The Chicago Tea Party

Ken AshfordEconomy & Jobs & Deficit, Obama OppositionLeave a Comment

For those who missed it, this is the video that went viral yesterday.  It features CNBC's Rick Santelli:

David Sirota said it best: Santelli was "literally on the floor of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange surrounded by multimillionaire traders railing on the Obama administration for trying to help struggling homeowners, and berating people who are getting foreclosed on as 'losers.'"

But that is precisely what has made him a cult hero (already!) on the right.  K-Lo at NRO says the reaction she is getting from conservatives in her email bag is a lot like the day after Sarah Palin made her convention speech.  She even created this graphic:

Pic_PALIN-SANTELLI

I'll let Political Animal speak for me:

In the midst of Santelli's tirade, threats about another "tea party," and genuinely frightening screaming, it didn't seem to occur to him that he sounded ridiculous. A $700 billion bailout for a financial industry on the verge of collapse? No problem. A $75 billion housing policy to stem the foreclosure crisis? Grab the pitchforks, show your unbridled rage, and prepare for a class war against those low-income families who've let down the Wall Street traders who've done so much to improve the nation's economy.

No wonder some of the less sensible among us fell in love with Santelli's faux-populism. It's the precisely the kind of class warfare Republicans have always dreamed of — the wealthy whining incessantly about struggling families getting to keep their homes.

As dday put it, "The revolution has begun. These workaday stock traders are going to take back this country for the laissez-faire capitalists who are entitled to it."

Not incidentally, now might also be a good time to point out that Santelli's fury doesn't stand up well to fact-checking. He made it sound like "losers" who bought homes they couldn't afford are poised to get a bailout from the feds. That might be the prevailing judgment of furious traders on the floor of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, but it's not reality.

The right is going to need a new cult hero. This guy doesn't seem to know what he's talking about.

If this was a "Chicago Tea Party", then it heralded the beginning of "class warfare".  Not the class warfare the Republicans whine about, where rich people are forced to pay higher taxes, but a class warfare against the middle and low classes, brought on by the Wall Street elite.

My First Album

Ken AshfordRandom MusingsLeave a Comment

Another internet meme:

(1) Go to “Wikipedia.” Hit “random” and the first article you get is the name of your band.

(2) Then go to “Random Quotations” and the last four or five words of the very last quote of the page is the title of your first album.

(3) Then, go to Flickr and click on “Explore the Last Seven Days” and the third picture, no matter what it is, will be your album cover.

Here's the first album of my new band, Technical Area:

Myalbum

Dumb Idea

Ken AshfordEconomy & Jobs & Deficit, Energy and ConservationLeave a Comment

AP:

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood says he wants to consider taxing motorists based on how many miles they drive rather than how much gasoline they burn—an idea that has angered drivers in some states where it has been proposed.

The reason, says LaHood, is that gas taxes don't cover the cost of the federal and state highway and road infrastructure.

Okay, fine.  But a mileage tax isn't as good as a gas tax.  A mileage tax will motivate people to drive less, but it won't incentivize you to by a fuel-efficient car.  A gas tax, on the other hand, will do both.  Right?

Repubican Report Card

Ken AshfordObama OppositionLeave a Comment

CNN:

It's the one-month anniversary of President Obama's swearing-in, and not surprisingly the Republican National Committee is out with its' verdict: It's been "disappointing."

"Obama's first month has been marked by wasteful spending, failed bipartisanship, and questionable ethics," the RNC said in a document circulated to reporters.

Uh, right.  Because the last eight years have been the hallmark of fiscal conservatism, successful bipartisanship, and ethical governance.

NYU Protests

Ken AshfordEducationLeave a Comment

Student occupations of the administration buildings, police whopping students, pepper spray… it's like the 60's, man.

Some setbacks apparently…

New York Times:

The students pushed tables and chairs against the doors, and a woman with a megaphone outlined the group’s demands.

