Tag: 4@4

1. Well I bet nobody could have predicted this. According to the Washington Post, Anger over AIG depletes Obama’s political capital.

   “The populist anger at the executives who ran their firms into the ground is increasingly blowing back on Obama, whom aides yesterday described as having little recourse in the face of legal contracts that guaranteed those bonuses… The Obama administration was already facing a skeptical public and members of Congress critical of the huge sums of money the government has allocated to shoring up the devastated financial system.”

   WaPo also reports Senate Democrats look at new taxes seek to recoup $165 million in AIG bonuses.

2. Over at the NY Times, they report on some other tax news — the Internal Revenue Service plans a deduction for Madoff victims.

   IRS commissioner Douglas Shulman told the Senate Finance Committee that the agency will allow victims of Bernard “Madoff’s investment fraud to claim a tax deduction related to the bulk of their losses… The plan would ease existing rules governing what are known as theft-loss deductions, which are losses claimed by investors who are cheated by their investment advisers and others in Ponzi schemes and other frauds.”

   So much for the people who were defrauded out of their retirement savings in IRA and 401(k) plans.

Four at Four continues with China wants consumers to pay for CO2 reduction, Rudman advising CIA on how to beat torture rap, and scientists use lasers to shoot mosquitoes.

1. The NY Times reports Suicide attacks kill 11 people in Afghanistan. A suicide bomber on foot attacked a police convoy in Lashkar Gah, the capital of Helmand Province, Afghanistan, leaving 11 people dead and 28 wounded. “Most of the casualties were members of a counternarcotics squad” that “were about to head out on a poppy-eradication mission in what is the world’s largest heroin-producing region.”

   The Washington Post adds Troops face new tests in Afghanistan. “The southern part of the country is now regarded by U.S. and NATO commanders as the central front in the Afghan war.” The Taliban has “a significant degree of popular support”. Despite U.S.-led coalition “efforts to pry information about the Taliban from the local population — by conducting foot patrols, doling out money for mosques to buy new prayer rugs and offering agricultural assistance to subsistence farmers — have been met with indifference, if not downright hostility.”

2. While President Obama has ordered Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner to ‘try’ to try to block A.I.G. bonuses, according to the NY Times, I find it doubtful anything substantial will be done. While Obama asked of the $165 million in A.I.G. bonuses — “How do they justify this outrage to the taxpayers who are keeping the company afloat?” — I think it’d be better if he asked himself that question.

   Meanwhile, Rep. Barney Frank criticizes A.I.G. “It does appear to me we’re rewarding incompetence,” Frank said. “These bonuses are going to people who screwed this thing up enormously, who made terrible decisions.” A.I.G. has defended these ‘retention’ bonuses as neccesary for keeping ‘top’ talent in place. It seems like a lot of people are lining up for their jobs.

   McClatchy reports MBA programs grow as economy shrinks. 246,957 “aspiring MBA candidates”, a record-high number, took the GMAT exam last year. This year, the number of test-takers is set to break that record. “About 77 percent of full-time MBA programs across the country say applicants were up last year.”

3. The CS Monitor reports Job losses hit black men hardest. “No group has been hit harder by the downturn. Employment among black men has fallen 7.8 percent since November of 2007, according to a report by the Center for Labor Market Studies at Northeastern University in Boston.”

4. The NY Times reports a Reform candidate withdraws in Iran. “Reversing a decision made five weeks ago, Mohammad Khatami, the reformist former president, has decided to withdraw from the June presidential race to support a political ally, close aides said Monday.” According to a close aid, Khatami does not want to run against Mir-Hossein Mousavi.

1. The Wall Street Journal reports Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao voices concern over China’s U.S. Treasuries. Wen said China is closely watching the policies of President Obama and what impact they have on the U.S. economy.

   “We have lent a huge amount of money to the U.S., so of course we are concerned about the safety of our assets. I do in fact have some worries,” Mr. Wen said in response to a question. He called on the U.S. to “maintain its credibility, honor its commitments and guarantee the safety of Chinese assets.”

   China holds the world’s largest foreign-exchange reserves, reported at $1.946 trillion at the end of 2008.

   About two-thirds of that sum is believed to be held in U.S. dollar assets, primarily Treasury bonds. Mr. Wen repeated China’s position that those investments are managed with a view to “safety, liquidity and profitability” — in that order.

