Election Edition

Interlagos this week.  Means between the lakes.  Pitchers and Catchers report February 13th.

Elections taking up a lot of ether tonight, you can consider this an Open Thread (when isn’t it?).  In a sort of meta interesting way NBC and Faux start their election coverage at 9 (Faux only hangs for an hour), ABC at 9:30, and CBS at 10.

Or perhaps you wish to avert your eyes-

• AMC– Top Gun, The Terminator
• Bravo– Kathy Griffin On Crutches (premier)
• Discovery– Dirty Jobs x 2, Auction Kings x 2 (all premiers)
• ESPN2– College Throwball, Middle Tennessee State @ Arkansas State
• Food– Private Chefs of Beverly Hills (premier)
• FX– Mr. & Mrs. Smith
• Sci Fi– Stargate Universe (premier, bracketed by ST: TNG and not a Caprica in sight)
• Turner Classic– The Winning Team (Ronnie as Grover Cleveland Alexander, two and a half stars is very charitable.  Doris Day), It Happened in Flatbush (more Baseball a day late and a dollar short)
• Toon– Tower Prep (premier), Sym-Bionic Titan (this week’s)
• Vs.– Sharks @ Wild

Oh, you zip it, Doris! Rogers Hornsby was my manager, and he called me a talking pile of pigshit. And that was when my parents drove all the way down from Michigan to see me play the game. And did I cry?

Later-

It will happen.

• AMC– Silence of the Lambs
• FX– Terriers (this week’s)
• Sci Fi– Instapeat
• Speed– Monster Jam!
• Turner Classic– Eight Men Out (so two days ago)
• USA– GoldenEye (Brosnan)

October 14th Dave.  Jon’s Indecision 2010: Maybe We Can’t and Stephen’s Indecision 2010: Revenge of the Fallen are billed as LIVE.  Stephen is sharing the spotlight with David Frum and Chrystia Freeland.

Boondocks– Stinkmeaner Strikes Back.

Regardless of the verdict of juries… no player who throws a ball game… no player who undertakes, or promises to throw a game… no player who sits in conference with a bunch of crooked players and gamblers where the ways and means of throwing a ball game are discussed, and does not promptly tell his club about it… will ever play professional baseball again.

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Why Are Democrats Going to Lose When They Are More Popular?

By: Cenk Uygur Tuesday November 2, 2010 1:10 pm

I have a crazy suggestion for you guys, which I am sure the Washington establishment will hate with every fiber of their being – why don’t you fight for us, the average American voter, over the next two years and see how that works out? Why don’t you take on the powerful and punch them in the face (politically)? Why don’t you take the fight to the Republicans and tell them you are going to stop the banks from robbing us no matter what happens? Why don’t you tell the Washington media to shove it next time they suggest you work with the Republicans in cutting taxes for the rich and balancing the budget on the back of the poor and the middle class?

But you won’t. You know it, I know it and the American people know it. You will bow your head and call populism a dirty word and keep catering to the lobbyists and the donors in a desperate attempt to appease them more than the Republicans do.

The system is broken. No one represents us. The special interests and the corporate interests have bought all of the politicians. So, when the American people throw the bums out, they are right. Unfortunately, this time around they are going to replace them with far, far worse bums. But they are going to learn that lesson the hard way. And next time, they’ll throw them out again. And they’ll keep doing that until one of the parties gets it through their heads that the Washington establishment does not represent the American people. They represent the powerful. And the more you cater to them the more the American people will hate you. And vote you out of office.

I voted for change and I’m going to keep on voting until I get it.

Evening Edition is an Open Thread

1 Embassies targeted in Greek bombing campaign

by John Hadoulis, AFP

17 mins ago

Debt Panel Pauses Until After Elections

By JACKIE CALMES, The New York Times

Published: November 1, 2010

Dean Baker is alarmed about this part-

WASHINGTON – The bipartisan debt-reduction commission that President Obama created eight months ago will begin meeting privately soon after Tuesday’s elections, with just three weeks to try to agree on cutbacks to Americans’ favorite tax breaks and benefit programs.

The group, which has a Dec. 1 deadline for recommending how to reduce the annual deficits swelling the federal debt, purposely has done little to date beyond five public hearings, and it has decided nothing lest any decisions leak and blow up in the flammable mix of a campaign year with control of Congress in the balance.

which I think a little late on the realization front, but whatever.  I’m more alarmed about this part-

Mr. Bowles has suggested that perhaps two-thirds of total deficit reduction come from spending and the rest from new revenues. The panel is not considering higher income tax rates given Republicans’ resistance. It is exploring ways to shave the roughly $1.2 trillion annual cost of “tax expenditures,” the tax breaks for individuals and businesses.

