Banking Bailouts and Plans

I try not to post too much on the whole credit and banking debacle that we are currently working through. I'm probably like a lot a people in that most of it is simply over my head. I usually take my cues from Paul Krugman.

For those interested in such things, Matthew Richardson and Nouriel Roubini have an article in the Washinton Post that is a good read.

One thing that I find interesting is that there seems almost a reluctance by many to figure out how many of the big banks are insolvent. I think part of the thinking is that if you start showing how a number of the big boys are actually insolvent you create more panic which results in more money being pulled out of the market and even tighter lending from the insolvent big boys. This may be, and probably is true, but should the first step in solving the problem be figuring out how many of the big banks are insolvent. Isn't one of the first steps in solving a problem, figuring out how big the problem actually is? Until we find out the true depth of the problem any solution is mainly guesswork, right?

Shorter Axelrod

Piss off.

You know, the last thing that I think we’re looking for at this juncture is advice on fiscal integrity or ethics from Karl Rove. , anyone who’s read the newspapers for the last eight years would laugh at that.

and

I mentioned Andy Card saying that we were somehow denigrating the Presidency because people were wearing short sleeves in the Oval Office. We’re wearing short sleeves because we have to roll up our sleeves and clean up the mess that we inherited.

The two comments above have been getting most of the play from bloggers, but I thought the more interesting parts were found earlier in the interview.

MS. ROMANO: But you would agree that a one-day drop in the market and a one-day story can drive the news, drive the White House?

MR. AXELROD: Well, it can drive a White House.It may not drive ours

You know, one thing that we’ve learned over the last couple of years is that this town can get in a frenzy very quickly about stories of the moment, but that the real story is written over time. And so we try and keep our heads about us and pursue what we think is the appropriate strategy, and that’s what we are going to do here.

This really is similar to their approach during the campaign. The McCain camp attacked each day trying to win the daily news cycle. It was one stunt after another (suspension of the campaign being one) in order to get the talking heads on their side for the day. The Obama campaign, for the most part, kept their heads down and just chugged ahead realizing that people outside of Washington and the network news voted as well.

When the Obama team sensed the Stimulus package was losing some of it's luster, they didn't just make a flurry of appearances on Hardball and other shows, but went to the public. They traveled to Indiana and to Florida. It is an interesting strategy and one that paid off in the election and through the stimulus fight.

Odd

I shall be blowing my nose anyway.

Blowing your nose to alleviate stuffiness may be second nature, but some people argue it does no good, reversing the flow of mucus into the sinuses and slowing the drainage.

Counterintuitive, perhaps, but research shows it to be true.

If Democrats Were Smart

They would run countless adds about Republicans voting against tax cuts come 2010.

Finally Good To Have This Settled

Bush knows how to read.

Andy Card, the former chief of staff to President George W. Bush, said Thursday that the public was plagued by misconceptions about the former president, particularly in regards to his intelligence and openness to information.

“First off, President Bush does know how to read. He is very well-read,” Card said. “And he received information from a lot of people, not just Dick Cheney.”

Hey Andy, nobody thought he couldn't read. It was the processing of information that scared the hell out of us.

Overnight Music

Ben Kweller - Lizzy


Still swamped with work and fighting whatever cold/flu/disease is being spread. I'll get back to a regular sometime soon.

I Am Smarter Than US Rep. Austria

"When (President Franklin) Roosevelt did this, he put our country into a Great Depression," Austria said. "He tried to borrow and spend, he tried to use the Keynesian approach, and our country ended up in a Great Depression. That's just history.

The Depression started in '29. Roosevelt took office in '33.