   He said that while China’s first priority is to protect its own interests, it will “at the same time also take international financial stability into consideration, because the two are inter-related.”

   Larry Summers, ugh, Obama’s economic aide tries to reassure China over its bond investments, according to AFP. “This is a commitment that the president has made very clear — we need to be sound stewards of the money we invest,” Summers said. “Summers… stressed that the United States had to utilize all resources available at present to jolt its economy from prolonged recession.”

Four at Four continues with Amtrak capital investment, climate change warning, and spy blimp.

1. The Guardian reports Severe global warming will render half of world’s inhabited areas unliveable, Steven Sherwood, a climate expert at Yale University, told a global warming conference in Copenhagen today.

   “Parts of China, India and the eastern US could all become too warm in summer for people to lose heat by sweating – rendering such areas effectively uninhabitable… People will not be able to adapt to a much warmer climate as well as previously thought.”

   “There will be some places on Earth where it would simply be impossible to lose heat,” Sherwood said. “This is quite imaginable if we continue burning fossil fuels. I don’t see any reason why we wouldn’t end up there.”

2. The NY Times reports President Obama issues his first signing statement, “reserving a right to bypass dozens of provisions in a $410 billion government spending bill even as he signed it into law.”

   “One of the budget bill’s provisions that Mr. Obama said he could circumvent concerns United Nations peacekeeping missions… He also raised concerns about a section that establishes whistle-blower protections for federal employees who give information to Congress.” The “majority of the challenged provisions are those allowing money to be reallocated to a different program only with the approval of a Congressional committee.”

3. McClatchy reports the Iraqi who threw shoes at Bush sentenced to 3 years. “An Iraqi court Thursday sentenced television journalist Muntathar al Zaidi to three years in prison for throwing his shoes at former U.S. President George W. Bush… Zaidi’s immediate family wept on hearing the sentence. His brother Udai accused the court of being Americanized. ‘This was expected from an Americanized court,’ he said. ‘We don’t feel sorry for Muntathar, we only feel sorry for Americanized Iraq.'”

4. The Houston Chronicle reports Space debris threat forces temporary evacuation of the space station. “The three American and Russian astronauts aboard the international space station took shelter in their Soyuz escape capsule briefly today to wait out the close approach of debris from an old U.S. commercial rocket stage, NASA said today… The debris, about 4 inches long, whizzed within three miles of the orbital outpost… causing no damage.”

   Back on the ground, the lauch of the space shuttle Discovery is postponed because of a leak in a hydrogen fuel line and NASA’s future is unclear. The LA Times reports President Obama says a ‘Sense of drift’ ails NASA.

   President Obama said Wednesday that NASA was an agency afflicted by “a sense of drift” and that it needed a “mission that is appropriate for the 21st century.”

   During an interview, Obama said the first priority of a new agency administrator — whom he promised to appoint soon — would be “to think through what NASA’s core mission is and what the next great adventures and discoveries are under the NASA banner.” …

   “Shaping a mission for NASA that is appropriate for the 21st century is going to be one of the biggest tasks of my new NASA director,” he said. “What I don’t what NASA to do is just limp along. And I don’t think that’s good for the economy in the region either.”

1. The Guardian reports the U.N. climate chief saus U.S. CO2 cuts could spark ‘revolution’. “Rajendra Pachauri, head of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), said domestic political constraints made it impossible for the US president to announce ambitious short-term climate targets similar to those set by Europe. And he questioned the value of a new global climate deal without such a US pledge.” The cuts that scientists say are needed are politcally ‘impossible’ for the United States to make.

   Pachauri said regarding President Obama’s climate policy: “He is not going to say by 2020 I’m going to reduce emissions by 30%. He’ll have a revolution on his hands. He has to do it step by step.”

2. McClatchy reports the U.N. expert says U.S. rendition policy broke international law. “Martin Scheinin, a U.N. special rapporteur and expert on international law, issued his annual report to the U.N. Human Rights Council on Tuesday.” His report accuses the U.S. and some of its allies “of breaching international law for the so-called extraordinary renditions and subsequent alleged torture of terrorism suspects during the Bush administration’s global war on terrorism, and is launching a probe into the detention of suspects.”

   According to the report, the U.S. masterminded “a ‘comprehensive system’ of rendition and detention of suspects as well as creating “an international web” of intelligence sharing, his report notes that it was possible only through collaboration with many other countries.”

