2008

Pearlstein on Wall Street's Responsibility

Steven Pearlstein has a wonderful close to his column today:

In putting several trillion dollars in government funds on the line, the country has now done just about everything that Wall Street could have asked to address the financial crisis. The question now, as John Kennedy might have put it, is what Wall Street is ready to do for its country. So far, the answer is not much.

After getting their closed-door briefing yesterday from Paulson on the government's latest initiatives, Wall Street's finest literally ran from the Treasury to their waiting limousines, bypassing a media scrum eager to convey any scrap of wisdom or insight.

Court reporters will tell you they can always tell the innocent from the guilty on these kinds of perp walks, and the Wall Street crowd yesterday looked particularly guilty, unable even to conjure up a soothing word to a nation fretting over its shrunken 401(k)s, or a simple thank you to taxpayers for having saved their bacon. Their silence and invisibility throughout this crisis attests to the moral and political bankruptcy of a financial elite that is the perfect match for the financial bankruptcy they have now visited upon their investors, their creditors and their customers.

After yesterday's "historic" meeting, we are told by industry apologists that we are supposed to be grateful to nine leading banks for having "volunteered" to accept additional capital from the Treasury, along with a government guarantee for newly issued bank debt, even if it means having to accept a dilution of existing shares and a few harmless restrictions on their operations.

Pardon me if I'm less than blown over by this munificent offer, but it hardly seems commensurate either with the severity of the current crisis or the depth of the banks' culpability in fomenting it.

If Wall Street were truly serious about convincing Main Street that we're all in this together, its top executives would have stepped before the cameras yesterday and promised not to cut lines of credits to long-standing business customers who have never missed a payment.

They would have committed themselves not to foreclose on any homeowner who is willing and able to refinance into a new, government-guaranteed, fixed-rate mortgage set at 85 percent of the current value of the property.

They would have offered to suspend dividend payments until capital levels had been restored to pre-crisis levels.

They would have given us their solemn promise not to advise clients to hold on to their own investments while quietly dumping whatever they can from their own portfolios and shorting every security in sight.

With the Treasury now desperate for help in managing its new rescue efforts, they would have volunteered, at no cost to taxpayers, the services of some of those investment bankers and financial wizards who now don't have much else to do.

And the maharajas of finance could have set a wonderful example if they had all gotten together and agreed to work for a dollar a year until the crisis has passed.

There's a word that captures the instinct to take these kind of bold moves in the midst of a national crisis -- it's called leadership. We've seen quite a bit of it these past few weeks from public officials like Hank Paulson, Ben Bernanke, Tim Geithner, Sheila Bair, Nancy Pelosi, Barney Frank, John Boehner -- even George Bush. Wall Street, by contrast, has served up a nothing sandwich, a lack of leadership that's been stunning.

 

Candidates Woo Largest Spanish-speaking Audience in the Country, Part I

Yesterday, U.S. Sen. John McCain appeared on the Sunday political show Al Punto, hosted by Jorge Ramos on the Spanish-language network, Univision. Mr. Ramos noticed the absence of any discussion on Latin America and on tough issues, such as immigration, during the debates and asked Sen. McCain about his positions.

ON IMMIGRATION - Sen. McCain avoided responding to the tough questions asked by Mr. Ramos, but when he did not, he gave this Spanish-speaking/Hispanic audience very different answers from what he tells crowds of English-speaking conservatives.

Below is an outline of Jorge Ramos's questions on immigration, Sen. McCain's answers during this interview, and prior statements.

JR: Do you agree with the immigration raids that are separating thousands of Hispanic families?
JM: "We must have enforcement....on two occasions I stood before the Senate, knowing that my Party was against me, that the members of my party were against me, and spoke for comprehensive immigration reform." "I am committed to comprehensive reform, but we have to have enforcement, too". McCain called for "humane" and "compassionate" enforcement, and a temporary worker program as well.

The truth is that ever since the McCain-Kennedy bill in 2006, Sen. McCain has never again fought his party on this issue, as he claims. McCain has been constant in his lack of support for immigration reform.

When not speaking to Hispanics: McCain on immigration at CPAC - advocating for enforcement-only; "Secure our borders first...and only after we've achieve widespread consensus that our borders are secure would we address other aspects of the problem..."

John McCain would not sign his own legislation, if it came up now:

JR: If you were president, would you suspend the immigration raids until immigration reform passed?
JM: Well, if we know that some of those immigrants come and commit crimes...
JR: But they are not - they're Hispanic families and people who are not criminals or terrorists...
JM: ....First, my priority would be comprehensive reform, where we left off...then we'll solve this, I can't say we should stop arresting those who come in illegally but we can treat them with compassion.

