The Obama Transition

Obama's appointments for the White House transition in January caused many in the media to report concern over these experienced veterans. Now why would this be a handicap, when some of the same people criticized Bill Clinton with his inexperienced picks back in '92? Do we really want inexperienced folks coming in to fix the myriad problems the current administration is leaving behind?

Media Matters' writer Foser asks, "When did experience become a flaw?" He complains that, back in the 90's, the media complained about the inexperience of the appointees. Now that Obama is appointing high-powered, experienced folks, they complain about a lack of change. You just can't please some of the folks some of the time! Of course, the biggest complaint is about Hillary, the epitome of satan (along with Bill) to many right-wingers.

So, if you have better suggestions, check out Obama's transition website. You can leave suggestions or share a story. Heck, maybe they'll take your resume!

Media & Yellow Journalism

MediaMatters.org writer Jamison Foser has written an excellent article that refutes mainstream media reports on the Minnesota Senate race. MediaMatters serves as an excellent source for those intent upon finding information without network bias.

As a college student, I took an intro mass communications course (with fantasies of becoming either a sports caster or writer for National Geographic) and learned you could sway your audience through your words. When reporting, you could force the reader to form an opinion one way or another. Reporters were taught to use "who, what, how, when, where" (the 5 things to always include in the first paragraph) and to use active voice. With blogs, additional writing tips are a must.

That said, Foser discusses the recount in Minnesota (required by law when an election represents 1/2 of 1% or less). Unfortunately, many media outlets, apparently including the New York Times, NBC's Today, the Minneapolis Star Tribune & media host Sean Hannity, allege sensational problems by using words like "shenanigans, chaos, mess in Minnesota" and "fishy business."

Why didn't they use "voter recount required by law" or "recount in Minnesota?" Yellow journalism (biased opinion masquerading as objective fact) popularized by Joseph Pulitzer and William Randolf Hearst in the late 19th century is alive and well in the 21st. Newspaper circulation keeps shrinking and more Americans get their news either from The Daily Show or the internet. Sensationalism sells papers and brings viewers.

Bailouts & Corporate Accountability

So, the US taxpayer (that's you & me, folks) has sent billions into Wall Street with very few strings attached (you did know that you were sending this money, right?) The result? Up until this week, banks sat on the money. Now, automakers are asking for the same fringe benefit & Congress is trying to slice a piece out of that $700 billion pie to give to them. Despite the fact that, in Sept, Congress passed a bill giving them $25 billion in loans. In the meantime, check out these staggering statistics:

• A quarter-trillion-dollar budget deficit for a single month
• Projections of up to $1 trillion for a year in the deficit
• A half-million new applications for unemployment benefits
• Unemployment jumped to a 14-year high of 6.5 percent in October
• Tax revenues were down 7.5 percent in October from a year ago
• Foreclosure rates for October increases 25%
  

The deficit with China bucked the trend and rose to an all-time high as U.S. retailers kept stocking their shelves with Chinese-made televisions, toys and games. Just what we need; more cheap products created in sweatshops with no environmental standards and shipped here to poison our people. But I digress.

So, what does the taxpayer get for her money? Stock in the largest banks, to take ownership shares in hundreds or thousands of banks by New Years. We've also got mortgage-backed securities from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. 1

Now, I'm not a financial wiz or anything, but if I was financially rescuing someone, I'd like a little more for my money.

• Fire all the CEO's at the financial companies getting bailout money & replace them with salaried govt workers with industry expertise.
• Eliminate golden parachutes or set a cap
• Return to the regulations in place in the 30's
• Make the Federal Reserve a govt entity
• Replace members of the SEC & give 'em more muscle
  
• Close securities & derivatives loopholes
• Install a govt trade fee (the rest of the world has this) with the revenue going to the deficit
• Require "credit card" interest rates (28%) on the payback

Now, about those automakers, who fought Clinton tooth & nail in the 90's to avoid doing anything. 2 If you wanna play ball, here's what we get in return:

• Make sure it's a loan, not a bailout (we did it for Chrysler back in the '80s) 3
  
• Mandates for hybrid/duel-fuel plugin cars by a certain time (say 2-3 years)
• Money for research on retrofit technology for existing cars and trucks
• Increase CAFE standards to 45mpg by 2010, 60mpg by 2014; 80mpg by 2020
  
• Ban oil/gas/auto lobbyists from Congress (oh, heck, go ahead & ban all lobbyists!)
• Find out why they haven't filed Chapter 11? 4
  
• Oversee executive compensation & ban any retroactive payments
  
• Award innovation at the consumer level by offering govt rebates for hybrid cars
  

Ok, I'm a little over the top on some of the above suggestions, but it doesn't seem right to me that we give 'em money for nothing. That tax bill is gonna hit soon and none of us will be laughing on the way to the bank.

