Another Humpday Wide Open Thread!
By SusanUnPC on January 30, 2008 at 10:24 PM in Barack Obama, Economy, Hillary Clinton, Republicans
Here are some appetizers for you:
| Via Breaking Blue (which is MyDD’s political news service): “Schwarzenegger to Endorse McCain (Jonathan Singer)”: “So says the LA Times (though the Governator’s hair looks a little orange tonight — or maybe the color on my TV is off…).” |
Via McClatchy:
Fed slashes interest rates again as economy stalls
The U.S. economic slump took center stage Wednesday as new data revealed an economy teetering on recession, the Federal Reserve shaved another half-point off interest rates and the Senate began working on a stimulus plan of its own… »
McClatchy correspondents Kevin G. Hall and Tony Pugh are available to answer your questions about the shaky economy at home and abroad, and what’s in store for ordinary Americans in the face of gathering economic storm clouds.
Taylor Marsh loves this YouTube, and I can see why:
From Taylor’s post today, “California Latinos, the Kennedys, the Clintons, and Barack Obama.”
What else is going on?
How to Buy a Mansion You Can’t Afford
Obama’s new home has received a lot of attention in the Corporate Media and on the blogs. This post will discuss other perspectives.
Hyde Park, where the Obama’s have lived since 1994, is home to the University of Chicago (UC) Law School and at least one of UC’s hospitals. Leo Struass taught in the university’s Committee on Social Thought. The Federalist Society was born at UC, and it is the alma mater of many Neo Cons, including Supreme Court Justice Antoin Scalia.
According to 2000 Census figures, both neighborhoods boast racial diversity.
| Group Identification | Hyde Park | Kenwood |
| White | 15.9% | 43.5% |
| Black | 75.7% | 37.7% |
| Hispanic | 1.64% | 4.11% |
| Asian | 4.27% | 11.3 |
| Other | 2.52% | 3.39% |
A census commissioned by Century 21 Real Estate in 2005 reveals how Hyde Park and Kenwood are comparable in almost every category, with Kenwood having the smaller population.
| Neighborhoods | Hyde Park | Kenwood |
| Population Estimate | 22,600 | 9,514 |
| Avg. Family Income | 81,800 | 88,839 |
| Median Age | 39 | 45 |
| % of Population with Bachelors Degrees | 21.03% | 21.75% |
| % of Population with Postgraduate Degrees | 42.49% | 32.14% |
The Obamas had decided that politics was Barack’s ultimate future while still dating. In 1991, then Michelle Robinson, who was then Obama’s fiancée, left her job at the law firm of Sidley Austin Brown & Wood. She went to work for the city of Chicago, first as an assistant to Mayor Daley, then as the Executive Director of Public Allies Chicago, a nonprofit that provides leadership training to young adults interested in public service careers.
In 1996, she left the Public Allies to help create a student volunteer program at The University of Chicago. By the time of this interview, she was the Executive Director of Community Affairs for The University of Chicago Hospitals. This is how Michelle portrays her change of career:
She was devastated when her father died from MS complications. “That’s when I started analyzing my life, sitting in a firm,” she recalls, adding that in that same year she also lost one of her best friends from college to cancer. She soon left the firm to pursue a much lower-paying path in the public sector.
The fact is Michelle was actively recruited for City Hall by a close friend, Valerie Jarrett, who was Mayor Daley’s Deputy Chief of Staff at that time. Valerie later became the Finance Chair of Obama’s 2004 US Senate campaign and then First Treasurer of Barack’s political action committee, Hopefund.
It helps to have friends at City Hall. Among other positions, Michelle was appointed twice to sit on the board of the Commission of Chicago Landmarks for two consecutive terms. Michelle maintained this board seat from 1998 to March 2005, although normally a member only serves one 4 year term.
