WHAT TO DO WITH JOE LIEBERMAN

I made my feelings on Joe Lieberman known during last week's program. I say the Dems should boot him from his committee chair positions. Rachel Maddow explains the logic ...



- Mark

UNEMPLOYMENT TO HIT 9% ...

From Market Watch ...

The U.S. recession is likely to be as long and severe as the downturns in 1973-75 and 1981-82, economists at Wachovia said Wednesday ... The unemployment rate is expected to peak in late 2010 at 9% ...

We'll be discussing this on Saturday.

- Mark

PIRATE ECONOMICS & MARKET SOCIALISM

Imagine getting behind on your bills. Then imagine taking on debt through your credit cards to make up the difference. Now imagine how life would be if you could write-off that debt at the end of the year. What a sweet deal, right?


Well, guess what? This is exactly what the Bush administration's Treasury Department is allowing Corporate America's largest financial institutions to do, as they acquire collapsing financial institutions (with taxpayer funded bailout money, no less). Because of a simple five-sentence note that was added to Sec. 382 of the tax code (on Sept. 30th) it looks like the American taxpayer will fork over an additional $140 billion to Corporate America. Here's what was changed:

Section 382 of the tax code was created by Congress in 1986 to end what it considered an abuse of the tax system: companies sheltering their profits from taxation by acquiring shell companies whose only real value was the losses on their books. The firms would then use the acquired company's losses to offset their gains and avoid paying taxes.

While the financial world was fixed on the Bush administration's request for a $700 billion bailout of the banking industry the Treasury Department issued a five-sentence notice, which attracted almost no public attention, effectively repealing "no write-off" provision of Sec. 382. And did I mention that the financial institutions are using bailout funds to purchase distressed firms?

So, this is what we have ... You and I pay for a bailout. The idea behind the bailout is to kick-start consumer lending by providing banks with taxpayer money. Instead, banks sit on the money and/or look for good deals in the form of collapsing financial institutions. Taxpayer dollars are used to purchase these institutions. Then we pay for the losses these firms bring with them.

Now, what was it that the Republican Ticket called it when you take taxpayer money and shift it from one sector of the economy to another? Oh, yeah ... socialism.

If you want to read what this all means, check out Naomi Klein's excellent article, which describes President Bush's "final pillage" of the American taxpayer - the bailout of America's financial institutions.

- Mark

UNEMPLOYMENT ... HIGHER THAN YOU THINK

Unemployment has just hit 6.5%, a 14 year high. It's probably much higher. Here's why.

First, the unemployment rate doesn’t begin to tell us about the number of Americans who have simply left the labor force. Keep in mind that to be counted as unemployed you actually have to be looking for a job. If you're depressed and not looking for work you're not counted. Today there are well over 6 million people who have left the workforce since March 2001. Only those still looking for work (like the guys lined up looking for work with the IRS in the picture below) are counted in the 6.5% rate today.


Further skewing the unemployment rate is the fact that America is chock full of “contingent” workers - temps, those who don’t expect their jobs to last more than a year, on-call workers, and independent contractors, among other categories. This group constitutes over 15% of America's labor force.

If we put the unemployed, the contigent employed, and the labor force "drop outs" together we're really looking at unemployment/underemployed rates that hover between a conservative 8 - 24% of our labor force. With rising consumer debt loads this is not good news.

At the end of the day, it won't take much to turn the gloomy looks of those looking for work in the picture above into the sad faces of those looking for food in the picture below ...


Absolutely no one - especially those in the republican party - should be surprised that Obama was handed a mandate by the American electorate.

- Mark

REPUBLICAN BLOODLETTING BEGINS ...

From Dailykos ...

It looks like a long and ugly fight is around the corner if Sarah Palin decides she wants to become the republican standard bearer.



Sarah Palin didn't know that Africa is a continent ... or who the players in the North American Free Trade Agreement (the U.S., Mexico and Canada) were. These are important pieces of information, but the real issues here are (1) John McCain didn't vet Palin, (2) at this point the standards for standard bearer in the republican party are not very high, and (3) FOX News kept this information from the public to protect the McCain campaign.

If Sarah Palin wants to become the new face of the republican party there's going to be a fight. Mitt Romney and John Boehner will weigh in. Karl Rove too. Stay tuned. The political theater promises to be good.

- Mark

WHAT IT MEANS ...

The U.S. Supreme Court will maintain its integrity.

American democracy and the rule of law are reborn.

The American ideal once again means something to the world.

There's more, but it appears that the 21st Century can become, like the previous one - an American Century ...


- Mark

FIRED UP, READY TO GO

This speaks for itself ...



- Mark

PALIN LEARNS ABOUT FRANCE ... and Canada

(CNN) — Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin fell victim Saturday to Canadian pranksters who convinced her she was actually speaking by phone with French President Nicolas Sarkozy.

Palin spoke to Marc-Antoine Audette for about six minutes before the comedian identified himself, and she ended the call.

I don't know, but it seems to me that the "from my house I can see Belgium" comment should have been a give away. On the bright side Palin can now say her foreign policy experience includes speaking with Canadians.

- Mark

UNITED STATES OF SOCIALIST REPUBLICANS

What was it that John McCain and Sarah Palin called it when they said Obama was going to shift money around from one sector of the economy to another? Oh, yeah ... socialism.

Well, guess what? It turns out that ...

U.S. banks getting more than $163 billion from the Treasury Department for new lending are on pace to pay more than half of that sum to their shareholders, with government permission ...

So, let's see ... if the U.S. Treasury gets their money from the U.S. taxpayer, and then gives it to U.S. banks to redistribute to shareholders who allowed CEOs and CFOs to make stupid decisions ... hmmmm ... this means that .... ummmm ... that the Bush administration (which is backed by the republican party) is full of Stalinist Socialists?


Maybe we should ask Sarah "We-give-more-than-$3,000-to-Alaskans-each-year" Palin what this means ...

- Mark

THE "PITBULL TURNS"

PIT BULL TURNS ON McMAVERICK
NOW PALIN'S BUCKING HER OWN TICKET

I still haven't figured out how to post giant headlines, but the story is here.

- Mark