Dear David Plouffe
I am the author of “The audacity of denying failure.”
I’m encouraged by developments since you read it.
Bill Clinton became involved in fiscal matters.
The Treasury Department posted an email address.
There was a summit with business leaders.
I would appreciate if you went through my thoughts starting at
http://wmbrae.blogspot.com/2009_03_01_archive.html
I started politely, but now I am totally exasperated.
In the spirit of human survival, I appeal to you for a strategic reset.
I think you need good people.
Better vetting is needed to assure that the new arrivals can hit the
ground running. The only one who did well has Hilary Clinton. Obama
is the slowest when it comes to understand managing and getting things
done through people. Adequate attention must be paid on the decisions
for the replacements of Gates, Summers and Rouse. (I think Geithner
or Goolsbee should be replaced.) I think you need a Chief Operating
Officer for day to day business– Hilary Clinton or Nancy Pelosi.
I think you need a government soul.
My heroes are Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, Hilary Clinton, Eliot
Spitzer, Howard Dean, James Carville, Al Gore. Two of these are not
publicly digestible and two have a weakness for women. Obama has
distanced himself from the ideals of these people.
I like them because they care about main street, and they have scars
for their efforts. Young people and Latinos don’t know about them.
They are not a good political base but they make me feel good. I am
old (63).
I feel that Obama is just the high school girl who is the most popular
and doesn’t want to extend himself if it risks losing popularity.
I think you need to address the economy.
G.W. Bush scared people with the threat of terrorism. People are
genuinely concerned about the economy. Geithner and Bernake don’t
care about the value of the dollar. They treat it as if it was pixels
on a computer screen. In the 70’s my grocery bill increased each week
by $10. I wondered how it would all end. Geithner and Bernake are
taking us there. Geithner has jeopardized the value of houses. It
will soon be common knowledge that Government economic policy is
measured by a rising Dow Jones Index. The reality is that main street
has been deeply burned by the shams on Wall street. There is so
little financial security and such stupidity in the political process
when dealing with the economy.
Monday, December 20, 2010
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
The audacity of denying failure
Geithner has been a total failure.
The whole purpose of Tarp was to mitigate losses for the banks when forced to value the bundled mortgages sold in the $7.6 trillion market for Residential Mortgage Backed Securities. The Congressional Oversight Committee says that the entire banking system is at risk because this issue has not been dealt with.
Geithner has pressed on the gas pedal (gas = people’s money) with a heavy foot, oblivious of the amount of gas in the tank (the national debt). He has not fixed the engine (securitized mortgages in the banks) so we use more gas than we need to and we risk to have another breakdown. The cars’ owners took out insurance from AIG for engine troubles, and Geithner paid AIG to payoff the insurance policies without an engine change.
On March 8, 2009., I sent you the enclosed suggestion, I felt it was better than Geithner's plan. It turns out that step 1 was easy because all mortgages are filed with one clearing house bank. Tarp would be very convenient to mitigate the assessed losses.
It is my considered opinion that Michael Bloomberg or Mitt Romney would do a better job than you. I know that if you feel you cannot make a difference, you wouldn’t stay for the sake of staying ( a la G.W. Bush). I hope you realize that you are very close to the tipping point.
You don’t show any will to throw counter-punches.
You play the blame game, a sure sign of a loser.
You play the victim card, typical of blacks, inherited the economy and other guys don’t want to play.
You have let power go to your head
Your office forced Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack to fire Shirley Sherrod. A total abuse of power and display of cowardice not to own up to it.
You invite NBA players to play basketball on your birthday because of the power of your Office.
You appoint the chair of the failed Economic Recovery Advisory Board as chair of Council of Economic Advisers.
You are in an isolated bubble of group think, the very thing you said you would not do.
You promised hope and change. I think the greatest tipping point, for you to pack it in, is that you did not deliver on hope. There is less hopefulness now than when you began. You really shouldn’t have promised this.
With respect to change, I willing acknowledge the Healthcare change. I don’t concede much on financial reform. Emnual left it up to Geithner to get Congress to set up an emergency reserve fund. True to form, Geithner failed. Geithner did not listen to Volcker on tightening bank investment methods, so Volcker used his influence on Congress, to pass the Volcker rule. Volcker has no public office, Geithner is the Secretary of the Treasury and has full support of the President of the United States. You don’t understand the importance of gravitas. Maybe I should tell you, Geithner has no gravitas.
I don’t feel you have done anything for unemployed Americans in the past 4 weeks. Shame on you.
You are hapless and appear hopeless.
I told you so.
PS
You promised Guantanamo would be closed in one year, it wasn’t and we will be approaching two years.
You promised to cut waste in Government, you haven’t.
You promised to introduce immigration reform by your first year in office, you didn’t.
A failure in justice is providing KSM a fair trial. I don’t understand news reports suggesting that the White House is deciding the forum for KSM’s trial. The mere suggesting of meddling and delay is justice denied.
PPS
March 8, 2009 Proposal to address the securitized mortgage crisis.
The government consolidates all bundled securitized mortgages, uses a
task force of Audit firms to re-value them, then re-distributes the
actual mortgages back to eligible holders.
The banks will properly show mortgages in their long-term assets
instead of current assets when they held the securitized slices (An
improper accounting shift to enhance executive bonus's).
We will end up with a mortgage market true to capitalism.
Detailed explanation.
Securitized mortgages means mortgages were bundled then tranches of
the bundle were sold off. Every mortgage is local so this instrument
is invalid.
1)Collect all bundled mortgages.
2)Classify the Mortgages
Within each bundle is a list of mortgages.
All the mortgages must be placed on a master list.
This list must be sub-divided in the following order:
Region/city New England, Rust belt, New York, East coast,
Florida, Nevada etc
Interest rate Standard prime, escalating interest rates including subprime
Current market value divided by mortgage
Mortgagee income to mortgage amount -ability to repay
Within each region you will be able to determine three categories
Low, medium and high risk.
3)Calculate the write down.
4)Collect all holders of bundled mortgages
5)Pro-rate the write down according the portion of the bundled mortgage holding.
6)Classify holders
Banks allowed to issue Mortgages in US and those not allowed.
7)Re-distribute the gathered mortgages to the banks allowed to issue
mortgages in the US.
The US government only has jurisdiction over banks allowed to issue
mortgages in
the US. The other holders will get no mortgages, it's a risk they
took. If this is too severe offer silent partner relationships with
the banks with title.
The redistribution will have to depend on what the data looks like.
Redistribution must be as fair as possible so should be done before a
Judge (We want justice). Ideally regions would be distributed to a
regional bank but markets may have to be tranched among several banks
to fairly spread the risk
The whole purpose of Tarp was to mitigate losses for the banks when forced to value the bundled mortgages sold in the $7.6 trillion market for Residential Mortgage Backed Securities. The Congressional Oversight Committee says that the entire banking system is at risk because this issue has not been dealt with.
Geithner has pressed on the gas pedal (gas = people’s money) with a heavy foot, oblivious of the amount of gas in the tank (the national debt). He has not fixed the engine (securitized mortgages in the banks) so we use more gas than we need to and we risk to have another breakdown. The cars’ owners took out insurance from AIG for engine troubles, and Geithner paid AIG to payoff the insurance policies without an engine change.
On March 8, 2009., I sent you the enclosed suggestion, I felt it was better than Geithner's plan. It turns out that step 1 was easy because all mortgages are filed with one clearing house bank. Tarp would be very convenient to mitigate the assessed losses.
It is my considered opinion that Michael Bloomberg or Mitt Romney would do a better job than you. I know that if you feel you cannot make a difference, you wouldn’t stay for the sake of staying ( a la G.W. Bush). I hope you realize that you are very close to the tipping point.
You don’t show any will to throw counter-punches.
You play the blame game, a sure sign of a loser.
You play the victim card, typical of blacks, inherited the economy and other guys don’t want to play.
You have let power go to your head
Your office forced Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack to fire Shirley Sherrod. A total abuse of power and display of cowardice not to own up to it.
You invite NBA players to play basketball on your birthday because of the power of your Office.
You appoint the chair of the failed Economic Recovery Advisory Board as chair of Council of Economic Advisers.
You are in an isolated bubble of group think, the very thing you said you would not do.
You promised hope and change. I think the greatest tipping point, for you to pack it in, is that you did not deliver on hope. There is less hopefulness now than when you began. You really shouldn’t have promised this.
With respect to change, I willing acknowledge the Healthcare change. I don’t concede much on financial reform. Emnual left it up to Geithner to get Congress to set up an emergency reserve fund. True to form, Geithner failed. Geithner did not listen to Volcker on tightening bank investment methods, so Volcker used his influence on Congress, to pass the Volcker rule. Volcker has no public office, Geithner is the Secretary of the Treasury and has full support of the President of the United States. You don’t understand the importance of gravitas. Maybe I should tell you, Geithner has no gravitas.