Flush from the success of Barack’s speech at the 2004 Democratic National Convention, the Obamas decided it was time to find a residence more fitting for their anticipated new status. Barack’s 1995 autobiography Dreams of My Father soared, and they knew Alan Keyes was no threat to their future success in the US Senate elections.
Sitting on the Commission of Chicago Landmarks board, Michelle knew of a permit, waiting for review and approval to sell, for a designated Historical Georgian revival home built in 1910 with four fireplaces, glass-door bookcases fashioned from Honduran mahogany, and a 1,000-bottle wine cellar owned by a doctor in Kenwood. The Commission is supported not only by donations and taxes but also by charges for permits. It’s a pretty extensive process, and they want a complete history of the house and property when a permit is requested. Once the Board approves a permit, the application goes to the city planning or zoning commission if more than a simple sale is involved.
The doctor who owned the Kenwood home wanted more than the Obamas could afford. As Barack has stated in numerous Press interviews, buying the home would be a stretch. Barack contacted his patron Tony Rezko, knowing he was under investigation at the time, in order to see what could be done so the Obamas could afford their dream house. Sub-Division was likely the agreed-on solution. In order to divide the lot, which the doctor purchased as one entity, he would have to:
– Hire an approved architect and general contractor, who had been involved in renovations and sub-divisions in Kenwood previously
– Have the lots surveyed and new plot plans drawn
– Re-start the Landmark Commission permit approval process
– Hold a Public Hearing (required).
On page 51 of the Commission on Landmarks Ordinances, one finds a justification for the doctor agreeing to subdividing the land.
The applicant bears the burden of proof that the existing use of the property is economically infeasible and that the sale, rental or rehabilitation of the property is not possible, resulting the property not being capable of earning any reasonable economic return.
Pages 51 and 52 of the Landmark ordinances show how many proofs and other forms of extensive documentation are required in order to subdivide the land. Can any rational person believe the doctor would have been willing to go along with having his property sub-divided, and all the work and time involved, without compensation and assistance? Who paid for this?
With Michelle sitting on the Landmarks board, Commission approval wasn’t expected to be an issue, even though I have not located notice of the Public Hearing from any of the involved Boards. From there it would go to the City Planning Board and the Zoning Boards, which also require Public Hearings. Each of these steps average between 6 weeks and 3 months to complete.
The doctor’s property was located in what Chicago Zoning Terms refer to as Residential Single zone 1, or RS1. This means the house the Obamas bought required 6,250 sq ft of area. Even if it had the designation lowered to RS2, it still would have required 5,000 square feet, as seen on page 5 of Chicago’s zoning ordinances. Starting on page 8, the ordinances specify setbacks and how much space must be available on each side of a building. The open space on the building’s sides normally conform to Fire Regulations, so that equipment can access all portions of a building during crises.
Public Records at the Chicago Commission on Landmarks, the Chicago Planning Department and Chicago Zoning Boards would show the exact dates of permits, hearings and approvals. Michelle was so confident she listed the Obamas’ condo, which was located on the first floor of a Hyde Park Brownstone. In October 2004, Michelle expressed surprise to a Chicago interviewer that the Condo had sold so quickly, which meant they either had to put off a closing date or write in a lease agreement for a specified amount of time in their Condo purchase contract.
2004 was a year flush with success for the Obamas: the autobiographical book sales increased; the DNC speech had been well received; Obama won his US Senate seat; and Michelle received a recent promotion to a $316,962-a-year position as Vice President at The University of Chicago Hospitals. Their income was over 1.67 million dollars, with anticipation of even greater gains ahead.
All that needed to be done, in the name of the doctor, on the Kenwood property was completed by March 2005, and the house was finally listed. Michelle Obama resigned her seat on the Chicago Commission on Landmarks at the same time. Barack and Michelle closed on their new home in June of 2005, for $1.65 million dollars, $300,000 less than the asking price, and most likely using the proceeds of their Condo for a down payment, while taking out a mortgage for $1.32 million from Northern Trust. Tony Rezko’s wife purchased the newly divided sub-plot for the full price of $625,000 and closed on the same day.
