AIG ‘Was Going to Bring Down Europe’: Lawmaker

The U.S. government rescued giant insurer American International Group in part because its collapse would dramatically hurt European banks, a senior Democratic lawmaker said on Thursday.

RELATED LINKS

Current DateTime: 01:05:28 06 Mar 2009
LinksList Documentid: 29543354
Let AIG Fail, Not America: Rogers
AIG Is Dead: Hugh Hendry
Slideshow: World’s Safest Banks

The U.S. government has bailed out AIG [AIG 0.3402 -0.0098 (-2.8%) ] three times since Sept. 16 and committed about $180 billion to keep the insurer alive and doing business.

“One of the reasons we had to rescue AIG was the fact that it was going to bring down Europe,” Pennsylvania Rep. Paul Kanjorski told reporters after his subcommittee held a hearing on systemic risk.
…
The fact that a “multitude of regulators” missed the warning signs at AIG highlighted the need to establish a systemic risk regulator to monitor firms that are large and complex enough to destabilize the financial system, said Scott Polakoff, acting director of the Office of Thrift Supervision.

http://www.cnbc.com/id/29542948

Looks like Kanjorski is either the mouthpiece or the only guy willing to talk about what is really happening.

Note that a “multitude of regulators” hardly makes it seem like lack of regulation was the problem.

Perhaps it was something else……….government ineptitude and government tinkering with the markets come quickly to mind………..but the government’s incompetance is so vast, that it could be many other things.

Maybe they need to put that postmaster whose 1.2M mansion was bought in charge. He has about the same experience as Drooling Barney and Planet of the Apes Dodd.

But do try to remember to fully note the source (the Associated Press) and to post a link to the article.

From Fox News:

Obama’s Blockbuster Gift for Brown: 25 DVDs

Let’s hope he’s a Star Wars fan.

President Obama gave British Prime Minister Gordon Brown a set of 25 classic American films to mark his historic visit to the White House, British media reported on Friday.

Brown, the first European leader to visit Obama since his Jan. 20 inauguration, was presented with a “special collector’s box” of DVDs during his two-day visit to Washington.

Downing Street, which reportedly tried to keep the present a secret, declined to say what movies were included in the set.

“One reason for the secrecy might be that the gift seems markedly less generous and thoughtful than the presents taken to Washington by the Prime Minister,” London’s Evening Standard newspaper reported.

The Daily Mail, however, reported the movie set included ET, Star Wars and The Wizard of Oz and was produced by the American Film Institute on “special request” from the White House.

Brown, who is not known to be a movie buff, gave the president and his children several uniquely historical gifts.

The first of which is a pen holder fashioned from the oak timber of HMS Gannet, a Navy vessel that served on anti-slavery missions off Africa.

Another treasure given to Obama is a framed commissioning paper for HMS Resolute, a Royal Navy ship that came to symbolize British-American goodwill when it was rescued by the U.S. from icebergs and given to Queen Victoria. It is the sister ship of the HMS Gannet.

Finally, Brown gave Obama a first edition of Martin Gilbert’s seven-volume biography of Winston Churchill, whose World War II partnership with President Franklin Roosevelt symbolized the U.S.-Anglo alliance.

For Sasha and Malia, Sarah Brown, the Prime Minister’s wife, gave each an outfit from Topshop, a British chain of clothing stores, and selected six children’s books by British authors which have yet to be published in the U.S.

In return, First Lady Michelle Obama presented the prime minister’s two boys with toy helicopters modeled after Marine One.

Obama was so touched by the gifts, he called Brown on board his private jet on Thursday to thank him. The call was placed after Brown addressed a joint meeting of Congress, the White House said. The two reportedly spoke for 10 minutes.

The White House later issued a press briefing to put on record how much Obama appreciated the gifts. …

http://www.foxnews.com/politic.....rown-dvds/

One wonders, in fact, if the DVDs are even Region 2 DVDs; I can see Obama’s team screwing that one up.

From the AP:

Power of Pitt’ Drains Congressional Offices of Female Employees

WASHINGTON — First of all, no, Brad Pitt is not short. Yes, he’s handsome enough to stand out in any crowd. And, sorry, Angie wasn’t with him.

