The New Joe McCarthy

Former Democratic Senator 'Zion' Joe Lieberman is fast becoming the new Joe McCarthy. This Joe is not hunting alleged communists infiltrating our government, but "sleeper" Muslim terrorists bent on destroying our nation from within. Lieberman got more face time on Fox Spews for his precipitous statements about Ft. Hood mass killer Nidal Hasan's motivations. Shouting "Allah Akbar" is enough to label you a domestic terrorist according to Joe. Would a mass murderer shouting "Jesus is Lord" be categorized in Joe's book as a terrorist? US Person doubts it, even though Joe is a devout Jew. As Army Chief of Staff George Casey said, we all want to know what drove a trained officer and psychiatrist to such violent behavior*, but also "we need to be very, very careful here in these early days and let the investigation take its course." Most of the damage has already been done by Hasan, but irresponsibly claiming that the shooting was "the most destructive terrorist act to be committed on American soil since 9/11" chills our already strained relations with American Muslims in and out of the Armed Services. There are indications that Hasan was experiencing emotional distress and that he holds extreme views of America's wars in Central Asia which the Army knew about but ignored However, Maj. Hasan, as a US citizen, is entitled to due process of law, not trial by sound bytes from a reactionary politician.

[photo: Dar al-Hijrah mosque in Falls Church, VA which Hasan attended while stationed a Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, DC]

*the suicide rate for male veterans is twice the civilian rate. www.nimh.nih.gov/science-news/2007/male-veterans-have-double-the-suicide-rate-of-civilians.shtml

Chart of the Week: No Mo' Credit

[credit: The Market Ticker.com]

Consumer credit is taking a swan dive as illustrated in the chart. Revolving credit, which are credit cards, is decreasing at an annual rate of 10%. This is not good news for an economy that is heavily dependent on consumer purchases, representing over 70% of GDP.

AIG Given Sweetheart Deal by NY Fed

Its pretty obvious to students of the financial meltdown in 2008 that the government blinked when confronted by the banksters armed with "weapons of mass financial destruction" (credit default swaps). AIG was literally drowning in collateral calls on the billions of CDS it wrote. Perhaps scared out of their wits, or simply helping out distressed colleagues and friends, the New York Federal Reserve gave AIG par value for its CDS junk when the New York insurance regulator had mediated deals at 13¢ because a default by AIG would have resulted in financial chaos. This is how the GAO described the situation in its September 2009 report on the crisis:

Critics of the government’s assistance have noted that by providing assistance to AIG for the purpose of providing or returning cash collateral to counterparties, the government was indirectly assisting the counterparties, and they questioned the efficiency of this approach. Some noted that banks that had bought CDS contracts from other failed insurers were paid 13 cents on the dollar in deals mediated by New York’s insurance regulator, whereas AIG’s counterparties were paid market value. They said that new capital to AIG in effect served as direct infusions to the counterparties, including foreign financial institutions [notably Societe Generale and Deutsche Bank]. Conversely, Federal Reserve officials believed that if AIG had failed to pay the collateral amounts due, it would have been in default of its agreements, which could have resulted in AIG’s counterparties forcing it into bankruptcy. Moreover, they believed that the unfolding crisis warranted swift action to prevent a total collapse of the financial system given its fragile state at that time.

Essentially, the government was forced into the corner by the free-booting banksters who created the Wild West private debt machine with the blessing of Alan 'Fedspan' and his cohorts. "Help us, patriots all, or die!" was their cry, and Timmy said "Sirs, aye, aye", despite Goldman Sachs being fully hedged against their AIG exposure. CFO David Viniar told investors in a conference call that Goldman was protected: "We limited our overall credit exposure to AIG through a combination of collateral and market hedges. There would have been no credit losses if AIG had failed."

The Poisoning of the Land

NRDC tells us that the Department of Agriculture spends $100 million annually to kill wildlife that agribusiness deems to be "pests". The division, inappropriately named"Wildlife Services", spreads poisons across millions of acres of public lands. Its agents use two of the most lethal toxins known, Compound 1080 and sodium cyanide intending to kill predators, but which are indiscriminate and kill any animal that comes in contact with them. If you and your dog should be walking in a national forest and your friend becomes the victim of a M-44 spring loaded trap, be prepared to bury your dog. The fiendish device shoots a pellet of cyanide directly into the investigating animal's mouth, insuring a painful and slow death. Help NRDC convince Secretary Tom Vilsack to stop the senseless poisoning of our environment in favor of more effective and less indiscriminate methods of controlling wildlife populations.