3. The Hill reports President Obama lays out five steps to mend earmarks. “Obama’s reforms are five-fold. First, Obama said, lawmakers must post their spending projects on their websites ‘so the public and the press can examine them and judge their merit for themselves.’ Second, those earmarks must also be open to scrutiny at public hearings… Third, earmarks that go to for-profit private companies would be subject to a competitive bidding contract structure like the one used for other federal contracts… Fourth, Obama said that earmarks should never be traded for ‘political favors.’ And fifth, he noted that his administration will review each spending project and, if it is deemed unworthy, will work to eliminate it.”

4. The Guardian reports Amazon could shrink by 85% due to climate change, scientists say.

   Global warming will wreck attempts to save the Amazon rainforest, according to a devastating new study which predicts that one-third of its trees will be killed by even modest temperature rises.

   The research, by some of Britain’s leading experts on climate change, shows that even severe cuts in deforestation and carbon emissions will fail to save the emblematic South American jungle, the destruction of which has become a powerful symbol of human impact on the planet. Up to 85% of the forest could be lost if spiralling greenhouse gas emissions are not brought under control, the experts said. But even under the most optimistic climate change scenarios, the destruction of large parts of the forest is “irreversible”.

1. The NY Times reports a Bomber kills dozens in Iraq as fears of new violence rise.

   A suicide bomber took aim at a group of Iraqi Army officers on their way to a reconciliation conference on the western outskirts of Baghdad on Tuesday, and wild gunfire ensued. A total of 33 people were killed, including two journalists.

   It was the second attack since Sunday to kill more than two dozen people, suggesting a renewed ability by insurgents to mount effective suicide bombings, after a long period in which such attacks were relatively few and less lethal because of heavy security precautions.

2. The AP reports Top U.S. intelligence officials state Iran does not have key nuclear material, despite what Israel claims. “U.S. National Intelligence Director Dennis Blair and Defense Intelligence Agency Director Lt. Gen. Michael Maples said Tuesday that Iran has only low-enriched uranium – which would need to be refined into highly enriched uranium before it can fuel a warhead. Neither officials said there were indications that refining has occurred.”

   “Maples said the United States and Israel are interpreting the same facts, but arriving at different conclusions. ‘The Israelis are far more concerned about it,’ Maples told the Senate Armed Services Committee.”

3. Yesterday McClatchy reported Regulatory reports show 5 biggest banks face huge losses. Despite having already taken $145 in bailout money, Citibank, Bank of America, HSBC Bank USA, Wells Fargo Bank, and J.P. Morgan Chase “still face potentially catastrophic losses from exotic investments if economic conditions substantially worsen, their latest financial reports show… Their ‘current’ net loss risks from derivatives – insurance-like bets tied to a loan or other underlying asset – surged to $587 billion as of Dec. 31.”

   While today, the NY Times reports Stocks push higher on an upbeat memo from Citigroup. Vikram Pandit, CEO of Citigroup, wrote a memo that said “the bank had turned a profit in the first two months of the year, and that its quarterly performance to date, before taxes and special items, was the best since the third quarter of 2007.” He gave “no indication of how much special items, like write-downs or credit losses, would be”.

4. The Guardian reports Carbon emissions are creating acidic oceans not seen since the dinosaurs. “Human pollution is turning the seas into acid so quickly that the coming decades will recreate conditions not seen on Earth since the time of the dinosaurs, scientists will warn today.”

   “The rapid acidification is caused by the massive amounts of carbon dioxide belched from chimneys and exhausts that dissolve in the ocean. The chemical change is placing ‘unprecedented’ pressure on marine life such as shellfish and lobsters and could cause widespread extinctions, the experts say.”

1. The NY Times reports Bush’s signing statements are put on notice. “Calling into question the legitimacy of all the signing statements that former President George W. Bush used to challenge new laws, President Obama on Monday ordered executive officials to consult with Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. before relying on any of them to bypass a statute.” However, Obama, himself may still use signing statements.

   “In exercising my responsibility to determine whether a provision of an enrolled bill is unconstitutional, I will act with caution and restraint, based only on interpretations of the Constitution that are well-founded,” Mr. Obama wrote in a memorandum to the heads of all departments and agencies in the executive branch.

2. The Washington Post reports the U.S. protests ‘harassment’ of Navy ship by Chinese vessels. “The Pentagon today protested what it called harassment and aggressive shadowing of a U.S. Navy ocean surveillance ship by five Chinese vessels in international waters off the South China Sea on Sunday, warning such behavior could lead to collisions or the loss of life.”