From the moment he stepped into the Capitol on Thursday, sunglassed and goateed, Pitt’s star power transformed congressional business-as-usual in a way any lawmaker or new president might envy.

Pitt’s superpowers are such that he and President Obama pulled off an improbably secret meeting on the same topic earlier in the day, White House spokesman Thomas F. Vietor confirmed.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was not immune to his charms. Praising Pitt for his work to rebuild New Orleans’ hurricane-ravaged 9th Ward, she even allowed that meeting him affords her “bragging rights to my children and my grandchildren — a real treat for me as well.”

And during a closed meeting earlier, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid confided to Pitt that he was envious that his lieutenant, Majority Whip Dick Durbin, got to meet soccer star Mia Hamm a day earlier, according to one person who was present and spoke on condition of anonymity.

Well, Pitt replied, he’ll bring along co-parent Angelina Jolie next time to help Reid make Durbin jealous, this person said.

Later, a Durbin aide sniffed: “Durbin’s already met Angelina Jolie.”

These officials demanded anonymity because the meeting was private and they did not want to be caught gossiping about a movie star.

The Power of Pitt drained entire congressional offices of their female employees and quite a few male aides as well, all of whom could be picked out by the way they suddenly appeared in the Senate’s doorways and halls, nonchalantly cupping cell phones and cameras at their sides and hanging around waiting news crews.

Finally, around 1:30 p.m., Pitt, four aides and assorted security guards climbed out of a darkened SUV at the Capitol’s north gate and strolled across the sun-dappled plaza.

As he approached the building, all nonchalance inside disappeared. Was he coming in the carriage entrance? No! He was coming through the North Door.

And so he did, entering through the famous Brumidi corridor, whose ornate and historic paintings he probably couldn’t see through his sunglasses. Reporters, photographers and giggling staffers shuffled after him, up a flight of stairs and around a corner toward Reid’s office. As Pitt entered the parlor, he took off his shades. An aide closed the door behind him.

Inside with Reid, Pitt made an earnest case for nationalizing his “Make It Right” campaign, in partnership with Congress, according to a second knowledgeable aide who spoke on condition that he not be named because the meeting was private. …

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,505806,00.html

I hope I didn’t just ruin your day with this.

Beware of Doing Deals With Putin

By Garry Kasparov

Vladimir Putin’s regime is fighting for its political life. That’s the good news. But the bad news is that the Obama administration is sending out mixed messages that may help the Russian autocratic regime survive.

On Friday, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will meet with her Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, in Geneva, Switzerland. The agenda will include talks on arms control and NATO. But in the forefront of everyone’s mind should be the secret letter that President Barack Obama recently sent to Russian President Dmitry Medvedev. The New York Times broke the story this week, reporting that Mr. Obama’s letter proffered a deal for the U.S. to “back off deploying a new missile defense system in Eastern Europe” in exchange for Moscow’s help in stopping Iran from “developing long-range weapons.”

The thinking here is not sound. Russia’s overwrought protest against antimissile systems never sprung from any genuine strategic fear. It was always a ploy and a distraction from its real agenda.

Mr. Putin — who is now prime minister of Russia — relies heavily on oil revenues to maintain his grip on power. It is in his interests to increase tensions in the Middle East as a way of driving up global oil prices. There is no deal the U.S. can cut to stop Mr. Putin’s Russia from arming Mideast terrorists and helping Iran’s nuclear program.

Secret letters aside, there are other troubling signals coming out of the Obama administration. One such sign came last week in Japan, where Mrs. Clinton talked about the “three Ds” of U.S. national security. She listed defense, diplomacy and development. But she left off the vital fourth “D” — democracy. The omission was no doubt welcomed by Mr. Putin.

Another troubling sign came in Munich, Germany, last month, where Vice President Joe Biden talked about the need for “pushing the reset button” on America’s relationship with Russia. But pushing reset won’t pressure Mr. Putin into acting responsibly on the world stage. It will only obscure, for a time, Russia’s malignant and contagious virus of authoritarianism.