The City of Chicago requires parking permits, or people must rent space at parking garages for around $30 per diem. There is no overnight on-street parking. The Obama’s had no yard to park on, and most likely parked on Rezko’s property.
Within in a month of purchasing their new home, the Obama’s began the same process the doctor previously went through. Because Tony Rezko was being indicted, they needed to be distanced from him. So the Obama’s hired a lawyer and an architect. Additionally, the Obama’s wanted to put up a fence separating the two properties. On page 21 of the Landmark Ordinances above, it states fences for Historic homes can be no more than 5’ high and must not be visible from the street. If the Obama’s had purchased a prefab chain, picket or wooden fence, they would have lost the Historic designation and also the eight-year property tax freeze benefit accrued by agreeing to keep the house in conformance with Landmark regulations.
A Picture of the front view of Obama’s house reveals Landmark and Zoning requirements.
The concrete wall and evergreens were most likely done after the city appropriated land for sidewalks,and the paving of what has been noted as a wide and busy thoroughfare. If you notice, the trees were planted 1-2 feet behind the concrete wall, most probably a result of zoning constraints.
The new fence was specially fabricated to conform to Historic standards, and the $14,000 cost was billed to Rezko per agreement by Obama and Rezko. Obama states he paid for the Architect and Lawyer. Strangely enough the fence actually sits ON the property line between the two lots. Obama agreed to yard maintenance for both properties. And given Obama’s history with the Harvard Law Review and his limited known court experience from public records, Obama most likely either edited or personally wrote the legal documents for his sub-division and the fence. On January 12, 2006, the Obama’s closed on the 1/6th of Rita Rezko’s property they purchased for $104,500.
Facts not specifically cited above, and much more, can be found in this Chicago Tribune article.
This MyDD diary features a special video from NBC news that provides broader views of Obama’s property. The diarist makes note of an SUV sitting on the 1/6 new parcel of Obama’s land.
In all likelihood the driveway was previously on Rezko land. Behind the house is most likely an old carriage house converted into a garage. Parking on the street in that type of neighborhood is prohibited by zoning and fire safety laws, unless someone in authority had been previously notified of a large gathering.
One other event of note occurred in 2005. Daniel Mahru, Rezko’s partner in Rezmar for 16 years until the two men had, according to Mahru, “a difference of opinion,” resigned from Rezmar, Rezko’s slum landlord operation. Did Mahru leave because he knew any shady deals while Rezko was being investigated would lead to disaster?
There were lots of people involved in the purchase of Obama’s house, and they would all be owed some kind of consideration for their help and support. Obama’s favors from Rezko amount to $925,000, plus an additional $14,000 for the fence, bringing the total cash value to just one person to $939,000.
Will Rezko sit quietly in jail or will he bring Mayor Daley, Governor Blagojevich and Senator Obama down with him?
How will Obama repay the ‘favors he owes all these people?
I am sure Patrick Fitzgerald will reveal all these connections and much more in Rezko’s upcoming trial at the end of this month.
on sale for only $16.95.
also comes with a special spatula.)
(List Price: $27.95 - Your Price: $15.47)
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By Sarah Palin (Release date: November 17. 2009)
Thank god the oil companies are doing well!
SHELL OIL set to declare biggest-ever profit by a British company…
“The right price for a thing is that which it will fetch.” - Marcus Samuel, founder of Shell
John Edwards kept bringing this up! When will we hear congress talk about taxing these record breaking profits?
This is a very disturbing story in the Seattle P.I. — and, by the way, Mercer Island is a very WEALTHY area across Lake Washington from Seattle:
I am watching Sen. Whitehouse questioning the AG …if I could have one wish since we are required to “hope”, it would be that Whitehouse gets AG. He is one of the consistently sharpest people I have seen in long time. I don’t agree with his compromise position on FISA but he is tenacious.