Why McCain wants to appear on Spanish-language television, attempting to seem for immigration reform:

JR: In key battleground states, like New Mexico, Nevada, Colorado, Florida, Hispanics aren't supporting you - why not?
JM: We're having good results and we're improving. Obama hasn't travelled to a single Latin American country. I come from a border state, I know [Hispanics]. I got 70% of the Hispanic vote in my last reelection bid....I'm very confident.

Yes, but only 21% of Hispanics voted for McCain in the AZ Presidential primary (AZ has a closed primary). McCain recognizes:

JM: The debate on immigration hurt me and I fought against my party, I fought the members of my party because I think we have to have comprehensive immigration reform. And as a President I'll achieve it, it will be one of my top priorities as president.

The truth: Sen. McCain did not fight his party at all on immigration - that's why his popularity has fallen so dramatically among Hispanics. How can Sen. McCain allege that reform would be his priority as President if he didn't even get his party to include reform in the Republican platform? Instead, the Republican platform is one that has anti-immigrant zealot, Tom Tancredo, saying he's "very pleased" with it, and that he got "basically all that" he wanted. The Republican platform on immigration does not allow for reform, its aim is "to deport criminal aliens without delay", and says: "we oppose amnesty...rejection of enmasse legalization is especially appropriate...".

 

Unpublished
n/a

Monday Morning from the Campaign Trail: Economic Plan vs. a New Speech

This morning, the state of the campaign further clarified. U.S. Sen. Barack Obama is set to unveil an economic recovery plan targeting the middle class and, US Sen. John McCain's campaign, which had been discussing unveiling a new economic plan - as many Republicans wanted him to do - will instead press reset on their rhetoric.

Obama's press release on today's policy address:

Today in Toledo, OH, Senator Obama will deliver a major policy address to lay out his economic rescue plan for the middle class. Our economy is facing its greatest uncertainty in over 70 years, we have lost 760,000 jobs this year and the unemployment rate is expected to reach 8 percent. Families, who saw their incomes decline by $2,000 in the economic "expansion" from 2000 to 2007 now risk seeing deeper income losses. Retirement savings accounts have lost $2 trillion. Millions of homeowners who played by the rules have seen their housing values plummet and are having a hard time making their mortgage payments. And credit markets are nearly frozen, preventing businesses large and small from accessing the credit they need to meet payroll and create jobs.

An excerpt, courtesy of Politico.com, from McCain's new speech:

"Let me give you the state of the race today. We have 22 days to go. We’re six points down. The national media has written us off. Senator Obama is measuring the drapes, and planning with Speaker Pelosi and Senator Reid to raise taxes, increase spending, take away your right to vote by secret ballot in labor elections, and concede defeat in Iraq. But they forgot to let you decide. My friends, we’ve got them just where we want them.

"What America needs in this hour is a fighter; someone who puts all his cards on the table and trusts the judgment of the American people. I come from a long line of McCains who believed that to love America is to fight for her. I have fought for you most of my life. There are other ways to love this country, but I’ve never been the kind to do it from the sidelines." 

The directions these two campaigns are taking today couldn't be more different, with McCain's new speech calling Obama presumptuous, but shying away from policy prescriptions. Obama today, on the other hand, looks to be getting specific on the economy. Republican politicos have been looking for a retool from the McCain camp that better dealt with the economy. Time will tell if they like what they see.

McCain's Bailout Confusion

Courtesy of Politico's Ben Smith, we learn that on a conference call about ACORN earlier today, McCain campaign topper Rick Davis gave McCain credit (blame?) for blowing up the first bailout vote in the House.

Davis expressed outrage that, "in the middle of the greatest disaster in our financial system that we’d had in our lifetime, that the Democrats in the United States Senate would actually link payments to ACORN in the bailout package that they promoted -- prior to Sen. McCain coming to town and actually blowing that package up. So we can actually say that in addition to saving taxpayers millions of dollars, and we’re very happy that no more taxpayer dollars were added to the pile of money going to ACORN."

As Smith goes on to point out, it was the McCain campaign that first blamed Obama for the failure of that first vote in the House - despite the fact that McCain suspended his campaign and threatened not to debate if the bailout package wasn't passed with all haste.

So why is Rick Davis trying to reinvent the past? 

As was discussed on MSNBC's Morning Joe today, the only way McCain could have used the financial crisis to his political benefit was to oppose the bailout. McCain's camp has no doubt realized that and probably wants a re-do. (During which they would have likely ditched that gimmicky "suspension.") In the coming days, watch for Davis and Co try to recreate McCain's actions on the bailout in a manner that is more to their liking. If they don't, well...