They included a full and annual reporting of the university’s operating budget, expenditures and endowment. The students also demanded that N.Y.U. provide 13 scholarships annually to students from the Gaza Strip and give surplus supplies to the Islamic University of Gaza. On the group’s Web site, it also asked that all participants in the protest be granted amnesty from punishment.

Well, that place more emphasis on Gaza.  Here are the actual demands from the protest website:

  1. The inclusion of an elected representative from the student body in New York University’s (NYU) Board of Trustee meetings. This representative should have rights, including voting rights, equal to that of Trustees, as well as the authorization to make public statements on the operations of the Board of Trustees without prior approval from any administration official.
  2. Public release of NYU’s annual operating budget, including a full list of university expenditures, salaries for all employees compensated on a semester or annual basis, funds allocated for staff wages, contracts to non-university organizations for university construction and services, financial aid data for each college, and money allocated to each college, department, and administrative unit of the university. Furthermore, this should include a full disclosure of the amount and sources of the university’s funding.
  3. Disclosure of NYU’s endowment holdings, investment strategy, projected endowment growth, and persons, corporations and firms involved in the investment of the university’s endowment funds. Additionally, we demand an endowment oversight body of students, faculty and staff who exercise shareholder proxy voting power for the university’s investments.

That's the general demand.  Then there is the "occupation demands":

  1. Amnesty for all parties involved.
  2. Full compensation for all employees whose jobs were disrupted during the course of the occupation.
  3. Public release of NYU’s annual budget and endowment.
  4. Allow student workers (including T.A.’s) to collectively bargain.
  5. A fair labor contract for all NYU employees at home and abroad.
  6. A Socially Responsible Finance Committee that will immediately investigate war profiteers and the lifting of the Coke ban.
  7. Annual scholarships be provided for thirteen Palestinian students.
  8. That the university donates all excess supplies and materials in an effort to rebuild the University of Gaza.
  9. Tuition stabilization for all students, beginning with the class of 2012. Tuition rates for each successive year will not exceed the rate of inflation. The university shall meet 100% of government-calculated student financial need.
  10. That student groups have priority when reserving space in the buildings owned or leased by New York University, including, and especially, the Kimmel Center.
  11. That the general public have access to Bobst Library.

Not exactly "fuck the draft", but you know… it's 2009.  Wotchoo gonna do?

The protest website is here, although access to it is sporadic.  From last night:

The police pepper-sprayed the crowd earlier and a few supporters in the street were injured. There are still between 400-500 people out there and it doesn’t look like they’re going anywhere. We, the students of the occupation, remain firmly against violent action and we hope the crowd stands in non-violent solidarity with us. Negotiations are ongoing and we thank you all for your support!!

And later, at 3 a.m.:

We are writing to you from inside NYU. There are still hundreds of dancing masses swelling at the exterior of the building. Morale is high. We are sticking this out. 

The administration’s negotiation consisted of repeating the same ultimatum over and over. They proposed probation (not amnesty in the slightest) for all students involved in the occupation, a disbanding of the occupation and the ability to meet with only two administrators in order to meet to discuss the demands. So… basically they offered to blacklist us, end the occupation and we get 5 minutes in a room with Lynne Brown (Senior Vice President for University Relations and Public Affairs) and Linda Mills (Senior Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education and University Life). This is not negotiation, this is mandate with no room for bargaining.

The  crowd’s energy is high. They overtook the streets several hours ago, and are maintaining their position along West 4th St. They are shouting, dancing and having a good time. At a certain point in time, the crowd began to push against police barricades in front of the Kimmel entrance. There was one confirmed arrest, who was told informally that he was charged with assaulting an officer. These claims are not fully confirmed.

We’re all busy blogging, napping noshing and chanting to the crowds. We appreciate your support, and are open to negotiation at all times. Contact your professors, contact administrators, contact your parents. All we ask is a seat at the negotiations table. We don’t need to bargain to negotiate. We don’t need to plead to talk. We will be heard.