I don’t feel you have done anything for unemployed Americans in the past 4 weeks. Shame on you.
You are hapless and appear hopeless.
I told you so.
PS
You promised Guantanamo would be closed in one year, it wasn’t and we will be approaching two years.
You promised to cut waste in Government, you haven’t.
You promised to introduce immigration reform by your first year in office, you didn’t.
A failure in justice is providing KSM a fair trial. I don’t understand news reports suggesting that the White House is deciding the forum for KSM’s trial. The mere suggesting of meddling and delay is justice denied.
PPS
March 8, 2009 Proposal to address the securitized mortgage crisis.
The government consolidates all bundled securitized mortgages, uses a
task force of Audit firms to re-value them, then re-distributes the
actual mortgages back to eligible holders.
The banks will properly show mortgages in their long-term assets
instead of current assets when they held the securitized slices (An
improper accounting shift to enhance executive bonus's).
We will end up with a mortgage market true to capitalism.
Detailed explanation.
Securitized mortgages means mortgages were bundled then tranches of
the bundle were sold off. Every mortgage is local so this instrument
is invalid.
1)Collect all bundled mortgages.
2)Classify the Mortgages
Within each bundle is a list of mortgages.
All the mortgages must be placed on a master list.
This list must be sub-divided in the following order:
Region/city New England, Rust belt, New York, East coast,
Florida, Nevada etc
Interest rate Standard prime, escalating interest rates including subprime
Current market value divided by mortgage
Mortgagee income to mortgage amount -ability to repay
Within each region you will be able to determine three categories
Low, medium and high risk.
3)Calculate the write down.
4)Collect all holders of bundled mortgages
5)Pro-rate the write down according the portion of the bundled mortgage holding.
6)Classify holders
Banks allowed to issue Mortgages in US and those not allowed.
7)Re-distribute the gathered mortgages to the banks allowed to issue
mortgages in the US.
The US government only has jurisdiction over banks allowed to issue
mortgages in
the US. The other holders will get no mortgages, it's a risk they
took. If this is too severe offer silent partner relationships with
the banks with title.
The redistribution will have to depend on what the data looks like.
Redistribution must be as fair as possible so should be done before a
Judge (We want justice). Ideally regions would be distributed to a
regional bank but markets may have to be tranched among several banks
to fairly spread the risk
Monday, October 11, 2010
Last Person Standing
The Executive Branch acts as if it is above the law. I think it's wrong for Executive Branch participate in Congressional elections. Political activity by the Executive Branch should deal directly with the Executive Branch re-election. The same reasoning makes me question why the Executive Branch criticizes the Judicial Branch on it's decisions.The Executive branch should focus on the problems facing the nation, such as the Economy.
Now that we can see there is only one person left standing after a flurry of house cleaning, we know who is responsible - Valerie Jarrett.
Who else could kick out Summers, Axelrod, Gibbs et al?
Who else would appoint Austan Goolsbee?
Who would be so racially thin skinned to force Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack to fire Shirley Sherrod and never own up to it?
Who else would be against bringing Hilary Clinton into the White House?
Who else has an impaired provincial view to avoid problems such as securitized mortgages and too big to fail.
Please reconsider how the Cost of Living Allowance is calculated. Christina Romer understood my concern, Valerie Jarrett doesn't. At the 30,000 foot level, inflation is measured as a trend indicator, it is rising or falling. The indicator must be consistent. For the sake of consistency temporary fluctuations have to be dampened out. The items which create temporary swings are food and gas prices. The harm comes because food and gas are important for living. I have written often that the President doesn't know the price of a gallon of milk or loaf of bread. This varies by geographic region. Life on the ground shows the price of bread has quadrupled and the price of milk has tripled in the past 3 years but there is no inflation. Who is out of touch ... Valerie Jarrett.
I am nothing but an I told you so.
The problem du jour is faulty foreclosure procedures at the banks. February 2, 2010, I wrote "Geithner has pressed on the gas pedal (gas = people's money) with a heavy foot, oblivious of the amount of gas in the tank (the national debt). He has not fixed the engine (securitized mortgages in the banks) so we use more gas than we need to and we risk to have another breakdown." I got it right, Jarett still can't see it coming.
Saturday, September 18, 2010
Bush Redux
Nominating Austan Goolsbee is like G. W. Bush nominating Harriet Miers to the Supreme Court.
Keeping Geithner is like G. W. Bush keeping Rumsfeld.
You told America that the Economy is your number one priority. Everything was put on hold for two months while you worked out an Afghanistan policy. This was followed up with a team effort combining your Office, Defense and State. There has been no equivalent approach for the Economy and a dissolution of the economic team.
You never listened to me but time has borne me out – I told you so.
Two Chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank (Greenspan and Bernake) have said that “too big to fail” has to be stopped. Your government has done nothing.
January 8, 2010
From the outside, your economic structure is worse than the
anti-terrorist security structure. What is the benefit of the Economic
Recovery Advisory Board and the Council of Economic Advisors?
How about getting actionable advice out of the National Economic
Council? You are spending more money on advice than helping the
guy/gal on the street! With so many councils with so many opinions,
there is no accountability for the actual economic policy. It looks
like a no fault economic policy where you are left holding the bag.
December 13, 2009
The failure of teamwork by your economic sector has created a dismal
economy with dim prospects. I never fail to remind you how Geithner
fails you. In March 2009, I patiently waited for Geithner's solution
to the securitized mortgage crisis. I felt it was inadequate but
rather than pan it, I made an effort to provide an alternative. The
Congressional Oversight Panel’s year-end report concludes that “the
foreclosure crisis continues to grow,” and finds that “TARP’s
foreclosure mitigation programs have not yet achieved the scope,
scale, and permanence necessary to address the crisis.” Geithner
failed.
There is a real need for team wok in your Economic sector- amongst
themselves, with Congress and the electorate. They have failed at
teamwork. You have failed as coach, manager and owner. You need a game
plan, a set of plays to execute the plan and the bodies to execute the
plays.
November 9, 2009
If you want to salvage your Presidency I would create a true economic
recovery team. Bill Clinton, Alan Greenspan and James Baker. Each man
brings a great talent, Clinton the vision, Greenspan the specifics and
Baker the implementation). Sadly you bring nothing.
Monday, November 2, 2009
Empathy
Rahm Emnual, the noble statesman, picks his spots and fights the truly
worthy battles, the stimulus package and healthcare. His next
assignment should be to battle the national debt. Let him make
government more efficient, cut the waste and reign in uncontrolled
treasury excesses.
Your sense of government is troubling. There are 38 czars! You
required empathy in the Supreme Court nomination yet created a void of
empathy in the economic branch. Your economic teams operate with the
impunity of George Bush’s Defense Department invading Iraq. PBS makes
them out to be the Robert Rubin’s cabal.
I never fail to remind you how poorly Geithner is doing. He operates
like a czar, yet his sole supporter is you! He has no support in
Congress, among White House staff or the public. His plan to address
the credit crisis at the banks has not worked (I offered a timely
constructive alternative). The investment market place is not headed
to the sound foundations that you promised. A wage czar over the
private sector is an absurd sense of government. Turn your wage czar
on the government especially the military and the empire of czars.
You should be privately vetting candidates to replace Geithner
I think an empathetic White House would not ignore the plight, for
human dignity, of a person who is unemployed but is willing to work.
You are ignoring human suffering, the rising cost of the necessities
of life is not an arcane economic term “the cost of living” but the
cost of surviving! Like many successful people, you deny your past
when your mother was on food stamps. America is more than surviving,
it can afford to embrace human dignity.
You need an economic plan for main street.
Let’s do something to get American kids to exercise. In-line skating
and bicycling are great activities that can even save gas. So public
works for bike and skate lanes would be good. Ice skating is a great
activity and the rinks can be used as in-line skate rinks in summer so
build some ice rinks. This idea is so good even your daughters can get
excited about it.Basketball is also great, church and school gyms
should be modified to allow public access after school hours.
How do you finance the rinks and gyms? Partner them with Starbucks,
McDonalds, Burger King and Wendy’s. Rinks and gyms could be operated
by chains. You have to work on laws to address litigation for personal
injury because unfortunately these activities can break bones. A
screwed up society has made skating, biking and pick-up basketball
legally unappealing.
Mass transit is important for main street. Have a plan where companies
gain when they subsidize or pay for bus lines that service their
street so their employees use the bus to get to work. Encourage
companies to work with public transit to make it worthwhile to involve
public transit to transport employees.
Public works, that help Americans change the way they eat, would be
healthy. Greenhouses built on the roofs of government buildings. Grow
tomatoes, lettuce, cucumbers and strawberries. Use pubic lands for
urban farms. This was done in the thirties.
