also not forget Governor Bill Richardson, who may have played “pay to play” like Blago. Obviously, the 7 page, 63 question form for prospective appointees failed.
Could it have also been Vice President Biden mocking Chief Justice Robert’s flub of the Oath at the inauguration of President Obama, followed by the VP’s own inability to even read the Oath correctly in swearing in Secretary of State Clinton. Could it be CIA Director nominee, Leon Panetta, contradicting himself on torture? Could it be campaign promises getting into the way of realism with Gitmo, Iraq withdrawal, and aggressive interrogation?
These are minor blips at the beginning of a new administration. By themselves they will not define his Presidency. However, they serve as a warning.
Two weeks into his Administration and he cannot even pick a Cabinet. His press aide, Robert Gibbs, is daily wearing the deer in the headlights look. Democrats used to call it “the Dan Quayle Look.” Even sooner than Presidents Carter and Clinton, Obama’s been rolled by the Congressional Democrats.
President Obama has to do something he’s never done before. Actually run an organization as the ultimate decision maker and make decisions. It’s often neither fun nor easy, but it must be done. Rhetoric only goes so far.
Campaigning is easy compared to governance. You must make decisions that affect 300 million Americans. Decisions will please some and anger others. If the decisions turn out to be wrong, or if enough are disaffected by them, the President’s popularity will tank.
President Obama recognizes that his success or failure as President will depend on keeping the American people safe from terrorist attacks and restoring the economy. In both situations, campaign rhetoric clash with political reality.
The President is confronting the same issues as President Bush on the economy: How to keep the banks from collapsing; How to restore the credit markets; How to revive housing? The options are limited.
He must also be bemoaning how President Bush adroitly kicked the can to him on Detroit. He must decide within a few weeks if Detroit will succeed or fail. Yet, he cannot politically let it fail, but probably even Lee Iacocca couldn’t save Chrysler today. The President owes too much to Michigan and the labor unions to pull the plug on them.
The Stimulus Bill displays a dangerous quality of the President; he hates to get involved. He claims the Bill as his own, but it was drafted and negotiated by Congress. His Office, the Presidency, the White House through Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel was not heavily involved in the details. President Obama essentially claimed the House Bill as his own without even reading the details. Yet its success or failure may define his Presidency.
The Stimulus Bill reflects the failed practices of the past. Government spending failed in the Great Depression to bring us out. It failed in every major recession since then. It failed in Japan in the 1990’s. And it will fail now.
His recent appearances demanding passage indicate an ‘in your face” Presidency, but not “hands on.”
He even showed his frustration by taking on Rush Limbaugh. The President must be above such petty fights, which he cannot win. It only serves to belittle the president. Rush proudly wears the slings and arrows of President Obama as a badge of honor.
So much for the new tone in Washington! Everything the Democrats have heaped upon Republicans has come back to haunt them as all too many of their “distinguished” leaders turn out to be as capitalistic and greedy as Republicans. Potomac fever is non-partisan.
President Obama is clearly right in his statement that he won. He won the Presidency by a commanding margin, which neither Carter nor Clinton did. He carried with him overwhelming majorities in the House and Senate. Congress will support him on almost any bill right now.
With power, which can be fleeting, comes responsibility. So far we have seen the arrogance of the majority.
Don’t underestimate the President though. He has four major strengths.
First, he has the Bully Pulpit, and will utilize it regularly, unlike his predecessor.
Second, the public wants him to succeed with fixing the economy.
Third, 4 years is an eternity in politics.
Why you might ask?
Because he said “We were just tired of being in the White House.”
Just two weeks into the Presidency, and President Obama is having trouble handling the pressure. Instead of evoking Lincoln, FDR, and JFK, President Obama should heed the wisdom of Harry Truman: “If you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen.”
What was the precipitating cause? Tom Daschle’s tax problems, not to mention Tim Geithner and Nancy Killifer. Lest us also not forget Governor Bill Richardson, who may have played “pay to play” like Blago. Obviously, the 7 page, 63 question form for prospective appointees failed.