Ad Wars: The Chicago Way

The assault continues, as a new RNC ad links Barack Obama to three "shady" politicians. Bill Ayers makes another appearance. Tony Rezko is a new face in these ads-- he was convicted of fraud and bribery earlier this year, and surely represents some of what is worst in politics. Obama has called his association with Rezko "a mistake." The third is William Daley.

As Big Bird would say: One of these things is not like the others.  

The other two are criminals, but Daley, as the ad says, is nothing more than "heir to the Chicago machine." Seems a little harsh to lump him in with the other two.

 

 

Ad Wars: En Español

And the war continues...Barack Obama seems to be really ramping up his attacks on the air against John McCain, and he continues to do it in Spanish with his latest radio ad, called Impuestos, or "Taxes," airing in New Mexico, Colorado, Nevada, Pennsylvania, Indiana, Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio, Virginia and North Carolina, as well as Florida. And a television ad by the same name airing in New Mexico, Colorado and Nevada, as well as Florida.

**Update: The day after the release of this ad in Spanish, an English language version of the ad was released.

Translation of the ads:

Impuestos (Radio Version)

[ANNOUNCER:]
On taxes and the economy, who's on your side?

John McCain pledges hundreds of billions in corporate tax breaks for big corporations. But for 100 million households - nothing.

McCain's health plan - even worse - will tax benefits for the first time ever. Rather than helping us, John McCain's plan punishes us.

And the tax credit McCain promises will go straight to the pockets of insurance companies.

These are the facts about his plan that John McCain and the Republicans want to hide from the public.

But, with Barack Obama, taxes will be cut for 95% of the county's working families. Period. Not one penny more of taxes for any family earning less than a quarter million dollars.

Barack Obama and the Democrats know that working people and the middle class are the ones that most need relief during this crisis.

Barack Obama is on our side.

[BO:] I'm Barack Obama, candidate for President, and I approve this message.

[VO:] PAID FOR BY OBAMA FOR AMERICA AND THE DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL COMMITTEE.

Impuestos (TV Ad Version)

[ANNOUNCER:]
On taxes, who's on your side?

John McCain pledges hundreds of billions in corporate tax breaks. Billions for oil companies. But for 100 million households - nothing.

And McCain's health plan will tax benefits for the first time ever.

Barack Obama. No tax hikes on any families earning less than a quarter million dollars.

Barack Obama and the Democrats...for the change we need.

[BO:] I'm Barack Obama and I approve this message.

 

Unpublished
n/a

McCain Links Obama to Ayers in New Web Ad

The McCain campaign has put out a 90-second web ad linking Barack Obama to Bill Ayers, a domestic terrorist in the 1960s, and associate of Obama's. This is part of a broader recent effort by McCain and Palin to exploit some of Obama's relationships with characters who might be unsavory to the public.

The issue, according to the spot, is Obama's judgment and character.  But the ad as a whole suggests something different.  Like previous McCain ads, the mood is dark, with spooky music and a behind-the-scenes feel that makes the viewer feel as though they're being let in on a secret.  Clearly, the McCain campaign is trying to depict Obama as someone untrustworthy, menacing, and even dangerous.

Thursday New Tools Feature: New Tools, New Time

With voter registration deadlines fast approaching in many states, a final push to register new voters is underway. Most notably, MySpace has partnered with the four largest nonpartisan voter registration groups in the country to launch a voter registration contest, the Ultimate College Bowl.

It works like this: students sign up and are given the embed code for the easy-to-use registration widget, which they then embed in their web sites, myspace pages, or blogs, just like I've done at the bottom of this post. The college that registers the most new voters wins a free concert at their school by Death Cab For Cutie, and the school that registers the largest percentage of their students wins a concert by the Decemberists. The students that personally register the most people can also win scholarships or Guitar Hero 2 (as a recent college graduate, I will admit that I would still be very happy to win any of these prizes).

In general, the use of technology to encourage young people to participate in politics is becoming increasingly prevalent and effective. Though our outdated and inconvenient voting system is set up in a way that discourages young people from voting (a fact which is much more responsible for low youth turnout than our purported "apathy" or "unpredictability"), we can now register in ways that fit our lifestyles - through social networking sites, cell phones, and even videogames (Rock the Vote just came out with a registration form request feature for the Xbox 360).

The results are impressive: the Los Angeles Times reports that Rock the Vote has registered 2.3 million voters this year, more than twice as many people as in 2004. Turnout among those under 30 also increased by 9% from 2000 to 2004, more than twice the increase of any other age group. Technology has had a central role to play in this trend; for example, Rock the Vote reports that "voting rates increase 4% when young people receive a text message reminding them to vote."

The Millennial vote has the power to swing this election. As such, it is incredibly important for the political world to engage them directly. To learn more, read our New Politics Institute paper, Leverage Social Networks, as well as our revealing report about The Progressive Politics of the Millennial Generation.


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