112 Thoughts to “Open Thread Monday, November 15”

  1. Starryflights

    No clear favorite for 2012 GOP nomination

    By Dan Balz
    Washington Post Staff Writer
    Monday, November 15, 2010; 10:18 PM

    The first Republican debate has been announced. The early media handicapping has begun. Anticipation in the political community is running high. By those signs, the curtain is set to rise on the 2012 GOP presidential campaign. But what about the candidates?

    At this point, only a few potential candidates are considered certain to run, among them former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney and outgoing Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty. Others are likely to run, but a number appear far from a decision.

    The most significant of those is Palin.

    In public statements, Palin has inched closer to serious consideration of a presidential run. She will make two stops in Iowa over the next month as part of a book tour. But by all indications, her small staff is not engaged in any campaign planning.

    The closest the Republicans have to a front-runner is Romney, but he does not have the breadth of support that some previous front-runners did. He has worked to deepen his connections to party activists and elected officials, but he remains vulnerable to criticism that as governor he helped enact a universal health-care plan that is strikingly similar to the one President Obama signed into law this year.

    http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/11/15/AR2010111506662.html?hpid=topnews

    I recommend Sarah Palin for the 2012 Republican nomination!

  2. PWC Taxpayer

    “Ending automatic delivery of Federal Register hard copies to government employees was the top cost-saving strategy in a contest to curb federal spending, Obama administration officials announced Monday. ”

    Really, thats the best they could do. Clearly not serious. Thankfully January is coming.

    http://www.govexec.com/story_page.cfm?articleid=46526&oref=todaysnews

  3. @Wolverine
    ewwwww! It probably happens here too.

  4. @PWC Taxpayer

    Oh are we getting a new president in January? Damn, I forgot to go vote. I missed the elections.

    Are you laughing at saving copying costs? It is a huge budget item, not to mention the woman/man hours put in to doing it. Sometimes just turning off the faucet when brushing your teeth can amount to savings.

    I expect cutting copying costs isn’t quite as political and glamourous as most politicians like so we will just sit back and snicker and laugh like horse’s asses over it.

    Furthermore, it was an employee suggestion. You should know about that, judging from YOUR IP address which I can see. (and relax, I would not ever publish.) When employees start thinking about ways to cut govt costs, it is better, because they are the ones who see the waste. the rest of us are just here running our mouths.

    Good for that suggestion. We aren’t looking for the high ticket items. Obviously ending the war in Iraq might save some money.

  5. @Cato the Elder
    Cato, it is real ugly. It might turn me into a drinking woman. ahem…

    Fix this please. Run the bears off. Bring in the bulls.

  6. Big Dog

    – The market sunk like a rock today – back to the $1 dollar menu for me.

    – It has been a cold, dark and rainy all day.

    – The Redskins sucked last night BADDDD!

    – Arrgh.

  7. Big Dog, I totally agree with you. arrgggghhhh…best pirate sound for a grim day. I also feel like my county got ripped off.

  8. What is Corey talking about tearing up parking lots and road ways to protect the Chesapeake Bay? Is he over-reacting?

  9. So Marty has been selected as the solid waste expert? Not sure that was a compliment, coming from Corey.

  10. Lafayette

    I just completed a survey on Republicans for the US Senate. I was asked numerous questions/opinion about the following. The man started out out by saying if you haven’t heard of them, let me know. Bwhahahahahaha! 👿
    George Allen
    Ken Cuccinelli
    Corey Stewart
    Bob Marshall

  11. Cato the Elder

    @Moon-howler

    Bears out there saying stuff like “Ireland, Portugal and Spain” (oh my). We may have a few more days of correction, but I don’t think this goes on forever. They’ll come to terms in the Eurozone, and we’ll have a rally (which is what happens when all bailouts are announced) and I think China will continue to guide their economy in for a soft landing. Sure, they’re going to have to pay the piper for all the over development at some point but not anytime soon. I saw a lot of smart money cover their shorts today so I don’t think I’m alone in this opinion.