While all these deals and olive branches are being extended to the Kremlin, there is ample evidence suggesting that the Putin regime is teetering toward collapse. One sign: Russia is beefing up its federal security forces in order to violently repress public protests. Last month, for example, the regime created the “National Center of Crisis Management,” which will deploy uniformed troops against “disturbances.”

It probably won’t be enough to quell public anger. Protests are increasing in Russia because many voters didn’t care that their elections were rigged until inflation started squeezing them. Time has run out on the illusion of economic prosperity for the average Russian.

Meanwhile, the Russian National Welfare Fund — created to back up the state pension system — is being raided to prop up the monopolistic industries belonging to Mr. Putin’s closest allies. Billions are being handed out to the likes of oligarchs Oleg Deripaska, Sergey Chemezov and Roman Abramovich — money that is going to service debt, not to develop industry.

When even billionaires are feeling the pinch, this may not be enough to arrest the slide. In the past year, according to the magazine Finans, the number of Russian billionaires was cut in half to 49 from 101. Many of those who remain may be billionaires only on paper; it appears that many of them have debts that exceed assets. This may be why Mr. Putin attended the World Economic Forum in Davos recently to push debt forgiveness.

Consider also that the Kremlin just struck a deal with China to send Russian oil to China at rock-bottom prices (under $20/barrel) for 20 years in exchange for $25 billion in loans. Powerful countries don’t cut such deals unless they are desperate for cash. What’s happening in Russia is that we are witnessing the survival gambit of a corrupt regime. The question is whether the West will bail out the Russian dictatorship or let it fall.

Some may doubt the fragility of the Putin government. But there are plenty of examples in history of supposedly entrenched regimes falling quickly. In late 1989, many in the West were surprised to see the Velvet Revolution in Czechoslovakia. Others didn’t foresee the sweeping away of totalitarian regimes in Poland and Hungary.

Mr. Putin and his allies live in fear of a popular uprising because it would likely force them into bankruptcy, exile and even prison. They cannot be expected to operate Russia as a rational state actor. Indeed, they may relish a violent clash with a contrived enemy in hopes of building nationalistic support — the war with Georgia this past summer may just be a prelude. …

http://online.wsj.com/article/.....34833.html

In addition to agreeing with Kasparov’s comments, it makes one wonder just how long it will be before we must bribe China to get them to keep buying our debt?

Rev. Wright Cautions: Obama ‘Ain’t Jesus’

President’s longtime minister, Rev. Jeremiah Wright, says his former congregant is just like any other president and that he “ain’t gonna improve your child’s reading score.”

SELMA, Ala. — President Barack Obama’s longtime minister, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, gave an assessment Thursday of his former congregant’s short time in the White House: Obama is just like any other president.

Speaking in a brief interview with The Associated Press before giving a speech at a civil rights landmark, Wright smiled at the mention of the name of the nation’s first black president.

“He’s like any other president,” Wright said. “He’s a politician and he’s got to do what politicians do.”

Wright’s remarks were similar to those he made after his fiery preaching became a campaign issue last year, forcing Obama to distance himself from his longtime pastor at Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago.

Obama resigned from Trinity United and, ultimately, cut ties with Wright because of the uproar caused by videotaped snippets of some of Wright’s sermons, in which he shouted “God damn America” and accused the government of creating AIDS.

On Thursday, Wright was addressing more than 700 people at a mass meeting that kicked off the 44th anniversary celebration of the 1965 Selma-to-Montgomery voting rights march.

The event was held at Tabernacle Missionary Baptist Church, site of the first mass meeting that led to the watershed voting rights movement in Selma.

During his address, Wright cautioned against putting too much faith in Obama.

“Barack’s name ain’t Jesus. Barack ain’t gonna improve your child’s reading score. There are things we’ve got to do on our own,” he said.

Obama may no longer associate with Wright, but the program for the event featured a picture of the two, smiling together, on the front. …

http://www.foxnews.com/politic.....int-jesus/

No, say it’s not so!

Does this mean that Gibbs is going to attack Wright next?