I'm all for student activism; when I was in school (in the eighties) there was an appalling pervasiveness of apathy.  I'm not quite sure that the NYU students are going about this right (could this just be activism for activism's sake?).  [NOTE:  Case in point].  But then again, I'm woefully ignorant of the details and history of the controversy. Having been to law school at NYU, I know Dean Sexton pretty well.  He's not an eminently reasonable guy. 

UPDATE:  Not everyone is rallying behind the students. [Pictured below: a Zac Brown lookalike outside the Kimmel Center]

7nyu

Not Saying He’s *Better*

Ken AshfordObama & AdministrationLeave a Comment

Obama beats out Jesus in poll asking for biggest hero:

Americans named President Obama as their No. 1 hero, followed by Jesus Christ and Martin Luther King, in a new Harris poll.

Others in the top 10, in descending order, were Ronald Reagan, George W. Bush, Abraham Lincoln, John McCain, John F. Kennedy, Chesley Sullenberger and Mother Teresa.

Can't believe McCain beat Sully.

An Open Letter To Freida Pinto

Ken AshfordPersonal1 Comment

16slid1 Dear Freida,

Loved you in Slumdog. 

I read here that you don't have an Oscar date.

I just wanted you to know I'm not doing anything this coming Sunday evening.  Leave a comment to this post so I know how to contact you.  Or email.

Yours, Ken

The Obama Housing Plan

Ken AshfordEconomy & Jobs & DeficitLeave a Comment

This, the most straightforward explanation I could find, is still over my head.  But I think some of this applies to me.  The refinancing part.  I think.  I'm not at risk of foreclosure or anything, but it seems to me that I could and should be doing something to reduce my mortage.

I guess I'll have to see what it actually means, what homeowners have to actually do, etc.

Anyone find a good primer on this stuff?

Rebranding The GOP (“You Down With GOP? Yeah, You Know Me!”)

Ken AshfordRepublicansLeave a Comment

This should be amusing.

Washington Times:

Newly elected Republican National Committee Chairman Michael S. Steele plans an “off the hook” public relations offensive to attract younger voters, especially blacks and Hispanics, by applying the party's principles to “urban-suburban hip-hop settings.”

The RNC's first black chairman will “surprise everyone” when updating the party's image using the Internet and advertisements on radio, on television and in print, he told The Washington Times.

"Yo.  Get your GOP on, ai-ight?  I'm down with da tax cuts, and don't be steppin' with the estate-o-bizzle tax, dawg."

Seriously, I'm not sure what Steele has in mind, but I think it will be comedy gold.  Especially if it pans out like the GOP's embrace of Twitter…..and "the Google"…

UPDATE from Steve Benen:

Steele said the party needs "messengers" who can capture a "region" made up of "young, Hispanic, black, a cross section." He added, "We want to convey that the modern-day GOP looks like the conservative party that stands on principles. But we want to apply them to urban-surburban hip-hop settings…. [W]e need to uptick our image with everyone, including one-armed midgets."

"One-armed midgets"?  Dude.

Steele went on to explain his public-relations vision, saying, "It will be avant garde, technically. It will come to table with things that will surprise everyone — off the hook."

Asked if he imagines a cutting-edge approach, Steele replied, "I don't do 'cutting-edge.' That's what Democrats are doing. We're going beyond cutting-edge."

Raise your hand if you think Michael Steele has the foggiest idea what he's talking about.

Bueller?  Bueller?

What We’re Not Buying

Ken AshfordEconomy & Jobs & DeficitLeave a Comment

Nate Silver points us to this government spreadsheet from the U.S. Dept. of Commerce, showing Personal Consumption Expenditures by Type of Product. If you scroll to the right, you'll eventually come to the 4th quarter of 2008.

What do you see when it comes to the last fiscal quarter?  Nobody's buying things:

Sales of jewelry and watches were off by 7.2 percent in the fourth quarter, the third-largest drop ever recorded. Casino gambling receipts are down about 8.5 percent from a year ago, far and away the largest decrease ever over four consecutive quarters.