    Check this out: http://img201.imageshack.us/img201/5488/sp101610.jpg

    Stochs and RSI all headed to the gutter. I annotated the other times we’ve seen these oscillators in this territory and it’s historically been a time to buy, not sell. There’s a rising support point at around 1168 (10 points lower than here) and a key Fib level at 1150, so that’s the zone you could think about about adding exposure.

    Also, remember we’re heading into what is a seasonally strong part of the year for markets. To me this looks like “let’s beat down the markets so we can set up to run them into year end to window dress our performance” so you may want to get your shopping list ready because I think the next couple of weeks could offer some compelling opportunities.

    1. @Cato, I sure needed something to make me feel better after the beating I took today. I got clobbered.

  12. Raymond Beverage

    Tearing up parking lots and roads is not so much an overreaction, just a real good way to snipe at the new Chessie Bay Watershed rules which went in effect (in part) October 1st.

    They are really getting tougher to deal with, and even water treatment is going to be called to a higher standard. Prince William is 150sq miles worth of urbanized area, and a lot of that has build up around creeks, streams, etc. Even with the 200sq miles of non-urbanized (referred to as the rural part), all that urbanized paving means less real estate to let natural water absorbtion occur.

    Plus, with most parking lots, there is not a storm drain system set into them. Quite a few of the ones built in the last decade or so do, but look along Route 1 at all that hardstand without drainage.

    Corey made a pretty fair assessment of what it might take to meet the standards.

    1. Thanks for the explanation, Raymond. So who is this edict coming from?

  13. @e
    e, that IS cool! I can’t imagine being up there all that time, though. You gotta be a special kind of someone to deal with that.

  14. e, those are great pics. Thanks for sharing them.

  15. AndyH

    My understanding is that is originates Mostly from EPA. It’s going to drive sewer treatment costs through the roof, let alone the other stuff.

  16. Raymond Beverage

    AndyH hit the nail on the head and gets the door prize! Yes, brought to us by the friendly folks at EPA.

    For those interested, the link below is to the Chesapeake Bay Compliance & Enforcement Strategy:

    http://www.epa.gov/compliance/civil/initiatives/chesapeakebay.html

    It also ties in with the Healthy Waters initatives to clean up the Potomac River.

  17. Starryflights

    In memoir, Bush spins fiscal fiction

    By Ruth Marcus
    Wednesday, November 17, 2010

    In short, Bush inherited a budget in healthy shape. He left it in tatters. The faltering economy played a supporting role, but the chief factors were of Bush’s making: his tax cuts, his wars, his prescription drug bill. Without these, the country would have been running surpluses during his tenure. The wars will wind down, but the price of the tax cuts and prescription drug bill will climb even higher over the next decade.

    Some stewardship.

    http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/11/16/AR2010111604942.html?hpid=opinionsbox1

    Yeah, some stewardship. Thanks for nothing, Mr. Bush. You teabaggers out there who want smaller government and less spending should ask yourselves where you were for eight years this idiot was in office.

  18. Censored bybvbl

    No one should have been blindsided by the Chesapeake Bay regs. Those of us who live near the rivers that run through the county have known for years that the regs would be tightened. I’d be happy to see more enforcement. Developers and sod farms don’t contain/manage the runoff on their properties and those of us with docks and boat launch areas have had to put up with their silty runoff for years.

  19. GM I.P.O. on track to make $22.5B which is the largest in history.

    Pricing today after close of business. Shares should be between 32-33 dollars per share.

    The money goes back into treasuries and trust funds, not to GM.

    Cato, please let us know the cost per share when its released. Did you get your allocation?

  20. Slowpoke Rodriguez

    I heard that if Bristol Palin wins DWTS, that her mother will gain the power to feast upon liberals without the sour flesh burning her stomach or the sulfur smell burning her nose!

  21. Elena

    LOVE the pics e!!!!

  22. To You Lie Hello,

    I hope everyone is paying attention. We are not trying to hide the fact that you have been censored. I never made any such promises or statements about censorship. I am going to allow what I feel is in the best interest of this blog and that is the final decision.

    Because of your past behavior, rather than banishing you, I will allow statements that I feel contribute to the ongoing discussion. You still don’t get it. You come to aggrevate rather than participate in discussion.