Sources
1. http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/081113/budget_deficit.html
2. Who Killed the Electric Car, PBS, http://www.pbs.org/now/shows/223/#here
3. http://www.cato.org/pubs/pas/PA00Aes.html
4. http://www.heritage.org/Research/Economy/wm2134.cfm

Joblessness in America

According to today's Business Week & ReportonBusiness.com:

• Nonfarm payrolls plunged 240,000 for the month of October
• Unemployment jumped to 6.5% in October (highest reading in 14 yrs)
• Businesses are making much bigger cuts in capital spending & hiring 1
• Advanced economies (US, Germany, UK, etc.) will shrink 0.3% in 2009 (first time since WW2) 2

These are just a few of the economic woes occurring now. The G20 meeting next week in Washington will no doubt be one of attempting to better coordinate responses to the global economy. A search of the web came up with these as possible responses:

1. More shareholder influence on executive pay 3
2. Increased powers for the SEC (Securities & Exchange Commission) 4
3. A stronger IMF (International Monetary Fund) 5
4. Additional policy measures to stop the downward spiral of US housing prices 6
5. Insuring financial institutions don't circumvent regulation 7
6. A Green Public Investment Stimulus program 8


Meanwhile, our bailed-out banks continue to hoard funds, exasperating the situation. 9 The fate of us all during this recession could well depend on the results of this meeting.


Sources:
1. http://www.businessweek.com/investor/content/nov2008/pi2008116_877573.htm?campaign_id=investing_related
2. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20081107.RECONOMY07/TPStory/Business
3.http://www.reuters.com/article/americasRegulatoryNews/idUSN06267520081107
4. Ibid
5. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20081107.RECONOMY07/TPStory/Business
6. http://www.rgemonitor.com/euro-monitor/254289/europe_catches_pneumonia
7. http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601100&sid=a7dnE2LYHOVE&refer=germany
8. http://www.thenation.com/doc/20081124/pollin
9. http://www.progressiveinvolvement.com/progressive_involvement/2008/10/bailout-working-precisely-as-intended-gucci-wearin-champagne-sippin-plutocrats-make-out-fine-main-street-stuck-with-the.html

An Historic Day in America

So we can stand proud as Americans showing democracy does indeed work. We elected the first African-American, Barack Obama, to the Oval Office. Over 131 million people voted in this election, which means about 64% of eligible voters went to the polls. That's the best turn out in 44 years, according to a report by AP (click on blog head). That's gratifying in that, for some time now, many Americans didn't vote. Part of your responsibility in a democracy is to vote, so I hope we continue in the future.

Watch the Election on your Computer

Go here (or on the name of this post) to see all the action on your computer. Swing states include Virginia, NC, MN, FL, OH, IN, etc. My bet is the Ohio voting machines will glitch again.

SNL's Political Videos

Instead of the dire "Only 2 days left to Vote!" message, I bring you a link to hulu.com, so you can catch up on all the SNL (Sat. Night Live) Tina Fey, et al videos. Hilarious.

Media Bias

Media Matters' columnist Jamison Foser has posted an interesting article called "Media Matters: The Right's "bias" charade." He covers the last 15 years of media coverage on Presidential Candidates, as well as comments on PEJ's (Project for Excellence in Journalism) recent study. Foser's article can be found at MM, while PEJ's at PEJ.

Foser's article points to database searches of negative media reports, proving otherwise, as well as concern over some of PEJ's methodology. For instance, they ignored Radio talk shows, which are highly conservative. They also rated as negative reporting any report of negative poll numbers, despite the fact that this is simple reporting. Anyway, an interesting article worth reading.