Could it have also been Vice President Biden mocking Chief Justice Robert’s flub of the Oath at the inauguration of President Obama, followed by the VP’s own inability to even read the Oath correctly in swearing in Secretary of State Clinton. Could it be CIA Director nominee, Leon Panetta, contradicting himself on torture? Could it be campaign promises getting into the way of realism with Gitmo, Iraq withdrawal, and aggressive interrogation?
These are minor blips at the beginning of a new administration. By themselves they will not define his Presidency. However, they serve as a warning.
Two weeks into his Administration and he cannot even pick a Cabinet. His press aide, Robert Gibbs, is daily wearing the deer in the headlights look. Democrats used to call it “the Dan Quayle Look.” Even sooner than Presidents Carter and Clinton, Obama’s been rolled by the Congressional Democrats.
President Obama has to do something he’s never done before. Actually run an organization as the ultimate decision maker and make decisions. It’s often neither fun nor easy, but it must be done. Rhetoric only goes so far.
Campaigning is easy compared to governance. You must make decisions that affect 300 million Americans. Decisions will please some and anger others. If the decisions turn out to be wrong, or if enough are disaffected by them, the President’s popularity will tank.
President Obama recognizes that his success or failure as President will depend on keeping the American people safe from terrorist attacks and restoring the economy. In both situations, campaign rhetoric clash with political reality.
The President is confronting the same issues as President Bush on the economy: How to keep the banks from collapsing; How to restore the credit markets; How to revive housing? The options are limited.
He must also be bemoaning how President Bush adroitly kicked the can to him on Detroit. He must decide within a few weeks if Detroit will succeed or fail. Yet, he cannot politically let it fail, but probably even Lee Iacocca couldn’t save Chrysler today. The President owes too much to Michigan and the labor unions to pull the plug on them.
The Stimulus Bill displays a dangerous quality of the President; he hates to get involved. He claims the Bill as his own, but it was drafted and negotiated by Congress. His Office, the Presidency, the White House through Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel was not heavily involved in the details. President Obama essentially claimed the House Bill as his own without even reading the details. Yet its success or failure may define his Presidency.
The Stimulus Bill reflects the failed practices of the past. Government spending failed in the Great Depression to bring us out. It failed in every major recession since then. It failed in Japan in the 1990’s. And it will fail now.
His recent appearances demanding passage indicate an ‘in your face” Presidency, but not “hands on.”
He even showed his frustration by taking on Rush Limbaugh. The President must be above such petty fights, which he cannot win. It only serves to belittle the president. Rush proudly wears the slings and arrows of President Obama as a badge of honor.
So much for the new tone in Washington! Everything the Democrats have heaped upon Republicans has come back to haunt them as all too many of their “distinguished” leaders turn out to be as capitalistic and greedy as Republicans. Potomac fever is non-partisan.
President Obama is clearly right in his statement that he won. He won the Presidency by a commanding margin, which neither Carter nor Clinton did. He carried with him overwhelming majorities in the House and Senate. Congress will support him on almost any bill right now.
With power, which can be fleeting, comes responsibility. So far we have seen the arrogance of the majority.
Don’t underestimate the President though. He has four major strengths.
First, he has the Bully Pulpit, and will utilize it regularly, unlike his predecessor.
Second, the public wants him to succeed with fixing the economy.
Third, 4 years is an eternity in politics.
Friday, January 30, 2009
Geithner Redux
Tim Geithner was confirmed 60-34 by the Senate as Secretary of the Treasury on Monday. He immediately assumed office and started a fast pace as Secretary of the Treasury.
He apologized profusely during his confirmation hearings for his tax oversights, at one point blaming the omissions on TurboTax. I just got a TurboRax disc in the mail. Maybe I should throw it away. If the brilliant Secretary of the Treasury can’t figure it out with Turbo Tax, what chance do I, a lowly law professor, have?
Already, he’s the butt of jokes around the internet. Next time you’re audited for failure to declare income, simply state “I forgot” citing the Secretary of the Treasury. Ask also for the Geithner/Rangel treatment and have all penalties waived.
Congressman John Carter, R Texas, introduced the “Rangel” Bill to have all IRS interest and penalties waived for taxpayers. Citizens should receive the same courtesies as Congressman Rangel and Secretary Geithner. We may also have to add Senator Franken, who dodged taxes in 19 states, and Secretary Dasche to the list as the Obama Administration becomes the Scofflaw Administration.