SusanUnPC: Nerve gas? what is the history of Mercer Island?
Rhode Island did us a huge favor by electing Whitehouse. He is so sharp.
No, the non-organic produce sold in grocery stores has this poison on it, and anyone who eats non-organic produce consumes it! That’s what’s so disturbing. Read the entire story:
Harmful pesticides found in everyday food products
Mercer Island children tested in yearlong study
Senator Whitehouse was hammered on C-Span’s Washington Journal this morning. The screener seemed quite lop-sided in who they they let through. There were four people who got through during the half hour who hammered Whitehouse for “airing the U.S.’s dirty laundry for our enemies to see”. There was one question from a woman in support of congressional oversight.
Here were my questions
1. Will Whitehouse get that private meeting that he requested of Mukasey to discuss the “concrete facts and circumstances” having to do with the would not be “if’s” in a private setting.
2. Were the individuals who conducted the “enhanced techniques” contractors? (Larry has eluded to this)
3. Are there tapes that have not been destroyed?
During the hearing Senator Leahy indicated that there were.
thank you susan,
I have fwd this onto many others. I love this site more and more each day.
Susan,
This raised the hair on my arms.
What prompted them to start to study these children?
It made me think of this
June 08, 2006
Testing Pesticides on Children? Industry Helped Bush Write Law
“One month before the Bush administration proposed rules authorizing experiments on humans with pesticides and other chemicals, its key operatives met with pesticide industry lobbyists to map out its provisions, according to meeting notes posted today by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER). The industry requests for exemptions allowing some chemical testing on children and other provisions were incorporated into the human testing rule ultimately adopted this January 26th.
At the August 9, 2005 meeting held inside the President’s Office of Management and Budget, representatives of the pesticide trade association, Crop Life America, as well as Bayer CropScience met with OMB and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency officials. Also attending was a former top EPA official, James Aidala, who now acts a lobbyist at a law firm representing chemical companies.”
“Unfortunately, using human beings as guinea pigs to test the toxic strength of commercial poisons has become a central regulatory strategy under the Bush administration,” says PEER’s Executive Director Jeff Ruch.
http://www.newmediaexplorer.org/sepp/2006/06/08/testing_pesticides_on_children_industry_helped_bush_write_law.htm
I vaguely recall that story.
Today’s report makes me glad I buy organic food — even if it is more expensive. And it tastes so much better.
I also buy organic food for my cats. There’s a good plant in the Midwest that cans the organic foods, which are all raised in the U.S. on organic farms. Cats are especially susceptible because they are obligate carnivores — and most meat sold in the U.S. is questionable.
And I don’t buy any cat food that contains fish anymore because most of the fish is imported from China, and is raised in the most godawful conditions, so toxic that the Chinese have to load the tanks up with veterinary antibiotics to keep the fish alive — and those antibiotics are illegal in the U.S. (And that’s true of most fish sold for human consumption in U.S. supermarkets.)
you’ll geta kick out of this regarding James V. Aidala :
Office of the Press Secretary — President Clinton names James V. Aidala to serve as Assistant Administrator for prevention, pesticides, and toxic substances at the Environmental Protection Agency.
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_hb5243/is_200003/ai_n20073522
Since I’ve been watching the FISA debacle on the senate floor I thought I refresh my memory.
Whos bomb?
http://thinkprogress.org/2007/09/04/goldsmith-book/
I have a movie recommendation. Last week a colleague and I saw Persepolis. It is a truly remarkable piece of work, and tells a story that Americans should hear.
This is a French autobiographical film, and takes place in Tehran and Europe during the years just before, during and after the Iranian revolution. The central character is a young Iranian girl. It is an animated film, and the animation style is unique, and surprisingly very effective. The characters, especially the girl’s family, are people I can recognize. The film has a lot of humour, along with the drama and pathos.
I don’t want to oversell this film, but at the end the entire audience sat silently through all the credits, and for three or four minutes after the credits were finished.