There is a real loss of sense of government. The big financial
companies can bully the government because government isn’t strong
enough to enforce laws like anti-trust. Government has spent the
people’s money bailing out failed companies not hard working people
who may become unemployed or lose their house. Government, at 30,000
feet, says there is no inflation but when you live on the ground, the
cost of surviving has increased while income has declined. The future
is bleak because of the national debt and unemployment. You talk as if
unemployment is some kind of economic term, ever think that in three
years you could be unemployed?
September 16, 2009
How’s my driving?
The “too big to fail problem” is common to the banking system, Freddy
and Fannie Mae and the single payer health care discussion. I think
those who wrote the anti-trust laws tried to address this issue. The
Federal Reserve has regional banks. Canada has six major banks. ATT's breakup
was less successful but don’t know why. Maybe some wisdom can be
gleaned from the principles of anti-trust so their wouldn’t be a
single payer but a group of regional not for profit health care
payers. The whole world knows Goldman Sachs, Bank of America and AIG
are too big. Doesn’t anti-trust apply?
July 18, 2009
President Obama has repeatedly said that we will get out of Iraq with
more care than we got into Iraq. I suggest he must speak to Geithner
about showing more care in spending the people's credit than his
public contempt when he admits he has no exit strategy for the bailout
commitments.
March 1, 2009
I see the banking crisis as a repeat of the Enron affair.
G. W. Bush K. Lay
B. Obama J. Skilling
T. Geithner A. Fastow
Geithner, the Wall St wiz kid, has been asked to build a house of
cards to cover up the banks' collapsed house of cards.
This doesn't work. Japans' banks' books were cooked, they never
addressed it and after ten years they still haven't dug themselves out
because their house of cards cancels the effectiveness of fiscal or
monetary policy. There is no exit strategy to recover the government's
infusion.
Geithner has pressed on the gas pedal (gas = people’s money) with a
heavy foot, oblivious of the amount of gas in the tank (the national
debt). He has not fixed the engine (securitized mortgages in the
banks) so we use more gas than we need to and we risk to have another
breakdown. The cars’ owners took out insurance from AIG for engine
troubles, and Geithner paid AIG to payoff the insurance policies
without an engine change. Geithner will use the people’s money to pay
the owners to fix the engine.
Geithner, who facilitated cash advances to Goldman Sachs when bailing
out AIG before the Credit Default Swaps were even settled under TARP.
He never questioned that the CDS should be settled at full value
rather than at a discount. It is suspicious since Goldman Sachs was
your leading campaign contributor. Only you and Geithner know.
The underlying instruments were mortgages on homes of human beings.
The people in expensive suits are all doing fine, the economy is going
in the “right direction”. Hey the blue jean folk think housing is
going in the “WRONG DIRECTION” and your man Geithner helps the bad
guys more than the deserving.
Some consider housing as the backbone of the American economy. The
mortgage modification program has provided 17 revised mortgages. Reset
mortgages will continue to trigger for a year. The number of homes
whose mortgage exceeds market value is unsustainably high.
Unemployment contributes to more foreclosures. The administration has
only provided band-aid fixes. They have never defined the problem and
this makes it difficult to arrive at a solution.
Let me remind you of the greatest one-liner on the failure of
management “Heck of a job, Brownie.”
PS
You promised Guantanamo would be closed in one year, it wasn’t.
You promised to cut waste in Government, you haven’t.
You promised to introduce immigration reform by your first year in
Office, you didn’t.
In February 2009, you announced that Geithner had a plan to resolve
the financial crisis. He never addressed the securitized mortgages and
resolution of housing valuation is not in sight nor a priority of your
administration.
A clearly legal failure is providing KSM a fair trial. I don’t
understand news reports suggesting that the White House is deciding
the forum for KSM’s trial. The mere suggesting of meddling and delay
is justice denied.
Keeping Geithner is like G. W. Bush keeping Rumsfeld.
You told America that the Economy is your number one priority. Everything was put on hold for two months while you worked out an Afghanistan policy. This was followed up with a team effort combining your Office, Defense and State. There has been no equivalent approach for the Economy and a dissolution of the economic team.
You never listened to me but time has borne me out – I told you so.
Two Chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank (Greenspan and Bernake) have said that “too big to fail” has to be stopped. Your government has done nothing.
January 8, 2010
From the outside, your economic structure is worse than the
anti-terrorist security structure. What is the benefit of the Economic
Recovery Advisory Board and the Council of Economic Advisors?
How about getting actionable advice out of the National Economic
Council? You are spending more money on advice than helping the
guy/gal on the street! With so many councils with so many opinions,
there is no accountability for the actual economic policy. It looks
like a no fault economic policy where you are left holding the bag.
December 13, 2009
The failure of teamwork by your economic sector has created a dismal
economy with dim prospects. I never fail to remind you how Geithner
fails you. In March 2009, I patiently waited for Geithner's solution
to the securitized mortgage crisis. I felt it was inadequate but
rather than pan it, I made an effort to provide an alternative. The
Congressional Oversight Panel’s year-end report concludes that “the
foreclosure crisis continues to grow,” and finds that “TARP’s
foreclosure mitigation programs have not yet achieved the scope,
scale, and permanence necessary to address the crisis.” Geithner
failed.
There is a real need for team wok in your Economic sector- amongst
themselves, with Congress and the electorate. They have failed at
teamwork. You have failed as coach, manager and owner. You need a game
plan, a set of plays to execute the plan and the bodies to execute the
plays.
November 9, 2009
If you want to salvage your Presidency I would create a true economic
recovery team. Bill Clinton, Alan Greenspan and James Baker. Each man
brings a great talent, Clinton the vision, Greenspan the specifics and
Baker the implementation). Sadly you bring nothing.
Monday, November 2, 2009
Empathy
Rahm Emnual, the noble statesman, picks his spots and fights the truly
worthy battles, the stimulus package and healthcare. His next
assignment should be to battle the national debt. Let him make
government more efficient, cut the waste and reign in uncontrolled
treasury excesses.
Your sense of government is troubling. There are 38 czars! You
required empathy in the Supreme Court nomination yet created a void of
empathy in the economic branch. Your economic teams operate with the
impunity of George Bush’s Defense Department invading Iraq. PBS makes
them out to be the Robert Rubin’s cabal.
I never fail to remind you how poorly Geithner is doing. He operates
like a czar, yet his sole supporter is you! He has no support in
Congress, among White House staff or the public. His plan to address
the credit crisis at the banks has not worked (I offered a timely
constructive alternative). The investment market place is not headed
to the sound foundations that you promised. A wage czar over the
private sector is an absurd sense of government. Turn your wage czar
on the government especially the military and the empire of czars.
You should be privately vetting candidates to replace Geithner
I think an empathetic White House would not ignore the plight, for
human dignity, of a person who is unemployed but is willing to work.
You are ignoring human suffering, the rising cost of the necessities
of life is not an arcane economic term “the cost of living” but the
cost of surviving! Like many successful people, you deny your past
when your mother was on food stamps. America is more than surviving,
it can afford to embrace human dignity.
You need an economic plan for main street.
Let’s do something to get American kids to exercise. In-line skating
and bicycling are great activities that can even save gas. So public
works for bike and skate lanes would be good. Ice skating is a great
activity and the rinks can be used as in-line skate rinks in summer so
build some ice rinks. This idea is so good even your daughters can get
excited about it.Basketball is also great, church and school gyms
should be modified to allow public access after school hours.
How do you finance the rinks and gyms? Partner them with Starbucks,
McDonalds, Burger King and Wendy’s. Rinks and gyms could be operated
by chains. You have to work on laws to address litigation for personal
injury because unfortunately these activities can break bones. A
screwed up society has made skating, biking and pick-up basketball
legally unappealing.
Mass transit is important for main street. Have a plan where companies
gain when they subsidize or pay for bus lines that service their
street so their employees use the bus to get to work. Encourage
companies to work with public transit to make it worthwhile to involve
public transit to transport employees.
Public works, that help Americans change the way they eat, would be
healthy. Greenhouses built on the roofs of government buildings. Grow
tomatoes, lettuce, cucumbers and strawberries. Use pubic lands for
urban farms. This was done in the thirties.
There is a real loss of sense of government. The big financial
companies can bully the government because government isn’t strong
enough to enforce laws like anti-trust. Government has spent the
people’s money bailing out failed companies not hard working people
who may become unemployed or lose their house. Government, at 30,000
feet, says there is no inflation but when you live on the ground, the
cost of surviving has increased while income has declined. The future
is bleak because of the national debt and unemployment. You talk as if
unemployment is some kind of economic term, ever think that in three
years you could be unemployed?
September 16, 2009
How’s my driving?