But that’s not the major problem with Secretary Geithner. His failure to declare taxes is but one instance of poor judgment in a growing list.
President Obama obviously thinks Secretary Geithner is the right man at the right time at the right place to fight our economic problems. He is very experienced, and enjoyed the respect of both Democrats and Republicans. Indeed, the 60 yeas and 34 nays were non-partisan. The President and a majority of the Senate believe these difficult times call for a Secretary with vast experience.
His degree is from Dartmouth, but his education is worldwide.
He has also worked in 4 administrations since 1988, except for three years at the International Monetary Fund. He has amazing skills in thriving in the bureaucracy.
The best education, and personality mean naught if judgment is flawed.
Twice in recent months the Secretary has shown bad judgment which has been costly to the economy and will add to future pressures on our recovery.
As discussed in an earlier blog, he opposed any bailout of Lehman Brothers in his capacity as President of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. Lehman’s collapse directly resulted in the global credit freeze.
The US government has in just a few months invested trillions of dollars in either bailouts or guarantees. This year’s budget deficit will exceed one trillion dollars. President Obama has stated that we will be facing trillion deficits into the future.
The deficits will be financed, at least initially by the Fed borrowing money. Much of the bond purchases in recent years have come from foreign nations with large trade surpluses with the United States. China is high on the list.
China is a proud country and does not accept criticism lightly.
During his confirmation hearings Geithner strongly criticized China, claiming it manipulates its currency, ignoring the fact the Bush Administration de facto devalued the dollar earlier this decade ultimately resulting in the commodities price explosion.
Debtors should never insult their creditors. Debtor nations are playing with fire when they do so.
China’s highly offended by Geithner’s remarks. With its own economy reeling from the US collapse, it may well be unwilling to buy US debt, especially at the current low interest rates. China’s exports to the United States fell 17% in November. Thousands of its export oriented factories are closing with layoffs as severe as in the United States.
China’s premier has in essence blamed the policies of the United States for the global economic collapse. China has suffered large losses in Morgan Stanley, Reserve Primary Fund, Freddie Mac, and Fannie Mae.
Let’s hope Secretary Geithner has not inflamed a currency war with China, our creditor.
He apologized profusely during his confirmation hearings for his tax oversights, at one point blaming the omissions on TurboTax. I just got a TurboRax disc in the mail. Maybe I should throw it away. If the brilliant Secretary of the Treasury can’t figure it out with Turbo Tax, what chance do I, a lowly law professor, have?
Already, he’s the butt of jokes around the internet. Next time you’re audited for failure to declare income, simply state “I forgot” citing the Secretary of the Treasury. Ask also for the Geithner/Rangel treatment and have all penalties waived.
Congressman John Carter, R Texas, introduced the “Rangel” Bill to have all IRS interest and penalties waived for taxpayers. Citizens should receive the same courtesies as Congressman Rangel and Secretary Geithner. We may also have to add Senator Franken, who dodged taxes in 19 states, and Secretary Dasche to the list as the Obama Administration becomes the Scofflaw Administration.
But that’s not the major problem with Secretary Geithner. His failure to declare taxes is but one instance of poor judgment in a growing list.
President Obama obviously thinks Secretary Geithner is the right man at the right time at the right place to fight our economic problems. He is very experienced, and enjoyed the respect of both Democrats and Republicans. Indeed, the 60 yeas and 34 nays were non-partisan. The President and a majority of the Senate believe these difficult times call for a Secretary with vast experience.
His degree is from Dartmouth, but his education is worldwide.
He has also worked in 4 administrations since 1988, except for three years at the International Monetary Fund. He has amazing skills in thriving in the bureaucracy.
The best education, and personality mean naught if judgment is flawed.
Twice in recent months the Secretary has shown bad judgment which has been costly to the economy and will add to future pressures on our recovery.
As discussed in an earlier blog, he opposed any bailout of Lehman Brothers in his capacity as President of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. Lehman’s collapse directly resulted in the global credit freeze.
The US government has in just a few months invested trillions of dollars in either bailouts or guarantees. This year’s budget deficit will exceed one trillion dollars. President Obama has stated that we will be facing trillion deficits into the future.