    You will remain in moderation. I have made no secret about it.

    You control the outcome here. If you can change your behavior consistently, over a period of time, then we will remove you from moderation. Each and every time you attempt to post something contentious. You never attempt to find common ground. And most importantly, you make extra work for me and make it so I don’t feel I can go away from a computer and leave the blog unattended.

    Hopefully you can alter your approach.

  23. Big Dog

    “With products like Frito- Lay’s “green tea potato chips” joining
    other fast food items that now flood Chinese stores, the diets
    of people of in China are changing dramatically. One result:
    nearly a quarter of the population is now over weight or obese,
    conditions that were almost unheard of a generation ago.”
    Fredericksburg Free Lance-Star (11-14-2010)

    Now for the second part of our plan to slow them down:
    Celestial Joy Fried Twinkies!

  24. I'm baaaack... as hello

    Big news today, Democrats vote for Nancy Pelosi to be their leader…

    http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1110/45285.html

  25. Wolverine

    I have to laugh about the idea of cutting copying costs. Not bad if you can do it, but you might have to turn into a very heavy-handed federal Neighborhood Watch to accomplish that — or remove every copy machine in your offices. I recall many of the analysts who worked for me and for my colleagues. You could give them the absolute latest in computer storage and retrieval equipment and still walk into their cubicles at risk of being drowned in a sea of squirreled away, “just in case” paper. That paper seemed like some kind of security blanket. Maybe things have changed over the past decade or so, but I still wonder about that concept of a “paper-free society.”

  26. Wolverine

    Maybe I shouldn’t laugh so much. Now that I have thought about it a bit, I can recall some instances when a super-grade (think civilian equivalents of admirals or generals) called me up in either a huff or with a sound of desperation and asked me to bring some relevant cables to his office ASAP and even faster. Sometimes at the very moment the computer system had gone into hibernation for reasons which I will never understand. Once happened when the super-grade had a very angry and insistent U.S. Senator on the phone line. My ass was saved by one of my packrat analysts.

  27. Cato the Elder

    @Moon-howler

    33 bucks. I got an allocation, not what I had asked for but some. This has been a really well-run IPO process thus far. Taxpayers should end up with a tidy profit on at least this part of the auto bailout, and the fact that it’s being so well received bodes well for Chrysler (and Ford).

  28. @Cato,

    I am hoping it bodes real well for Ford. Glad you got your allocation. I guess my changes of getting any of the much sought after shares tomorrow is zero. Ah..my chance at history is dashed!

    Do you think $33 is a fair price? Maybe I should get some more Ford.

  29. And on the subject of GM–
    The offering will cut the government’s stake in the company
    by more than half, to about 26 percent, and speed up the
    Obama administration’s efforts to remove itself entirely from
    the company, a goal that G.M. has also avidly sought.

    From the NY times

  30. Big Dog, that is too funny. I shouldn’t laugh..but…I am.

  31. Cato the Elder

    @Moon-howler

    Actually I think 33 is still too low by about 15%. We’ll see when it starts to trade tomorrow 🙂

  32. DB

    @pinko

    It was somewhere in October of 1974 when we left Berlin. The entire security process is ingrained on my memory because of how upset my father and mother were when it happened. We were in a room full of tables, and our suitcases were on the tables. The suitcases were gone thru first, and items were confiscated. Then everyone including children were frisked by security, and this included the removal of diapers. Then baby dolls were unceremoniously beheaded. My dad was already pissed that our cat was shoved into a cardboard box, and I remember him becoming even more annoyed as the process continued and he was cussing up a storm. Not sure what was going on there in 1974, but that summer we had armed guards on our playground while we were outside playing. Also that summer my dad graduated from BU, and the ceremony was held in Heidelberg and during the ceremony we kids played outside and we were accompanied by armed guards. I also remember talk at the time that the east german soldiers were taking shots at westerners who were observing over the wall on the observation platforms in West Berlin, and apparently and man and his son were shot that summer.

