February 2010 archive

Andrew Sullivan has a funny sense of accountability.  Essentially, because the Chilcot Inquiry forced Tony Blair to be “answerable,” in words only, and defiant words at that, for his role in a war of aggression, the most heinous criminal acts imaginable, the “most serious crimes of concern to the international community,” crimes against peace, including

(i) Planning, preparation, initiation or waging of a war of aggression or a war in violation of international treaties, agreements or assurances;

(ii) Participation in a common plan or conspiracy for the accomplishment of any of the acts mentioned under (i).

Sullivan thinks a score has been settled?  An account has been balanced?  A debt has been paid?  Tony Blair is no longer in arrears?

From IPS…

In a surprisingly swift move on Thursday night that could have wide-ranging implications, the U.S. Senate passed a bill containing broad unilateral sanctions to punish foreign companies that export gasoline to Iran or help expand its domestic refinery capabilities.

“This means that no president can lift the embargo without certifying to Congress that Iran has met a laundry list of demands that no president in his right mind will certify,” (Patrick Disney, the assistant policy director of the National Iranian American Council) told IPS.

Furthermore, “crippling sanctions,” as broad-based gas sanctions are often called, is a potential checklist item on a path to military confrontation with Iran. But some think imposing and enforcing the sanctions themselves could be tantamount to war.

“Even half of the people that proposed (gas sanctions) say the only way to really impose that is a naval blockade,” said (Richard Sawaya, the president of USA*Engage, a group that opposes unilateral sanctions).

“Well, that’s an act of war!”

When this article appeared Friday, January 29, I thought it was premature to start talking about a naval blockade, but within 24 hours the other shoe dropped.

Neil Barofsky says gub’mint bail-out is not only a big fat fail, but has exacerbated the risks:

from the SIGTARP Executive Summary, pdf

The substantial costs of TARP – in money, moral hazard effects on the market, and Government credibility – will have been for naught if we do nothing to correct the fundamental problems in our financial system and end up in a similar or even greater crisis in two, or five, or ten years’ time.  It is hard to see how any of the fundamental problems in the system have been addressed to date.

• To the extent that huge, interconnected, “too big to fail” institutions contributed to the crisis, those institutions are now even larger, in part because of the substantial subsidies provided by TARP and other bailout programs.

• To the extent that institutions were previously incentivized to take reckless risks through a “heads, I win; tails, the Government will bail me out” mentality, the market is more convinced than ever that the Government will step in as necessary to save systemically significant institutions. This perception was reinforced when TARP was extended until October 3, 2010, thus permitting Treasury to maintain a war chest of potential rescue funding at the same time that banks that have shown questionable ability to return to profitability (and in some cases are posting multi-billion-dollar losses) are exiting TARP programs.

• To the extent that large institutions’ risky behavior resulted from the desire to justify ever-greater bonuses – and indeed, the race appears to be on for TARP recipients to exit the program in order to avoid its pay restrictions – the current bonus season demonstrates that although there have been some improvements in the form that bonus compensation takes for some executives, there has been little fundamental change in the excessive compensation culture on Wall Street.

• To the extent that the crisis was fueled by a “bubble” in the housing market, the Federal Government’s concerted efforts to support home prices – as discussed more fully in Section 3 of this report – risk re-inflating that bubble in light of the Government’s effective takeover of the housing market through purchases and guarantees, either direct or implicit, of nearly all of the residential mortgage market.

Stated another way, even if TARP saved our financial system from driving off a cliff back in 2008, absent meaningful reform, we are still driving on the same winding mountain road, but this time in a faster car.

Congrats, Bush, Obama & The Rubinites!  This one is going platinum.  What was once just “Bigger and Deffer!” is now “Biggerer and Defferer!”

Back in the middle of October I posted a piece entitled Save the Trees which you were all kind enough to elevate to the Rec List.  It concerned the efforts of a local group to fight the powers that be in West Orange, NJ to prevent the destruction of the Governor George Brinton McClellan Estate Old-Growth Forest and Arboretum in order that Seton Hall Prep could build additional sports field and parking lots.  This land is the only old-growth forest within the northern New Jersey metropolitan area which is unprotected and endangered.

You can read more of the background at the link above.  Tonight, however, I wanted to provide an update on the situation.

The trees have won a temporary reprieve…as well as an endangered species of bat which may or may not be using some of them.

Burning the Midnight Oil for Living Energy Independence

Huh, seems me that whatever the state of my various concerns, the agenda of the Sunday Train has been taken over by the White House … funny how announcing the recipients of a total of $8b will do that.

The Transport Politic (aka Yonah Freeman and the TTP commentariat) has a very complete rundown. The allotments over $200m are:

• California, $2,344m
• Florida: $1,250m
• Illinois: $1,236m
• Wisconsin: $822m
• Washington: $590m
• North Carolina: $545m  
• Ohio: $400m

So, what’s the money for? Join me below the fold.