The deficits will be financed, at least initially by the Fed borrowing money. Much of the bond purchases in recent years have come from foreign nations with large trade surpluses with the United States. China is high on the list.
China is a proud country and does not accept criticism lightly.
During his confirmation hearings Geithner strongly criticized China, claiming it manipulates its currency, ignoring the fact the Bush Administration de facto devalued the dollar earlier this decade ultimately resulting in the commodities price explosion.
Debtors should never insult their creditors. Debtor nations are playing with fire when they do so.
China’s highly offended by Geithner’s remarks. With its own economy reeling from the US collapse, it may well be unwilling to buy US debt, especially at the current low interest rates. China’s exports to the United States fell 17% in November. Thousands of its export oriented factories are closing with layoffs as severe as in the United States.
China’s premier has in essence blamed the policies of the United States for the global economic collapse. China has suffered large losses in Morgan Stanley, Reserve Primary Fund, Freddie Mac, and Fannie Mae.
Let’s hope Secretary Geithner has not inflamed a currency war with China, our creditor.
Lessons From Blagojevich
Audio tapes can be much more devastating (OJ, Blago) than video tapes (Rodney King).
If you think you are being investigated, assume that the government, especially the Feds, is bugging your electronic means of communications.
No money, no lawyer, no defense! The US Attorney, Patrick Fitzgerald, freezed Blago’s campaign funds and the Attorney General of Illinois, Lisa Madigan, refused to let the State pay Blago’s legal fees.
Blago should have appointed Lisa Madigan, a mortal enemy, to the Senate seat.
Blago did not receive due process, but life’s not fair, and politics can be purely Darwinian.
Arrogance in politics can be both common and deadly.
Governor Blago spent almost all his time in Chicago rather than fraternizing with legislators in Springfield.
The ability to get elected to office is not the same as the ability to succeed in office.
Be nice to those you pass on the way up because you may see them again on the way down.
Loyalty is fleeting in politics.
Congressman Phil Burton drew a gerrymander work of art in California after the 1980 census. It dramatically changed the California Congressional delegation from 22-21 Democratic to 27-18 Democratic. The Republicans responded by getting the voters to approve a different plan. Chief Judge Rose Bird of the California Supreme Court wrote the opinion invalidating the ballot provision. A removal campaign was mounted in 1986 against Rose Bird and two of her colleagues. The Democrats, whose seats had been saved by the judges, ran away from them.
Blago had no friends when it counted.
Hypocrisy in politics is an art. One wonders how many of the Illinois legislators who voted to impeach and convict Blago have their own ethical issues?
Jesus said “Let him without sin cast the first stone.” Those with sin often cast every stone to get elected.
Why is it that when Republicans get in trouble, the media refers to them as Republicans, such as Republican Congressman Randy “Duke” Cunningham, but when Democrats get in trouble, their political affiliation is hardly ever mentioned?
Did you know that earlier this week, Salvatore DiMasi, the Democratic Speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives resigned, or that he is but the latest in a chain of Democratic House leaders to mess up? His predecessor, Thomas Finneran, pled guilty to obstruction of justice (sounds like Clinton), and a long term speaker, William Bulger, has a brother, Whitey Bulger, who has been on the lam for over a decade. Did you know that a few months ago Massachusetts Democratic State Senator Diane Wilkinson was caught on video taking a bribe?
Unless you are the Man in Black, Johnny Cash, don’t always wear black.
If you think you are being investigated, assume that the government, especially the Feds, is bugging your electronic means of communications.
No money, no lawyer, no defense! The US Attorney, Patrick Fitzgerald, freezed Blago’s campaign funds and the Attorney General of Illinois, Lisa Madigan, refused to let the State pay Blago’s legal fees.
Blago should have appointed Lisa Madigan, a mortal enemy, to the Senate seat.
Blago did not receive due process, but life’s not fair, and politics can be purely Darwinian.
Arrogance in politics can be both common and deadly.
Governor Blago spent almost all his time in Chicago rather than fraternizing with legislators in Springfield.
The ability to get elected to office is not the same as the ability to succeed in office.
Be nice to those you pass on the way up because you may see them again on the way down.
Loyalty is fleeting in politics.