Silver focuses on one thing, the sale of beer/alcohol for home consumption.  Seems people aren't stocking up much anymore.

Beer4 

Silver adds:

Sales of alcohol for off-premises consumption were down by 9.3 percent from the previous quarter, according to the Commerce Department. This is absolutely unprecedented: the largest previous drop had been just 3.7 percent, between the third and fourth quarters of 1991.

Beer accounts for almost all of the decrease, with revenues off by almost 14 percent. Wine and spirits were much more stable, with sales volumes declining by 1.6 percent and 0.9 percent respectively.

It's not all doom-and-gloom, though:

What's doing well? The movies. The movies, also historically a recession-proof industry but not a counter-cyclical one, are doing terrifically well. Motion picture theaters increased their revenues by 10.9 percent in the fourth quarter, according to the Commerce Department.

And to my encouragement, something else remained steady.  Actually, it ticked up slightly during the last two quarters of 2008: attendance at "legitimate theaters and opera, and entertainments of nonprofit institutions"

The Latest In The Abortion Battle

Ken AshfordSex/Morality/Family ValuesLeave a Comment

Oh, no.  It's not over simply because Obama was elected president.  The pro-life crowd is still at it.  Even racheting it up a bit.  Here's what they're doing in North Dakota:

A long legal journey could be in store for an anti-abortion bill the North Dakota House passed on Tuesday that would give constitutional rights to fertilized human eggs, the bill's sponsor said on Wednesday.

"I think North Dakota will be on the map to be the first state in recent years to mount a legitimate challenge to Roe v. Wade," Rep. Dan Ruby, R-Minot, said of the U.S. Supreme Court 1973 decision that legalized abortion.

Good.  So now fertilized eggs will have the right to keep and bear arms.

I guess the thinking is that if you give constitutional rights to fertilized human eggs, then that will effectively prevent many forms of birth control (and, of course, abortions) since the fertilized egg will have the right to "due process" (i.e., a trial) before you deny it its "life".  This prohiobition would include rape and incest victims, as well as mothers with health risks.

It also means that the fertilized egg would effectively be a "person", meaning a halt to stem cell research.  And, I suppose, it will mean that pregnant women can use the car pool lane.  On the other hand, they'll have to buy two tickets (one adult, one child) whenever they see a movie.  And let's not forget the tax implications.  It'll also screw up the census.

Colorado tried this last year, but the voters overwhelming rejected it.

There's a biological problem with giving constitutional rights to fertilized eggs.  Medically, a woman is not defined as "pregnant" until the fertillized egg attaches itself to the uterus.  That event triggers the hormonal, physical and other changes that enable the fertilized egg to draw nourishment from the mother’s body.  And sometimes, the fertilized egg fails to make that attachment.

Actually, the text (PDF) of the bill is even worse than the new reports suggest.  It reads:

SECTION 1. References to individual, person, or human being – Legislative intent. For purposes of interpretation of the constitution and laws of North Dakota, it is the intent of the legislative assembly that an individual, a person, when the context indicates that a reference to an individual is intended, or a human being includes any organism with the genome of homo sapiens.

SECTION 2. STATE TO DEFEND CHALLENGE. The legislative assembly, by concurrent resolution, may appoint one or more of its members, as a matter of right and in the legislative member's official capacity, to intervene to defend this Act in any case in which this Act's constitutionality is challenged.

Any organism with the genome of homo sapiens?  Forgive my biological ignorance, but doesn't that (at least arguably) include sperm?  Wouldn't this law effectively outlaw masturbation?  Hmmm… I guess every sperm is sacred.

Anyway, if the law makes it past the North Dakota Senate, would it be constitutional?  Absolutely not, but that’s just the point. The underlying agenda is to provide a vehicle for challenging Roe v. Wade.