NAKEDDEBT.ORG

Back and the Jam is live in effect

2009-05-10T10:38:00.000-07:00

I'm back with more on debt, life and politics laid bare.

And Then it Changed Again

2008-11-04T23:00:00.000-08:00

On September 11, 2001 the whole world changed.

Today it changed again.

Such things are still possible in America.

A Year on the Verge with Barack

2008-11-03T20:00:00.000-08:00

This has been a year of turning points. Of lessons and opportunities. A year on the verge.

The "Economic 9/11" gets its Patriot Act

2008-09-21T19:20:00.000-07:00

CATASTROPHIC events occur.

Everyone agrees SOMETHING must be done.

EXPERTS claim to know what it is.

CONGRESS listens to them. Passes something within days.

NO DEBATE. Lots of "lawmakers" don't even read the thing.

Are we in September 2001 or September 2008?

This isn't conspiracy theory. Just a plea for calm before we sign the keys over to Hank.

Stop Celebrating

2008-09-20T19:39:00.000-07:00

That uneasy feeling I had about the bailout?

Smarter people articulate the reservations with the plan as proposed.

Krugman:

And there’s no quid pro quo here — nothing that gives taxpayers a stake in the upside, nothing that ensures that the money is used to stabilize the system rather than reward the undeserving.
I hope I’m wrong about this. But let me say it again: Treasury needs to explain why this is supposed to work — not try to panic Congress into giving it a blank check. Otherwise, no deal.

Mallaby:

The Treasury plan outlined on Friday involves vast risks to taxpayers, huge complexity and no guarantee of success. There are better ways forward.

Check out the leaked plan here.

The Short Unraveling

2008-09-19T08:40:00.000-07:00

The mother of all bailouts. It needs to go down.

People who know have been predicting the meltdown for two years. Let's not kid each other: the alternative to this bailout is global depression.

And yet it doesn't feel right now that it's here. Only a few days of pain. Two days of wild rallies?

A ban on short selling. Let me get this straight: smart people who saw this coming aren't allowed to profit from it?

I'm sorry, but this all smells like a rigged game.

Let's hope a certain someone articulates this without resorting to class warfare or demonization.

Actually, More

2008-09-16T16:05:00.001-07:00

More details. What are you going to do differently? McCain's speech was more specific.

Tomorrow. Please do it.

Dear Barack

2008-09-16T11:54:00.001-07:00

Thanks for listening.

You Should Be All Over This

2008-09-16T07:54:00.000-07:00

Dear Barack:

You're the man, but will you guys get out in front of this Wall St. Crash already? You are letting McCain come out with quotes like "Workers drive the economy." Give me a break.

Hold a press conference. Please.

You're allowed to spend one sentence blaming Bush and McCain, and then you say this is not about blame. It is about solutions and understanding how we got here.

Explain the credit default swap market in two sentences:

It's supposedly $60 Trillion. But nobody knows this market’s real size, or who owes what to whom, because there is no central regulator for it! Can you believe this??

In other words, we don't even know the true impact of AIG going under, or any of the other firms at the center of this.

Add to that the foreclosures problem, the bad loans, the predatory lenders everyone can identify with. And again, for too long, Wall st. was allowed to buy and sell securities based on mortgages they assumed were perfectly sound investments.

They weren't. And some people knew this. No one did anything about it.

Then get your economic team to tell you what should be done next. You, unlike McMaverick, actually listen to advisers, and learn from them, remember?

And if they try to call you some socialist big government regulator...

....I don't need to tell you how to respond, but I'll give you an SAT question hint just in case:

Which of these is different from the others?
a. Capitalism
b. Free Enterprise
c. Rugged Individualism
d. Small government
e. Taxpayer Bailouts

The Palin Interview

2008-09-11T20:59:00.000-07:00

I'm sorry guys, I am a fair person. And I hate liberal elitists who spout crap without thinking how people from humble origins will respond.

But she seemed like Monica Lewinsky during her first interview with Barbara Wawa. You know, when she clearly had the media coach?

It's 9/11. Something should be said.

2008-09-11T09:06:00.000-07:00

Not sure what, exactly.

I still remember it. I was 2 miles away. I felt terrible for the lives lost. I remember thinking we were in deep trouble given who just moved in to the White House. And I ended up being right, but not in the ways I thought.

I was lucky enough not to know anyone directly affected. A friend of a friend here, a coworker twice removed. That was it. So I remember it more as the day everything started to go to hell. Made more hellish because it didn't have to be that way.

No, this day isn't about politics. It's not a holiday either. I'm at work, hoping my wife gets home safe. Hoping they don't try again on what would be the most perfect anniversary, with OBambi and McSame in the same place at the same time.

But if it's about remembrance, let's remember how the day was used.

Let's look at all the years we hoped against hope that this day wouldn't be used again.

Let's look at the glimmer that cracked through earlier this year, two good men, not prone to using it.

And now let's look at one of those men, and who surrounds him. The same people. The same users.

Maybe he's not them. But he is under their spell.