Congressman Phil Burton drew a gerrymander work of art in California after the 1980 census. It dramatically changed the California Congressional delegation from 22-21 Democratic to 27-18 Democratic. The Republicans responded by getting the voters to approve a different plan. Chief Judge Rose Bird of the California Supreme Court wrote the opinion invalidating the ballot provision. A removal campaign was mounted in 1986 against Rose Bird and two of her colleagues. The Democrats, whose seats had been saved by the judges, ran away from them.
Blago had no friends when it counted.
Hypocrisy in politics is an art. One wonders how many of the Illinois legislators who voted to impeach and convict Blago have their own ethical issues?
Jesus said “Let him without sin cast the first stone.” Those with sin often cast every stone to get elected.
Why is it that when Republicans get in trouble, the media refers to them as Republicans, such as Republican Congressman Randy “Duke” Cunningham, but when Democrats get in trouble, their political affiliation is hardly ever mentioned?
Did you know that earlier this week, Salvatore DiMasi, the Democratic Speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives resigned, or that he is but the latest in a chain of Democratic House leaders to mess up? His predecessor, Thomas Finneran, pled guilty to obstruction of justice (sounds like Clinton), and a long term speaker, William Bulger, has a brother, Whitey Bulger, who has been on the lam for over a decade. Did you know that a few months ago Massachusetts Democratic State Senator Diane Wilkinson was caught on video taking a bribe?
Unless you are the Man in Black, Johnny Cash, don’t always wear black.
Monday, January 26, 2009
Bush's Cardinal Sin: The Failure to Communicate
“What we’ve got here is a failure to communicate.” This classic phrase by Strother Martin and Paul Newman in Cool Hand Luke explains George Bush’s greatest failure as President. It’s not Iraq, which appears to be a victory; it’s not the global collapse of the credit markets, which occurred on his watch. Neither is it 9/11 nor Katrina.
No, it’s his failure to communicate, to explain and defend his Administration.
A cardinal rule of politics is to define yourself because if you don’t your opponents will do it for you. And if a lie or misrepresentation is repeated often enough, it becomes the truth.
The President is the public face of the Administration, but the Bush Administration had no public face. The President must get the message out, defend the Administration, empathize with the people.
He ran the Administration as a CEO holed up in an office, letting others, if at all, do the public presence.
The President has the Bully Pulpit. He must use it. The President must also be a cheerleader for America. An effective President must connect with the American public. FDR’s fight from 1932 to 1941 to end the Great Depression may have been a failure, but the public believed in him because he constantly touched them, especially through his fireside chats.
An effective President can not be perceived as a behind the scenes MBA type, isolated from the public.
The President must defend the Administration or suffer the death of a thousand cuts.
Quiet competence may be rewarded by historians decades from now, but the contemporary regard of the public is essential to the President while in office.
Bush’s aides admit that the Administration never recovered from the seemingly tepid response to Katrina. Legally, the federal government is not the first responder in natural disasters; it’s the states.
The President should have played the tapes that showed Mayor Nagin of New Orleans ordered an evacuation two days before Katrina struck and then was countermanded by Governor Blanco. The second tape should have been the one in which the Governor stated that federal assistance was not needed. The final tape in the trilogy would have been the damage to the Lake District and St. Bernard’s Parish, showing that it wasn’t just the African American Ninth Ward which was devastated.
Instead, Bush remained silent and his opponents painted him as incompetent and racist.
The Valerie Plame debacle is another prime example. Long after the Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald discovered that the “leaker” of her identity as a CIA employee to Robert Novack was Richard Armitrage, the Deputy Secretary of State, he continued the inquiry and then brought a lying charge against Libby Scooter, the principal aide to Vice President Chaney.
The Bush Administration treated the situation solely as a legal matter. President Clinton, in his impeachment for obstruction of justice and perjury, could also have treated it as a legal matter. Instead, from the beginning the Clintonistas treated Kenneth Starr’s investigation as a political battle, and proceeded to slime him. Starr did not fight back, and came out looking like an incompetent pervert.
The Bush Administration did not have to denigrate Fitzpatrick, but could have questioned the need for the Special Prosecutor to proceed after the identity of the culprit was discovered and that it was clear the law was not broken with her identification.