   The U.S.N.S. Impeccable was “surrounded” by Chinese vessels and told to leave the area. When the Impeccable turned fire hoses at one of the ships, “the Chinese crewmembers stripped to their underwear and the ship ‘continued closing to within 25 feet'”. When the Impeccable tried to leave, it was blocked by two ships.

3. BBC News reports a U.S. General says allies ‘not winning’ in Afghan south. Gen. David D. McKiernan, the commander of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan, believes the coalition in areas of the north, east, and west Afghanistan where “coalition efforts in support of the government of Afghanistan [are] winning.

   “But there are other areas – large areas in the southern part of Afghanistan especially, but in parts of the east – where we are not winning,” he said.

   The NY Times adds Western-style democracy ‘no question’ in Afghanistan. McKiernan “raised the possibility of the American military reaching out to moderate elements of the Taliban, much as it did with Sunni militias in Iraq.”

   “If nationalist-minded Taliban come to power through the ballot-box and respect the constitution, that is the Afghans’ business,” he said. “What we reject is support for international jihad,” he said.

4. The Observer reports Scientists issue stark warning over dramatic new sea level figures.
   Scientists will warn this week that rising sea levels, triggered by global warming, pose a far greater danger to the planet than previously estimated. There is now a major risk that many coastal areas around the world will be inundated by the end of the century because Antarctic and Greenland ice sheets are melting faster than previously estimated. Low-lying areas including Bangladesh, Florida, the Maldives and the Netherlands face catastrophic flooding”.

1. The LA Times reports the U.S. Unemployment soars to 8.1% in February according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. “More than 650,000 people lost their jobs last month, pushing the unemployment rate up from 7.6% in January.” This is the highest joblesss rate since 1983.

   The Washington Post adds “An estimated 12.5 million Americans were unemployed in February, the data show, an increase of 851,000 since January. More than 4.4 million people have lost their jobs since the recession began in December 2007, U.S. Labor Secretary Hilda Solis said.”

   The NY Times reports the Continuing job losses may signal a broad economic shift.

   Most economists now assume that the American fortunes will not improve before near the end of the year, as the Obama administration’s $787 billion emergency spending program begins to wash through the economy…

   The acceleration has convinced some economists that, far from an ordinary downturn after which jobs will return, the contraction under way reflects a fundamental restructuring of the American economy. In crucial industries – particularly manufacturing, financial services and retail – many companies have opted to abandon whole areas of business.

   Summary: these jobs are not coming back. The U-6 Alternative measures of labor underutilization has February 2009 unemployment at 14.8 percent.

Four at Four continues with Poland’s strategy in Afghanistan, going after ‘small scale’ theft of Iraq emergency money, and the end of privatized tax collection.

1. The Hill reports President Obama kicked off his summit on health reform today with a simple message: This time healthcare reform will be different.

   “We are here today to discuss one of the greatest threats not just to the well-being of our families and the prosperity of our businesses, but to the very foundation of our economy – and that is the exploding cost of healthcare in America today,” Obama said…

   “I want to be very clear at the outset that while everyone has a right to take part in this discussion, no one has the right to take it over. The status quo is the one option that is not on the table. And those who seek to block any reform at any cost will not prevail this time around,” Obama said.

2. BBC News reports NATO woos Russia on Afghanistan. NATO will resume formal ties with Russia. “Russia welcomed the move, six months after Nato froze contacts over the conflict between Russia and Georgia.” Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said, “It’s time to explore a fresh start.”

   Clinton described Afghanistan as “NATO’s biggest military challenge.” The CS Monitor adds Clinton pushes NATO allies for united strategy on Afghanistan.

   Sources close to the State Department say the new strategy is likely to reenergize a broad Afghan-Pakistan regional approach, with a set of more tightly focused but downsized goals. The previous goal to “democratize” Afghanistan will probably shift toward “efficient” and “achievable” stabilization – avoiding an open-ended mission, but requiring more immediate “heavy lifting” by allies. The strategy will require more troops to achieve a balance of military and civilian help, but also to bring in India, Iran, Russia, and even China.

   The Washington Post reports the U.S. is also Pushing for a high-level Afghanistan meeting that would include Iran. “Clinton this week has mixed tough talk about Iranian behavior with a hope that areas of cooperation can be found.”