[photo courtesy of USDA]

Public Option: Now You See It, Now You Don't

It is inevitable in Washington, DC: a good idea will get deformed beyond recognition by compromise and expediency. So it goes with the public option that is part of the House reform bill that may be voted on today. What started as a compromise to single payer health insurance, the public option was intended to be an efficient, low cost counter-balance to the inequities and waste of a broken system of private health insurance. After the political machinations on Capitol Hill, it has become an expensive boutique program that will not be serious competition for the private insurance industry, but will actually funnel millions of new customers into a system that does only two things well: produce profits and pay exorbitant salaries for executives. America, far from having the "best health system in the world"--a monstrous myth--is 31st in life expectancy, 37th in infant mortality, and 34th in maternal mortality according to the World Health Organization. One authoritative study put us dead last among 19 developed nations in avoiding "preventable deaths". The Congressional Budget Office has concluded the public plan in the House bill will cost more than private plans and only 6 million people will sign up. Forty-four promised us a public system that would cover one out of four Americans. Now it is one out of fifty. At first public subsidies were to be used only for enrolling in the government plan. That idea was hijacked by the insurance industry, so now only private insurance can be purchased with subsidies. Speaker Pelosi said it best, private insurance companies "are going to get 50 million new customers, many subsidized by the taxpayers" because of the individual mandate to buy insurance.

Unable to completely stop this farcical intrusion into their captive market, the insurance business and its lobbyists have now focused on minimizing in every way possible the effect of any government plan that makes it past the Senate filibuster to the conference committee. They will do this by seeking to impose a trigger mechanism to prevent any government competition until insurance companies allow it through their own shear incompetence, and by limiting the number of Americans eligible to participate in the public plan. They will also insist that their industry continue to be protected from anti-trust laws despite their collusive market behavior. Insurance lobbyists have already succeeded in increasing the premiums for public health insurance by requiring reimbursement rates be negotiated with the private sector instead of being fixed by Medicare rates. Senate Majority Leader Reid still does not have the necessary votes in hand to guarantee a sixty vote super majority, so he is delaying presenting the Senate bill on the floor for debate. Senators dependent on insurance companies, like former insurance executive Ben Nelson of Nebraska, are withholding their vote, hoping to gain these further concessions. Even if states are allowed to opt out of this corporate welfare, they will not be able to opt for a single payer system because Nancy Pelosi quashed an amendment passed out of committee that would have allowed it--this despite the official position of the California state Democratic Party supporting single payer reform. The state legislature has twice passed single payer bills only to be vetoed by the 'Governator'.

Whatever public option comes out of the process will be emasculated beyond recognition, thus insuring a continuation of outrageous corporate overcharging for health care in America. AARP is supporting the House bill primarily because it fixes the "doughnut hole" in Medicare Part D. The AMA is supporting the bill because of the devil they do not know and a promised increase in Medicare reimbursement rates. What real choice do unemployed persons (the official rate has reached 10% for only the second time since WWII) not eligible for Medicare or Medicaid have when the market and Congress is controlled by oligopolists with unlimited funds? Answer: None, and that is why Lady Liberty is covering her face in shame.

Australia Fails to Stop Leak

Update: Late news reports say the West Atlas well was finally plugged on November 3rd. The Australian government has formed a commission to investigate the incident.

For over two months a leaking oil well in the Timor Sea has been allowed to pollute some the world's last pristine ocean. The rig in the Montara field off the Kimberly Coast has been spilling oil since August 21st. All attempts to stop the spill have failed probably due to the depth of the leak at 2.6 kilometers below the surface and the 25 centimeter diameter of the well bore. The flow is estimated at 2000 barrels a day by independent experts. Dolphins, migratory sea birds and sea snakes have been observed swimming through the surface slick. Australia may be attempting to sweep news of the spill under the carpet since it is located in such an isolated corner of the globe. Australian Petroleum Production and Exploration Association claimed that the recent WWF survey of the area found no evidence of harm to marine life. Dr. Gilly Llewellyn, head of the ecological survey, said this was clearly a false representation. "Wildlife is dying and hundreds, if not thousands of dolphins, seabirds and sea-snakes are being exposed to toxic oil." The expedition found 17 species of seabird, four crustacean and five marine reptile species including two threatened marine turtles. Ocean oil spills continue to impact an ecosystem for decades after the event as the Valdez spill has demonstrated {3.25.09}. PTTEP Australasia, the Thai company responsible for the spill has reported high levels of mortality among contaminated seabirds. Australian conservationists have been critical of the attempts at plugging the leak, one saying "It's turning into a farce and the big players need to step in because this is an environmental disaster for marine life off the Kimberly Coast." The spill is Australia's third worst on record.

[photo: WA News]

Creature Feature: Chimpanzees Grieve

Why is this troop of rescued chimpanzees at the Sanaga-Yong Center staring at what is happening on the other side of the fence? The chimp Dorothy, in the wheelbarrow, is being taken to her burial. She died of heart failure well past the age of forty. The female will apparently be missed by her friends.

[credit: National Geographic]