President Bush was widely accused of lying to the American people to get us into an unnecessary war with Iraq. The argument was that since weapons of mass destruction were not found, Bush must have lied. Several reasons existed for the invasion. In essence, Hussein was a continual threat to peace in the Mideast.
Almost everyone, including Iraqi generals, reasonably believed Hussein had weapons of mass destruction. Our soldiers were fortunate he did not.
The Bush Administration should have clearly informed the American people that Congress, in voting to authorize the war, was provided the same information that the Bush Administration relied upon. Interestingly, Senator Clinton, the newly sworn in Secretary of State, admitted that she had not read the information provided prior to voting to authorize military action. We can assume that she was not the only one who failed to make an informed decision.
While we are told that Hussein was not involved in 9/11, he was involved in sponsoring terrorism in the Mideast. Every time a suicide bomber blew up Israelis, Saddam sent the bomber’s family $25,000. He also harbored terrorists in Iraq.
Saddam also tried to have the former President, George H. W. Bush, assassinated. That alone would be causa bellis.
Bush initially bonded with the public in his appearance at Ground Zero. The Administration was later accused of not connecting the dots, and that it was warned of the threat of Osama Bin Ladin. The reality is that no specific warning was provided of a specific threat – only of a general threat which provided no useful information upon which to take preventative measures. Bush should simply have pointed out that the Sudan government on three occasions offered Bin Laden to Clinton, who refused to accept him as a prisoner. 9/11 then followed.
On another occasion the Bush Administration and Attorney General Alberto Gonzales were accused of playing politics with dismissing six United States Attorneys. The US attorneys serve at the pleasure of the President, who has every right to terminate them for poor service.
The reason for their firings in essence was a failure to pursue and then prosecute instances of voter fraud, such as in Missouri and New Mexico. Think ACORN! We know that in the recent elections, Senator Norm Coleman probably lost reelection because of ACORN’s actions.
One of the first acts of President Clinton in assuming the Presidency was to fire every US Attorney, shutting down in the process ongoing investigations of Democratic misconduct.
And yet, Congressman John Conyers is still holding Congressional Hearings in an effort to bring criminal indictments against Karl Rove and other members of the Bush White House.
The Bush Administration was silent on all these major “scandals.”
Instead what happened with all of these situations is that talk radio took the lead in defending the Administration, but they are essentially appealing to those who already believe in the Administration.
Admittedly, President Bush assumed office with half of Americans voting against him, and a sizable minority believing him to be illegitimate. In their view, he was “selected” – not “elected.” Many never accepted him. Unlike the current inauguration of President Obama, the Democrats never pled for the Country, all of us, to support President Bush and rally around him.
Bush probably also assumed that, no matter what he did, the media would never give him the credit he deserved. How much have we heard, for example, of the sums he spent fighting AIDs in Africa, or the multilateral negotiations with Iran and North Korea to remove their potential to build the bomb?
President Bush failed to communicate, and his approval rating suffered accordingly. We all suffered for this failure.
Do not expect President Obama to make the same mistake.
No, it’s his failure to communicate, to explain and defend his Administration.
A cardinal rule of politics is to define yourself because if you don’t your opponents will do it for you. And if a lie or misrepresentation is repeated often enough, it becomes the truth.
The President is the public face of the Administration, but the Bush Administration had no public face. The President must get the message out, defend the Administration, empathize with the people.
He ran the Administration as a CEO holed up in an office, letting others, if at all, do the public presence.
The President has the Bully Pulpit. He must use it. The President must also be a cheerleader for America. An effective President must connect with the American public. FDR’s fight from 1932 to 1941 to end the Great Depression may have been a failure, but the public believed in him because he constantly touched them, especially through his fireside chats.
An effective President can not be perceived as a behind the scenes MBA type, isolated from the public.
The President must defend the Administration or suffer the death of a thousand cuts.
Quiet competence may be rewarded by historians decades from now, but the contemporary regard of the public is essential to the President while in office.
Bush’s aides admit that the Administration never recovered from the seemingly tepid response to Katrina. Legally, the federal government is not the first responder in natural disasters; it’s the states.