  33. Wolverine

    DB — Three likely reasons for your Germany experiences in 1974: (1) the aftermath of the Palestinian terrorist attack on Israeli athletes at the 1972 Munich Olympics; (2) the Rote Armee Fraktion (RAF), a violent Marxist domestic terrorist group originally known as the Baader-Meinhof Gang; and (3) the Revolutionary Cells (RZ), a domestic Marxist terrorist group even more active than the RAF at times. The RAF became prominent in 1970 and existed more or less until the late 1990’s, albeit with diminishing importance beginning in the 1980’s. Because of increasingly deadly attacks by the RAF and the RZ, the Fall of 1977 in Germany became known as the “German Autumn.” In the 1970’s, the Germans were as nervous as they are now about possible al-Qaeda attacks.

  34. DB

    I’m not sure what happened then, but I do know that I own an original Munich Olympic 1972 t-shirt in size 2T and written in German. I remember that I loved that shirt:)

  35. Mark Warner says the deficit would grow by $65 billion “if we keep the cuts for people on the highest incomes.”

    The RTD checked it out and found this statement to be true.

  36. Nearly 1 in 2 congressmen are millionaires. 261 to be exact. They got richer during the economic downturn.

    Maybe now people who keep buying this protect the rich because of jobs bs will rethink that. I wonder why so many people want to put the wealthy out of the tax man’s reach?

    What logic is it to keep the ss cap at 110k? Why are we protecting those people and not the poor slob who makes $60k?

  37. The reasoning behind the cap was that rich people won’t need SS so they don’t have to pay into it. This comes from typical gov’t logic and mandatory “saving”.

    Congressmen get rich through other means, not the free market. So the argument about taxing such does not apply. Anyway, the politicians can get around that too.

    Now, why would the deficit grow by allowing people to keep more of their money? Why is the government bound and determined to spend money it does not have? Let them cut spending and that deficit goes away. We need to force Congress to do its damn job. Just think how much smaller the deficit would be if Congress had not passed those political slush funds called the Stimulus.

  38. @Cargo, but what if you and I do not agree on what its job is?

    You would not have passed TARP. I feel we would be mired in a depression had it not passed. Who is right? who is wrong? Guess we will never know.

  39. Pat.Herve

    you could think of the stimulus as a slush fund, and others think of many DOD programs as slush funds like the F-35 secondary engine – Much of the stimulus was supposed to go to infrastructure projects which have not been funded over the past years. The SS Cap, is so that those are well off will not the windfall of a large SS Check, since the contribution is capped, so is the maximum payout – right now, the Large income earners (mega million) get no more SS than a person making ~$106,000. If the contribution cap was removed, the payout would also rise.

    Why were the tax cuts temporary – because Congress at that time could not make the case that the cuts would conform to PAYGO – (credit to U.S. Rep. George Miller (D-Martinez)). Here is the problem with the tax cuts – at the same time that we cut taxes, we also entered into an agreement to finance (money from China) two wars, Medicare Part D, and other entitlements. At the same time that we cut the taxes, the deficit increased from $5 Trillion to $10 Trillion (Facts). The R’s and the D’s controlled Congress at times and share in the increased costs.

    Lets fix the Tax Loopholes and the complexity – why does a Hedge Fund director pay no/little income tax? He pays capital gains taxes (15%) – Why? Why hasn’t Congress fixed AMT? It was enacted because the wealthy were paying NO income tax, but it hits the middle class now.

    What is a fair amount/percentage of tax to pay?

    Having low income taxes has only lead to increased salaries, and created a salary bubble – if the taxes were higher, there would be less increases in salary, and prices of everything would not be rising so fast. Believe it or not, we are paid too much – I know this because of the amount of discretionary spending there is on restaurants, phones, toys, gadgets, car washes, landscapers, etc. What galls me, is when there is a 4% raise for everyone, the average worker making $75,000 gets $3,000, while the upper echelon gets 10’s of thousands.

    Re TARP – even the critics have ceased to talk about it – I have not heard Beck or Hannity mention it in a while, because it has seemed to have worked to stabilize the financial system.

  40. Raymond Beverage

    General Motors rationing out its stock, but sending the market along. Was reading Jim Cramer’s commentary and had to laugh at his historical reference to 1979 when the government provided a loan quarantee to Chrysler, which stock was at $7.50 a share.