Thanks for the recommendation. I just saw the trailer for it a couple of weeks ago, before seeing There Will Be Blood. It does look good.
It really is outstanding. And people who see it will get a good sense of the character of urban educated Iranians, and what they went through.
I would like to take the time to thank ***blackcentury.com*** for the wonderful service they have provided. I met my husband through the site 1 year ago, we were two people of different cultures and countries. Yet, because of this great website we were brought together after finding love. Maybe you will love it.
Did Eric Edelman Lie to the Plame Grand Jury?
By: emptywheel Wednesday January 30, 2008 8:30 pm
http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2008/01/30/did-eric-edelman-lie-to-the-grand-jury/
Mr.,
I’ve almost stopped paying attention to this because nobody is going to do a thing to punish these traitors.
He was probably involved in the nuclear arms smuggling that Edmonds speaks of.
Emptywheel is amazing…she is committed to justice
ABC news has this story about Hillary not supporting unions when she served on the board of Walmart. They did not bother to tell the things she did accomplish. I tried posting this message, but have a glitch. I did submit a complaint to ABC. TPM, too since Josh is linking to it. Here is the ABC link.
http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/story?id=4218509&page=1
“Everyone needs to read this much more balanced description of Hillary’s tenure on the Walmart board. She was the only one on the board who was pro union, so instead of wasting time fighting windmills, she pushed them on womens issues and the environment. She actually had a lot of success getting Walmart to be greener. Walmart pressured suppliers to reduce packaging, they improved energy efficiency and even opend an model green store in Kansas.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/20/us/politics/20walmart.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
More impressively, Hillary used the credibility she had gained with Walmart Founger Sam Walton to get him to help build support for a CORPORATE TAX to support a major reform of Arkansas then terrible education system. This is nothing short of a miracle in my book, but she gets no credit for what she accomplished, just disparagement for not doing the impossible.
Did ABC not bother to get all the facts or did they just decide not to tell their audience?”
What, you think ABC is a journalistic entity? Even before they were entertainment (Disney) they were owned by Capital Cities, whose honcho was William Casey.
For those under 35, Casey was Ronnie Dimwit’s CIA chief, a real Cold Warrior who styled himself cut from Allen Dulles flannel.
His stupidity resulted in a lot of dead Marines in Beirut.
The difference between ABC and Fox is…well… there must be SOME difference…
there must be SOME difference
I saw an add last eve that said a candidate was indorsed by 3 papers…It neglected to mention they were all own by the same parent company.
They are discussing Afghanistan on C-span right now
http://www.c-span.org/watch/cs…..8;Code=CS3
This discussion about Afghanistan is about three years late. I have been hearing weekly reports from a young man from Afghanistan studying here in the states on a Fulbright for two and a half years (he communicates with his very large family in Afghanistan weekly) that the situation in Afghanistan has progressively been getting worse.
Almost seems like they want to lose.
Senator Hagel asked how much money has been spent in Afghanistan since our invasion. The answer from the expert 25 billion. That is three months of what is being spent in Iraq. WTF
Why not subsidize all of those poppy farmers for five years and get them off the “narco economy”? Well maybe because the International mafia does not want the Afghani farmers off of this teat?
My friend from Afghanistan has said that most of the orchards that many of these farmers relied on before Russia invaded were destroyed by Russia during the war.
Why not tap into the 52 students from Afghanstan who are studying here in the states on Fulbrights? Why not tap into what they know? My young friend worked in Narco terroism when he lived in Afghanistan he is going back there. Why not tap into what these young Afghani’s know will help with the Afghani infrastructure?