…

Four of the most expensive tax expenditures also are the most popular. Those are deductions for mortgage interest, state and local taxes, and charitable giving and the exclusion from income taxes of the cost of employer-provided health insurance. One option would be to keep such breaks but reduce them or phase them out, supporters say. The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, a bipartisan group of policy experts, has proposed changes to save $1.7 trillion over a decade.

It’s certainly worth reading.

Update: More from Dean Baker

Erskine Bowles: Social Security’s Enemy No. 1?

By: Dean Baker Monday November 1, 2010 1:57 pm

While Simpson has seized the spotlight, it may prove to be the case that Erskine Bowles, his co-chairman, poses the greater threat to Social Security. The reason is simple: Bowles is the living embodiment of the rewards available to politicians who would support substantial cutbacks or privatization of the program.

…

(C)ontrary to the Washington fear mongers, Social Security is in solid financial shape by any reasonable definition. The Congressional Budget Office projects that it can pay all scheduled benefits for the next 29 years with no changes whatsoever (.pdf). Even after it first is projected to face a shortfall in 2039, the program could still pay nearly 80 percent of benefits into the next century without any changes at all.

Modest changes, such as raising the cap on taxable income (currently $106,000) would eliminate much of the projected long-term shortfall. Changes of the size implemented by the Greenspan commission in 1983 would make the program fully solvent long into the 22nd century. Remarkably, virtually no policy wonk seriously disputes these numbers in spite of the near universal hysteria among the chattering class over Social Security.

On policy grounds, Social Security is a smashing success. It scores even better politically. Poll after poll finds that everyone from Tea Partiers to actual socialists strongly supports the program. Yet, many members of Congress stand prepared to vote for substantial cuts to Social Security or even a partial privatization of the program.

Why would members of Congress be prepared to take a vote that is both bad on policy grounds and also could hurt their own political survival? Erskine Bowles is a large part of the answer.

Evelyn, could you come here for a second? Which team do you play for?

Well, I’m a Peach.

Well I was just wonderin’ why you would throw home when we got a two-run lead. You let the tying run get on second base and we lost the lead because of you. Start using your head. That’s the lump that’s three feet above your ass.

Are you crying? Are you crying? ARE YOU CRYING? There’s no crying! THERE’S NO CRYING IN BASEBALL!

Why don’t you give her a break, Jimmy…

Oh, you zip it, Doris! Rogers Hornsby was my manager, and he called me a talking pile of pigshit. And that was when my parents drove all the way down from Michigan to see me play the game. And did I cry?

No, no, no.

Yeah! NO. And do you know why?

No…

Because there’s no crying in baseball. THERE’S NO CRYING IN BASEBALL! No crying!

I am given to understand there was a shocking display last night, but I’m afraid I didn’t watch it.  Oh, I’m talking about cheering for W, not the 4 – 0 blow out.

You see, the Ranger’s problem is that they are facing elimination and in front of the home crowd too.

Battle of the Aces- Lee and Lincecum.  7 – 11 the first time out.  I renew my prediction of Weapons of Mass Destruction because I’m just as convicted convinced as any Washington Pundit that if I throw enough shit there’s sure to be a pony in there somewhere.

Other things-

The overnights should be interesting, solid premiers on broadcast, also Monday Night Throwball on ESPN– Texans @ Bolts (you know how to root).

• AMC– Red Planet, Rubicon (10/17)
• Bravo– Real Housewives (last week’s and premier)
• Discovery– Wreck Chasers x 2 (Series Premier), also Sr. v. Jr. x 2
• FX– Spiderman 3
• Lifetime– Lying to be Perfect
• National Geographic– 9/11: Science and Conspiracy
• Spike– The Phantom Menace x 2
• TBS– Family Guy night
• Turner Classic– Early, Edison early, Movie history
• Toon– Regular Show, MAD, Total Drama World Tour (premiers)
• TV Guide– Driving Miss Daisy (useless)
• Oxygen– While You Were Sleeping

Later-

• AMC– Rubicon, Mad Men (both 10/17), Volcano
• Food– Best Thing I Ever Ate (premier?  At this hour?  What are they thinking?)
• Oxygen– Must Love Dogs
• Turner Classic– Birth of a Nation biography
• USA– The 40-Year-Old Virgin x 2 (yawn)

Dave hosts Robert Downey Jr. and Elvis Costello and the Sugarcanes with Pete Thomas.  Jon has no identified guest, Stephen Jonathan Alter.  Double Alton, Curry and Stew.

Boondocks– The Passion of Reverend Ruckus (a must see excellent episode).