It's a day to remember. Some day it will be a holiday. For a while it may be a holiday without retail sales.

But for now we have to remember it in stolen moments.

Focus the blur of those early days. Does anything seem clearer?

It's a day connected to every day since.

I'll just remember it.

All of it.

KOS on Biden

2008-08-23T13:02:00.000-07:00

Kos, you rock, but don't be an idiot.

When the October surprise comes, real or imagined, spontaneous or orchestrated, who do you want in the number 2?

Tim Kaine?

+8 % 350 Electoral Votes

2008-08-23T05:44:00.001-07:00

Can we just allow ourselves to believe this finally?

P.S. Barack, thanks for listening to me on Biden.

Veep Buzz Backlash

2008-08-20T08:13:00.000-07:00

Hey Mr. Plouffe, you guys are feeding right into the unhelpful celebrity meme with this VP tease.

Why feed the Wednesday date to the NYT? Don't confuse the media with voters.

Voters tire of buzz very quickly, and they love to hate the media. Think about it. Every time the media rekindles its love affair with you and starts making wild predictions, there is a backlash.

Remember New Hampshire?

Seriously guys.

Giving as good as you get to John McCain with an indictment of his policies (or lack thereof) = GOOD

Orchestrating a tiresome VP burlesque dance = BAD

VP Rollout? How About a Cabinet Rollout?

2008-08-19T02:31:00.000-07:00

Here's what I'm thinking.

Obama won't choose Biden. He'll choose some annoying "new" politician we've never heard of. But at the same time, he'll announce that Biden will be secretary of state.

It won't just be a VP rollout. It will be a cabinet rollout -- a novel way of telling the American people how you will govern. And the cabinet will campaign together on substantive policy issues.

Imagine town hall meetings designed to let citizens "ask their government" whatever they were concerned with. It would be pretty powerful.

Subterranean MoDo

2008-08-04T17:44:00.001-07:00

I never noticed this before, but the comments on Maureen Dowd's columns are very entertaining (ok, the misogynist comments should be deleted outright, but the other ones...).

Culture of Debt

2008-07-27T12:08:00.000-07:00

Apparently David Brooks agrees with me on this debt thing.

It's actually a well researched article. Too bad he had no love for Obama's world tour.

Oh well. It's amazing how months are years in politics and hero worship.

Whether he wins or loses, what will we do with when yearning for HIS election is no longer possible?

Maybe we'll just have to save the planet ourselves.

Blogging at Odds With Things You Learned In Kindergarten

2008-07-09T16:27:00.001-07:00

If you are one of this blog's three readers, you've noticed it's on again/off again.

Today, I came up with a novel excuse for this. In Kindergarten, we were taught not to say anything unless we had something good to say.

But a good blog requires frequent posts. Throughout the day. Whether your flighty mind has something "good" to say or not. Otherwise even a blogger's three readers will be a flight risk. Or at least the two that aren't my mom, but she's a risk too.

So I'm trying to post more. And trying to have more good things to say. Even if I'm not "feelin' it."

To my favorites Andrew and Matt, I don't know how you guys do it (even without a full time corporate job, which was my previous excuse).

But I'm going to try harder, my dear readers. Pretty soon there will be at least six of you.

Hillary Rides Again

2008-07-09T16:02:00.000-07:00

I'm not saying every Democratic Senator has to agree with Obama on FISA so as not to make him look bad.

And maybe it's a sincere thing, but Hillary has to relish this just a little bit. She gets to put out a strong statement as if it were written by Glen Greenwald himself:

In my judgment, immunity under these circumstances has the practical effect of shutting down a critical avenue for holding the administration accountable for its conduct. It is precisely why I have supported efforts in the Senate to strip the bill of these provisions, both today and during previous debates on this subject. Unfortunately, these efforts have been unsuccessful... Congress must vigorously check and balance the president even in the face of dangerous enemies and at a time of war. That is what sets us apart.

So...to recap, she gets to look principled after it was clear the bill was going to pass anyway (and there is no general election need for her to tack to the center).

And she gets a not so subtle "I told you so" in there for the netroots and their ilk.

Look, I don't trust her sincerity after this campaign, so I don't appreciate how she is making Obama look.

But in the end, my uneasiness stems from the fact that Obama did this to himself, and this is the first time I've allowed myself to feel that.

Courtesy of Hillary.

Years Of Reckoning

2008-07-07T19:15:00.000-07:00

Every once in a while I'll remind myself (I think I am my only reader) what this blog is about.

It all, in one form or another, comes back to debt.

Our debt to the planet. Our debt to our homes (funny how we thought we owned the things). The government's debt to its people and the world (ahem..China, Abu Dhabi).

All of these have become bloated and unmanageable. The years of reckoning have begun. And for you e*traders out there, we're at the precipice of a big huge margin call. The piper is demanding to be paid on every front.

I'll say it again. This was born in the 90s. Where all those near misses (first world trade center bombing, mild recession, dot com boom covering up lost manufacturing sectors, a housing bubble masking the burst of the dot com bubble...take your pick) lulled us into a sense of false security.