The “too big to fail problem” is common to the banking system, Freddy
and Fannie Mae and the single payer health care discussion. I think
those who wrote the anti-trust laws tried to address this issue. The
Federal Reserve has regional banks. Canada has six major banks. ATT's breakup
was less successful but don’t know why. Maybe some wisdom can be
gleaned from the principles of anti-trust so their wouldn’t be a
single payer but a group of regional not for profit health care
payers. The whole world knows Goldman Sachs, Bank of America and AIG
are too big. Doesn’t anti-trust apply?
July 18, 2009
President Obama has repeatedly said that we will get out of Iraq with
more care than we got into Iraq. I suggest he must speak to Geithner
about showing more care in spending the people's credit than his
public contempt when he admits he has no exit strategy for the bailout
commitments.
March 1, 2009
I see the banking crisis as a repeat of the Enron affair.
G. W. Bush K. Lay
B. Obama J. Skilling
T. Geithner A. Fastow
Geithner, the Wall St wiz kid, has been asked to build a house of
cards to cover up the banks' collapsed house of cards.
This doesn't work. Japans' banks' books were cooked, they never
addressed it and after ten years they still haven't dug themselves out
because their house of cards cancels the effectiveness of fiscal or
monetary policy. There is no exit strategy to recover the government's
infusion.
Geithner has pressed on the gas pedal (gas = people’s money) with a
heavy foot, oblivious of the amount of gas in the tank (the national
debt). He has not fixed the engine (securitized mortgages in the
banks) so we use more gas than we need to and we risk to have another
breakdown. The cars’ owners took out insurance from AIG for engine
troubles, and Geithner paid AIG to payoff the insurance policies
without an engine change. Geithner will use the people’s money to pay
the owners to fix the engine.
Geithner, who facilitated cash advances to Goldman Sachs when bailing
out AIG before the Credit Default Swaps were even settled under TARP.
He never questioned that the CDS should be settled at full value
rather than at a discount. It is suspicious since Goldman Sachs was
your leading campaign contributor. Only you and Geithner know.
The underlying instruments were mortgages on homes of human beings.
The people in expensive suits are all doing fine, the economy is going
in the “right direction”. Hey the blue jean folk think housing is
going in the “WRONG DIRECTION” and your man Geithner helps the bad
guys more than the deserving.
Some consider housing as the backbone of the American economy. The
mortgage modification program has provided 17 revised mortgages. Reset
mortgages will continue to trigger for a year. The number of homes
whose mortgage exceeds market value is unsustainably high.
Unemployment contributes to more foreclosures. The administration has
only provided band-aid fixes. They have never defined the problem and
this makes it difficult to arrive at a solution.
Let me remind you of the greatest one-liner on the failure of
management “Heck of a job, Brownie.”
PS
You promised Guantanamo would be closed in one year, it wasn’t.
You promised to cut waste in Government, you haven’t.
You promised to introduce immigration reform by your first year in
Office, you didn’t.
In February 2009, you announced that Geithner had a plan to resolve
the financial crisis. He never addressed the securitized mortgages and
resolution of housing valuation is not in sight nor a priority of your
administration.
A clearly legal failure is providing KSM a fair trial. I don’t
understand news reports suggesting that the White House is deciding
the forum for KSM’s trial. The mere suggesting of meddling and delay
is justice denied.
Sunday, July 25, 2010
Seemingly minor annoyances outweigh monumental accomplishments
Much can be made of the successful passage of the stimulus package,
the healthcare bill and the financial reform bill. It is the folly of
human nature to let seemingly minor annoyances outweigh such
monumental accomplishments.
Good government means good management. The Department of Agriculture
fails to deal honestly with the facts. It discharged an employee
without sufficient facts. It fails dairy farmers in the face of clear
facts (The congressional district in New York state is mostly
Republican dairy farmers who elected a Democrat out of desperation.).
The facts show that unnecessary subsidies to corn farmers lowers the
cost of sweetened drinks compared the rising cost of milk. The facts
show that the plight of hog farmers is unfavorable. While your Chief
of Staff doesn’t care, your Secretary of Agriculture should.
Good management means accountability of the Secretary of the Treasury.
The 2008 recession was blamed on securitized mortgages. Tarp was
passed to address the losses resulting from lowered housing values.
The Secretary of the Treasury used bait and switch and applied Tarp
funds to many other purposes but less than 5% to the intended purpose.
The housing market has yet to recover yet so much money was budgeted
for it.
Of all places where honest dealing of facts is important is in the
Department of Justice. The failure of the prosecution to present a
case to the courts in the Blackwater affair means that society never
gets to see the facts. The government has detained and tortured
people at Guantanamo. The government promised to close the chapter of
American history but not fails to keep its promise. The failure to do
the right thing in face of the known facts is a failure of management.
It is the folly of human nature to let seemingly minor annoyances
outweigh such monumental accomplishments.
I told you so.
the healthcare bill and the financial reform bill. It is the folly of
human nature to let seemingly minor annoyances outweigh such
monumental accomplishments.
Good government means good management. The Department of Agriculture
fails to deal honestly with the facts. It discharged an employee
without sufficient facts. It fails dairy farmers in the face of clear
facts (The congressional district in New York state is mostly
Republican dairy farmers who elected a Democrat out of desperation.).
The facts show that unnecessary subsidies to corn farmers lowers the
cost of sweetened drinks compared the rising cost of milk. The facts
show that the plight of hog farmers is unfavorable. While your Chief
of Staff doesn’t care, your Secretary of Agriculture should.
Good management means accountability of the Secretary of the Treasury.
The 2008 recession was blamed on securitized mortgages. Tarp was
passed to address the losses resulting from lowered housing values.
The Secretary of the Treasury used bait and switch and applied Tarp
funds to many other purposes but less than 5% to the intended purpose.
The housing market has yet to recover yet so much money was budgeted
for it.
Of all places where honest dealing of facts is important is in the
Department of Justice. The failure of the prosecution to present a
case to the courts in the Blackwater affair means that society never
gets to see the facts. The government has detained and tortured
people at Guantanamo. The government promised to close the chapter of
American history but not fails to keep its promise. The failure to do
the right thing in face of the known facts is a failure of management.
It is the folly of human nature to let seemingly minor annoyances
outweigh such monumental accomplishments.
I told you so.
Sunday, June 6, 2010
Do what has to get done
There is inattentiveness to the distinction between concrete targets and abstract targets. Concrete targets are closing Guantanamo, fixing toxic assets at Wall Street banks and ending the Gulf oil mess. Abstract targets are implementing health-care, immigration legislation and eliminating waste in government.
The major distinction is that it takes different people to achieve concrete targets than abstract targets. You have surrounded yourself with people like you, policy wonks, masters of abstract policy. That’s why you need your mother-in-law in your domestic life. She understands what it takes to accomplish concrete targets. You don’t.
Geithner has not yet addressed the devalued securitized mortgages booked at the major banks. Because you know nothing about accounting, you don’t understand that the banks made provisions for the devaluation, which they booked but never addressed the book value of the securitized mortgages. This was the downfall of the banks but Geithner never cleaned it up. He overpaid the banks on their claims for credit default swaps which digs the national debt deeper yet never used TARP for it’s intended purpose. To make you eat your own words - Geithner didn’t think through the consequences of his actions. You said this kind of conduct angers you. I hope you are empathetic to my anger. This problem has not gone away, could come back and contributes to the slow recovery of the housing market. This is not policy it is basic accounting, a concrete subject.
The closing of Guantanamo is fixed goal, there are no excuses. That it festers reflects weak, ineffective management.
Ending the Gulf oil mess is a fixed goal, it must not fester.
The bottom line is that real men do what has to get done. Failures are people like G.W.Bush and you, overwhelmed and helpless. Bush the “decider”, Obama the “guy in charge”.
I told you so.
The major distinction is that it takes different people to achieve concrete targets than abstract targets. You have surrounded yourself with people like you, policy wonks, masters of abstract policy. That’s why you need your mother-in-law in your domestic life. She understands what it takes to accomplish concrete targets. You don’t.
Geithner has not yet addressed the devalued securitized mortgages booked at the major banks. Because you know nothing about accounting, you don’t understand that the banks made provisions for the devaluation, which they booked but never addressed the book value of the securitized mortgages. This was the downfall of the banks but Geithner never cleaned it up. He overpaid the banks on their claims for credit default swaps which digs the national debt deeper yet never used TARP for it’s intended purpose. To make you eat your own words - Geithner didn’t think through the consequences of his actions. You said this kind of conduct angers you. I hope you are empathetic to my anger. This problem has not gone away, could come back and contributes to the slow recovery of the housing market. This is not policy it is basic accounting, a concrete subject.
The closing of Guantanamo is fixed goal, there are no excuses. That it festers reflects weak, ineffective management.
Ending the Gulf oil mess is a fixed goal, it must not fester.