Jerry Brown only started questioning the constitutionality after the vote was taken on prop 8. All those that voted against it recognized the process when they voted. None of them had a problem with the proposition until they lost.

When this one self-correct, The Moron will take full credit.

EU judges back UK retirement age

The UK’s compulsory retirement age of 65 is not in breach of EU legislation, according to a ruling by the European Court of Justice (ECJ).

The case was brought by Age Concern, which wanted to know whether it was legal for UK employers to force workers to retire at the age of 65.

But the ECJ said the practice was legal if it had a legitimate aim related to employment and social policy.

….Age Concern maintained that this was in breach of the EU’s Equal Treatment at Work Directive and said one in eight MPs would be out of a job immediately if the rule applied to them.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7925203.stm

America and Europe are looking more alike everyday; the laws of the land don’t apply to politicians there either. I Wonder how long until ‘compulsory retirement’ becomes a euphemism for something a little more sinister.

Now .. help me with somethin’. Didn’t we talk about this just last year? Ya know .. right after their jet rides. I thought “government was the answer”.

Hmmmmm .. I’m smellin’ a bail out. Ooooops, no .. we did that?!?!? Goodness .. what now?!?!?

Defense Contractor Leaks Presidential Helicopter Plans to Iran

March 03, 2009

‘Blueprints found on Iranian P2P networks, authorities are investigating this serious breach.’ -

When it comes to national security, one of the keys to keeping the American President safe is the fleet of executive aircraft – from presidential helicopters, to the ultra-high-tech jet fortress, Air Force One. Thus it came as quite a shock to the security community when security firm Tiversa discovered blueprints of the Barack Obama’s presidential helicopter, Marine One, being hosted by an Iranian IP address.

http://www.insidetech.com/news.....0305_users

New jobless claims unexpectedly drop to 639K

By Christopher S. Rugaber

WASHINGTON – The number of new jobless claims and the total number of people receiving unemployment benefits both dropped more than expected last week, though they remain at elevated levels and are unlikely to fall substantially in the coming months.

Few economists expect a turnaround in the battered labor market anytime soon with companies laying off thousands of workers weekly.

Still, the tally of initial requests for unemployment benefits fell to 639,000 from the previous week’s figure of 670,000, the Labor Department said Thursday. Analysts expected a smaller drop to 650,000.

The 670,000 total was a new high for the current recession and the most since October 1982, when the economy was emerging from a severe downturn, though the labor force has grown by half since then.

The number of people claiming benefits for more than a week fell slightly to 5.1 million from 5.12 million, after rising to record-highs for five straight weeks. Analysts expected 5.15 million continuing claims.

But an additional 1.4 million people were receiving benefits under an extended unemployment compensation program approved by Congress last year. That tally was as of Feb. 14, the latest data available, and brings the total jobless benefit rolls to about 6.5 million.

That’s up sharply from a year ago, when 2.8 million people were receiving benefits.

The four-week average of new claims, which smooths out fluctuations, increased 2,000 to 641,750, the highest since October 1982.

More job losses were announced this week. General Dynamics Corp. said Thursday it will lay off 1,200 workers due partly to plummeting sales of business and personal jets that forced it to cut production and reduce its profit guidance for the year. Los Angeles-based aerospace company Northrop Grumman Corp. said Wednesday it will lay off 750 workers, mostly in southern California. …

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/200.....9ibGVzc2Ns

Wow, plummeting sales of business and personal jets.

I wonder why that could be, Mr. Obama and media outlets.

From the AP:

Obama administration goes after cable chatter

By David Bauder

NEW YORK – Besides Rush Limbaugh and CNBC’s Rick Santelli, the Obama administration has a more generic media target: “cable chatter.”

President Barack Obama used the phrase last week, when he said that some of the issues debated in his economic stimulus plan represented a very small part of the plan and “this sometimes gets lost in the cable chatter.” It came up again Wednesday at a White House event, when Obama spoke about efforts to reduce government spending.

“I want to make sure everyone catches this, because I think sometimes the chatter on the cable stations hasn’t been clear about this,” Obama said, before repeating one of his arguments.