It's all gone.

The point is to be ready. To face it. We can be the next greatest generation. We just need to know what to keep and what to unlearn.

Lying Liar In Our Midst

2008-07-06T07:15:00.000-07:00

Joe Lieberman, we hardly knew ye. Did you get a show on FoxNews yet?

I don't fault him for sincerely believing in the Iraq war. He's entitled to his misguided opinion. But is it really necessary to flat out lie?

In the last 10 minutes on This Week with George Stephanopoulos, he spouted the following lies and insanities:

1. That Obama wants to withdraw IMMEDIATELY REGARDLESS OF THE FACTS ON THE GROUND. What politician would make such a ridiculous statement? Even W, our fundamentalist in chief, never came out and said we would STAY regardless of the facts on the ground. We just knew it through his actions.

What do we know through Obama's actions? That he is a pragmatist. That he listens. That dissent is encouraged. And that he has said he'd leave RESPONSIBLY. In fact, I myself have been annoyed by his broken record stump speech line: "We must be as careful getting out as we were careless getting in."

2. That "historically" there have been attacks in the first year of an administration. His scientific sample size? A whole two administrations. Clinton in 93. Bush in 2001.

If I were a breakfast person, I would have lost it in disgust.

Faith Based Agnosticism

2008-07-02T08:26:00.000-07:00

I'm sorry guys, I just don't see what the big deal is.

Are secular liberals in a tizzy over Obama's faith based programs? Is the media manufacturing the controversy?

I'm a secular liberal and have one thing to say:

For god's sake, people...if a church can help get it done, give the money to a god damn church.

This is pragmatism, not Christianism. We have to be agnostic about where the best ideas come from.

Obama understands this, and it is why Obama is post-everything (post-partisan, post-racial, post-boomer, post-culture wars)...a bit of a godsend really ;-)

How do you spell conspiracy?

2008-06-26T10:36:00.000-07:00

I have a big, on message post to write tonight, but here's a profound question in the meantime:

Why do so many conspiracy theorists spell so badly?

Magical Thinking

2008-05-05T07:50:00.001-07:00

I posted a psychic prediction...well okay, wishful magical thinking over at TPMCafe.

Probability of this, anyone?

No Fight Left In Us?

2008-04-25T08:21:00.000-07:00

As is often the case after a Hillary survival win and moving goal posts via Jedi mind tricks, the whole thing kind of gets into your head and makes you drink some of the toxic clorox spin. Dread has defined the past couple of days.

I know. We're not supposed to get this emotionally involved in, well...anything, according to mental health professionals. Oh well. I'm just trying to recognize my country again. And in the past few months I could do it without squinting.

Anyway, the point of the post: they've gotten into our heads again. I too fear that Obama has been irrevocably damaged. Marc's roundup yesterday morning didn't help either!

But do we have no fight left in us? We are a new, energetic generation. But we are also the self-esteem generation -- i.e. whole institutions and curricula were constructed to make sure we never felt bad about anything.

The point is, maybe a lot of us haven't had to fight for much. Or at least have never allowed ourselves to confront this much uncertainty or disappointment. I've fought to get where I am. But, to be honest, I haven't fought to help anyone else. Or to move a group of people in a different direction.

So anyway, in thinking about Pennsylvania...we have to remember a couple of things. Obama closed the gap considerably. Yes, there is more to overcome. But should we really now acquiesce to the spurious argument that just because he is not winning working class voters in a
Democratic primary, he can't win them in a general election? Clearly his economic policies are markedly different from McCain's -- a contrast he can't make with Clinton (not to mention one she can't make with Obama, which is how the kitchen sink was born). He needs to win
enough of these voters. But he also needs to expand the coalition he has already built -- young people, the educated but disengaged, minorities. Isn't this the awakened electorate the Democrats have been waiting for?

I owe some of this to Andrew Sullivan, who also has recently emerged from doom and gloom. To paraphrase him: this is about whether American society has changed enough to move beyond Rove-Morris bickering. With all due respect to the good people of Pennsylvania, it is not the best place to look for evidence of that shift (I went to school there). As they say, a rising tide lifts all boats. Obama's tide will lift working class boats, whether all of them had the good sense to vote for him or not.

But since I wrote Andrew about this, I've also come to see just how profoundly this is a change election. There is an awakened electorate, yes. A realization that American politics and policies are broken, and have already accelerated our long predicted decline. But also a realization that we need to change ourselves. That we need a little more fight in us. That we need to unlearn some of the comfortable truisms of the past 20 years. Just look at the housing market, or the geo-political chaos, or the consequences of unchecked globalization, or global warming and energy inflation stemming from our voracious demand for cheap Chinese goods.

We've been had.

We must come to terms with this: there is no going back to a 90's brand of peace and prosperity. That peace and prosperity came only because we procrastinated on meaningful solutions to problems we knew were festering. We won't get anything close to that prosperity again without first INVITING a period of sacrifice and long term, structural change, both in ourselves and in our government.