   “Iran borders Afghanistan,” Clinton [said]… “In the early days of the military efforts by the United States and our allies to go after the Taliban and al-Qaeda, Iran was consulting with our ambassador on a daily basis. Where it is appropriate and useful for the United States and others to see whether Iran can be constructive, that will be considered.”

Four at Four continues with another market bombing in Iraq, China fears a food crisis triggered by climate change, the German beekeeper versus Monsanto, and a big surprise for the Obama girls.

1. The NY Times reports President Obama calls for a review of how military contracts are awarded by the government. Obama said greater competition is needed, but the changes will only save up to $40 billion a year.

   “The days of giving defense contractors a blank check are over,” Mr. Obama said. “We need more competition for contracts and more oversight as they are carried out.”

   The Washington Post adds Obama introduces reforms for government contracts. Obama ordered the Office of Management and Budget to have “tough new guidelines” on contracting in place by the end of September. The new guidelines will eliminate no-bid contracts.

   “Over the last eight years, government spending on contracts has doubled to over half a trillion dollars,” Obama said today. “Far too often, the spending is plagued by massive cost overruns, outright fraud and the absence of oversight and accountability. . . . We are spending money on things that we don’t need, and we are paying more than we need to pay, and that’s completely unacceptable.”

Four at Four continues with Afghanistan, military contractors, and asylum seekers from Mexico.

1. Good news! The LA Times reports Obama boosts endangered species protection. President Obama will undo a last-minute rule change by the Bush administration that will “instruct federal agencies to once again consult with endangered-species experts before moving ahead with construction projects”.

   “Obama will issue the decision in a presidential memorandum, effectively bypassing the lengthy public comment process traditionally required for changing a rule.” However the morons in the business community are “protesting, saying the change will hamper critical road-building and other projects needed to jump-start the economy.”

Four at Four continues below the fold with bad news: Bernanke on AIG and the U.S. economy, Bush administration legal opinions, Russia reaction to missile ‘shield’ and Iran diplomancy offer, and Marine One compromised. Whee!

1. The NY Times reports the Dow Jones drops below 7,000 for the first time since October 1997. “The government on Monday morning agreed to provide another $30 billion to the insurance giant, American International Group, which also reported a $61.7 billion loss. On Friday, Washington took a larger stake in Citigroup.” The markets will now be looking to Friday’s unemployment report. “The unemployment rate is expected to rise to 8 percent, from 7.6 percent.”

2. The Washington Post reports on why Tactical success means strategic defeat in Afghanistan.

   Tactically, the U.S.-led night raid in the village of Bagh-i-Soltan was a success. U.S. military officials said the dead man and an accomplice now in custody were bombmakers linked to recent insurgent attacks. They said that they had tracked the men for days and that one was holding an assault rifle when they shot him.

   Strategically, however, the incident was a disaster. Its most incriminating version — colored by villagers’ grief and anger, possibly twisted by Taliban propaganda and magnified by the growing influence of independent Afghan TV — spread far faster than U.S. authorities could even attempt to counter.

   Worse, it happened in an area where the Obama administration has just launched an expensive military push, focusing on regions near Kabul, the capital, where Islamist insurgents are trying to gain influence. Several U.S. bases have been set up in Logar and adjacent Wardak province, and 3,000 troops have arrived since January. Their mandate is to strengthen security, facilitate aid projects and good government, and swing local opinion against the insurgents.

   The CS Monitor adds Many in Afghanistan oppose Obama’s troop buildup plans.

   Parliamentarian Shukria Barakzai says she has an innovative amendment to Washington’s planned injection of up to 30,000 new troops here.

   “Send us 30,000 scholars instead. Or 30,000 engineers. But don’t send more troops – it will just bring more violence.”

   Ms. Barakzai is among the growing number of Afghans – especially in the Pashtun south – who oppose a troop increase here, posing what could be the biggest challenge to the Obama administration’s stabilization strategy.

   “At least half the country is deeply suspicious of the new troops,” says Kabul-based political analyst Waheed Muzjda. “The US will have to wage an intense hearts-and-minds campaign to turn this situation around.”

   The lack of public support could provide fertile recruiting ground for the Taliban and hinder US operations, Mr. Muzjda says.

Four at Four continues with an attempt to move the U.S. Forest Service, video evidence at the Supreme Court, and China’s massive reservoirs plan.