The bottom line is that real men do what has to get done. Failures are people like G.W.Bush and you, overwhelmed and helpless. Bush the “decider”, Obama the “guy in charge”.
I told you so.
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Change
Goldman Sachs has been sued by the SEC. I don’t know law. Apparently the law is not clear enough to say that Goldman Sachs broke a law. They sold a designed defective product for commission and potential hidden gains if Goldman traders bet against the product in the backroom market. It’s not against the law but it is less than honorable.
You have an employee, Geithner, who facilitated cash advances to Goldman Sachs when bailing out AIG before the Credit Default Swaps were even settled under TARP. He never questioned that the CDS should be settled at full value rather than at a discount. It is suspicious since Goldman Sachs was your leading campaign contributor. Only you and Geithner know.
The underlying instruments were mortgages on homes of human beings. The people in expensive suits are all doing fine, the economy is going in the “right direction”. Hey the blue jean folk think housing is going in the “WRONG DIRECTION” and your man Geithner helps the bad guys more than the deserving.
I always recognize that the stimulus bill and healthcare are a celebration of well intentioned people doing really hard work.
Through the complexity of life, these same people have failings.
You promised Guantanamo would be closed in one year, it wasn’t.
You promised to cut waste in Government, you haven’t.
You promised to introduce immigration reform by your first year in Office, you haven’t.
In February 2009, you announced that Geithner had a plan to resolve the financial crisis. He never addressed the securitized mortgages and resolution of housing valuation is not in sight nor a priority of your administration.
At some point someone will say that you talk well but execute poorly.
You didn’t need this email, nor do I have time to waste. I wrote it for the following message, you need to improve your day to day handling of government. As much as Emanuel has contributed to your successes, he is too focused on his favorite causes, financial reform, energy and immigration.
He does no personnel evaluations, (Geithner and Holder have not worked out, but you have no replacements), he has no plan to reduce government spending and he doesn’t care about farmers. I hope you notice there is a lack of compassion for “the people”.
You have to put Emanuel on “Special Projects” and find a better rounded Chief of Staff, someone to be the Chief Operating Officer of the Government.
I told you so.
You have an employee, Geithner, who facilitated cash advances to Goldman Sachs when bailing out AIG before the Credit Default Swaps were even settled under TARP. He never questioned that the CDS should be settled at full value rather than at a discount. It is suspicious since Goldman Sachs was your leading campaign contributor. Only you and Geithner know.
The underlying instruments were mortgages on homes of human beings. The people in expensive suits are all doing fine, the economy is going in the “right direction”. Hey the blue jean folk think housing is going in the “WRONG DIRECTION” and your man Geithner helps the bad guys more than the deserving.
I always recognize that the stimulus bill and healthcare are a celebration of well intentioned people doing really hard work.
Through the complexity of life, these same people have failings.
You promised Guantanamo would be closed in one year, it wasn’t.
You promised to cut waste in Government, you haven’t.
You promised to introduce immigration reform by your first year in Office, you haven’t.
In February 2009, you announced that Geithner had a plan to resolve the financial crisis. He never addressed the securitized mortgages and resolution of housing valuation is not in sight nor a priority of your administration.
At some point someone will say that you talk well but execute poorly.
You didn’t need this email, nor do I have time to waste. I wrote it for the following message, you need to improve your day to day handling of government. As much as Emanuel has contributed to your successes, he is too focused on his favorite causes, financial reform, energy and immigration.
He does no personnel evaluations, (Geithner and Holder have not worked out, but you have no replacements), he has no plan to reduce government spending and he doesn’t care about farmers. I hope you notice there is a lack of compassion for “the people”.
You have to put Emanuel on “Special Projects” and find a better rounded Chief of Staff, someone to be the Chief Operating Officer of the Government.
I told you so.
Sunday, March 28, 2010
Government
I am concerned that the “success” of healthcare has empowered policy wonks to think government is all about policy. It took a year to hatch healthcare, in that same year closing Guantanimo failed, fixing the securitized mortgages at the banks failed and the big savings from removing waste in government failed.
I am sorry for all the family dairy farms that have closed. Pig farmers got to big because they are too greedy, but it’s sad to see farmers suffer.
Is it possible that you can only deal with one issue at a time? Everything was on hold while you dealt with Afghanistan and then Healthcare.
Do you ever spend time thinking that Treasury, Justice or Agriculture could do with improved leadership? If the answer is never, let me remind you of the greatest one-liner on the failure of management “Heck of a job, Brownie.”
You and your people love policy and basketball. What you need is a Chief Operating Officer who looks after the day to day business of good government. Women are especially good at this, Hilary Clinton and Nancy Pelosi come to mind.
Things you can do to improve is to find team players. Emnual, Pelosi, Clinton, Gates get things done through teamwork. The economy suffers partly because there is no teamwork from the members of your government.
Because of the tough political climate, everyone is thin skinned when it comes to hearing criticism. I suggest you have someone schedule a half hour a week to give you highlights of Inspector General Reports from various departments. Obviously Justice, Treasury and Defense come to mind.
I told you so.
I am sorry for all the family dairy farms that have closed. Pig farmers got to big because they are too greedy, but it’s sad to see farmers suffer.
Is it possible that you can only deal with one issue at a time? Everything was on hold while you dealt with Afghanistan and then Healthcare.
Do you ever spend time thinking that Treasury, Justice or Agriculture could do with improved leadership? If the answer is never, let me remind you of the greatest one-liner on the failure of management “Heck of a job, Brownie.”
You and your people love policy and basketball. What you need is a Chief Operating Officer who looks after the day to day business of good government. Women are especially good at this, Hilary Clinton and Nancy Pelosi come to mind.
Things you can do to improve is to find team players. Emnual, Pelosi, Clinton, Gates get things done through teamwork. The economy suffers partly because there is no teamwork from the members of your government.
Because of the tough political climate, everyone is thin skinned when it comes to hearing criticism. I suggest you have someone schedule a half hour a week to give you highlights of Inspector General Reports from various departments. Obviously Justice, Treasury and Defense come to mind.
I told you so.
Friday, March 26, 2010
Basic Justice
I perceive a wide gap between the theory of justice as viewed by an Academic and the practice of justice by an elected official. I have no expertise in law.
I am most disturbed by the failure of the People to present an acceptable case to the Courts regarding the Blackwater affair. Incompetence in the Justice Department is a serious failure to Society. This happened on your watch. What’s the point of teaching the theory of Justice, if the People cannot present credible cases?
The other clearly legal failure is providing KSM a fair trial. I don’t understand news reports suggesting that the White House is deciding the forum for KSM’s trial. The mere suggesting of meddling and delay is justice denied.
Another issue is more a failure in management but deals with a legal matter. There was a promise to close Guantanimo in one year. The reason for the closing was on principle. This should not be an empty campaign promise nor false rhetoric. It turns out to be just that. The Academic did not understand the real world issues in practicing justice.
The final issue is pure management. Why are you so behind in nominating judges in to the various courts? This is surely justice denied.
Let’s get real about Justice! That means the mundane matter of managing, making sure people are doing their jobs well. You are not minding the store, and you are supposed to know something about justice never mind the economy.
I am most disturbed by the failure of the People to present an acceptable case to the Courts regarding the Blackwater affair. Incompetence in the Justice Department is a serious failure to Society. This happened on your watch. What’s the point of teaching the theory of Justice, if the People cannot present credible cases?
The other clearly legal failure is providing KSM a fair trial. I don’t understand news reports suggesting that the White House is deciding the forum for KSM’s trial. The mere suggesting of meddling and delay is justice denied.
Another issue is more a failure in management but deals with a legal matter. There was a promise to close Guantanimo in one year. The reason for the closing was on principle. This should not be an empty campaign promise nor false rhetoric. It turns out to be just that. The Academic did not understand the real world issues in practicing justice.
The final issue is pure management. Why are you so behind in nominating judges in to the various courts? This is surely justice denied.
Let’s get real about Justice! That means the mundane matter of managing, making sure people are doing their jobs well. You are not minding the store, and you are supposed to know something about justice never mind the economy.
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Basic Economics
To Christina Romer
I wrote you September 5, 2009 about the rising price of peanut butter and jam sandwiches with a glass of milk. I wrote to you because the President doesn’t listen to me. Believe it or not, I think you listen. It helps that you have been right, there hasn’t been any inflation, I’m waiting for the Yuan to rise (you will see a real bump in consumer prices because so much of consumer goods is made in China) and interest rates to rise because of the national debt.
Geithner has pressed on the gas pedal (gas = people’s money) with a heavy foot, oblivious of the amount of gas in the tank (the national debt). He has not fixed the engine (securitized mortgages in the banks) so we use more gas than we need to and we risk to have another breakdown. The cars’ owners took out insurance from AIG for engine troubles, and Geithner paid AIG to payoff the insurance policies without an engine change. Geithner will use the people’s money to pay the owners to fix the engine. I tried to keep it simple for the President to understand, may be he doesn't understand the car analogy either.