I have just watched the 10 AM MSNBC news. By minute 8 I fully expected a small BO pop up to appear saying “I’m Barack Obama and I approve this message”. Multiple cuts of him speaking next to Carolyn Kennedy about his great future for all of us plan, pans of large a audience cheering behind, then his MS reporter starting to rave and the moment they lost contact with her a quick switch to a Barack punitive who responded to Amy Robach suggestion that don’t the Clintons want a return to the good days of the 90’s with an answer that it was a different world back then and they’re out of touch with the present world and Barak is the future. As noted all this with continuous shots of BO speaking in the back ground. The report is finished with a posting and reading of the NY Post’s Barack endorsement. At about minute 8 we switch to Hillary Clinton. What do we get? Scenes of HC serving peach cobbler on an airplane, a discussion of whether or not she made it or bought it, then finally scenes of her meeting with a black Elvis impersonator.
On the other side its clearly McCain, McCain, McCain. I believe Mitt is beginning to know what its like to be “Clintonized”.
Clinton, Obama in race for Edwards’ voters
BY GLENN THRUSH | glenn.thrush@newsday.com
http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/nation/ny-usedwa0131,0,3879544.story
What Hillary Or Obama Have to Do To Win My Support/Vote
I am terribly sad that Edwards has dropped out. But what I want to share is what Senator’s Clinton or Obama have to do to get this 55 year old soccer moms vote.
Hillary voted for the Kyl Lieberman amendment in Oct of 2007, Obama just happened to be our of town the day of this critical vote. (yeah right Obama is an anti war candidate) Why did he choose to miss this opportunity to demonstrate that he is indeed against any more unnecessary warmongering against Iran or any other nation in the middle east that has not threatened the U.S. They both lost me over this warmongering amendment.
If either one comes out in strong support of diplomacy with Iran, Syria and are willing to be far more fair and balanced on the Israeli Palestinian conflict…they will have me.
Until then not sure who I will vote for.
you tube clip that explains the Kyl Lieberman amendment or you can go read the amendment
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L_6CB-3qj 8Y
Richard Holbrooke up on Afghanistan hearing
http://www.c-span.org/watch/cs_cspan3_wm.asp?Cat=TV&Code=CS3
Glenn Greenwald on yesterdays waterboarding/torture hearing
“All day long, in response to Mukasey’s insistence that patent illegalities were legal, that Congress was basically powerless, and that the administration has no obligation to disclose anything to Congress (and will not), Senators would respond with impotent comments such as: “Well, I’d like to note my disagreement and ask you to re-consider” or “I’m disappointed with your answer and was hoping you would say something different” or “If that’s your position, we’ll be discussing this again at another point.” They were supplicants pleading for some consideration, almost out of a sense of mercy, and both they and Mukasey knew it.
Mukasey can go and casually tell them to their faces that the President has the right to violate their laws and that Congress has no power to do anything about it. And nothing is going to happen. And everyone — the Senators, Bush officials, the country — knows that nothing is going to happen. There is nothing too extreme that Mukasey could say to those Senators that would prompt any consequences greater than some sighing and sorrowful expressions of disapproval. We now live in a country where the President — and those acting at his behest (see Lewis Libby, AT&T, and Verizon)– have the power to break the law and ignore Congress and every other aspect of government, and can do so with impunity.”
A must read
http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2008/01/31/mukasey/index.html
Two interesting articles today from CREW - Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington:
White House Filing in CREW Lawsuit Admits to Destroying Back-Up Copies of Emails
Yesterday’s midnight filing by the White House in CREW v. Executive Office of the President, a lawsuit challenging the failure of the White House to preserve and restore millions of missing emails, raises some very troubling questions that the White House clearly does not want to answer.
The White House has now admitted that it does not have an effective system for storing and preserving emails. This is no mere technicality; it is this failure that led to the likely destruction of over 10 million email. What the White House has not explained is why it abandoned the electronic record-keeping system used by the prior administration — a system that properly preserved White House email — but did not replace it with another effective and appropriate system.