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Evening Edition is an Open Thread

1 Priests among 46 Christians killed in Iraq hostage drama

by Khalil Murshadi, AFP

2 hrs 32 mins ago

It’s not my position to tell you how to vote, or even whether you should or not.  Since I’ve been eligible I’ve only missed once because I had a traffic accident on the way to the polls (and that includes primaries too).

I’m a registered Democrat and I’ve often voted the party line, even to the extent of snooting the Republican Election Commissioner who’s guaranteed a job by virtue of his party affiliation.  On the other hand I supported Lowell Weicker against Joe Lieberman and later as Governor.

This year my enthusiasm for voting is bordering on the negative numbers, and yet I will still drag myself out.

I have the luxury of supporting the Working Families Party to register my dissatisfaction with the corporate whores of Washington, you may find it more difficult to express your disapproval.

While I sympathize I’ll offer no guidance, you should make up your own mind, but I will say that I think that it’s critically important if you are unhappy with the direction of our Republic you find a way to make it clear to our ignorant arrogant elites.

They depend on our votes and eyeballs for their phony baloney jobs.

Monday Business Edition

Nobel Prize winning economist Paul Krugman quotes with approval a comment from this post on Irish austerity-

Most people don’t realize that “the markets” are in reality 22-27 year old business school graduates, furiously concocting chaotic trading strategies on excel sheets and reporting to bosses perhaps 5 years senior to them. In addition, they generally possess the mentality and probably intelligence of junior cycle secondary school students. Without knowladge of these basic facts, nothing about the markets makes any sense- and with knowladge, everything does.

How the Banks Put the Economy Underwater

By YVES SMITH, The New York Times

Published: October 30, 2010

The banks and other players in the securitization industry now seem to be looking to Congress to snap its fingers to make the whole problem go away, preferably with a law that relieves them of liability for their bad behavior. But any such legislative fiat would bulldoze regions of state laws on real estate and trusts, not to mention the Uniform Commercial Code. A challenge on constitutional grounds would be inevitable.

Asking for Congress’s help would also require the banks to tacitly admit that they routinely broke their own contracts and made misrepresentations to investors in their Securities and Exchange Commission filings. Would Congress dare shield them from well-deserved litigation when the banks themselves use every minor customer deviation from incomprehensible contracts as an excuse to charge a fee?

…

The large banks, no doubt, would resist; they would be forced to write down the mortgage exposures they carry on their books, which some banking experts contend would force them back into the Troubled Asset Relief Program. However, allowing significant principal modifications would stem the flood of foreclosures and reduce uncertainty about the housing market and mortgage securities, giving the authorities time to devise approaches to the messy problems of clouded titles and faulty loan conveyance.

The people who so carefully designed the mortgage securitization process unwittingly devised a costly trap for people who ran roughshod over their handiwork. The trap has closed – and unless the mortgage finance industry agrees to a sensible way out of it, the entire economy will be the victim.

(Nobel Prize Winning) Economist Stiglitz: We need stimulus, not quantitative easing

By Ezra Klein, Washington Post Staff Writer

Saturday, October 30, 2010; 9:07 PM

The Fed, and the Fed’s advocates, are falling into the same trap that led us into the crisis in the first place. Their view is that the major lever for economic policy is the interest rate and if we just get it right, we can steer this. That didn’t work. It forgot about financial fragility and how the banking system operates. They’re thinking the interest rate is a dial you can set and by setting that dial, you can regulate the economy. In fact, it operates primarily through the banking system, and the banking system is not functioning well. All the literature about how monetary policy operates in normal times is pretty irrelevant to this situation.

…

(T)he reason the private market for mortgages has dried up is that everybody knows the moment the government withdraws from the mortgage market, the effect will be that there will be a capital loss on the mortgages – and the same thing goes for our long-term bonds. Now we don’t use mark-to-market accounting, so we’ll pretend they don’t occur, but they will have occurred. We’ll have experienced a loss. The third point is that to avoid recognizing the loss, the Fed is likely to do silly things, like rather than buying and selling government bonds, they’ll pay interest on deposits banks make to the Federal Reserve in order to absorb the liquidity.

There are two problems with this. First, it’s costly, as we’re now paying interest when we didn’t before. Second, we don’t know how well this will work. And because it’s uncertain, you might say that the financial markets, recognizing we’re going into uncharted territory, will request a risk premium. That’ll hurt the U.S. Treasury and would be bad for the economy. So this is not costless. If it were the only instrument, you might say we have no choice. But it’s not. Fiscal policy is a choice, or it should be a choice. By putting fiscal policy off the table, we’re moving down the cost-benefit curve to something much riskier and much less cost-effective.