Some consider housing as the backbone of the American economy. The
mortgage modification program has provided 17 revised mortgages. Reset
mortgages will continue to trigger for a year. The number of
homes whose mortgage exceeds market value is unsustainably high.
Unemployment contributes to more foreclosures. The administration
has only provided band-aid fixes. They have never defined the problem
and this makes it difficult to arrive at a solution.
The following suggestion was sent to the President, March 8, 2009. I felt it was better than Geithner's plan, 13 months later, we know Geithner's plan hasn't worked.
The government consolidates all bundled securitized mortgages, uses a
task force of Audit firms to re-value them, then re-distributes the
actual mortgages back to eligible holders.
The banks will properly show mortgages in their long-term assets
instead of current assets when they held the securitized slices (An
improper accounting shift to enhance executive bonus's).
We will end up with a mortgage market true to capitalism.
Detailed explanation.
Securitized mortgages means mortgages were bundled then tranches of
the bundle were sold off. Every mortgage is local so this instrument
is invalid.
1)Collect all bundled mortgages.
2)Classify the Mortgages
Within each bundle is a list of mortgages.
All the mortgages must be placed on a master list.
This list must be sub-divided in the following order:
Region/city New England, Rust belt, New York, East coast,
Florida, Nevada etc
Interest rate Standard prime, escalating interest rates including subprime
Current market value divided by mortgage
Mortgagee income to mortgage amount -ability to repay
Within each region you will be able to determine three categories
Low, medium and high risk.
3)Calculate the write down.
4)Collect all holders of bundled mortgages
5)Pro-rate the write down according the portion of the bundled mortgage holding.
6)Classify holders
Banks allowed to issue Mortgages in US and those not allowed.
7)Re-distribute the gathered mortgages to the banks allowed to issue
mortgages in the US.
The US government only has jurisdiction over banks allowed to issue
mortgages in
the US. The other holders will get no mortgages, it's a risk they
took. If this is too severe offer silent partner relationships with
the banks with title.
The redistribution will have to depend on what the data looks like.
Redistribution must be as fair as possible so should be done before a
Judge (We want justice). Ideally regions would be distributed to a
regional bank but markets may have to be tranched among several banks
to fairly spread the risk
I wrote you September 5, 2009 about the rising price of peanut butter and jam sandwiches with a glass of milk. I wrote to you because the President doesn’t listen to me. Believe it or not, I think you listen. It helps that you have been right, there hasn’t been any inflation, I’m waiting for the Yuan to rise (you will see a real bump in consumer prices because so much of consumer goods is made in China) and interest rates to rise because of the national debt.
Geithner has pressed on the gas pedal (gas = people’s money) with a heavy foot, oblivious of the amount of gas in the tank (the national debt). He has not fixed the engine (securitized mortgages in the banks) so we use more gas than we need to and we risk to have another breakdown. The cars’ owners took out insurance from AIG for engine troubles, and Geithner paid AIG to payoff the insurance policies without an engine change. Geithner will use the people’s money to pay the owners to fix the engine. I tried to keep it simple for the President to understand, may be he doesn't understand the car analogy either.
Some consider housing as the backbone of the American economy. The
mortgage modification program has provided 17 revised mortgages. Reset
mortgages will continue to trigger for a year. The number of
homes whose mortgage exceeds market value is unsustainably high.
Unemployment contributes to more foreclosures. The administration
has only provided band-aid fixes. They have never defined the problem
and this makes it difficult to arrive at a solution.
The following suggestion was sent to the President, March 8, 2009. I felt it was better than Geithner's plan, 13 months later, we know Geithner's plan hasn't worked.
The government consolidates all bundled securitized mortgages, uses a
task force of Audit firms to re-value them, then re-distributes the
actual mortgages back to eligible holders.
The banks will properly show mortgages in their long-term assets
instead of current assets when they held the securitized slices (An
improper accounting shift to enhance executive bonus's).
We will end up with a mortgage market true to capitalism.
Detailed explanation.
Securitized mortgages means mortgages were bundled then tranches of
the bundle were sold off. Every mortgage is local so this instrument
is invalid.
1)Collect all bundled mortgages.
2)Classify the Mortgages
Within each bundle is a list of mortgages.
All the mortgages must be placed on a master list.
This list must be sub-divided in the following order:
Region/city New England, Rust belt, New York, East coast,
Florida, Nevada etc
Interest rate Standard prime, escalating interest rates including subprime
Current market value divided by mortgage
Mortgagee income to mortgage amount -ability to repay
Within each region you will be able to determine three categories
Low, medium and high risk.
3)Calculate the write down.
4)Collect all holders of bundled mortgages
5)Pro-rate the write down according the portion of the bundled mortgage holding.
6)Classify holders
Banks allowed to issue Mortgages in US and those not allowed.
7)Re-distribute the gathered mortgages to the banks allowed to issue
mortgages in the US.
The US government only has jurisdiction over banks allowed to issue
mortgages in
the US. The other holders will get no mortgages, it's a risk they
took. If this is too severe offer silent partner relationships with
the banks with title.
The redistribution will have to depend on what the data looks like.
Redistribution must be as fair as possible so should be done before a
Judge (We want justice). Ideally regions would be distributed to a
regional bank but markets may have to be tranched among several banks
to fairly spread the risk
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Govern
I am not a pundit. My life’s experience guides me. You have to admit that I predicted Massachusetts and Volcker’s big bank restrictions when your people were in denial over both. I have noted many times that my messages don’t connect with you.
Show me you can effectively govern.
Get a hold of the banking crisis. Geithner has pressed on the gas pedal (gas = people’s money) with a heavy foot, oblivious of the amount of gas in the tank (the national debt). He has not fixed the engine (toxic assets in the banks) so we use more gas than we need to and we risk to have another breakdown. The cars’ owners took out insurance from AIG for engine troubles, and Geithner paid AIG to payoff the insurance policies without an engine change. Geithner then uses the people’s money to pay the owners to fix the engine.
The executive branch of government has no duty to admonish judges, just change the law to say corporations do not have first amendment rights. By the way, I am concerned that you are not concerned at the bad press the Justice Department is attracting. The failure to establish a case in the Blackwater affair. The failure to close Guantanamo in one year as promised. The Justice Departments judgment to hold KSM’s trial in New York City. FBI breakdowns in the Christmas bomber affair.
If you don’t know history you risk to repeat it. You sound like Jimmy Carter when you say there is loss of trust. At least, make some plans for a legacy if you have one term. Do something for the downtrodden. Fill the courts with your choice of judges. Do something to make Blacks proud, don’t be an Alberto Gonzales, bringing ignominy to Hispanics. You come across as a coconut – black on the outside, white on the inside who hangs out with white spin masters Axelrod and Gibbs. After one term, Jimmy Carter left no legacy.
I can’t predict 2012 because I don’t know who the Republicans will nominate. An attractive candidate like Michael Bloomberg could handily beat you. A bland candidate could give you a real race (Who ever heard of Scott Brown?) because of your record of public failures and desertion of minority groups and middle class. You are now whining about the Republicans yet overlook your own failures in management.
Show me you can effectively govern.
Get a hold of the banking crisis. Geithner has pressed on the gas pedal (gas = people’s money) with a heavy foot, oblivious of the amount of gas in the tank (the national debt). He has not fixed the engine (toxic assets in the banks) so we use more gas than we need to and we risk to have another breakdown. The cars’ owners took out insurance from AIG for engine troubles, and Geithner paid AIG to payoff the insurance policies without an engine change. Geithner then uses the people’s money to pay the owners to fix the engine.
The executive branch of government has no duty to admonish judges, just change the law to say corporations do not have first amendment rights. By the way, I am concerned that you are not concerned at the bad press the Justice Department is attracting. The failure to establish a case in the Blackwater affair. The failure to close Guantanamo in one year as promised. The Justice Departments judgment to hold KSM’s trial in New York City. FBI breakdowns in the Christmas bomber affair.
If you don’t know history you risk to repeat it. You sound like Jimmy Carter when you say there is loss of trust. At least, make some plans for a legacy if you have one term. Do something for the downtrodden. Fill the courts with your choice of judges. Do something to make Blacks proud, don’t be an Alberto Gonzales, bringing ignominy to Hispanics. You come across as a coconut – black on the outside, white on the inside who hangs out with white spin masters Axelrod and Gibbs. After one term, Jimmy Carter left no legacy.
I can’t predict 2012 because I don’t know who the Republicans will nominate. An attractive candidate like Michael Bloomberg could handily beat you. A bland candidate could give you a real race (Who ever heard of Scott Brown?) because of your record of public failures and desertion of minority groups and middle class. You are now whining about the Republicans yet overlook your own failures in management.