…
CIVIL RIGHTS GROUPS CALL ON MUKASEY TO RESCIND BUSH MEMO AUTHORIZING POLITICIZATION OF THE CIVIL RIGHTS COMMISSION
Washington, DC – This morning, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) and the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights (LCCR) hosted a press conference call with the NAACP and MALDEF to demand that U.S. Attorney General Michael B. Mukasey rescind a Bush legal memo that authorized deceptive appointments of exclusively partisan Republicans to the bipartisan Civil Rights Commission.
The letter, signed by LCCR, CREW, NAACP, MALDEF, National Women’s Law Center, National Partnership for Women & Families, Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, National Congress of American Indians and the ACLU is online:
http://www.civilrights.org/library/advocacy-letters/usccr-letter.html
In order to circumvent the Civil Rights Act of 1957, the Bush Justice Department wrote a memo allowing Republican members of the Commission to switch their party affiliation to “independent.” That allowed the president to appoint more Republicans to the bipartisan eight person commission under the guise that they were somehow “independent,” allowing the Bush administration to circumvent the law requiring that no more than four members of any party serve on the commission.
…
I am beginning to believe that Bill Clinton is intentionally sabotaging his wife’s campaign with dumb remarks like this:
http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2008/01/bill-we-just-ha.html
and deals like this:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/31/us/politics/31donor.html?ei=5065&en=6a843530898e147a&ex=1202446800&partner=MYWAY&pagewanted=print
Imagine for a moment that you are a bank.
Imagine that the magic printing press puts oodles ( scientific term ) of new money into your account at the Central bank. Whoa your bank is suddenly very liquid. Now being liquid is all fine and dandy but that liquid decreases in value by 5%/year because the magic printing press keeps printing more of it and putting it in other bank’s accounts at the central bank.
So you Mr Bank have a job to do, you must lend that money … profitably. So you look around for worthy borrowers, you do your due diligence on them, and find that NOT ONE OF THEM is solvent. If you lend out this magic money to any of the possible borrowers your expectation is that the borrower will be unable to repay. ( Money down a rathole is the scientific term ). Even at a fantasy rate of 3% /annum interest, the borrowers out there look to be unable to repay any loans. ( Why can’t they repay you ask? Because they are not producing anything anyone wants to purchase or building anything anyone wants to invest in.)
There is no crisis in liquidity, there is an insolvency crisis, a going out of business crisis, a bankruptcy crisis and putting more money in the hands of you Mr. Bank is not going to make those folks going bankrupt, going out of business, sending in “jingle mail” any more solvent. The Fed can lower the rate to 0% emulating our direst enemy the Japanese and it will still not make the current creditors any more solvent.
Add to that problem Mr. Bank that the magic currency you have is no longer the only currency used in international trade. The $ is rapidly moving back to being a LOCAL currency. The dollar is now only propped up by two things: 1) The arab states willingness to import american inflation simultaneously with losing 5% per year compouded in purchasing power on their current holdings of dollars, 2) the necessity for CHina, Iran and other nations to divest themselves quietly and cautiously of $ without causing a complete rush to the exits by everyone else holding dollars simultaneously.
Imagine you are a bank …
From the Boston Globe:
http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/ideas/articles/2008/01/27/the_black_box_economy/?page=full
There is a good reason that most of us are not stockpiling canned goods ( toilet paper will be more valuable). We don’t have anything left on our credit cards to charge the goods with. And our loverly credit card companies are unilaterally upping our interest rates if we are current on our monthlies and not spending up to the limit. It also doesn’t help that food inflation is about 20% this quarter. Gasoline inflation is a bit less this month where I live. Have you received a raise recently? a COLA adjustment that was in line with the true inflation rate? Your bank raised its saving rate to attrack you to save?
Also see Joseph Stiglitz:
http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/economics/wef/article3220961.ece
It does not look good.
http://www.counterpunch.org/leupp01292008.html
A Sibel Edmonds Timeline
“We Can’t Afford to Let Them Spill the Beans”
By GARY LEUPP
Rove, the 9/11 Commission Bombshell
http://www.atlargely.com/