White House spokesman Robert Gibbs noted that cable television doesn’t always give a true picture of what the public wants to hear, in explaining why Obama had left Washington to help sell his economic plan in Indiana. Americans, he said, “are eager to know what’s being done in Washington besides the same, old Washington arguments. They want to know what’s being done to help them.”

Limbaugh, who has said he hopes Obama fails, and Santelli have provided specific targets. Gibbs has been eager to take on Santelli, whose CNBC criticism that the stimulus plan was rewarding people who bought houses they couldn’t afford has been seen by millions of people on the Web.

But in targeting “cable chatter,” they’re attacking a mind-set as much as specific outlets. Networks such as CNN, Fox News Channel and MSNBC have 24 hours to fill, thrive on conflict and are paying close attention to a new administration’s first 100 days. Particularly in prime-time, many of these hours are dominated by people with strong points of view either way, and the administration may be sensing a backlash from a public tired of arguments.

“These type of criticisms rally the loyalists, puts the media on notice and makes the White House feel good because it appears to be going on the offensive and does in fact point out the media mouths out there who sometimes attack first and think later,” said Frank Sesno, a former CNN Washington bureau chief.

“Sometimes the criticism being aimed at the White House is quite right and justified,” said Sesno, a George Washington University professor. “Other times it really is just a bunch of noise to fill space.” …

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/200.....nezriuGL8C

But somehow “cable chatter” wasn’t an issue when it was almost exclusively anti-Bush.

Funny how that works.

“These type of criticisms rally the loyalists, puts the media on notice and makes the White House feel good because it appears to be going on the offensive and does in fact point out the media mouths out there who sometimes attack first and think later,” said Frank Sesno, a former CNN Washington bureau chief.

Can’t we all just get along?

You know, because it’s not like Sesno’s former employer wasn’t the original “cable chatter” outlet…

From Denver’s KUSA Television:

Ayers, Churchill to appear at CU student event

By Kyle Clark

DENVER – Former Colorado professor Ward Churchill was vilified for comparing Sept. 11 victims to Nazi Adolf Eichmann. Former Weather Underground member William Ayers was vilified as a radical.

On Thursday, they’ll appear together at a student rally for academic freedom at the University of Colorado-Boulder, days before Churchill, who was fired on plagiarism charges, goes to court in an attempt to get his job back.

Churchill, Ayers and writer-activist Derrick Jensen are to speak at an event titled, “Forbidden Education and the Rise of Neo-McCarthyism.” Sponsors are Students for True Academic Freedom, the 180 Degree Shift at the 11th Hour, and the Student Environmental Action Coalition.

Churchill was a tenured professor of ethnic studies at CU until he was fired in July 2007. He denies misconduct.

In his lawsuit, he claims the university was looking for reasons to fire him because of his comments about the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

“I’m feeling very good about the case I’m going to present” in the lawsuit, Churchill said Wednesday. He said he couldn’t discuss specifics.

In an essay and a follow-up book, Churchill argued that the attacks were a response to a history of U.S. abuses. He said the victims of the World Trade Center collapse were “little Eichmanns,” referring to Holocaust organizer Eichmann.

Churchill said Eichmann was a bureaucrat who carried out policies that were planned by others but was still responsible for his actions. The essay triggered a national firestorm and calls for his dismissal.

Jury selection in Churchill’s lawsuit starts Thursday and testimony starts next week.

Ayers, an education professor at the University of Illinois-Chicago, said his schedule didn’t allow him to be interviewed Wednesday.

Ayers was a co-founder of the Weather Underground, a radical anti-war group that claimed responsibility for a series of bombings, including explosions at the Pentagon and U.S. Capitol that didn’t kill anyone. …

http://www.9news.com/news/arti.....;catid=339

An absolutely incredible amount of liberal spin here, including of course the complete omission of the rampant plagiarism that was the cause of Churchill losing a supposed teaching position.

GM Has Doubts of Survival After $82 Billion in Losses

DETROIT — General Motors Corp.’s auditors have raised “substantial doubt” about the troubled automaker’s ability to continue operations, and the company said it may have to seek bankruptcy protection if it can’t execute a huge restructuring plan.