Saturday, January 30, 2010
Good on you
I have admired your humility in victory and your effective counter-punching. Your townhall meeting at the Republican gathering in Baltimore was the finest display of statesmanship I have seen in my life. Good on you.
I have taken my swings at you. I lookout for your counterpunch, on each swing. You haven’t deflected the force of my hits and I consider the Massachusetts’ result a knockdown.
Your townhall performance reminded me of the 2008 election battle.
This is meant as a joke. What do I call your healthcare plan? …. “Lipstick on a pig.”
Ok, in Washington speak, it’s not a joke.
I told you so.
I have taken my swings at you. I lookout for your counterpunch, on each swing. You haven’t deflected the force of my hits and I consider the Massachusetts’ result a knockdown.
Your townhall performance reminded me of the 2008 election battle.
This is meant as a joke. What do I call your healthcare plan? …. “Lipstick on a pig.”
Ok, in Washington speak, it’s not a joke.
I told you so.
Thursday, January 21, 2010
May you live in interesting times
All things considered, you must admit that the Massachusetts’ Senate result really makes my disparaging emails look good. I TOLD YOU SO. My reasoning was that with so many public failures and no wins, you gave the independents cause to look for change.
Out right losers, Geithner, Holder, Goolsbee.
Treading water, Biden, Axelrod, Rouse.
So here are the big changes to be made.
Joint-chiefs of staff James Baker, Rahm Emnual.
It will be the good cop, bad cop tag team, Baker, all things Economic, Emnual everything else. Each, have their own faults, but as a team they can get a lot done. Emnual can learn a lot about getting things done through the side door from Baker but the ideology will be Democratic. Emnual needs family time.
It will be announced that Biden withdraws from the VP slot for 2012 and Clinton will be it. She then comes into the White House. She brings great energy and is passionate about main stream matters, the perfect counter-party to the frat-boy Obama who only works out and shoots hoops. She really knows how to fix things… all things and now she is a proven team player.
Another Republican, Patrick J. Fitzgerald will replace Holder. He is the people’s choice, at least my choice.
I think Geithner should be replaced, if you had listened to me months ago, you will be ready.
Axelrod is having too much fun with the details and lost the strategic focus, lose the moustache and he’s a new man.
Out right losers, Geithner, Holder, Goolsbee.
Treading water, Biden, Axelrod, Rouse.
So here are the big changes to be made.
Joint-chiefs of staff James Baker, Rahm Emnual.
It will be the good cop, bad cop tag team, Baker, all things Economic, Emnual everything else. Each, have their own faults, but as a team they can get a lot done. Emnual can learn a lot about getting things done through the side door from Baker but the ideology will be Democratic. Emnual needs family time.
It will be announced that Biden withdraws from the VP slot for 2012 and Clinton will be it. She then comes into the White House. She brings great energy and is passionate about main stream matters, the perfect counter-party to the frat-boy Obama who only works out and shoots hoops. She really knows how to fix things… all things and now she is a proven team player.
Another Republican, Patrick J. Fitzgerald will replace Holder. He is the people’s choice, at least my choice.
I think Geithner should be replaced, if you had listened to me months ago, you will be ready.
Axelrod is having too much fun with the details and lost the strategic focus, lose the moustache and he’s a new man.
Monday, January 18, 2010
Change in character
I’m surprised by you haughty posture in the face of public failures.
Let us start with the Treasury Department.
In February 2009 you said that Geithner would announce in March, your government’s solution to the banking crisis – the questionable value of securitized mortgages in the banks which had frozen credit markets. There was considerable consternation at the long delay because Geithner had been appointed in December. His March presentation was inadequate. I am on record as presenting an alternative in March. A year has passed and there has been no change in the questionable value of securitized mortgages in the banks. I would consider this a public failure.
Newpapers have reported that Geithner authorized public funds to AIG to be passed through to Goldman Sachs before the CDS were valued, for at least 2.5 billion dollars. I submit this is a public failure of fiduciary responsibility.
The government has used public money to help AIG pay banks the CDS claims by the banks on the declining values of the securitized mortgages that they, the banks own. The banks have been paid the insurance policies they placed on their mortgages yet they have not removed these mortgages from their books. Geithner has budgeted taxpayer money to pay for devalued assets to remove them from the banks’ books. Your government has paid the banks twice, once through the CDS payments from AIG and the second time when you relieve the banks of the securitized mortgages. This double payment is a public failure of fiduciary responsibility.
The Justice Department.
The prosecution failed to present a case in the Blackwater affair.
Your promise to close Guantanamo by the end of the year failed and looks like a totally false promise.
Both are embarrassing public failures from an institution meant to protect the public.
My perceived Injustices
I think that it is unjust that milk has to compete against soft drink products because the fructose in the soft drinks, is from sugar beet and corn farmers who are subsidized by the government. The short term benefits MacDonald’s, Wendy’s and Burger King because they buy the cows from dairy farmers who are going out of business. In the long-term, fewer dairy farmers mean the price of cheese will rise, raising the price of pizza. Some suggest milk is healthy for children and the rising cost of milk may impact the health of children. It takes years to re-establish a herd.
I perceive a failure by the Anti-trust Division of the Justice Department to prosecute banks such a Goldman Sachs and J.P. Morgan Chase for anti-trust practices.
I respect Rahm Emnual’s untiring efforts in Government. For every minute of family life you enjoy he has given up an hour of family life with his family. He has been successful. I do not wish to diminish his accomplishment and sacrifice but you must acknowledge that healthcare is a limited success. You can fully celebrate the effort and historic breakthrough. You will be exasperating your haughty posture if you overplay the significance of the bill.
I thought you were a person of character who celebrates with humility and who responds to criticisms with effective counter-punches. We longer see these traits. In my frustration, I am accusing you of haughty behavior in the face of public failure. For me, a wage czar and tax on bank bailout profits are signs of thin-skinned attitudes and sticking with Geithner and Holder are signs of stubbornness. These pettinesses remind me of a G. W. Bush.
PS I keep telling you how the price of bread goes up. The price of breadcrumbs for Christmas stuffing was the price of a loaf of bread two years ago. Are you watching the standard of living index?
Let us start with the Treasury Department.
In February 2009 you said that Geithner would announce in March, your government’s solution to the banking crisis – the questionable value of securitized mortgages in the banks which had frozen credit markets. There was considerable consternation at the long delay because Geithner had been appointed in December. His March presentation was inadequate. I am on record as presenting an alternative in March. A year has passed and there has been no change in the questionable value of securitized mortgages in the banks. I would consider this a public failure.
Newpapers have reported that Geithner authorized public funds to AIG to be passed through to Goldman Sachs before the CDS were valued, for at least 2.5 billion dollars. I submit this is a public failure of fiduciary responsibility.
The government has used public money to help AIG pay banks the CDS claims by the banks on the declining values of the securitized mortgages that they, the banks own. The banks have been paid the insurance policies they placed on their mortgages yet they have not removed these mortgages from their books. Geithner has budgeted taxpayer money to pay for devalued assets to remove them from the banks’ books. Your government has paid the banks twice, once through the CDS payments from AIG and the second time when you relieve the banks of the securitized mortgages. This double payment is a public failure of fiduciary responsibility.
The Justice Department.
The prosecution failed to present a case in the Blackwater affair.
Your promise to close Guantanamo by the end of the year failed and looks like a totally false promise.
Both are embarrassing public failures from an institution meant to protect the public.
My perceived Injustices
I think that it is unjust that milk has to compete against soft drink products because the fructose in the soft drinks, is from sugar beet and corn farmers who are subsidized by the government. The short term benefits MacDonald’s, Wendy’s and Burger King because they buy the cows from dairy farmers who are going out of business. In the long-term, fewer dairy farmers mean the price of cheese will rise, raising the price of pizza. Some suggest milk is healthy for children and the rising cost of milk may impact the health of children. It takes years to re-establish a herd.
I perceive a failure by the Anti-trust Division of the Justice Department to prosecute banks such a Goldman Sachs and J.P. Morgan Chase for anti-trust practices.
I respect Rahm Emnual’s untiring efforts in Government. For every minute of family life you enjoy he has given up an hour of family life with his family. He has been successful. I do not wish to diminish his accomplishment and sacrifice but you must acknowledge that healthcare is a limited success. You can fully celebrate the effort and historic breakthrough. You will be exasperating your haughty posture if you overplay the significance of the bill.
I thought you were a person of character who celebrates with humility and who responds to criticisms with effective counter-punches. We longer see these traits. In my frustration, I am accusing you of haughty behavior in the face of public failure. For me, a wage czar and tax on bank bailout profits are signs of thin-skinned attitudes and sticking with Geithner and Holder are signs of stubbornness. These pettinesses remind me of a G. W. Bush.