The President should have played the tapes that showed Mayor Nagin of New Orleans ordered an evacuation two days before Katrina struck and then was countermanded by Governor Blanco. The second tape should have been the one in which the Governor stated that federal assistance was not needed. The final tape in the trilogy would have been the damage to the Lake District and St. Bernard’s Parish, showing that it wasn’t just the African American Ninth Ward which was devastated.
Instead, Bush remained silent and his opponents painted him as incompetent and racist.
The Valerie Plame debacle is another prime example. Long after the Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald discovered that the “leaker” of her identity as a CIA employee to Robert Novack was Richard Armitrage, the Deputy Secretary of State, he continued the inquiry and then brought a lying charge against Libby Scooter, the principal aide to Vice President Chaney.
The Bush Administration treated the situation solely as a legal matter. President Clinton, in his impeachment for obstruction of justice and perjury, could also have treated it as a legal matter. Instead, from the beginning the Clintonistas treated Kenneth Starr’s investigation as a political battle, and proceeded to slime him. Starr did not fight back, and came out looking like an incompetent pervert.
The Bush Administration did not have to denigrate Fitzpatrick, but could have questioned the need for the Special Prosecutor to proceed after the identity of the culprit was discovered and that it was clear the law was not broken with her identification.
President Bush was widely accused of lying to the American people to get us into an unnecessary war with Iraq. The argument was that since weapons of mass destruction were not found, Bush must have lied. Several reasons existed for the invasion. In essence, Hussein was a continual threat to peace in the Mideast.
Almost everyone, including Iraqi generals, reasonably believed Hussein had weapons of mass destruction. Our soldiers were fortunate he did not.
The Bush Administration should have clearly informed the American people that Congress, in voting to authorize the war, was provided the same information that the Bush Administration relied upon. Interestingly, Senator Clinton, the newly sworn in Secretary of State, admitted that she had not read the information provided prior to voting to authorize military action. We can assume that she was not the only one who failed to make an informed decision.
While we are told that Hussein was not involved in 9/11, he was involved in sponsoring terrorism in the Mideast. Every time a suicide bomber blew up Israelis, Saddam sent the bomber’s family $25,000. He also harbored terrorists in Iraq.
Saddam also tried to have the former President, George H. W. Bush, assassinated. That alone would be causa bellis.
Bush initially bonded with the public in his appearance at Ground Zero. The Administration was later accused of not connecting the dots, and that it was warned of the threat of Osama Bin Ladin. The reality is that no specific warning was provided of a specific threat – only of a general threat which provided no useful information upon which to take preventative measures. Bush should simply have pointed out that the Sudan government on three occasions offered Bin Laden to Clinton, who refused to accept him as a prisoner. 9/11 then followed.
On another occasion the Bush Administration and Attorney General Alberto Gonzales were accused of playing politics with dismissing six United States Attorneys. The US attorneys serve at the pleasure of the President, who has every right to terminate them for poor service.
The reason for their firings in essence was a failure to pursue and then prosecute instances of voter fraud, such as in Missouri and New Mexico. Think ACORN! We know that in the recent elections, Senator Norm Coleman probably lost reelection because of ACORN’s actions.
One of the first acts of President Clinton in assuming the Presidency was to fire every US Attorney, shutting down in the process ongoing investigations of Democratic misconduct.
And yet, Congressman John Conyers is still holding Congressional Hearings in an effort to bring criminal indictments against Karl Rove and other members of the Bush White House.
The Bush Administration was silent on all these major “scandals.”
Instead what happened with all of these situations is that talk radio took the lead in defending the Administration, but they are essentially appealing to those who already believe in the Administration.
Admittedly, President Bush assumed office with half of Americans voting against him, and a sizable minority believing him to be illegitimate. In their view, he was “selected” – not “elected.” Many never accepted him. Unlike the current inauguration of President Obama, the Democrats never pled for the Country, all of us, to support President Bush and rally around him.
Bush probably also assumed that, no matter what he did, the media would never give him the credit he deserved. How much have we heard, for example, of the sums he spent fighting AIDs in Africa, or the multilateral negotiations with Iran and North Korea to remove their potential to build the bomb?
President Bush failed to communicate, and his approval rating suffered accordingly. We all suffered for this failure.
Do not expect President Obama to make the same mistake.
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