Mugged by the Moralizers

By PAUL KRUGMAN, The New York Times

Published: October 31, 2010

So what should we be doing? First, governments should be spending while the private sector won’t, so that debtors can pay down their debts without perpetuating a global slump. Second, governments should be promoting widespread debt relief: reducing obligations to levels the debtors can handle is the fastest way to eliminate that debt overhang.

But the moralizers will have none of it. They denounce deficit spending, declaring that you can’t solve debt problems with more debt. They denounce debt relief, calling it a reward for the undeserving.

And if you point out that their arguments don’t add up, they fly into a rage. Try to explain that when debtors spend less, the economy will be depressed unless somebody else spends more, and they call you a socialist. Try to explain why mortgage relief is better for America than foreclosing on homes that must be sold at a huge loss, and they start ranting like Mr. Santelli. No question about it: the moralizers are filled with a passionate intensity.

And those who should know better lack all conviction.

John Boehner, the House minority leader, was widely mocked last year when he declared that “It’s time for government to tighten their belts” – in the face of depressed private spending, the government should spend more, not less. But since then President Obama has repeatedly used the same metaphor, promising to match private belt-tightening with public belt-tightening. Does he lack the courage to challenge popular misconceptions, or is this just intellectual laziness? Either way, if the president won’t defend the logic of his own policies, who will?

Business News below.

Ok, so the Rangers actually won a game and tonight we’re going to have to find something to watch other than Bush pere et filles throwing up out the ceremonial first pitch which you know Faux and Fiends will drag out as long as they can.  We’ll talk more about that later.

In the mean time the Giants are still in the catbird seat, they don’t have to win a single game in Arlington so it’s all gravy.  Both teams have decided to pitch their Aces only twice, not on short rest (a big mistake I think), so tonight’s matchup is Bumgarner and Hunter.  They are, at best, the fourth best pitchers on each team.  I maintain my prediction of a Pitchers’ Duel because it doesn’t cost me anything except my pride and surely one will turn up some time.  Besides, I don’t want to raise your expectations of excitement.  Baseball is a game of patience and one of the things that makes the games longer during the Playoffs is that the batters start doing what they should be doing all season- taking more pitches.

So don’t worry about answering your door for the Trick or Treaters, you probably won’t be missing anything important.

Oh, things you can watch while the Bushes are on camera, there are the Steelers @ the Who Dats and The Amazing Race, also-

• ABC Family– Van Helsing
• A&E– Amityville: The Last Testament
• AMC– Dawn of the Dead, The Walking Dead x 3 (Series Premier)
• Bravo– Real Housewives marathon
• Comedy– Scary Movie 3, Superhero Movie
• Disney– Twitches Too, Mostly Ghostly
• Food– Challenge, Next (premiers), Outrageous Food (Series Premier)
• FX– The Ruins, Prom Night (not the good 1980 version)
• History– Ice Road Truckers (last week’s and new), Swamp People (premier)
• Lifetime– The Return, The Eye
• MSNBC– Olbermann?  Rachel?  With repeats?  Probably not, though both Zap2it and Yahoo agree.
• TBS– Forrest Gump x 2 (you’re Gumped again and again)
• Turner Classic– House on Haunted Hill, The Haunting (the good versions, they don’t call it ‘Classic’ for nothing)
• TLC– Sister Wives marathon (with premier)
• TNT– The World Is Not Enough x 2 (Brosnan)
• Toon– Beetlejuice, Sym-Bionic Titan, Clone Wars, Delocated (this week’s)
• Vs.– Eight Men Out, Wildcats x 2

Later-

• Turner Classic– Poltergeist, The Phantom of the Opera (Lon Cheney Sr.)
• TNT– King Kong (the most recent and least worthy remake)
• Toon– New Childrens Hospital, Bright Lights, Dean City

I always figured it was talent made a man big, you know, if I was the best at something. I mean, we’re the guys they come to see. Without us, there ain’t a ballgame. Yeah, but look at who’s holding the money and look at who’s facing a jail cell. Talent don’t mean nothing. And where’s Comiskey and Sullivan, Attell, Rothstein? Out in the back room cutting up profits, that’s where. That’s the damn conspiracy.

Look, champ. I know guys like that. I grew up with them. I was the fat kid they wouldn’t let play. “Sit down, fat boy”. That’s what they’d say “Sit down, maybe you’ll learn something.” Well, I learned something alright. Pretty soon, I owned the game, and those guys I grew up with come to me with their hats in their hands. Tell me, champ, all those years of puggin’, how much money did you make?

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Evening Edition is an Open Thread

1 Istanbul suicide blast injures 32

AFP

Sun Oct 31, 1:37 pm ET