PS I keep telling you how the price of bread goes up. The price of breadcrumbs for Christmas stuffing was the price of a loaf of bread two years ago. Are you watching the standard of living index?
Friday, January 8, 2010
One Important Paragraph
The most important decision for the decade is at hand. Deciding to
withdraw government infusion from the economy or to apply more
infusion is the single most important decision you have to make. It
affects America’s destiny. Premature pull back of monetary and fiscal
infusion will return to recession and possible deflation.
Over-applying monetary and fiscal infusion leads to inflation and
possible stagflation. Recession and inflation are skids but deflation
and stagflation are when things are out of control and the government
has no remedies. Much has been made of deflation, you must get Paul
Volcker to write about how to identify the pre-conditions of
stagflation and how to avoid it. He was there. The information to
make the decision is in three parts, the economic data which is
historical, the infusion in the pike but not yet in effect and
projected economic conditions. You must spend more time making this
decision than what to do in Afghanistan.
The Federal Reserve is acutely aware of the situation. They
scrutinize the data and will be very judicious in wielding their
tools. You are in charge of the fiscal part of the economy, and must
have an infra-structure in place to vet the information and fully
control fiscal spending. There are systemic problems with the
framework of your economic team to thread the needle. You must change
the systemic problems in the structure of your economic team.
You need a Supreme Economic Council. They will scrutinize the data,
and then react to the activities of the Federal Reserve. This council
is mediated by Jim Baker and the esteemed members are Alan Greenspan
and Paul Volcker., America’s best. They will convene three days after
each Fed meeting to determine how changes in monetary policy require
changes in fiscal policy.
You need an uber-czar who controls all government spending including
Treasury. That uber-czar should be Rahm Emnual. Nobody will cross
him and cheat on their spending. He will be disciplined when it comes
to spending.
From the outside, your economic structure is worse than the
anti-terrorist security structure.
There are too many councils with too many opinions, and there is no
accountability for the actual economic policy. It looks like a no
fault economic policy where you are left holding the bag.
Let’s start with the kind of information you are getting. Clinton had
his personal set of economic indicators, so he had his own set of eye
glasses, no matter what the official numbers wanted to spin.
Greenspan mentioned that he was heartened to be able to share with
Clinton, personal financial indicators because it meant Clinton,
himself, had a sound command of economics. It is obvious you don’t
know enough to formulate your own indicators and you are too trusting
of the numbers fed to you. Someone recently clarified to me that my
concern about the rising cost of bread (tripled) and milk (doubled)
are not inflationary but have to do with the standard of living. You
need ask about indicators about main street (you are a family of
five), for example if their standard of living is dropping, it means
they are hurting. This should help give you the human and political
interpretations of economic statistics. You must resolve to sharpen
your personal grasp of economics. You are far from being credible if
you were to give a fire side chat on the economy. You must be
prepared to explain to the American public how we find ourselves in
another recession or how your government will combat inflation.
Like the anti-terrorist agency, you have so many economic voices that
important actionable events either are not handled in time or not even
identified. What have Austan Goolsbee, Cecilia Rouse done for this
country, besides tying up your agenda? What is the benefit of the
Economic Recovery Advisory Board and the Council of Economic Advisors?
How about getting actionable advice out of the National Economic
Council? You are spending more money on advice than helping the
guy/gal on the street!
Then there is the performance of your Administration. I never fail to
mention how Geithner has failed you. Geithner has pressed on the gas
pedal with a heavy foot, oblivious of the amount of gas in the tank
(the national debt). He has not fixed the engine (toxic assets in the
banks) so we use more gas than we need to and we risk to have another
break down. Geithner’s wage czar has not yet recognized that Emnual’s
salary should be quadrupled considering his import to the country.
What a stupid idea – wage czar… you can give Emnual a big bonus he
worked really hard and successfully.
It is also now clear that the Bush Administration ravaged the Justice
Department as badly as the economy. The stupidity of the prosecutors
in the Blackwater trial is a reflection of the management structure
Bush put in place. My burning issue in Justice is the sleepiness of
the Anti-trust division. I know nothing about law but do like the way
Patrick J. Fitzgerald, US Attorney for the Northern District of
Illinois, works. I would like to see him head the Anti-trust division
in Justice. Is there any way you could put in a good word with Eric
Holder? If the anti-trust laws need to be sharpened up to address the
Bullies of Wall Street, I would like to see a guy like Eliot Spitzer
help draft such laws. Geithner is a wimp, but these two boys will
find justice.
Don’t take your eye off the ball this year, and hit the books on economics.
I told you so.
withdraw government infusion from the economy or to apply more
infusion is the single most important decision you have to make. It
affects America’s destiny. Premature pull back of monetary and fiscal
infusion will return to recession and possible deflation.
Over-applying monetary and fiscal infusion leads to inflation and
possible stagflation. Recession and inflation are skids but deflation
and stagflation are when things are out of control and the government
has no remedies. Much has been made of deflation, you must get Paul
Volcker to write about how to identify the pre-conditions of
stagflation and how to avoid it. He was there. The information to
make the decision is in three parts, the economic data which is
historical, the infusion in the pike but not yet in effect and
projected economic conditions. You must spend more time making this
decision than what to do in Afghanistan.
The Federal Reserve is acutely aware of the situation. They
scrutinize the data and will be very judicious in wielding their
tools. You are in charge of the fiscal part of the economy, and must
have an infra-structure in place to vet the information and fully
control fiscal spending. There are systemic problems with the
framework of your economic team to thread the needle. You must change
the systemic problems in the structure of your economic team.
You need a Supreme Economic Council. They will scrutinize the data,
and then react to the activities of the Federal Reserve. This council
is mediated by Jim Baker and the esteemed members are Alan Greenspan
and Paul Volcker., America’s best. They will convene three days after
each Fed meeting to determine how changes in monetary policy require
changes in fiscal policy.
You need an uber-czar who controls all government spending including
Treasury. That uber-czar should be Rahm Emnual. Nobody will cross
him and cheat on their spending. He will be disciplined when it comes
to spending.
From the outside, your economic structure is worse than the
anti-terrorist security structure.
There are too many councils with too many opinions, and there is no
accountability for the actual economic policy. It looks like a no
fault economic policy where you are left holding the bag.
Let’s start with the kind of information you are getting. Clinton had
his personal set of economic indicators, so he had his own set of eye
glasses, no matter what the official numbers wanted to spin.
Greenspan mentioned that he was heartened to be able to share with
Clinton, personal financial indicators because it meant Clinton,
himself, had a sound command of economics. It is obvious you don’t
know enough to formulate your own indicators and you are too trusting
of the numbers fed to you. Someone recently clarified to me that my
concern about the rising cost of bread (tripled) and milk (doubled)
are not inflationary but have to do with the standard of living. You
need ask about indicators about main street (you are a family of
five), for example if their standard of living is dropping, it means
they are hurting. This should help give you the human and political
interpretations of economic statistics. You must resolve to sharpen
your personal grasp of economics. You are far from being credible if
you were to give a fire side chat on the economy. You must be
prepared to explain to the American public how we find ourselves in
another recession or how your government will combat inflation.
Like the anti-terrorist agency, you have so many economic voices that
important actionable events either are not handled in time or not even
identified. What have Austan Goolsbee, Cecilia Rouse done for this
country, besides tying up your agenda? What is the benefit of the
Economic Recovery Advisory Board and the Council of Economic Advisors?
How about getting actionable advice out of the National Economic
Council? You are spending more money on advice than helping the
guy/gal on the street!
Then there is the performance of your Administration. I never fail to
mention how Geithner has failed you. Geithner has pressed on the gas
pedal with a heavy foot, oblivious of the amount of gas in the tank
(the national debt). He has not fixed the engine (toxic assets in the
banks) so we use more gas than we need to and we risk to have another
break down. Geithner’s wage czar has not yet recognized that Emnual’s
salary should be quadrupled considering his import to the country.
What a stupid idea – wage czar… you can give Emnual a big bonus he
worked really hard and successfully.
It is also now clear that the Bush Administration ravaged the Justice
Department as badly as the economy. The stupidity of the prosecutors
in the Blackwater trial is a reflection of the management structure
Bush put in place. My burning issue in Justice is the sleepiness of
the Anti-trust division. I know nothing about law but do like the way
Patrick J. Fitzgerald, US Attorney for the Northern District of
Illinois, works. I would like to see him head the Anti-trust division
in Justice. Is there any way you could put in a good word with Eric
Holder? If the anti-trust laws need to be sharpened up to address the
Bullies of Wall Street, I would like to see a guy like Eliot Spitzer
help draft such laws. Geithner is a wimp, but these two boys will
find justice.
Don’t take your eye off the ball this year, and hit the books on economics.
I told you so.
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