    Chrysler (Lee Iaccca days) was betting on the minivan and after repaying the federal loan, the repaying the loan and buying back its options, the stock appreciated 280%. And now, the reason for my laughter:

    In ’79, the Army was testing two designs for the XM-1 Tank (now known as Abrams) – one from Chrysler and one from GM. I was at Fort Knox, KY as staff in the Armor Center & School, and part of the tests. The GM was the better test tank, but Chrysler won the contract..and insider debate among us Green Suiters was it would haul Chrysler out of the pits.

    Funny how a bunch of Sergeants around the bar at the NCO Club guessed right. Interesting how bits of history get viewed years later.

  41. Raymond,

    Since the Abrams, at least to us non-tankers, appears to be one of, if not the best, tank going, what made the GM tank better and is there info on the net about it?

  42. An update on K K’s Temptations from the Amanda Hess website: Perhaps the last paragraph is the best.

    http://www.tbd.com/blogs/amanda-hess/2010/11/manassas-residents-tire-of-protesting-sex-4826.html

    Mr. Aveni needs to lighten up. Funny how he never worried about Parkside, Kindercare and the Public Library and the walk in clinic when MVC moved into the Mathis Avenue site. When is he up for election?

  43. Its as if the TSA is TRYING to look stupid. Inspecting troops that were forced to deplane while enroute home from Afghanistan:

    This is probably another good time to remind you all that all of us were carrying actual assault rifles, and some of us were also carrying pistols.

    So we’re in line, going through one at a time. One of our Soldiers had his Gerber multi-tool. TSA confiscated it. Kind of ridiculous, but it gets better. A few minutes later, a guy empties his pockets and has a pair of nail clippers. Nail clippers. TSA informs the Soldier that they’re going to confiscate his nail clippers. The conversation went something like this:

    TSA Guy: You can’t take those on the plane.

    Soldier: What? I’ve had them since we left country.

    TSA Guy: You’re not suppose to have them.

    Soldier: Why?

    TSA Guy: They can be used as a weapon.

    Soldier: [touches butt stock of the rifle] But this actually is a weapon. And I’m allowed to take it on.

    TSA Guy: Yeah but you can’t use it to take over the plane. You don’t have bullets.

    Soldier: And I can take over the plane with nail clippers?

    TSA Guy: [awkward silence]

    http://www.redstate.com/erick/2010/11/18/another-tsa-outrage/

    And THAT’S what you get when you depend upon finding things instead of looking for terrorists.

  44. Good story, Cargo. And I don’t know what the answer is. Glenn Beck wants to look each passenger in the eye. Now let’s get real. Seriously. He had the ex-head of El Al on his show and they talked about looking into people’s eyes. NOw how long would that take in a country this size? How much would it cost? And he wasn’t speaking of retinal scanning either.

    I don’t have an answer. The minute I say leave grandmothers and kids out of the screening, one will have 45 explosive strapped to themself.

  45. Public Service Announcement right from the USPO site:

    Customers be aware of fraudulent package delivery messages sent by email or phone.

    Customers may be receiving email messages or phone calls that allege to be from the U.S. Postal Service that contain fraudulent information about attempted or intercepted package delivery.

    For emails: If opened, the messages instruct customers to click on a link to find out more about when they can expect delivery of their “package.” Simply delete the message without taking any further action.

    For phone calls: Please do not provide any personal information and let the caller know you’re not interested and hang-up the phone.

    The Postal Inspection Service is aware of the problems and are working hard to resolve the issues and shut down the malicious programs.

    We regret any inconvenience this may have caused our customers.

    http://www.usps.com/homearea/fraudulent_email.htm

  46. @Moon-howler
    Equip aircraft with taser guns. They go right next to the inflight phone on the seat in front of you. When the aircrew determines an emergency, the taser guns are now released.

    Now you have group of armed passengers. You may be able to explode the aircraft, but you won’t be able to use it as a missile.

  47. Falling debris might be a problem. After seeing some of the fools on a plane, not sure I want any of them armed.

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