The automaker revealed the concerns Thursday in an annual report filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

“The corporation’s recurring losses from operations, stockholders’ deficit, and inability to generate sufficient cash flow to meet its obligations and sustain its operations raise substantial doubt about its ability to continue as a going concern,” auditors for the accounting firm Deloitte & Touche LLP wrote in the report.

In pre-market trading, GM shares fell 14 percent from Wednesday’s close, to $1.90.

GM has received $13.4 billion in federal loans as it tries to survive the worst auto sales climate in 27 years. It is seeking a total of $30 billion from the government. During the past three years it has piled up $82 billion in losses, including $30.9 billion in 2008.

The company faces a March 31 deadline to have signed agreements of concessions from debtholders and the United Auto Workers union to show the government it can become viable again. On Feb. 17 it submitted the restructuring plan to the Treasury Department that includes laying off 47,000 workers worldwide by the end of the year and closing five more U.S. factories.

GM said in its filing that its future depends on successfully executing the plan.

“If we fail to do so for any reason, we would not be able to continue as a going concern and could potentially be forced to seek relief through a filing under the U.S. Bankruptcy Code,” the Detroit-based automaker said in the annual report.

GM, the report said, is highly dependent on auto sales volume, which dropped rapidly last year. “There is no assurance that the global automobile market will recover or that it will not suffer a significant further downturn,” the company wrote.

GM has said it wants to avoid bankruptcy protection because it would scare off customers. Car buyers, the company has said, would be reluctant to buy from an automaker in Chapter 11 due to fears that it wouldn’t be around long enough to honor warranties or make replacement parts. …

http://www.ktla.com/landing_to.....kID=128957

Because even if the Government promised them infinite bailouts, why would anyone not be scared off from a company that lost $82 billion over the past three years?

As promised, all the bailouts have done is delay the inevitable Chapter 11 filing GM must perform to be able to make any headway.

That’s ignoring the issue of whether they are making anything anyone actually wants to buy.

From Los Angeles’ KTLA Television:

Calif. High Court Hears Prop. 8 Challenges Today

LOS ANGELES — Same-sex marriage supporters are gearing up for today’s California State Supreme Court hearing on challenges to the state’s voter-approved same-sex marriage ban.

The hearing stems from a series of lawsuits seeking to overturn Proposition 8.

Several viewing parties are scheduled throughout the Southland.

The City of West Hollywood will host a major viewing party at the West Hollywood Park Auditorium, 647 N. San Vincente Blvd., starting at 9 a.m.

Known for its support of gay rights, West Hollywood filed an amicus brief in the case in support of same-sex marriage in January.

Another public viewing will be held at Los Angeles City Hall.

Los Angeles City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo and City Councilman Bill Rosendahl are
scheduled to speak at 8:30 a.m. Attorneys from Lamda Legal, which filed one of the cases before the Supreme Court, will also be at L.A. City Hall to answer the public’s questions on the case.

Wednesday night, about 200 opponents of Prop 8 marched from a downtown Los Angeles park to City Hall to urge justices to end the gay marriage ban.

Demonstrators gathered for a vigil, which included “recommitment ceremonies” of half a dozen gay couples who married during the five-month period that same-sex weddings were legal in California.

One rally in Long Beach was expected to last through the night until the court began hearing arguments at 9 a.m.

Thousands attended similar events Wednesday night from San Francisco to San Diego, and in Arizona and Florida.

Gay couples, several local governments and Attorney General Jerry Brown maintain the ballot initiative, which passed with 52 percent of the vote, is unconstitutional. …

http://www.ktla.com/landing_to.....kID=156296

Great to see folks in Arizona and Florida protesting a decision by California’s electorate, isn’t it?

Of course the California court will throw this out, and SCOTUS likely won’t touch it anyway.

Can you imagine how thrilling a Supreme Court “viewing party” must be?

This is what happens when people do nothing…..now, we have a problem on our hands, and everyone must decide if this is ok with them, or if they kind of want things to “change” for real.